The Beginning of Time ~ Part 1

 

Welcome back to my blog! In today’s article I will be doing a summary of the beginning of the book of Genesis and this will tie in with our study of Mesopotamia in a later history article. If you didn’t read Approaches to History and the Inerrancy of Scripture, it would be a good idea to read that first, or else you might be a little lost.

The Bible begins with this statement: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). This lays the foundation for the rest of God’s Word. If someone won’t even believe in God’s account of creation, why would they believe Christ’s work recorded in the gospels? When it comes to the Bible, you believe all of it or none of it. The Bible wasn’t written for men to choose and select which parts were inspired. God makes it very clear in 2 Timothy 3:16 (“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”). I will talk more about false philosophies and pseudosciences when we enter the Holy Roman Empire or the 20th century.

Most people have heard of the Biblical account of creation so I will run through it fairly quickly. God spoke and the earth was formed in six days, and on the seventh day, He rested. This was not because God was tired, but because He was setting an example for us to set aside one day each week in order to take a break in our busy weekend and worship Him. I will give a little more proof of why we were created to take at least one work day off when we talk about the French Revolution. Theistic evolutionists (those who believe that God used evolution to create the world) interpret the word “day” as eons of time. But if we go back to the original Hebrew (this can be done with a Bible concordance such as Strong’s), we clearly see that the word day means one 24-hour period of time. Below is a picture that summarizes the six days of creation.

On the sixth day, God created man. Although scientists will argue that man is an animal because of the similarities man shares with mammals, there are several reasons why the Bible distinguishes humans from mammals:

• Men not only have a physical body, but they also possess a spiritual soul. This spirit will either go to heaven or hell after death.
• Men are also moral, meaning that they can distinguish what is right from wrong. They also have a God-given conscience which allows them to distinguish such things although they may ignore it. This gives no one an excuse for not trusting in God or following the Bible because a knowledge of the only true God is innate in everyone. A dog might not do a particular action only because its owner might punish them for it, but not because it has a moral inclination toward doing certain things.
• Men have the gift of thought and language. No other of God’s creatures have the gift of language. I talked about this a little in my article Influences of Literature/ Introductions to Literature. Man has the capabilities to form thoughts by using words.
• Men were created in God’s image. This does not mean that man looks like God for He is spiritual not physical. This means that man has a spirit, and possesses thoughts through language much like God does (except for the fact that God doesn’t have a spirit; He is a spirit).

So the differences between men and mammals are distinct and quite obvious when thought about. The first man was Adam, and God created his wife Eve shortly thereafter from Adam’s side. In Genesis 2, God tells Adam that he could eat the fruit of any tree in the Garden of Eden except for the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Genesis 3 records what is commonly referred to as the “fall of man.” Although there is a great deal theology involved most of which I do not understand), I will not go into the specifics in this article. Satan, who took on the form of a serpent, tempted Eve and questioned God’s intentions and goodness. He did not make her sin, he only tempted her. Eve disobeyed God, and gave the fruit to Adam so he could eat it as well. Adam wasn’t “tricked” in that he didn’t start by denying God’s goodness. He deliberately disobeyed God from the first step. After realizing what they had done (the product of guilt and conscience), they hid from God, and even blamed each other for their sin. God eventually addressed their wrongdoings, and cursed the serpent and mankind:

• The serpent (and Satan): All snakes would have to crawl on their bellies forever (apparently, they didn’t before the curse). God also promised the gospel in Genesis 3:15. He said that someone from the line of Eve would eventually defeat Satan (Satan believed that he won the allegiance of the human race). This would be none other than Jesus Christ.
• Eve (all women): The punishment of Eve (representing all women) would be pain in childbearing. Also women would have the desire to dominate men (another product of sin) when God placed men as the leader of the household. This is a very controversial issue, and I hope to discuss Biblical femininity in a later article.
• Adam (all men): Adam (representative of all men) received the consequence of having unenjoyable work. Adam did work in the Garden of Eden, but there were no weeds or thorns to accompany the plants. Now, he would have to deal with the travail of hard labor.

God additionally told them that they would die and return to the dust of the ground. A lamb was sacrificed to provide clothing for Adam and Eve (I didn’t mention the fact that they needed clothing to cover their shame). This is a picture of Christ’s sacrifice for us. Adam and Eve could no longer live in the garden or they might eat of the tree of life and live forever in their sin, sickness, and turmoil. It was God’s grace to drive them from the Garden of Eden. An angel was placed in front to guard the entrance. Those who trusted in His redemption plan (whether looking forward or back to Christ) would have eternal life through Christ’s sacrifice for our sins.

The verse for this week is Genesis 3:15. This verse states God’s promise to defeat Satan and redeem mankind. It says, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”