Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us.
Father, you know how sometimes we are afraid of your word,
that we're embarrassed by your word,
that we wince at your word.
And Father, you know that about us.
And Father, we thank you that you still speak,
that you still love us, that you speak the truth.
Father, help us to trust you and to trust your word.
And may your word come into our lives
and bear much fruit for your great glory.
And all this we ask in the name of Jesus,
your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
So, a couple of weeks ago,
one of the people that I talk to in the coffee shop all the time,
and we often have lots of disagreements,
he was puzzling over a complicated quote
that he'd found from Aristotle.
and he asked me over and he said to me,
he said,
George, you're a wise and learned man.
Can you help me to understand this?
And I just sort of, I thought about that
and I said to him,
well, I appreciate the compliment,
but I'm actually a fool in recovery,
not a wise and learned man.
I was thinking of what the book of Proverbs warns you about,
thinking of being wise.
I was thinking of 1 Corinthians,
how God makes foolish the wisdom of the world,
and I was thinking of Romans 1,
and how in our foolishness,
we want to exchange the glory of God for idols.
And so I said,
I'm a fool in recovery.
Anyway,
I appreciated the comment.
I mention that because
today we're going to look at this story
in Genesis chapter 1.
It's the easiest story to find in the Bible.
You just go to the beginning.
It's Genesis 1.
And, you know,
you look at this story
and a lot of Christians nowadays,
we really wince with this.
We're very, very uncomfortable with it.
And not only are we uncomfortable with it,
we are uncomfortable
because we know a little bit about biology.
We've probably all been through biology in high school.
And, well, I mean, you know,
in our back of our mind,
we think to ourselves,
how can there be light
when the sun and the stars haven't been created?
How come light's created
before the sun and the stars?
And how come there's day and night
before there's sun
and even really a planet?
So how can there be days
before there's even a planet?
And how come
vegetation is created on the third day
and the sun
is created on the fourth day?
And it doesn't make any biological,
agricultural sense.
And so we're just very uncomfortable with it.
Some of us will maybe read
very, very, very, very, very clever Christians
who try to show
how this is just a way
to describe almost scientifically
how things came to be.
But in our heart of hearts,
we might say,
gosh, that's awfully clever.
However,
but it doesn't really work
apart from all your cleverness.
And so if we're honest,
as I said in my prayer,
we feel a little bit uncomfortable
when it comes to a text like this.
It wouldn't be a text
that we'd want to share
with our coworkers
and do a Bible study around.
If we're honest,
we'd be very, very, very uncomfortable about it.
And so it's hard.
So that's one of the reasons
I mentioned that I'm a recovering fool
because it's almost,
I'm going to talk a little bit
about what we talked about last week
to try to deal with some of this foolishness,
but it's like we forget it.
So here's the first thing
as we start to look at this text.
A couple of years ago,
I had a conversation,
once again, in a coffee shop.
I actually don't talk to anybody
if they're not in a coffee shop.
I don't know if you know that about me.
So if you want to talk to me,
go to a coffee shop.
I'll talk to you.
No.
It's the easiest way for me
to have conversations
with non-Christians, I guess,
just because of my personality.
And anyway, so I had a conversation,
which is, I don't know how it came up.
I mentioned something about trees
being a renewable resource.
I think it's because
I was using a cardboard cup.
True confessions,
when I go to coffee shops,
I like the cardboard cups.
I never get the, you know,
the more eco-friendly ones,
but that's a whole other.
I hope I haven't now made you all
really mad at me by sharing that.
But, so I think I made some comment
about, you know,
trees are a renewable resource.
And the barista, he said,
no, they're not.
And I said, well,
I mean, I know it's a slow resource,
but you know, you plant a tree
and it grows.
And so it's always renewable.
There's lots of land to grow trees
and you just keep growing trees.
And even if you cut them down,
you can just keep planting trees.
And she said, no,
it's not a renewable resource
and they don't plant trees in Canada.
I didn't make a face.
I have a tiny, tiny, tiny bit
of people skills
which occasionally peak out.
But I said to him,
I said, my oldest son,
for eight years,
he was a tree planter.
Like, that's how he graduated
from university with no debts.
Like, he went in northern Ontario
and northern BC
and he planted trees.
And he said, no,
nobody does that.
So at that point in time,
there's no point
talking any further with them, right?
Like, the person's an idiot.
Sorry.
Now, here's the question.
Is Moses an idiot?
It's a good question.
I'm just going to take it for now
that Moses is the primary author
of the book of Genesis.
I'm not going to get into authorship.
It's actually technically,
it doesn't say that Moses wrote it.
There are other reasons
why it might or might not be Moses.
But let's just say,
I'm going to just say
for the sake of argument
that Moses wrote it,
whether he adapted an older story
or not doesn't really matter.
But the question is,
is Moses an idiot?
You see, the reason
that's a very, very good question
to ask is,
my guess is this.
My guess is that Moses
knows vastly less
than anybody here
about biology.
Okay?
But, you know,
he probably knows
way more than just about
anybody here
about how things grow.
And one of the things
he would have known
is that if you go
into a dark cave,
you don't see vegetation.
Like, we might have people
who don't understand
that trees grow.
You know,
because we're in
post-modern,
you know,
Canada.
We might have people
who have problems with that
because we're sort of
distant from nature.
But Moses would have
known that.
Like, it would have
dawned on him
that if you don't
have a light,
like you go into a cave,
you go into a dark room,
you can't grow a tree
or grass in a dark room.
He would have known that.
So why do you write it?
Isn't that a good
question to ask?
You see,
because the subtle
way that we approach
the scripture
is we're very influenced
by the skepticism
of much of our culture.
And so we sort of
assume that Moses,
just because he lived
at a time before
there were flush toilets
or Instagram,
doesn't mean he was stupid.
Right?
Or any person
who's an older writer.
Doesn't mean they're stupid.
So,
we just take that
as a bit of a clue
that maybe there's
something else
going on in this text.
Maybe there's something
else going on
in this text.
In fact,
I talked about that
a little bit last week
and I'm going to talk
about it a little bit more.
What I would say
is actually science
with one important
qualification,
the more we learn
about science,
the more we learn
about astronomy,
the more we learn
about biology,
the more we learn
about geology,
the more we learn
about these things,
the easier it is
and the more truthfully
we can read God's word.
I mean,
just a very,
very simple example,
like,
I don't know,
2,000,
2,500 years ago,
whenever it talks
about the sun rising,
I don't know,
they probably,
I don't know,
maybe they did think
literally the sun rose,
that the earth
was sort of static
and the sun rose
and then went
and, I don't know,
underneath it
and then came back
up the next day.
But they didn't actually
you know,
it's interesting,
in the Bible,
they don't have any
theories about how
things like that work.
They just say
the sun rises
or the sun moves
across the sky
and nothing in science
disproves the fact
that from our point of view
the sun rises,
does it?
Like,
nothing that's been
discovered scientifically
disproves that the sun
or the stars
or the moon move
from our perception,
if you think about it.
So,
when science
discovers more
and more things,
when humans
understand more
and more things,
all it means is
we can understand
a little bit more
about the Bible,
but it doesn't change
the fundamental insight,
does it,
that from our point of view
the sun rises?
That if somebody
was to,
if you were to say
the sun rose this morning
and somebody was to
beat you up scientifically
about it,
you'd just think
they were a jerk,
right?
Because it's just
the way we human beings
talk.
So,
it's,
with a qualification,
you know,
nothing in the,
that,
you know,
most of the language
in the Bible,
science doesn't disprove
any of it,
it just helps us
to understand it.
And so,
what I'm also going
to suggest is
not only if we think
for a second
that Moses probably
wasn't an idiot
and that he probably
knew a few things
about the need
for sunlight
for things to grow,
then the other thing
is that as we know
more and more
about science,
it helps us
to actually try
to figure out
some of the other
puzzles or riddles
about this text.
Because,
you know,
maybe Moses
wouldn't have understood
about things like
the sun and the stars
and the sky
because he didn't
know certain science,
but now that we
know more science,
it just helps us
to understand what's
more,
like to help to read
the text more accurately.
So,
Andrew,
if you could put
the first point up,
this is a really
important point
for us to get.
If we don't get this,
we won't understand
Genesis 1 to,
verse 1 to 2,
3.
God does not need
a process or a timeline
to create.
He speaks and what
he wills is created
with all of its heights
and depths,
fine-tuned intricacy
and backstory.
This is really important,
okay?
I mean,
you know,
God can do whatever
he wants.
He's God.
You know,
if he wants to create
the universe,
he wants to take,
you know,
1,623,000 steps,
that's fine.
He can do it.
He's a big boy.
He makes up his own mind.
He decides.
And we should just go,
wow.
Right?
But he doesn't have
to do that.
He doesn't have
to use any steps.
And he doesn't have
to rest.
And he doesn't have
to work with
certain materials
to get one thing done
before he gets
another thing done.
Like,
none of those things
apply to God
if we understand
that God can create,
just as we're going
to see in a moment,
that it says
six different times,
more than six different times
that God speaks it is.
God speaks it is.
It's all the way
through the text.
God speaks.
It is.
So God does not need
a process
or a timeline
to create like we do.
We need processes
and timelines.
But God doesn't need that.
He doesn't use it.
He just speaks
and what he wills,
there it is.
And there it is
with all of its heights
and depths
and fine-tuned intricacy
and backstory.
So,
some of you are wondering,
George,
are you trying to just
sort of make it look
like we don't have
to try to think
that there's some conflict
between evolution
and between this story?
I'm not trying
to do that at all.
Some of you,
or if you were here
last week,
you remember me
telling you the story
of Keith Booth.
This is really,
really an important thing.
I know I'm going to tell it
to you twice,
two weeks in a row.
I might even tell it
to you three weeks in a row
because next week
we're going to look
at the second creation story
in Genesis 2.
And our problem is
we say,
oh yeah,
yeah,
that's a really good idea.
And then when it's,
then the next week comes
and we look at the story
and we forget all
about the story.
We forget all about
the point that I was
trying to make.
So here's the point
for those of you
who weren't here
and those of you
maybe don't remember.
So in 1998,
the spring of 1998,
it's the NBA playoffs.
It's the sixth game.
The Bulls have
the greatest basketball player
who's ever played basketball
in the history of the game.
His name is Michael Jordan.
He's coming up
to his mid-30s.
He is unbelievable in shape,
unbelievable in determination
and athletic ability.
He's lost none of his skills.
He's at the peak of his game.
He is the greatest player
of all time playing
at an unbelievable level.
And we're going into
the game six in Utah
against a highly ranked team,
team that many,
many people thought
that Utah would win
the basketball championship
that week.
Chicago's up three to two.
They want to put it away.
And so the coach,
Phil Jackson,
he gathers his 15 players
before the game.
I don't know what he said,
okay?
But what we know
is when he gathered
the 15 players,
he probably said,
like coaches are always
supposed to do,
it's going to be a team effort.
Everybody has to take their role.
Everybody has to play their part.
Everybody has a part
to win this game.
But we all know
whose big shoulders
the whole game depends upon.
And we need to make sure
we give that ball
to the guy
with the really broad shoulders,
Keith Booth.
Keith Booth's a real guy.
He actually was on the bench
for that game.
During the regular season,
he only played in six games.
And in the six games,
he only managed to get,
not per game,
but total,
five baskets.
Okay?
So we all know,
the coach didn't say that.
What did he say?
Give the ball to Michael.
That's what he said, right?
And so last week,
what I said is,
when we want to have
this big conflict
with how science
is understood today
and how to understand
human origins,
if we want to have a big,
if I'm going to have
an argument like that,
I don't want to give
the ball to Moses.
I want to give the ball
to Jesus.
I want to give the ball
to Jesus.
And so last week,
we talked about,
in the beginning,
God created the heavens
and the earth.
Sorry,
in the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was with God
in the beginning.
All things were made
through him,
and without him,
nothing was made
that was made.
In him was life,
and the life
was the light of men.
And we tried to unpack
the doctrine of creation,
and we showed that
from that,
we can see that
the very, very first verse
in Genesis,
we understand it
from the perspective
of Jesus.
It's just teaching
this very, very basic thing
that God creates everything.
He creates everything.
He creates everything
visible and invisible.
He creates them
out of nothing.
He creates them
by just saying,
I want this to exist,
and it exists.
And creation
is not like a stage set.
He made it real
with height and depth
and backstory.
And I shared the story
last week
about how I was watching
a Star Trek episode,
and I realized
that what Q did
helped me to understand
the Christian doctrine
of creation.
In fact,
I made a bit of a joke
using Timothy Keller language.
The Bible tells you
of a true and greater Q.
A true and greater Q.
And to illustrate it,
and I'll just switch
the image up a little bit.
Imagine for a second
that we were really,
really unbelievably
faithful in prayer,
and there was a need
for God to do this.
But we owned this land,
let's say,
but it's just
an empty lot.
And so,
one Saturday,
one of you have
a prophetic word
from God
that if we just pray,
you know how
the Bible says
mountains will move?
And so we say,
if we just pray,
God will put a building
on this spot like that.
So we actually
would convince,
I have to confess,
I do not have
the gift of faith.
I would not be
at that prayer meeting
on a Saturday
across from the lot.
In fact,
I'd probably say,
let's pray on the property,
and people with
the gift of faith
would say,
no, we can't pray
on the property.
God's going to put
a building right here.
So we do it
across the street.
We all close our eyes,
we pray,
we open our eyes,
and the Ottawa
little theater is here.
God does a work
of creation
out of nothing.
And we all come in,
and it looks
just like this.
And we know
that he made it
out of nothing.
But we come
into the building,
and we look at the seats,
and, you know,
some of you who are,
you know,
some technologically inclined,
we could say,
you know,
those look like
about 30-year-old seats.
And you'd look
at the carpet,
and you'd go,
you know,
that looks like
a 20- or 30-year-old carpet.
And then you'd look
at the curtains,
and you'd know
that some of the curtains
are brand new,
and some of the curtains
are old,
and you'd be able
to figure out
how to put the chairs
together and everything
like that.
And so that's how
God created all things.
I used the example
last week,
that if God created
everything just like that,
it doesn't matter
how long ago it is,
if you just created
it like that,
and God sent you back
in a time machine
five seconds
after he'd created
all like that,
would there be stars
in the sky?
Yes,
there would be stars
in the sky,
even though the closest star
is 4.2 light years away.
And if you took
a chainsaw
and cut a tree,
would it have rings?
Yes,
it would have a ring.
It would have rings.
God made everything
with a back story.
He made it
so that we could
take it apart,
that we could understand it,
that we could
reverse engineer it.
He made it
because as we understand
something maybe
about how things
are connected
at a,
you know,
in this back story level,
that it helps us
to understand
how light works.
It helps us
to understand
how plants develop.
It helps us
to understand
things that we can do
to make things
work in this world
better,
to develop
better farming techniques
and better vaccines.
And that's what
the doctrine of creation
out of nothing means.
And if you want
to know more about it,
you can listen
to last week's sermon.
But here's the thing.
So we sort of
get into our mind,
okay, you know what,
that actually makes sense.
And in a sense,
what I'm saying
is that if somebody
tells me,
and somebody sent me
a very helpful email
this week about
how old the Atlantic Ocean is
and how many millions
of years it is.
And on one level,
I want to say,
see, what we have
to understand
is the doctrine
of creation,
if we really grasp it,
it means that
there's a real backstory
and we can't really,
it's sort of irrelevant
whether God did it
like sped up
a long time
or out of nothing.
Like you can't actually
tell from this doctrine.
It just means
you are free
to study everything
without fear.
Study paleontology,
study astronomy,
study biology.
You are free
to do it
without any fear.
Go ahead and study.
Because the doctrine
of creation,
when it says
a backstory,
it's not an illusion,
it's not a lie,
it's the way
God made everything.
And whether or not
the ocean
is that old
or just looks
that old
or the backstory
makes it look
like it's that old,
like that's
an unimportant distinction.
It has this backstory
that we should be free
to completely
and utterly study.
And so,
you see,
we think that,
we sort of believe that,
but then
as soon as we get
to studying this text,
we want to forget
that God does it
like that
and we want to try
to figure out
what the process is.
But God doesn't,
what is it?
God does not need
a process
or a timeline
to create.
He speaks
and what he wills
is created
with all of its
heights and depths,
fine-tuned intricacy
and backstory.
And this text
is going to drive it home.
God said and it was,
God said and it was.
If you missed it
the first time,
I'll say it again,
God said and it was.
And he doesn't say,
okay,
it's so good
that there's all this
matter and energy around,
so out of this,
I'm going to create light.
No.
We'll get to it
in a moment.
He sort of ignores
verse 2 and just says
and God said and it was.
That's what wants
to be emphasized.
You see,
it's not like
making something,
putting together
something from Ikea.
My wife
is
conservative estimate
a hundred times
more handy
than I am.
That's a conservative
estimate.
It's probably
way north
of a hundred times
more handy
than I am.
You would all be surprised
at how unhandy
I am.
But occasionally
I can put together
things from Ikea.
It's very interesting
when my wife and I,
we don't usually do it together,
but if we put things
together from Ikea,
my wife,
because she's handy,
she doesn't really look
at the directions
until she gets stuck.
She just starts putting
things together,
right?
If you came into the house
to see me put together
something from Ikea,
I open all of the packaging,
I spread it all out
in the room,
I group things together,
I open the little plastic bags,
and I make sure
that if it says
there's going to be
16 of something,
that there's 16,
and I group all the things
in the little plastic bags
together,
and then where it's well lit,
I get the distractions out,
and I start at one,
and then two,
and then three,
and I follow the directions.
Okay?
God,
is it,
when God made everything,
he didn't,
it's not like Ikea.
He doesn't have to have
a process.
Okay?
And so when we remember
last week,
okay,
yeah,
we want to give the ball
to Jesus,
not Moses.
We want to give the ball
to Michael Jordan,
not Keith Booth.
So all we have to do
is just remember that
now when we start
to read this.
The big,
broad shoulders
of understanding
how things are
and what creation is,
that's carried by Jesus,
so maybe Genesis 1
is talking about
some other types
of things
and bringing certain
other types
of truths home.
Maybe that's what's
going on with the text.
So let's look.
Get out your Bibles.
It's been a long introduction.
Genesis 1,
verse 1.
Genesis 1,
verse 1.
And it begins like this.
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.
Now this is a very
sort of curious text,
and if you read commentaries
like I had to this week,
they're all over the map
trying to figure this out.
I, you know,
I don't know what it is.
Maybe it's because
I'm Northern Irish,
and so I often
don't entirely go along
with what all the experts say.
You know that book,
you know,
what's that saying?
God invented whiskey
so the Irish
wouldn't take over
the world
or something like that.
I don't know.
But I'm Northern Irish stock,
Irish stock,
and so I often
don't go along
with what all the experts say.
But, you know,
you just look at,
look at verse 2 here.
It's very, very interesting.
Actually,
if you could put up
the next point.
Mere matter and energy
will never create
life for a home.
That's one of the things
that right off the bat
God just wants to say.
He says,
you have matter,
you know,
this picture of earth
and the deep,
and it's just sort of like,
it's a poetic way
of talking about chaos.
It's just,
there's matter,
there's stuff,
there's energy,
there's depths.
But you know what?
All of the matter
and all of the energy,
it's just,
it's formless.
You know,
it's like,
it's like if there's
a huge tsunami,
like when you saw
all of those pictures,
you know,
of a tsunami
or some big thing
that destroyed,
you know,
parts of the Pacific
or that destroyed
parts of Japan
and when the wave is gone,
all you have is chaos.
You have stuff
scattered all over.
There's nowhere to live.
Nothing got improved.
It's just,
it's just helter-skelter.
The laws of physics,
they all were followed.
But even though
you have all the laws
of physics
and all of the laws
of chemistry working,
it's just all chaos.
It's devoid of life.
It's empty.
And that's what it says
right here in verse 2,
that the earth
was without form
and void
and darkness
was over the face
of the deep.
There's no life.
There's no form.
There's no home.
And God
is different than chaos.
And the Spirit of God
was hovering
over the face
of the waters.
You see,
if you remember
to give the ball
to Michael Jordan
or if you remember
to give the ball
to Jesus,
Jesus,
then you can start
to read this text
without having to think
that it's having to deal,
that it's somehow
a pre-scientific way
of describing
evolutionary theory.
Like,
it's not trying
to do that.
Just remember,
if you could put up
the next point,
here's the big choice
that faces us
all of the time.
It's the thing
that secular culture
does not want
to articulate
because when it's articulated,
we realize
that there's really
only one choice.
The choice,
this is in a sense
the atheistic dream.
The atheistic dream
that somehow or another
has clothed itself
with science.
That matter,
pure chance,
and cause and effect
accounts for life
and the intricate,
fine-tuned universe.
Or,
what's the other choice?
that God designed
and created life
and the intricate,
fine-tuned universe.
And I shared last week
about an atheist philosopher
who's still an atheist
but has said
that evolution,
as it's understood right now,
cannot possibly be true.
And in fact,
he urges scientists
to stop even going down
that way
because it's playing
into the hands
of people who believe
the second choice
is the one that makes
the most sense.
And we all do.
You know,
Jeremiah,
I hope you know,
who read the text,
if you just go ahead
and ask him,
he's doing his PhD
in biochemistry,
and ask him about
genetic sequencing
and whether that could
possibly happen by chance.
I mean,
you know,
here's the thing,
you know that I love
murder mysteries,
I love books
where there's someone
who gets murdered
and I know that sounds
really bad,
but I love books like that.
And if there was a guy
who came
and he wanted to try
to make the accident,
make it look like,
you know,
it was a bit of an accident,
he wanted to have
the person suffer a bit first
and he comes up
to a deserted island
and he jabs the guy
with a needle
and says,
you're going to die
in 15 minutes
and it's on an island
where I'm sure predators
are going to eat
most of your mortal remains,
they won't know
that I've just injected you
with something
that's going to kill you
in 15 minutes,
I'm going to sink your boat,
they'll think it's an accident,
you don't have a cell phone,
you don't have nothing
and then off he goes.
And in that 15 minutes
the person goes
and as they're getting weaker
they take some driftwood
just beyond the high tide line
and they use the driftwood
to spell
George killed me
and then they die
and then eventually
they find the body,
they come and they arrest me
and if my lawyer said,
listen,
there's no way,
we all know
that George killed me
spelled by driftwood,
that was just a rogue wave
that came up
and as the wave
came back,
the wood just happened
there by chance,
nobody would believe that
and the universe
is vastly more complicated
than that
so why do we believe that?
So keep this choice
before you as you read
and understand
that it's in Genesis 1-1
and in the New Testament
that the basic doctrine
of creation is taught
and what this text
of Genesis 1 is doing
is it's helping us
to understand
even more deeply
that God creates
out of nothing
and who God is
let's continue reading
at verse 3
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
now just sort of
pause about this
you know one of the things
which is really cool
about this
go and look
at the very back
of your Bibles
to Revelation chapter 22
Revelation chapter 22
and what is the last word
describing the future
before the little ending bit
in the book of Revelation
and telling you
how important it is
to keep all the words
the last word
the last verse
is verse 5
of chapter 22
and what does it say
so here we have
almost the third
word in the Bible
the third verse
in the Bible
and what's the last verse
that talks about
the end of chapter 22
verse 5
and what does it say
and night will be no more
they will need no light
or lamp
or sun
for the Lord God
will be their light
and they will reign
forever and ever
and it's emphasized
if you go back
and read the last
that little bit of a unit
begins at the end
of chapter 21
right up to there
twice it says
that there's no need
for light
because God is the light
isn't sort of just
a bit of a cool thing
and it's interesting
because for many Christians
we read that part
and we just
we just think in awe
of what it will be like
to be where God is
in the new heaven
and the new earth
and whatever this image means
that there's no need
for a sun
or the stars
because God is our light
and that final word
is the first word
God creates light
pretty cool
eh
how the Bible
fits together
let's skip down
to verse
to verse 6
keep reading
actually before we read this
here I want to get you
if we run out of time
this is the really big point
I want to try to communicate
if we understand
that the burden
of understanding creation
that's carried on
Jesus' broad shoulders
read John 1
in the beginning
was the word
and the word
was with God
and the word
was God
he was with God
in the beginning
all things were created
through him
without him
nothing was made
that was made
and him was life
and the life
was the light
of man
should you go
put up the next point
this is what
Genesis 1
this is what the Bible
one of the two big things
that this text
is trying to communicate
to you
image bearer
that's a human being
image bearer
know your creator
the one
transcendent
omnipotent
and good God
who made the cosmos
for your home
image bearer
that's how we're
to understand
what a human being is
doesn't matter
if you're down syndrome
doesn't matter
if you're Usain Bolt
doesn't matter
if you're as brilliant
as Einstein
doesn't matter
if you have a low IQ
image bearer
know your creator
the one
transcendent
omnipotent
and good God
who made the cosmos
for your home
and you know
if you're at all
like me
your personality
I love abstract
statements like that
I love abstract
statements like that
I really do
I love it
you know but for a lot
of people
as soon as I started
to read that
you started thinking
about your laundry list
okay
like that's just not
how your minds work
right
you know
might not even be aware
of it
that abstract language
comes
you think
what am I going to
watch on Netflix
tonight
but for other people
this language
of the text
communicates it
how do you know
that God is not light
and God said
let there be light
that's in a sense
a way to understand
transcendence
how do you know
that he's omnipotent
which means all powerful
and God said
let there be light
and there was light
how do you know
that he's good
and everything that I make
it's good
and this story
this text
uses this very
very very powerful
series of language
and images
which are all
very very simple
and are basically
using everyday
perception talk
so that even
a three year old
as they're told
this story
will understand
at a deep level
even though they
don't understand
later on in life
when they try to talk
about transcendence
the seeds of
understanding
transcendence
are planted
in this story
because of the way
their minds work
let's look at
verse 6
this is sort of
the hardest
of all the texts
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
and the second day
here's the main thing
to remember about this text
you know
from a Jewish point of view
or from the biblical point of view
this is Monday
and this second day
is the only one
of the seven days
where it doesn't
six days
where it doesn't
say it was good
even God
doesn't like Mondays
that's not the main
point of the text
sorry
that even God
doesn't like Mondays
probably the reason
it doesn't have
and it was good
is that the number
seven is really important
and there's seven goods
and you want to emphasize
the creation of human beings
by a double good
and so they have to
take one away
it's not because
Mondays suck
but here's the thing
it's a bit complicated language
and there's no real good words
in English
what this is really bringing about
is that
here's a big big big word
all of this text
uses phenomenological language
in other words
the language of appearance
and you know what
if we wanted to try to make
a creation story
that was scientific
and we did it
two thousand years ago
we would read it now
it would be so lame
if we even tried to write it
the way they wrote science
two hundred years ago
we would read it now
and we would say
it was so lame
and if we wrote it now
the way scientists
would like to write it
and if Jesus doesn't come back
in two hundred years
this is very humbling
our ancestors
two hundred years from now
would say
this is so lame
Stephen Hawking's description
this is so lame
what never gets tired
what is timeless
phenomenological language
what do they see
it's from the perception
that all of a sudden
there's space
and there's water above
like clouds
rain clouds
and water underneath
it's phenomenological language
continue on
verse six
verse nine
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
or better
actually better translation
would be land
and the waters
that were gathered together
that he called
seas
and God saw
that it was good
God saw
that it was good
now here's another thing
which shows you
that this text
is not at all
concerned
with
oh sorry
I stopped reading
too early
didn't I
verse 11
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 seed
each according
to its kind
and God saw
that it was good
I'm sort of
messing up my reading
I apologize
and there was evening
there was morning
the third day
so here's the thing
another thing about it
shows that Moses
and all
isn't an idiot
right
remember that was
one of my earlier points
just assume for a second
he's not an idiot
I'm not going to go
but if you go back
later on
with your Bibles
you look at day 1
and day 4
day 2
and day 5
day 3
and day 6
there's a pattern
and the pattern is
God makes
a series
of separations
or places
places
in days 1
2
and 3
and in days
4
5
and 6
he makes
inhabitants
for the places
so day 4
day 1
describes a certain
type of separation
day 4
describes inhabitants
and all the way
through
it's a very
very obvious
pattern
if you look at it
you see
because once again
remember one of my
earlier points
God doesn't have to
do a process
he just creates
so what's he doing
right now
he's trying to say
image bearer
know your creator
the one transcendent
omnipotent
and good God
who made the cosmos
for your home
that's why it uses
the language of days
that's why it uses
the language of 7 days
because it's all
from the perspective
of human beings
God is making us
a home
we are not an accident
we are not a tragedy
it is not
as Hindu mythology
talks about
some ancient tragedy
amongst the one God
that there's different
emanations
and now there's us
human beings
as a tragedy
and we have to get
back to the one
we are not an accident
it is not like
ancient mythology
where God is creating
the gods create
human beings
to serve them
to feed them
to wash them
and to care for them
no we are not
made as slaves
we are made as
image bearers
it is not that
we are sent here
as a punishment
this is our home
and the language
is phenomenological
language
it's the language
of human beings
looking and seeing
because God made us
to live in this place
as our home
with him
if you could put up
the next point
Andrew please
see here's the other
big thing
that the text
wants to tell us
every claimant
to be a rival
to God
is unmasked
as a fraud
every claimant
to be a rival
to God
is unmasked
as a fraud
this is really
seen very clearly
in the very next word
the very next day
which begins
on verses 14
and 14
and God said
let there be lights
this is the fourth day
let there be lights
in the expanse
of the heavens
to separate
the day
from the night
let them be
for signs
and for seasons
and for days
and years
and let them be
lights in the expanse
of the heavens
to give light
upon the earth
and it was so
see this thing
about God
being all powerful
let
it was so
let
it was so
speak
it is so
he's
and you know what
it's not that
it's coming out of it
it's not like a mythology
where God gives birth
to us
and we are the same
stuff of God
the myth of pantheism
and panentheism
no God is separate
from his created order
he speaks
and it is
and he's all powerfully
speaks and it is
and he's good
because what he makes
is good
verse 16
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 the 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
now did Moses
not know
to call one thing
the sun
and the other thing
the moon
see what's the other
thing that's going on
if the first thing
that's going on
in this text
is that
know your God
know your creator
there's only one creator
not a million creators
we're not a result
of blind chance
we're not
a divine accident
of tragedy
there is a creator
there's only one creator
he is all powerful
he is transcendent
he is good
and he made us
as human beings
to bear his image
in this cosmos
and this cosmos
is our home
we were made
to live here
and there are no other
claimants
that can claim
to be like God
in the ancient world
in virtually every
ancient pagan religion
the sun is a god
and the moon is a god
and so
the writer of Genesis
intentionally
does not say
the word for sun
and moon
in case
ancient pagans
mistakenly understood
that God created
the sun god
and the moon god
so the name
of the sun
and the moon
is not spoken
and all of the way
through this text
the ancient world
well
there's a god
or goddess
of fertility
there's a god
or goddess
of earth
there's a god
or goddess
of the sky
there's a god
or goddess
and the stars
chaos
is a god
or a goddess
and throughout
all of the ancient world
there's
the sea monsters
are types of gods
or goddesses
in every one of these cases
what does this text say?
and God said
he creates them
the text
destroys
any notion
of there being
multiple gods
just as
Genesis 1 and 2
Genesis chapter 1
verses 1 and 2
and the whole doctrine
of creation
says that the
atheistic dream
of accounting
for all things
that exist
without God existing
is revealed
to be
a fraud
you see
friends
this is why
it's so important
that we read
Genesis 1
without fear
and that when we read
Genesis 1 and Genesis 2
we don't slip back
into the mindset
of the world
I'm going to give the ball
to Keith Booth
no
give the ball
to Michael Jordan
give the ball
to Jesus
okay
Jesus has the ball
he's won in the game
so let's look at
these other things
what other things
is this text telling us
there is one God
he is the creator
he is transcendent
he is all powerful
he is good
all claimants
to any of these
roles are a fraud
do not believe them
it is a lie
no God
I have to wrap this up
because of the time
just want to say
a couple of things
let's just
you get the basic
story with all of this
can you
just look down here
to verse 27
we are going to say
more about this
what I am going to be doing
with these sermons
is that
next week
we are going to look
at the second creation story
and then after that
we are going to
loop back
and spend a whole sermon
just on these
these three
a couple of these verses
at the end of chapter 1
and then after that
I am going to loop back
and look at something
in more detail
in chapter 2
but look at this here
verse 25
and 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 every creeping thing
that creeps on the earth
and here this
threefold thing
a poem
a song
for emphasis
so God created man
in his own image
in the image of God
he created him
male and female
he created them
human beings
are unique
on one hand
we are creatures
on another hand
we are unique
and different
than anything else
in all of creation
only human beings
a fertilized
egg
attached
to the womb
of its mother
right up to
Usain Bolt
and Albert Einstein
and George Clooney
and Justin Trudeau
we only
bear God's image
which why it is
is why it is
if a house
is on fire
and a firefighter
she runs
into the house
and she only
has a chance
she only has a choice
of either
rescuing the German
shepherd
or the baby
in the crib
if she came out
with the German
shepherd
we would all
know at the most
fundamental level
that she's created
she's done a great
evil
if she said
well there's no
difference between
a dog and a baby
in fact
you know they probably
spent $1500
on that dog
the baby was free
like how would that
go in the news
we all know
at a very distinct
level that the
firefighter who would
go in to rescue
the dog
and let the baby
human baby
die
has done a great
evil
only the wisdom
of the Bible
makes that
fundamental
insight
clear
within a clear
framework
so I'm sorry
I've gone a little
bit long
so you know what
what's all this
telling us
friends
if you feel
at all inclined
to study
astronomy
study astronomy
study biology
study biochemistry
study geology
study paleontology
don't be afraid
of it
it's just
unpacking
God's great
design
in the back
story
and just a couple
of other things
about why this
is so important
in the gospel
Andrew if you could
put up the next
point please
what this text
is showing
is that only
God can create
it's not going to
be for a couple
of weeks
that we get
to the great
tragedy
as to why
we need a
savior
but what this
text emphasizes
time and time
and time
again
and God
said
and God
said
and God
said
and God
said
is that only
God can
create
and if only
God can
create
only he can
recreate
only he can
do that
and all we
can do is
accept how
he does it
by faith
next point
if you go back
later on
and you read
the seventh
day of creation
you'll see
it's very
very interesting
on the seventh
day of creation
it said that
God's work
was finished
and by the way
it's very
interesting
if you'll notice
you read
the seventh
day of creation
there's no
and there was
evening
and there was
morning
a seventh
day
the rhythm
is broken
the Sabbath
rest
God's intention
to create
a home
for us
that he
would dwell
with us
that's described
in that
seventh day
and in that
text it says
God's finished
from his work
and on the
cross
God the
son of God
said it is
finished
this is the
gospel
you see
that only
God can
create
so only he
can recreate
and that just
as God
after he had
finished
creating
it was
finished
and Jesus
as he's
dying upon
the cross
as our
savior
the same
one
who is in a
sense the
source of
all light
at the
end of
the days
the beginning
of the
new and
final story
as he dies
on the
cross
he says
it is
finished
that's
why this
creation
text
it helps
us to
understand
the greatness
and the
depth
of what
Jesus
does
for us
on the
cross
that it's
not something
we can
add our
works
to
our
liturgies
to
our
rituals
to
or anything
like that
it is
only something
that God
can do
and that
we can
only receive
it by
faith
I invite you
to stand
if you're
here and
you're not
sure if you've
ever given
your life to
Jesus there's
no better
time than
today to
just say
in fact
actually I'm
just going to
say a
simple prayer
I don't
want you
to pray
it out
loud
but if
you're
here in
this room
and it's
you've
come to
that point
where you
just recognize
that you
need a
savior
and that
Jesus
he's the
one who
can recreate
you
he's the
one who
completed the
work needed
to recreate
you
then if
you just
just silently
not out
loud but
just silently
I'll try to
leave a pause
just pray a
prayer like
this
just this
is
it comes
from your
will or
your desire
I'm just
trying to
help you
put language
to it
God I
know that
you exist
I know
that Jesus
is the
savior
Jesus
be my
savior
come into
my life
and never
leave
save me
completely
make your
holy spirit
to come
and live
within me
amen
father for
all of us
pour out
your holy
spirit
upon us
help us
to be
trusting in
your word
and confident
in your
word
help us
father to
study your
word
and make
us
disciples
of Jesus
gripped by
the gospel
living for
your glory
and this
we ask
in Jesus
name
amen