BGCC Lesson Outline for April 26, 2015
The Powerful Creatoris Our Loving Father
Genesis Chapter 1, NIV
1.In the beginningGod createdthe heavensand the earth.2.Now the earth was formlessand empty,darkness was over the surface of the deep,and the Spirit of Godwas hoveringover the waters.
3. And God said,“Let there be light,” and there was light.
God (the Creator) spoke the creation into existence. The book of Genesis and New Testament books, as well, are replete with “And God said” or “Thus says the Lord”.
Believing the creation as it is recorded in the Bible challenges us, defies laws of science and logic, and measures our faith in the power of God.
A New Testament example of God’s speaking the creation into existence:
Hebrews 11:3(NIV)
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command,so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
I. Eighteen types of creations are recorded in Genesis 1:
-Heavens
-Earth
-Light (day)
-Darkness (night)
-Calendar (first day, second day, etc.),
-Sky
-Land
-Sea
-Vegetation
-Sun
-Moon
-Stars
-Fish
-Birds
-Livestock
-Reptiles
-Wild animals
-Mankind
II. Some facts about these 18 categories:
-88 Constellations (A group of stars that form a pattern, Big Dipper and Little Dipper)
-100,000,000,000 (100 billion) Galaxies (a system of millions or billions of stars, together with gas and dust, held together by gravitational attraction)
-Our Sun is one of at least 100 billion stars in our Galaxy, the Milky Way (remember, the total number of Galaxies is 100,000,000,000)
-The Milky Way orbits a massive black hole that is 4 million times the size of our Sun and 28,000 light years away. Light travels at 186,000 feet per second, 35.23 miles per second, 671 million miles per hour.
-How fast does light travel (186,000 feet/second), what does that mean? If we were traveling at the speed of light, we could circle the Equator 7.5 times in one second, compared to flying in a jet plane at500 MPH we would cross the continental U.S. in 4 hours.
Take a close look at this next slide.
The Earth is a tiny speck inside the white dot, the Milky Way, with 100,000,000,000 stars in it alone shown in the center of the picture.
ARE YOU GETTING THE PICTURE OF HOW MASSIVE THE CREATION IS AND HOW POWERFUL IS THE CEATOR?
More facts about the categories of the creation:
- There are more than 400,000 plant species
- There are more than 30,000 fish species
- An estimated 10,000 bird species
- An estimated 21 livestock species with sub-species in each
- An estimated 10,000 reptile species
-Mankind: 206 bones, 642 muscles, 31 pairs of spinal nerves, 11 pairs of cranial nerves, more than90,000miles of nerve (feeling)sensations
-Bodily functions include several systems operating simultaneously (driving: sight, hearing, muscle coordination, etc.) (eating: sight, smell, muscle coordination to chew and swallow, etc.)
WE SERVE A POWERFUL GOD!
III. But, that most powerful Creator is also our loving Heavenly Father. How much does God know about us, and how much does he love us?
-We have dominion over all creation: Gen. 1:26-29
-Know the number of hairs on our head: Luke 12:7
-His blessings-more than the grains of sand: Psm 139:18
-He knew us before we were formed: Jeremiah 1:5
-He knows our thought, habits & actions: Psalms 139:2
-He knows our future: Jeremiah 29:11
-He knows what we don’t tell him: 1 John 3:20
-He created us and knows our every detail: Isaiah 49:16
Psalm 139 describes how much God knows about us:
1.LORD, you have examined meand know all about me.
2You know when I sit down and when I get up.You know my thoughts before I think them.
3You know where I go and where I lie down.You know everything I do.
4Lord, even before I say a word,you already know it.
5You are all around me—in front and in back—and have put your hand on me.
6Your knowledge is amazing to me;it is more than I can understand.
7Where can I go to get away from your Spirit?Where can I run from you?
8If I go up to the heavens, you are there.If I lie down in the grave, you are there.
9If I rise with the sun in the eastand settle in the west beyond the sea,
10even there you would guide me.
With your right hand you would hold me.
11I could say, “The darkness will hide me.
Let the light around me turn into night.”
12But even the darkness is not dark to you.
The night is as light as the day;
darkness and light are the same to you.
13You made my whole being;
you formed me in my mother’s body.
14I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way.What you have done is wonderful.I know this very well.
15You saw my bones being formedas I took shape in my mother’s body.When I was put together there,
16you saw my body as it was formed.
All the days planned for me were written in your bookbefore I was one day old.
17God, your thoughts are precious to me.
They are so many!
18If I could count them,they would be more than all the grains of sand.
19. When I wake up,
I am still with you.
Are you understanding the contrast, such a powerful Creator, but, yet, such a tender and loving Father?
IV. What are some things God requires from us in return for His love?
-Repentance: Matthew 4: 17
-Be a follower: Matthew 4: 19
-Let Him be seen through us: Matthew 5: 16
-Honor His law: Matthew 5: 17
-Be truthful and forgiving: Matthew 5: 37-42
-Ask of God in faith: Matthew 21: 21-22
-Serve the poor and needy: Luke 14: 12-14
-Summarily, Keep the Ten Commandments: Matthew and Luke
-His yoke is easy and His burden is light: Matthew 11: 30
V. In Summary:
-God’s power to create is beyond the mind of mortal man
-Some things related to the creation are unexplainable by scientists
-The unexplainable matters are accepted by faith
-The Creator loves us and wants to spend eternity with us because he has prepared an eternal home, Heaven, for us.