Discussion Questions on the Bigness of God

This Sunday we kicked off the new sermon series on Genesis 1–11, often called the book’s “primeval history.” The focus of the sermon was simply verse 1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” This is a foundational truth in the Bible. It’s repeated throughout the Old and New Testaments, and it’s an indispensable piece to understanding the glory of the gospel. 

The implications of Genesis 1:1 are more far reaching than we can cover in a sermon, or in a group discussion, but this batch of questions is meant to use a few as a springboard into heart-level conversation.   

It’s okay if you weren’t there Sunday. I’ve tried to provide enough content to get everyone on the same page (you can also listen or read the entire sermon online). I’ve written this questions for the Life Group point-person, so I’ve thrown a few things here and there about how to navigate the discussion. As usual, see these a tool. To them to work inasmuch as they’re helpful.

Question #1

“The most important thing you need to know in this life is that God created the heavens and the earth.” 

Now, there are a lot of things in the Bible that we might preface as “the most important thing you need to know,” but do you agree that it applies to Genesis 1:1? If you were to make the case for the truth of Genesis 1:1 being the most important thing to know, what would you say? What other truths erode if we don’t embrace Genesis 1:1?

Question #2

God is bigger than you. That’s the central takeaway from Genesis 1:1. Everything around us is made, including us, and it was made by someone other than us, and that someone is God, who must be bigger than us. The logic here is basic, but how does it affect us at the level of our hearts? When you think about God’s bigness in relation to yourself, how does that make you feel? Or how has it made you feel in the past?

[Take a few minutes and have your group wrestle through the bigness of God. Have they ever considered this before? In what ways might it make you fearful? What’s your own story about God’s bigness and how it impacted you?]

Question #3

Paul taps into the logic of God’s bigness in Romans 8:31 when he writes, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” In other words, Paul means that if God (who is bigger than us and anything else) is for us, then we are unstoppable — there is no enemy capable of overcoming God’s purpose in our lives; his promise of salvation will not be hindered; we will be conformed to the image of Jesus and enjoy God’s fellowship forever (Romans 8:29–30).

The bigness of God — his sovereignty — is always meant to be a comfort for God’s people. In what ways has it been a comfort to you? Have you ever been in a situation when you needed help and you had to rest in the power of God?

Question #4

Everybody has dreams. We all have some future picture of what it means to live a good and happy life. And whatever that dream is, it is determined by those things we value the most. And those values are often shaped by our influences and habits. 

What does your average day look like?

[Have each person in your group take turns sharing about their typical day. Use tomorrow as an example. What does your day look like this Thursday? Get specific. Don’t just mention a couple things. Literally walk through the anticipated moments…]

Now, when our hearts are captivated by the glory of God, what kind of difference might it make in our Thursday? If we loved God above everything else, how would that impact our particular callings (such as being a dad or employee) and our various encounters (seeing that same barista again or our conversations at work)?

At the macro level, what are you dreaming? What is your big- picture vision of “the good life”?