New Beginnings: A Devotional Study of Genesis and Acts

By Fred Sherrod

As the divinely inspired Word of God, the primary purpose of the Bible is to probe the depths of the human heart more skillfully and purposefully than any surgeon could possibly imagine. With this in mind, my intent in New Beginnings is to follow the riveting narratives of Genesis and Acts with a primary emphasis on the devotional and inspirational elements. From a Christian perspective, I cannot imagine four beginnings with more historical significance than those emphasized in these two informative books: (1) the creation of the world with all its living things, (2) the foundation of IsraelGods chosen nation, (3) the establishment of the Churchthe Body of Christ, and the most incredible beginning of all, (4) people from every walk of life being born again by the power of the gospel.

My personal perceptions and convictions have evolved from a background of thirty-three years using the scientific method in chemical research, and even longer exploring the eternal truths of the Bible as a Christian and minister. I might add that the practical experiences I gained as a husband, father of two girls, and bivocational pastor prevent my viewpoints from being too esoteric or theoretical in nature. Whether a casual reader or serious student of the Bible, I hope you find New Beginnings informative if not illuminating, interesting if not stirring, and encouraging if not inspiring. Finally, if your Christian fervor needs rekindling, my prayer is that these pages nourish and revitalize youlike a steaming bowl of my mothers chicken soup on a cold, rainy day.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481754309

Fred Sherrod

Born into an East Texas sharecropper’s family in 1943, Fred is the second of four children. Honoring God, hard work, and respect for people were important concepts learned at an early age. His first two great loves were reading books, especially the Bible, and roaming the outdoors. At the age of eleven, financial pressures eased modestly when the family left the farm and moved to town for a better-paying job. Through work, loans, scholarships, and an encouraging family, Fred earned a master’s degree in chemistry in 1967 and accepted a job as a research chemist for The Dow Chemical Company on the Gulf Coast. Life became more complicated for his wife, Verna, a career schoolteacher, and their two small girls in 1975 when he suddenly became a Baptist pastor while continuing his job in industry. With no prior training or preparation for this new responsibility, his most valuable ministerial asset was a beautiful, supportive wife with the ability to sing and play the piano.   During his thirty-three years of scientific research, Fred was the author of thirty-eight technical papers and was granted ten U. S. Patents. After raising their two girls, who also became schoolteachers, Fred and Verna retired to live in the historic Big Thicket of Texas in 2000, where he is currently the pastor of First Shiloh, a small country church in Woodville, Texas. His spare time is spent fishing, playing golf, and enjoying the woods.   Fred’s diverse background enriches the broad spectrum of spiritual truths presented in his book. His inherent analytical personality, magnified by endless hours of detailed work in the laboratory, is evident in these biblical studies. This technical perspective is softened with numerous heart-warming stories from his past experiences, interesting illustrations of historical figures, and inspirational poetry.

Book preview

Chapter 1

THE CREATION

Genesis 1

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters (Gen. 1:1-2).

In the beginning God. In the most popular book ever written, these initial words take the reader back to the farthermost extremes of recorded history. We might expect the Bible to begin with a detailed argument for the reality of God; instead, the writer totally ignores apologetics and presumes His eternal existence as a foregone conclusion. The first sentence is not only a clear and definitive rejection of atheism, but also a strong affirmation that all things have their beginning through God—a fact consistently maintained throughout scripture.

The Hebrew word for God in the first chapter of Genesis is Elohim, which is the plural form for God and an obvious reference to the Holy Trinity. In addition to the work of our heavenly Father in the act of creation, the Bible also confirms the involvement of the preincarnate Christ and the Holy Spirit. For example, John wrote, Through Him [Christ] all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made (John 1:3, NIV). Similarly, the writer of Hebrews informs us that God created the universe through His Son (Heb. 1:2). Also, the Spirit of God is pictured as moving [brooding, hovering] over the face of the waters (Gen. 1:2). Importantly, Elohim is used in conjunction with a singular verb, thus affirming the enigmatic existence of one God in three Persons.

It is not until the second chapter that the term, LORD God, first appears (Gen. 2:4). Notice that the word LORD is capitalized in the King James Version (and many other translations). The Hebrew word is literally Yahweh or the equivalent, Jehovah. Therefore, when we read, LORD God, it is a translation of Yahweh Elohim, and is sometimes rendered Jehovah God. This is the covenant name the nation of Israel used for God, and was considered by them to be His personal name. Scholars tell us it is a compaction of the name He gave Moses out of the burning bush, I AM WHO I AM (Ex. 3:13-14). According to a recent Sunday School lesson, the name stresses that God is self-existent, is the only God, is consistent, does not change, is Creator, and is adequate to meet any need.

GOD CREATED THE WORLD

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (NIV). The Hebrew word for create is bara, which is only used in association with the miraculous actions of God. It means that something absolutely new was brought into being out of nothing. For example, according to the New Testament, By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what is visible (Heb. 11:3, NIV). Bara is used three specific times in the first chapter of Genesis (verses 1, 21, and 27), an important fact to explore as one contemplates the biblical account of creation.

Whatever else Christians believe about creation, it is imperative we recognize God as the ultimate source and sole architect of the universe. Nevertheless, within the broad scope of creation, His method of choice continues to be debated, and is open to varied interpretations. Although scoffed at by modern science, the biblical description follows a precise six-day formation sequence: (1) light, (2) firmament, (3) dry land and vegetation, (4) lights in the firmaments, (5) sea creatures and birds of the air, (6) animals and man.

For the curious Christian, perhaps the two most stimulating questions are how and when God created this gigantic universe in which we live. Because it is so incredibly large, space is measured in light-years—the distance light travels in a year. Considering light travels 186,000 miles per second, this tells us something about the awesome size of the cosmos. For example, we live on a relatively small planet in the Milky Way, a galaxy containing billions of stars. One of these countless stars is our sun, which is 150 trillion miles from the center of our galaxy. Even more mind-boggling is that the Milky Way is only one of over 100 billion galaxies, each with over 100 billion stars. Allegedly, our universe has an approximate diameter of 93 billion light-years. (If you enjoy math, calculate how long it would take for you to drive across the universe in your Chevrolet.)

Now, how did this vast universe get here? Since science and the Bible seem to be consistently at odds on this issue, is there any way the different views can be reconciled? Personally, I believe in good science. Many terrible diseases have been defeated through the scientific method. People have traveled to the moon and back. We have the highest standard of living the world has ever experienced. I also believe the Bible, the inspired Word of God, to be absolutely true and without error. A scientist by training and a minister by calling, I am convinced science should not have to conflict with scripture. With this in mind, consider the most popular explanations for how the universe was formed.

THE BIG BANG THEORY

About fourteen billion years ago, according to the latest science books, the only thing in existence was a microscopic speck called a singularity. In this distant past, when even time did not exist, this miniscule particle suddenly exploded by some unexplained mechanism, releasing energy and matter in unimaginable proportions. From this one event all the trillions of heavenly bodies in the entire universe were formed—stars, planets, moons, black holes, etc. Astronomers tell us the universe is still expanding in size with the ultimate outcome uncertain due to recently discovered complications such as dark energy and dark matter.

The beginning of the big bang theory is most interesting. In the middle 1900’s a physicist by the name of George Gamow first developed the novel concept, but another recognized scientist, an avowed atheist, Fred Hoyle, was in violent opposition to his idea. He called Gamow a closet creationist, inferring that the big bang theory was just a clever way of saying God created the universe. However, as Gamow’s view gained wide acceptance in the scientific world, God was conveniently no longer linked to the big bang.

Some scientists believe this mysterious singularity somehow formed out of nothing. However, recognizing this theory implicitly supports the involvement of a divine being, others continue to search for a more secular answer—and some of their explanations are really weird. One of the more recent theories rapidly gaining serious acceptance is that our world is only one of an infinite number of parallel universes. They suggest that some version of you and I live in an incalculable number of these other worlds. I continue to be amazed that intelligent people could actually consider parallel universes as a viable option while dismissing God as even a remote possibility.

According to the proponents of the big bang theory, about four billion years ago some of the material flying out through space finally cooled, congealed, and formed our planet. After another long period of time, the temperature of the earth cooled enough for organic molecules to group together into a primitive primordial soup. On their own, these chemical structures became increasingly more complex until eventually, by some means not yet understood, they crossed an insurmountable barrier and became one-celled life forms. Finally, through the processes of evolution and mutation, simple creatures randomly developed into increasingly higher and more complicated life forms until Homo sapiens (modern man) emerged as the crowning pinnacle of natural selection.

That is an amazing story indeed. A lot of blind faith is required to believe this bizarre account of how we got here. Yet, any one questioning this unproven theory risks ridicule and scorn by the elitist scientific community. Some Christians accept the validity of this explanation, arguing God could create the world any way He wanted, with evolution simply being His method of choice.

YOUNG EARTH BELIEF

A small group of Christians still believe the world is only about six or seven thousand years old. According to them, carbon dating, a primary means of measuring the prehistoric timetable, is highly unreliable. For example, because dinosaur tracks and human footprints have supposedly been found together, they allege dinosaurs walked on this earth in fairly recent times, not millions of years ago. I once heard a very articulate speaker at First Baptist Church, Lake Jackson, Texas, present scientific evidence supporting a young earth. Although my schooling keeps me extremely skeptical and unconvinced, I can understand how anyone predisposed toward this line of reasoning might be tempted to accept it as fact.

My father-in-law, Rev. Carl Greer, a college-educated preacher from the Old School, held this antiquated young earth belief. Foolishly, I once asked him how dinosaur bones could be sixty-five million years old if the world was only six thousand years old. He answered with a straight face in absolute sincerity, God could put sixty-five million-year-old bones in a six thousand-year-old earth if He so desired. Not knowing how to respond to such logic, that was our first and last discussion about creation.

DAY – AGE THEORY

Other Christians, in an attempt to reconcile science and the Bible, allege the six days of creation are not literal days. They argue that since, by definition, normal twenty-four hour days could not have existed before the creation of the sun, days in Genesis are not ordinary days bounded by minutes and hours, but are geological periods of many thousands of years. Adherents to this day-age theory often quote the following verse, One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (II Peter 3:8). Most scientists thought this verse could not be literally true until Albert Einstein developed his famous Theory of Relativity. One of his greatest insights was realizing that time is relative, meaning that it speeds up or slows down depending on how fast one thing is moving relative to something else. More technically, his calculations showed that the closer we come to traveling at the speed of light, the more time would appear to slow down for us from the perspective of someone who, in relation to us, was not moving. I should add that God knew all about time dilation before Einstein was even born!

A friend sent my wife an e-mail recently pertaining to God’s view of time. Hank prayed, God, I was wondering how long is a million years to you? God replied, Son, a million years is like a second to me. Hank then asked, How much is a million dollars to you? This time God answered, A million dollars to me is like one penny to you. Hank responded, God, Can I have one of your pennies? God said, Just a second!

GAP THEORY

Finally, some believe a long gap of time passed between verse 1 and verse 2 of the first chapter of Genesis. According to this gap theory, God originally created the world as recorded in the first verse in the Bible (perhaps in a manner similar to the big bang). Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals would have lived in this prehistoric era. However, a catastrophic event eventually occurred that profoundly altered the earth and caused it to become without form and void. Then, as recorded in Gen. 1:3-31, we have the story of God restoring the earth to its original pristine condition.

The biblical evidence cited for this theory begins with Gen. 1:2. And the earth was without form, and void (an empty waste)…. (The New International Version has a footnote identifying became as an alternate translation of the word was.) Also, the Hebrew word is actually translated became in Gen. 2:7. In still other places in the Bible this same word is translated, it came to pass. With this knowledge, we could just as easily translate Gen.1:2, And the earth became without form and void. This rendering would support the idea that between the first two verses of Genesis a momentous incident happened that threw the world into chaos. (The most likely explanation from a Christian perspective is Lucifer being thrown out of heaven.) Interestingly, scientists also believe a violent episode, most likely an asteroid collision by their reasoning, destroyed the dinosaurs and much of the life on earth many millions of years ago.

A Bible verse in Isaiah lends some credence to the gap theory. For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain (Is. 45:18). That expression, not in vain, is alternately translated without form in Gen. 1:2. So, the Bible indicates God did not originally create the world without form (in chaos or desolation). From a logical point of view, we must assume that if God did not originally create the world in chaos, it must have become that way at a later time.

Now, is there any other evidence to support the gap theory? First, the Bible does not specify the events in Genesis as an original creation. Also, during the first four days, no fundamental creative act by God is specifically mentioned. It is not until we get to the fifth day, verse 21, that another definitive act of creation is described; And God created great whales, and every living creature. Proponents of the gap theory argue that all animal life from the creation described in Gen. 1:1 had died, requiring God to recreate them. The final crowning act of this grand restoration is described when God created man in His own image on the sixth day (Gen 1:27).

We have briefly considered the big bang, the young earth belief, the day-age theory, and the gap theory. Now, which of these explanations for the creation of the universe, if any, is correct? I would like to challenge you to study the Bible and make up your own mind about what you believe. As long as you begin with the premise that God was the Creator, you cannot stray too far from the truth. Exactly how and when God created the world will always be a matter of discussion and disagreement for serious Bible students. However, when all is said and done, only God knows.

DIVINE ADDENDUM

(1) Everything God made was good! And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good—suitable, pleasant—and He approved it completely (Gen. 1:31, AMP). From this divine analysis, we can conclude that the material world is not intrinsically evil; instead, problems arise only as we abuse and misuse God’s creation.

(2) God rested! And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested…(Gen. 2:2, AMP). After cessation from His labors, God took time to pause, inspect, and reflect on what He had done. At the end of every workweek, every one of us should follow His example and take time to rest and consider how well we have used our precious time. Hopefully, we can all find a lot of good in what we have done. Unlike God, we can also pause to ask forgiveness for our failures and commit to doing better in the future.

(3) God made the seventh day holy! God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it (Gen. 2:3). God appointed a special day to be set apart for His own purposes. Since this was one of His Ten Commandments, He obviously places great emphasis on its observance (Ex. 20:9-11). After the resurrection of Jesus, this special day became identified as Sunday. For many years the Sabbath was recognized as a hallowed day in America, but sadly, today, it has become just another day for business and commerce.

Chapter 2

THE FIRST FAMILY

Genesis 2

And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:8-9).

In spite of all the many similarities, man is clearly different from animals, and scientists continually struggle to define these variations. Sometime ago, PBS Television presented a three-part program entitled, The Human Spark, hosted by Alan Alda, in which scientists attempted to explain the uniqueness of man from other animals. In a promotion Alda stated, We’ll be trying to get to the bottom of what makes us human. One way to examine us is by looking at what’s almost us. We’ll be checking in with our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees, to find out how the tiny difference in our genes, just one percent, makes such a huge difference to who we are and what we can do. Chimps are smart as a whip, but they’re not us.

I watched all these documentaries with great interest, but was sorely disappointed when they never even mentioned the Bible—the one and only source where they could have found the answer they were looking for. The scriptural explanation for mankind’s exceptionalism is simple and straightforward—God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (Gen. 2:7). That is not said of the other animals, but only happened when God created man a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor (Ps. 8:5, NIV). Although man has a lot in common with animals, we are distinctly different because we are spiritual beings made in the image of God. What do you suppose that means? On one level, it means we have special capabilities including reason, creativity, speech, and self-determination. On a higher level, we are extraordinary because, of all the animals, only man has the capacity to reflect the moral character of God and the opportunity to enjoy a meaningful and personal relationship with Him.

STUDYING GENESIS

Practically everyone is interested in Genesis, including scientists, theologians, historians, archeologists, and philosophers. As the first book of the Bible, it lays the foundation for all the major themes in scripture. Each of the writers of the New Testament quotes from the first eleven chapters of Genesis at least one time, with more than a hundred total references. Jesus, Himself, mentions something from the first seven chapters on at least six different occasions.

Studied biographically, Genesis has no shortage of fascinating characters like Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Esau, Lot, Nimrod, and Sarah—just to name a few. From a spiritual perspective, God is shown actively dealing with man’s moral deficiencies. A personal devil, the origin and progression of sin, salvation, and the ministry of angels are all introduced. Prophetically, much about Christ and the peoples of the earth can be found. Finally, we can study Genesis figuratively. While the people and events in this first book are real, they often prefigure the future by a method called typology.

Genesis and Revelation are the two bookends of Holy Scripture. Genesis answers the question, How did it all begin? On the other hand, Revelation reveals how it all ends. There are similarities including the tree of life, paradise, a river, a bride, and the walk of God with man. In Genesis paradise is closed, but in Revelation paradise is opened. The serpent temporarily triumphs in Genesis, while in Revelation the Lamb is victorious. In Genesis a coming Saviour is promised; in Revelation the glorious and final fulfillment of His work is documented. Sorrow and death began in Genesis; however, in Revelation, we read of its demise—there shall be no more death, neither sorrow.

This first book can be divided into two main divisions: the first eleven chapters and the last thirty-nine. In the first section, the divine sovereignty of God is illustrated in four great events: the Creation, the Fall of man, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel. In the second part we meet four special men: Abraham who experienced a supernatural call, Isaac who had a supernatural birth, Jacob who lived through supernatural care, and Joseph who discovered the supernatural control of God.

It can also be helpful to know that Genesis is split into twelve segments, each one by a single Hebrew word translated in English as, These are the generations, or This is the account. This word can be found in Genesis 2:4, 5:1, 6:9, 10:1, 11:10, 11:27, 25:12, 25:19, 36:1, 36:9, and 37:2. Each time, after the word, the succeeding verses provide more information on a subject that has been previously introduced. For example, in Genesis 2:4 we read, These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. Then in the following verses all the way to the end of Chapter 4 we have more detail on what was described in the preceding verses.

ADAM

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Gen. 2:7). According to the Bible, mankind was formed from the dust of the earth, yet, scientists have only discovered in the past hundred years or so that the same essential chemical elements found in soil are also in man. Most of us now take a daily multi-vitamin tablet to maintain and replenish these elements.

The Hebrew word for man is adam and the Hebrew word for ground is adamah. This is a play on words implying that mankind has a connection to the earth. Interestingly, animals were also created out of the ground (Gen. 2:19). However, the similarity goes farther. Even though man is described as a living soul (Gen. 2:7), and an animal is classified as a living creature (Gen. 2:19), you might be surprised to know that the same Hebrew word is used in both cases. Perhaps different words were used because early biblical translators had a problem identifying man so closely with animals. Nevertheless, as Alda was quoted above, we now know that humans bear a very close association with animals, especially primates like chimpanzees.

A careful reading of Genesis will show that, when first introduced, Adam did not have a name, but was identified as the man. Only later was he given the proper name, Adam (Gen. 2:20). For some, this raises the question whether Adam was a real, historical person, or only allegorically represented early men. Scripture leaves no doubt he was an actual person and traces the lineage of Jesus all the way back to Adam. Sixty generations, possibly in a condensed form, are listed from Adam to Jesus.

EVE

Whether taken literally or figuratively, Adam and Eve were created separately in the Genesis account. After God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, He formed Eve from one of Adam’s ribs and brought her unto the man. I can remember, when I was very young, country people believed women had one more rib than a man because of their literal interpretation of this verse. A woman has been called God’s greatest gift and man’s greatest challenge—a fact I cannot dispute having lived with one for forty-eight wonderful years.

When performing a marriage ceremony, I emphasize the complex relationship between a man and his wife. Woman was not taken from man’s head lest she rule over him, nor from his feet to be trampled upon, but from his side, as an equal partner, and close to his heart to be loved, and from under his arm to be protected. In this first wedding ceremony, God gave away the bride. Thus, we have the institution of marriage, which after all these years, still remains a sacred ceremony. As Adam wisely stated, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh (Gen. 2:23-24). The word cleave means to glue himself to. Someone said, If a man is not ready to leave, he is not ready to cleave.

God’s perfect plan has always been one man and one woman as long as both shall live. However, today in America, irreconcilable differences cause about half of all marriages to end. Almost every extended family circle has struggled with the heartbreak of divorce. In earlier times, extreme circumstances were required by law for a man and woman to break up, but, in today’s world, divorce is considered no big deal!

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish (fill) the earth, and subdue it…(Gen. 1:28). This is one of the few bright spots in man’s obedience to God, because it is among the few commandments man has consistently obeyed.

GARDEN OF EDEN

And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed (Gen. 2:8). The Hebrew term Eden refers to delight, while the Greek translation is paradise. Where was this wonderful garden? We can rightly assume that eastward in Eden refers to a place east of Canaan. The Tigris and Euphrates Rives are also mentioned, likely placing it in modern-day Iraq. We are told the