Well, as I mentioned earlier, we are beginning a new series this morning in the book of Genesis,
and I joked last week with you that we would probably spend something like the next 10 years or so together in Genesis.
That's not really true, but we will take a good bit of time to go through this together,
especially so in the first three chapters of Genesis.
And we really want to take our time here because these first chapters of Genesis are foundational for our faith.
Foundational. They're significant for us.
And so if you would, please take your Bibles and open them up to the book of Genesis this morning.
If you don't have a Bible, if you didn't bring one with you, feel free to use one of those in the seat backs in front of you.
If you don't have a Bible at all of your own, feel free to take that one home with you as our gift to you.
It should be easy to find our passage this morning.
It's the first book of the Bible, the first chapter of the first book of the Bible,
and first verse of the first chapter of the first book of the Bible.
Genesis 1 verse 1.
And so when you found it, let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word this morning.
Genesis 1 verse 1.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Let's pray again.
Lord, Father, these words are familiar to us, but they, again, are so important for us.
And so we pray, Lord, would you speak to us today and reveal yourself to us through the preaching of your Word.
We ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
You may be seated.
Every good builder knows that in order to build a sturdy house, you have to first lay a firm foundation.
And if you don't, sooner or later, you're pretty much guaranteed to run into some significant issues.
And sometimes you may not even know that the foundation is off.
And maybe you move into a new house and you think everything is just fine.
But then eventually you start noticing the walls are starting to crack.
The floors are starting to buckle.
The doorways are a little bit tilted.
And you realize these are symptoms of a bigger issue.
The foundation needs to be corrected.
This morning we begin a new series in the book of Genesis.
And you may be wondering, why in the world are we going to spend so much time together in the book of Genesis?
Or even you may be wondering, well, how in the world could this old book,
the very first book of the Old Testament,
how could that have any relevance to my life at all?
Well, one reason is Genesis is the foundation for the rest of the Bible.
It's the very first book.
If you want to read and understand your Bible better,
one way to do so is to really study and read and understand the book of Genesis.
Everything from the prophets to the gospels all the way to the book of Revelation,
it's all built up on this foundation.
Ken Matthews, one commentator, he says,
if we possessed a Bible without Genesis,
we would have a house of cards without foundation or mortar.
It's also true theologically.
As you think about all the major church doctrines, theological doctrines,
one of my former professors, John Currid,
he said almost every important church doctrine is found in seed form here in the book of Genesis.
It's here in this book that we're introduced to God and man,
good and evil, sin and temptation, law and grace, justice and mercy.
There's themes of kingdom and covenant, blessing and cursing.
The foundation for all of it is laid right here.
And I would argue, again, that most of these themes are established for us
even in the first chapters of the book of Genesis.
It's not only that.
It's not the only reason we want to turn to this book.
As you look around us at our culture, hopefully you see what I see.
There are cracks in the walls.
The floors are buckling.
The doorways are tilted.
And when we look outside of these walls and we see issues around us,
we ought to realize that these are ultimately, they are foundation issues.
And so really, I'm hard pressed to find a more relevant book than this old book of Genesis.
We see issues of human sexuality and identity.
The value and the dignity of human life.
We see the purpose and the meaning of life and the meaning of work and labor.
We see the institution of marriage.
All of it is right here, even in the first pages of the book of Genesis.
I truly believe that rightly understood, the truths that we'll see here in this book are the foundation of a flourishing society.
But not only for a flourishing society, but also for a flourishing church.
I truly believe that many churches and many Christians would do well to take a slow walk through the Garden of Eden.
To reinforce our foundation.
Make certain that as things have gone by, as time has passed, that nothing has shifted or eroded as time has gone on.
So here again, it's my prayer as we begin this book together.
That God would lay for us a firm foundation for our faith.
Amen?
Would you pray again with me briefly one more time as we begin?
And ask God to do that for us.
Lord, we want to see and understand all things from a God-centered perspective.
And so we pray and we ask again, Lord, would you lay for us a firm foundation for our faith?
We commit this series, this sermon, this time together in Genesis to you.
And we ask God that you would show us Christ.
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
I see three foundational truths here about God in the first verse of Genesis.
Three foundational truths about God.
Number one, first we see that God is the focus of all things.
God is the focus of all things.
In the beginning, God, Derek Kinner says,
It is no accident that God is the subject of the first sentence of the Bible.
In fact, this word, God, dominates the whole chapter and catches the eye at every point of the page.
It's used some 35 times in just as many verses of the story.
So we won't spend too much time here, but I do just want to make this point.
It's obvious, I think, but it needs to be said, the Bible begins with God.
As we start off this journey in Genesis, you really can't miss this, can you?
God is the main character of this book.
If you were to pick up the Bible with no knowledge of Christianity, no knowledge of religion whatsoever,
no knowledge of anything else that this book contained,
if you were to pick it up and start reading at the very beginning,
the very first person you would be introduced to is God.
These first four words of the Bible, they teach us an incredibly important truth, and it's this.
The world that we live in, it does not revolve around us.
It revolves around God.
It's not about us.
We're not the king of the universe.
God is the king of the universe.
We're not the point of this story.
God is the point of this story.
God doesn't exist for us.
We exist, along with everything else in the universe, for God.
We have to understand this, and it's easy, again, it's obvious to see it,
but it's impossible, apart from his grace, for us to really get this right.
Because all of us, myself included, all of us in our sin nature, you know what we want to do?
We want to make everything about us.
And we want to be at the center.
We want to be the focus.
We want to be made much of.
We want our desires to be affirmed.
We want our ambitions to be celebrated.
And our sin nature really doesn't like it any other way.
But here again, in the beginning, we're reminded God is the focus.
And it's his desires that are ultimate, not ours.
And it's his words and it's his glory that are the center of the universe.
And church, there's so many ways to apply this truth.
There's application for our worship services here as we gather together for worship.
When we gather together, again, in our sinful flesh, we might want to hear about us.
We might want to sing about us.
We might want to worship however we want to worship.
We might want to come in and do whatever makes us feel good.
But we ought to be reminded again, our time gathering here for worship isn't ultimately about us.
And our wants and our preferences and our tastes.
It is about God.
And we ought to come in here expecting and desiring and wanting to meet with him.
There's application for our times of private devotion and Bible reading.
When we come to this book, the Bible, we ought to acknowledge it's for us.
It's for our good, but it is not about us.
We are not the focus of the Bible.
God is the focus of the Bible.
When we have our times of private devotion, the point of those times is to meet with God.
Even as we look ahead to the great work of redemption at the cross of Christ, to the gospel.
Again, although it is for you, it is not about you and how great you are.
It is about God and how great God is.
We apply it to our own life.
And this is a big realization.
Every part of your life, your career, your marriage, your families, your ambitions.
Again, these are wonderful gifts to us, but they are not ultimately about us.
We exist to magnify the glory of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And you remember from last week, what we saw last week from Matthew chapter 28.
The first task of every believer is to magnify the glory of God.
How?
It is by enjoying Him.
By delighting in Him.
So we have to ask here as we begin this book together.
Is He the very center of your life and your joy?
Or do you fight Him for control of that position in your life?
You hear that question?
Is God and His glory at the very center of your life and your joy and your ambition?
Or do you wrestle with Him and try to replace Him as the center of your life?
Listen to this from Jonathan Edwards.
He says,
This is the difference between the joy of the hypocrite and the joy of the true saint.
The hypocrite rejoices in himself.
Self is the first foundation of his joy.
The true saint rejoices in God.
True saints have their minds in the first place inexpressibly pleased and delighted with the sweet ideas
and the glorious and amiable nature of the things of God.
And this is the spring of all their delights and the cream of all their pleasures.
But the dependence of the affections of the hypocrites is in contrary order.
They first rejoice that they are made so much of by God.
And then on that ground, He seems lovely to them.
You see the difference?
Church, God is the focus of this story.
The Bible begins with God.
Fully satisfied.
Fully content.
Fully God before anything else in the universe is made.
And in this first introduction to the person of God,
we're told some very important truths about who He is.
And so second, second foundational truth here,
we see that God is the sovereign, eternal creator of all things.
Second foundational truth.
And we'll spend most of our time here on this point.
God is the sovereign, eternal creator of all things.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
You know, it is interesting for me to think about the context of the Israelites
as they would have first heard and received this text.
I mean, put yourself in their shoes just for a moment.
You might remember Moses wrote Genesis.
And of course, they knew these truths through oral tradition,
but they would have received this text and read it for the first time
as they were making their way into the promised land.
And you remember what that time was like for them.
We just got done studying Joshua in the Sunday school hour.
You remember what that time was like for them as they journeyed into the promised land.
They are being called out of the world.
They're being called to be a distinct people of God.
They're being marked off as His distinct people.
But you remember also how they're constantly tempted to look just like all the nations around them.
They're tempted to bow down and to worship false gods.
They're surrounded by enemies at every turn.
And so they're tempted even to fear the strength of the gods of the nations,
to fear the power of these false gods.
And you think about what these false gods were like.
All of these ancient Near Eastern cultures around them,
they associated different parts of creation with the gods.
And so they worshiped the God of the sun and the God of the moon
and the God of the stars and the God of the water.
As they looked around them, they spiritualized these aspects of creation
and they worshiped them as something divine and something powerful.
Think about how powerful and reassuring it would be for them to hear,
No, no, no, no, no, no.
In the beginning, before any of these things were made,
God was there.
Your God, the God who is creating you as His people,
is the same God who created the heavens and the earth.
These gods of the nations are no gods at all.
These gods of the nations, they're the creation of the one true God.
Everything that these other cultures worship,
the one true God has made.
He created it.
He rules over these little G gods.
They serve Him.
They exist by His will.
Why would you turn and serve any of these other things,
other created things,
when God, the creator of it all,
calls you to serve Him?
Why would you fear any of these other parts of creation,
when God is the sovereign king of all creation?
None of these things can harm you apart from His will.
This very first line,
along with everything that follows,
is a reorientation for the Israelites
to give them a God-centered worldview.
As Israel journeyed into the promised land
and prepared to set up civilization
as God's people and God's kingdom,
they needed to be reminded,
God is the sovereign king of the universe.
And you know what, church?
Here, a few thousand years later,
the church needs to be reminded
of that very same message.
You realize God has called us out of this world
to be His distinct people.
God has recreated us, the church,
as His own people.
We are marching forwards
towards the true promised land.
And all around us are false gods.
All around you are created things
that tempt you and that threaten you.
And we too need to be reminded
that there is one God
who stands before all
and He is the sovereign king of the universe.
Not only this,
but He's the eternal king of the universe.
Have you ever thought about the fact
that God is eternal?
I hope you had your coffee this morning.
This is a lot.
Stephen Sharnock,
he sums it up like this.
He says that the fact that God is eternal,
it means that He has no beginning,
He has no end,
and He has no temporal secession of time.
God has no beginning,
and no end,
and has no temporal secession.
My family went to the mountains for Thanksgiving.
We were talking about it this morning.
And as we were driving up
and going up these long and winding roads
up into the mountains,
the boys were looking out the windows
and just seeing these beautiful mountains
in western North Carolina.
It's dangerous how beautiful it is,
especially for the driver, right?
Because you shouldn't look out the windows.
But as we went up these mountains,
I was reminded of Psalm 90, verse 2.
And it became our theme verse for the week.
Psalm 90, verse 2.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
wherever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting,
you are God.
God.
In the beginning,
God.
God is there.
Before anything else was there.
Before these mountains,
He was there totally complete,
totally satisfied,
totally glorious,
totally content in and of Himself.
He was there.
And one billion years from now,
guess what?
God is there.
From everlasting to everlasting,
He is God.
He has no beginning.
He has no end.
But listen,
even if we could begin to understand that
and wrap our minds around that,
it's the third description
that throws me for a loop.
I don't know about you.
In Him,
there is no secession of time.
You know,
we can't,
we can't even begin to conceive of this
because we exist in time,
don't we?
And we measure everything,
by time.
We have a beginning.
We age,
and we progress.
We change.
We have a past.
We have a future.
We measure years by months,
and months by weeks,
and weeks by days,
and days by hours,
and minutes and seconds,
and we can't escape time.
We live within it.
But for God,
there is no past.
There is no future.
For God,
there is only eternally right now.
God isn't different today
than He was a hundred million years ago.
God won't be different a hundred million years
in the future as He is right this minute.
God was just as present with me there in the mountains
as He was the moment they were created,
as He will be when they dissolve.
That's what it means to be eternal.
You know,
church,
we,
sometimes I fear that we take these truths for granted.
That we know them intellectually.
We know in the beginning God.
The right response to a God like this
is that we ought to marvel
at a God like this.
The God of the Bible is beyond our comprehension.
I wonder,
are you okay with that?
Right away,
in the very first book of the Bible,
we are faced with truths
that we cannot begin to comprehend.
The truth is,
I can describe that to you.
God's eternal,
but I can't fully wrap my mind around it.
I can't fully explain it.
Right here,
at the beginning of the Bible,
we are introduced
to a God who is greater than us.
Who is beyond us.
To a God who is indescribable
and incomprehensible
and incomparable.
And we aren't dealing here
with a God that fits within the limits
of our natural understanding.
And sometimes you and I,
we get frustrated
when we come upon something
in the Bible
that we can't understand.
And can I just suggest
that maybe that ought to lead us
to awe
and wonder
rather than frustration.
God is beyond our comprehension.
We can jump into that ocean of His glory
and swim down as deep
as we possibly can
and guess what?
You will never reach the bottom.
In fact,
this is what we have to look forward to
in eternity
in Christ.
This is what we have been brought into
by the grace of God
through faith in Christ.
If you are a Christian,
listen to what you have to look forward to.
This is what it means
to be a Christian,
by the way.
To be a Christian
is to be brought
into relationship
with this sovereign,
eternal God
by faith in Christ.
And so now,
for the rest of eternity,
guess what you get to do?
You get to plunge
the depths
of the glory of God
and never exhaust His goodness.
That's what it means
to enjoy everlasting life.
I used to think
everlasting life
sounded a little bit boring.
Right?
What in the world
do you do
with all that time?
I had too small
a view of God.
It will take
all of eternity
for an eternal God
to reveal Himself to you.
New glories
will unfold
every moment,
every hour of the day.
New reasons to rejoice
for the rest of eternity.
New reasons
to worship
for the rest of eternity.
New reasons
to be satisfied
in God
for the rest of eternity.
There is no end
to His goodness.
So there's no end
to our pleasure in Him
for the rest of eternity.
An eternal God
is reason to rejoice
and to marvel,
church.
One of my favorite passages
of Scripture
is Ephesians chapter 2.
Paul tells us
in Ephesians 2,
you were dead in sin.
But God,
being rich in mercy,
because of the great love
with which He loved us
even when we were dead
in our trespasses,
made us alive
together with Christ.
By grace,
you have been saved
and raised us
up with Him
and seated us
with Him
in the heavenly places
in Christ Jesus.
Why?
What's the point?
What's the end of it?
What's this headed towards?
Verse 7.
So that
in the coming ages
He might show
the immeasurable
riches
of His grace
and kindness
toward us
in Christ Jesus.
How long
do you think
that'll take,
church?
It'll take
all of eternity
for us to drink
in the fullness
of the immeasurable
riches
of God's grace
and kindness
towards us
in Christ Jesus.
If you enjoy
God right now,
friend,
you don't know
the half of it.
He's beyond
our comprehension
and yet,
here in the first
verse of Scripture
we see that
God,
the sovereign,
eternal King
of the universe,
He has acted
and He has
spoken
and He has
created
all things.
So we should ask,
why?
Why did this
sovereign,
eternal God
create all things?
And we see the answer
throughout the rest
of Scripture
and it's this.
He has created
all things
in order that
this infinite,
eternal,
glorious God
might be known
and His glory
magnified
in all the earth.
So third,
third foundational truth
here about God
is this,
that all things
exist for His glory.
This God
is worthy
of our worship.
That's the point
of creation.
That's the end
of all of this.
And again,
we return right back
to where we started,
don't we?
He created it all
that He might be
the focus
of it all.
God created
all things
that in all things
He might display
His glory.
God created all things
that in all things
He might magnify
the glory of God
generally in creation,
but specifically
and especially
in the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
A creation
is for us,
is for our good,
we benefit from it,
we enjoy it,
but it is not
about us,
it's about Him
and His glory.
The point of creation
is the magnification
of the glory of God
for from Him
and to Him
and through Him
are all things
to Him
be the glory
forever.
He created all things
that in all things
He might put
His glorious power
on display.
Psalm chapter 19,
you know this text.
The heavens
declare
the glory of God.
The sky above
proclaims
His handiwork.
Day to day
pours out speech
and night to night
reveals knowledge.
There's no speech
nor are there words
whose voice
is not heard.
Their voice goes
throughout all the earth
and their words
to the end of the world.
In them
He has set a tent
for the sun
which comes out
like a bridegroom
leaving its chamber
and like a strong man
runs its course
with joy.
Its rising
is from the end
of the heavens
and its circuit
to the end of them
and there is nothing
hidden from its heat.
Creation
is proclaiming
a message
which
it will never
cease to amaze me
how anyone
could go outside
and look up
at the sky
and think
all of this
is just an accident
and some
product of
randomness.
How in the world
could anyone
go to the beach
to the ocean
go walk in the woods
put their feet
in the grass
go to the mountains
and think
that all of this
just showed up
on its own
just random
explosions
of matter
that apparently
appeared on their own
without any real
explanation
I mean
it takes a great
leap of faith
to believe something
like that.
Creation
itself
is speaking
a message
it's telling you
that it has been
made
by a good
and glorious
eternal
sovereign
God.
Romans chapter 1
Paul says
God's invisible
attributes
namely
his eternal
power
and divine
nature
have been
clearly
perceived
ever since
the creation
of the world
in the things
that have been
made.
He made
all things
to demonstrate
and to
communicate
his eternal
power
and his
divine nature
that they
might be
perceived
and in
being perceived
that they
might be
rejoiced
in
that he
might be
exalted
and glorified.
But not only
this
there's a
greater purpose
here
for creation.
Ultimately
God
made
all
things
in order
that he
might
redeem
all things
through his
son Jesus
Christ.
creation
in and of
itself
it can
show forth
his power
and his
divine nature
and his
creativity
and his
intelligence
but the
gospel
of Jesus
Christ
shows us
his grace
and his
love towards
sinners
and his
heart of
mercy
as well
as his
wrath
and his
holiness
and his
justice.
As we
begin here
in the
book of
Genesis
we have
to keep
this in
view
that all
of this
everything else
that we'll
see in this
book together
ultimately
all of it
is about
the glory
of God
in the
gospel
of Jesus
Christ.
Colossians
1
16 and
17
says
by him
that is
Jesus
by him
all things
were created
in heaven
and on
earth
visible
and invisible
whether
thrones
or dominions
or rulers
and authorities
all things
were created
through him
and for
him
through
Jesus
and for
Jesus
and he
is before
all things
and in
him
all things
hold together
where is
Jesus in the
first pages
of the Bible
he is there
creating all
things
he is holding
it all
together
he's ruling
over creation
as king
of the
universe
John
chapter 1
says
in the
beginning
was
the word
was with
God
and the
word
was
God
he was
in the
beginning
with
God
all
things
were made
through him
and without
him
was not
anything
made
that was
made
and this
eternal
word
he goes
on to
tell us
this
word
became
flesh
and dwelt
among us
and to
all who
receive him
who
believe in
his name
he gives
the right
to become
children
of God
Jesus
is the
focus
of all
things
Jesus
is the
sovereign
eternal
creator
of it
all
and Jesus
is worthy
of our
worship
all things
exist for
the glory
of king
Jesus
is the
lamb
who was
slain
from before
the foundation
of the
world
for the
salvation
of a
people
who are
chosen
in him
before
the
foundation
of the
world
that we
might
inherit
a kingdom
prepared
for us
from before
the foundation
of the
world
and enjoy
the glory
of God
who existed
before
the foundation
of the
world
for the
rest
of
eternity
this
is why
he
created
the
world
and this
is why
he
created
you
is this
how you
see the
world
around
you
is this
how you
understand
the
universe
and all
that exists
within it
do you
understand
all things
in the
universe
including
you
and your
life
including
you
and your
plans
including
you
and your
desires
including
you
and your
ambitions
do you
understand
that all
of it
all of it
exists for
him
and his
glory
friend
if the
walls are
cracking
the floors
are buckling
the doors
are tilting
and the house
is leaning
let's make
certain
the foundation
is solid
it may be
that you
have built
your life
on another
foundation
whatever
that may
be
if you
have
done
so
it's
my
invitation
my
call
to you
this
morning
would you
repent
and put
your faith
in Christ
would you
boot yourself
out of the
focus and
center of
your life
and instead
turn to
Christ
and make
God and
his glory
the foundation
and the center
of your life
and church
it may just
be that time
has gone
on and things
have settled
a little bit
and we need
some reinforcement
this morning
whatever that
may be
church
it's my
desire
that each
one of us
would live
with God
and his
glory
in Christ
right at the
center of our
lives
let's pray
father
worthy are you
oh lord
and god
to receive
glory and
honor and
praise and
power
and worthy
are you
for you
created all
things and
by your
will they
existed and
were created
father you
are worthy
of our
lives
we exist
for you
not for
ourselves
we're made
to serve
and to
honor you
and and
there's no
greater joy
and delight
than to know
you father
now and to
the rest of
eternity
and so we
pray god
would you be
central to
our lives
we ask this
in jesus name
amen