It is exactly 9 o'clock, and so I might as well just start, because I like to start on a round number, so if it's not 9, it'll be 9.05, and then that just takes too long.
So, why don't we start with prayer, and then we can jump right in.
Father God, creator of heaven and earth, we ask that you would bless this time that we have together, that you would be revealed more fully through our time,
and that through this discussion and through this time of learning, we can learn to glorify you more and see you everywhere.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
All right. So, good morning, everyone. I'm Luke Batty. I'm a professional scientist, although that really won't come in very much today.
So, just think of me as another layperson.
And we're starting today a new class series on the doctrine of creation, and oftentimes the doctrine of creation can kind of feel like a battleground, you know.
Where we're always talking about different views on the age of the earth, the matter of days, evolution.
And in this class, we are going to cover some of these things, for sure, but I think our goal here is to look at the doctrine of creation with a view to how we can more fully receive the foundational teaching as creation is a gift of God.
Creation is a gift from God.
Creation is a gift from God, and how we can then take creation as a gift and return to God as our creator by glorifying him.
So, today, we're basically, over the next seven weeks or so, we're going to take Genesis 1.
Chapter 1 is sort of our guide as we move slowly through it, and we pick up different elements of the narrative and what we can learn from it.
And so, today, I'll be starting at the very, very beginning.
The very beginning, you know.
So, before I jump in, though, why don't we...
I love... I don't know about you guys, but I love mythology.
Does anybody else here love mythology of different cultures, etc.?
Yeah, I'm crazy about it.
I grew up with... my parents had the doulairs.
I don't even know if I'm pronouncing that right.
Doulairs, like book of Greek myths and Norse myths and all that stuff.
So, I grew up with that stuff.
It's my bread and butter.
So, I love hearing different cultures' creation myths.
So, I thought I'd give you a few samplings, and then we can use that as a starting point for differentiating the biblical worldview.
So, let's start with Greek myth.
This is coming from Hesiods.
Cosmogeny, if... or Cosmogony.
I actually, honestly, don't know Greek.
So, it could be pronounced either way.
Cosmogeny sounds more interesting to me, though.
So, it starts this way.
First, there was chaos.
Then broad-chested Gaia, the steadfast seed of all immortals who live upon the snowy peaks of Olympus.
Then murky Tartarus in the depths of the white earth.
And Eros, most beautiful of the immortal gods, who weakens the limbs and overwhelms the minds and wise counsel in the breast of all gods and humans.
Chaos gave birth to Erebus and black Nyx.
And from Nyx came Aether and Hermera, conceived after Nyx joined in love with Erebus.
First, Gaia bore story Uranus, her equal, to envelop her on all sides so she would be the ever-secure home for the blessed gods.
Then she bore Tal-Uria, pleasant refuge of the goddess Nymphs on the mountain forests, and the sterile swelling seas of Pontus.
All of these she bore alone.
Then she bedded Uranus and bore deep whirling Oceanus,
Coeus, Creus, Hyperion, Iapetus, Thea, Rhea, Themis, Nimesanine, and it goes on,
golden-crowned Phoebe, and fair Tethys.
Then Wily Kronos was born, her youngest and most dreadful child, who hated his fearsome father.
And so for those of you who are familiar with Greek myth, we all know about Kronos, right?
Kronos was the big bad guy.
He was like, I want to be top dog.
And so he started eating his children, because there was some sort of prophecy, I think,
that one of his children would supplant him.
So he's like, I'll solve that problem just by eating my kids.
Which, right?
Why wouldn't you?
But then, as we know, Zeus was hidden away, right?
And then he comes back and beats up his dad, and then all of his siblings get vomited out.
It's a very fun, interesting story.
But that's how Greek mythology starts.
That's the creation myth of Greek mythology, or at least one of them.
Here's another one I think really is interesting.
This is Norse mythology.
This one starts,
Before there was soil or sky or any green thing, there was only the gaping abyss of Gnungagap.
This chaos of perfect silence and darkness lay between the homeland of elemental fire, Muspelheim,
and the homeland of elemental ice, Niflheim.
Frost from Niflheim and billowing frames of Muspelheim crept towards each other until they met in Gnungagap.
Amid the hissing and sputtering, the fire melted the ice, and the drops formed themselves into Ymir,
the first of the godlike but destructive giants.
When he slept, more giants leapt forth from his legs and from the sweat of his armpits.
I'm sure we were all familiar with that.
As the frost continued to melt, a cow, Adumia, emerged from it.
She nourished Ymir with her milk, and she in turn was nourished by salt licks in the ice.
Her licks slowly uncovered Buri, the first of the Aesir tribe of gods.
Buri had a son named Bor, who married Besla, the daughter of the giant bolt-thorn.
The half-god, half-giant children of Bor and Besla were Odin,
who became the chief of the Aesir gods, and his two brothers, Vili and Vey.
Odin and his brothers slew Ymir and set about constructing the world from his corpse.
They fashioned the oceans from his blood, the soil from his skin and muscles,
vegetation from his hair, clouds from his brain, and the sky from his skull,
where four dwarves, corresponding to the four cardinal points,
held Ymir's skull aloft above the earth.
And then, after that, we get into all the fun of the adventures of Odin
and the other Aesir gods and the Veynir gods,
if you're familiar with Norse mythology.
Lots of fun, weird stuff.
That's the Norse creation myth.
Here, let's bring it a little closer to the context of the writing of Genesis.
We have here the Babylonian Enuma Elish.
This starts,
When the heavens above did not exist, and earth beneath had not come into being,
there was Apsu, which is fresh water, the first in order, their begetter,
and Demi urged Tiamat, that's salt water, who gave birth to them all.
They had mingled their waters together before meadowland had coalesced and reedbed was to be found.
When not one of the gods had been formed or had come into being,
when no destinies had been decreed, the gods were created within them.
Lamu and Lahamu were formed and came into being.
While they grew and increased in stature, Ansar and Kisar, who excelled them, were created.
And then on and on and on.
More gods, more interesting stuff happens.
Creation of humans.
That's like, we'll bring, I'll mention that later in a little bit.
So these are different, this is just sort of a survey of different ways
that creation has been understood in different cultures, in different times.
In ancient times, in Babylon, in Norse mythology, in Greek mythology.
Let's compare and contrast these creation stories with the beginning we have in Genesis.
This starts, Genesis 1.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep,
and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And then it continues on for the days, which we will continue to talk about later.
Does anybody see, what are some of the differences you guys see in this account here
versus the other accounts we read earlier?
Anything jump out at you?
Yes?
God exists before, not for a picture.
Yeah, yeah, it seems like God is there at the beginning, right?
And then there's nothing else, right?
What else?
Anybody see anything else?
In the other myths, there's a lot of action, a lot of interaction.
Whereas, from what you read from Genesis, there's a pregnant presence.
Yeah.
Yeah, sort of like there's more characters going on.
There's more conflict, maybe, we could say.
Whereas in this account, there is no conflict.
There's just the Word of God.
So I think, yeah, Matt?
In all of them, I think there was some idea of chaos or the abyss or something like that near the beginning.
Yeah, the watery chaos or the giant, you know, maelstrom of Gnungagap,
which is just a fun word to say.
I'm not even sure I'm saying it right, but it's fun the way I'm saying it.
Yeah, I think these are all correct things to see in this difference.
For one, I think the lack of conflict.
There's no other element.
There's no other being that is vying with God for control,
vying for God with God for creation, for supremacy.
It's God.
In the beginning, God.
We also get monotheism, right?
That's one of the ones that kind of jumps out.
I mean, all the other ones, there's multiple gods going on.
You know, there's the earth god and the sky god,
or there's the giant god, I guess.
And then you have, you know, different water gods,
whether that be salt water or fresh water and their progeny.
There's a lot of, like, birthing going on, right?
No, in this account, we don't have any of those.
We have one god.
And I think the most important difference is the first difference that was brought up,
which is God was there before anything else.
God was there before anything else, and he created everything out of nothing.
This is the doctrine we call creation ex nihilo,
and that's what we're going to be talking about today.
This is one of the great doctrines of the church.
But before we get into that,
and this is a doctrine that all Christians agree on,
but I think it's important, since we're using Genesis as our roadmap,
to pause here and talk about a controversy that has to do with these first verses of Genesis.
And that controversy is over whether Genesis 1-1 is actually describing creation ex nihilo.
So there's multiple views out there.
The reason there is this controversy is that, grammatically,
we can take the beginning verses of Genesis in a few different ways.
One of the ways that used to be brought out earlier in time,
maybe I think more commonly in the 19th century,
was the idea that you read it when God created the heavens and the earth,
and you started that way.
But most biblical scholars don't take that reading anymore.
They don't think that's, for reasons I don't understand,
because I don't speak Hebrew,
that's not really much of a viable option.
But there's still two other options that we can use to take Genesis 1.
So the first one is, surprise,
the first one is the way that we have it in the ESV.
We just read it in the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth,
the earth was out, form and void,
and the narrative continues from there.
Another way of taking the beginning verses
is to see the first verse as sort of a title,
sort of a summary of all that's about to come next.
So we can think of that, reading it would be like,
Genesis 1,
in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Pause.
The earth was without form and void.
You see how the narrative can start here?
The earth was without form and void,
and darkness was over the face of the deep.
So, these are two different ways we can take
the beginning verses of Genesis.
So how do we,
how do we,
what are some reasons for taking the first
or the second way of reading it?
Well, for the second reading,
I think one of the reasons,
outside of any of the grammatical reasons,
is that there's an,
if we start here,
with the earth being without form and void,
and darkness was over the face of the deep,
we start to see a greater,
a stronger similarity
between this narrative and other narratives
like the Enuma Elish that we started with.
Right?
The starting in a place of disorder,
starting with chaos,
starting with this watery nothingness,
sort of.
You guys see that?
How this,
now if we start here,
we can start to see a closer similarity
to these other creation myths.
And I could have given you other ancient Near Eastern creation myths
from ancient Egypt,
for instance,
or ancient Assyria,
I think.
Yeah.
We,
there's,
there's a few different ones
and they all start sort of,
just kind of like Greek myth and Norse myth
in a place of chaos and disorder.
And the creation myth is about bringing in order.
Right?
And that order is usually brought about by fighting,
fighting or birthing or marrying
or something like that.
Right?
As we,
as we read.
And so if we take this second understanding
of,
of the,
the first verses of Genesis,
then we can,
you see,
we can conceive of this beginning creation account
as sort of a direct frontal attack
on these other creation myths.
Right?
And what will come out of the,
what will come out of understanding
the creation account
in comparison to these other myths
is those things that we talked about.
The fact that there was this lack of conflict in Genesis.
In comparison to these other groups.
That there's an elevation of human dignity.
So for instance,
in the Aniwa Elish,
I didn't go into it because it's very long.
But when it eventually gets to the creation of humans,
humans are like,
they're,
they're like the,
the thing that was created to get the gods out of doing some work.
Basically.
So the gods were,
you know,
they're on the earth,
they're tilling the soil,
they're making food,
and they're like,
oh man,
this is a ton of work.
I thought I was a god.
Why am I doing this work?
Basically.
And then human beings are created like,
hey,
we can make these things,
they can do the work for us,
and then they offer us the food,
and everything's great.
And then they're like,
hey,
great idea,
let's do that.
And then boom.
That's the creation of human beings.
That's what being,
a human being means
in the Babylonian context.
You are born into a life of work and service.
For what end?
Just to get the gods out of some work.
And ultimately,
actually,
humans end up becoming way too loud and annoying.
And then that's why they're flooded.
Because it's really,
they're like,
seriously,
the gods are trying to sleep.
And they're like,
I can't sleep with all this noise down there.
They're just making so many humans,
it's to get rid of all of them,
you know.
So,
obviously,
if we take this second version,
version of the Genesis,
all those,
those differences come to the fore.
Human dignity is so different
in the,
in the Genesis account
than we get in other,
these other accounts.
And we can continue on
in differences,
like the expression is God
as harmonious ruler,
sole ruler over the earth,
over creation.
So that's,
I think,
some of the,
the benefits of that.
And despite,
I think,
a lot of the strength
of these considerations,
I actually believe that
the,
the understanding that we get
in the ESV
and other translations
is probably closer
to the truth.
And that,
indeed,
the implications
from the beginning,
the first chapters of Genesis
are way more radical
and way more different
than the surrounding cultures.
verses.
So some of the reasons
that we can,
we have for taking this,
this first view here
is that in the Hebrew,
actually,
verse two starts with an and.
And so if you imagine
the narrative starting
and the earth was out,
form and void,
it kind of sounds like,
oh,
what?
I thought,
you know,
it's kind of like starting,
boom,
in the middle of the action
and there seems to be
a callback to earlier action.
So that actually gives us
a little more confidence
that this,
in the beginning,
God created the heavens
and the earth
is the first act
in the narrative.
And then the verse two
is actually a continuance
of the narrative.
Now, you know,
I'm not a Hebrew scholar
and so there's very good arguments
both ways on the grammar.
So I don't claim
to be an authority there,
but that seems pretty,
pretty persuasive to me.
And more,
and then secondly,
I think more interestingly
or more decisively
is this view that
if this is a title
of what is about
to follow,
it is kind of strange
that the first verse
starts with the earth
already there.
Right?
So in the beginning,
God created the heavens
and the earth
is what we're about
to experience,
what we're about to see
and it starts with
the earth is already there.
It's kind of like,
oh, well,
what is the earth
if it hasn't been created yet?
Right?
What is the earth?
And if you continue on
and when he starts
talking about the heavens,
before the heavens
are actually fully formed,
they're called the heavens.
And so in one sense,
as we continue on
in the narrative,
narratively,
the earth and the heavens
already exist,
at least in the language
of the passage.
And so that,
again,
I think is other reasons
to take this first view.
Now,
I think another reason
we should consider
the first view
is it seems to be
the way that
the earliest people of God
understood this passage.
As we call back
to Genesis 1,
there seems to be
this insistence
of there being
nothing besides God
in the act of creation.
So if we look at,
for instance,
Isaiah 45, 18,
For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens,
He is God,
who formed the earth
and made it.
He established it.
He did not create it empty.
He formed it to be inhabited.
I am the Lord
and there is no other.
Right?
So I think if we sit
and we marinate
on that kind of verse,
it does seem to give us
the feeling
that there is nothing else
other than God
when He creates
and He creates
everything as is.
Right?
Another obvious example
in the New Testament
is John 1, 1.
Right?
In the beginning
was the Word
and 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.
Now that is obviously
very clear.
And so,
even those Christians,
believers who take
this second view
would say,
obviously creation
ex nihilo
is the truth
that we affirm
in Scripture.
But I think
if we think about
John 1, 1
as a callback,
as a reference
to Genesis 1,
then that makes it
not only
an expression
of new doctrine
but also
an interpretation
of what it is
Genesis 1
was saying
in the first place.
So whether you're
convinced by
either of those arguments
about creation
ex nihilo
as I,
you know,
whether you think
Genesis 1
is talking about
creation ex nihilo
as I take it
or not,
we can all agree
that actually
this is the teaching
of God's people,
that the doctrine
of creation ex nihilo
is one of the
distinguishing differences
between Christianity
and these other
religious systems,
other ways of thinking
about the world.
So how is that?
What does creation
ex nihilo
do for us?
What are we
to learn from it?
Well, for one,
we should remember
that heaven and earth
is a merism,
meaning it's a phrase
that's supposed
to encompass everything.
So when we say
in the beginning
God created
the heavens
and the earth,
we shouldn't think
of this as
specifically
God created
the sky
and God created
the planet earth.
Heaven and earth
just means
everything, right?
It's like saying
the whole kitten caboodle
or the whole enchilada,
right?
We're not talking
about enchiladas here.
We're talking
about everything, right?
So this is the same
kind of figure of speech.
Heaven and earth,
everything.
So when we confess
that God created
all things from nothing,
everything, everything,
this is actually
a confession of truth
both about God
and about creation.
So how is this?
So let's park here
for what does this
tell us about God?
Well, if everything
that is made,
that is,
if everything that is
was made by God,
then that reveals
that God is the only
independent one.
The only being
without beginning.
You guys see that?
This concept of deity
is radically different
from the other ones
we heard about earlier.
Zeus, Odin, Apsu.
They may be called almighty.
They may be called ultimate.
But they actually just exist
as one part of a larger whole.
They are part of the
eternal cosmos of chaos
or maybe a whirling maelstrom
depending on what flavor
you prefer.
They're just one part
of this larger whole, right?
They don't ground
these realities.
They kind of exert
a power over them
kind of like Superman
on steroids, right?
They can take
this pre-existing material
and they can form it
and they can exert
their will on it
but they don't make it.
They don't ground it.
It doesn't exist
because of them.
How different is this
than the God of the Bible?
When God gives Moses
his personal name,
what does he say?
I am.
Right?
I am.
It gives me chills.
Right?
I am.
God is not one being
among other beings.
God is being.
God is, is, as Augustine says.
So what is that?
There's not a watery chaos,
an eternal universe.
There's not this unformed
substance alongside him
that he uses.
This is what we learn
when we really stop
and consider the teaching
of creation ex nihilo.
There's only God
and all things
that depend on him
for their existence.
There's basically
only two kinds of things.
God
and creation.
Right?
If you're not God,
you're created.
And that determines
the hierarchy.
Does that make sense?
God is often called
his aseity,
meaning from himself.
This is actually
what Jesus mentions
when he's defending
his unity with the Father
to the Pharisees.
He says,
in John,
I believe,
5,
I didn't write that down,
actually.
John 5,
for as the Father
has life in himself,
so he has granted
the Son also
to have life
in himself.
God isn't given life.
God doesn't depend
on anything.
God has life
in himself.
Right?
You can see immediately
the radical departure
that is from these other gods.
Aseity is one of those
incommunicable attributes,
we say.
Those aspects of God's essence
that are unique to him.
If you have one of these attributes,
you are God,
by definition.
Right?
If you're from yourself,
you are God.
Right?
And a lot of us
like to think
we're self-made.
We're not self-made like this.
Right?
I think there's kind of
a funny story, right?
I think it's a joke,
actually,
but it's a story
about a scientist,
this very brash
and confident scientist.
He says,
God,
I can create
everything that you created
out of this mud right here.
And God says,
okay, go ahead.
Do it.
And so the scientist says,
okay.
He starts working with the mud
and God says,
oh,
well,
make your own mud.
Right?
There's all this stuff
that we just take for granted
as just existing
that we think,
oh, yeah,
the laws of physics.
Right?
A lot of times
you'll hear of people
talking about,
well,
if we have a quantum vacuum
and we have quantum fluctuations,
then something actually
can come out of nothing.
Right?
But this just misses the point.
This is sort of obtuse
because there isn't nothing.
There are quantum laws.
Right?
You see that?
There are laws of physics
that are operative.
So those things
need to be explained.
It's not about
the existence
of material things as such.
It's the existence
of anything.
It's existence.
Period.
Full stop.
That we're trying to explain here.
Right?
Another thing
that we get from Ex nihilo,
another of his
incommunicable attributes,
is God's immutability.
God's not growing.
Being born from the salt
like the Aesir.
I love that view.
And that's one of the reasons
I shared it.
I love the view
of a cosmic cow
licking the ice
and a guy just coming out of it.
In the Duler Book of Myths,
there's actually
a really great picture
where the cow
is like licking
and it's like
you can start
seeing the hair
coming from the thing
like a cow lick
in your hair, right?
But God's not growing.
God's not developing.
He's not reaching
or striving.
God is perfect.
And therefore,
there's no need
for God to change.
Like his aseity,
God's immutability
is revealed
in his being
the only one
to not have a beginning.
So let's look at
Psalm 92.
where it says,
Before the mountains
were brought forth,
or ever you had formed
the earth
and the world
from everlasting
to everlasting,
you are God.
When we apply this
to the aspect of time,
God's immutability,
we arrive at God's
eternity.
He's the only beginning
that was always.
Right?
Revelations 1.8
I am the Alpha
and the Omega,
says the Lord God,
who is
and who was
and who is
to come,
the Almighty.
There wasn't a time
where God was not.
There wasn't a time
when God needed
to change
or to grow.
He didn't need
to take on humanity
to learn
what it was really like.
Does it make sense?
Sometimes we talk
like this.
Like God needed something.
Like he needs us.
Does God need us?
I hope not.
Because I'm not
going to be any help.
And we could go on.
There's so many things
we can draw
about God
from creation
ex nihilo.
His unity,
God's infinity,
his simplicity.
All of these attributes
are attempts
to articulate
this radical transcendence
that we have
in the Creator.
He's beyond all things
for he made all things
and there's no one
like him.
That's, I think,
the title,
should be the title
of what we learn
from creation
ex nihilo
is that there is
no one like him.
So,
that's God.
We're finished with God.
You know?
No, we're not.
So,
but what do we learn
about God?
What do we learn
about creation
from the doctrine
of creation
ex nihilo?
Well,
if God,
if discussing
God's transcendence
is leaving you
feeling cold,
making you think
if God's so distinct
from his creation,
if he's so different,
if he's so beyond,
if he doesn't need,
how can we say that
he's with us?
Right?
On the contrary,
this view makes God
closer
than you can even imagine.
If all things
depend on God
for their existence,
then that means
that we have
derivative existence.
Right?
If God is being,
that anything
that exists
is sort of
relying on God's being
to exist.
Are we getting that?
So,
this is all to say
we don't exist
autonomously.
I heard a
great analogy
where it's like,
you know,
before we're born,
we rely on this
umbilical cord
to exist.
Right?
We as human beings
we're kind of
attached to our mothers
where we receive
this existence.
We receive
our nourishment.
And sort of like
invisible umbilical cords.
We all walk around.
Everything walks around
connected to God,
relying on God
for its existence.
Right?
So,
we don't exist
autonomously.
we actually must
participate in
God's being
to be.
And so,
it's incorrect
to think of our
existence as the
result of blind
forces like
electromagnetism
or the weak
nuclear force
or gravity.
You know?
This is like,
these are the things
that we usually
think about when we
think about
like the bare
bones of existence
like these
laws,
these things
controlling how
atoms relate to
each other
or how atoms
are formed.
And surely,
these forces
have their place
in explaining
a host of
different phenomena
that we observe.
But no,
ultimately,
it is the personal
triune God
of Scripture
who is love,
who is also
the ground
and sustainer
of our very being.
Or as Paul quotes
Epimenides in Acts 17,
in Him,
we live and move
and have our being.
Speaking of Jesus
as the logos
of creation
in Colossians 1,
15-17,
Paul says that
He is the image
of the invisible God,
the firstborn
of all creation.
For by Him
all things were created
in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible,
whether thrones
or dominions
or rulers
or authorities.
All things were created
through Him
and for Him
and He is before
all things
and in Him
all things hold together.
So far from
separating us from God,
the fact that
we are contingent,
that we are dependent
is actually
described in Scripture
God being our source
as our being
in Him.
We are not
separated from God.
We are in God.
Every moment,
second by second,
God sustains us.
We are connected
to Him.
This is one of the reasons
why sin is so heinous.
Right?
So,
if we conceive of sin
as rejection of God,
a turning away from Him,
it's actually
a rejection of life
and being itself.
Now,
this is actually
one of the reasons
philosophically
that we,
that the view
of sin
as privation
emerges in the church.
Right?
Sin is non-being.
Anyways,
we don't need to go
into that.
Unless you really want to.
Because I would love
to talk about that.
But,
yeah.
But more importantly,
actually,
it's so heinous,
sin is so heinous,
because
in rejecting God,
we actually have to
use the gift
of God's
sustaining work
in creation
to reject Him.
we stand
on top of God
on the limb
of God's
sustaining grace
and we start
cutting on the limb
saying,
I don't need you.
I reject you.
So,
this is the,
constitutes the most
severe form
of ingratitude.
As Paul says
in Romans 1,
for the wrath
of God
is revealed
from heaven
against all
ungodliness
and unrighteousness
of men
who by their
unrighteousness
suppress the truth.
For what can be known
about God
is plain to them
because God
has shown it to them.
For His 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.
So they are
without excuse.
For although
they knew God,
they did not
honor Him
as God
or give thanks to Him.
For they became
futile in their thinking
and their foolish
hearts were darkened.
Claiming to be wise,
they became fools
and exchanged
the glory of the
immortal God
for images
resembling mortal
man and birds
and animals
and creeping things.
You see how
by
sitting
and really
thinking about
what does it mean
for God
to be creator?
For God
to make everything
apart from Himself
and the fact
that we rely on God,
we're sustained
by God.
You can see how
silly
idolatry becomes.
we take
these things
that these other
created things
that we see
and we fashion
them and we
worship them
and how silly
it is when
those very things
rely on God
for their existence.
Right?
So thanks be to God
that He does not
reject us
in turn,
obviously,
but continues
in His mercy
to sustain us.
Right?
And,
not only that,
He entered
into contingency
by taking on
human nature
and then
even works
with the Holy Spirit
to reunite us
to Himself.
So sin is us
turning away
from God,
rejecting
being,
existence,
life,
goodness,
love,
everything that God is.
If we consider
sin as that thing,
then,
through Jesus
and the Holy Spirit,
we are brought
back to God,
back to being,
back to existence.
I like how
Herman Baving
puts it.
He says,
the doctrine of creation,
affirming the distinction
between the Creator
and His creature,
is the starting point
of true religion.
There is no existence
apart from God
and the Creator
can only be known
truly through revelation.
This creation
is properly said
to be ex nihilo,
out of nothing,
thus preserving
the distinction
in essence
between the
Creator and the world
and the contingency
of the world
and its dependence
on God.
The Son is the Logos
by whom the Father
creates all things.
And so here's
the interesting thing.
The whole world
is a realization
of an idea of God.
The creation proceeds
from the Father
through the Son
and in the Spirit
so that
in the Spirit
and through the Son
it may return
to the Father.
You see that?
Now, this actually
is referencing
that aspect of creation
whereas Jesus
as the Son,
God the Son
is the Logo,
sort of the
creating principle,
right?
The logic,
the thing that forms.
And so,
in some earlier Christians
like Augustine,
we find
he said
he likes to imagine
creation,
which as we all know
in the Trinity
is interpenetrating.
We can't really distinguish
fully all the acts
of God
into,
oh, that was the Father
but not the Son
and the Spirit, right?
We don't want to do that,
right?
But,
Augustine likes to
think of the Trinity's
separate activities
in the act of creation.
I shouldn't say
separate activities.
This is probably
a better word.
But as you can see,
as we talk about God,
our words start to fail,
right?
He likes to say
that God the Father
creates
like bare matter.
And then
God the Son
provides form
to that matter
and it is God the Spirit
that
actually
actuates it,
right?
So the way he imagines it
as we go through Genesis,
we're going to see
in the early chapters
God says
let there be
and that is
thought to be
God the Father
using the word
God the Son
to say let there be
and the Spirit saying
and there was.
Right?
So
it's a beautiful,
beautiful way
of thinking about
our creation.
And so
to finish up,
I was going to go
on this long tangent
about what it means
to glorify God.
I was going to use
a lot of words
and stuff
and then I started
writing it
and then I thought
what am I doing?
I can't write this
better than Scripture.
So
anybody have their
Bible here
wants to read
a significant
portion of Scripture?
Yeah.
Yeah?
Yeah.
Alright,
I got
Isaiah 46
if you do not mind.
Isaiah 46?
Yeah,
and as we read this
I want you guys
to think
about the things
that we've talked about.
God is ultimate.
God is the one God,
the true God.
The insanity
of idolatry
and how God
being the one creator
actually brings us
closer to him.
Allows God
to be the thing
that can save us
and bring us
back to himself.
Sorry,
go ahead.
Isaiah 46,
what?
Just the whole chapter.
Okay.
Bel boweth down,
nebo,
stupid,
stupid.
Their idols
were upon the beast
and upon the cattle.
Their carriages
were heavy laden.
They are a burden.
They are a burden
to the weary beast.
They stoke.
They bow down together.
They could not
deliver the burden
but themselves
are gone into captivity.
Hearken unto me,
O house of Jacob
and all the remnant
of the house of Israel
which are born
by me
from the belly
which are carried
from the womb.
And even to your old age
I am key
and even
to whore hairs
will I carry you.
I have made
and I will bear
even I will carry
and will deliver you.
To whom will you liken me
and make me equal?
Compare me
that we may be alike.
They lavish gold
out of the bag
and weigh silver
in the balance
and hire a goldsmith
and he maketh it
a god.
They fall down.
Yea,
they worship.
They bear him up
upon the shoulder.
They carry him
and set him in place
and he standeth.
From his place
he shall not be removed.
Yea,
one shall cry unto him
yet can he not answer
nor save him
out of this trouble.
Remember this
and show yourselves men.
Bring it again to mind
for you transgressors.
Remember the former things
of old
for I am God
and there is none else.
I am God
and there is none
like me.
Declaring the end
from the beginning
and from the ancient times
the things
that are not yet done
saying
my counsel
shall stand
and I will do
all my pleasure.
Calling
a ravenous bird
from the east
the man that
executed my counsel
from a far country.
Yea,
I have spoken it.
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it.
I will also do it.
Hearken unto me
ye stephearted
that are far
from righteousness.
I bring near
my righteousness.
I shall not be
far off
and my salvation
shall not carry.
I will place salvation
in Zion
for Israel.
Glory.
Magnificent.
worth
10,000 of my words.
I love this image
in the beginning.
They are taking Nebo
and they are taking Bel
and they are loading
him onto these donkeys
and the donkeys
are like
under the weight
of them as they go along.
And they can't even
get him all the way there.
They fail
in their attempts
to carry God
on their backs.
Right?
But what does God say?
I have born you
these other people
they are bearing
their gods
I bore you
from the womb.
Even to your old age
I am carrying you.
You guys see that?
See the contrast there
that we get?
And also that God
is not far off.
Right?
There is no one
like God
and that means
God is near.
Not far.
Alright.
Somebody else.
Who wants to read
Psalm 86?
You want to read it?
Go ahead Laura.
Incline your ear
O Lord
and answer me
for I am
poor and needy.
Preserve my life
for I am godly.
Save your servant
and trust in you.
You are my God.
Be gracious to me
O Lord
for to you
do I cry
all the day.
Gladen the soul
of your servant
for to you
O Lord
do I lift up
my soul.
For you
O Lord
are good
and forgiving.
Abounding
and steadfast love
to all who
call upon you.
Give ear
O Lord
to my prayer.
Listen to my plea
for grace.
In the day
of my trouble
I call upon you
and you answer me.
There is none
like you
among the gods
O Lord
nor are there
any works
like yours.
All the nations
you have made
shall come
and worship
before you
O Lord
and shall
glorify your name.
For you are great
and wonderful things.
You alone
are God.
Teach me your way
O Lord
that I may walk
in your truth.
Unite my heart
to fear your name.
I give thanks to you
O Lord
my God
with my whole heart
and I will glorify
your name forever.
For great is your
steadfast love
toward me.
You have delivered
my soul
from the death
of your soul.
O God
insolent men
have risen up
against me.
A band of
ruthless men
seeks my life
and they do not
set you
before them.
But you
O Lord
are a God
merciful
and gracious
slow to anger
and abounding
in steadfast love
and faithfulness.
Turn to me
and be gracious
to me.
Give your strength
to your servant
and save the son
of your maidservant.
Show me a sign
of your favor
that those who hate me
may see
and be put to shame
because you
Lord
have helped me
and comfort me.
Beautiful.
Right?
We're needy.
We call on God.
We need God.
And because God
there are
because there's no one
like God
that exists
God is uniquely
placed
to answer
our
requests.
Right?
Even to need God
you've got to
presuppose a God.
Exactly.
Right.
It's beautiful.
So,
you know what?
I'm impressed
about this psalm
and really
a number of others
too.
So,
in this psalm
he makes sure
that his hearers
or readers
know
how tough
the situation
he is
is.
And yet,
unlike me,
he does
in his misery
raise his eyes
above his misery
and see
the greatness
and the
sovereignty
of God
the
power
of God
to deal
with
his situation.
Yeah.
Right?
Only
the creator God
only the God
who actually
is power
and being
and love
can actually
help us
in our time
of need.
Right?
And beyond that
not just God's
power but we
can trust God.
Right?
This is the
triune God
of scripture.
Right?
Our redeemer
our friend.
You know?
Talk about friends
in high places,
right?
All right.
Let me finish
with what I think
is really
the exclamation
point.
It's a little
long but I
think it's
just so worth
reading.
This is Isaiah
40.
He says,
comfort,
comfort my people
says your God.
Speak tenderly
to Jerusalem
and cry to her
that her warfare
is ended,
that her iniquity
is pardoned,
that she is received
from the Lord's hand
double for all her sins.
A voice cries,
in the wilderness
prepare the way
of the Lord.
Make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
Every valley
shall be lifted up
and every mountain
and hill
be made low.
The uneven ground
shall become level
and the rough places
a plain.
And the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed
and all flesh
shall see it together
for the mouth
of the Lord
is spoken.
A voice says,
cry,
and I say,
what shall I cry?
All flesh is grass
and all its beauty
is like the flower
of the field.
The grass withers,
the flower fades
when the breath
of the Lord
blows on it.
Surely the people
are grass.
The grass withers,
the flower fades,
but the word of our God
will stand forever.
Go on up
to a high mountain,
O Zion,
herald of good news.
Lift up your voice
with strength,
O Jerusalem,
herald of good news.
Lift it up,
fear not.
Say to the cities
of Judah,
behold your God.
Behold the Lord
comes with might
and His arm
rules for Him.
Behold His reward
is with Him
and His recompense
before Him.
He will tend
His flock
like a shepherd.
He will gather
the lambs
in His arms.
He will carry
them in His bosom
and gently lead
those that are
with young.
Who has measured
the waters
in the hollow
of His hand
and marked off
the heavens
with a span,
enclosed the dust
of the earth
in a measure
and weighed
the mountains
in scales
and the hills
in a balance?
Who has measured
the Spirit
of the Lord
or what man
shows Him
His counsel?
Whom did He
consult
and whom
made Him
understand?
Who taught Him
the path of justice
and taught Him
knowledge and showed Him
the way of understanding?
Behold,
the nations are like
a drop from a bucket
and are accounted
as the dust
on the scales.
Behold,
He takes up
the coastlands
like fine dust.
Lebanon
would not suffice
for fuel,
nor is its beast
enough for a burnt offering.
All the nations
are as nothing
before Him.
They are counted
by Him
as less than nothing
in emptiness.
To whom then
will you liken God?
Or what likeness
can pair with Him?
An idol.
A craftsman casts it
and a goldsmith
overlays it with gold
and casts for it
silver chains.
He who is too
impoverished for an offering
chooses wood
that will not rot.
He seeks out
a skillful craftsman
to set up an idol
that will not move.
Do you not know?
Do you not hear?
Has it not been told
you from the beginning?
Have you not understood
from the foundations
of the earth?
It is He
who sits above
the circle of the earth
and its inhabitants
are like grasshoppers,
who stretches out
the heavens
like a curtain
and spreads them
like a tent
to dwell in,
who brings princes
to nothing
and makes the rulers
of the earth
as emptiness.
Scarcely are they
planted,
scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem
taken root in the earth
when He blows on them
and they wither
and the tempest
carries them off
like stubble.
To whom then
will you compare me
that I should be
like Him,
says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes
on I and see
who created these.
He who brings out
their host by number
calling them all by name
by the greatness
of His might
and because He is
strong in power
not one is missing.
Why do you say,
O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel?
My way is hidden
from the Lord
and my right
is disregarded
by my God.
Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator
of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint
or grow weary.
His understanding
is unsearchable.
He gives power
to the faint
and to him
who has no might
he increases strength.
Even youth
shall faint
and be weary
and young men
shall fall exhausted.
But they who wait
for the Lord
shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up
with wings like eagles.
They shall run
and not be weary.
They shall walk
and not faint.
This is the God
we worship.
You see all those
different aspects?
God is absolute,
almighty,
separate.
None is like him.
But God is also
the one who sustains.
He carries us
like lamb.
He's slow
with those
who have child.
And ultimately
it is God
who raises us up
on wings like eagles.
This is the God
we worship.
This is the Creator
who brings everything
out of nothing.
Alright,
that's it guys.
Any questions?
We have like five minutes
before we should go
downstairs and respond
appropriately with worship.
Yeah,
Lerami.
It seems to me
that the prevailing
version of the
creation story
in the Old Testament
is this one.
It is constantly
referenced
in the Psalms
and the prophets.
There is also
a version
that is
less referenced
but is present
especially
in some passages
like Psalm
74,
I think.
which is a more
conflict heavy
version
of the
creation story.
So,
could it be that
depending on
the different
theological
emphasis
that the author
is trying to make
he references
these two different
traditions
of the same story
the more
conflict heavy
tradition
where God
actually slains
the
serpent
and the serpent
creates everything
and liberates
his people
for example
and the version
where God
actually just
uses his word
to shape
everything.
Yeah,
I think that's
a great point.
I think we have
to be careful
of the context
here,
right?
So,
we think in
Genesis 1
we're receiving
the creation
account
in the
narrative
of the history
of all of
humanity
and then God's
people
so it's
sort of
the start
of the big
picture,
the big story
and we do
have other
accounts
where it
talks about
God
slaying
Rahab
or is it
Leviathan?
Slaying
these are
like pictures,
these are
symbols for
chaotic water,
that chaotic
water spirit
or water gods
that we talked
about,
some of these
other myths,
right?
I think
really,
so I think
it depends
on what the
point of the
passage is.
So,
I think
the point
of the
passages
like we
get in
Psalm 74
where it's
talking about
this conflict,
I don't think
it's necessarily
reflecting on
what creation
is like,
but more
like you
saying
Baal
is the
one who
slew this
person
and is the
one who
set up
this thing,
but it's
not Baal,
it's God.
God is the
one who
does these
things,
right?
And I
think we
can use
poetic
language to
discuss the
idea of
God taking
what could
be unformed
chaos and
forming it
into order
and structure,
right?
So,
for instance,
I think in
other passages
it talks about
the Israelites
crossing the
Red Sea as
God slaying
the water
spirit,
Rahab,
right?
And so,
I think we
can take
different passages
in the way
that they're
meant to be
taken,
so I
think probably
accounts like
in Exodus
or in Genesis
are meant to
be taken in
more of a
historical lens,
and these
other passages
are more
poetic riffs
on this
larger tradition.
Does that
make sense?
Yeah.
But I
think,
yeah,
there are
certainly,
you read
Job too,
I'm reading
Job right now,
you read
Job too,
there's all
kinds of
references to
God slaying
the
the serpents,
and these
are often
like images
of chaos
and unformed
water,
stuff like
that.
Yeah,
exactly.
Yeah?
So,
I like
that you
bring up
the different
pathologies
that the
Babylonian
and the
I wish.
I have
to think
that a lot
of our
kind of
modern
pathologies
are very
similar
to the
Babylonian
story.
I guess
I'm curious,
as you said,
you're a
scientist.
Yeah.
Technically.
At a broad
level,
do you see
your interest
in science
interacting
with the
idea of
creation?
Oh,
yeah,
certainly.
Certainly.
Where do you
see that?
Not necessarily
evolution,
per se,
but where
do you see
them kind
of interacting?
Yeah,
yeah,
I mean,
I think,
so,
that's a great
question.
I actually
had a
whole talk
on science
and faith
that you
don't need
to watch.
It's okay.
As it was
coming out
of my
mouth,
I was like,
I don't
do that.
Anyways,
but yeah,
a lot of
the things
I was
talking about
in that
talk were
discussing
sort of
those
overlaps.
So,
for instance,
there are a lot
of things in
science that
we take for
granted that
really don't
make any sense
unless you
put it into
a larger
world view.
So,
for instance,
why are there
regularities in
nature?
Why do
things actually
make sense
to the human
mind?
How can we
use math
to actually
describe things?
Right?
Because if math
isn't an actual
deeper reality,
if there isn't
actually a deeper
order to reality,
then math is
just a human
construct made
by man.
Right?
And so,
there really is
no reason we
should expect
for there to
be such deep
harmony between
what we conceive
of in our
mind and what
is actually
out there in
reality.
Right?
So,
the fact that
there's
regularities,
the fact that
there is
consistency,
there's all
kinds of
things that
are involved
in the
scientific
enterprise that
we take for
granted but
really don't
make any sense
if there's
such a thing
as purpose,
teleology,
a reason why
things should
happen,
and an order
to the
universe.
Does that
make sense?
So,
I think there's
a lot of
ways that
science and
my faith
interact.
I mean,
the understanding
of creation,
I feel like,
is just something
that we all
want to know.
We all want
to know where
we came from,
and as a
scientist,
I feel like
I confront
this more
often in my
everyday life
than the
average person.
So,
I think probably
that's where a
lot of my
interest comes
from.
Does that
answer your
question,
or did I
just totally
avoid it?
You did.
I'm sure you
have a lot
more to say.
Definitely.
Yeah.
Well,
it's about
three minutes
until church,
so why don't
we break and
head downstairs.
Thank you so
much,
guys.
Thank you so
much,
guys.
Thank you so
much,