Genesis Part 1: Day 1, Part 1

Greetings, friends and new listeners and welcome to The Sound of Faith.

I'm Sharon Knotts thanking you for joining us today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Today's message is from a series I did on the Genesis account of creation. God's once beautiful creation into this calamitous state. Learn this and more in part one, the recreation of heaven and earth. Today we're going to start in Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1. And we're going to read the first five verses as the foundation of the Word of the Lord that He's given me for today. Genesis 1 and verse 1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and God said, let there be light and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light day and the darkness He called night.

And the evening and the morning were the first day. So here we have the beginning of creation. And we are told here the earth was without form. But where you see the verb was, it's not the best translation of the Hebrew verb hayah. Because it actually means become. How many can tell the difference between was and became?

Amen? So what it is telling us is the earth was not always void. The earth was not always in the condition that we see without form and was void. It became that way.

And that's important for us to make that distinction. It became in this state. It was not the original state but it became like this.

Where it says without form. The Hebrew word is tohu. And it means to be chaotic. Something that is totally chaotic.

And how many know that God does not create chaos? And the word void is boahu. And it means to be empty and wasted and desolate. So the earth became tohu boahu.

The earth became a place of chaos so that it was empty and wasted and desolate. And we see that it was covered in water. And darkness was upon the face of the water. Now the word deep there refers to the very deep deep seas.

The very deep oceans. And darkness was upon the face of the waters. Now the word darkness obviously means dark.

Absence of light. But figuratively it means destruction. It means wickedness.

And we even use it in our language today. When we look at the world we say the whole world lies in darkness. The whole world lies in wickedness.

Amen? So the earth had become a wasteland covered in darkness and water resembling nothing like the earth resembles today. It was a chaotic state. Not always that way.

But something traumatic. Something calamitous occurred causing the earth to be in this desolate condition. We are not finished with Genesis but I would like you to turn with me to Jeremiah the fourth chapter. Turn with me to Jeremiah the fourth chapter. I could read it for you but I really want you to see it in your Bible. Because I don't think you're probably accustomed to reading these verses.

And I really would like you to see them. Jeremiah 4 and looking at verse 23. I beheld the earth and lo it was without form and void and the heavens and they had no light. So let's stop for a moment. The same exact Hebrew words bohu tohu or tohu bohu are right here.

The same words. I beheld the earth it was without form and void and it had no light. The very same condition that we just read in Genesis chapter 1. Look at verse 24. And I beheld the mountains and lo they trembled and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld and lo there was no man and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld and lo the fruitful place was a wilderness and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord and by his fierce anger. Now we're learning a little more here. That we see that this is a parallel of what it says in Genesis.

The same words are being used. We find out that the mountains trembled and that means that they were shaken violently like an earthquake. It caused all the cities to be destroyed.

Oh we're learning something. This earth had cities on it. It had inhabitants. It had humans. Because now we see that he says there was no man.

So in other words there was a time before this occurred that there was an earth that was an inhabited earth that had cities and men dwelled therein. But when this catastrophic thing took place there was destruction. God was angry. And all of these things occurred because of the fierce anger of the Lord. It said they fled by the presence of the Lord and the Hebrew word for presence there is panim and it means faith.

Your face. They fled at the face of God because of his fierce anger. And the Hebrew word means burning hot anger.

So we can learn by this that God did not create the earth in this condition. When he created it where we read in Genesis 1-1, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The word there for create, the Hebrew word is bara and that word means to create something from scratch. To create something out of nothing. And this Hebrew word is only used to refer to God. It's never used to refer to man.

To human beings. Because man cannot create out of nothing. He can recreate out of existing materials in some ways. But he cannot create out of nothing. Amen. When they cloned animals and such they had to take cells from an animal that God created.

Amen. But we see that because it said in verse 1, Genesis 1-1, God created from scratch, from nothing, the heavens and the earth. And yet something chaotic had to take place between verse 1 and verse 2 of Genesis because in verse 2 of Genesis now we've got chaos. We've got an earth that has undergone destruction.

That God's fierce anger has caused destruction in the earth. Before I move on, here in Genesis how many can clearly see that? We see it because number 1, in verse 1, created means to create from scratch.

Only God can do it. Number 2, in verse 2 we see the earth was but actually the Hebrew verb is the earth became. It became chaotic without form and was desolate, covered in water, covered by darkness. So that tells us something happened between verse 1 and verse 2. Amen. But in verse 2, at the very end of it, it says the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

And that word moved means He hovered. He hovered over this chaotic planet because He was going to recreate it to make it habitable for human beings. Amen. You know, God did not create man for the earth.

That's what is being put out there today. People are worshiping the earth now. God did not create man for the earth. He created the earth for man. And He fine-tuned it for human life.

Amen. And we know that in Genesis 2 26, after He created Adam and Eve, He told them, He said, I want you to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. Replenish the earth. That means at one time there were human beings on the earth. But we read in Jeremiah something traumatic, calamitous took place. And He said, oh, there's no more men. There are no more humans. Amen. But now God has recreated the earth and now He is telling mankind, I want you to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. And then He goes on and says, and have dominion over it and subdue it. See, we're not to be worshiping the earth and mother earth and the trees and everything else they worship and the animals.

You know, I know people don't like it when I throw these things out there, but when they come in my spirit, I got to say them. Do you know that it's a criminal offense to kill a dog or a puppy or a cat? And I think it should be. They made a big uproar over those seagulls that somebody ran over in a parking lot two weeks ago and killed. How many saw that on the news?

Somebody on purpose put out food and the seagulls came down, a big group of them, and then they ran over them and killed 11 or 12 of them. When they find that person, then they're going to be charged with a crime and I think they should be. But why is it okay to kill babies? They just passed a law too that you will be criminally charged if you deliberately abuse a dog or a cat or an animal.

But yet they are passing laws that a baby right up to the time of birth can be killed. They are worshiping the creatures. Amen. They are worshiping their own bodies.

My body, my choice is what they're saying and worshiping the creature more than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. So something happened and God was going to recreate the earth so that he could start over which he did with Adam and Eve from whom we all come.

Amen. Every one of us go back to Adam and Eve. So what was this thing that took place that was so awful, so evil that God's fierce anger burns so hot that he would destroy the earth and everything on it. Now, most Bible scholars who have pondered this very thing believe that the thing that must have done this was when Lucifer rebelled against God and convinced one third of the angels to join him in his rebellion. And we know that he was kicked out of heaven to the earth.

Amen. Now I'm not going to read all the verses because I don't want to take up too much time there but the best chapters on this are Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28. I'll read one verse from Isaiah 14 and that is verse 12. How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How are you cut down to the ground that did weaken the nations?

So there were nations on the earth. Amen. Now I do want you to read a couple of verses in Ezekiel because I want you to see the wording. Ezekiel 28 verses 16 through 18. Prior to this the verses are talking about Lucifer and described him as this beautiful, beautiful angel that was in the garden of Eden with God. Describe what a beautiful angel he was that his body actually had all kinds of precious gems in his body.

Amen. And he was beautiful. He even had musical instruments. Somehow God created him with musical instruments. We all have a musical instrument. We all have a voice although some of us are smart if we don't try to use it to sing like me. Keep preaching.

Don't try singing. Amen. But he had the ability to play strings and reeds. Oh, he was just absolutely phenomenal. And yet because iniquity was found in his heart, because of pride, he was lifted up. He knew he was beautiful. He knew he was wise. The Bible says he was the wisest, the most beautiful of God's creation.

In other words, he didn't just make this up in his head. He was beautiful. He was wise. But he focused. He focused on his self-beauty and he focused on his wisdom instead of giving glory to his creator.

Amen. And so iniquity formed in his heart. And then he went about trying to get other angels on his side. And we'll pick that up in verse 16. By the multitude of your merchandise, you have filled the midst of thee with violence and you have sinned. Therefore I will cast you as profane out of the mountain of God and I will destroy you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty and you have corrupted your wisdom by reason of your brightness. I will cast you to the ground. I will lay you before kings that they may behold you. You have defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities, by the iniquity of your traffic. Therefore I will bring forth a fire from the midst of you. It will devour you and I will bring you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that beheld you.

By the multitude of your merchandise and by your trafficking. And those words, just let me tell you simply what they mean. They mean that he trafficked through the heavens. He went through the various places where these other angels were.

And we know that there are countless numbers of angels. But he went amongst them and somehow he convinced them that they actually could dethrone God. He had to do some phenomenal things to convince them. This was a huge risk for them to take, to follow after him. But he did something and he convinced them.

He probably told them, you know, God is overlooking you. You could have a much higher position with me. You come on board with me, I'll give you a more important job.

You should be doing more. You know, he probably used flattery. Amen? And so whatever the argument may have been, he convinced them to follow him. And one third fell with him. And God's anger was so burning hot against them because he rebelled and he incited in numerous angels to rebel with him. And Jesus said in Luke 10 18, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. I beheld him because Jesus was at that point in his pre incarnate state as the word of God, with God. How many followed me so far? Okay.

We want to make sure we get all our timelines right. So he wasn't Jesus at that time. He was what John said in John 1 1.

He was the word of God and he was God. And he said, yeah, I had a front row seat. I didn't even have to get off my throne. I just sat right where I was and I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. I mean, when he fell, it was so fast and so furious.

Boom! You know how lightning strikes. And we're told in Revelation 12 9, and Satan, that great dragon, that old serpent called the devil, was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. So putting all these pieces of the puzzle together, we can safely assume that this was what took place between Genesis 1 1 and Genesis 1 2.

Amen. So the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the deep and began to vibrate and begin to shake with sound waves. And we read in verse 3, and God said, let there be light.

And there was light. This is the first time God speaks in the Bible. These are the first words that the Creator God utters in his holy word.

And they are Yahyur vah Yahyur. I've told you many times, I will tell you again, that in the Hebrew, there is no let there be. It's just light be and light was. Light be, because it was a command, and within the word of God, within his voice, within his words, there is creation. His words created what he said. If he would have said, let there be light, then it's like he's getting somebody else to agree with him or assist him.

Like, you know, hey, somebody get the house lights and flip the switch. But no, his words are spirit, his words are life, and within his words are the creative power. And so, when he said light be, what was occurring was those pre-existing materials that God created in Genesis 1-1, amen, those pre-existing materials now are hearing the voice of God. The building blocks of all creation are space, matter, and energy. And light is energy in its most fundamental form. Do you know that light includes sound waves, radio waves, TV waves, x-rays, ultraviolet rays? Light is energy, and light is energy for atoms, A-T-O-M.

It is the basic molecule of life, amen. So the sound waves in God's voice called forth the light, and his voice just started gathering all those atoms. All those atoms, amen, and it came together, amen, and there was light. You see, God's spoken word, which we don't see, is greater than the world which we do see, amen. And we're told in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews 11-3 tells us that the worlds were framed by the word of God, specifically by the word of his power. That's Hebrews 11-3, the worlds were framed by the word of his power. And in that verse, which now we're in the Greek language, in that verse the word word, what is it going to be? It's rhema.

It's important to know that. The worlds were framed by the word of God, not the written word, by the spoken word. If we go to Hebrews 1-3, we're told that he upholds the world and everything in it by the word of his power.

What's the Greek word for word there? Rhema, word of his power. If he created the world by spoken word, and they're being upheld by spoken word, they're still hearing the word and the command when he created them. They're still hearing the word of God, that's why they're not falling out of their orbits down on earth and destroying us.

That's why the sun doesn't move over here one day and we turn into an ice ball. Or move over here and we turn into a fireball because he put them in their places with his spoken word and he upholds them, they still hear it. Hence, from that, my favorite message of all times, the sword of the spirit, the spoken word of God. Because I've gotten a revelation in the spirit. I didn't say I created the revelation.

When I was lying on that bed of affliction for years and years in pain and anguish, one day I got the revelation. It's the spoken word of God. It's the sword of the spirit that's going to get you up out of this bed. And that's why I'll preach it every chance I get. Because God's spoken word is so powerful. And you know when he speaks it to your spirit, it forms one blade.

But when you speak it out loud, it forms another blade and it becomes the two-edged sword. So, God saw the light and it was good. And what did he do? He separated, he divided the light from the darkness. He made a distinction to set apart light and darkness.

And here's where we're going to go from here on. From the dawn of creation, God has made a clear distinction between light and darkness. He divided, he has separated them, he's clearly distinctly separated the two, light from darkness. And now saints, I'm going to stop talking about physical creation and we're going in the spirit.

Amen. God is still making a distinction between light and darkness. And I want you to turn with me, if you will, to 2 Corinthians 4-6. We're going to read a verse that you're going to see is the spiritual counterpart, the spiritual parallel to Genesis where God said, and let there be light.

You're going to see the spiritual counterpart in 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 6. For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, when did God command the light to shine out of darkness? In Genesis 1 we read, and God said, light be, and light was. Now just like God spoke to this physical world that was covered in darkness and chaos, because darkness symbolizes metaphorically chaos, trouble, desolation, wickedness, amen. Just as God commanded the light to shine out of the darkness of a chaotic earth, God has now shined in our hearts, amen, to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

God has spoken to our hearts. We were in darkness. The word there in the Greek is skatas, and it literally means night, but it also means to be blind. Whether you're blind physically, whether you're blind spiritually, it means to be ignorant about God.

It means to be ungodly, immoral, wicked. It can even refer to people in whom darkness holds power and influence. Paul told us in Ephesians 6 12 that we need to put on the whole armor of God. He said we're not wrestling against human flesh, amen, but we're wrestling against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, amen.

We're wrestling against rulers, those who have power to disseminate darkness and wickedness in this age. But just like God commanded in creation light be, he has commanded his light to shine in our hearts. Our hearts that were dark, some of us that were dark because you were ignorant of God, you really didn't know you heard about God, you heard about Jesus, but you didn't know anything about the gospel. But one day God commanded the light of the gospel to shine in your heart, amen. Some of you may have heard about it, you might have even been taken to church as a child, but somehow or another you got out there in the world and you got steeped in darkness, in bondage, in bondage from which you could not extricate yourself. Maybe it was chemical substance abuse, alcohol, and all the drugs that are out there.

Maybe it was sexual perversion. Whatever it may have been, you were in bondage, you were in darkness. You were in darkness and you could not set yourself free. But one day God commanded his light. Hallelujah! He commanded his light to shine in your heart. Oh, and when that light shone in your heart and you surrendered to that light, the darkness had to flee. God came in and he separated it. He said the darkness has got to go for the light has come. Hallelujah! And God made a distinction. He separated you from the darkness and your life and your past of ignorance and wickedness.

Amen! This light is manifest one way and only one way and that's in the face of Jesus Christ. There is no other way and the world today will tell you you can't say that. That's intolerant. There is more than one way to God or to heaven.

They'll tell you that. But there is only one way the light shines and that's in the face of Jesus Christ by whom we receive the knowledge of God to come out of darkness. Peter said in 1 Peter 2.9, he's called us out of darkness. Amen!

Amen! I hope you're enjoying this comprehensive study from my Genesis series part 1, the recreation of heaven and earth. The Genesis account begins with the heavens and earth and a state of chaos that does not match the beauty of the unfolding creation of which God said seven times, it is good. Something calamitous occurred between verse 1 and verse 2 of Genesis chapter 1 that turned the earth into a dark expanse covered with water. The prophet Jeremiah used the identical language to describe the earth without form and void and had no light. He said there were no animals, no birds, no humans and the cities were destroyed. This describes what occurred on earth as stated in Genesis of the first two verses.

There was a traumatic event that plunged the earth into this state, Lucifer's rebellion. If you want more of this teaching, the entire three part series is available on three CDs for your love gift of only $20 or more for the radio ministry. You will receive part 1, the recreation of heaven and earth, part 2, recreation days 2 through 4 and part 3, recreation days 5 through 7. Send your minimum love gift of $20 to Sound of Faith, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Request SK777. You may order online at soundoffaith.org where MP3s are available. But to order the Genesis series, the complete set of three CDs by mail, send your love gift of $20 or more to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Request SK777. Until next time, this is Sharonat saying, Maranatha.