Creation and Sabbath, Part 1

[0:00] So, can I be heard at the back of the class? I was going to say, it was kind of you to invite me back, but then I realized I'm on the committee that...

[0:15] It turned out in the middle of the Tuesday Bible study that was conducted during the fall. It was a moment of truth and of seriousness when each of the members of the group confessed that they had a miserable time on Sundays in their youth. Everyone present talked about the tension of knowing what it was that they could or could not do on a Sabbath. And it struck me that we might want to think more carefully about why that was the case. And certainly in my own life, Sundays were a disaster. We had to catch the bus to get downtown in Swansea in South Wales. And we had to go three times. So, there was chasing the bus at 10 o'clock in the morning and then back, and I rushed lunch, usually not as adequate as during the weekdays.

[1:25] Then we had to catch a bus to go back down for Sunday school at 3 o'clock. And then we had to come back and have a cup of tea. And then we had to rush back to the Gospel meeting at 6.30. All of this guaranteed that we did not get involved in anything seriously all right.

[1:43] So that was a curious thing. And it's something I think we need to think about as to what is the reason for that that is the reason for that, that is the reason for that, that is the reason for that thing. And that was a little bit of a struggle. And that was a little bit of a struggle.

[1:56] But it was a little bit of a struggle. And it seems to me that it's possible, that's the thesis I shall try to sustain this week and next week, that the reason is that we don't recognize a close relationship between creation and the Sabbath.

[2:10] And that's the reason for that kind of experience. And that's the reason for that kind of experience. And it seems to me that it's possible, that's the thesis I shall try to sustain this week and next week, that the reason is that we don't recognize a close relationship between creation and the Sabbath.

[2:32] Sabbath. So before we engage, let's just turn to prayer. Again, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our strength, our creator, and our redeemer. Amen.

[3:02] So maybe we should have the first overhead. And think about the reason why there is this close connection between creation and Sabbath.

[3:16] These words that we are very familiar with, these words that we are very familiar with, come at the end of the active creation of the universe and all that is contained in it.

[3:30] And it says that God saw everything that he had made. And behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning the sixth day.

[3:46] Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done.

[3:58] And he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.

[4:10] Because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. This integral connection between the sixth day of creation and the seventh day of Sabbath implies a much more positive relationship than one of the negative associations that are frequently held with respect to what happens on a Sunday.

[4:40] What was God doing?

[5:10] And how did this seventh day of creation? And how did this seventh day complete the creation? In other words, it's not a sort of an optional add-on or some sort of a kind of a restrictive regulation, which is partly the problem.

[5:29] But it is a sense of being able to contemplate the wonderful works of God's creation. Those of you who drove in this morning, which I suppose is 99.9% of you, probably not.

[5:49] Will not recognize the glory of the creation, the super abundance of God's creation that we're able to enjoy in this place.

[6:04] Will recognize the excitement that comes from contemplating God's creation. And it seems to me that this is the motivation and this is the way in which not only the Sabbath gets celebrated well, but, and this sounds like a large claim and will be, I hope, demonstrated next Sunday more adequately.

[6:33] But the whole of life is affected by our sense of the connection between creation and Sabbath. So today I thought I would, first of all, first of all, creation.

[6:50] With a view to explaining more adequately the connection between creation and a liberated sense of Sabbath next time.

[7:02] And so what we should, first of all, I think, is try to reflect on this magnificent work of God as expressed in Psalm 148.

[7:22] I apologize for the smallness of the 1828. I apologize for the smallness of this, but emeritus professors don't have a budget. And so we have to economize on the size of our overheads.

[7:35] Praise the Lord from the heavens. Praise Him in the heights. Praise Him, all His angels. Praise Him, all His hosts.

[7:48] Praise Him, sun and moon. Yes, we've seen the sun today. Praise Him, all you shining stars.

[7:59] And indeed, last night, this is the night of the earth. Praise Him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens. Very often we have waters under the heavens in Vancouver.

[8:13] But let them praise the name of the Lord. For He commanded, and they were created. And He established them forever and ever.

[8:27] He gave a decree, and it shall not pass away. In that verse, it seems to me, is encompassed the essentials of our understanding of God's creation.

[8:45] Let us praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded, and they were created. And He established them forever and ever.

[8:56] He gave a decree, and it shall not pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling His word.

[9:12] Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all sea-lisks, beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds.

[9:24] Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth. Young men and maidens together, old men and children.

[9:37] Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted. His majesty is above earth and heaven.

[9:48] He has raised up a horn for His people. Praise for all His saints. For the people of Israel who are near to Him. Praise the Lord.

[10:00] Now in reflecting on the psalm, it seems to me that there is something of a fulfillment of what God must have been thinking on the seventh day.

[10:11] What He was hoping. What He was hoping. What He was expecting that His people would recognize. It's therefore, perhaps, something that gets us close to the heart of this topic of God's creation.

[10:31] And I think that the only thing that is missing from that particular passage is the explicit recognition of the Trinitarian nature of this creation.

[10:46] And it seems to me that if we link this passage with Hebrews chapter 1. Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

[11:02] But in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, and through whom He also created the world.

[11:17] So that in this whole contemplation of God's creation, we're contemplating the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. There at the beginning, in the structure of the world from nothing, and in the modification of the materials which were created from nothing, through gradually changing shapes and organisms which subsequently have led to what we know today of the created order.

[11:57] So it seems to me that the first point that one needs to make in this whole thesis, and I should say that's all secret for the point of mind, I only propose to deal with three of these questions today.

[12:25] And of course, I should say that there are many of you in this audience who have already contributed these thoughts, and I have to acknowledge many of you here for the insights that you've provided.

[12:38] But it seems to me then that in contemplating the creation, and in making the connection between the creation and Sabbath, that we need to get something of the origins of the origins and of the purpose of creation.

[12:59] And it seems to me that it is the excitement that comes with the recognition of these two elements, of these two, the answers to these questions, that we get a clue as to how the creation and the Sabbath are so integrally linked.

[13:18] Now let me say in relation to the first point, the question of the, what is the, what are the origins?

[13:30] There's an awful lot of hot air that is shared with both the most religious scientists, scientists who are themselves victims of a particular faith, and there's an awful lot of hot air spelt by Christians on this matter.

[13:56] What do we know about the details? The second question is, what does it matter with respect to the details, other than the fact that God created, God ordered a decree, God set his seal on the creation as being good, He determined that the creation itself was something which we could gain a great deal of help from, by contemplating and by recognizing the superabundance of God's gifts to us.

[14:46] What is it necessary to know beyond the fact that God is in control and has every part of his creation under his control?

[15:01] What is it necessary for us to know beyond the fact that the world was created out of nothing, a concept which is almost impossible for us to grasp, and certainly no science can explain it?

[15:26] What indeed can we confidently know about an event wherein only the Trinity was present?

[15:39] Not even the most active note-taker at St. John's, of whom there are many, would have been present to take any detailed records.

[15:52] And yet, we believe and we know that God created the heavens and the earth.

[16:04] Now, I turn to considering the creed, briefly, like, when I did consider the creed, we would have held the best piece of paper, which was during the hiding of the secret.

[16:21] You'll recognize that not all my Sundays were taken up with reciting the creed. But really, when you look at the terms of the creed, we believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

[16:50] Have you ever thought about the implications of God being the maker of all things visible and invisible?

[17:05] A hundred years ago, one might have thought that the invisible part of that had to do with trolls, or with the evil spirits that couldn't be seen. But today, what do we, I mean, the most profound understandings of the created order, today come from invisible things.

[17:27] What do we know about the quarks and the gluons? What do we know about the DNA and the RNA?

[17:40] What do we know about the fundamental building blocks of creation? All of them are invisible. God the Father Almighty made them.

[17:55] So, there is this term, the maker of all things visible and invisible, has become much more meaningful over the last fifty years, in the sense that so much of God's creation is expressed in these invisible components of creation.

[18:22] Not only that, the limits of outer space, which were totally invisible, before Galileo, certainly before the Hubble telescope, these were all absolutely invisible things, but they all were created by the world.

[18:49] So, it seems to me that our sense of the greatness and the scope of creation is so intimately expanded into these realms of the invisible.

[19:02] And it is one of the privileges of being alive in this particular century. And hopefully, as Christians, we are reveling in that, rather than worrying about the fact that secularists are seeing creation better than some of us.

[19:27] It is not a matter of the celebrations, but these discoveries of the infinite wisdom of God are appearing around us.

[19:40] So, I think that, and that's the first part of the Creed, but integrally connected then to that, we say we believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, light of might, very God and very God, begotten not made, being in one substance with the Father, through whom, this is the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things were made.

[20:11] So, again, in the Creed, we have this creation perspective. And going on into that same Creed, we believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

[20:29] So that the creation is interweaved in this way, in the Trinitarian God.

[20:42] We also, as we proceed in the communion service, acknowledge the Holy, Holy, Holy Lord. God of hosts, Heaven and Earth are full of your glory. Glory be to you, O Lord Most High.

[20:57] Hosanna in the highest. In other words, our whole faith, in relation to origins, is tied up with this extraordinary combination of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, who are not only the creators at the beginning, but continue to create.

[21:25] And we see this most dramatically in the revivals under the power of the Holy Spirit.

[21:36] And different dramatic things happen in different parts of the world. I'm thinking particularly at the moment of China, with the dramatic explosion of the growth of God's kingdom through the work of the Holy Spirit.

[21:53] They don't have enough teachers, they don't have enough official ability to worship, but they are growing at a huge rate under the influence of the creative power of the Holy Spirit.

[22:10] So this is the first thought, the question of how the origins of creation, the origins of God's activity, essentially, is the most important component of our understanding of creation.

[22:32] But it comes as God's gift to us out of nothing, and it comes on a continuing basis today.

[22:43] Creation occurs all around us, and is a constantly changing and dramatic expression of God's activity in the world.

[22:55] So the first issue then is the matter of origins, and the essential components of this, we decided in our discussion group, is that this is Trinitarian creation.

[23:13] He's the maker of heaven and earth. All things visible and invisible were created by him. And the glory of God is reflected in his creation.

[23:29] And this is, I want to just refer back to this thought of God resting on the seventh day, as he reflected on his handiwork.

[23:42] And think how much we can benefit from attempting to get inside the thoughts, get inside the sense of excitement and potential that was expressed in God's activity on the seventh day.

[24:04] And as I will try to explain next time, the whole idea of not doing things was really a sidebar. It's important not to do certain things, of course, but what God was doing on the seventh day was very much doing things, mainly expressing the sanctity of his creation, expressing the perfection of his creation.

[24:33] Now the fact that there has been a fall since that event is a fundamental point about which we spend a lot of time at St. John's. And I don't need to rehearse the details, because you're all not fully familiar with the history of redemption.

[24:50] And I don't in any way wish to compromise our sense of the importance of that. But it may be that we don't spend enough time thinking of the history of creation alongside of that.

[25:10] So the second of these two questions... I've just missed out a point.

[25:22] In John's Gospel... And by the way, we had a very exciting presentation from Keith Ganser a couple of weeks ago, in which he made this remarkable link between Matthew, Matthew's Gospel, and the end of the Jewish Bible, the second book of Chronicles.

[25:42] And that was a terrific presentation. I can see in one big similar presentation in relation to the link between John chapter 1 and Genesis chapter 1.

[25:57] This extraordinary expression of the origins of creation. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

[26:15] He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.

[26:36] In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

[26:52] So again here, the way in which the creation account of Genesis chapter 1, and the interpretation as found in John's Gospel chapter 1, encapsulate the essentials of the creation story.

[27:11] They tell us the origins. They tell us who was involved. And they tell us the perfection of that whole creation process.

[27:26] And it seems to me, and you may wish to take some opposition to my thoughts, that that's fine.

[27:37] This is meant to be learners' exchange. But it seems to me that whole process is ongoing. That whole perfection of the creation process through the work of the Holy Spirit in our time today.

[27:54] The next issue is that of the question of purpose, the purpose of the creation.

[28:09] praktically, how will the creator ؟ Why should we hold those who areannelling from the world? Do the human aregiveness? It tells, say, many others will realize what we've been in the crystalline notes, and look at all others. I pray for coming from the divine powers of the story. A large part of the world. It tells Hebrews sentence symptoms that are the part in Christian senses. Gospel says, so then for them is waits for us on aivity path.

[28:25] And transcription temporary present deliverance to is filled with Jesus. This is the way either a daily life cycle, or a bit lower notice of our Köp and the suffering. You retain our own beauty by balancing act on Scripture or?

[28:36] And thank the work of the Son'shu barriersạnh transformation afternoon. necessary. I'm not sure that's very helpful. I think the whole issue of the perfection of creation, the fall, and then the new earth and the new heavens constitute the picture of the purpose of the creation.

[29:07] In other words, and again I stand to be corrected, that God took a risk in creating the universe and in creating people and in giving them a free will.

[29:30] He took a risk and in the short term the risk didn't work out very well. And it's only when we get to Revelation chapter 22 that we see the completion of the purpose for which the creation was initiated.

[29:54] Now this is eliding the events in between, which again, as I say, every good soul at St. John's knows all the details in between.

[30:07] Maybe this is a perspective that some of us haven't thought about. So if we read from Revelation 22, then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city.

[30:36] Also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month.

[30:48] The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it and His servants will worship Him.

[31:05] They will see His face and His name will be on their foreheads and night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun for the Lord God will be their light and they will reign forever and ever.

[31:27] I almost want to sing the Messiah at this point. But it seems to me that that's in a nutshell the purpose of creation.

[31:45] It will be to bring the whole of that creation to perfection and to completion. Well, again, I guess everybody in the room knows all these things.

[31:59] My poor wife has to listen to this again. But think of the implications of this applying to all living things and all created phenomena.

[32:18] phenomena. Think of this in terms of the magnificence of the range of God's creation.

[32:31] So, at UBC and other institutions, we have departments of geophysics and we have departments of biology and the botany and we have departments of ecology and well, good evening.

[32:51] Every one of these departments is delving into some aspect of God's creation. They don't know it in some cases, but some do.

[33:03] and the range of phenomena and the range of things which are still reflecting, even in this fallen universe, still reflecting the magnificence of God's creation and the extraordinary ways in which God has set us in this creation.

[33:28] It is, to me, a pity that we don't think a little more about some of these other phenomena in the context of God's created order.

[33:43] Now, I'm not saying I'm sure all of you do this, but it seems to me that we don't talk enough about it and reflect enough and share with each other some of the wonders of this created order.

[33:58] So, because Genesis chapter 1 leads up to the creation of people, our attention has focused almost exclusively on taps.

[34:21] I'll say that in general consciousness as well. but all the other things surrounding the created organisms which God has placed for us to learn from and to worship him in the context of his great generosity.

[34:48] I think that's the word. when we talk about super abundance, which is a little bit difficult to associate, but generosity is the sense that I have of reading through these passages.

[35:06] Because there's such an enormous range of good things that God has provided for us. so one of the big knotty questions, I mean knotty, they are the OTT, why, which worried people for a long time, was this fact that the materialists tell us we are only matter.

[35:34] and of course, we have to acknowledge that we are matter, but we are so much more than just matter.

[35:48] So at one and the same time, we express solidarity with nature, solidarity with creation, and at the same time, we give thanks for the fact that God breathed into these organisms the spirit was conscious of him and was able to respond to him.

[36:21] Now, it seems to me that this recognition of our solidarity with creation and of the fact that we have been given so much more than the rest of creation is something to celebrate.

[36:38] It's not something to be proud of, it's something to celebrate. And it seems to me that's one of those things that probably happened on the seventh day.

[36:52] As God was reflecting on the protection of his creation, he was thinking, my, what tremendous potential that lies in this creative order.

[37:09] Just a slight digression for a moment. We had a visitor at UBC recently, and Angel was generous enough to host the gentleman, and he gave some very mystifying talks, which a lot of people found very difficult to understand.

[37:27] But the one thing that left very clear mark from his visit, and which is reflected in the books that he writes, he never uses the word nature, he only uses the word creation.

[37:41] And this constitutes, in itself, a claim within the academy, which is, you might say, extraordinarily small, that in fact, is a very large claim, because it's subversive, and it undermines so much of the assumption of the academy, that nature is a result of random processes, a blind chance, which means that there really isn't anything particularly, to get worshipful about.

[38:22] I found this, and a number of other people found this, quite important in terms of the fact that, in a sense, one can be a cop-out by talking about nature, and that it's really very simple to talk about creation as an expression of one's faith and understanding of God as the creator, so that it's a simple and a profound thought.

[38:55] So the question of the origins and of the purpose of creation are background, essential background, to talking about the relationship between all this and self.

[39:09] and what I want to do next time is to think about what this provokes in terms of our practical Christian experience.

[39:23] How does this relate to my life of worship, but also my life of living in creation?

[39:33] what does it do in terms of my relationship to other created persons and other created beings? And how does this call us to a particularly strong celebration of this reflection of the glory of God in our midst?

[39:57] I know that some of this may strike you as other too liberal, it may sound as if it's avoiding some of the essentials of the story of redemption.

[40:16] Please don't come to that included. It's not either the story of creation or the story of redemption. The story of redemption sits within the creation story.

[40:33] And it seems to me that that's the importance of celebrating and of taking the time, which is part of what Sabbath is all about, but also reflecting on the specifics of what Sabbath means.

[40:49] the time. And I guess that's the end of part one. And I'm very happy to take questions.

[41:03] And it doesn't, in my view, length of presentation is less important than getting a single point across. and I hope that this sense of the glory and generosity and of the responsibility associated with contemplation or the creation and of the worship of our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, in giving thanks to the Holy Spirit for the life that is breathed through our community today.

[41:43] questions? Bill?

[41:56] In the view of diversity of opinions among many Christians as to how to read the account of creation of Genesis 1, I'll speak to you.

[42:09] Would you venture some advice on how to read those chapters, either politically or literally, historically, or in extreme scientifically?

[42:24] Could you give us some advice on what to think about as we read those accounts? What sort of accounts are they? Well, I suppose I saw it by addressing the question of genre.

[42:40] genre meaning the type of literature that one is reading. So, if we're reading poetry, we come to certain kinds of conclusions.

[43:02] If we're reading history, we emphasize other kinds of conclusions, we're reading science, we have other ways of taking the data.

[43:16] And when one looks at the first 11 chapters of Genesis, I think we're looking at a different genre from the rest of Genesis, for example.

[43:29] the reason for suggesting that is that none of the events recorded were participated in by the people who were being described, or the events that were being described.

[43:50] So, it seems to me that one respects a particular genre the way in which one accepts the kind of information that we committed.

[44:13] So, the first 11 chapters of Genesis constitute a divinely inspired poem in my introduction.

[44:28] quite happy to be contradicted on this. But this poem has some salient points, which were ones that I was trying to emphasize in my presentation.

[44:43] God was the creator. He created out of nothing. He then proceeded to create out of the things that he had created further organisms.

[44:54] used. There was a risk taken by God in putting Adam and Eve into the garden.

[45:09] This risk turned out to be catastrophic in terms of inflicting upon the whole of human race the inadequacies and the contingent evil that permeated the moment created part of humans.

[45:34] So it seems to me what we're looking at is an expression of adoration and an expression of worship which is not helpfully explored in terms of history.

[45:59] And it's certainly not accessible in terms of science. and it has to ask then how much our worship is critical to our faith and to our understanding of God's healing to this tradition.

[46:24] And it seems to me that then there are legitimate basis of differences of opinion on detail. but I do think it's essential to see it as a different kind of literature than that which follows in the book of genitives.

[46:41] A different kind of literature from the Psalms, different literature from the Gospels and the Acts and so on. Each of these has their own terms of reference and it is respectful of those own to take them in different ways.

[47:02] Not to undercut the divinely inspired nature but to pay them respect after the expression of what God has done in the universe.

[47:19] It's a delicate issue of course and I don't want to satisfy the Bible is not to take away or add anything to Scripture to morning.

[47:37] I'm just wondering how that statement fits in with what you're saying now if chapters 1 through 11 are just a poem. Well the statement just a poem.

[47:53] I think that is relevant. I find that it is easy. I think it is too easy.

[48:04] But you know you say that the first 11 chapter Genesis is relevant. I hope I give an introduction that I can be very relevant. well I know you do.

[48:18] And then you say well it's just a point. maybe not for everybody but certainly in my thinking some of the most profound truths to express the deepest emotions of people express some of the most people respond to God's creation.

[48:57] Is God talking to us then or is he talking to himself? Is there any teaching there other than knowing that God created?

[49:12] I just wondering how far is going to say that of course is not communicated very well but my feeling is that everything that we read in scripture is God reading and that God is speaking to us and the fact that we thought about the word being with God and the word being and how it's directly associated with Jesus Christ and his role in creation and in the kingdom and holding together of the world.

[50:08] I think the problem lies in trying to read into the text the meaning of the day and simple things like the speed of which these things occurred that person really did not think about the fact that sorry the fact that it may take no means of years for something to happen it is under the control of the creator and one of these is the character that I mentioned earlier who insists on speaking about creation one of the very interesting things that the the evidence is that the whole of life is convergent and that it is inevitable based on the composition of the building blocks of creation that human would emerge now you may say that doesn't sound like

[51:18] Genesis chapter 1 but in a very real sense there is a direction and a control and a purpose which is quite remarkable and which contrasts of course with the whole idea that these things happen by chance ethical implications whatsoever they all can't resolve and consider completely done in advance that's that's let's just sort of think about where is the enemy I don't think the enemy is the interpretation of chapters the first eleven chapters of Genesis as poetry the enemy the enemy the enemy is the materialist who says that there is no God there is no purpose there are no clear God we are free to do all the worship so that's that's that's my statement I apologize if I'm

[52:19] I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I apologize if I'm if I'm being very radical at this point I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm what makes it a metaphor. Now, if you strip this down to the bare bones of that, you get, I would say, three really important facts. That God's intelligent, human beings, ways we do work. That God comes from his body, and that God's human being, and that God's human being.

[53:23] And it's sequential, even as scientists can't explain that. And human body is beautiful, but it's clearly designed to be the fellowship of God. He wanted to be then to have.

[53:40] Not the cows, not the other things that were part of his spirit, but us. And it is so lost in that relationship and how to get it back that the relationship of God was followed.

[53:52] That's so cool. It doesn't have to be a true story to tell a true thing. There is no clinical time. There is no good Samaritan. And yet we use the bones of those stories to make a lot of difference about what we should believe about each other and how we should be heard. They are helpful metaphors. I think that's the fact that we don't talk enough about the sharing. And there are obviously limitations in all our grasps of this. And I would hesitate to pretend that I have got the final solution to this.

[54:48] And I wish to be corrected if I'm completely on the wrong track. But it seems to me that we need to share these reservations and concerns and recognize in each other that there is a genuine submission to God in prayer for conservation of his creation. And that we have none of us, that we have none of us. And he's playing behind the last word on something. An amazing matter.

[55:19] So again, why would you want the last word? I have to put it simple. I have to put it simple for instance, I'm simple. Can someone say, I want to say, yes, Genesis and Darwinism are both essentially true. Is that what you're telling me?

[55:36] I think that's a better point. But I recognize at the same time that there are huge gaps in dominance. But to the extent that it provides enormously helpful hints about the way that the world works.

[55:54] in the laboratory working with humans and the genome which is, I throw, highly inhabited by Christian scientists, the work that Collins is developing the genome, the whole sort of assumption inside our experimental work system of the universe. And there are clear guidelines and clear ways in which to change in organisms.

[56:31] And there are other controlled conditions. Controlled conditions are controlled by the structure of the elements of the elements of the elements. Which are posted right out. You can get that sort of a lot of detail which is pretty remarkable.

[56:57] Anyway, will you do that? Yeah, fine. I think it's an interesting link for us to perhaps understand the power of the word rest. In Genesis, God rests in perfection.

[57:18] He also says later on, he rests in his Son. Another form and another expression of perfection. And then the the Admonition is that we rest in the Son for the perfection that we need to pass through the narrow door.

[57:40] Mm-hmm. It's a standard perfection. Mm-hmm. Do you think it's that way for yourself? Mm-hmm. Do you have that strong connection?

[57:52] Absolutely. That's one of the things I wanted to bring out next time. There's not only the idea of celebration, but also just the idea of rest.

[58:03] And since we have picked up, the idea of rest is also important in relation to creation. But the question of the fellow field, the answer of seven years.

[58:17] That reflects the whole question of rest. The whole question of freedom, as reflected in the year of Jubilee, and the whole Sabbath context for us is there to come.

[58:33] I can't remember whether Jesus has ever been called the Sabbath of God, has he? In the name of Scripture? I don't know. Because it's qualified. He qualifies for that point.

[58:46] The Sabbath, the Father. Yeah. So, in the Bible, he's the Lord over the Sabbath. He's created the Sabbath, he's the Lord over the Sabbath. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

[58:57] Okay. Well, we're inhibiting our discussion today by the absence of, uh, uh, the canon Pagga. Mm-hmm. But certainly that's, uh, that's a very helpful point.

[59:11] He's Lord over the Sabbath. Yeah. Right. Does that mean a particular sense? I wonder if I could toss up the idea that, um, that God did not take a risk.

[59:24] Mm-hmm. Um, I guess it would depend on what you mean by risk. Mm-hmm. That he, I guess it might be one, um, differentiation on that word, which would be, did he know or not what was gonna happen, and I would suggest and I imagine there would be lots of agreements that he knew what would happen.

[59:46] But still, I can see there being great, um, purpose in creating what this is and no one else has.

[60:00] I think there might be something in the demonstration of love that is almost an objective good thing. Mm-hmm. And that the ultimate demonstration of love is in redemption, and Christ giving himself a holy person to pay the penalty for his creatures, and then apart from the fall, that would have never been possible.

[60:27] But it's kind of a dangerous road to go down because then you say that, uh, well, God, or it might lead to the belief that, well, God purposed the fall.

[60:38] Mm-hmm. And I don't know how to reconcile those. I'm just going into the possibility that there are really good things that have come about that would never have been possible without the fall, namely the demonstration of love, like you couldn't demonstrate it anyway.

[60:54] No, I think that's a profound thing. I think that's absolutely right. Uh, and, uh, it seems to me that the whole lot of things like that are much lesser. It's, it's, it's, it's coming from the, the, the, the, the, exercising free will, that It's much lesser. It's coming from exercising a free will.

[61:15] People have exercised a free will, they have disobeyed, but they have been brought back. So the whole process of experiencing not only love but also repentance, but also being brought back after such an thing.

[61:39] That is always a part of the purpose. The other side of it is a problem of avoiding the idea that we are all robots and simply running for a total of green.

[61:59] Yes, please. It reminded me of what you brought just a minute ago. There was a tension that you also asked, where is the enemy in all of this?

[62:15] And perhaps that could be used to a part of it. That there is something to be free to the enemy in all of this. And that's why the relationship is so important.

[62:29] And that's why we are the other ones. It is a real sort of the other one. It is a real question. Yes, I think the representation of the true enemy is much more important than some of the perceptions have been broached inside the Christian community.

[62:53] It is a real sort of the way that he is wrestling with the flesh and blood. He is a part of his powers. And, he is a part of himself.

[63:05] The joke story is actually what that was happening in the future. It has to have the time as a yet-filled that involves not only the enemy of his work, but he is a joke and the attention of his life as he is.

[63:19] The joke story was very much part of that Bible study group. I wish you knew that. But, I just, it is a very remarkable account, isn't it?

[63:31] I mean, that's another example that I think you're talking to sort of a different from all your literature. You do it, you know. It's remarkable. I don't think the old... The devil is the righteous now.

[63:43] Yes. And now I think that God won't be eaten. The person has a certain talent. Right, right. So... But the reality is clear about that part.

[63:57] Yeah. In that part. Mm-hm. Good. Well, yes. I feel slightly trivial and neutral because I'm not quite sure of whether they have to put in discussion.

[64:08] But I think there is a sense in which one of the big difference between a serial about the need and the serial is a product of the thing, but it is an scientific way of saying that there isn't historical about it, that there isn't a cause of harm.

[64:30] That there is an attempt to give us an understanding of what goes on in the story thing.

[64:44] There is something historical about it. The other one is redemption between you. There was an action. There is a sense in which there is a real fool and it is just a cause of harm.

[64:59] And of course the profound way that Jesus and Paul spoke about the first Adam and the second Adam and the second Adam and the way that so much chaos was brought by the fall of one man, how much better can we be the victory of the planet?

[65:24] Yes, I think that's also a critical point. I think that it's very easy to take a view of poetry and then just toss out the things that seem awkward.

[65:39] That's the danger. I think that God is going to be the same way to help us.

[65:52] Is it correct to believe that all along God's ultimate goal is to create the new heaven and earth which is different and better than the original creation before the fall?

[66:11] And what we know and what we know and what we know is part of the concept of creation. Is this the right way to think?

[66:24] Well, I'm not sure if there can be any better than the original creation because God and Jesus the first one is going to go together in the original creation.

[66:37] But the new creation of heaven and earth or the new perfection which you call it includes one more. one more. So it's a very easy and more than the original creation of heaven.

[66:56] Well, the reason why I'm doing that today, I don't know whether better is the right word, but I'm sure the relationship of Adam and Eve with God would be different from the relationship of the redeemed people of God and God himself.

[67:17] So there's a community serving. So in that way that we look at the fall is not a God took a business and failed.

[67:30] So it's part of its full plan. That's the only way I thought it was written in the sun. It's not a God that's a full plan.

[67:42] So you do two things that I thought not wanting to do. You took the risk with what I said.

[67:55] You said you took the risk with pride. I think you took the risk with pride. I think you took the risk with pride.

[68:06] I think you're right. It's all about the original purpose. I think we're getting down into the waters which when we and Professor Bradley can feel there is a bag of stone.

[68:27] So I do hope that you think about this question of the integral links between the Sabbath and creation that we've been done next Sunday as well. For me it was the most interesting discovery of the group.

[68:43] And I will pass that on and hope that it will help us. Thank you so much. I have some ind Big inflammation that I see viewer ц nursed spokeают.

[69:15] We have many slides. And got here we are Theatre by Albertung there. There's a couple weeks ago. And this is my body. quieroanu Crowmax.

[69:27] Just give the tears of State,