In the Beginning – Part 1

October 21, 2024

Broadcast

                       In the Beginning - Part 1
                             Genesis 1:1-3
                              10/21/2024


        1    In the beginning, God created the heavens and the
             earth.
        2    The earth was without form and void, and darkness
             was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of
             God was hovering over the face of the waters.
        3    And God said, ``Let there be light,'' and there
             was light.  (ESV)

        Is the Bible the Word of God?  The late Doctor Al Barry, who
   served the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod as president in the
   1990s, wrote:
        Real human beings were given real words from God to
        write down. As our Lord Jesus Christ was both true God
        and true man, so the Bible is truly the Word of God and
        also the writing of human beings. Even as our Lord
        Jesus took on human flesh free from sin and error, so
        God used human beings to provide a written revelation
        of Himself that is free from error. Thus, we believe
        that the Bible is both incapable of error (infallible)
        and free from error (inerrant).[1]


        Has the Bible been disproven by objective evidence, such as
   archaeology, geography, astronomy, or history?  Surprisingly, for
   a book whose first chapters were written three thousand six
   hundred years ago, it has been shown to be quite accurate.
   Because we believe, teach, and confess that the Bible is the Word
   of God, we accept the Bible as true.  Where the Bible and modern
   science disagree, we look for the flaws in the human reasoning of
   science.

        Now comes one of the more controversial statements in the
   Bible.
        In the beginning, God created the heavens and the
        earth.  The earth was without form and void, and
        darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit
        of God was hovering over the face of the waters.  And
        God said, ``Let there be light,'' and there was light.


        This week our Old Testament lesson is the creation account
   in Genesis.  We are going to look at selected verses of this
   account to learn more of this most important truth, that God the
   Father is our Creator.

        May our Lord grant us open ears to hear His Word, and faith
   to trust in Him.  Amen.

   ____________________

   1. Barry,  A. L. (1996).  What about the Bible.  St. Louis: LCMS.
      https://resources.lcms.org/reading-study/what-about-pamphlets/