Day 2: Sky to Separate the Waters (Gen. 1:6-8)

Day 2: Sky to Separate the Waters (Gen. 1:6-8)

           

God's Work on Day 2:

• The description of God creating the expanse on Day 2 (God speaks, God makes, God names)
• The significance of God creating the expanse on Day 2 

Summary: God's initial creation was characterized by barrenness and darkness.  The darkness problem was solved when the Light shined on Day 1.  But what about the barrenness problem, that is, the lingering fact that the earth was still "without form and void"? God's work on Day 2 was a massive preliminary step in solving the problem, for it was on Day 2 that God created the Sky by holding back the waters.  The description of God's work on Day 2 is powerful and the significance of this work is breathtaking. 

Main Point:  God wants us to know that he made the sky by holding back the waters by his Word.

Discussion Questions:

• What is the most basic common denominator in God's work each day of the creation week? (see Gen. 1:3,6,9,11,14,20,24-26).  How should the apostle John's description of the Word in John 1:1-5 shape who we think about God speaking throughout Genesis 1? (cf. Col. 1:16b and Heb. 1:1-3). 
• Discuss this statement: "In the context of Genesis 1, God speaking is God making."  (cf. Ps. 33:6; 148:4-5; Heb. 11:3)   
• What is the expanse? What are the waters below? What are the waters above?
• Would there be any reason that God would stop holding back the waters? (6:5-8, 9-14a)
• What would happen if God did release the waters? (see Gen. 6:17-22; 7:1, 4-5, 11-12, 20-24; 8:1-2; 20-22; 9:1, 8-17)
• What should the release and holding back of these waters teach us in our day (see 2 Pet. 3:1-15)

Application Questions:

• What would be a fitting, worshipful response to the fact that I was saved before God's coming judgment (fire) all because God is actively, mercifully and patiently holding back the waters?
• How should God's patience in temporarily holding back his judgement on unbelievers shape the way that I live the Christian life and interact with unbelievers? 

Prayer Points:

• Praise God for his patience which accounts for how you and others were able to be saved
• Praise God that you are not destined for wrath, but to obtain salvation through Jesus Christ
• Ask God to help us, his people, live holy and godly lives as we await the return of Christ

In the Beginning, God (Gen. 1:1a)

Outline: In the Beginning, God (Gen. 1:1a): 

           

God is eternal:

• Implication #1: God never had a beginning
• Implication #2: God is not bound by time
• Implication #3:God is not dependent on his creation
• Conclusion question:  What was God doing before he created?

Summary: Before launching into the details of the creation account in Genesis 1, we linger to consider the massive assumption contained in the first four words of the Bible--God is eternal! This implies that God never had a beginning and that he is not bound by time.  It also implies that God is not at all dependent on his creation.  In the conclusion of this message we ask a very focused question: what was God doing before he created? Scripture gives us beautiful glimpses into this sublime reality and these glimpses help us to see that God created in order to fold us into the glory and love and delight that he, as the triune God, has been enjoying from all eternity. 

Main Point:  The eternal God created in order to fold a people into his eternal joy.

Discussion Questions:

• What is it important to consider the eternality of God?
• Why is it significant that God never had a beginning and that he is not bound by time?
• What windows does the Bible give us into what God was doing before he created? (Hint: read John 17:5, 24 and Eph. 1:3-10)
• Read and discuss the salvation promise of John 3:16 in light of the eternality of God

Application Questions:

• What comfort can I find from the fact that God is eternal and that, through faith in Christ, God's eternal arms are under me at every moment? 
• How might a more regular focus on God's eternal greatness and his plans to fold me into his eternal love help to shape the way I respond to the trials and difficulties of this life?  

Prayer Points:

• Praise God as the Everlasting God, our eternal Creator
• Praise God for his glorious plan to fold us into his eternal joy by saving us through the sacrifice of his own dear Son.  
• Confess ways in which you've "put God in a box," forgetting his greatness and how utterly dependent we are on him for life and breath and everything. 
• Ask God to help us to keep his eternality in mind as we consider his work of creation and salvation from Genesis 1-3.