Genesis 1

Genesis 1:1

In The Beginning In the beginning.—Genesis 1:1.These words are the beginning of the greatest Book in the world. They are the first words of the first verse of the first chapter of the first book of the Bible.The Jews call the book of Genesis “the Book of the Beginnings” because the first word in the Hebrew Bible is the word which our translators have rendered, “In the beginning” It is a splendid name. Genesis is a book of beginnings. It tells of the beginning of the world, of the beginning of man, of the beginning of the Jewish nation, of the beginning of God’s promises.Now I think that our text is specially a text for boys and girls. You are all “beginnings”—beginnings of men and women. But what kind of men and women you are going to be depends largely on how you begin.1.

So I want to say to you first—begin well. A good start means a tremendous lot in a race, and a good start means a tremendous lot in the race of life.

Sometimes we are inclined to look upon the years of girlhood or boyhood as a time of waiting. The long, long years stretch out in front of us and it seems as if we never would grow up. But they are years of preparation too—the most important of our life. They are the years when we lay up stores of knowledge, stores of goodwill, stores of character. If you lose the opportunity of getting ready then, you will never make it up.A famous writer tells us that once, when he was a youth, he had a strange dream. He thought that he was an old, old man standing at a window on the last night of the year and looking out into the darkness.

He saw a star falling from the sky and he exclaimed in unutterable sorrow, “That is myself!” For he had wasted and misspent his life, and he felt that he was no better than a wandering star that would presently be extinguished in the blackness of night. Then he cried out with a great longing, “Give, oh, give me back my youth!”At that moment the bells rang out to welcome the New Year and the youth awoke to find it was a dream.

He had begun to follow wrong paths, but he was still young. Life with its glorious opportunities still lay before him. He could still make it something noble, something worth living.And, boys and girls, you have all got that magnificent opportunity — the opportunity to make something splendid of your lives. Don’t wait longer to begin. Begin now.2. And the other thing I want to say to you is— begin with God.

It follows from the first, for you can never begin well unless you begin with God.Will you look again at the text and notice the word that follows—“In the beginning—God.” Yes, God is at the beginning of every beginning.There was a famous professor once who was giving a lantern lecture to children about plants and flowers. He explained how the seeds became plants, how the plants became leaves and flowers, how the flowers developed seeds again.

Then he went on to tell how all the different parts of a plant were built up of tiny cells, and how all these cells were filled with a wonderful substance called protoplasm, a substance which is contained in all living bodies and which makes them live and grow. Finally he said that no one knew what gave to protoplasm its power of living and growing. That was a closed door, and behind the door was unfathomable mystery. Then one of the children asked a question—“Please, sir, does God live behind the door?”And that was the very best answer that could have been given. Behind every closed door, behind every beginning is—God. Behind the tiniest insect, behind the smallest blade of grass is God, and God is love.God is in the beginning of every beginning, and He wants to be in your beginning too.

He made you, He made you for Himself, and you will never reach the full glory of your manhood or womanhood unless you take Him into your life.Do you want to make your life noble and grand, do you want to make the very best of it? Then take this as your motto—“In the beginning God.”

Genesis 1:27

The Perfect Pattern God created man in his own image.—Genesis 1:27.Some grown-up people have, as you boys and girls know, a way of turning you around about and looking you up and down, and then saying, “Let me see, who are you like? Why, of course, you are just your father over again!” or “You are your mother’s mirror image!” You don’t care for the looking up and down, but secretly you are not a little proud of being told you are like father; for where could you find another man so splendid? And you are really very pleased to know you resemble mother; for her face is the dearest on earth.But there is Someone else whom you all resemble more or less closely, and that is God. Today’s text tells us that God made man “in his own image.” What does that mean? It means that when He made man He made a copy of Himself. It means that God made us—you and me—after the very best pattern that He knew.God formed the flowers and the fruits, the fishes and the birds, the insects and the beasts, each after its own wonderful pattern, and God saw that they were all very good.

But there was something still lacking.What was it? God wanted something finer and nobler than any of these, something nearer Himself, something that could think and understand, something that could share His friendship and return His love.

Where could He get a pattern for that? The only worthy pattern for such a being was God Himself. And so, because nothing but the best was good enough, God made man in His own image. Doesn’t that make you feel proud and humble at the same time?Now, if God made us after His own likeness, it means that He intended us to be as like that likeness as possible. He did not want us to be a poor copy. When you are making a copy of anything you try to make the copy as near the original as you can. You keep the model beside you, and you measure it and study it every other moment to make sure that your copy is right. In the same way God meant every man to be a good copy of Himself.But alas! man was not content to be like God.

He preferred to spoil the image which God had created. He began to mar it and deface it, and so to destroy it that sometimes it is only God Himself who can tell where the likeness is to be found; for man has made himself nearer a beast than a man.But God’s image is still there, and it can be restored. Have any of you seen an old house which has been restored? Once upon a time the building had ceilings with wonderful paintings. Or it had walls with beautiful wooden paneling. But somebody who knew no better splashed these exquisite ceilings with tacky color-wash, and daubed that lovely paneling with green or red paint. All the loveliness was hidden. Then an artist, or a man who knew about such things, came along, and he guessed what was under the color-wash and the paint.

He had them removed, oh! so carefully. He restored to the house its original beauty, and now it is the glory of the neighborhood.So God can restore His image in man. How does He do it?Well, God found that there was one way, only one way, that man could be remade in His image. It was by coming Himself to earth, by showing men the Original. He came to earth two thousand years ago in the person of Jesus Christ. He showed us the Original Pattern, the Perfect Example, and He asks us to copy it.Can we remake ourselves then? No. We may do a little; but if we want ourselves properly remade we must put ourselves in God’s hands.

God has shown us the Perfect Pattern to awaken our desire and longing to be like Him, but He knows that we cannot manage the remaking all by ourselves. And so He is ready to help us. We have only to come to Him and say, “Father, I want to be like Jesus. Make me anew in His image.”And if we really mean it God will do it. Day by day, with His help, we shall grow more like Jesus, more like Himself, more worthy to be called “a child of God.”