In The Beginning

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Steven Lee
Pastor for Preaching & Vision

0:12Well, if you haven't figured out already, you should know by now that we're beginning a new series in the book of Genesis. And I am very excited for this study over the next several months. We do, Lord willing, hope to get through all 50 chapters of Genesis, taking a few breaks along the way. Let me just give a few comments before we begin. Caleb got it exactly right. It is verses one through 23. Even though the slide said to two three, we'll do day six and day seven in the next two weeks. Second thing is that Genesis does not answer every question that we may have as we come to a book like this.

0:54I'm not gonna go into fossil records or carbon dating or geological records. I won't give a overview of all the various views for creation and evolution. I I did send an email out earlier this week and let me encourage you to take a look at that. If you don't get that, you can sign up for that and we'll probably send out a few more resources this week. Would you join me as we begin this series by praying and asking the Lord for his help? Once again, oh, father, we come to your word, longing for you to speak, for your spirit, to work, for our eyes to be opened so that we would be changed to see you and your creation more clearly the way that you want us to see it.

1:45So help us walk away with what you want us to take away. In Jesus' name. Amen. So this is the first Sunday in many ways of the school year after Labor Day. And I think there's a mix of excitement in the air. I, I don't know if you feel it, I feel it. We got a sign. People are back, everyone's home from their lake house that there's a sense of excitement. Uh, I wonder if any of you can resonate. And yet I also sense there's just this low level anxiety when we think about the world around us. A war still rages on in Ukraine and Russia. Morality seems to be in greater decline here in America. Crime and homelessness seem to take over.

2:42Many of our major American cities, including our own Minneapolis and St. Paul, mass shootings are regularly in the news. A presidential election looms in the distance, and we all know how fun that's gonna be. I am even hearing rumblings of increased C O V I d variants and restrictions. And as Justin aside, we don't plan to shut down or require anyone to wear masks that the, the, the, the elders will make the final decision. But that's just where I'm at. And you know, I'll find out if I'm in trouble with the elders on Tuesday. So, But in the midst of all of that where, where there's just heightened tension, low level anxiety, does God's word have anything to say to our fears this morning?

3:42Our anxieties? I believe it does. Genesis written by Moses is written to Israel in the midst of all of their fears. They feared the nations around them because the nations around them had all of their pagan gods. The, the God of rain and the god of the sun and the god of the moon and, and all of these nations intimidated Israel. And, and they're wondering who is our God? Genesis is written by Moses. He's the author of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. And it's written to them not just to shape their worldview, though it was to do that, but it was to alleviate their fear of the world around them.

4:31See, in those days, every nation was a religious nation. They all had their tribal deities, their pagan gods. And when nations came up against nations, it was not just a war of the people and of the armies, but it was a war to see whose God is stronger at the end of the day. Is your sun God stronger than my sea? God is your moon God stronger than my rain God? And it's into that situation that Genesis is written. And I'm gonna tell you the main point right from the get go. Our our main point this morning is that our sovereign God created the earth as his good kingdom. We have a sovereign God who has created the earth as his good kingdom. And we have to understand this.

5:24We have to understand the very first chapter of the Bible to make sense of the rest of the Bible. And in fact, to make sense of life. These truths are foundational for us. We don't need to fear all the unknowns and uncertainties around us. Why? Because we have a sovereign God and we're under his care and he's the one who made the world and everything in it to be good. As we'll see throughout the book of Genesis that there is great evil and wickedness in the world. We'll, we'll get to chapter three in several weeks. And if you've never read the book of Genesis, let me encourage you to start a Bible reading plan.

6:10Genesis is a great place to begin and, and it, for those of you who have read Genesis, you know, there's some weird wicked stories in the book. You're wondering, oh, how's he gonna handle that one already? Right? Your mind's going to there. And yet, despite great evil and wickedness, what we see throughout Genesis is that God is true to keep his promises and to fulfill his purposes through his offspring, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so what I want to do this morning is just see three simple things in our passage this morning. In the beginning was God, in the beginning God created. And in the beginning it was good.

6:57God created good. That's what we're gonna look at. So look with me at chapter one, verse one. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. This is the very foundational starting point of the entire Bible that God, not any other pagan deities created the heavens and the earth. The heavens and the earth signify everything. The entire universe before anything else was there was God. Now, if we lose sight of this, we'll think that we're the center of the universe, that we get to define our identity, our existence, our purpose. But in the beginning was God, and God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing.

7:50This is called God creating ex nelo out of nothing. He's not doing a remodeling job tearing down the drywall and patching it back up, but he's building it from scratch where there was nothing God created. This is why he's the sovereign God this morning. He creates when there is nothing else. Verse two tells us 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. Th this phrase without form and void it, it means kind of without shape or empty, kind of a uninhabitable wasteland. It's pitch black. It's not functional or orderly, and yet it's over this chaotic mask that we're told that the spirit of God hovers the powerful presence of God moves over the deeps.

8:55God is in the midst of the chaos and he's going to bring order and function out of that. And so it is with Israel, they're, they're seeing chaos all around them and they're being reminded that God is in the midst of the chaos. And we need to be reminded of that same reality this morning as well, don't we? Some of us, we look fine when we're here at church, but our worlds are just falling apart relationally, financially, in all sorts of other ways. And get, God is at work. We have a sovereign God. Genesis one tells us what is more real and more true than anything else in the world. That we have a sovereign God who's in control, just like that old childhood song.

9:47He's got the whole world in. I would have you sing along, but we don't have time for that. Let's keep going. All right, later in mo later in Exodus, Moses and the people sing about God. This is, this is their, he's got the whole world in his hands. They sing this in Exodus 15, 11. They say, who is like you? Oh Lord, Yahweh among the gods, small G uh, among all the different pagan deities and gods out there who is like Yahweh, who is like you majestic in holiness, awesome, in glorious deeds, doing wonders. And they're saying no one can compare with our sovereign God, the God of the Bible, and they sing of his greatness.

10:33So that's the starting point for us this morning, that we are not at the center of the universe, but God is the sovereign creator of everyone. And everything in the beginning was God. Now, second thing we're gonna see in the beginning, God created just notice in verses three through 23. And actually it goes further than that. And we'll look at some of that as well. The correspondence in the days, the first three days give form to the earth through the separation of light and darkness, the sky and the waters, and then the land and the seas. So God is shaping the cosmos to sustain life. And then the next three days he begins to fill those.

11:19So what you see is this correspondence, day one, he creates light and darkness. And then day four, he creates the actual luminaries, the sun, moon, and stars. And we will, we'll, we'll talk a little bit about why that is. Day two, sky and waters and then birds and fish to fill those on day five. And then day three, land and seas and vegetation. And then day six we see animals and mankind. And then he rests on the seventh day and look what he says in verse three. And God said, and then scroll down, look down to verse six. And God said, and nine and 11 and 14 and 20 and 24 and 26 and 28 and 29, if you kept track, that's 10 different times it says. And God said, that's the number of fullness.

12:08So there's this beautiful poetic rhythm to this entire text. And God said, and it was so God speaks all things into creation. Now what does this mean? That God speaks all things into creation? And what is its significance for us this morning? First, it shows us God's power. He said it and it was so, I dunno if you've ever tried this at home. You say cupcake, cupcake. Where? Where's my cupcake? Where's my caramel fudge cupcake? Well, I, I don't have the power to speak things into existence. None of us do, but God does our sovereign, God does. Only our powerful sovereign God can do such a thing.

13:04Psalm 33 tells us why it's designed that way. I'm gonna read verse nine first and then I'll read verse eight and and you don't, it'll make sense why Psalm 33 verses eight and nine. It says, for he spoke and it came to be he commanded and it stood firm. And then, now let me go back one verse and he verse eight says, let all the earth fear the Lord and let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. Why are we to stand in awe? Why are we to fear the Lord? Because he speaks and it comes into existence. That sign that we have outside took months because someone had to fashion it out of metal and acrylic, and then they had to wire it up, and then finally they had to install it. And they came out on Tuesday, and then the plastic banner blew away where they were gonna put the holes and then they had to come back on Friday. We just don't speak things into existence, but our sovereign God says earth and it comes about.

14:11And that is to make us just stand back in awe and just to say, wow, it's to evoke fear in awe in us. The second thing, it shows us not only his power, but his authority. He calls all things into existence by his word, meaning that he's the king and he's the owner of the universe. He makes decrees and the earth obeys. So in the same way that God issued 10 commandments from Mount Sinai as their king, God issues 10 words. And God said at the very beginning of creation to establish that he is the king, not just of Israel, he's the king of the universe. He's the king of the stars and the galaxies and the Milky Way, God is in control.

15:08The third thing it shows us is the distinction between God and his creation. God looks down on creation and he's distinct from it. Many in our world worship the earth today, right? They mistakenly have this idea of mother earth and we need to worship it. And, and what Genesis tells us very clearly that God is set apart from his creation. He is not created. Now what what I wanna do is just very briefly try to look at each of these five days very quickly. So day one, we see the existence of light. And yet we know day four doesn't come till day four. And the sun and the moon, the stars don't come until then. So is, is Moses mistaken?

16:01Did he get the days kind of flipped around the pages mixed up? Don't think so. I think this is very intentional to remind Israel that the first light is not the sun, but has its source in God. It's to remind them you're worried about that sun. God, don't worry about that sun. God, God made 'em on the fourth day and, and throughout the Bible, if you did a biblical theological study of the theme of light, you would see it begins with light before the sun. And it ends in Revelation 21, 23. And what does it say? There was no need of the sun. There was no need of the moon. Why? Because God is in its presence of this new city, this new earth. And the lamb is its lamp.

16:48There is no need for son because God is in the midst of her. So it's at the beginning and it's at the end. Notice how Genesis makes clear that God names everything. Look at verse five. God called the light day and he called the darkness night verse eight. And God called the expansive, called the expanse heaven. And then verse 10, God called the dry land earth. And the waters that were gathered together, he called seas to name something, is to define its very existence in the same way those of you who have babies who named your baby, it was you. It came from you. And in the same way, God names everything because he sets forth their boundaries, establishing the laws of nature, defining their very existence. Day two, God created the boundary between the atmosphere and the oceans and the sky.

17:43And what Israel would hear at this point is even the seas, the dangerous scary seas and the rain and the lightning is under the power of our sovereign God. Day three, we, we see masses and land and the earth grows vegetation and trees that will serve as food for animals and humans. And as we'll see in coming weeks that mankind is to have dominion over the earth. And what this would do again for Israel is undermine this, those pagan fertility, worship or the sacrifice to the gods for a good harvest. It's undermining those realities, those lies, those false gods to say, no, no, no, our God is in control of the earth and of vegetation. And, and in fact, man doesn't arrive till day six, but God has already provided plants and fruit, trees and food for his people.

18:43It's just another little reminder that God knows what we need even before we ask. There are things there for the sustenance, for the food of humanity before they even show up on the scene. And notice each is according to its kind. Each is according to its kind. There's species that God is designing each one. And and aren't you glad that, that we have more than just one kind of fruit? You know, you're, aren't you glad that you go to Aldi and you go to the fruit section and it's not just apples like one type of apple, like the red apple, the worst apple they have out there, right? It's mush, it's terrible. Uh, but we have mangoes and we have cuties, and we have watermelons and we have grapes, and we have lai chi and oranges and plums and nice hard, crisp white peaches, right?

19:41Aren't you glad we have all of these kinds of fruit? And and God said, yeah, I could get away with just one red apple, but let me give them a multitude to enjoy because his creation is good. Day four, he creates the sun and the moon and the stars, but they're not named. Lots of other things were named. These are not named, it just calls them the greater light and the lesser light. I think that's very intentional to specifically remind Israel that they don't need to fear the fickle pagan gods around them because the sun God or the moon God would've been these powerful pagan deities. And it's again, to remind them, don't worship or stand in fear of those things, but be in fear of God.

20:34Today we have that same type of worship in our world, don't we? We, we have activists and, and all these folks who are bought into climate catastrophe and global disasters. And yet what they failed to do is begin where the Bible begins. We have a sovereign God who created the world to sustain his creation. Day five. Day five is unique in that it says, and God blessed them. So that's only true of day five and day six. God blessed them saying, be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters and the seas and let birds multiply on the earth again. This establishes God's sovereign power over the animal kingdom.

21:23And while the people in the ancient near East would fear the sea creatures and even the birds, we recognize that God gives them to us for our enjoyment. We will talk more about this blessing and what it means to be made in the image of God and male and female next week. But what I just wanna see for now is in creation, we get order, we get beauty and harmony. We, we get the exercise of God's authority and of his power and of his ingenuity, his creativity, and he's unique from his creation. Now, the third thing I want us to see in the beginning, it was good, it was good. This is explicit. You see that in verse four, and God saw that it was good. Shows up again in verse 10, verse 12, verse 18, verse 21, verse 25, verse 31, 7 different times, it's the steady drumbeat of it's good, it's good, it's good, it's very good. See my glorious creation.

22:32God wants us not to miss it. He didn't just make it as merely functional, but he made it to be a blessing for his people. He made it good. Recently, I was reading an article that said, being in nature leads to cognitive benefits and improvement of our mood and mental health and wellbeing. And it's like, duh. Like you don't need a PhD to come up with that thesis. God made the world for our good and for our enjoyment. Uh, many have pointed out that the earth is perfectly designed to sustain human life. It's the exact right distance from the sun so that we don't burn or we don't freeze to death. I feel like we sometimes freeze here, but you know, we don't freeze to death. We're not too close, we're not too far. Oh, we have the perfect temperature that allows for liquid water.

23:29It doesn't all just evaporate up or freeze. The earth has vast oceans and seas and rivers and lakes. All of it is needed to sustain life. We have a wide range of species and rich biodiversity. We have bacteria and beavers and black bears and butterflies, and all of it is for good. The earth is composed of 21% oxygen that allows us to breathe and to convert food to energy. We have this magnetic field around the earth that shields us from radiation and other harmful substances. Or we just can conclude after looking at all those things, boy, what a wonderful coincidence or what an amazing sovereign God we have.

24:20It should blow us off our feet. We should be in awe every day. He causes the sun to rise and the grass to grow, and we take deep breaths and we live. And Genesis tells us that God is the judge of his creation. He is the one who evaluates it and he looks out on it and he says it's good. Yes, our world is marred by the fall. We'll get to that. But it was made for our good today. Creation is under assault, is it not? The blurring of lines of gender is one small example of how we have strayed from a worldview that begins with God, who sovereignly created the world by his design for our good suicide.

25:15Euthanasia is another assault on the image of God in his people. We think we get to determine the length of our life. When I wanna end it, I get to end it. And that's just foundationally not true. God is the sovereign creator and he creates his earth as his good kingdom. All right? Originally, I wasn't gonna share much about the age of the earth, but I think it's such an important topic that it would be a disservice not to say some things about it. And, and so the six days of creation are told from the perspective of one who is observing it all as if they were standing on the surface of the earth.

25:58And one of the pivotal questions that we ask today is, should we think of it as six literal days? Or we should, should we think of it as millions and billions of years and many long ages. And, and our elder affirmation of faith gives us freedom in how to view that. Our elder affirmation of faith just says that we believe that God directly created Adam from the dust of the ground and eve from his side, and that Adam and Eve were historical parents of the entire human race. So we, we leave relative freedom in that. But I'm personally convinced of young Earth creationism. And and I want to give a a couple of reasons for that.

26:38I think it's the plain reading of the text. And what I wanna do when I come to any text of the Bible is to come to the text first and say, what does the text tell me? What does God's iner inspired word tell me about his world and about me? And so we start with God's word, not geological data or extra biblical sources or astronomy or earth science or calculations of the speed of light and fossils and the dating of rocks. I think there are rational and reasonable explanations for science, but if I have to choose between the two, I wanna begin with God's word. And it's worth mentioning that even science comes with its presuppositions and assumptions and agenda. We just live through that. Don't we?

27:24Didn't we remember the science on covid? And then it changes a little bit and then it changes again. And so we come with our presuppositions to things and we want to make things fit our are worldview. And if you don't begin with God's word, I think we will find many ways to make it fit. Now I'm gonna give just three verses that I think I personally find helpful. I I don't know if they're the strongest arguments, I don't think they are, but I just find these really helpful. Exodus 20, verse 11. In six days, the Lord made heaven and earth written by Moses for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that is in them and rested on the seventh day.

28:04Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. So Moses asserts that in six days, the Lord made everything and rested. This is grounded in the week of creation where we get our Sabbath. At least Israel got their Sabbath. And the Bible confirms its own authenticity. And scripture interprets scripture in the same way that Hebrews 11, seven mentions Noah and the Ark, I think absolute historical reality or Jesus s Jonah as a historical person. So absolutely there was Jonah and Paul references Adam. So all of these historical figures, and here we have Moses saying, six days, the Lord made heaven and earth. Second verse mark ten six, mark ten six, this is Jesus speaking. And he says, but from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. So we, we just went through Colossians by him and through him and for him all things were created.

29:05So the pre-incarnate Christ was present and instrumental in creation. If anyone knows how creation happened, Jesus, he was there, he did it. And he says, from the beginning of creation, God made them female, male and female. He doesn't say after billions and billions of years near the middle or latter half, you know, he made them male and female. So the third passage is John two, seven to 10. I'm not gonna read it for us, but John two, seven to 10, many of you know this, it's Jesus' first miracle. He goes to a wedding with his mom. Mom says they're outta wine. Jesus help out. And he, he turns water into wine. And, and the main point of that passage is that he is doing miracles and he's the true bridegroom who's come for his bride and he does it at a wedding.

29:59Now, what I'm gonna tell us about is not the main point, but Jesus turns water into wine. And under normal circumstances, you need grape juice and you need yeast, and you need sugar, and you need to let it ferment for some amount of time. And yet like that it's wine. And in fact, it says it's good wine. And so God can make anything appear the way that he wants it to appear. And so if the earth appears to be hundreds and billions and thousands of years old, God can make it appear that way. Adam was one day old and he looked like a strapping 20 year old, right? Like just a good looking guy, one day old. And, and he was fully grown whether or not he had a belly button, I don't know.

30:44Ask Andy. All right? So, but wherever we land on the age of the earth, I I just wanna warn us against demanding answers from God. I I think this is a dangerous place for us, and this is where I really want to major. At the end of the day, we are the creature and he is the creator. How dare we say, answer my questions and prove to me. And many of us interact with God that way. And yet when Job you guys remember, job, when, when, and he takes God to task, God turns it around. And in Job 40, verse two, he says, shall you job fault, finder contend with the Almighty. He who argues with God let him answer it. And then he goes, on verse eight, will you even put me in the wrong?

31:39Will you condemn me that you may be in the right, have you an armed like God? And can you thunder with a voice like his? Who are you Job to question me, the creator of all things? And so beware of demanding answers of God that he's not provided. I think what we ought to do is not say I, I'm not sure if Pastor Steven was all that convincing. I think what we ought to do is just be in awe that we have a sovereign God who created the world that is the right response of creatures before God. We are to worship him for who he is and all that he has done. Hebrews 11, three says, faith is needed to even see these very things. Hebrews 11, three says, by faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God.

32:37By faith, we understand that the universe was created by the word of God. And so without faith, we'll try to find all these other explanations. But at the end of the day, our faith is in God, not in what is seen, but in the things that are unseen. I think a major reason that more and more Christians abandoned biblical teaching about creation is because they don't want to be mocked for these beliefs. In former days, it was the virgin birth. You guys believe a virgin gave birth. Don't you guys know how that works today? It's biblical sexual ethics. You guys believe that homosexuality is a sin? How backwards are you?

33:28Mark Twain captures this mocking spirit when he writes. You believe in a book that has talking animals, wizards, witches, demons, sticks, turning into snakes, burning bushes, food falling from the sky, people walking in water, and all sorts of magical, absurd, primitive stories. And you say that we are the ones who need help. Mark Twain's mocking spirit is alive and well in our world, in your universities, in your schools, in your workplaces, you say that you believe that a God created the heavens of the earth. And they'll say, what? How'd you get this job? Do you know how to read? And we slowly become embarrassed of the Bible.

34:12And then we want the Bible to fit the agenda of our world. And we say, okay, we'll get rid of the virgin birth. Okay, we'll get rid of creation. Okay, we'll get rid of Noah. Okay, we'll get rid of Jonah two. And then what are we left with? Not the Bible and not the gospel. We cannot compromise on the truth of God's word, but we receive it with humble hearts full of gratitude and worship. God has given us the Bible, his revealed inspired in errant word not to confuse us, but so that we would have rock solid confidence that the God of the universe, the maker of everyone and everything, the one who sustains the entire world, has revealed his will.

35:07And we can trust it. Amen? Amen. There is a tension in our passage, though we see the glorious wonder of God's creation. It's so good. And we live on this side of the cross. We actually, we live on this side of Genesis three. Our world is full of tears, full of heartache, full of anxiety, full of pain and brokenness. And the destructive effects of sin wreak havoc everywhere. Our world itself groans under the weight of sin. And what are we to do Throughout Genesis? It said, and God said he spoke the world into existence by his powerful world. And God has now spoken a better word. John one, one in the beginning, John's borrowing some language here.

36:11In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God. And the word was God. And this word is Jesus. He's the light and he's the life of men. And he's come in the flesh in order to redeem sinners. He dwelt among us. We saw him. He revealed the very glory of God. He walked among us. People felt his hands, saw his scars, and he revealed the glory of God, full of grace and truth. And so now God has spoken definitively in his incarnate word, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus has come not just to remind us that we have a sovereign God, but we have a savior who has dealt with our biggest issues, not just our fears and anxieties of the pagan deities around us, but he's addressed the, the, the most terrible reality, our sin before. And holy God, he offers forgiveness if we would repent and believe.

37:23And he's on a mission as the seed of the woman to redeem mankind for his glory. And so Christ is the tangible source of hope for all of us this morning. If you're not trusting in Jesus, and we know there are some, oh, our invitation to you this morning is to receive this free gift to come and repent and believe and put your trust in a sovereign God who is in control of all things. He will never let you down.

37:57And if we're trusting in Jesus morning, how do we walk outta here? We say, wow. This summer we were at some of the national parks in Utah, and I, I was just without words. At some of these places, you just go, Wow, wow. Look at what he created. It's so amazing. And it's a tiny little slice, tiny little snapshot of his creation. The heavens declare the glory of God. The sky above proclaims his handy where day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge. Our world, all of creation is shouting out his praise. Will God's people be silent? If we're silent? The rocks themselves will cry out.

38:56What should happen in our hearts is the welling up of thanksgiving, the welling up of awe, to be once again stunned by the glory of God. He's made this world for our good. He's the creator and maker of heaven and earth. And as we'll see you next week, he made each one of us, he knows every cell in our body and he loves us. How amazing is that? And so this week live in light of the fact that our sovereign God created the earth as his good kingdom. And now he calls us, don't fear. Don't fear. Do not fear, but trust. I'm for you. I made it all. Let's pray. Father, oh, that's my prayer and hope this morning that we would rejoice that we would be in awe.

40:05And so enliven our hearts to that end, and fill our mouths with songs of praise as we turn to respond to you and to your word. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Lord for making this world as your good kingdom. In Jesus' name, amen.

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Sermon Text

Genesis 1:1-23