Creation, Christ, and the Cross

Intro

For Christmas this year, Cheryl bought me a membership to the Indiana Astronomical Society, so in my spare time, I’ll be exploring the heavens. There are some fascinating things happening in the realm of space exploration. We’re planning on sending humans back around the moon in 2024, back ONTO the moon around 2025 or 2026!

On Monday April 8, 2024 at around 3:00 in the afternoon, Central Indiana will experience a total eclipse of the sun. For a little over 4 minutes the sun will be fully blocked by the moon and the center of the total eclipse line is where SR-3 crosses under I-70!

A little over a year ago the James Webb Space Telescope launched on Christmas Day, and the images it’s been sending back have been amazing! Before I show you some of those images, I want to tell you about the fist image you saw.

This image is called Earth Rise and is a composite of images taken by the crew of Apollo 8 on December 24, 1968 and data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in October of 2009. It was the first earth rise over the moon that humans actually saw.

Now here are images from the James Webb Space Telescope. This one is called The Enduring Stellar Lifecycle in 30 Doradus.

The next one is a picture of the Carina Nebula.

Here’s one called A Cosmic Tarantula.

These are called the Pillars of Creation.

Finally, here’s a high-res Earth Rise on October 12, 2009 from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Let’s look at those pictures from the James Webb Space Telescope again. According to its official website, “Webb is the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.”[1]

Think about that … every phase in the history of our universe … the telescope quickly found three of the oldest galaxies ever to be found – one they said that was “only” 325 million years after the Big Bang! Scientists studying the earliest images were surprised to find them more ordered, more numerous, and much brighter what they thought they would be. According to their theories, there should have been fewer, dimmer, and less organized galaxies – according to their theories. After these discoveries one confused researcher said, “I think we have more to think about!”[2]

According to the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) group it should have taken a lot longer for galaxies to become so organized. Creation is always surprising scientists.

Today, we’re going to look at what the Bible says about Creation and why it matters. We’re going to look at some scriptures that talk about creation in relation to redemption. And you may be surprised at how closely these two ideas are tied together. What you believe about creation impacts what you believe about redemption. What you believe about creation impacts how you view eternity. And what you believe about creation impacts how you view discipleship and its necessity in believers’ lives.

PRAY

Creation Stories

The first words of the Bible (Genesis 1:1), “In the beginning, God created …” It’s pretty simple. In the beginning, God created.

There’s been a lot of debate over those five words. Not just between Christians and atheists, and not just between creationists and evolutionists. Bible believing Christians have debated what those words, and the story that follows, mean.

You know that I keep saying, “It’s okay to ask questions about God. It’s okay to ask questions about the Bible. It’s okay to ask questions about things that don’t make sense about being a Christian.”

Well, well-meaning, Bible-believing, God-fearing Christians have asked questions about Genesis 1 and 2 since the beginning of the church. Some believe the Bible is pretty clear that God created the universe in six twenty-four-hour days. And on the seventh twenty-four-hour day God rested.

Other Christians believe that a straightforward, literal reading of the two creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2 just doesn’t work, and that these creation stories must be read figuratively.

(By the way, did you know that there are two different creation accounts in the first fifty-six verses of the Old Testament? A literal reading of the first account in the first chapter says that God spoke the universe into existence over the course of six days, and that it all started when the Spirit of God was fluttering over the chaos waters of the deep. A literal reading of the second creation story in the second chapter of Genesis says that God formed the man and the animals out of the dust of the wilderness chaos, breathed life into them, took a rib from the side of the man and “built” a woman for the man, and did it all in the “day that God created the heavens and the earth.”

Other strong Christians believe that the first creation story in Genesis chapter 1 is a metaphor and an example for how humans are supposed to work six days and then rest on the seventh day. And they say that the second creation account found in the second chapter is an expanded version of what happened on the sixth day of the first account.

Other Bible-believing, God-fearing Christians say that, as Peter explained in 2 Peter 3:8, “a day is as a thousand years to God, and a thousand years is as a day,” so the six “days” in the Genesis 1 account stand for six ages of undetermined length, followed by the current age of the Sabbath that continues until today. Still others believe that the creation story is divided into six areas of creation; that these are six non-consecutive days – just six parts of creation that God was working on at the same time.

There are Bible-believing, God-fearing Christians that believe that the creation stories are an analogy and that science has shown us that God used evolution to create the world – at least the animal part of the world. Finally, there are respected Christians and biblical scholars that believe that the Genesis creation stories are not stories having to do with the origins of the universe, but instead are “identity stories” telling us what the cosmos is, who God is, and who he created humans to be.

And really, any one of them could be right. The Bible doesn’t give 21st century, post-modern society the kinds of specifics we expect to see. My professor, Dr. Michael Heiser, says, “Did you ever expect your cat to be a dog, and get mad at your dog for NOT being a cat? Why get irritated at something for not being what it was never intended to be? Why would we expect the Bible to be a science book? That’s not what it was written for.”

The Bible was written for a very specific purpose. It wasn’t written to be a manual for how to run your microwave. It wasn’t written to be tour guide for northern Scotland. Genesis wasn’t written to train doctors on the intricacies of brain surgery; it was written for a very specific purpose.

Genesis was written, mostly by Moses (ALL of it inspired by God), to teach the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob about the one true God, the God that had delivered them from bondage to Egypt, Yahweh-Elohim. It was written to distinguish Yahweh from the gods of the surrounding nations who had their own creation stories. The creation stories in Genesis tell real stories, about real people and real events, that really happened in time and space, but they are told in a way that compares and contrasts Israel’s God to the gods of their Ancient Near East neighbors. Unsurprisingly, there are similarities between Israel’s creation stories and the creation stories of their neighbors.

These other creation stories talk about the chaos waters of the deep just like Genesis. But in their stories, their gods were formed in, and came out of, the chaos waters – they are part of creation. Yahweh-Elohim, the LORD God, existed before the chaos waters of the deep, and he is in full control over nature.

The other creations stories talk about the gods making humans to do what they consider “the menial work of preparing or growing crops.” Humans were created to be slaves to the gods. The humans made so much noise that they were the reason for the gods sending the great flood. According to Israel’s neighbors, the gods despised humans and decided to wipe them out rather than listen to them. But Genesis tells us that Yahweh God made humans as the pinnacle of creation, and wants to partner with them to oversee and steward the earth. Yahweh God LOVES humans.

The creation stories in Genesis also tell us that Yahweh God created all that exists. He created it without any help from other beings. He created it without any preexisting material – out of nothing. Every step of the way He said it was good and when He was finished, He said, “It is VERY good!”

The Genesis creation stories tell us that God alone is sovereign and supreme – he has no rivals. These stories tell us that God is both transcendent (larger and outside of creation – speaking it into existence), and He is Immanent (forming it, building it, and breathing the breath of life into it – Immanuel, God with us).

The Genesis creation stories tell us something else. Humans were made morally innocent, but chose to disobey God, and THAT sin brought separation from God and expulsion from the Paradise of God – Eden, a place where God had been dwelling with humans.

God created everything good. That was his goal. That was his purpose. That was his ideal world. And humans chose to sin. Humans chose to believe the serpent instead of God. Humans chose disobedience and death. Humans, in one act of defiance, ruined everything that was good. And God set a rescue plan in place. God was going to send a serpent crusher.

Creation and Redemption Belong Together

The church kept the themes of Creation and Redemption together for centuries. God created everything good. Humans sinned and brought death and decay into the world. God sent the serpent crusher – Jesus, the Christ who redeemed us of our sin and restored us into right relationship with God.

But over the past seventy- or eighty-years we’ve really focused on those last two: Humans have sinned, and God sent a Savior. We spend most of our time talking about how humans sinned, and Christ is our Redeemer. And those two things are true – absolutely true. But what if there’s more?

In my studies about church history, I saw something that surprised me. The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible has this entry under the Doctrine of Creation.

“The Doctrine of Creation is one of the two central themes in Scripture comprising the backbone of its theological teaching, the other theme being redemption. Creation is not the same as redemption; nor can redemption so overshadow creation as to cut short its theological validity. Both doctrines belong together but in a unique relationship. The God of Israel is also the God who created the heavens and the earth out of nothing. Redemption occurs within the creation, which serves as its … backdrop.”[3]

The Doctrine of Creation and the Doctrine of Redemption are THE two central themes in Scripture. If that’s true, I thought, I should be able to find these two ideas side by side in scripture … and that’s exactly what I found.

Creation and Redemption in John 1:1-14

The Gospel of John and the book of Genesis both begin with the same three words – “In the beginning …”

In Genesis 1:1 we read, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Along with the Shema (You remember the Shema - “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Deuteronomy 6:4-5) – along with the Shema, “In the beginning” would be the most familiar words in the Jewish mind. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

John (one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, one of the three that Jesus took with him on special occasions, THE ONE disciple that Scripture describes as the “disciple that Jesus loved.” John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 21:20), this John – a God-fearing Jew – began his account of Jesus’ life this way.

John 1:1-14 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John [the Baptizer]. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. [John the Baptizer] was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

What John does here is scandalous! It would have shocked most Jews. It wasn’t, “In the beginning, God …” It was “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was WITH God, and the Word WAS God. He was in the beginning with God.”

And it wasn’t, “God created the heavens and the earth.” It was, “All things were made through him [the Word], and without [the Word] was not any thing made that was made!”

Then John goes on. “The true light, which gives light to everyone,” – not the sun that gives light to the daylight hours … the sun that he created – no, the True Light (the Son of God) was coming into the world. “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.” The Creator God – not a distant deist God – He is Immanuel, “God with us!” God was in the world that he created!

“He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” This Creator God didn’t force himself on anyone. He allowed humans to reject him. “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of (the Creator) God!” And those of you who did receive him, “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God,” the Creator God WILLED your existence!

Isn’t it good to be a child of God today? Would you like to have the right to become a child of God today?

“And the Word (the Creator God), became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Here we see that the Redeemer, Creator God, became flesh and dwelt among us. Remember in November I told you – God lovesto dwell with his people!

And this isn’t the only place where these two doctrines are found together. Look at Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 2:8-15:

Creation and Redemption in Ephesians 2:8-15

Ephesians 2:8-15 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” This is familiar, right? This is the story of Salvation. The Story of Redemption. The free gift given through faith and not of works. You can’t work your way into the grace of God. And if you haven’t received that free gift yet, you can today! But Paul doesn’t stop there.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” There it is - Creator God. We are his workmanship. And he created us for a purpose. Church, you have a purpose!

Paul goes on, “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” There is the other theme. This is the Redeemer, the Savior.

“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, …” And now we’re back to the Creator God. He – the Creator God – creating in Himself one new man. We are not, “… Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for [we] are all one in Christ Jesus. And if [we] are Christ’s, then [we] are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” Galatians 3:28-29. The Creator God, MADE us that way! This is the answer to the racial problem today.

I want to look at a couple more places in Scripture where these two themes are side by side. Look at the beginning of the letter to the Hebrews:

Creation and Redemption in Hebrews 1:1-4

Hebrews 1:1-4 – “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.” There we have the Creator.

“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” Again, this is something that can only be done by the Creator.

“After making purification for sins,” Here we see the Redeemer, the Savior, “he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.” And now we’re back to the LORD Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

Why Is It Important? The Metanarrative

And you might say, Curt, that’s pretty cool, but why is it important that we see that these two themes are side by side throughout Scripture? We see it over and over again in Psalm 8; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 17:22-31; 2 Corinthians 4:6; 2 Corinthians 5:16-20; Galatians 6:14-15; Ephesians 1:3-10; Ephesians 3:7-12, Ephesians 4:17-24; Colossians 1:13-23; Colossians 3:5-11; Hebrews 2:5-9; Revelation 21:1-5 and there’s likely more.

The reason that it is important is that there are four parts to the metanarrative of the Bible: four parts to the overarching story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Earlier, I suggested that the church in the last 70-80 years has focused almost exclusively on the middle two parts – Sin and Redemption. Now these are very important parts. It’s important to know that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). It’s important to know that “God showed his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Christ died for you, and for me!

But now we see that Creation is what happened before Sin entered the picture. And It’s important to highlight Creation because it gives a stronger foundation to Redemption.

So, we have Creation-Sin-Redemption, the first three of the four parts of the metanarrative of Scripture; the first three parts of the overarching story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. But that picture is still incomplete.

In this overarching metanarrative of the Bible, we start with Creation (In the beginning, God created …); and the creation theme runs all the way through Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.

From Creation we move to Sin (just like Adam and Eve sinned, we have “all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23); and the theme of sin and the fallenness of the human race runs all the way through Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.

From Sin we move to Redemption (“the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45); and this theme of Redemption runs all the way through Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.

So where do we go from Redemption? What other theme runs all the way through Scripture from Genesis to Revelation? Some would say that Heaven comes next. But Scripture gives us a more detailed answer.

Isaiah 65:17 - For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.

Isaiah 66:22 - For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain.

Matthew 19:28 - Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Acts 3:19-21 - Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.

2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

James 1:17-18 - Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

Revelation 21:1-5 - Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

The fourth theme that runs all the way through Scripture from Genesis to Revelation is a New Creation; making all things new; a new heaven and a new earth; Earth 2.0!

Creation -> Sin -> Redemption -> New Creation

When all is said and done, when judgment day is over, the old heaven and the old earth will have passed away. The new heaven and new earth will take their place! We have more to look forward to! Instead of us leaving earth and going to heaven, the new heaven (the new Jerusalem, the new city of God) will come down to the new earth, and Yahweh God (the Creator God) will dwell with his people once again. Do you remember how I told you that God LOVES to dwell with his people? Immanuel (God with us)!

Conclusion

When we started today, we talked about the need to keep Creation tied to Redemption. When we think about the world, we need to remember that God created the world good – VERY good! We need to remember that this Creator God loves every person ever born. We are not despised by God, and we weren’t created to be slaves and laborers for God – we were created to partner with God in stewarding his good creation.

And we also need to remember that our sin brought death and corruption into God’s good creation. Everything that is wrong about the world – all the pain, and suffering, and death, and destruction is because God’s created beings chose to ignore his plan and follow their own. Our sin has ruined God’s good Creation. But God’s love and grace provides a way for Redemption.

We need to remember that the Redeemer – Jesus the Christ, the Messiah – this Redeemer is that same Word that was with God in the beginning. The Word of God that spoke the world into existence, is the same Word of God that called Lazarus out of the grave. This same Redeemer, the Creator God, can speak life into our dead and broken lives. If Jesus is powerful enough to call the universe into existence, the One that Scripture tells us, “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made,” if that’s who Jesus is we can be sure that, “In him is life, and that life is the light” that can illuminate our darkness! The Word of God can speak life and light into your life!

We need to remember that the Creator God, the One who looks straight at our sin and loves us anyway, the Redeeming Word that washes us clean and restores our relationship to the way it was in the Garden – this same God has promised to make ALL things new. When we accept Christ as our Redeemer and Savior, we become New Creations! We are the down payment that proves the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. We are the firstfruits of the New Creation (James 1:18). We can be sure that we will spend eternity with God in the New Heaven and New Earth.

And because He is the Creator God, because He is our Redeemer and Savior from Sin, because He is making All Things New, we have an obligation. We have work to do. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Discipleship is NOT an option. You and I have an integral part to play in God’s kingdom coming and His will being done here on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

And as we see his Kingdom advance every day, we are one day closer to Revelation 21, where we will see “a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth [will have] passed away, and the sea [of chaos will be] no more. And [we will see] the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And [we will hear] a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who [is]seated on the throne [will say], “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Do you want to be made new? Do you want your marriage to be made new? Do you want your family to be made new? Do you want the church to be made new? Do you want New Castle to be made new? Do you want our nation to be made new? It can start today.

If God, the Creator God, has been speaking to you today, I invite you to spend some time with him right now. What does he want to make new in your life?

[1] https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/about/index.htmlaccessed on 1/28/2023 at 7:55 pm. [2] https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/the-james-webb-space-telescope-is-finding-too-many-early-galaxies/accessed on 1/28/2023 at 8:13 pm [3] Walter A. Elwell, ed., Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, Volumes 1 and 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Pub Group, 1988), 539.