Interlocked Week 4

Lesson 1 Part 1

Intro Game:

Bible Reading Trivia:

List 4 of the 10 plagues on Egypt.

During the plague of Darkness in Exodus 10, how long was Egypt in complete darkness?

3 days.

Lesson:

This morning we will be discussing creation.

If I can remind us again this morning, this is the timeline of Scripture. From Creation to final judgement, we need to keep this timeline in mind.

This shows us a framework of how God has worked throughout history.

We won’t refer to this timeline every week, but we will do so regularly.

Intro Game:

Get in groups of 3 or 4

1. I want you to look at Genesis 1 together and list as many observations as you can about the way God created.

Think outside the box here.

For example, If I was to build a house, what would I need to build the house? Then compare those answers to what God used to create.

2. Also, How did God create with order in mind? Was there order to what God created in Genesis 1?

GO!

HOW GOD CREATES:

God alone created: Revelation 4:11 “11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.””

Jesus was present. John 1:1-3 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

God Created “Ex-Nihilo” - Out of nothing.

God created by Speaking.

God is all-powerful (Omnipotent)

God is all-present (Omnipresent)

By speaking, God creates as the trinity things that did not exist out of nothing.

Psalm 33:6-9 “6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth....9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.”

Just pause for a moment and consider how incredible this is.

What if it’s 10:00 at night and I’m hungry.

I want pizza.

I decide to make a pizza, but I don’t have any pizza crust.

I have flour, water, butter, garlic salt, milk, and some Italian spices… I could probably do this.

But at the same time, I might be too lazy or unable to find a recipe that gives what I want.

Now imagine the same scenario but I don’t have anything.

This is of course a wild underestimation of what God did at creation.

But consider how different that scenario is if:

A. I have a pizza in the freezer

B. I have the ingredients to make pizza from scratch

C. I have no ingredients.

God had nothing; yet, he spoke.

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

The first verse of the Bible reveals to us as Humans that God is all-powerful and all-present.

_______

But what about the second question we discussed at the beginning this morning?

2. How did God create with order?

Show graphic from page 3 of lesson 1.

One way to say this is that God created 3 domains in the first days of creation and then created 3 occupants for those domains.

I like to say that God created 3 things without purpose and then in the last 3 days of creation He gave purpose to those things.

And all of this was pointing to the pinnacle of God’s creation, the only thing made in his image, man.

But what if God had created man first and just dropped him into nothingness...

That wouldn’t make much sense.

It’s kinda like parents having a baby for the first time.

Now listen, if any adults did this, I’m sure you enjoyed it and probably had a few regrets, but from my perspective you’re out of your mind if you choose to do this with your first child.

So let’s say 10 years from now you and your spouse are expecting your first child.

Do you want to know the gender of your first child or not?

I don’t understand these people who leave it up to a surprise.

Why you may ask?

Because what first time parents don’t realize is that they are about to not sleep for months at at time.

The last thing you want to do when a baby arrives is realize you need to buy things you haven’t prepared for.

If you have the opportunity to find out if you are having a boy or a girl, may I encourage you to take that opportunity and prepare.

You don’t want to go out and be buying girl clothes, toys, and accessories the week after you have a baby.

You want that ahead of time!

That’s a long winded story just to say, everything that God made, he made in order.

He didn’t create man and then make all of the earth, around him.

God made our environment and gave us all the things we enjoy first, and then made us.

God is a God of purpose and order.

Notice also that day 1 goes with day 3

Day 2 with Day 5

and Day 3 with day 6.

There are some who say that yes God created, but his method of creating was the big bang…

I would disagree biblically on that worldview because it assumes God didn’t care about how things were created.

Clearly today, He did.

3. Creator Versus Creation

A. There is none like God.

Part of that order in creation is also in the relationship between God and His creation.

While God is involved in His creation, he is not part of creation.

He is creator. He is outside creation. Thus He is outside all created things.

It looks like this:

Show graphic from bottom of page 3.

This shows us that:

God is not dependent on man or nature for anything.

He is self-dependent.

Acts 17:24-25 “24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.”

Isaiah 46:9 “9 Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.”

B. There is nothing else in creation like man.

Genesis 1:26-27 “26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

Can we split into groups again for 2 minutes here and just pause for a moment.

What does it mean to be made in God’s image?

Let’s discuss this in groups for 3 minutes.

Answer: We share God’s attributes, but in us, these are limited compared to God.

For Example:

God is all-loving - His love is not based on the anyone other than Himself.

In contrast: man has the ability to love, but we screw it up. We often love conditionally based on words, actions, and behaviors of others.

God is all-knowing - He knows it all. There is no limit to his knowledge.

In Contrast: man has knowledge, but man’s knowledge is learned, it is incomplete and will never be fully complete.

We see this in all worldviews and all religions. At some point, man cannot answer the basic questions of life and must place his faith in the answers he determines.

Such as: What is the origin of life? - Without God, all other worldviews have to make large assumptions and place their faith in that assumption.

God can do anything: - He never tires or needs for anything.

In contrast: man was created to rest. We get exhausted and require food, water, and sleep.

God is holy - God determines what is right and what is wrong.

In contrast: man has the ability to tell what is right from wrong. But when man’s ability to determine right from wrong is not anchored in God’s authority, then man is capable of all forms of evil.

*Show chart on bottom of page 5

Now as we close today I want to clarify one thing: If God can do anything can God lie?

One answer you might here is that “Yes, God can lie, but he chooses not to.”

However, that is an overly simple understanding of God.

SO let me explain.

God and man are separate. We cannot fully understand God based on who we are. We understand us based on who God is. We are made in His image, he is not made in our image.

God is infinite. His ability to be holy, righteous, and truth-teller is infinite. There is no end to his Truth. He is truth.

So knowing these two principles.

What is a lie?

A lie isn’t an attribute. Like darkness, darkness is the absence of light. Darkness doesn’t really exist, it is simply present when light is not present.

A hole isn’t just a hole, it’s the absence of dirt or soil.

Being tired is the absence of strength and proper rest.

A lie is the absence of truth.

Humans have truth in us, we are made in God’s image after all.

However, we are not FULLY truth.

meaning, left to our own, we are the ones who ate from the tree in the garden.

We like the truth when it suits us. When it is convenient to tell the truth, we will. But what about when telling the truth is actually the hard thing to do?

It’s not so simple then.

If telling the truth gets you or someone you love in trouble… suddenly a lie is tempting.

However, when we tell a lie, we reject truth, goodness, and love.

We show our limitations.

It looks like this *SHOW GRAPHIC ON PAGE 6*

God is all-love, all-goodness, all-truth.

Psalm 119:160 “160 All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.”

Numbers 23:19 “19 God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”

This is why we mentioned God is infinite.

It’s not just that God can’t lie.

It’s that a lie is the absence of truth and God is infinitely true.

You can learn about God for your entire life, and yet when you die, there will be infinite things we learn are true about God.

God has simply revealed enough about Himself for us to know Him.

To love Him.

To trust Him.

We are image bearers in that we reflect Him, but we ARE”NT HIM!

Knowing God can’t lie gives us confidence and assurance that we can trust His word.

Knowing we can lie should give us confidence and assurance that we should never trust our word above His.

And that’s perhaps the point of today.

Do we realize that?

The God of Order, who made us in His image. He is trustworthy.

Let’s always be sure we are living for an audience of one.

Trusting our creator always above the creation.

Amen…

Let’s pray.