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Today's Old Testament lesson is from the book of Genesis.
Please follow along in your liturgy.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was formless and empty.
Darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, Let there be light.
And there was light.
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 God created mankind in his own image.
In the image of God, he created them.
Male and female, he created them.
God blessed them and said to them,
Be fruitful and increase in number.
Fill the earth and subdue it.
Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Thus, the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
By the seventh day, God had finished the work he had been doing.
So on the seventh day, he rested from all his work.
Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
And the man became a living being.
Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there he put the man he had formed.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
The Lord God said,
It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.
So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and then closed up the place with flesh.
Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
The man said,
This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.
She shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
The grass withers and the flowers fade.
Forever.
Good morning.
we wonder to ourselves, you know, what kind of power could produce something so achingly beautiful
that it reduces you to sheer wordless wonder?
Did all this beauty really happen by chance?
And how did life begin without life to create it in the first place?
Why is there anything here at all?
Why is there something and not nothing?
Did you know that there are 300 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy alone?
And that there are 2 trillion galaxies, which means that there are more stars in the universe
than there are grains of sand on all the beaches on planet Earth.
Did you know that our star, our sun's energy, its energy output every second is equivalent
to the explosion of 91 billion hydrogen bombs every second?
And that if one out of six, out of the six physical constants that holds our fine-tuned universe together,
if even one of those is off by even the smallest amount,
our universe as it exists would cease to even be.
You know, and it's not just these larger things that are truly remarkable,
it's the smaller things in life as well.
You know, the most extraordinary thing in the universe is actually inside your head.
This marvelous, complex brain that can process in 30 seconds more information
than the Hubble Space Telescope has processed in the last 30 years.
In 30 seconds.
That your eye can distinguish 7 to 10 million colors,
and that that eye sends 100 billion signals to your brain every second.
Did you know that there are 75,000 miles of blood vessels crammed inside of you?
And there are at least 50 trillion cells.
And that if you were to take all the DNA contained in your cells,
and you were to stretch them out,
they would reach 10 billion miles away,
all the way past Pluto,
which actually means that there's enough of you here today
to go outside of our solar system,
if you could find a way to do it.
You are amazing.
You are a work of art.
And if you saw something of that,
that's that stunning in a portrait gallery.
If you heard something that beautiful in a concert hall,
you would instinctively ask yourself,
where did it come from?
Who created it?
And if someone were to tell you that this incredible painting,
this amazing symphony,
that it just came together by itself,
without any author to create it,
would you believe them?
You know, the opening line of our book tells us
who the artist is,
who created the massive universe that we live in,
the marvelous bodies that we inhabit.
And what I'm about to attempt to do is so crazy,
it's so stupid,
to try to preach one sermon on the whole text that we just read.
But I'm going to do that.
And what we are going to ask ourselves
is three simple questions.
Who is the one true God?
Who are God's one special people?
And what is the one future that God has for his world?
Who is the one true God?
Who are his one special people?
And what is the one future that God has for his world?
So first of all,
who's the one true God?
Verse one says that,
in the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth.
And we should say that,
right off the bat,
science and theology
are neither strangers nor enemies,
but they are friends and they are partners.
Right?
Science deals with the what and the how.
Theology deals with the who and the why.
And what Moses is giving us
is not science but theology.
What Moses is giving us is not deductive reasoning.
He's giving us divine revelation.
And what Moses tells us is that
the central subject of all reality
in the first line of the Bible
is God himself.
Forty-six times God is mentioned
in these first two chapters.
God created, it says in verse one.
God's spirit is moving, it says in verse two.
God said in verse three.
It's all about God.
From the very opening sentence,
the Bible reveals this God
who is both absolute and personal.
If we could bring up this slide
and just keep this slide up here
until this point is over.
I want you to consider this.
What does it mean in verse one
that God is just inexplicably there?
He just is.
He just was.
He just will be.
And that he's creating everything out of nothing.
It means that he's an absolute God
who is infinitely and eternally great.
He's overwhelmingly majestic and almighty.
That's the deep theology
that's crammed into the very first line of the Bible.
And what does it mean in verse two
where it says God's spirit is moving
and that without strain, without fatigue,
he brings formlessness to form.
He brings emptiness to fullness.
It means that he's self-existent,
that he's all-powerful,
that he does not need anything or anyone,
that nothing's difficult for him,
nothing's impossible for him,
that he's an absolute God.
What does it mean in verse three
when God's first words are,
let there be light?
It means that God himself is light
and in him is no darkness at all.
It means that he exercises his authority
and his control
to accomplish his will through his word.
And that out of the fullness
and the abundance
of God's life-giving
and life-creating presence,
he makes and sustains
every square inch of space,
every nanosecond of time,
every molecule of matter,
and he says over it all,
it's mine.
The God that's being presented to us
is an absolute God,
a transcendent God.
But he's not just that.
He's also a personal God.
He's an imminent God.
What does it mean in verse 31
where it says God saw all that he made
and it was very good?
It means that God himself is very good.
And that as a personal God,
he wants to share the abundant overflow,
the infinite goodness of himself
with his creatures.
Or what does it mean in Genesis 2, 2,
where it says that God blessed one day in seven
and he set it apart as a time of holy rest
for each and every one of us?
Or when it says in chapter 2, verse 8,
that he planted a garden called Eden.
Eden means pleasure.
Eden means delight.
And he put us in that place
to make that our home
and to provide food for us in that place.
Or what does it mean in Genesis 2, 18,
where it says that he made a family for us?
He put us in a community.
You know, if you study the origin stories
of the Babylonians,
the epic of Gilgamesh,
the Enuma Elish,
you'll find these gods in these stories
that are actually quite needy.
They're fickle.
They are deeply conflicted and violent
and at war with one another.
They actually depend on the humans that they make
to give them food and to give them rest.
And very often they're either indifferent
to the humans they've made
or they're hostile to the humans they've made.
And from the very first sentences of our Bible
and throughout the Bible,
repeatedly it says that the one true God
is emphatically not like that.
That every experience you've ever had of light,
every experience you've ever had of beauty
or of goodness
or of pleasure
or of rest
or of feeling at home,
it all comes from the one true God.
And every single one of those experiences
is an invitation
from the heart of reality,
from this sublime
and exalted
and unfathomable
and absolute God
who wants to be in a personal
and intimate relationship
with you
as his beloved creature.
He wants you to experience
his covenant presence
as a source of all blessing
and life
and joy
and peace.
And he knows
that your heart
is going to be restless
until it finds his rest
right there with him.
So how might we apply
this to our lives
this week?
Well, first of all,
what story
will you wake up
telling yourself tomorrow?
What story
will you wake up
living in all day,
Monday through Saturday
this week?
Who will be the central subject
of that story?
Is the opening line
of that story
all about you
or is it about God?
If your story
is all about you,
then your story
is way too small.
Right?
If your story
is all about you
and your family,
your ethnicity,
your class,
your gender,
your vocational field,
your political tribe,
your nation,
any of that,
your story is way too narrow
and way too cramped.
If your story
is not about
this absolute
yet personal God
who created everything
in the beginning
and who sustains
everything day by day
and who's directing
all of nature
and all of history
to his own purposes
and goals,
then the invitation
of Genesis 1 and 2
is to get
your little story
connected up
with his larger story
and to give yourself
to the one
who's actually been
authoring your story
all along
and to say
to this God,
you know,
you do not exist for me,
I exist for you
and you are my highest
good that could
possibly be imagined
and I want you
from today
going forward
to be the object
of my worship
and the theme
of my song
and the strength
of my life
because I realize today
that from you
and through you
and to you
are all things.
See,
Genesis 1
is an invitation
for you to have
your story re-narrated
starting today.
Second application
is
how will you engage
with the power
of God's word
when you start
your days this week?
You know,
UC Berkeley's motto
since 1883
has been
Fiat Lux
from Genesis 1-3
and God said
let there be light
and there was light.
God
sovereignly
and majestically
created the universe
by his powerful
and authoritative word
and when Israel
would later receive
the word of the Lord
they knew
that it was
that same
powerful
and authoritative
Fiat Lux
of the creator God
who calls things
into existence
that are not.
It is the word of God
that formed
the chaos
into a cosmos.
It's the word of God
that turned the darkness
into light.
It's the word of God
that called into existence
an ordered
and harmonious
and fruitful creation.
And isn't that
what you want
your life to be?
Ordered,
harmonious
and fruitful.
That's what God's word does.
How could I possibly
if God's
creative
and redemptive work
is accomplished
through his powerful word
how could I possibly
ignore
or neglect
or even resist
the word of God
as he's given it to us
in the scriptures?
Friends,
if you give yourself
on a daily basis
to your creator's word
and you submit
yourself to his will
and you attune
your way
to his way
and you order your life
according to his
divine ordering
you can rest assured
that your story
is going to continue
in the fiat lux
in the light
of God
all of your days.
Psalm says
your word
is a lamp
for my feet
and it's a light
on my path.
Third application
is this.
Many people
in the Bay Area
say,
you know,
I don't believe
in God
and if somebody
trusts you enough
to say that
you need to be prepared
to say,
well tell me about
this God
you do not believe in
because I probably
do not believe
in him either.
Is your God
absolute
but not personal?
Is your God
personal
but not absolute?
Is your God
holy
but not loving?
Is your God
kind
but not powerful?
See,
I don't believe
in any of those
gods either.
So what we can do
right now
is connect
over our mutual
disbelief
in these false
gods.
Fourth point
of application
is every student
here from middle
school
to PhD
candidate
I want you
to remember
that the
absoluteness
of God
is the basis
of all science
and mathematics
and I want
you to remember
that the
personalness
of God
is the basis
of all
the arts
and the
humanities
and that it's
this God
who gives
legitimacy
and credibility
to all
rational inquiry
and your job
as a student
this week
is to go
study your
rear end
off to the
glory of God.
Amen?
All right.
That's point one.
Who's the one
true God?
See,
I told you
this was the
dumbest idea
to try to do
all this
in one sermon.
All right.
Who are God's
one special people?
Who are God's
one special people?
The secular
vision
of humanity
is a
disenchanted
vision.
It's a
materialist
and naturalist
vision.
And what it
tells us
is that we
are lucky mud.
That you
are a random
collocation
of atoms.
A brain
with legs.
You're a
meat suit
walking around.
You came
from insignificance.
You're going
to insignificance.
And that your
final destiny
is to become
food for worms
and fertilizer
for flowers.
And the
question is
what if
there's more
to you
than that?
What if
there's more
to life
than that?
I want to
point out
this strange
detail in the
text and
invite you to
notice it
in verse 26.
It says,
then God
said,
let us
make mankind.
And that
let us
we call
the royal
we.
It's a
plural of
majesty.
It's God
speaking to
his royal
heavenly
court of
angels.
But in
hindsight,
it's also
a little
hint for
us of
the unity
and diversity
in the
supreme
being of
God
himself.
If we
could bring
up another
slide.
Psalm 33
6 says,
by the word
of the Lord
the heavens
were made,
their starry
host by the
breath of
his mouth.
That sounds
just like the
first three
verses of the
Bible where it
says,
God created
and the
spirit was
moving and
God said
with his
word.
It's
through these
means of
his word
and his
breath that
the Lord
makes the
universe.
And the
New Testament
says that
Jesus is the
word of God
made flesh.
And that the
Holy Spirit is
the breath of
God breathed
out.
So what
does it
mean if
the Trinity,
if this
one God
and three
persons,
the Father,
Son,
and Holy
Spirit,
the Lord,
the word,
and the
breath,
what if
he's the
one who
created
you?
Verse 26
says,
6 says,
then God
said,
let us make
human beings
in our
image,
in our
likeness,
so that
they may
rule over
everything.
And verse
27 says,
so God
created human
beings in
his own
image,
in the image
of God,
he created
them male and
female,
he created
them.
What you
need to know
is that in
the ancient
Near East,
only the
king was
the image
of God.
Only the
king was
the image
of God.
But the
very first
page of
our book
says that
all of you
have been
stamped with
the royal
image of
the one
who from
eternity
past has
been pouring
glory and
love,
from the
father to
the son
and to
the holy
spirit,
each into
the other
in this
delightful
dance of
mutual
self-giving.
You were
made from
love and
for love.
You were
not made
by someone
who needed
to have
you.
You were
made by
somebody who
wanted you.
Think about
that.
What does it
mean?
You were
not made
from a
unipersonal
God of
raw power
who needs
you in order
for himself
to be
complete.
But rather
you were
made from
this
tri-personal
God of
pure love
who wants
you to
enjoy the
fullness of
his being
and presence,
the trinity
of these
persons in
relationship.
What does that
mean?
It means that
you cannot
know who
you are.
If you want
to know
who you
are, you
cannot know
who you
are apart
from this
triune love.
But that if
you do enter
into that
triune mystery
then it will
change how
you relate to
yourself and
everybody else.
So how can
we apply this
practically?
Well first of
all, you
have an
objective,
intrinsic,
irreducible,
inestimable glory
about yourself.
That you
are significant,
that you
are valuable,
that you
are worthy
and that you
matter.
Genesis 2
7 says this,
then the
Lord God
formed a man
from the dust
of the ground
and he
breathed into
his nostrils
the breath
of life and
the man
became a
living being.
You see as
a potter
forms a
lump of
clay,
this humble
creature of
the dust is
crafted by
God into
a work of
art and
then he's
given the
divine breath,
the divine
life,
through this
moment of
face-to-face
intimacy,
this divine
kiss,
this amazing
act of
self-giving
love.
And what
does that
mean?
Well it
means first
of all that
you are the
image of
God,
that you're
not God,
you're dust.
So don't
think of
yourself more
highly than
you ought.
But it
also means
that you're
the image
of God,
that you
share in the
divine
likeness,
so do
not think
of yourself
less than
you ought.
That's
point number
one.
Application
number one.
Application
number two
is that
basic human
rights and
equality,
which we're
kind of
starting to
lose our
grip on
in the
western world.
Basic human
rights and
equality,
the sanctity
of life,
none of this
is predicated
on age or
status or
achievements or
class or
race.
No, the
imago
Dei that's
imprinted on
you and on
everyone else
requires us to
take all
people absolutely
seriously.
And it
requires something
even more than
that.
It requires us
to protect the
poor and the
sick and the
old and the
disabled and the
newborn and the
unborn.
Secular people
want to talk
about human
rights but they
actually have
cut themselves
off from,
they've cut the
limb off of the
tree for which
they used to make
that argument.
You cannot make
an argument for
transcendent universal
human rights without
the transcendent
universal God from
whom they come.
Secular people have
to say, you know,
the ground of rights
is in our
capacities.
And what we can
do.
But can you imagine
Martin Luther King
showing up in
Atlanta or
Birmingham or
Montgomery and
saying, you know,
the basis of our
human rights is our
ability to reason and
our self-consciousness.
No.
He showed up
quoting Moses.
He showed up
quoting Jesus.
He wasn't
quoting Buddha.
He wasn't
quoting Aristotle.
He said in a
sermon on July 4th,
1965, he said,
there are no
gradations in the
image of God.
Every man from a
treble white
to a bass black
is significant on
God's keyboard
precisely because
every man is made
in the image of
God.
And one day we
will all learn
that.
third point of
application is
that as the
image of God,
you are called to
reflect and
represent the glory
of God into the
world.
Like a mirror with
the sunshine.
You are meant to
capture the
sunshine of God's
character and his
goodness and his
light and his life
and his love and
reflect it out into
the world.
And that is an
awesome privilege and
an awesome
responsibility.
It's a high honor
that implies a
code of living.
It implies an
expectation to
imitate God in your
daily life.
It says that you're
designed for dignity
and therefore God
designed you to act
dignified.
And that means that
we have to ask
ourselves as the
image of God,
should I be thinking
this or saying
that?
As the image of
God, should I be
watching this or
wearing that?
As the image of
God, should I be
doing this thing or
acting that way?
You're made to
reflect and represent
the image of the
triune God's own
self-giving and
mutual respect that
he has within
himself.
But of course the
image of God is
broken in me and
it's broken in you,
isn't it?
Sin has twisted
and tarnished the
image of God in
us.
Self-centeredness has
come and shattered
and soiled the
image of God in us.
And next Sunday
we'll explore how
Adam and Eve failed
to be the covenant
partners that they
were meant to be.
And really what we're
going to see is that
the whole drama of
Genesis, the whole
drama of the whole
Bible is that the
family of Abraham
and the nation of
Israel were called
to be a new
humanity within the
old humanity.
humanity.
That God so loved
the world that he
gave Abraham.
God so loved the
world he gave
Israel.
But they failed in
the same way.
They failed to be the
image of God reflecting
the light of God to
the nations of God.
And finally after long
years of waiting,
Jesus, the Son of
God, stepped out of
heaven and onto the
earth as the true
human being.
And that's why the
New Testament calls
Jesus the second
Adam, the last Adam.
He's the ultimate and
greater Adam.
He's the genuine
Israelite.
All that the sons of
Abraham were meant to
be.
All that the sons of
David were meant to
be.
Jesus is the true
image bearer of God.
The only perfect image
of God.
Who's come to rescue
and restore us to our
intended identity and
dignity.
He came to fulfill
God's design for us
to be all that we
were meant to be but
could not be.
And he himself became
broken.
He had his image broken
on the cross in order
that the image of God
might be made whole
again.
And this is why the
Apostle Paul says things
like this.
He says the Son is the
image of the invisible
God.
And God predestined us to
be conformed to the
image of his Son.
And therefore you're to
put on the new self in
Jesus Christ.
Which is being renewed in
the knowledge and the
image of its creator to
be like God in true
righteousness and true
holiness.
See that's why Jesus
came.
That is what Jesus,
God's one special person,
made it possible for you to
be and to become.
So who's the one true God?
Who are God's one special
people?
And last thing is what is
God's one future for his
world?
What is God's one future for
his world?
I'll be quick.
The secular vision of the
future says that this life
is all there is.
And that everything is
eventually going to burn
up in the death of the sun
and the solar system.
And that no one after that
is going to be around to
remember anything that
happened and that everyone
will be forgotten.
And that nothing we do will
make a difference and that
all of our endeavors, even
the best, will come to
naught.
And therefore, on the
basis of that, we should
fight poverty.
Therefore, on the basis of
that, we should seek for
nuclear disarmament so we
don't destroy ourselves.
Maybe that's part of the
reason why there's such a
rise in anxiety and
depression.
Because people don't know
why they're here.
They don't know what the
future of the world is all
about.
And Genesis 1 and 2 says
actually, no, God exists and
he has a plan, he has a
purpose, he has a pattern
for the image of God.
And what is that?
He says, well, it's to put
men and women together.
It's to put us together in
families and extended
communities in order to
help each other serve God
as his representatives in
the world.
And what is the work that
God's calling us to do in
these extended families?
Well, it says in 128,
God blessed them and said
to them, be fruitful and
increase in number, fill the
earth and subdue it and rule
over everything.
And then in chapter 2, verse
15, it says the Lord God
took the man and put him in
the garden of Eden to work
it and take care of it.
So I want you to underline
some words.
Underline the word increase
and fill.
Underline the word subdue and
rule and underline the words
work and take care.
What is the image of God?
What is the human family
meant to do with this garden
he's put us in?
Well, the essence of
gardening is just to
rearrange and reorder raw
materials to bring forth
new products for human
flourishing and well-being.
And so that means that you
are to participate with God
as a steward and a sub
creator to cultivate all the
soil and all the seeds that
are inherent potentialities
in that garden of law and
medicine, of family and
education, of the arts and
sciences, of finance and
technology, of trade and
commerce, of the market and
the state.
We're to take all that there
is in that garden and all of
its potentiality and to
unfold it and to cultivate it
according to the way that God
subdues and God rules his
creation so that more and
more of it will reflect the
beauty of who God is.
And you want to know what
fascinates me about verse 15?
Verse 15, those words work it
and take care of it are mostly
used in the priestly texts.
They're especially used to
describe the responsibilities
that the Levites, the priests
have in the tabernacle in the
temple of God.
And if you go on and you study
the Torah, you study the first
five books of the Bible,
Genesis to Deuteronomy, you'll
realize that a good deal of it is
about what we're supposed to do in
the tabernacle of God, in the
temple of God.
It's this place where heaven and
earth, the twin halves of God's
good creation come together, they
intersect and they overlap and
it's where God's presence and his
power dwells.
It's where his Shekinah glory
resides.
And the point is that that holy
temple is meant to be a
microcosm of the whole creation.
And that's why when it is
constructed, it's constructed with
the images of angels and the
heavenly lights.
It's constructed with palm trees
and open flowers, with lilies,
and pomegranates.
And that when God takes his
image-bearing human beings and he
puts them in this garden temple as
royal priests, and he uses this
priestly language of take care of
it and work it, what he's telling
them is I want you to go out and I
want you to turn all of creation into
a holy temple.
Did you know that's why you exist?
You exist to turn all of creation into
a holy temple.
Your home, your classroom, your
office, your neighborhood, every
place where you live and work and
play, God wants you to make those into
holy places that are filled with his
presence and his power.
Strangely enough, Jesus comes along
and he says, destroy this temple and
now we'll raise it up again in three
days.
Why is he talking about the temple?
Because he's read his Bible.
Because he's saying that the whole
creation is summed up right here in me.
And that all of humanity has to find
its new starting place right here in me,
in this temple that's standing before you.
And everything that God intended for
human identity and for human work is
being fulfilled in me.
In my destroyed yet raised up body, I'm
going to make this whole world into a
temple of the living God.
And Jesus intends to make your body
into a temple.
He intends to make your marriage into a
temple.
He intends to make your family and your
community, your workplace, into a
temple.
So that all of it's a place where heaven
and earth can come and meet together in
the presence and the power of God can be
known and can dwell among us.
And now you know why the last two
chapters of the Bible are written to
mirror the first two chapters of the
Bible.
And I'll just close by quoting it.
Revelation 21 says, I did not see a
temple in the city because the Lord
God Almighty and the Lamb are its
temple.
The city does not need the sun or the
moon to shine in it for the glory of
God gives it light and the Lamb is its
lamp.
The nations will walk by its light and
the kings of the earth will bring their
splendor into it.
The glory and honor of the nations be
brought into it and only those whose
names are written in the Lamb's book of
life will enter in to it.
So friends, let's join Jesus.
Let's join the ultimate Adam in all that
he's doing to turn the whole of created
reality into a temple, into a place where
we can finally worship and serve God as he
made us to do.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, amen.
Amen.
Thank you.