In the Beginning: What Creation Tells Us About God

In the Beginning: What Creation Tells Us About God, Ourselves and Our Purpose • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

Genesis 1–3

Creation

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Greetings and ask for patience

Give a quick outline of plan for next 2 weeks - first God, then us, then the Fall?

Read the Passage (Genesis 1 ) - have the congregation read out the word “GOOD”

READ PASSAGE

Pray!

The Days of Creation

This is a familiar passage for many of us, but it is worth revisiting because a proper understanding of the Biblical creation narrative is the bedrock upon which the rest of Scripture are all of our understanding of God and ourselves are based upon.

The Apostles’ Creed, an early summary of Christian beliefs, starts with this:

Trained in the Fear of God: Family Ministry in Theological, Historical, and Practical Perspective The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty;

Maker of heaven and earth.

God gave us this account of our creation in the Bible and so we believe it.

First, a recap! Shout out each of the days:

Day 1: Day and Night

Day 2: Sky and Sea

Day 3: Land and Vegetation

Day 4: Sun, Moon and Stars

Day 5: Birds and Fish

Day 6: Land Animals and Humans

Day 7: Rest!

What Does Creation Tell Us About God?

God Needs Nothing

He has always existed

Note that the Bible does not start with “God is born” or something to that effect - He has always been

There is a God - he exists

This is much different from everything else that exists - God is the only being that has no origin

This is hard to wrap our heads around, but we believe it in faith

He made everything from nothing (ex nihilo)

God did not use any materials to create the world

Some of us here are artists or builders (and I would argue all of us are creators in some way - see next week’s sermon)… but all of us require something to create from

Jeremy and Dillion have been doing projects, but they always have to gather materials

Alex is an artist, but she needs paint or string or something to create from

God used only His Word

Notice that it says that God SPOKE and the world was created

His Word is power

He is above and separate from creation (aka, God is not trees, or the Sun, or the Moon)

As we see in this passage, God made the world (and he made it Good as we will see in a moment), but He is not the world, He stands above and over it

It is important that we worship the Creator and not the Creation - many world religions get this confused

While Scripture reveals God and His nature to us, He does not NEED it and He is not it

While God is not Creation, it DOES reveal to us the existence of God:

Psalm 19:1–2 NLT

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known.

Romans 1:19–20 NLT

They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Our God is strong, so powerful, so mighty, that He is in need of NOTHING and created everything that we know with just His Words

God Created What He Desired and Called it Good

In spite of the fact that God does not need anything, we choose to create everything in existence because He decided it was good.

Everything that God made - light, dark, sun, moon, grass, plants, animals, fish, and yes, us, He made it because He wanted to, and He called it Good.

Let me show you some pictures of things God created and called good:

Those are some weird creatures - but, God did make everything just like He wanted and called it Good.

Here is something amazing - That includes me and you.

This means God desired to create humans and everything in the world - this is an amazing reality (He even did so knowing that we would rebel against Him at the Fall)

Spoiler Alert

Here is what’s cool: in some way, even after the tainting effects of the Fall, all of creation reflects God’s goodness.

Give the example of food

Even those who do not follow God or listen to His Words experience the goodness of creation - food, sex, art and beauty, all of these are thing that anyone can experience and appreciate (this is called common grace).

See Romans 1:19-20

Romans 1:19–20 NLT

God is the Creator and He created everything Good.

So, wrapping up, this is usually where I would do an application piece - this is what this means for you, this is what we need to do. But, since this sermon is a two-parter, you will have to wait to next week when we talk about what the creation story tells us about us.

So for today, the purpose of this message is just to say:

What an Awesome God!

Think about how incredible our God is:

He Needs Nothing

He exists and Has always existed

He is mysterious and in one God with three persons

He spoke everything into existence from nothing

He is creative and made a beautiful and functional world

He made Good things, because He wanted to

And He never broke a sweat.

This is our God! He is not small or overwhelmed by difficulty in our world or lives. He is not surprised by evil or sin or pain. He is sovereign and totally in control, and able and willing to bless those He created.

Maybe you didn’t know all of this about God - maybe you didnt know He was this big and this powerful and that He made you because He wanted you. You can respond to this today, making Him king of your life and believing that Jesus, His son took your place on the cross. Romans 10:9:

Romans 10:9 NLT

If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

You will become an adopted son or daughter and heir to the kingdom of God! Talk to me afterward if you have never done this.

An awesome God deserves all our praise! Let’s give him that… all the earth declare His praise (the heavens above declare his praise), lets not let the rocks and trees be louder than us.