Episode Transcript
WEBVTT
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Well, we begin this morning preaching
a series through the book of Genesis and
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we begin, rightfully, in Genesis
one, verse one. So let us
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hear God's Word Genesis One, verse
one. In the beginning, God created
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the heavens and the earth. You
may be seated. You have in genesis
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one one, a very simple sentence
in the beginning. God created the heavens
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and the earth. If you're a
still young and you're just learning to diagram
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sentences, this wouldn't be a bad
one to work with. It's very simple,
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very easy. You have a very
clear actor, a very clear verb,
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very clear action being done. As
you take this simple sentence, though,
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it is something also that is not
only simple in its form but simple
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in its truth. It's very understandable. It's something that is very obvious,
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isn't it? In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth. But
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even though it's something that's very obvious
on people still of course suppress this truth.
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Paul says this in Romans one.
He says they suppress it in unrighteousness.
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He says that something that we all
know deep down. It's something that
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in many ways, you don't even
have to argue. For, though of
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course you can and probably should,
but at the same time he recognizes that
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it's something that because of who we
are as those been have been created by
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God. It's something we know innately, naturally, it's in us. Paul,
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I'll quote him from Romans one,
eighteen and nineteen. He says what
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can be known about God is plain
to them, for his invisible attributes,
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namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived. They've been
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clearly perceived ever since the creation of
the world in the things that have been
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made. You see what he's saying
there. He says that people don't come
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to a recognition of God and his
creation of the world at a certain point
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of time in their lives. He
says they know this from their very birth.
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He says men have known this ever
since the creation of the world.
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And in what? In the things
that have been made, which is everything
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that we know and interact with,
including in ourselves. To know ourselves is
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to know ourselves as created beings,
as those who have been created by God.
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And yet, in something that's so
simple and so obvious, wrapped up
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in this single sentence are all the
foundations of true religion. The honor and
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the glory of the only true God
and our most honorable position under him,
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as those who are called to rule
under him, to live under him and
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for him. Peter Martyr Vermigli,
a reformer, said that should God as
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Creator be taken away, this truth, this doctrine taught in this first verse
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of the Bible, should God as
Creator be taken away, the first sin
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will not stand out, the promises
of Christ will collapse and all the power
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of religion is sunk to the bottom. That's what I mean when I say
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it serves as this very foundation for
everything that we believe, that God is
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God, who is above us,
who is above everything, that he has
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a right to rule us and that
we belong to him. And so is
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we begin hearing God's word from Genesis. We begin with a due consideration of
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the beginning, the beginning of the
beginning. But, as we see,
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true knowledge and worship of God is
Creator is really impossible. Apart from a
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second work that he does as savior. This verse comes to us in a
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very particular and a very saving context. But for the moment let's just consider
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the beginning. As you consider this
first sentence, it's worth noting that God
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could have started the Bible in any
number of ways. He could have told
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us about the account of creation in
a number of ways. For you,
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those of you who enjoyed a right
enjoy writing and reading, this will be
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something probab maybe a little bit fun
to think about. Think about the various
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ways God could have constructed on this
first book. He could have started by,
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I'm giving sort of present daytime.
I remember Moses is is writing this.
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Here he's a speaking to Israel as
they're about to enter into the promised
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land, having been rescued from Egypt. This is sort of the contemporary moment
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in which this book has been being
written. Moses could have started there.
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He could have started an exodus right
and then sort of flashbacked to genesis.
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Or God could have given a different
perspective altogether. Instead of giving it from
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God's perspective, he could have given
this whole account of the creation of man
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from Adams perspective or he's perspective.
He could have told a story within a
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story. Abraham could have sat down
by a camp fire and then revealed to
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his sons in a vision how things
began. All kinds of different ways,
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literarily speaking, this book could have
began, but God chose to begin it
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in this way, with this particular
simple, clear sentence in the beginning.
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God created the heavens and the earth. Well, not only could God have
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done other things literarily, but he
could have also done different things topically.
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People have often wanted to know other
things than what this book starts with.
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In the early church, people often
tried to find find theophanyes or pre incarnate
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expressions of Christ in this first verse. I'm thinking trying to find ways to
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make those first three words in the
beginning to refer to Jesus Christ himself.
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Others have really sought to find and
wanted to find in these early stories what
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happened before the creation of the heavens
and the earth. What about the angels?
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Where's that back story right? Why
didn't God start there with the fall
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of Satan and the fall of the
angels and give us the details about that?
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We've often wondered that. In people
throughout the history of the church have
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constructed all kinds of stories and things
to fill that out, because in many
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ways we've wanted to start there.
That's we haven't started there either. Today
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we don't think so much about Christology
or angels. Perhaps we should think more
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about those things. Today we wish
this was a scientific explanation of the events
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of creation. We want to focus
in on the secondary causes. What's the
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way, the actual principles and the
things that brought these things about. Sometimes,
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when I hear speakle people speak about
the beginnings of the Bible, about
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Genesis One and two, I think
that they'd be much more pleased if it
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began with equations and formulas, with
geographic and geologic data, with biologic detail
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and and it all kinds of explanations
that answer the things that we really want
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to know about the creation of the
world. In the past it's been various
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spiritual topics. Today it's various science
scientific topics that we want instead of what
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we have now. This is not
to say that the Bible has no relation
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or that the beginning has no relation
to Christ. It absolutely does. We
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just read in Colloshan's one hundred and
fifteen that Christ in him all things were
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created through him and for him everything
that was made visible and invisible. And
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of course the angels are involved in
the beginning of creation as well, and
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we read that in other portions of
scripture and likewise to the Bible, is
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very related to the natural world as
we know it and have known it it
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and it clearly is related to the
beginnings of things. It says God created
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the heavens and the earth. In
many ways. That's what this is about.
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It's about creation. It even gives
us some of the details of God's
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creating the world in the this and
the following chapters. But the point is
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this. We want to take the
Bible on its own terms. It's critical
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that we take the Bible from the
perspective that God has given it to us.
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It's not to say that these things
aren't related or that there are other
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places that talk about them or they're
there are certain tasks that we have in
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synthesizing things together, but first and
foremost is to be quiet, be still
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before the Lord and to listen.
God does not give us a backstory on
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the angels, nor does he give
us a scientific textbook. He gives us
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a theological perspective and we shouldn't be
disappointed about that. We shouldn't be disappointed
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about that. So how does God
begin the book? Well, God begins
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the Bible, the Pentitud Genesis,
in this way, as I've said in
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the beginning, God created the heavens
and the earth and he begins in a
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way, in this particular way,
so that we would have, what to
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borrow from Vermigley again, a worthy
conception of God. God begins this way,
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begins the whole book in this way
so that we would have a worthy
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conception of God, that our idea
of God, our knowledge of him,
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our understanding of him, that everything
that we would think about when we think
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about God would be founded on some
very core and essential truths immediately from the
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beginning. And that worthy conception is
summed up very simply that God is the
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creator of everything. This is made
us very strikingly, of course, in
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as you have it there in your
in your bibles, but it's even a
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little bit stronger in the Hebrew.
This word created is a word that is
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used only of divine creating. There
are other words for creating, making,
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fashioning, forming that could have been
used, but here Moses, by the
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inspiration of the Holy Spirit, picks
this particular word. God did God creating.
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God did this divine creation activity.
It's a way of sort of taking
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this fact God created and then underlining
it when read God created father, son
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and Holy Spirit created everything. And
when we hear that, when we hear
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that he created not just something but
the heavens and the earth, we have
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something that is really quite marvelous.
Every single aspect of all of creation is
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comprehended in this. Again, to
Collote quashians one hundred and fifteen. All
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things were created in heaven and on
Earth, visible and invisible. We're often
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impressed by the creation and the works
of other people. You know, if
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I say, if I introduce you
to my friend and I say this is
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my friend Bob, and you say
Oh, nice to meet you, Bob,
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and I say no, this is
Bob, this is Bob who made
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this building and wrote this book and
did these things in business, you're Oh,
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Bob, I see. We're impressed
at the way people do, the
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way they work, the things that
they produce. We put it on our
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resumes. We are it's the way
in which we establish our credentials. This
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is what I have done. In
the beginning. God created the heavens and
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the earth. He didn't create a
family, or he didn't create a country
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or a or or a robot or
even a mountain. He created everything,
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everything that could be created. God
created it immeasurable power, bewildering imagination and
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wisdom. One commentator puts it that
way. You look at the things that
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have been made the you not just
the tangible things that you can eat and
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smell and collect and walk on and
live in, but laws, principles,
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rules everything that we see. There's
so many ways that you can consider this.
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Read a little bit of the book
of Job to feel the weight of
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this on your heart. God pummels
job with question after question. Were you
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there when I set the courses in
the sky? Were you there when I
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created this monster creature in the sea? Or were you there when I when
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I did, when I set the
Sun and its courses? We not only
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weren't there, but we didn't do
it either. People give their entire lives
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to studying the tiniest sliver of God's
creation. One recently published PhD just the
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title the royal of Vitamin D receptor
in insulin secretion and Beta selffunction. Someone
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just gave a significant portion of their
life to study the role of the Vitamin
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D receptor in insulin secretion and Beta
selfunction. That's not in any way to
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make fun of them or or demean
them. It's just to show how much
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we can devote and put into the
tiniest, tiniest of subjects and not even
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begin to understand how they relate to
a whole vast system of the world.
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It's amazing, it's mind blowing to
consider what God has done. In the
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beginning, God created the heavens and
the earth. Well, this worthy conception
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of God should leave us to a
humble conception of ourselves. A worthy conception
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of God should lead to a humble
conception of ourselves. Who can begin to
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compare to the awesome power of God
in creating the apple, in creating a
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fish? But not only these particular
points of creation, but the way in
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which they were created, to consider
that the things were created in all wisdom
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and all righteousness. Some of us
are very handy and are able to make
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good things. I was talking with
someone this morning and she told me that
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her father does woodworking. Perhaps some
of you are familiar with that and are
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able to take bits of wood and
craft them into find pieces of furniture.
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Others of US can barely hang some
blinds in our house. We we find
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that we lose the screw and we
miss the parts and we can't get it
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quite level. And here God is
creating all of these things that we see.
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But not only that, not only
does he create them, but he
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creates them in wisdom and righteousness.
I've not always been very holy in hanging
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blinds in my house, get angry
and frustrated over such a simple and silly
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thing. But God goes about creation
with masterful power, great ease and ability.
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You see this in some ways among
us humans, people that play tennis
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or the violin or can do math
proofs with such ease and ability that we
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go how do they do that?
And that's just human creative power and ability.
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All the more true with God.
But he does it with this righteousness
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as well, with holiness. We
often create things that not only in anger
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but in pride, in selfishness and
unholy ambition. God does it in perfect
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righteousness and he creates us. He
creates us in a relationship with him,
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between a ruler and the ruled.
Again, going to Claushan's one, remember
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how the the Apostle, says that
Jesus not only created all these things and
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through him all things were created,
but it also goes on to say whether
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thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through him or
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for him. It's a reminder that
God's work of creation has this particular aspect
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of rule. The fact that God
has created means that he also has a
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right to rule over us. We
belong to God as those made by him,
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as those who are rightly owned it
by him. Now mankind balks at
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this, but it's because we impute
to God the unrighteousness that people display.
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But, as I've said, God
created the World And Holiness and righteousness and
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his rule is that way as well. When he established his rule, in
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our authority over man, it was
not so that he could act as a
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tyrant or act in evil ways or
according to injustice. Everything the opposite.
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He God acts and relationship to man
that he has made in holiness and goodness.
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The creatures that he loved and made
and cared for were done so by
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his tender and holy hand. Mankind
was made to dwell with God, to
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serve him, not as a slave
under an evil master, but as a
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vice regent, as a King under
the king of Kings, to govern all
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that he had made. This should
humble us. This worthy conception of God
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would humble us. It should give
us a humble conception of ourselves, instead
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of doing what Romans talks about and
exchanging the glory of God for Creatures,
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in Worshiping after them and worshiping them
and worshiping ourselves and our abilities in our
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pride. When we hear a verse
like Genesis One one, it should cause
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us to worship God. But,
as I said at the beginning, this
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relationship between a worthy God and humble
creatures requires a saving act of God in
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order for us to enter it.
That's not because God failed in the way
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that he made things. God made
things in such a way that we're good
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and we're holy. But here we
remember that at the beginning of the world,
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though made good by God, it
was also made evil by man.
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When man, particularly Adam and Eve, rebelled against their creator, they sought
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their own way, they sought to
be kings above the king of kings,
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and in this rebellion, in this
rebellious act, they took everything that should
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be comprehended in genesis one one and
tore to shreads. In the beginning,
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God created the heavens and the earth. He is worthy and we are to
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worship him and serve him. But
in the rebellion of sin that they committed
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and in the rebellion of sin that
we commit, we confess and we do
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exactly the opposite. We say no, I want what I want. No,
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I am in charge and I rule
and I am good. It is
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my ways that are worthy of worship
and praise and not yours. They did
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not conceive of God in a worthy
manner and they fell into sin and the
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relationship ever after between creature and creation
was torn apart. Because of God's holiness,
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because of God's goodness, he could
not bear, he could not dwell
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with this sin and he cast man
out of the Guard and away from him.
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But God, acting not in his
justice as he did in casting in
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them out of the garden, but
in His grace, sought to save them,
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sought to redeem them and bring them
out of this and this is why
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the Bible exists. Adam and Eve
knew how the world was created. We
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know how the world is created.
God doesn't need to tell us this us
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in the Bible, but he does, because not only does he want to
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confirm what is true in our hearts
by virtue of his creating us, but
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because he's setting the stage for a
saving message. He's setting the stage with
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his rule and his authority and our
sin against it, so that he can
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tell us about how he is saving
us again, about how he brings us
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back to himself through that same creative
power that he began the world with the
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beginning of the Bible, Genesis One. One begins in this way because it's
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setting the stage for that message,
for a Gospel Message. And again.
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You see this all in Collossians one
hundred and fifteen through twenty. Well,
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we read that Jesus not only created
all the world and everything in it,
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being the unruler of it, but
even goes on to save it by becoming
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the head of the church, the
body, through his death on the cross,
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reconciling all things to himself. That
is the message of Genesis, it
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is the message of the Bible.
This message that the one whom we rebelled
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against was not only immeasurably powerful in
his creative acts but also saving acts,
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is very good news to us because
it means that when we suppress these great
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truths of genesis one one in unrighteousness, we can turn to that same God
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of Genesis one one for forgiveness,
not in his creator power, but in
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his creator savior power, Jesus coming
into the world as a man and his
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Holy Spirit coming to change our hearts, to create in US new life,
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to cause us to be born again
and unto a hope that is described as
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a new heavens and a new earth. I tell you that this morning because
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until you are changed on this particular
point, until you recognize God's saving power
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in Jesus Christ and find all your
hope and your forgiveness there, until you
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can see your sin being atoned for
on the cross, until you can see
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God's righteousness being given to you on
the cross, the no amount of reflection
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on the creation of the world will
bring about the worship God desires and requires
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of you. You can go wander
the forests and explore the seas all your
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life, you can go earn Ph
ds and spend your entire career engage your
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mind fully in every way in studying
God's created world, but you will never
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give him the worship and the due
consideration and a worthy consideration of him unless
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you first come to him through the
cross, unless that brokenness of that relationship
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in one we which in which we
were first made, is healed. You
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must come to see by faith the
Gift of God in Christ in heaven before
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you can properly thank him for the
many gifts on earth. As Calvin puts
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it, I'm paraphrasing, it's not
the earth which nurishes us, but it's
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Christ who gives us eternal life.
It's not this by ultimately, by the
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sun that we will see, but
by the Glory of God in the Gospel
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that we will see, not only
in this life, by faith that which
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we can't see, but also forever, by faith in what we will see.
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This is how much we must consider
all things. And so, whether
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you are getting your Ph d in
economics or your studying God's world at the
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very beginning of your life and you're
five years old and your learning about all
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kinds of interesting facts about the way
God made this creature and that creature,
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put your hope in the savior.
First, trust in the one who save
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you. Come to the creator of
the world through the savior of the world,
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and as you do this, God's
creation will open up before you,
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not only in a way that you
can see, but in a way that
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you can worship him for it and
live rightly before him in the world that
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he has given you. Moreover,
when we do this, when we receive
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this good, not good news,
by faith, God promises to prepare for
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us a place, this new heavens
and a new earth, that we might
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do this worshipful action, that we
might dwell with God in peace and unity
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and pleasure forever and ever. And
so, as you look at creation,
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consider him who made it. Bow
Before His Majesty, but do so as
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you bow before the cross. Let
us pray
