We Believe in God the Father (Part 2)

“Although God does reveal himself and his will to human beings, he does so not at his level, but at our level, somewhat like Albert Einstein might talk to a little child about science—except the difference is infinitely greater.” Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley, Reformed Systematic Theology Vol. 1, 269

When we recite the Creed in truth and sincerity, we proclaim,

We Believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

This morning we will consider the additional phrase, “maker of heaven and earth.”

I. I Believe God is Almighty Creator

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

The very first verse in sacred Scripture is simple and astounding.

In the beginning…of what? Of everything! Nothing existed. There were no trees, no birds, no water rushing in a stream, nothing.

Nothing, that is, except God. He is eternal, having no beginning and no end, as Psalm 90:2 “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

Stephen Charnock says this,

“His power is the first thing evident in the story of creation…There is no appearance of anything in this declaratory preface, but of power.” Stephen Charnock, A Discourse on the Power of God, 125–126

God simply spoke everything into existence. First, he spoke light into existent. He separated matter, crafted the earth, spoke plant life into existence, made the sun and moon, all the stars, and then animal and human life.

Just take the stars. Astronomers estimate that there are 200 billion trillion stars in the observable universe!

200,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

Psalm 147:4–5 “He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.”

We struggle to remember why we go into a room, or to call our kids by the right name. God knows all the 200 billion trillion stars by name.

It is no surprise that the psalmist cries out, “Great is our Lord, His understanding is beyond measure!”

God created all of this. The complexity of the human eye, the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains, the depths of the Marianna Trench, all crafted by God the Father almighty. He is the maker of heaven and earth.

God the Father created all this without any assistance. He did not have to consult a creativity organization.

He did not enter into a planning phase with a board of directors. Isaiah 44:24 “Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,”

God created everything out of His own wisdom.

Furthermore, God did not exhaust Himself in the slightest. But wait, you may say. He gave us the Sabbath! God rested, that’s what the Bible says!

That is true, but He is providing us with a standard for our lives (work six days and rest the seventh). He is communicating to us in a way that we can understand.

“Although God does reveal himself and his will to human beings, he does so not at his level, but at our level, somewhat like Albert Einstein might talk to a little child about science—except the difference is infinitely greater.” Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley, Reformed Systematic Theology Vol. 1, 269

Ephesians 3:20 “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,”

Contrary to their commercials, the Energizer Bunny does not keep going and going. In fact, the Energizer batteries hardly go at all!

No, God is the only one of whom it can be said, He keeps on going and going.

After a hard day of work, you and I are tired. We need to sit down and rest, and get some sleep. God, as Psalm 121:4 says, “will neither slumber nor sleep.”

He does not ever break a sweat. He never has to stop to catch His breath. His power is unlimited.

James Thornwell says,

For God “it is as easy to create a world as to move a feather, to uphold all things as to speak a word.” James Thornwell

Charnock says this,

“Heaven and earth, spiritual and corporeal creatures, mortal and immortal, the greater and the less, visible and invisible, were formed with the same ease. A word made the least, and a word made the greatest. It is a s little difficulty to him to produce the highest angel as the lightest atom. It is enough for the existence of the stateliest cherubim for God only to will his being; it was enough for the forming and fixing the sun to will the compacting of light into one body.” Stephen Charnock, A Discourse on the Power of God, 132

I believe God is almighty Creator. I also believe, as we confess in the Apostles’ Creed, that God is almighty sustainer.

II. I Believe God is Almighty Sustainer

Acts 17:28 “for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’”

“God is the great Father of the world, to nourish it as well as create it.” Stephen Charnock, A Discourse on the Power of God, 133

In speaking of God’s power in propagation, Charnock writes,

“And to add to this wonder [of pregnancy], consider also what multitudes of formations and births there are at one time all over the world, in every part of which the finger of God is at work; and it will speak of an unwearied power.” Stephen Charnock, A Discourse on the Power of God, 133

Psalm 139:13–18 “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.”

God holds the breath and sustains the lives of all 8.1 billion people on planet earth, all the while adding to that number, many of whom hate and reject Him (Dan. 5:23).

Although speaking of God the Son, the work applies to the Father as well, when Paul says,

Colossians 1:17 “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

God provides food for His creation (Matt. 6:25–34). He cares immensely for His creatures.

All of the ants, worms, mosquitoes all find their provisions from His hand (and, in some cases, our blood!).

The fish that have yet to be discovered in the bottom of the ocean are cared for by Him.

The cute koalas, the powerful Great White shark, the cuddly puppy, and the unique Platypus are all created and sustained by a God who’s power is undenied and incomprehensible.

Even the devil, who’s power is unrivaled by all created beings, is but a dog on God’s leash. When Satan wanted to prove to God that Job worshipped Him for all the good, God limited the devil in what He could and could not do…and the devil obeyed!

God’s power to sustain is as equally amazing and unimaginable as His power to create.

Applicational Thoughts

Taken from Lord’s Day 10, number 28 of the Heidelberg Catechism.

We can be patient in adversity.

If we truly believe what we confess, that we believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and earth, then we can be patient with any adversity. He is both maker and sustainer of creation, to the ends of His glory and our good. Notice Job’s precious response: Job 1:21–22 “And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.”

2. We can be thankful in prosperity.

Because we confess our belief in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, we can be thankful in prosperity, knowing it is from His hands that receive all good things.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

3. We can be confident of His sovereign love.

We confess our belief in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth. The Creator and Sustainer has set His infinite love on you before the foundation of the world in Christ.

The One who spoke all things into existence and governs them by His infinitely superior power is the one who spoke these words through his servant Paul, Romans 8:31–39 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The Lord’s Supper displays God’s sustaining grace.