Camp Joy: Creation

Introduction

The Bible is a massive book! Does anyone know how many books are in the Bible? 66. The Bible was written by 40 different human authors over 2,000 years, on 3 continents, and in 3 different languages. There have been more copies of the Bible sold than any other book in human history. The Bible is a big deal and it matters to us today. How many of you know someone who doesn’t think the Bible matters or they think that the Bible isn’t true? We’ve all probably met some people like this and maybe you’re here this week and you think the same way - you’re not quite sure what to think about the Bible because maybe you’ve never even read it. I have some family members who think this way. A couple of years ago my cousin told me that he thought that the Bible didn’t matter because it was just a book written by a bunch of old men a long time ago and it didn’t mean anything to him today. Lots of people think this way about the Bible. They’ll say that it’s outdated or doesn’t matter. Do you know what’s really cool about the Bible? We see this in Hebrews 4:12

Hebrews 4:12 CSB

12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

God’s Word is still important and it still matters today. The reason that we can say this is because we know who truly wrote the Bible… We know that the Bible is God’s Word for us. Look at what 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us

2 Timothy 3:16 CSB

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,

The word for inspired literally means “God-breathed” all Scripture, Old and New Testaments, is God breathed and that means that it’s all truthful and it all matters and it has authority because God spoke it. Because of this, we see in the Bible that there is a storyline that starts in the first book of the Bible. Does anyone know what the first book of the Bible is called? (Genesis) And from Genesis to the last book… Revelation… we see a story that’s all about God. It’s all about God’s glory and how God has a perfect plan to save sinners like you and me. This plan starts in Genesis with Creation - and this is what we’re going to look at tonight with our first time together. God made everything out of nothing and He did it by speaking - that’s a really powerful God!

What is 1 thing that God made that you really really like?

Tonight we’re going to look at God’s Creation and how He made all things good. Tomorrow Kevin will be speaking and he’ll talk about what happened after this good Creation and then I’ll be back on Wednesday and Thursday to show how God makes all things right by sending His Son Jesus Christ.

If you have your Bible, turn to the first book, Genesis, and we’ll read this together:

Genesis 1:26–28 CSB

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”

Genesis 2:15–24 CSB

15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him.” 19 The Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man no helper was found corresponding to him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. 22 Then the Lord God made the rib he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 And the man said: This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called “woman,” for she was taken from man. 24 This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.

What Did God Create?

We look around our world and we see lots of things. Beautiful tree’s that change color throughout the year. Streams of water that grow and shrink depending on rainfall. Marvelous sunsets that color the sky with shades of orange and red. We see stars and galaxies that fascinate our mind. We see animals that bring us happiness and companionship. What did God Create? He created everything there is! He created stars, he created our sun, he created out planet, he even created tree’s, hearts, and hair! We look at pictures from outer space and we see a small blue dot in an infinitely vast universe and a shrinking feeling comes over us at times. Do you know just how big our sun is? Do you know how many earths could fit inside the sun? Roughly 1 million earths - that’s a lot of earths! But did you know that our sun is relatively small compared to other stars? There’s a star out there called Canis Majoris which is Latin for the Great Dog and it completely changed the way that I look at God whenever I was in middle school. Our sun is huge compared to our earth… but Canis Majoris is even bigger. If the earth were this golf ball, our sun would be like our big church bus. You could fit about a million golf balls on that bus… but if the earth were a golf ball and we were looking at Canis Majoris, it would be Mount Everest - the tallest mountain in the world. God has made all things and He did it by speaking - and we often think that we’re really big… but as we look up into the night sky, we see stars and planets that remind us just how small we really are.

Colossians 1:16 CSB

16 For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him.

God made all things and He said that they were all good. What is the application for us today? There are some people who think that they are a mistake or that there is something bad that God has done… that’s not what the Bible tells us. The Bible tells us that God made all things and that they are all good.

What we need is a study and reminder of what God actually created. God created all things. Maybe you’re a little confused about this because we don’t see a Nintendo Switch show up in Genesis 1-2. Does that mean that God created the Playstation, Oculus, a BMW, or an iPhone? Well, yes and no. God created all things in the beginning, so the materials for those items were first created by God. Further, God created our brains to be creative and inventive in order to make those types of items. God also created time. Time is a gift that we do not deserve! This is what we see in the Bible about the things that God made

God created the entire universe - the universe didn’t form by random chance

Human life is designed by God - not the result of random chance

God is King over His Creation

God created you and me and your family. He created this world. He even made this wonderful place so that we could have our camp here. He created this day and this week. And all of those things are gifts that we don’t deserve. Isn’t God awesome? The reason you’re here isn’t because of random chance - maybe you were invited by a friend or maybe your parents told you that you have to come or something along those lines… We see in the Bible that God has a perfect plan and His plan for your life was for you to be here this week to hear about Him and to grow to be more like Him. That’s why you’re here this week and it all starts with the truth that God created this world and God created us for a purpose… which leads to question 2:

Why Did God Create?

How many of you like to ask your parents, “WHY?” I remember asking my dad this question a lot. My dad is a pastor and I’d ask him some good why questions. We’re going to church - why? Because that’s what we do on Sundays - why? Because that’s what Jesus commands us to do as Christians - why? Because that is a way that we worship God - why? Because God created us to glorify Him - why? Have you every asked the question, “Why am I here?” Or What is My Purpose?

These are questions that people want to have answered today. Whether you’re 6, 9, 15, or 30, 45, or 75, we want to know our purpose in this life. People try to find their purpose in all sorts of places. Workers will say that their purpose is to work really hard at their job and make a lot of money. Parents might say that their purpose is to raise children well and to be nice to others. Maybe you’re here and you think that your purpose is to have a fun time at camp and make some friends. God’s purpose for us, as we’ll talk more about on Thursday, is that we would glorify Him in the things that we say and the things that we do. This is why God created us - in order to glorify Him. This is why God created all things - that they would bring Him glory. The rocks, the rivers, the stars all exist to praise and glorify God! You and I are no different - look at what Psalm 139:13-16 tells us about our lives

Psalm 139:13–16 CSB

13 For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. 15 My bones were not hidden from you when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began.

All of our days were planned before we were even born. That’s pretty crazy! God knows every little detail about you - even things that you don’t know about yourself, He knows! He knows the number of hairs on your head - have you ever tried to count them before? He already knows the number. He knows what our future looks like. He knows where we’re going to live, what college we’re going to go do, what our future job is. He knows all of these things and He has a plan for our lives and that plan for Christians is always for our good and God’s glory!

Some people don’t like the idea of God creating all things - they think that maybe we’ve evolved from animals or something like that. But the Bible tells us something different. The Bible tells us that we are all made in God’s image and formed by Him and known by Him and created by Him for a reason… but we still want to know why! Why would God create us? Why would God have us come to camp this week? Why is this a part of His plan? It’s not because God had to - it’s because God wanted to. I’ve heard some people say that the reason that God created people like you and me was because He was bored and we help entertain Him - does that sound like what the Bible says? No! We don’t add something or complete God… we see that God created the universe and everything in it for His glory - that’s why we exist - to glorify God! Look at what Psalm 19 says

Psalm 19:1–2 CSB

1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge.

God didn’t create us because He “had” to - He created because He desired to!

Further, because God created everything and said that it was good - we know that nothing is intrinsically bad. Some people wonder why God did this or that - Why did God make a world where there is suffering and sickness and sorrow? Why would God create a world where evil seems to rule the day? These are good questions regarding creation!

First, we have to start with what the Bible tells us in Genesis 1 and 2. We read in Scripture that after each day God said, “It was good.” Not potentially good or potentially bad, it was all good. In the Garden, we see nothing of suffering, sickness, or sorrow. In fact, we see union with God as the Lord walks in the Garden with them. Can you imagine the closeness that Adam and Eve had with the Lord in this moment? What a comfort to know that this is what we have awaiting us as followers of Jesus Christ - a closeness with our Father and a union with Him in person. As God created the world, we have to acknowledge that things are different today. We’ll talk about Genesis 3 and the Fall next week, but we know that the fall still impacts us now.

Why would God create the world that He created? Because He is God. Because He is good. Because He is gracious and loving and kind. Whenever God created the world it was good - there was no sin. Sin changes the equation but as we read in the Gospels, Jesus reverses the curse and restores fallen creation to its rightful place.

How Did God Create?

How many of you like to make things with your hands? My wife and I have a boy named Gabriel, and some of you have met Gabriel before at church, he’s almost 3. Gabriel loves to play with legos and blocks and build things - do any of you like to build things? Gabriel knows where the blocks are and he’s good at bringing me the blocks, but when it comes time to build - he wants me to stack them together so that he can knock them down. Is this how God created the universe? Did he do some of the work and get help from someone else? The answer is absolutely no

Genesis 1:3 CSB

3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

God didn’t go to the construction box and whip out a hammer, some nails, and plywood… He simply spoke the world into existence! That’s a powerful God. In the New Testament we read some other truths concerning creation and that creation wasn’t only something done by God the Father, we read that creation was accomplished by all 3 persons of the Trinity!

We read in places like John 1 and Hebrews 1 that the Son was involved in creation

John 1:3 CSB

3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

Hebrews 1:2 CSB

2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.

How did God create? He created by speaking. He created out of nothing. He created with no outside assistance. He created for His glory!

How Does Genesis 1-2 Impact Us Today?

Implications of the Doctrine of Creation:

Everything has value because it is made by God

Every human life has value because humanity is created in God’s image

God is the Creator and Sustainer of All Things

The Universe is not Eternal - it has a starting point

Your Life is Not an Accident, You Have a Purpose - to Glorify God

Genesis 1-2 still impact us today because God’s Word is not only true but God’s Word is our ultimate authority. While it’s hard for us to completely understand the Creation story, the Bible shares with us that our God reigns and that He is the creator of all things. While some people might disagree with us because of this or that, we can have confidence that God’s Word is true because it was breathed out by God and it still matters today. Genesis 1-2 set the stage for everything that will happen in the rest of Scripture. The writers of the Old and New Testament clearly believed in a literal Adam and Eve and that God made all things as the Bible says.

While we might not have all the answers that we’d like to have especially with things like dinosaurs, God gave us everything that we need to know and asks us to trust in Him. What did God Create? Everything. Why did He Create? For His glory. How did He create? He spoke everything into existence. Where’s the blueprint? That’s not for us to know.

Application of the Doctrine of Creation

Give Thanks to God for the Gift of Life

Remember that Humanity is Unique

Don’t Hold Science in Opposition to Genesis

Use Your Life to Glorify Your Creator

This week our focus is Colossians 3:2 and we’re looking at all that God has done and we’re setting our mind on the things above. Before we can do that, though, we have to have a solid foundation and that starts with creation and our purpose. Aren’t you thankful that we serve a God who gave us life and who brought us to camp this week? This week we’re going to study all that God has made and we’re going to see what God’s plan is for us. If you want to know more about God’s plan for you and why God brought you here this week, I’d love to talk with you. God loves you. God made you. God has a perfect plan for you and part of that plan is for you and me to glorify Him. This week we’ll look at ways that we glorify God and ways that God wants us to respond to Him. Tonight we respond by simply saying “Thank you, God” for creation - let’s pray!