The Story of Everything
Genesis 1 & John 1
Icebreaker: Who is the most loving person in your life, and why?
The Beginning
Genesis 1:1-5
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
1. Who is the main character of the Story of Everything? Why is this important? (Genesis 1:1)
2. Why is it significant that God spoke the creation of the heavens and the earth? What does this display about the power of His word?
Genesis 1:26-28
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a]and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
3. What does the statement, “Let US make man in OUR own image” reveal about who God is?
4. What does the fact that we are created in God’s image indicate about our role in this world and how much God values us? (Genesis 1:28, John 3:16)
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
God is the central character in the Story of Everything.
The Word Became Flesh (John 1:1-5,14)
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it….
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
5. What does John mean, that Jesus is the Word? What does John 1 add to the story of creation? (John 1:1)
6. What is the implication that the Apostle John is making in his account of Jesus as the Word? (Colossians 1:15-17)
Colossians 1:15-17 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Transliteration of “God” in Genesis 1 from the Hebrew is “Elohim”. Elohim is a plural noun, that has singular verbs and adjectives. This idea of God being three persons, yet one essence is known theologically as the Trinity.
7. How is the Trinity displayed in the account of creation? (Genesis 1:1-2, John 1:1)
8. How do the passages below indicate that God is relational in the Trinity? What does God being relational mean to mankind? (1 John 1:3, 1 Corinthians 1:9, 2 Corinthians 13:14)
1 John 1:3 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
John 17:20–21 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
2 Corinthians 13:14 14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
1 John 4:7-10
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
9. What is true of everyone who has been born of God and knows God? (1John 4:7). What is true of those who do not love? (1 John 4:8)
10. When Jesus is asked about the greatest commandment, He includes the first and second greatest commandments. What do these verses say about how important it is to God that we love each other? (Matthew 22:37-40, Mark 12:29-31, John 13:34-35)
Matthew 22:37-40 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Mark 12:29-31 29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[e] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[f] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[g] There is no commandment greater than these.”
John 13:34-35 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
11. What in our world keeps us from loving each other? (Galatians 5:19-21, James 4:1-3)
Galatians 5:19-21 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
James 4:1-3 1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
12. What are some practical ways that we can love each other? (Galatians 5:13, Ephesians 4:2, Hebrews 10:24). Can you think of others?
Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.
Ephesians 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,