Genesis chapter 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 God said, let there be light.
And there was light.
And God saw that the light was good.
And God separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light day, and the darkness he called night.
And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day.
And God said, let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters,
and let it separate the waters from the waters.
And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse
from the waters that were above the expanse.
And it was so.
And God called the expanse heaven.
And there was evening, and there was morning, the second day.
And God said, let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place,
and let the dry land appear.
And it was so.
God called the dry land earth, and the waters that were gathered together, he called seas.
And God saw that it was good.
And God said, let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed and fruit,
trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind on the earth.
And it was so.
The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds,
and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind.
And God saw that it was good.
And there was evening, and there was morning, the third day.
And God said, let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night.
And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years.
And let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.
And it was so.
And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day,
and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars.
And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on earth,
to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.
And God saw that it was good.
And there was evening, and there was morning, the fourth day.
And God said, let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures,
and let birds fly above the earth, across the expanse of the heavens.
So God created the great sea creatures, and every living creature that moves,
with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds,
and every winged bird according to its kind.
And God saw that it was good.
And God blessed them, saying, be fruitful, and multiply,
and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.
And there was evening, and there was morning, the fifth day.
And God said, let the earth bring forth living creatures,
according to their kinds, livestock, and creeping things,
and beasts of the earth, according to their kinds.
And it was so.
And God made the beasts of the earth, according to their kinds,
and the livestock, according to their kinds,
and everything that creeps on the ground, according to its kind.
And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, let us make man in our image,
after our likeness,
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the birds of the heavens,
and over the livestock, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image.
In the image of God, he created him.
Male and female, he created them.
And God blessed them.
And God said to them,
be fruitful, and multiply,
and fill the earth, and subdue it,
and have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the birds of the heavens,
and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
And God said, behold,
I have given you every plant yielding seed
that is on the face of all the earth,
and every tree with seed in its fruit.
You shall have them for food.
And to every beast of the earth,
and to every bird of the heavens,
and to everything that creeps on the earth,
everything that has the breath of life,
I have given every green plant for food.
And it was so.
And God saw everything that he had made,
and behold, it was very good.
And there was evening,
and there was morning,
the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished,
and all the host of them.
And on the seventh day,
God finished his work that he had done,
and he rested on the seventh day
from all his work that he had done.
So God blessed the seventh day
and made it holy,
because on it,
God rested from all his work
that he had done in creation.
Well, good morning, everyone.
My name's Dave.
I'm one of the pastors here.
Will you please pray with me
as we come to God's word?
Lord of heaven and earth,
help us come to your word today,
not trying to have all our questions answered,
but coming to listen to you,
to give so that we might be asking
the right questions.
Father, I pray that you would blow us away
with just how good you are
as our creator and our redeemer.
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, what is the point of Genesis chapters 1 to 3?
It's a very well-known passage,
so I feel like I need to address a few things.
Some people listening today
might see as much point in it
as perhaps they do the Greek mythologies
and other ancient beliefs.
I was sitting in the dentist's waiting room
just last week,
and on the TV came a commercial.
Maybe you've seen it.
A bright light followed by stars swirling,
a gloomy earth and a volcano erupting,
a brutish man walking,
and then a child blowing out candles,
and then a rocket launching to the moon,
and out of the mouth of a man comes a word,
wow.
And this man is standing in the aisles of Audi,
looking at the specials for the week.
Wow.
Now, this modern story might sound more sophisticated
than these ancient narratives,
but can it satisfy your heart's yearnings
to know why is there something rather than nothing?
Why is there such order
that makes predicting weather patterns
and quantum entanglement,
whatever, I can't understand it,
why is that even possible
out of mindless chaos?
Why is there conscious life,
personality,
that even is yearning like this?
Is there any hope
to overcome the mess and darkness and death
in my world, in my life?
Who am I?
What is my place in this universe?
Does my life have meaning?
All these yearnings.
Stephen Jay Gould, an evolutionary biologist,
here's his advice.
We're here simply because
one odd group of fish
had a peculiar anatomy
that just happened to be able
to transform itself into legs
for terrestrial creatures.
We're here just because
comets struck the earth
and wiped out dinosaurs
and gave mammals a chance.
We are here just for those reasons.
We yearn for a higher answer,
but none exists.
This explanation,
though superficially troubling,
if not terrifying,
is ultimately liberating.
We have to construct,
therefore,
any meaning ourselves.
So if you want to discredit all your longings
of your heart
and the longings that every human being
all over the earth have,
if you want to discredit all those yearnings,
then by all means,
go construct your meaning
buying the specials at Audi.
But then what's the point of Genesis chapters 1 to 3?
Was it written to answer our scientific questions?
As I'm trying to get across,
I think it's answering something much more profound
for us to know how to live well,
answering the yearnings of our heart.
So is the point to tell us
if the seven days refer to 24-hour periods
or seven undefined eras of time?
Yes, I'm just going to deal with this
and move on
because some of you are waiting for it.
And I'm going to satisfy no one.
I'm just going to say,
by all means, look into it.
Study it.
Study scripture.
Study science.
Discuss it.
Debate it.
Come to your convictions on it.
As long as Adam and Eve are historical people,
as Romans 5 and other scripture clearly says,
come to your convictions.
But if you focus on that question,
you're missing the bigger questions
that Genesis 1 is answering,
those yearnings of our heart.
Who made and governs the universe?
Who am I?
Who are people in this universe?
What's the goal?
What's the point?
What's the purpose?
And what went wrong?
They are much bigger questions
that Genesis 1 has lots to say.
That makes more sense of why Moses wrote this to Israel,
who have just been set free from Egypt.
They're in the wilderness.
The wilderness.
And they're waiting to come into that promised land
of rest and blessing.
What do they need to know?
Well, they need to know,
Genesis 1 to 11,
chapters 1 to 11,
that the spread of sin
and its destructive effects.
And they need to know who they are,
that God has set in a plan
to bring blessing to the world
through Abraham
and his chosen descendant.
That's what they need to know.
They need to know who God is,
who are we as his people,
his purposes to bless the world,
and why are we in the wilderness
and not in Eden?
That's what we need to know.
And we need to know the same things today
to answer the longings of our own heart.
As a church family,
we're entering a year of change,
at least this year or coming few years.
We need new elders
to govern and guide the church.
We need a new pastor,
as Cordwood looks to pass on the baton
to the next generation.
We need a new constitution.
We have so many new people in the church
in the past few years
and we need to gather together
under the same truth
and head in the same direction.
We've got a lot of change.
But like Israel in the wilderness,
we need to just focus on what doesn't change.
We need to get our bearings.
We need to know the unchangeable God.
We need to know his unchangeable determination
to fully bring about that rest and blessing
he created the world for.
We need to know who we are as his people,
his image bearers,
and we need to know what went wrong.
If we know all this,
then we will stick to the gospel of Jesus Christ,
that in him we have rest and blessing.
There might be lots of change,
but really the big things,
they're not changing at all.
So that's why we're doing Genesis 1-3 this term.
So we're going to be focusing
on just the first three chapters
for the whole term.
So let's get into it.
Let's get into the text.
First we come to who is God.
And verse 1 makes the who very clear.
In the beginning, God.
Nothing else.
There was a starting point of space and time as we know it.
Things are not in this cyclical reincarnation cycle.
There was a beginning.
But before anything was,
God was.
And this is crucial
because God is not part of his creation,
like Avatar with,
who is it,
Ewa.
God's not part of the creation.
Creation is not an extension of God.
God is above creation,
but he's always involved in it.
He's before creation.
He has authority over all of it.
Which obviously might ask the question
in all of our minds,
like what was God doing before the beginning?
If before the beginning,
obviously logically doesn't make sense,
but before space and time,
what was God doing?
And scripture actually has a lot to tell us.
The father was loving the son.
God was making plans,
not only for creation,
but for history,
for it to culminate in his son.
We're told that God was making promises even.
And Francis Schaeffer points out the point here.
Prior to Genesis 1.1,
love and communication are intrinsic
to what always has been.
God didn't need creation
in order for his identity as creator to be realised.
He wasn't bored.
He wasn't lazy.
Like the ancient mythologies say,
they created people to do all the hack work.
He's not lazy.
He wasn't lonely.
He was in eternal, loving community,
father, son and spirit,
totally self-sufficient,
totally at peace,
totally full of joy.
He didn't need to create.
But he did.
He freely chose to create,
to display his glory,
to share his life.
The word create here in verse 1
is a special word in scripture
that only God is the subject of this verb.
This word create here,
only God does this sort of creating.
Yes, we reflect him as we are creative people,
but only God does this sort of creating.
In verse 1,
he creates everything
out of nothing.
No mass,
no energy,
no supplies.
He didn't have to go back to Bunnings
because he forgot something the first time.
He had no blueprint.
He had no angel engineer.
He was consulting.
All his wisdom,
all out of his power,
all out of his goodness,
he created.
The heavens and the earth,
and that's a poetic device just to say everything.
All things belong to him.
As creator,
he has the right to do with all things as he pleases.
All things owe their being to him alone.
And then we come to verse 2,
which might seem strange at first,
but it's the key
that unlocks the flow of the chapter.
By his word,
this God,
he is the kind of God
who creates order
out of chaos.
So we've got,
the earth was without form
and void.
So without form
and empty.
And darkness
was over the face of the deep.
And the spirit of God
was hovering over the face
of the waters.
So without form,
there's no distinction
and it was empty.
It was lifeless.
So this shows us
the two stages
that God
fashioned everything.
We've got day 1,
2 and 3
where God
separates,
he distinguishes
and he creates
the conditions for life.
And then we've got day 4, 5,
day 4, 5 and 6
where he fills it
with life.
So without form,
he forms it.
empty,
he fills it.
He brings order
out of chaos.
Some see in this verse
a spiritual description
alluding to
Satan's rebellion
causing this chaos.
Others just see it
as a description
of the physical earth
as it was
after he created it.
It just wasn't fashioned yet.
Either way,
it tells us
what kind of God he is.
He doesn't want chaos.
He doesn't accept
darkness
as a necessary evil.
He certainly
doesn't call darkness
good.
But he's present,
he is above it
and he brings
order out of chaos,
he brings light
out of darkness,
he brings life
out of emptiness.
That's the kind
of God he is.
To consider
just the contrast
in Moses' day,
I just want to share
snapshots of the
ancient Babylonian
creation account,
the Enuma Elish.
So in that story,
and this isn't just
some tribal group
saying this,
this is a Babylonian
empire,
this is a pretty
big story of the day.
A God named
Absu,
who represented
Sweetwater,
and his wife
Tiamat,
Saltwater,
they bore children
and grandchildren
but they became,
I shouldn't laugh,
they became so noisy
that Absu decided
to murder
his sons and
grandsons
to have silence
again.
I really shouldn't
laugh,
that shows how
wicked I am,
but maybe you
can relate
to warning silence.
One of his
sons murdered
him first
and then
another one
of the sons,
Marduk,
the greatest
of all the gods
started fighting
Tiamat.
Tiamat created
dragons and
beasts,
Marduk killed
her with an
arrow,
stood on her
body,
split her
skull,
sorry kids,
cut her arteries,
he took her
body and
divided it into
two parts,
one part
becoming the
sky,
the other
part the
earth,
then Marduk
created people
to do all
the menial
work,
so that the
gods could
relax.
And God
said,
let there
be light.
And there
was light.
God
said,
let there
be,
and it
was so.
Let
there be,
and it
was so.
personal,
totally
sovereign,
rational
word,
formed and
filled the
heavens and
the earth.
God
separates the
material matter,
putting the
structure in
place for
life to
flourish.
I'm going to
try and move
through these
verses pretty
quickly and
just point out
a few things.
So dividing,
separating,
distinguishing is
a key theme
running through
Genesis 1.
life requires
things to be
distinct from
another,
in their
place,
serving their
purpose.
Notice in
verse 4 that
God only
calls the
light good,
not the
darkness.
He separates
the light and
darkness,
the mutually
exclusive.
Notice too
that he names
the light
day and
darkness
night.
So in
ancient times
if you name
something,
that's the
prerogative of
the one in
charge.
I suppose we
still do today.
You name your
children.
It's your
prerogative to
do that.
You're in
charge.
Throughout
Genesis 1 he's
naming.
He's in
charge.
For Israel
they were to
have total
confidence that
the Lord alone
was supreme in
the heavens.
The nations,
they're just
worshipping
created things.
Then we've got
day two.
We have the
separation of
the water above
from the water
below which we
would call our
atmosphere.
But notice God
doesn't call it
good yet because
his purposes for
the water isn't
complete.
that comes in
day three.
God separates
the ocean from
the land.
Now the water
is fulfilling its
good purposes and
he calls it
good.
Then we have
vegetation which
in Hebrew
thinking apparently
vegetation wasn't
living as we
kind of see it.
And each
according to
their kind.
Everything was
specific enough to
be identified and
yet incredible
diversity.
I just found
out that you
all know what a
gum tree is,
right?
Yep, anyway.
A gum tree, I
don't know why I
paused there.
Apparently there's
over 900 different
types of gum tree.
Like, I don't,
sometimes I get
uncomfortable with
how much I don't
know.
Specificity but
such diversity,
isn't there?
Notice too, the
fertility of the
earth is by God's
decree.
It's his blessing.
Israel shouldn't
participate in the
pagan, depraved
fertility rituals.
It's by God's
word that life is
given.
Perhaps in our
society's world
view, in this
cause and effect,
as if this is a
closed system, we
need to remember,
no, no, no.
Life comes by
God's word.
He is very
involved.
That herb garden
only grows with
him causing it to
grow.
So day one, two,
and three, the
forming is complete
and we come days
four through six.
He starts to fill.
Day four, we've
got the heavens,
the sun, moon,
and stars.
They serve mankind
for days and years.
Again, Israel
shouldn't follow the
Babylonians.
We're trying to
read their future
in the stars.
The stars are made
to declare the
glory of God.
I think it's one of
the biggest downsides
of living in the
city.
I see a few people
from Tamworth here.
Just to get that
witness of God's
glory in the sky,
it's one of the
things you miss
from the country.
Then day five,
conscious life
comes, filling the
atmosphere in the
oceans.
And here in verse
21, we've got that
special word create
again, as we had in
verse one.
When conscious life
comes in, we've got
this special word
create.
He created conscious
life, animals.
And again, fertility
of your herds is by
God's gift, not by
appeasing the pagan
gods.
And then day six, we
come to the climax with
all the animals of the
land and mankind.
Chapter two, verse
seven, speaks of this.
Then the Lord God
formed the man of dust
from the ground and
breathed into his
nostrils the breath of
life.
Yes, we are animals, we
are of the ground, but
we are so much more than
animals, which is where we
need to so depart from the
story of our culture around
us today.
Man is set apart, mankind.
I found this threefold
phrase helpful.
We're set apart by divine
plan.
Let us make God
planned divine pattern in
our image, our likeness,
for divine purpose, to have
dominion.
And that word, that special
word create, in case we
miss, that something
special is happening
here, it's used three
times to emphasise the
point.
So God created man in his
own image.
In the image of God, he
created him, male and
female, he created them.
This is what it's all been
heading for.
Us, can you believe it?
Mankind is the bridge
between earth and heaven.
We were made to know and
relate to the creator.
And we were made to
represent the creator in his
goodness as we care for this
world.
We are the bridge.
In a sense, everything else
was so that we could have
life and so that we can see
the glory of God and praise
God with our hearts and
mouths and lives.
Human beings in the image of
God, regardless of capability,
whether old or in the womb,
whether a celebrity or in power
or the lowest in society, each
human being has infinite,
divine, divine is that the
right word?
We reflect the worth of God
himself.
You have never met an
ordinary person.
So we better treat each other
that way.
And God speaks to himself in the
plural.
Let us make in our image, we
reflect God not only as
individuals, although that's
true, but also as we relate to
one another in friendship, in
marriage, in community, because
we reflect God, who God is, the
eternal community, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit.
And we're going to look into this
much more as we get into chapter
two next week.
But this is a radical teaching.
It was radical back then.
It is radical today, isn't it?
It is the bedrock for how we treat
people with value.
It is how we know what our purpose
is.
Francis Schaeffer again, he says,
people today can no longer answer
that crucial question, who am I?
A Christian doesn't have this
problem.
We have the gift of knowing who we
are.
We are in the image of God.
And so the sixth day finishes with
God commissioning and blessing
mankind.
Adam and Eve have deep personal
fulfilment, totally in a blessed
state.
Everything was at peace with
itself, at peace with the
creator, at peace with man, within
itself, within people, totally at
peace.
And God looks at all he has made
once man has arrived and is very
good.
God is righteous.
He only blesses what is good.
God is good.
What is good is not your subjective
opinion.
It's God's opinion of what is good.
When what he has made fulfills his
purposes, then it is good.
That's when he blesses.
He will only bless what is good and
what he says is good is deeply
fulfilling.
So we come to the why of creation,
God's goal on day seven.
Where are we?
Chapter two, verses one to three.
Thus the heavens and the earth were
finished, and all the host of them.
And on the seventh day God finished his
work that he had done, and he rested on
the seventh day from all his work that he
had done.
So God blessed the seventh day and made
it holy because on it God rested from
all his work that he had done in
creation.
Now as Jacob helpfully taught the kids,
this isn't talking about people resting.
This is talking about God resting, which
can't mean he gets tired.
He didn't need a nap.
He didn't need to put his feet up.
He didn't need a holiday.
He didn't need to catch his breath.
This is saying God stopped his creating
work because it was done.
Everything was in order.
Everything was at peace.
Everything was glorifying God and having
his blessing.
He had no work to do.
Everything was in proper relationship with
God.
And so he made it holy.
He's elevated above the other days.
Day six is not the end point.
The purpose of all this is day seven.
It's resting.
God enjoying his creation.
Like a builder of a house.
He builds the house and he puts his tools
down.
He doesn't just stand outside.
He goes in and he enjoys it.
He's finished the work and now he wants to rest in it.
That's the goal.
God wants to enjoy his creation as all things glorify him.
Tim Keller draws out the implication for us today.
The fulfillment we've been looking for in our work,
in building skyscrapers, in having wonderful spouses,
in having lots of children, in making money,
the blessing we've been looking for is actually
in the face of God.
Enjoying God.
Living for him.
God didn't do any more work until the rebellion of man
ushered in a new darkness and a new chaos.
But we'll come to that in chapter three.
Creation tells us God is a redeeming God.
He brings order out of chaos, light out of darkness,
life out of emptiness.
He is absolutely sovereign over every speck, everything.
He works by his powerful word and that he is determined
that heaven and earth will be in order and good
and have his blessing and enjoy rest.
He is determined to have that.
And the obvious question is,
why isn't that our daily experience?
Why don't we have that rest and blessing?
Why is there chaos in my own mind and heart?
Why is there chaos in my relationships and in my work?
Why is there chaos in the world,
in society and nature?
Why is there chaos in the world,
why is there chaos in the world?
Obviously, we'll spend more time as we come to chapter three.
But can I say for now,
how you answer this question
will depend on your starting point for answering it.
If you start with your own thinking
and your own experience, your own reasoning,
then you'll come out with distorted answers at the other end.
Like some conclude that darkness is good,
that it both existed with light.
It's just always been this balance in the universe or something,
or that death is just a part of life.
They call death good.
It's distorted thinking.
Or that God is not good, or that he's not God.
Like the ancient mythologies,
seeing God as violent and jealous and hateful
and sexually perverse like human beings.
If you start with your own thinking and work out God,
you'll come out with weird and distorted conclusions.
Will you let the word of your creator be your starting point
for answering that question?
He is your reference point.
He wants his world perfectly in order
and full of his blessing.
It was good originally.
So here we have the framework for understanding
how good God is
and how our sin has plunged the world into chaos again.
There is one creator,
and yet who of us consistently looks to him
as the source of life
and the one to whom everything I am
and all I have belongs?
It gives us a framework for understanding our problem.
Mankind was made to represent God's glory,
and yet we seek our own glory.
And we treat other people made in his image with violence,
with our words and choices.
Mankind was made to know and relate to God,
and yet we look to created things
to find that deep fulfillment we're all craving.
The blessing of life is found in resting with God,
and yet we think we can get blessing for ourselves,
trying to be God.
The God whose word breathed out the heavens
and the oceans roared and moved at his command,
and yet we don't listen to his word as we ought to.
We don't believe that his word is the way to blessing,
and if we don't believe his word is the way to blessing,
really we're saying,
God, you're not good.
This gives us the framework to expose us
and the real problem.
But that's not the end of the story.
Our creator is so good
and he's so determined to restore order and rest and blessing.
In term two this year,
we're going to get back into the Gospel of Matthew.
And the part we're up to in Matthew
has blown me away in preparing Genesis 1 this week.
So I just can't wait to say it,
so I'm saying it today.
It's when Jesus walks on the water.
Now when Jesus walks on the water
to his disciples on the boat,
our society mocks that miracle, don't they?
And I've got to be honest with you,
I find that miracle a bit perplexing
because all the other miracles,
he's healing, he's raising the dead,
they're full of compassion,
but walking on water kind of seems like he's showing off.
I've struggled with it
until I've appreciated Genesis 1 verse 2.
Do you see
who is walking on the waves of the deep
in the darkness of the night?
He is the one who's above the chaos
and can save us from it.
He's not just above,
but he entered it
and took it
on himself.
And in his dying breath,
he finishes his work of salvation.
It is finished.
Our hearts yearn for rest and blessing
and the good news
is that the Creator has come
and he has restored his creation
and he offers you rest and blessing.
Getting back in order
with your Creator
to know that he is good
and wants to bless you
as you are in right relationship with him.
So will you look to the cross of Jesus
and know once and for all
that your Creator is good
and that it's your heart
that is the one that's out of order
and he can give you rest and blessing.
I'm going to finish with the words of 2 Corinthians.
for God who said
that light shine out of darkness
has shone in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
rest and blessing are found in him.
Let's pray.
Father, I pray that your Spirit
once again would be moving
over the darkness of each of our hearts
to show us more of who you are
in the face of Jesus.
and for anyone who doesn't know you
as their good Creator
and their Saviour
I pray that your Spirit
might be moving
and speaking life
into their hearts
into our hearts.
In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen.