Introductory Note: Hey all! It’s great to be back. Just some information up front. The answers will be found under BSF Genesis on the side bar. It might take a couple of weeks for it to show up since the side bar is determined by popularity so be patient! Until then, you can use the search in the side bar or scroll down to find the answers.
Summary of passage: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void but the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
1st Day: God made light and He saw it was good. He separated light from dark. He called light “day” and dark “night.”
2nd Day: God separated the waters to create sky.
3rd Day: He let the dry ground appear, which He named “land” and the gathered waters he called “seas”. Then the land produced vegetation–all of which God saw was good.
4th Day: God made the sun, moon, and stars to be used as signs to mark the seasons, days, and years; to give light on the earth; to govern the day and the night; and to separate light from darkness. God saw that it was good.
5th Day: God created the great creatures of the sea as well as every winged bird. He blessed them to multiply and fill the earth. He saw it was good.
6th Day: God created living creatures on the land and all the wild animals and He saw it was good. He made man in His own image to rule over all the earth and its creatures. God blessed them and told them to be fruitful and rule. He gave man every green plant for food and everything that has the breath of life in it. God saw that it was very good.
Questions:
3a) God is the subject of most sentences followed by an action verb (said, saw, created, called, made, set, blessed). It’s all about God. His name is used 30 times in Chapter 1. He’s the center. Nothing happens in this chapter without Him. It’s true now. He’s the center and nothing happens in this world without Him.
b) The word let is very common in English. I sense no pompousness here or a great booming voice–just God casually (yet purposefully) creating all. Let means “to cause to or make” according to Webster’s Dictionary. God is causing or making all.
Another meaning of let in Webster’s Dictionary is the imperative (command) form here, meaning to introduce a request or proposal. It’s a command yet it’s gentle.
“It was so” means everything God spoke was. He is omnipotent and Chapter 1 of Genesis shows this clearly.
4) He saw that all He had made was very good (verse 31)
5a) Jeremiah 10:12: God made everything by His power, wisdom, and understanding
Acts 17:24-25: God made the world and is therefore Lord and He does not need anything because He’s the ultimate (and the first) giver.
Romans 1:18-20: Since God is the Creator His eternal and divine qualities are in everything.
b) Personal Question. My answer: This is a stupid question. Why doesn’t BSF just come out and say the word “evolution” instead of tip-toeing around it? Obviously, if you are a believer, then you believe in the Creation and not in Evolution. It’s the first words of the Bible. This alone speaks to its significance.
Conclusions: I felt silly summarizing Genesis 1, the most popular and probably well-known chapter in the entire Bible. But I had never listed out each individual day before so I learned the sequence of Creation.
I think we must be careful not to get too comfortable with this study. Most of us know the stories in Genesis like the back of our hand. But do we know the significance of the stories?
I know I don’t. This is why I am doing this study.
Some fun facts I already learned: The Bible would not make much sense without the book of Genesis. Almost every fundamental doctrine begins here: sin, redemption, the power of God, the purpose of Jesus Christ, and justification.
Moses is believed to have written the book of Genesis (Luke 24:27, 44).
Genesis is quoted in the New Testament over 150 times.
I pray everyone has a deep and meaningful study in the book of Genesis and that perhaps you glean something here.
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Thank you for your faithful study.
Your summaries, answers, comments, and conclusions always feed my soul and bless my Spirit.
Your the best!
Sent from my iPhone
Good Morning,
I Love following your Blog, turned on my computer this morning and a new post from you in my email from BSF, I haven’t received my call as of yet from my new class leader, when did your class start??
Jerry Ledbetter Ledbetter Field Services, Inc.
Jerry,
Hasn’t yet. Starts next week. But I received numerous reports from those who start this week so here we go!
Ditto what Janette, Dee, and Gwen said! Glad to get a headstart, my classes don’t start for 2 more weeks but I’m ready now . . .
this is my 2nd year ub Bsf, I livve in Hong Kong. i love your blog, it really inspired me.
please continue, don’t stop. May God always bless you aiways.
” T H A N K Y O U S O M U C H ! “
Thank you A2ZMom for this first lesson of the new BSF season.
I look forward to receiving your wisdom on a weekly basis.
Best from Oakland…..
Larry Westland | Senior Vice President
It’s good to get back
Sent from my iPod
Thank you-God is faithful.
Additional thanks for your postings.
“The questions will be found under BSF Genesis on the side bar”.
Are you kidding? Will I really be able to get the questions on Internet? How?
That is so exciting!! Thank you.
Nope, Sorry, Lissette, that was a typo and I just fixed it. I meant “answers.” Cannot post questions due to copyright.
Thanks for catching that one.
such a shame that they won’t post questions online.There are many people that cannot go to meetings.
The qestions are on the internet for registered class members under BSF website. Lessons thru 7 or 8 are there, have been for awhile
thanks , i like your blog, God bless you and your family always!!!!!
Welcome back! Hope you and your family had a wonderful summer. Thanks you for your comments on the book of Genesis. Peace and Blessings always
Last year I was on the wait list until November, you kept me going during that time and God used the time to prepare me for His other plans. I’m on the wait list this year, but hopefully not for long.
Thanks for all you do for us.
I’m so glad that you are doing the Genesis study. I know last year you were questioning if you should continue blogging for this ministry. God bless you and I pray that God will continually give you the strength and wisdom to go through your day!
Thank you for you openness to share your answers. I always try to answer on my own, but can never resist to see if you have a different take than myself!! I am blessed to have this study in my life
Wow, learned so much, thank you.
There are believers including me who believe that the Hebrew word for day can be translated as “period of time.” To say that the only choices are evolution versus a six 24 hour period of creation is to limit the God I believe in with my whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. I would ask that people be mindful of different beliefs and acceptance of translation just as you would of differences in baptism or creeds when sitting in your groups. There are people from all countries, all political parties, all walks of life, all education levels, and all denominations and even some who do not know Christ or who do not attend church yet. Some of us believe exactly as you might and some of us don’t. Hopefully, we all love Jesus Christ and are welcoming to those who need Him, too. I love this site and I appreciate all you do for so many.
Cheryl,
Focusing on possible multiple meanings for a single word (day) do not take into context the rest of the book of Geneis and many other facts found in God’s word. For instance, Adam lived 930 years. The fall happened after the seventh day of creation so the total of time between Adam being created on the 6th day and the fall that happened after the 7th day was well under 930 years if Adam’s age is correctly stated. But if a day is a thousand years (or more) then Adam did not survive through the seventh day of creation. As the author of this blog post pointed out, the sequence of the creation account is significant. Plants were created before the sun was put into the sky. How did they survive without the sun based on our knowledge of the science related to plant life? Then there is the issue of death. Death came after sin according to God’s word, but if man and/or animal lived for thousands, millions, or billions of years before the fall, then there would have to have been death before sin. But remember that Adam only lived 930 years according to Genesis 5 so the math between day six and the end of day seven do not allow for a “period of time” greater than Adam’s age. I believe God gave us Adam’s age as a clear indication of how long things took between day six and Adam’s death.
This really all comes down to an authority of scripture. Those who openly oppose and reject God know that if doubt can be brought to the creation message as written in Geneis, then they can use that as springboard to draw doubt to the gospel message. Consider this quote from atheist.org as you example the significance of the choice between evolution and creation:
“No Adam and Eve means no need for a savior. It also means that the Bible cannot be trusted as a source of unambiguous, literal truth. It is completely unreliable, because it all begins with a myth, and builds on that as a basis. No Fall of Man means no need for atonement and no need for a redeemer.”
I love your blog!! As for the question about agreeing with the creation account; I thought they were implying do you believe the world was created in 6 literal days and not all Christians agree on that fact.
David
Many thanks for your answers and all the comments from others,They all help in understanding the scripture verses for me.
can not find lesson 2 genesis bsf anywhere
on my site or for mybsf.org?