Sermon Tone Analysis

Today we are at the very BEGINNING of the Bible… the very BEGINNING of God’s big story… and when you are going to begin a story, it is best to have a plan, wouldn’t you agree?

But have you ever been around someone who rambles when they tell stories?

Like, when the story starts, it’s about this awesome restaurant that they went to...

But they get sidetracked by telling you what they ate...

Which gets sidetracked by telling you the spiciest thing they EVER ate...

Which gets sidetracked by telling you about the gatstro-intestinal problems in their family…

And by that point you are like… “Where is this story GOING and how did we get HERE!!!”

Good stories require a plan… especially when they are complex and satisfying… and even more-so if they are true stories.

Good stories require a plan… especially when they are complex and satisfying… and even more-so if they are true stories.

If we are going to understand the point of the story, we need to understand the plan.

And today we are going to see that God’s story is an incredibly complex… incredibly satisfying… TRUE story that starts out with a very purposeful plan right from the opening words.

Think about a good novel or movie… or maybe more applicable for today… a true autobiography.

A good story will communicate WHY it’s important for you to be hearing the story.

And there may be some times throughout when we are like, “Wait, where is this story going again???”

But the plot will always make it’s way back to the plan set out in Genesis chapters 1-2...

That God would glorify himself in his creation as he relates to humanity.

That’s why it’s so important that we get this right here today...

Because in and 2, we get to see the beginning story of literally EVERYTHING.

There is nothing in heaven or on earth (besides God himself) that doesn’t start right here.

That’s a pretty meaningful couple of chapters!

Today is the first Sunday in our series, “God’s story, My Story...”

Over the next 13 weeks we are working our way from Genesis to Revelation...

Through the high points of the story of the Bible...

And the goal is that you would be able to find your place in God’s unfolding story of salvation through Jesus Christ.

And I mean that in two ways…

First, I mean that literally: that you would literally be able to find your place when you are actually reading your Bible… that you would know how each part of the story of the Bible fits together to point you to Jesus...

But I also mean that experientially: that you would find your place in God’s story… that you would be able to answer the question, “How has God written YOU into HIS story.”

Our stories are part of a greater story of God that he tells us through his word that we call the Bible.

The story of the Bible was written over a two thousand year span of time… God used over 40 human authors… but really there is one Divine author behind it all...

The story of the Bible was written over a two thousand year span of time by over 40 authors...

It’s a story with ONE beautiful plan… full of suspense and drama and redemption...

And it starts like any good story… establishing the themes and purposes in the opening words.

And so as we launch into this series today, I want you to see that...

Big Idea: Your story begins with a good God who created everything by his word.

We are going to work our way through the first two chapters of the Bible today… and I want us to start by focusing in on the first ten words in the English translations… because without they are the most important words ever written:

Look at - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

[or the Land]

Heres’ where we need to start today:

Your story begins with a good God.

(1:1)

Explain: In the Beginning God.

In the Beginning God.

Not in the beginning man… Not in the beginning the environment… or mother nature… or primordial ooze...

Not in the beginning the environment...

In the beginning God.

The story is about God.

HISTORY is about God!

It begins and ends with God.

He is the one who always was… the one who always will be.

And he is the God who created.

We are not the product of chance… we are not the result of basic chemical elements morphing into incredibly complex and intelligent creatures…

We are FAR too complex to have just happened… design demands a designer...

Like think about this: when a baby is at 5 months gestation in their mother’s womb, this phenomenon happens where over 1 million optic nerve endings in the brain connect with over 1 million optic nerve endings in the eyeball so that the baby can eventually see once their eyelids are developed… (Louie Giglio, Indescribable)

Think about wiring a house making 1 million wire connections in just the right way...

And this just “happens” inside the eyeball...

And you want to tell me that this just evolved to be that way???

Design screams designer.

And it absolutely requires faith to believe that God created… it’s essential to the Christian faith...

And you want to tell me that this just evolved to be that way???

But it also requires a ton of faith… I believe MORE faith... to believe that everything came from nothing on its own.

says, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”

(ESV)

[3] By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

(ESV)

God spoke everything out of nothing.

The intricacies of the universe demand our faith in a creator.

And the Bible reveals that the Creator is GOOD.

He is HOLY.

He is completely other than his creation because he is he only one who is not created.

And yet he is deeply interested in what he has made and reveals himself to his creatures.

YOUR STORY BEGINS with a GOOD GOD.

This sets up one of the most important and essential realities in all of the story: there is a massive distinction between the creation and the creator.

God is the God who created out of nothing… the theological term is ex nihilo.

In the beginning God.

He existed when all the heavens and the earth did not.

Everything is nothing without him.

Everything is nothing without him.

If you are here this morning and you don’t believe that God created, then I’d love to have a conversation with you later… but just humor me for a moment… consider what it would mean if that were true...

And if you do believe in God, think about what it means for him to be the Creator:

It means that he knows what is best for his creation because he designed it.

It means that he is personally invested in the outcome of his creation.

It means that he owns and has creator’s rights on everything that he created.

It means that he has incredible power that his creation does not...

And ultimately it means that he alone is to be worshiped!

says, “Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.”

(, ESV)

If God is the creator… it means that he is OUR creator… and our stories begin and end with him.

Apply: Next week we will talk about the Fall of mankind into sin… but Bible tells us that the essence of sin is this: they worshiped the creation instead of the Creator.

Apply: The necessity of faith.

Sin doubts the creative and commanding word of God…

Sin questions questions the wisdom God.

Sin puts the creation… US… at the center of the story instead of GOd.

These opening words of God’s story must revolutionize the way we read the rest of the Bible and the way we view the story of our own lives...

Your story begins with a good God.

Everything is nothing without God.

That means that when you are thinking about your origins and all the experiences of your past… it doesn’t start with the experiences themselves… but with a God who created you and the world in which you live…

It means when you are thinking about your environment… the fact that you live in this corner of the world… looking at the surroundings you look at every single day… it’s all about God.

It means that ultimately your story has, as it’s end goal, the glory of the God who created.