Well, folks, great to see you this morning.
Why don't we just join our hearts together and let's pray as we come to this passage.
Paul would write in Romans 12, the call to these Christians who live in Rome,
the call to be transformed by the renewing of their minds.
And Holy Spirit, we ask that you would come and help us as we seek to do that this morning.
What we see not, we ask that you would show us.
Lord, where we understand not, we ask that you would help us.
And what we are not, we ask that you would make us.
All for the glory of our three-in-one brilliant God.
In his name we pray. Amen.
Well, let me just invite you to have that passage in Genesis 1 in front of you.
It's so important that we have God's words in front of us so that you have nothing else.
You can see that what I'm saying, hopefully, and this will be my prayer all week, is what this passage is saying.
As you're turning to Genesis 1, let me tell you about a pantomime I was watching with my two little girls,
not this Christmas, last Christmas.
The pantomime was on CBeebies and the pantomime was called Thumbelina.
So everyone needs to hold out their thumbs.
This is Thumbelina.
Thumbelina, the thumb-sized girl.
And this whole pantomime was the story of Thumbelina traveling around her little world, bumping into different characters.
And she would ask different characters questions about life and about them and about her
because she wanted to understand where she had come from.
Because she lived her life in her little world.
As she flew around, she realized that there was nobody quite like her.
So she's asking questions like, how did I get here?
Right?
Where did I come from?
Who is like me?
How did I get like this?
Where am I going?
What should I be doing?
Because she figures that if she can get the answers to those kind of questions,
then she'll be able to derive from those things some kind of purpose for her life
as she continues to exist.
And I'm watching this thinking, I don't know if you're an avid CBeebies watcher.
Okay, this is my stage of life.
Watching this thinking, who knew that CBeebies could be so postmodern?
Because the questions that Thumbelina was asking are kind of the questions that we ask about life,
don't we, at times?
We ask ourselves those kind of questions.
Who are we?
How did we get here?
What are we doing?
Except here's the thing for us.
We realize that life isn't a CBeebies show.
We realize that we don't live in Disneyland.
So we kind of step out the CBeebies bubble,
and we watch the real world being presented to us
as we see it and as we see it on, say, the 6 o'clock news.
And we hear about how human beings around the world
are doing some of the most wonderful and sacrificial things.
And yet, in the same broadcast,
we hear about human beings who are committing
some of the most horrific atrocities imaginable.
Right?
Or we're watching David Attenborough.
We're watching him document some of nature's most incredible things.
As our world ticks, as it does its thing.
We're blown away.
And yet, at the same time, we turn on the news.
And when that program begins to tell us about the world,
we hear about the natural disasters which are going on.
And we hear about the forest fires in Australia.
And we wonder, what is going on?
What's this all about?
Now, let me ask you, as you sit here today
and as you think about all of that,
how do you process that?
Right?
How do you understand that in your mind?
As you interact with the world in which we live,
however you make sense of that,
is what is known as your worldview.
Right?
How you understand the world.
Your answer to those questions.
How did I get here?
Where am I going?
Why did these things happen?
What is it ultimately about?
That is your worldview.
Right?
How you understand the world.
And it affects how you live your life in the world
because you understand this is why I'm here.
This is where I've come from.
This is why I exist.
And you live your life matching up
with what you believe that to be.
And there are tons of worldviews out there.
Right?
People often come to you.
They say this to me.
I wish I had your faith.
Right?
I wish I had your faith.
To which my question is,
you've got faith.
If we're defining faith as trust based on evidence,
what you believe to be true,
every single human being has faith,
trusting in something.
Your question is,
you have faith in something different
to what I have faith in.
Right?
We're all basing our lives on something.
Tons of worldviews exist around the table.
And the thing is,
what we're going to look at over the next few weeks
is that into this worldview arena,
God speaks in the book of Genesis.
You see, we're not the first question
asking these kind of questions.
You've got to do justice to this text
that the first readers of Genesis
are most likely the generation of God's people
who find themselves having come out of Egypt,
heading for the promised land,
journeying in the desert.
What they realize is that they realize
they're living in a big world.
Right?
They look up.
They're intelligent human beings.
They look up.
They can see.
And they can realize that it's not all about them.
And they're surrounded by people
from different nations
who are living lives completely differently
to how they are living
and who are worshiping and living for different things.
And the purpose of this book of Genesis
that Moses wrote
is to help his generation
grasp a God-shaped worldview.
Grasp a God-shaped worldview.
Because here's how this works out for me.
Right?
I think in my life that I am the sun.
And everything revolves around me.
Right?
I am the center of my universe.
That's what I think.
And yet here is a book
that just smashes into that.
And says,
you are not the sun.
You are not the sun.
And it causes us
to lift our eyes off of ourselves
and throw them into the air
and say,
actually,
this world is about the God who made it.
And if we can understand
the God who made this world,
then we've got a chance of understanding
who we are.
And so this book is written
to help a generation of God's people
understand the world in which they live.
This book means beginnings.
This is what the title means.
Answering the questions,
who am I?
Why am I here?
What am I doing?
I love this quote.
C.S. Lewis, right, said this.
I believe in Christianity
as I believe that the sun has risen,
not only because I see it,
but because by it,
I see everything else.
So as we come to this book,
we need to appreciate
that those are the questions
that it is trying to answer.
But primarily the how question,
right,
how long were the days of creation?
It's not trying to answer that.
Or the when question,
how old is the earth?
What about the dinosaurs?
Let me just say,
if there are the questions in your mind
that are only natural questions
to ask as we come to this text,
and you can come to me afterwards
or chat amongst yourselves.
We can recommend people
who are way smarter than me
who've studied this stuff.
They can help you understand,
wrestle with those questions.
But Genesis is interested
in addressing the who
and the why questions.
Right, you ready for this?
Will we dive into this text?
Yeah, for this,
come with me to verse one.
And let's allow Genesis
to tell us firstly
about the God who is there.
The God who is there.
The God who makes himself known.
And come with me
to the very first words of the Bible
and to the words that
maybe you know William Anders
read out to the world
from Apollo 8
as they orbited the moon
on Christmas Eve 1968,
which I believe,
I think I'm right,
I'm ad-libbing here,
was the most watched television program
up to that point.
In the beginning,
God created.
The heavens and the earth.
Who is this God?
I'm just honing in two things
that this passage would tell us
for the sake of time.
Who is this God?
Firstly, he is eternal.
Right, meaning that God
has always been.
There was never a time
when he wasn't.
In fact, he has always existed
as a loving community
of Father, Son and Spirit.
One God, three persons
who have,
since before time began,
been doing nothing other
than mutually delighting
in one another.
And that's why we can say
for sure that this God is love.
Because that's what he's been doing
and will be doing
for all eternity.
That's who this God is.
Is your mind blown yet?
Right?
Word for of the Bible,
we're at.
There's a lot of words
to go after this.
This is who this God is.
Meaning that what he did next
wasn't because there was
anything lacking in him.
He did out of the overflow
of his greatness.
What did he do?
Come with me.
This is the second thing
that we see that he created.
He is powerful.
This God is powerful.
Verse two,
the earth was without form
and void.
And you see how this God speaks
and things come into being
through the power
of his words.
Now we always say that
in our day,
don't we?
That you can tell
who's in charge
as you walk into a situation
by watching what happens
when people speak.
Yeah?
You know that's been true
in some of your workplaces.
Yeah?
The boss speaks,
things get done.
Somebody down here speaks,
things don't happen.
Yeah?
Give you a little example
of this.
Over Christmas,
we went back to my parents.
My parents have a little
parson terrier dog
called Charlie.
Right?
I said I had to go at this.
I went,
Charlie, sit.
Right?
And the dog looks at me
as if to say,
yeah,
not a chance, son.
But dad walks in the room.
He says,
Charlie, sit.
Quick as a flash,
down Charlie goes.
This God has authority.
You see,
this God speaks
and things happen.
He effortlessly
commands
and creates.
Days one,
two,
and three,
if you like,
he forms the world.
Right?
If you've got it there,
day and night,
light, land,
and waters,
land,
and plants,
he forms it.
Or if you like,
he creates his stage.
And in days four,
five,
and six,
he fills that stage
with actors.
Do you see how we get
the sun,
the moon,
and the stars,
the birds,
and the fish,
land,
animals,
and humans.
And God,
what does he think of this?
I love this.
What does he think?
After each day is complete,
do you see the repeated refrain?
Verse four,
and God saw that it was what?
Good.
Right?
Track with me in the verses.
Verse 10,
and God saw that it was good.
Verse 12,
verse 18,
verse 21,
verse 25,
and God saw that it was good.
Right?
In other words,
God is not like us.
He's having a shot at DIY.
Like,
he creates something.
He looks at it.
He thinks,
it wasn't quite what I intended,
but it will do.
Right?
I've got a mirror in our bedroom at home,
just above.
I've got a fireplace in the room,
just above the fire.
And my father-in-law,
when we put it up,
we measured it.
We looked at each other.
We verified that these measurements were correct.
We drilled holes in each side.
We looked at each other.
Is it still correct?
Yes,
it is.
And it's a centimeter out.
And it looks at me every night,
as if to say,
you were so close.
Do you see how this God,
creation happens,
it exists,
it fits,
it works,
and it does exactly
as he intended it to do.
That's what the word good means.
It's good,
but it gets even better.
Do you see how that phrase
comes a seventh time,
except it's got extra levels
of goodness to it.
What does God declare
about his creation?
Verse 31.
What is it now?
It is very good.
Why?
Well,
let's allow Genesis to tell us
about the humans who are here.
Okay,
look at verse 26.
This is incredible stuff.
Then God said,
let us make mankind in our image,
in our likeness,
so that they may rule
over the fish in the sea
and the birds in the sky,
over the livestock
and all the wild animals,
and over all the creatures
that move along the ground.
So Genesis tells us
that human beings are made
God's blueprint,
male and female,
in the image of this
three-in-one loving community
that is God.
And he declares it's very good
over no other created thing
does God say that.
we bear as human beings,
we bear his image,
meaning that in some way
we reflect,
we resemble him,
which explains,
if you want to tease that out,
that explains
our inbuilt desire
for community.
Does it know that we're made
in the image of the God
who is a three-in-one
loving community?
It explains our desire
for other human beings
to have that relationship
with them.
Explains our longing
for love,
we're made in the image
of this God.
I'll just follow
the ripples
of application here.
Let me just
kind of tease this out
a little bit.
What does this say
about human beings?
Firstly,
it pronounces
the dignity over them.
Right?
One,
and this is so important
that we see this,
one that is inherent
to every single human life
without exception,
simply because they exist.
Right?
It's why we can pray,
isn't it,
for,
we're praying for that
newborn baby earlier,
but those days,
every single day
of that child's life
known by the God
who created her
in his image.
Every human being
valued,
known,
precious,
and of worth.
Is this not
a beautiful description
and understanding
of human beings?
It's why the American
Declaration of Independence
starts with these words,
we hold these truths
to be self-evident,
that all men
are created equal,
right,
all people are created equal,
that they are endowed
by their creator
with certain
unalienable rights.
And it's why
people like
William Wilberforce
in the past
took the stand
they did against
racism and slavery
because they had
this understanding
of what it means
to be a human being.
It's why we should care,
if you just follow this again,
it's why we should care
about child poverty.
It's why we should care
about domestic abuse.
It's why we should care
about discrimination.
And it's why as Christians,
with this understanding
of human beings,
it should cause us
to speak for those
who cannot speak
for themselves.
Right?
It's why we care
about beginning
of life issues.
And it's why we care
about end of life issues.
because all life
matters to God.
You see,
I live in here,
it's a desk
that said,
I think,
therefore I am.
And this understanding
of what it means
to be a human being
says that cannot be true.
Because the definition
of what it means
to be a person
cannot be that you think.
Right?
I'm trained as a lawyer,
I'm trained to ask questions
because my question is,
what does it mean?
What do you mean by think?
How do you understand that?
And what are you saying
about those people
who cannot think
by your definition?
Do you understand
that the Christian worldview
says?
Not,
I think,
therefore I am.
The Christian worldview
says,
I exist,
therefore I am precious
in God's sight.
So we've come to see
the love,
the very goodness
in God's design.
Right?
And you understand
what Paul was saying
in Romans chapter 12.
Be transformed
by the renewing
of your mind.
The way that you
understand life.
I recognize
that we've waded in
just even there
to maybe painful waters
for some of us.
Friends,
let me just encourage you
to run to Jesus.
The one who forgives
all of our sins.
The one who knows us.
The one who,
as we were singing about earlier,
we can run to
and cast our cares
and our burdens
upon our Savior.
And run to him
who knows
and who forgives.
This pronounces
over humanity
a dignity.
And it pronounces
over humanity
a responsibility.
Right?
God created man.
Do you see it?
And gave
them
the job
of ruling
as his vice regents
over his
creation.
Right?
He is king.
We are subject.
We are ruling
over this.
What a responsibility.
And we're charged,
you see,
given the privilege
of cultivating that
for his glory.
And it's why,
again,
just follow the ripples
of application.
It's why we should care
about this planet.
And we should be
looking after it
because it displays
God's glory.
And do you see
how God looks
on what he has made
and he declares
that it is
very good.
and we
have come to love
and to understand
God's very goodness
in his creation.
And what we've got to see,
God rules over this
as king.
And what we've also
got to see is that
this text has been
so beautifully
put together.
Right?
And let me just,
this blew my mind
this week, okay?
Let's share this with you.
I'm sharing it with you.
Let's do it.
Right?
This has been so beautifully
put together
and done in such a way
is to draw our attention
to the number seven.
Right?
Stay with me.
The number in the Bible
that represents
speaks of perfection.
Okay?
So,
in Genesis 1,
there are,
the number seven
or multiples of seven
come up all the time.
All the time.
Just,
just casting us
to the seventh day.
Right?
So,
the original Hebrew
opening sentence,
how many words
do you think?
Seven words.
Right?
The phrase,
God saw that it was good
seven times.
Heavens comes
21 times,
right?
Seven times three.
Elohim,
God,
comes 35 times.
So,
this passage
is screaming at us
seven,
seven.
Perfect,
perfect,
which should tell us
automatically
that the mess
that we see today
must have come
from somewhere else
because it didn't exist
when God created it.
But now,
see that this chapter
has been put together
in such a way
that the reader
is drawn to look
at the mountaintop
moment of day seven.
Okay,
and we get it.
Come with me.
Verse two of chapter two.
By the seventh day,
God had finished
the work that he had
been doing.
So,
on the seventh day,
he rested
from all his work.
So,
what happens?
On the seventh day,
God finishes.
What do we learn
about this God?
This God is a
finisher.
Okay,
he finishes things.
How often do we
start out with
good intentions
about doing jobs
and we never
see it through,
right?
I love this.
What is it in
Carleton Hill
that we see?
We look at it
every day.
We see the monument.
What is it known as?
It's known as
Edinburgh Shame
because somebody
started it
and he didn't
finish it.
This God
finishes things.
This God speaks
and he finishes.
This God always
gets done
what he says
he will get done.
So important
for people
in the desert
wondering,
can our God
do what he said
he would do
and get us
to the promised land?
This God finishes.
And what else
did God do?
He rested.
Which doesn't mean
that he was
goosed,
right?
That he was
out of resources,
that he was spent,
that he ran out of puff,
that he had nothing
left in the tank.
Love how creative
we get when we're
trying to express
to people
that we're done.
But God's not like us.
He is
omnipotent,
right?
Omni-potent.
Omni-all-potent-powerful.
This God is
all-powerful.
So what does that mean?
It means that God,
like a master artist,
finished his masterpiece
and he stood back
and he looked at it
and he loved it.
He loved it
and he basks
in his goodness
as creator.
And what a picture
we have here
of the world
that God made
as creator
and creation
exist
in glorious
and perfect harmony.
And where there exists
nothing that would ever
impede
that rest
because it's very good.
It's 77777.
It's perfect.
And yet you're probably
thinking to yourself,
I'd imagine
what the people
first reading this
were thinking to themselves
that this isn't the world
that we live in.
And you're right
and we'll see this
in the weeks to come
as we try and explore
these opening chapters
of Genesis
and understand
what it's telling us
about the world.
The story goes on.
Adam and Eve
as God creatures,
they rebel
against the very goodness
of their creator.
The creatures
rebel against the creator.
They reject his kingly rule.
And every single human being
ever since
has followed suit
in that rebellion
and rejection.
We don't want
our creator.
We don't want anything
to do with him.
And that's the very essence
of sin.
And what that means,
and you can follow
the logic of that
is that we have
incurred our creator's
anger of our sin
and we have forfeited
our right to enter
God's rest.
And that should have
been the end
of the story.
If it were not
for the fact
that God is
this kind of God,
that he is gracious
and he is good
and he's determined
to make a way
for his people
to enter
and enjoy
and know
that rest.
And in the fullness
of time,
God would send forth
his son
into this world
to do what?
To save,
to seek
and to save
and to make a way
for his people
to enter
that rest.
Right?
As Jesus dies
on the cross
bearing the judgment
of this holy God,
the one that creatures
like you and I
deserve
on himself
and winning
them for himself
so that we can be
declared righteous
in him.
What did we say
about this God?
He promises
and he does
and he finishes
things.
And what was
the last phrase
of Jesus
as he hung
on the cross?
Tetelestai.
It is
finished.
This God
is a finisher.
And Jesus
rises again.
He defeats death
meaning that death
will not have
the lost word
over his people.
He will.
Do you see
how he deals
with my sin
and he defeats
death?
The two enemies
that had barred me
and you
from entering
God's rest.
And so we hear
him declaring
Matthew 11
to a world
full of broken
burdens,
struggling,
confused and rebellious
human beings.
Come to me
all you who are
weary and burdened
and I will give you
rest.
Jesus came
to make a way
for you and I
to know the rest
of our creator.
Right?
That shalom,
that rightness
with him.
Rest that we can
know now
and the rest
that we will one day
gloriously know
in God's new
heavenly city.
The one that we read
about in Revelation 21
where everything again
is perfect.
So Jesus says
come to me.
Maybe for some
of us today,
maybe for the first
time you need to
go to him.
You need to run
to him for the
forgiveness of your
sins.
You need to run
to him for
wholeness and
newness of life
and to run to
him who knows
and who came
to seek and to
save.
And just as we
finish,
let me take it
back to
Thumbelina,
watching this
program.
She's on this
journey of
self-discovery
and she's
meeting different
characters.
One of the
characters she
bumps into is
called Mrs.
Blue Swallow.
And Mrs.
Blue Swallow
didn't just speak
to Thumbelina,
this was a
pantomime,
she sang to
Thumbelina.
So I had to
go on iPlayer
and scroll the
thing and rewind
and write down
the words of
what she said
so I could
bring them to
you.
So I
appreciate this.
This is what
she said.
She said,
go where you
will,
free as a
bird,
just follow
your heart
to find your
way in the
world.
Just close
your eyes
and dream
of places
perhaps your
home is on
the way.
Right?
Two thoughts
as I heard
that.
Firstly,
what a
lovely song.
Okay,
and as the
camera panned
around you
could see that
there was not
a dry eye
in the house.
Second thought,
what terrible
advice.
the call of
God in
Genesis
to a world
trying to
understand
itself,
full of
people trying
to understand
themselves,
is not to
look in,
not to look
in,
but to fall
on your knees
and look up
to the God
who loves us
and to the
God who made
us and to
the God who
sent his
son to save
us.
Friends,
run to
Jesus.
Run to
him.
Maybe just
in the silence
now as we
close,
let me just
invite you to
offer your
prayers to
this God
who hears
and knows.
And then I'll
close in prayer
and we'll stand
to sing our
final song.
But friends,
don't rush
this moment.
I trust that
God's word has
gone forth.
God's spirit
has been putting
his finger on
people's lives
and hearts.
And I encourage
you just to go
with that.
So let's just
have a few
moments of
silence and
then I'll
pray.
The
psalmist
would write,
as I consider
the works of
your hands,
the things
that you have
made,
who am I
that you are
mindful of
me?
And so
gracious and
loving heavenly
Father, we
ask Lord that
as we
finish this
morning,
that you
would help
us
by your
spirit to
be transformed
by the
renewing of
our minds.
That as we
look at this
book together
over the next
weeks, that
you would help
us to love
you more and
to delight in
you more.
As we see
ourselves, as we
see the beauty
and yet the
brokenness, and
as we see our
world that is
also beauty and
full of brokenness,
that you would
help us to run
to you.
Father, thank
you that you
love us.
We don't need to
doubt that, we
don't need to
question that, we
just need to
look at the
cross and
know that you
love us.
So Father, thank
you for today.
We just commit
it to you, Lord,
in Jesus'
precious name.
Amen.