Genesis, God and Goodness

Is it wrong to judge gays and lesbians? Is it ever right to lie? Why is sex before marriage wrong if two people love each other? Is killing an animal as bad as killing a person?

How would you answer these questions? What would your friends say about them? Many people are confused about right and wrong. Some don’t know the difference, and others don’t care. They know how they feel, but they can’t give you a reason why they approve of some things and disapprove of others.

People today don’t think they need to be taught about right and wrong, but they do. They need guidance. They need answers. They don’t need just any teaching. There are all kinds of opinions about morals, but that is all they are—human opinions. What people need is help from above. They need direction from the Creator.

“Oh Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his steps (Jeremiah 10, verse 23). We think we know how to direct our steps, but we don’t. When we follow our own thinking, we get into trouble. That is why we need God to guide us. God made us, he knows more about us than we’ll ever know about ourselves. He alone decides what is right or wrong, and only He can guide us in the right way. Trying to live right without God is like trying to drive a car without a steering wheel.

When you think about the Bible as our moral compass, are there any verses that come to mind? You may recall the 10 Commandments or the Golden Rule. These are great examples, but there’s another section of Scripture that lays the proper foundation for moral understanding. The first 11 chapters of Genesis contain a treasure of moral truths. The opening pages of the Bible address many of the questions people raise today. If the majority of people just lived by this one section of Scripture, we wouldn’t have as many problems and our world would be a better place. If these chapters were taught in homes and schools, people would be nicer to each other and our neighborhoods would be safer. It only takes a few minutes to read these chapters, but it will take a lifetime to appreciate how important they are. The lessons in this study will help us to see why we need to remember them.

Chapter one—God: back to the beginning. Genesis means beginning. The first book of the Bible shows how it all started. It is about the beginning, not just any beginning. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis one verse one). The opening chapter describes how God made the world and everything in it. He put certain laws in place to govern His creation.

We call them laws of nature. You can learn about how nature works by reading science books, but if you want to understand why the world is here, how it began, and where it is going, you have to read the Bible, especially the first pages of Genesis.

The book of Genesis is not just about the beginning of the material world. It also reveals the beginning of God’s relationship with mankind. When God created man, He gave him rules and responsibilities. He set certain moral laws in place. You can learn some basic things about right and wrong from nature (Romans two 14 and 15). But if you really want to understand morality the way God intended it, you will need to read the first pages of the Bible.

There you will learn the ABCs of right and wrong. There you will find answers to your own questions and those people debate. The more you know about this part of the Bible, the better foundation you will have for dealing with life’s issues and responsibilities.

There was a time when most Americans understood these basic moral teachings.They learned them in homes, schools, and churches. Everyone knew they came from the Bible, but this is no longer true in many cases. That is why it is so important to go back to the drawing board of right and wrong from the beginning. Did you know that schools once taught students about God, the Bible, and right and wrong?

Do you realize there was a time in America when no one cussed on television or took God’s name in vain in a movie? Few people today realize how much the standards of decency have changed. Here’s some samples of exercises from the Blueback Speller once used in schools across America. This is from 1809.

“Love not the world nor the things that are in the world, for they are sin.” “I will not fear what flesh can do to me, for my trust is in Him who made the world. He is nigh to them that pray to him and praise his name.” “Be a good child. Mind your book. Love your school, and strive to learn.” “Tell no tales, call no ill names. You must not lie, nor swear, nor cheat, nor steal.” Education in the 1800s was not just learning about math, science, and history. Young people were taught to reverence the Creator and respect each other. Here are some excerpts from the Production Code of the Motion Picture Industry from 1930.

Crimes Against the Law. These shall never be presented in such a way as to throw sympathy with the crime, as against law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire for imitation.

Murder. The technique of murder must be presented in a way that will not inspire imitation. Brutal killings are not to be presented in detail.

Sex. The sanctity of the institution of marriage and the home shall be upheld. Pictures shall not infer that low forms of sex relationship are the accepted or common thing.

Vulgarity. The treatment of low, disgusting, unpleasant, though not necessarily evil subjects, should be guided always by the dictates of good taste and a proper regard for the sensibilities of the audience.

Obscenity. Obscenity in word, gesture, reference, song, joke, or by suggestion, even when likely to be understood only by part of the audience, is forbidden.

Costume. Complete nudity is never permitted. Indecent or undue exposure is forbidden.

We live in a different world today. Many people no longer want God and the Bible to have a place in our culture. Where has this rebellion led? Is it any wonder the nation is full of meanness? How can adults abuse little children? How can a person take a gun into a mall or a school or even a church and shoot innocent people? The world we live in is not the society of 200 years ago. Things were not perfect then, but there was more respect for others because there was more respect for God.

There is no excuse for people to be so evil because even nature shows that God is our Creator. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork (Psalm 19 verse one). The “heavens” are the sun, moon, and stars. The “firmament” is the sky with its colors, clouds, rain, lightning, rainbows, and other spectacular displays of the power of God.

Paul said nature shows the hand of God in Romans one 20 when he wrote, “Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” Nature doesn’t tell us everything we need to know about right and wrong. It can’t teach us how to be forgiven of our sins, but it does reveal that we are accountable to our Creator. If we know that God created us, then we can know some basics about morality. Since anyone can see the hand of God in his creation, why do so many refuse to honor Him?

Romans one explains why. They don’t want to live like the Creator tells them to live. They don’t like answering to God. They want to be free to do whatever makes them feel good. The people in Romans one knew God, but they turned away from him (verse 21). They looked to their own thinking to decide what was good or bad. The more they depended on their own wisdom, the more arrogant and rebellious they became (verse 22). Once they put God out of their minds, they lived like there were no rules. They worshiped idols (verses 23 through 25). They became homosexuals (verses 26 and 27). They were full of all kinds of evil (verses 29 through 32).

How did this happen? Verse 28 says, “They did not like to retain God in their knowledge.” This means they tried the idea of the true God and they rejected Him because He has rules. They didn’t become atheists. They just tried to make their own gods. These gods didn’t tell them no. They made up their own version of some gods so they could do whatever they wanted without feeling guilty. In the beginning, God made man in his image (Genesis one, verse 26). Now man tries to make God into his image.

Here are these steps in turning away from God in Romans one, verses 18 through 32. Number one, they refuse to acknowledge God in verse 21. They were unthankful in verse 21. They were empty in their thinking in verse 21, and their hearts were darkened in the same verse.

Then they boasted about being intelligent in verse 22. They changed the concept of God in verse 23. They dishonored their own bodies in verse 24. They exchanged the truth for a lie in verse 25. They had vile affections in verse 26. They became homosexuals in verses 26 and 27. They had a worthless mind in verse 28, and then they plunged into moral chaos in verses 29 through 32.

This trend has occurred for thousands of years. People become like the God they adore. If they worship a false god in the form of an idol that looks like an animal or a man, then they will act like animals or men without God. If they worship the true God, they will become more like him. If they love God, they will be lifted higher in their morals. If they serve an idol, their morals will decline. If they don’t believe in God at all, then they have no basis for deciding between right and wrong other than their own opinions.

Sometimes atheists and skeptics say, “We don’t need God in the Bible to be good.” There are atheists that don’t act like wild animals and kill people. Some of them are decent neighbors, but why? If there is no God, there is no real right and wrong. And if there is no right and wrong, then there’s no way to know whether it’s better to shoot a neighbor or help him. If he is good in any way, it is in spite of atheism and not because of it. Sometimes atheists have had moral teaching. Their parents may have taught them to respect others, or their teachers may have told them they shouldn’t lie and steal. Atheists also have a conscience that won’t let them live like their unbelief implies. They might argue that there’s no difference between the life of a person and the life of an animal, but if it comes down to it, they will say that they should live and the animal should die.

There are people who talk the talk of atheism, but they don’t walk the walk. They may sound intelligent and articulate, but they’re not being honest with the facts or with themselves. Remember that the Bible says the fool has said in his heart there is no God. Psalm 14 verse one.

It is true that a person who says he believes in God is not necessarily better than an atheist. There are people who claim to be Christians that are evil. There are churches and church leaders who have done despicable things, but that is not because of believing in God and following the Bible with honesty and sincerity. There will always be hypocrites. There will always be people who abuse religion.

But it is true that the more a person believes in and loves God and knows the Bible, the better he will be. And the further a man departs from God, the worse he will become. The whole Bible and the entire scope of history prove this. Let’s bring this discussion down to you and your life. If God is the foundation for how we should live, how can we keep Him and our thoughts and lives in a wicked world? What can we do to draw others to him?

Number one, see His hand in nature every day. If your faith in God grows weak, all you have to do is look up, down and around you, or just look at yourself to be reminded of his power. Look at the sky during the day. God paints it differently every day. Look at the moon and stars at night. Take time to meditate on the simple wonders of the creation. Any part of the world is an incredible display of the work of God—whales or goldfish, elephants or ants, trees or flowers, hummingbirds or butterflies. Just look at your hand and think about how it is made. What a remarkable feat of engineering. Men cannot even come close to making something like this.

When you think about these wonders, you can say with David, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139, verse 14). It is sad when skeptics say they don’t see any proof of God since they walk right by it every day. It is even sadder that Christians are so busy talking and texting and having fun that they don’t think about the beauty of the creation.

Don’t make that mistake. Get in the habit of seeing the hand of God in creation instead of ignoring it. Some people are nature lovers, but not lovers of God. They love animals and hate pollution. They talk about “mother earth” but never mention the Creator. It takes more than just having an interest in nature to see the hand of God in it.

When we truly meditate on the creation, it humbles us and leaves us in awe of God. David said, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him? (Psalm eight, verses three and four). He was amazed that man is so tiny in this vast universe, yet God has given him so much honor and power over the rest of the creation (Psalm eight verses five through eight). Why is this so important in doing right instead of wrong? The more we think about God and who He is, the more inclined we will be to please Him. The less we think about God, the less we will care about doing what He wants us to do.

This is a choice. Some people think about God and others don’t. Make up your mind to think deeper about the world and get into the habit of seeing God’s handiwork in nature every day, everywhere in everything, to see how the thought of God affects your actions.

Let’s try and experiment. Think about God. Really think about who he is. Now try to think about God seriously and at the same time, think about something wrong. What you find is that you have to remove the thought of God before you can really think about something bad. As long as we think intently on God, it is very hard to even imagine doing wrong.

Number two, acknowledge God as the giver of all good things and be thankful. The Bible says “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James one verse 17). God gives to all “life and breath and all things” (Acts 17, verse 25). Since we can clearly see that God is behind the laws of nature, it should be natural for us to be thankful.

We ought to think about how we get our food every day and thank God for it. We should feel humbled that He loves us and provides for us. We should never take our blessings for granted because if we do, we have ignored the good hand of God. Take time every day to thank God for your blessings. Gratitude says a lot about your character.

So does the sin of ingratitude. If we remember God and thank him for what we have, we will be better people. Our attitude about everything will be better, and we will treat others the way we want to be treated. If we are ungrateful and expect everything, that attitude will show in how we talk and act.

Ingratitude is not just a minor flaw in a person’s heart. It is not an innocent oversight we can justify by saying, “I know God gives me all this, but I just forget to be thankful.” Ingratitude is a bad habit that affects everything we do.

To see how wrong unthankfulness is, consider a list of sins Paul gave in Second Timothy. He said, “For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy” (Second Timothy chapter three, verse two). Paul put ingratitude in the midst of all kinds of other sins. Notice also what we saw in Romans one verse 21, “Because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful.”

What happened when the Gentiles in Romans one didn’t acknowledge God and give Him glory? They became ungrateful for what He gave them. Once they developed this attitude, they became prideful and turned to all kinds of evil. Ingratitude says a lot about a person’s whole life, and it says even more about one’s attitude toward God.

Number three. Read the Bible often. Nature tells us some basic things about God, but the Bible tells us much more. In the creation we learn about the God of nature, and in the Bible we learn more about the nature of God. We learn about sin—what it is, and how we commit it. We learn about God’s displeasure with sin.

The Old Testament has many stories that teach us how God looks at sin. He destroyed the world with the flood because of the evil of man. He punished the Israelites many times because of their rebellion. He sent his Son to pay the penalty for sin by dying on the cross. Someday all of us will stand before God in judgment to give an account of the things we have done. “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14 verse 12). If we have not been forgiven of our sins by the blood of Christ, we will be in hell for all eternity. Hell is a place of everlasting fire and everlasting punishment (Matthew chapter 25, verses 41 and 46). How can a loving God do this? Because God is a God of justice as well as a God of love.

He hates sin and loves righteousness. Paul said, “Consider the goodness and severity of God” (Romans 11, verse 22). God is good, but He is also severe. Do you see how believing in the God of the Bible shapes the way a person lives? Believing in God and sin and the judgment creates a sense of fear and respect.

A person who believes that God is displeased with sin will be more likely to think twice about committing it and will also be more likely to be sorry that he did. Yes, the fear of God is a good thing. Sometimes it is the strongest reason not to do wrong. For instance, when Joseph was a young man, he worked for a man named Potiphar. Joseph was handsome and successful. Potiphar’s wife made advances toward him numerous times. Once she caught him by himself and tried to seduce him. Nobody was there but these two. Joseph refused and left. Why? He could have thought, “Nobody will find out.” But he didn’t. To him, the main thing was not whether people knew, but the fact that God would see him.

The question that guided him was: “How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God” (Genesis 39 verse nine”. It was his faith in God that kept him from sin. It is faith in God that will keep you from sin.

Thank you for listening to My God and My neighbor. Stay connected with our podcast on our website and on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever fine podcasts are distributed. Tennessee Bible College, providing Christian education since 1975 in Cookeville, Tennessee, offers undergraduate and graduate programs. Study at your level. Aim higher and get in touch with us today.