Genesis One - Who Are You?

I used to wonder why God gave us Genesis chapter 1. Why does He tell us what happened at the beginning? Why is it important that we know where everything came from? Isn't it enough to know there is a God and He sent His Son to save us from sin?

No, it isn't. The Bible does not make sense without Genesis chapter one.

An objection I frequently hear is that God must be a wicked, evil, unjust god if he condemns someone to eternal hell for stealing a paper clip. How can people be condemned to eternal punishment for doing one small thing wrong.

Of course we sin much, MUCH more than stealing just one paper clip, but the principle is that if we break just one of God's laws, it is the same as breaking them all and we are condemned to eternal hell. So in theory if the only wrong thing you do throughout your entire life is to steal one paper clip, you are as a result of that theft going to spend eternity in hell. And Genesis One tells us why this is just and right.

Genesis 1:26 says: "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image: in our likeness, and let them rule...'"

Genesis 1:27 repeats this twice more: "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

In just these two verses God tells us that we are created in His image. We bear God's image. As His image bearers we represent who God is to the rest of the universe... such as the rulers and authorities in heaven (Ephesians 3:10).

What are the Ten Commandments? Are they a set of rules for us to follow? Sort of. But they are much more. The Ten Commandments describe God's character. They describe who God is. That is why as God's image bearer we must live in obedience to the Ten Commandments. If we break these commandments we are misrepresenting who God is to the rest of the universe. That is why if we break just one commandment it is the same as breaking them all. Because by breaking one commandment we have misrepresented God. It does not matter which commandment you break, you have misrepresented God as being something He is not.

That is the true nature of sin. To sin is to break God's law. (1 John 3:4) And to break God's law is to represent the eternal God as breaking His law. It is to wrongly represent the one and only God, who is eternal, as being a liar, a thief, and adulterer, a murder... And the just and fair punishment is an eternal punishment.

That is why Genesis chapter one is important. It tells us who we are... we are the image of God. And it tells us who God is... our creator and the creator of the universe and all that is in it. The One who created the universe just by speaking the word. The One who is so great He can measure the universe with the width of His hand. (Isaiah 40:12)

We all misrepresent who God is. We are all sinners. We are all rightly condemned to eternity in hell. That is the penalty we justly deserve. The only way we can be saved from this penalty is if someone else is willing to pay this penalty for us. If someone else is willing to step into our place and take the punishment we justly deserve.

Someone has done this... Jesus Christ.

Is Hell Real?

A George Barna survey revealed that about 76% of Americans believe that heaven exists and 71% believe that hell exists.

How many people think they will go to heaven and how many think they will go to hell? Just 0.5% of Americans think they are headed for hell.

Obviously hell is not a good place to go. What is hell? Is hell a real place? Who is going to hell and who is going to heaven? (Can we know the answer to that question?) Our web site has a counter (provided by Living Waters Ministry) that shows how many people are dying and it states that most of those are going to hell. Why do so few people believe they are heading for hell, yet here is a claim that most are going to hell? Over the next few posts to this blog we will answer these questions.

Let's start with Matthew 5:29-30 -- these verses that tell us how serious Jesus said hell is.

"And if your right eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell. And if your right hand offend you, cut it off, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell."

How valuable is one of your eyes? If you were offered $1,000,000 for one of your eyes, would you sell it? What if you were offered $10,000,000 for both of your eyes? Would you sell them? Of course not!! Your eyesight is valuable and precious.

Yet Jesus says that given the choice, the better choice is to give up your eye instead of going to hell.

He then talks about giving up your right hand. One's right hand was much more valuable in Jesus' time than now. For example, without your right hand you could not defend yourself and you would be at the mercy of anyone who wanted to job or kill you. Yet Jesus says that given the choice, the better choice is to give up your right hand instead of going to hell.

Jesus talked more about hell than about heaven. These verses just begin to scratch the surface in revealing to us what hell is like.