150 Days of Devotionals Through the Bible – DAY 1

Genesis 1 – 5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.    John 1:1-4

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  Colossians 1:15-17

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.  Hebrews 1:1-4

“In the beginning God…” The main character of this book is introduced to us here, and our goal – perhaps our life long quest – is to come to know Him. As we will see in the course of His book, to know Him is to love Him. Timberlane’s quest in 2016 is “To Love Him More”, and over these 150 days we will let God reveal His nature to us, call us to His side, and challenge us to complete (“perfect”) His love (John 3:16 and I JOHN 2:3-6). This, my friends, is the journey from Eternity to Eden to Sin Alienation to Calvary to Reconciliation and back to Eternity.

“In the beginning God created…” Through Moses (the human writer of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and most of Deuteronomy) the Holy Spirit inspired this insight into His nature – He is a creator. In the New Testament, we will learn that He is also a RE-creator (taking fallen sinners and re-creating us in the image of Jesus). Combining the Genesis account with the passages in the gospel of John, Colossians and Hebrews (above), God reveals Himself as a communicating (Word of God) spirit-being (Spirit of God).

As you begin to know Him and grow to love Him, notice how He reveals Himself to us in the unfolding story of people. During the account of creation in Genesis 1, He reveals Himself as “Elohim” (translated “God” throughout the Old Testament – for language nerds out there, in the New Testament, “God” is from the Greek word “theos”). In the Hebrew language, “El” is singular for “God”. In expressing not only His excellent majesty, but His nature as father, Son and Spirit, He calls Himself by the plural form “Elohim”. This name means “the Supreme One bound by His oath”. God is the loving Father who guides us, the Son who communicates God’s love to us and the Spirit comforts and counsels us.

In Genesis 2, He reveals Himself as “the LORD God” in His dealings with Adam and Eve … right up until the serpent makes his appearance. In the Old Testament, “LORD” (note the all caps) is the translation of the personal name of God, YHVH, as revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14 – remember, Moses is the human writer of Genesis). The more general Hebrew word for “Lord” is “Adonai” and the Hebrews out of respect would not pronounce the name YHVH. Not knowing how to pronounce it, the vowels from “Adonai” were added to YHVH giving us “Jehovah” or some use the pronunciation “Yahweh”. Yahweh is the “I AM”. The revealed personal name of God, translated as “LORD” throughout the OT means “The Self-Existent One”. By calling Himself by BOTH names, God reveals Himself as “The Supreme, Self-Existent, Eternal God who communicates and keeps His word”. The LORD God was in full fellowship with the crown jewel of His creation, man and woman. In His love He created them (and by extension, us) and by His love wants all people in full fellowship.

In Genesis 3, He calls Himself both LORD God and God but then in Genesis 4 (the story of Cain and Abel) He is “The LORD”. Think on these changes as you ponder our God who is dealing with a created angel (Satan) who rebelled from his free will and pride, created people who rebelled under temptation in their free will and birthed people living in a fallen state because of sin and free will.

In all of this, God is constant and His creation is volatile. Why? Because the self-existent, creative and communicative God loves enough to grant His creatures the free will to love Him or reject Him. That kind of love is pure POWER, the power to create and set free. Amazing love, indeed.

Sometimes these genealogies can be a little rough to read through, but hang in there. Simply notice that God is searching for people who love Him back and try to please Him. We meet Enoch, a man who walked with God (a term we will see throughout scripture denoting faithfulness) and God “took him”. He was spared physical death and brought by God into everlasting life. Why? Notice his age compared to the others. God spared Enoch the pain of living in an increasingly evil and perverted world, certainly, but in reality God spared him from the coming judgment in the Great Flood! Enoch gives us a glimpse of God’s desire to reach down into creation and save people. The LORD God’s plan to redeem mankind from sin and spare us from the looming Final Judgment was formulated BEFORE creation (I Peter 1:13-25).

And now, we meet Noah…