1. God is… Exploring God through the lens of the first things said about Him…

2. Who is God? • How is God seen, described, and generally dealt with in our culture? • Angry? • Old man? • Hateful? • Loving? • Uncaring? • Not real? • A lie? • 5 minutes…

3. Who is God according to Scripture? • Let’s start at the beginning… • Genesis 1 • Genesis means “beginning” • What can we learn about God and who God is from this text? • What does it say about His character? • What does it tell us about life? • What does it not tell us? • Read Genesis 1 in your groups… • Discuss for about 8 minutes…

4. Who is God according to genesis 1? • Let’s talk about the obvious first… • To evolve or not to evolve? • No conflict between Christianity and science itself • Christian worldview: God created with orderliness…this undergirds the entire scientific enterprise… • BUT… • The Bible is NOT a scientific textbook! • Theological narrative written to reveal the God of creation and His relationship with humanity…Most go too far or not far enough… • One’s view of creation per this argument should NEVER be a litmus test for faithfulness… • Open and Closed hands

5. Who is God according to Genesis 1 according to the Israelites? • When? • 1400 BC by Moses? • Oral tradition passed down through Moses and written down later? • Not exhaustive, but theologically selective (Satan? Angels?) • Cultural or Biblical Issue? • “Throughout the entire Bible, there is not a single instance in which God revealed to Israel a science beyond their culture.”—John Walton • What does this say about God? • Reread Genesis 1 through the eyes of a recently freed slave of Egypt… • Take 5-7 minutes to discuss…

6. Who is God according to Genesis 1 according to the culture at the time? • Every other creation story at the time was full of violence and conflict… • Often, a battle occurs, a god defeats a primeval monster, splits it into and that becomes land and sky… • EnumaElish, Marduk, Tiamat, oh my! • Always starts with something material… • In Genesis 1, God creates BARA (from nothing) with WORDS • Creates something from nothing, then He orders it (Hebrews 11:3)…He gives it purpose and meaning… • If you were a Israelite, what does this tell you about God?

7. Who is God according to Genesis 1 according to the culture at the time? • Material vs. functional understandings of creation • Material: Something “created” exists when it is created…like a chair • Functional: Something “created” exists when it has a function in a system: like a grocery store only becoming a grocery store when it has groceries in it, when it serves its meant purpose… • This is how they would have understood the creation narrative… • And God “RESTING” would have meant that God was in His temple… • Not to “rest,” but to take His place from which He would rule… • Think back to KINGDOM last week and what Jesus will say later…

8. So what?! • God makes something out of nothing (slaves become kings, the poor become prophets, death becomes life) • God is ultimately CREATIVE, not destructive • God uses words (Jer. 1:9-10) • Creation RESPONDS to God’s words • Humans are the only things in the story that don’t (Jonah, Balaam’s donkey) • God creates a space for things, gives them meaning and purpose • It’s good!

9. Implications… • If God makes things out of nothing, there is ALWAYS hope (2 Cor. 1, Romans 5) • If God is ULTIMATELY creative, He wants what is good (Psalm 136:1) and we are primarily meant to create, not consume… • If God is uses words to create, words are important…(James 1:26, 3, all of Proverbs) • If Creation responds to God’s words, why don’t we? • If God creates a space for things, gives them meaning and purpose, we will never be truly “exist” until we step into that (Acts 17) • Jesus points the way (Col. 1, Eph. 1) and God is still creating… • It’s good! It’s new! • It’s blessing (Eph 1) • Things work best when God is on the throne, reality works better!