NEW BEGINNINGS - a message of encouragement from God to His kids (the Jews and Jesus) about the new phase of life in which they were about to embark* God to the Israelites: * The Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land. * What message would God have for them? * God downloaded five books into Moses, one of them went back to the beginning - Genesis. * The Jews needed this book to create a solid foundation for their new life. * Many scholars believe that the Israelites fled Egypt around 1450-1440 BC. * They also believe Moses wrote Genesis around 1400 BC. * KEY - Whatever God forms He fills. * But there’s an order to how He does it: * Illumination - Separation - Habitation. * He did this with all of creation - the earth first and then mankind. * Gen 1:1-2 - He created the heavens and the earth. * But the earth was FORMLESS - God needed to FORM it. * The earth was VOID - He needed to FILL it. * The Six Days of Creation are all about Him forming and filling. * 1) ILLUMINATION: Gen 1:3 * 2) SEPARATION: Gen 1:4-9 * * light from darkness * * waters below from waters above * * land from water * Illumination and separation prepared the way for habitation. * 3) HABITATION: * vs 10-31 - Vegetation, Animals, Humans. Day 1 - Heavens and the earth (nothing but water) - He lit it up and split it up!Day 2 - Sky - He separated the waters above and belowDay 3 - Land - He separated the water from the dirt - vegetation was a part of thisDay 4 - Stars - Gen 1:14-18 - Before habitation he had to create government so people could keep things separate. Day 5 - Fish Day 6 - Animals & Man * EXAMPLE - ADAM: God did with Adam what He did with the earth. * vs 2:19-20 - ILLUMINATION - no helper was “found” - he was looking. * vs 2:21 - SEPARATION - feminine was removed from masculine. * vs 2:22-25 - HABITATION - and they lived happily ever after. * FLOOD - when God brought the flood He set the earth back to its original form (full of water) - He removed Separation. (Genesis 7:21) * APPLICATION: Illumination - Separation - Habitation * 1) Walk in the light. Spend time with God in prayer and the Word. * 2) Stay separate from the world. “Be holy for I am holy.” * 3) When we walk in the light and remain separate we live in God and He lives in us.