Ryan Kelly, "The Beginning" - Genesis 1:1-25

in the name of the lord who made heaven and earth [Music] let all the people say if it had not [Music] if it had not been on our side we would be swept away the [Music] oh and who has not given us who has not given us [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning let's stand and hear from god's word our call to worship this morning comes from psalm 33 it says shout for joy in the lord o you righteous praise befits the upright give thanks to the lord with a liar make melody to him with a harp of ten strings sing to him a new song play skillfully on the strings with loud shouts for the word of the lord is upright and all his work is done in faithfulness he loves righteousness and justice the earth is full of the steadfast love of the lord by the word of the lord the heavens were made and by the breath of his mouth all their hosts he gathers the waters of the sea as a heap he puts the deeps in storehouses now let's say this together let all the earth fear the lord let all inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him for he spoke and it came to be he commanded and it stood firm yes our god speaks and the universe is made he speaks and the church is made he speaks and the church gathers he speaks and the church responds and prays let us praise together praise to the lord the almighty the king of creation oh my soul praise him for he is your help and salvation [Music] join me and glad [Music] praise to the lord sing it out praise to the lord above all things so wondrously reign you under his wings and so gently sustained have you not seen all that has been sent by his gracious [Music] praise to the lord who will prosper your work and defend you surely his goodness and mercy shall daily [Applause] [Music] if with this [Music] joyful joyful we adore him and sing it together joyful joyful we adore you [Music] oh let everything that has breath praise to the lord o let all that is in me adore him all that hath life and breath come now with praises before him [Music] [Music] adore him [Music] psalm 145 says that our god is great and greatly to be praised that we should praise him greatly because he is so great and that's what we have come to do together this morning praise our great god amen amen you can be seated welcome to this gathering of desert springs church if i haven't met you before my name is chase jacobs i'm one of the folks on staff here at the church and if you're visiting with us maybe this is even your first week with us we're so glad that you're here and we want to help you however we can to learn more about our church if you're trying to find a new church home or if you have questions about jesus if you're not even sure what you think about everything that we're doing here this morning we want to talk to you about that we want to try and give you answers to those questions so if you are here after the service today you can come and talk to any of the men that we have up front here these are going to be pastors and leaders in our church we would love to talk to you about whatever questions you might have or you're always welcome to email us our email address is info dscabq.com well one of the responsibilities of the church and the church's leaders is to help her members to think well about matters of debate and controversy in the larger culture that's not because we want to necessarily be debating or controversial but we do need to have thoughts about these issues that are swirling around us because all of us live in this world and in this larger culture and often things that are debated in the larger culture are debated because they're about very important things and even those controversies at times have a way of creeping into the church and causing division here and so it is right for the church to enter into these conversations but what we don't want to do is let the world out there dictate to the church what our positions ought to be on any debatable topic no we want god's word to tell us what our position is on any and every controversy that there might be and so that is why we are putting together a seminar for you on september 25th this is a saturday seminar called all one in christ and we are going to talk about the issues of race diversity and justice and our hope with that is to give you not what the world says not some position out there this or that that you can take or score points on another position that's out there but no we want to open this up together that's why it's called all one in christ that's a phrase from galatians chapter 3. and we want to tell you what the bible has to say about these really important topics of race and diversity and justice because god speaks a lot to this and it is actually a very compelling vision that in christ all of these different races and ethnicities have been reconciled together in the church and god is glorified in saving a people from every tribe and tongue and nation and bringing us together and unifying us in christ and so that that has to do with how we relate to one another in our differences in the church we want to talk about that for god's glory and then on matters of justice we want our definition of justice to be the bible's definition of justice and we want our definition of injustice to be the bible's definition of injustice so we're going to talk about this in that seminar but not just what it means to be just people but also to be compassionate and faithful christians to the glory of god in the world so please make every effort to come to this seminar as i said it's saturday morning september 25th from 9 00 to 12. if you have questions about that you can find out more on our website or you can email us it would help us if you registered for this class you can do that on the website or on our app just so that we know how many to expect and i would ask that you pray for this seminar because we are trying to have this conversation not to stir up more controversy and division in the church but actually to unite us around god's word and so i pray that you or i ask that you would pray for unity in our church as we have this conversation so as you pray for that why don't we just pray now for our time together this morning but even as we think about this we we know and confess that everything about our life in christ has to do with renewing our minds that you transform and renew our minds you help us to think right thoughts about you and what it means to love you and and what it means to love other people and so lord we ask that you would even use this time this morning to renew our minds to grow us in grace and in the knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ and god this sunday especially as we remember the events of september 11 2001 for all of those men and women who lost their lives and those who lost loved ones for all of us whose lives were changed forever on that day one way or another lord we reflect on that day and and we remember that this world has fallen and broken and that there is evil in this world that there is war there is death and lord as we reflect on that all the more we turn to you you are our hope of peace in this world you are our hope of vindication and justice in this world you are our hope of eternal life and so we pray this weekend that you would comfort our nation by your grace we pray that you would work peace and justice and the whole world by your grace we pray that you would bring evil doers to repentance by your grace just like you have done for every one of us and we ask that you would even use this time in some small way to that global purpose for your glory in jesus name amen part of what we do every week when we come together is a firm truth together the truth that we sing that we pray and then we hear from god's word and we want to affirm what we believe through this creed that we're going to say together so let's stand and let's read this and affirm this together say this with me we believe in one god the father almighty maker of all things visible and invisible and in one lord jesus christ the son of god the only begotten of the father god of god light of light very god of fairy god begotten not made being of one substance with the father by whom all things were made in heaven and on earth who for us and for our salvation came down and was incarnate and was made man he suffered and died and on the third day he rose again ascended into heaven and from there he shall come to judge the living and the dead let us continue to behold our god recount his work and adore him together [Music] [Music] his hands who has numbered every grain of sand kings and nations tremble at his voice all creation rises to rejoice behold [Music] seated on his throne come let us adore him behold [Music] come let us adore [Music] know the depths of his wisdom let's sing it together [Music] to the lord who can't question any of his [Music] is [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] now we behold his [Music] sacrifice upon his hand burying all the guilt of sinful men god eternal [Music] jesus [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] he will reign let's lead the way man [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you [Music] oh [Music] seated on his throne come let us adore him behold our king nothing can compare come [Music] yes indeed let us adore him and as we adore him and see his glory and consider his greatness we can't help but see our guilt and our humble state of sin so let us confess that sin together won't you read this with me lord we have sinned without considering how much you love us you see our sins more clearly than we can ourselves lord you know when we are indifferent to your word how often we forget to pray the times we come unwillingly to worship and yet we turn to you when we are in trouble lord you know when we are untruthful and when we think evil of others you see our anger and unfairness to our friends you know how hard it is for us to forgive forgive us and make us clean so that we can obey your call to take up your cross and follow you through jesus christ our lord amen even with all of our sin there is forgiveness in jesus for those who come to him in faith so let us go to him together our great king our sacrifice [Music] the image of the unseen god creator of all things [Music] is before all things and in him all things live and breathe christ is [Music] [Music] christ is [Music] [Music] when we safely hide one day is [Music] for we [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] so we set our minds on things above what we see our lives are dead live [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] he presents us with is [Music] if you believe that same man you can be seated well christ is all brothers and sisters my name is dave i'm one of the non-staff pastors here join with me in prayer father we just sang that christ is all he is our sovereign god our king and with his blood he was the perfect offering for we who were once his enemies he now presents us clean he is also father as the book of ephesians says the head of the body the church when you saved us from our sins father you saved us to communion with yourself with christ our king and with your holy spirit not only that father you saved us into a body and you call us into communion with each other the body of christ we're now part of a family to care for one another father i admit i'm often tempted to only think of what i can receive i don't think about what i can give i want to learn to intentionally think outwardly toward others your scriptures call us while they're to practice the one another's within local churches welcome one another stir up one another encourage one another teach and admonish one another pray for one another and be kind and tender-hearted toward one another father as we interact with one another before and after the service today as we gather for lunches and coffee during the week and especially as we gather in our community groups lord may we be channels to one another of your love and your grace i want to thank you especially and pray for our community group leaders week in and week out they serve the saints here and thank you for their precious wives as they open their homes even to serve in all of our gatherings as we interact with one another even when we might even disagree with one another help us to obey your word to show tolerance to one another in love with humility with gentleness with patience that we may be diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace now father we ask you to speak speak lord through your word as it is preached for the good of your church in christ's name amen us stand and continue in prayer through song as we ask for god to speak again through his word and build his church as we come to you to receive the food of your holy word take your [Music] us in your life [Music] faith speak o lord and fulfill in us all your purposes for your glory [Music] teach us lord follow [Music] true humility [Music] our [Music] let their truth prevail overrun [Music] speak oh lord every new our minds help us grasp the heights of your plans for us [Music] is as you walk with us [Music] [Music] oh yes lord we believe that these bibles we have contain ancient texts but it is a living word it is alive and active and in it you speak afresh especially when it's preached a right so help me to preach it a right to help us all to hear it from your lips and may we be changed by it for jesus sake amen you could be seated and if you have a bible with you you want to get that out and get it open to genesis 1 because today we begin a new series in that book the very first book of the bible genesis if you're brand new to desert springs church this is a great week for you to be here we're starting this new series and if you're brand new to the bible brand new to christianity perhaps well this is also a great week for you to be here as we start this series again in the first book of the bible genesis means beginning it's the very first word of the greek in latin translations genesis so it is titled what it is it's a book about the beginning it's a book really of beginnings plural it tells the story of the beginning of the world but it also tells the story of the beginnings of the israelite people there are two unequal halves to genesis genesis 1 to 11 gives us stories of god's interaction with the whole world and then genesis 12 to 50 give us stories of god's interaction with one specific extended family abraham and his offspring but again today we begin with the beginning of the beginning the first 25 verses of genesis 1 which will lead us to the middle of the sixth day of creation we'll leave the the rest of the sixth day for next week since it's so important look on your bibles with me as i read from genesis 1 starting in verse 1 in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth the earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep and the spirit of god was hovering over the face of the waters and god said let there be light and there was light and god saw that the light was good and god separated the light from the darkness god called the light day and the darkness he called night and there was evening and there was morning the first day and god said let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate the waters from the waters and god made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse and it was so and god called the expanse heaven and there was evening and there was morning the second day and god said let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear and it was so god called the dry land earth and the waters that were gathered together he called seas and god saw that it was good and god said let the earth sprout vegetation plants yielding seed and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed each according to its kind on the earth and it was so the earth brought forth vegetation plants yielding seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed each according to its kind and god saw that it was good and there was evening and there was morning the third day and god said let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth and it was so and god made the two great lights the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night and the stars and god set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth to rule over the day and over the night and to separate the light from the darkness and god saw that it was good and there was evening and there was morning the fourth day and god said let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens so god created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves with which the waters swarm according to their kinds and every winged bird according to its kind and god saw that it was good and god blessed them saying be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters and the seas and let birds multiply on the earth and there was evening and there was morning the fifth day and god said let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds and it was so and god made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind and god saw that it was good genesis was written by moses along with the other four books of the pentateuch pentateuch means five five books these are the first five books of our bibles and really we can think of them not as five books but as one major work one major book with five significant parts it was compiled sometime before moses death before the israelites were to enter the promised land and that's not insignificant the first intended audience always has to be kept in mind when we come to a biblical text and this text was written down especially two and four those israelites who had come up out of egypt a generation before they had been rescued by god who saved them through many signs and wonders not least the parting of the red sea they had journeyed through the wilderness now for a whole generation god leading them with fire got providing for them bread which just fell to the ground and water that would spring up out of a rock and yet they had repeatedly sinned against this god they'd put him to the test god judged many of them unto their death but now they were nearing the time when moses would die and joshua would lead them into the promised land and all of that has relevance for what genesis says and for how we understand it and apply it even today it's not to say that genesis doesn't have anything relevant to say to 21st century americans in fact we'll see in weeks ahead that the book of genesis is quite relevant to our times but we'll see how it applies to us today better if we first sufficiently understand how it served them in that first audience i believe that moses's intent with the text of genesis was pastoral and theological and worshipful not to stir up controversy not to cause divisions nor to satisfy curiosities not least those curiosities that would be reserved for a more scientific generation only in sometimes our own lifetime you see when many of us come to genesis 1 we we immediately think of those controversies that we find here the age of the earth the question of evolution how much of the story is literal and how much of it is figurative whether the days of creation are literal 24-hour periods and where are the dinosaurs in all this how do they fit in such controversies are often related to the broader question of the role of science in interpreting the bible how do science and the bible relate well that question has produced a few different approaches over the years let me enumerate a few of them for you one i would call science dismissing scripture this is the approach of the philosophical materialists in naturalists the atheists who would rather make fun of god's word than to give it any sense of hearing whatsoever but secondly there's another approach i might call it science mythologizing scripture and this is for progressive christians who still want to cherish the bible perhaps for nostalgic reasons but they believe that science has the answers to the origins of life and they believe that the bible has one of many creation myths in put to us in a purely poetic and symbolic way but then there's a third approach i would call it reading science into scripture and reading a certain approach to science into scripture and this is the approach of certain christian conservative scientists who feel comfortable writing commentaries on genesis and i'm not sure that's a good idea they seek to show us all the science that's actually there they say well some of those approaches are better than others but i'd suggest that none of them sufficiently take the text of genesis on its own terms i think there's a better approach to genesis which gives more attention to the historical context which seeks to understand the needs of the first hearers of genesis which takes serious the explicit subject matter of the book of genesis namely god a better approach which i think takes moses intentions that it is pastoral and theological and worshipful in its aim so i invite you to join me in trying to come to genesis with some fresh eyes i invite you with me to try to take some of your questions controversies or curiosities and maybe put them in your pocket for just a bit and to be open to the possibility that genesis may not answer all of your questions it may not speak to all of our controversies and curiosities we want to come to god's word every week in any passage we want to come to god's word taking the text on its own terms letting it speak for itself not coming with our agenda but seeking to put ourselves under god's agenda to hear what he has to say so let's get after it there could be a number of ways to go about teaching this passage different ways of outlining it what came to me this week is to ask four questions from the text and to make three observations about the text four questions let's start with the first when when verse one answers in the beginning in the beginning the beginning of what well the beginning of everything the beginning of all that we know to be the beginning of time the beginning of the beginning there are other books of the bible that also begin with something like in the beginning like mark and john and hebrews and others they're echoing genesis but this is the real the beginning this is the beginning of the beginning and from that very first word in hebrew or three words in our english bibles in the beginning we should be invited into wonder and awe and even mystery and hence humility there are places in the bible that give us explicitly a time marker isaiah 6 1 this is when king uzziah died it was that year we know what year that was well genesis 1 1 doesn't give us that it doesn't it doesn't give us a date even though god could have it simply indicates that there was a beginning it's certain it's clear but it invites humility it maintains mystery regardless of when the more important thing is the that of what it says that there was a beginning there was a time when there was no beginning yet and then a beginning that's when the second question is who and the next word in verse 1 answers it god god in the beginning god so in the beginning and of course eternally before that according to other parts of the bible there was god you think of moses psalm psalm 90 it puts it so beautifully before the mountains were brought forth or ever you had formed the earth of the world from everlasting to everlasting you are god in the beginning god tells us that god is eternal he has no beginning and no end it boggles the human mind to consider it but it's true god is actually in his essence he is outside of time he's not bound to time like you and i are that's all we know not him he stepped into time he created time he involves himself in this thing we experience of a time line but this god is eternal beyond time and that god is a triune god we learn from elsewhere in scripture a triune god one god in three persons father son and holy spirit each of the three persons are god but together they don't make up three gods one god jesus alludes to this when he prays to his father in john 17 about the glory that i had with you before the world existed as triune god three persons sharing in relationship and will and jesus is part of that who and i'll show you some more about him later on but the third question is what the next line in verse 1 tells us the what created the heavens and the earth in the beginning god created he created there was nothing and then there was something contra carl sagan who famously said that the cosmos is all there is has been and will be the bible insists that there was a beginning for matter for cosmos and it was god who was there he was the one who was before the beginning and he created the heavens and the earth the heavens that's the sky and beyond the earth that's the surface and below but together it's not just those two parts it's the whole thing it's everything in between together the heavens and the earth mean all of creation everything all that is and all that is in them god created it all so verse 1 is a summary statement it's a introduction to what follows it's likely not the first step of creation but it's summarizing the whole of the creational events that really spread all the way into chapter two verse one gives us a when a who a what a fourth question how well that's what verses two and following answer but it starts with verse 2 which is a bit of a conundrum to many of us so look down read it with me again the earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep and the spirit of god was hovering over the face of the waters now there's some debate about timing here some would consider verse 2 as a creative act by god that precedes what is technically day one and then a few scholars would consider verse two as actually part of day one what we don't want to say what we can't say is that whatever the substance of verse 2 is that that's some sort of pre-creational matter as if god was like wandering around in space that isn't space yet and he came across a big lump of play-doh and he said well this is a mess but i think i can make something of it no it's not that whatever it is god made it and yet it is without form and void it's a curious phrase it's in jeremiah 4 verse 23 you can read that later if you want i think the most helpful clue as to what it means here in genesis 1 verse 2 is that the rest of the creation account will go on to describe god forming certain things then filling certain things he forms certain things and then he fills those certain things well our mystery phrase without form and void i think is related to that the earth is without form and void he hasn't yet formed it he hasn't yet filled it it is created yes but apparently this is the god made raw materials that he will then form and fill darkness was over the face of the deep of this earth it was darkness of course there was darkness because there wasn't yet light but there was water that's what the deep refers to and yet the spirit of god was hovering over the face of the waters the spirit i think the esv is right to capitalize spirit this is the spirit the third person of the trinity this isn't wind this isn't breath even though the hebrew can be translated any of those wind breath or spirit but this is not a thing this is a person and a divine person the spirit of god and the spirit of god was hovering over the face of the waters this is bird like imagery it's found in deuteronomy 32 like an eagle god says that flutters that's the word flutters over its young spreading out its wings that's how god cares for his people and it's like what the spirit was doing at the very dawn of creation like a mama eagle over her young the spirit was hovering caring warming agitating in a good way stirring about to act it's a beautiful picture and it conjures up anticipation well what's next what comes after this there's drama well let's look what comes after that let me walk us through the six creation days just briefly if you would look down in your bible and let your eyes catch these sections these days as i briefly refer to them notice that day one verses three to 5 they are god creates light now we learn from day 4 that this light of day 1 isn't yet the sun in the moon and the stars that comes on day 4. and many of us want to quickly ask even little kids legitimately ask wait how how is their how's their light without a sun what's going on here how did god do this but that misses the whole point right god's doing all kinds of things that are unthinkable and unimaginable he's creating everything out of nothing he can certainly make a temporary light perhaps from his own very presence that fills his creation until he makes the more permanent structures of sun in moon on day four nevertheless day one there is light and there is darkness and they are separated on day two verses six to eight god separates waters waters from above in waters below he puts some of the water on the earth in the clouds which will later become rain you probably know and a lot of the water is on the surface of the earth and it makes lakes in rivers and oceans and what's in between these two bodies of water is called expanse it doesn't have to be more technical than that it's just the space between day 3 verses 9 to 13 there god separates land from water we call the land continents these days and we call the waters oceans well god did that we also learned on day three that god creates vegetation plants trees seeds he only gives us some representative trees and plants here of course this isn't an exhaustive catalog of all the plants species and varieties that would ever be but here they are he's created them here then day four verses 14 to 19. there god creates these lights plural a greater light for the day that's the sun a lesser light for the night that's the moon but also the stars you think of how huge stars are and how many there are and how far away they are and the way it's described here like it's a footnote or a parenthesis and the stars like and the stars are god's creative power and design and beauty and grandeur just so impressive notice the the lights these lights of sun and moon and stars they mark out days and seasons and years god has put the calendar into his creation on day 5 verses 20 to 23 he fills the sea with sea creatures and he fills the sky with birds and he makes them reproduce he blesses them verse 22 and calls them to be fruitful and to multiply our god is so teeming with life that he creates life and puts life within life so that it propagates day six verses 24 to 25 before creating man and woman in his own image he creates the land creatures great beasts and little bugs reminds me of that old hymn that we teach our kids all things bright and beautiful all things great and small all things wise and wonderful twas god that made them all now what i didn't point out yet which you may know to be looking for and to be taking note of as you read through the creation days of genesis is that there's a pattern there's repetition each day is different but similar and god said that's how they all begin let there be this thing or that thing and there was there's a statement there there it was or sometimes it's put and it was so and then often god calls something he names it and then it says he saw that it was good and then they all end the same and there was evening and morning the first day second day third day there are about six to seven repeated components in each of them not all the components are in all of them but all of them have most of them also remember that i said that there's that general pattern of god first forming things and then filling things here's how it works more specifically days one through three god is forming lights and land in waters and fields in days four through six god is filling those very things with more light and with creatures of the sea and on land which means then when you look more carefully that there's this correspondence between pairs so one and four correspond two in five correspond three and six correspond what was formed in day one is filled in day four what was formed in day two is filled in day five what was formed in day three is filled in day six and in case you can't see it yet days three and six have an added component of correspondence because in those two things happen two big things happen your bible probably has two paragraphs for days three and six and that's correct now do you see what this does do you see what this does the literary devices force the eye to zoom out to zoom in to compare to contrast to see the hole and then the parts and then the hole it causes me to stand in awe which leads me then to three observations three observations the first is that this is a stylized historical narrative stylized i put that in quotes on purpose i got that word from john sale hammer an old testament scholar it's a word that's a little clumsy but i think it's useful it's an unusual word for an unusual kind of literature what is genesis 1 what kind of literature is this well it's not poetry we can't go that far this is not the hebrew parallelism that you find in say the psalms nor is it the sci-fi crazy stuff you find in revelation it's historical genesis 1 is historical it's meant to convey what happened and i don't think it's meant to deceive us and i don't think it's written in some sort of code but it is stylized history it's not the same kind of history telling that you find in exodus or first samuel there's a beauty and artfulness that produces patience and awe and worship when our god chose to reveal his creative acts at the beginning of time he didn't give us merely a drawing he didn't give us either a table a spreadsheet a graph numbers he painted a literary picture with literary devices that make us slow down our reading that make us ponder and look around and study which should induce wonder and awe and worship our god could have done it all at once one word one second all of creation boom and he didn't if you think these days are literally 24-hour days you still have the segment of time between each of these creative acts where god chose to spread this out apparently he wants us to to see he wants us to wait he wants us to look around he wants us to wonder and worship and yet i know some of us are stubborn we still are wondering though what about those days and are they 24 hours and are you really just going to sweep this under the rug ryan are you really going to say pay no attention to that over there don't look at the man behind the curtain well let's talk about those 24-hour days or are they the hebrew word yom the word translated day most often means a literal 24-hour day especially when a number is put with it like fourth day but the hebrew word yom can be translated season or time or era it's often translated in our bibles when like when this happen that's yom it can sometimes sometimes be translated day but it's clearly referring to something longer than a 24-hour period and doesn't our english word day work like that sometimes it means yesterday the 24-hour period called saturday and sometimes the kids say these days back in the day and they don't mean a 24-hour period they mean when i was a kid or when ben franklin was around so are the days of genesis 1 literal 24-hour days or periods of time could they possibly have spans of time between them my answer to you is i don't know and then you might say okay well then what about the other big question and related question oftentimes of whether the earth is old or whether the earth is young if the earth is old we're talking millions and billions and if it's young we're talking six to ten thousand years how old do i think the world is do you want me to tell you how old the world is i don't know i don't know i bring up these two points the length of the days the age of the earth only to point out that good and solid faithful christians can and have taken different positions on those matters i respect young earth theologians who think the days are 24-hour periods scholars like al mohler and pastors like john mcarthur and kevin deyoung but i also respect old earth pastors and scholars like j.i packer and don carson and b.b warfield and charles hodge and also the ones that were before the writing of darwin's origin of species like spurgeon and augustine again i bring up the age of the earth and whether the creation days are literal 24-hour periods only to mention that good christians can and have differed on those things and those shouldn't be matters that divide a church or cause any trouble for a community group discussion this week now having said that let me remind you again that the first audience and the primary purpose of the book should at least catch our attention here can you imagine the israelites on the precipice of the promised land hearing moses read these words for the first time in them being tempted to interrupt him whoa whoa whoa wait a minute you talking young earth or old earth because i got a problem if it's one or the other no i mean these are people who are putting this in our hearts they're falling on their faces this is what they need but there is something that they would have in the back of their minds that you might not know about as they're hearing this genesis account read to them for the very first time no doubt they would be thinking it sounds pretty similar because there are other ancient near east creation stories or myths that follow a similar pattern to our own now you might say that sounds liberal that sounds scary i don't even want to entertain that but it's just the fact once you dig into the texts and compare and contrast them there's no denying that there's no denying that our biblical creation record follows a similar pattern and uses similar imagery as the creation myths that preceded israel's account preceded you can't say well the nations got theirs from us now there's were before most likely in the case of egypt and mesopotamia and babylon and in canaan so there's similarities but there are also important differences with our account and the differences are the key remember the israelites they've come out of egypt they've been there for generations they were around egyptian stories they knew them no doubt they were surely familiar with the egyptian alternative creation accounts they were also about to enter canaan a land yes flowing with milk and honey but a land flowing with canaanites and canaanite gods with canaanite creation stories so god through moses accommodates his creation account to include the similarities in order to stress the differences the creation myths of the pagan nations described the birth or the origin of many gods they would often begin with a genealogy of a god to show where he or she came from they would often include a story of a battle between two gods showing which one emerged as the more powerful any of those gods of course would be attached to elements of creation the god of clouds the god of the sea the god of the land our account is similar stylistically on purpose but it tells a different story it tells the story of a god who has no beginning he has no daddy he doesn't come from somewhere he doesn't battle another god in a uh out arrive on the other side victorious he's always been victorious and he's never had any rivals he's not attached to creation he's over his creation he creates creation it's all beautiful that's all part of it being stylized historical narrative and now more quickly two more things secondly it teaches us much about creation to genesis 1 account doesn't teach us everything about creation but it teaches us much about creation it shows us order and purpose design intricacies and interdependentness things are separate and yet related five times it says god separates these things ten times it says that god made things according to their kind he categorized he named he distinguishes he has purposes in this all there is a repeated pattern of twoness throughout genesis 1. there are pairs they complement the earth and the sky the land the sea the moon the sun the the light the darkness and we'll see in weeks ahead male and female it's god's design that there's twoness written into his creation order and all this is good it's good seven times in genesis 1 we read that it was good god saw that it was good which means he's pleased in it dare we say he's impressed by it there's beauty in it all there's life and reproduction there's expansiveness it's things big and small it's cockroaches and the furthest star and all this should invite should should summons us into childhood wonder for some it should mean a deep scientific investigation the bible's not against science even though at times it's not doing science it's not against science here's the welcome mat you want to just buy a telescope well genesis 1 gives you the theological framework and maybe even some good motivation for doing so it's calling us to watch wonder clyde kilby was a literature professor at wheaton college when john piper was there so john piper often tells the story of hearing one of kilby's lectures in 1976 where he said many things good but this is what we need attention to he said at least once every day i shall look steadily up at the sky and remember that i a consciousness with a conscience am on a planet traveling in space with wonderfully mysterious things above and about me i shall open my eyes in ears once every day i shall simply stare at a tree a flower a cloud or a person i shall joyfully allow them the mystery of what lewis called the magical terrifying ecstatic existence creation teaches us sorry genesis 1 teaches us much about creation and it invites us to worship which leads to the third thing under this heading it teaches us much about god it's about god god is referenced 35 times in the first 35 verses of genesis he's the actor he's the only one that steps on the scene he's the mover and shaker he's the subject of nearly every sentence so you'd miss the sunday school question if you didn't answer god when it's put before you what is genesis 1 about not about cosmology not about microbiology it's about god it's about god and that creation order and the god of creation behind it should produce in us confidence and awe and obedience and worship god is shown in his creation no he's not his creation no his creation is not divine but his creation reflects him it says something about him psalm 19 says the heavens are declaring the glory of god the sky above proclaims his handiwork day to day creation is pouring out speech or information that god is there and he's powerful and he's good that he's eternal that he's self-existent he needs nothing he is supreme he has no rivals he is singular he has infinite power this god speaks creation into existence he speaks that into existence and it's done he said let there be and it was the psalm we started with this morning psalm 33 in our call to worship points of this fact the word of the lord created the heavens it's by the breath of his mouth that he made all their hosts so let all the earth fear the lord let the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him for he spoke and it was done this god speaks and so he's personal he's not just powerful but he speaks we'll see this more next week he relates he reveals he communicates he's good if his creation is good good good good good good how good is our god who made it all he's wise he's awesome in job 26 job recounts different ways in which god's providence and his power and creation have been shown things like thunder and lightning and earthquakes and that and he says these are just the fringes of his ways you say well what about cataclysms then if god made everything good and ordered what about earthquakes and tidal waves well a couple things could be said from the bible number one what kind of god do you think this is he didn't just make kittens he's a big god and yet another thing the bible would tell us is that there was a fall this isn't the rest of the story it's the beginning of the story stick with us this is all new to you we'll get to genesis 3 in some weeks ahead we'll find out what's wrong with this world and this will comfort us all the more that god is still the creator he is still good he is sovereign overall in fact he has installed his son as the ruler over it all who actually was back there at the beginning as well we mentioned the spirits activity in verse two where's jesus well john 1 told us that without him christ nothing was made that was made and colossians 1 tells us that it's by him jesus specifically that all things were created in heaven and on earth visible and invisible they were created through him and get this for him for his glory that's why we saying earlier that christ is all he's at the end of our bibles he's the pinnacle of our bibles at the cross in resurrection he is who we see and apprehend in conversion so think of ii corinthians 4 6 the same god who said light shine out of darkness in the first of days it's that god who shines in our hearts to show us the light of the knowledge of the glory of god which shines on the face of christ it's all about him we will see the fingerprints of jesus and his handiwork all through the book of genesis but we sure can't miss it in its opening act in its first chapter in its opening words in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth that changes everything it's not the only thing we know especially as christians it's not the only thing we have to cling to and at times we need to look ahead to a whole new creation that's still to come at times we need to just get back to basics just get back to the beginning god made all this he's the creator he's the only god our god is the only god he has no rivals he's not threatened by anything he made this world with design and creativity out of power and with beauty he's got this he's got this this is my father's world oh i rest me in the thought of of rocks and trees of skies and seas his hand the wonders wrought this is my father's world oh let me never forget that though the wrong seems off so strong he is the ruler yet that's still true today it will be forever let's pray oh lord we stand in awe of your manifold works we thank you for creation we thank you even more for your word which interprets creation for us and tells us so much more we thank you lord for what your word and as a reflection of your character your creation shows us about you you indeed are good and you are our god and you alone are god we pray this in jesus strong and saving name amen understand and respond [Music] oh lord my god when i in awesome wonder consider all the works thy hands have met i see the stars i hear the rolling under the power throughout the view [Music] going through the woods went through the woods and forest glades [Music] lofty mountain [Music] when i think and when i believe that god is [Music] [Music] to take [Music] how great though [Music] when christ shall with shouts of acclimation and take me home what joy shall fill my [Music] my god [Music] then sings my soul my savior [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] how great thou art how great thou art and then sings my soul my savior how great thou [Music] our art is great in creation our god is great in our salvation and our god will be shown to be great in the consummation one day when jesus returns again do you recognize that are you hung up on any of those do we need to talk some more i'd be glad to visit with you after others will be up front here as well that would love to chat with you if you've got questions about this great god in his great son and savior jesus let us know how we can help brothers and sisters let's go from this place with an assignment to be watching wondering awning and worshipping this god who has put his fingerprints everywhere and then let's give special attention to his word which tells us even in black and white print exactly what it all means and let's give him the glory revelation 4 john sees heaven in angelic worship and he hears their song and their song is this worthy are you o lord and god to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they exist and were created that's our hope that's our song let's go with that you're dismissed you

Channel: DESERT SPRINGS CHURCH

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Length: 86min 40sec (5200 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021