132 was not the light of the fourth day, but it was the cosmic light which, according to recent investigations of the scientific world, exists altogether apart from the solar light. We are told by critics that this section is not historical or scientific, but that it is valuable for its religious worth. This is nonsense. If, for our history and our sci ence we must have facts, how much more is it necessary for our religion? Profes sor J. D. Dana in his Manual of Geology says, “The order of events in the Scrip ture cosmogony is both true and divine.” And Dr. Hugh Miller, the famous Scotch geologist, declares practically the, same thing in his book, The Testimony o f the Rocks. There is no recognized authority on geology who dares to teach any other order than that of Genesis 1. We need not be at all disturbed by statements, from whatever source, that deny the facts of Genesis 1; they come from men who are neither scientists in the true sense nor the ologians in any sense. IV. T he B eginning of M an (26-31). The Bible makes three clear statements concerning the origin of man, and these are, of necessity, revelations. Each of them contradicts modern assertions concerning the origin of man. 1. The creation of man was wholly God’s decision. . There was no self-determination on the part of man, or on the part of anything that became man as a result of long ages of evolution. When it came to the creation of man, there was a special counsel by the Trinity, and the decision was: “Let us make man.” 2. The creation of man was for God’s purpose. That purpose was that man should be, under God, the ruler of all God’s creation. “Let them have dominion over . . . all.” Until man sinned and thus lost that do minion, he fulfilled God’s purpose. We are not surprised to read that, when the Second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, arrived upon the scene, He exercised the dominion that the first .Adam lost. He was obeyed by the winds and the waves, and all creation bowed to His authority. 3. The creation of man was by the di rect and immediate act of God. “So God created man in his own image.” Here again we meet the word bara, which means to make something out of nothing. That man’s beginning had no connection with the rest of created things is clearly revealed in Genesis 2:18 to 23, where we are told that, among all the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, there could not be found any that answered to, or were equaled by, or were worthy of, or had the nature of man. There had to be a spe cial work to provide for the first man the woman who was to meet all these require ments. Man was created, not for himself alone, but for the God who created him. To miss this point and seek for independency leaves man without the object of his creation— unsatisfied and, as it were, unfinished. To recognize this point and to live for the God who created him brings man to satisfac tion of heart, rest of mind, and fullness of life.
March 1932
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
contained in the Hebrew word Elohim? Why do you think the Bible does not at tempt to prove the existence of God? What does the word “created” mean in this passage? V. 2. Was the earth created “without form and void” (Isa. 45:18)? Is it pos sible that ages passed between the events of verse 1 and verse 2? Vs. 3-5. Should one properly speak of the six days of creation, or of renovation? What was the particular work of each of the successive days ? V. 26. How would you prove that man was created as a result of the will of the Triune God, and not by any self-determi nation of his own? What was to be his position in the universe? V. 27. How did the creation of man dif fer from that of the lower animals? List some of the blessings of Eden. Golden Text Illustration More than fifty years ago, a memorable dinner was held in London. The leaders of contemporary English thought were there. There were no set addresses. There was no topic assigned. Dean Stanley was asked to preside, and he proposed for discussion this question: “Who will dominate the fu ture?” Professor Huxley spoke first. Af ter preliminary skirmishing, he gave this as his opinion, “The future will be domi nated by the nation which sticks most closely to the facts.” He left his audience profoundly affected by the dominance of physical science and the material data fur nished by it. After a moment of silence, the dean call ed upon Edward Miall, a member of Par liament, and president of the Royal Com mission on Education, “I have,” said Mr. Miall, “been listening to the last speaker with profound interest, and agree with him that the future will be dominated by the nation which sticks most closely to the facts; but I want to add one word— all the facts! The greatest fact in history is God!”— T he H omiletic R eview . Lesson Text-. Gen. 2:15-17; 3:1-8. Golden Text-. “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation” (Matt. 26:41). The First Sin e do not know the exact location of the Garden of Eden. It is quite generally believed by archaeolo gists to have been somewhere in the Tigris and Euphrates valley. It must have been where these two riv- • ers meet, and ;where, thousands of years ago, two other rivers ! also joined them. It I is a matter of histor- f ical fact that the Per sian Gulf has been en croaching u p o n the land upon its north ern shore. Is it not likely that the four rivers once met much farther south than they do now, and that the waters of the Gulf have covered the spot? We are told that God put an angel at the gate of the garden to keep men from taking of the fruit of the tree of life. It is quite possible that at the time of the great flood, “the f o u n t a i n s of the deep”
In the Beginning—God Genesis 1:1-5, 26, 27, 31
Memory Verse: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1 :1). Approach : Today we are going to go back to the first book of the Bible, to Gen esis, and the very name tells us what the story is to be about, for Genesis means
“b e g i n n i n g.” And what do you suppose there was away back there at the beginning of things ? L e s s o n S t o r y : There was God—be fore He made the earth and the water and the plants and the sun and the fish and the animals and man and woman, there was
God—always there has been God, and al ways there will be God. It was He who made the world in which we live. The Bible doesn’t tell us just when it was that God made the earth, but we know that it was a very long time ago, and Moses, who wrote about it in the book of Genesis, says that it was “in the begin ning.” The Bible doesn’t tell exactly how God created all of the things which He made, but it does say that first of all He made the earth. Then, He divided the day from the night. Next, He divided the wa ters, and the dry land appeared. Then the plants were created, and grass and herbs and trees. Then the sun was made to shine by day and the moon and stars by night. After that God created the fish in the sea, and then the animals, and last of all man and woman. The man God called Adam, and Adam named his wife Eve. God made Adam to rule over the fish and the birds and the beasts, and Eve was to be his helper. After God had created all this beautiful earth and the plants and ani mals on it, He rested and looked about Him—and He saw that everything was good. E H which were broken up and covered the land, were the waters of the Persion Gulf. It is also quite possible that the Gulf did not recede so far as formerly. Thus all opportunity for mankind to find access to the tree of life was forever lost. The Babylonian- tablets, which contain the account of the creation, also contain an account of the fall of man. As in the former case, the story is absurd in its my thology, but sufficient similarity exists, to indicate that it was based upon accounts which were handed down from the time of the first sin. Thus we have a profane cor roboration of the Biblical record. A Baby lonian clay cylinder bears a representation of the temptation. Two figures are seated beside a fruit tree. On one side is pictured a serpent, standing erect. This seal is dated by scholars at before 2000 B.C. Thus it antedates the Bible account. It must have been derived from a traditional account of the temptation, of which the Bible story is the God-given record. Outline and Exposition I. M an ’ s E mployment (2:15).
APRIL 10, 1932 HOW ¿ÍN-BEGAN G enesis 2:8 to 3 :24
Lesson Questions
V. 1. What three beginnings are re corded in the Word of God (cf. John 1:1 ; 1 John 1:1; Gen. 1:1)? What meaning is
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