Genesis 1:1-2:3 - Confidence in our Creator

I am not someone who naturally sit still very long.

When I do, it’s a very special circumstance where I normally end up falling asleep.

There is a limited window of time where I can be in one of my favorite places—The woods.

Deer season is special for me because everything stops… and you sit quietly… and wait.

There’s not a natural thing for me, but it does my soul good.

Especially a morning hunt, when I go out in the dark and slowly watch as the sun begins to rise and the dark becomes light.

I see colors that I normally don’t notice

I hear sounds that I normally don’t notice.

I can’t tell you the last time I acknowledged a bird song when it wasn’t hunting season.

Being in the woods alone in the quiet stillness is something that does amazing things for my soul—because I don’t sit quietly any other part of the year.

All of my problems are paused for just a moment during a hunt.

No work is done, no progress is made.

Then I begin thinking about the wonders of how all this beauty came to be and for just a moment, I reflect on the Lord in a way I don’t throughout the rest of the year as I intentionally soak in all His beauty.

Context

The people of Israel were God’s chosen people.

We’ll get to how they came to be in a few weeks, but to catch us up to speed, they have become enslaved to Egypt.

They’re ruled by people who submit to a plethora of gods.

Polytheism is the belief in a multitude of gods.

The moon god, the sun god, the light god, the water god, the earth god.

The people of Israel are being ruled hard by Egypt

They were overworked and hopeless.

Moses is seeking to speak hope to the people of Israel.

This is the power of the One, true, and living God

Big Idea: Confidence in our Creator

Stand to read

Genesis 1:1–2 ESV

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Leader: This is God’s Word.

Everyone: Thanks be to God.

This is a total challenge to a naturalistic, evolutionary worldview.

This passage is a wrecking ball to polytheism.

In the beginning of beginnings, before the beginning began, was God.

God is eternal—from everlasting to everlasting.

He has no beginning/He’ll have no end.

As the Israelites are enslaved to a culture governed by foreign gods..

Moses wants them to have:

Confidence in God’s power

He wants to give them confidence in a true God who is sovereign over all—not just a little.

He holds more power than the gods Egypt worshipped.

Israel, God spoke everything into existence.

Ex nihilo—”From nothing”

God founded all reality without any external help or source.

He did not use preexisting matter to create the world (there wasn’t any!)

God demonstrated His absolute sovereign power by simply speaking and things came to be.

Deuteronomy 10:14 “14 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it.”

That’s hard for our finite minds to comprehend.

Everything that is came from the powerful words of God.

God spoke and it came to be.

God’s design was “good” (Better than state of the art).

Pastor Tony (he’ll preach here next week) loves watches.

I’ve grown fond of them, but not to his extent.

At our last preaching retreat we sat on the porch and talk watches.

The watch I’m wearing is a Seiko 5 with a mechanical-automatic movement.

That means that it doesn’t run on battery, it winds itself from kinetic movement from simply wearing it.

Rotor rotates with the momentum of the movement and moves gears that are connected to the mainspring which winds itself.

Tony loves this because it’s a piece of art that works not on battery or data, but on craft and design—Just like the rest of creation.

After everything He had created, God evaluated it and it wasn’t just okay. It was “good.”

Say “Good”

Everything that God had created was absolutely beautiful and perfect.

Genesis 1:26–27 ESV

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

First hint in the Bible of the Trinity.

God resolved within Himself to create man in His image.

Apart from the rest of creation, humans have capacity to morals, reason, logic, language, love and commitment.

All these things and more demonstrate how mankind represents God in creation.

Church, we can be confident in God’s power because…

We were created to reflect God’s image

Each of us, male and female, were created to display God’s character carry out His purposes for the world.

Men/women are distinct but equal as image bearers of God.

Turn to your neighbor: “You were created in God’s image.”

The two complement one another and both are to display God’s power in the world.

How do we do that?

Genesis 1:28 ESV

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

“Be fruitful and multiply”

Hebrew for: Bow-chicka-bow-wow.

Humanity was given a major task: Make more people.

Get married. Make disciples. Have lots of babies.

Raising children is part of God’s plan for His creation to flourish.

“and subdue it” —Exercising authority over creation

Mankind was to take the earths’s resources and use them for the benefit of all of life.

This lays the foundation for the amazing scientific and technological development we’ve seen in just our lifetime.

God gave humanity this great task to use the world wisely and govern it with the same sense of responsibility and care that God has toward His creation.

Transition

God created all things with intricate design, including the crown jewel of creation: Man.

Everything was absolutely beautiful.

Genesis 2:1–3 ESV

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

God created all things, including the crown jewel of creation: Man.

He examined everything and said, “This is good.”

Then God rested from all His work.

Everything was just as He liked it.

He enjoyed the beautiful fruit of His work.

Moses wants to give them:

Confidence in God’s care

God’s purpose for the earth was that it would become His dwelling place—Where He could be with His creation.

It’s more than just a house for the creatures.

The creative order fit God’s delight.

He created everything perfectly for Him to dwell with His creation.

Now, He rested in pure enjoyment of His glorious work.

Rest and replenish

Hilary used to have this coffee house ministry.

One day, there was a little boy (4th grade?) came in and sat on the couches.

His buddies were trying to sound grown up, because that’s what you do when you’re immature—try to convince everyone you’re mature.

His buddy said, “What do you want to get done today?”

He replied, “I just want to go home… and sit down.”

That 4th grader understood what a lot of us don’t.

I am someone who has a hard time stopping.

When I get a spare 15 minutes, I find more to do.

This is foreign to us. We are all so busy.

Work, sports, social, family obligations.

To take a day off has to be schedule 8 weeks out.

God instituted rest as part of the creative order.

We were created to work hard and rest.

Then, God took this and doubled down and made it a commandment (Big 10).

Church, we can have confidence in God’s care because…

We enjoy God’s rest.

We were created and commanded by God to rest—This is a glorious gift to us as we bear His image.

We reflect God image in the way we enjoy His rest.

We imitate this in taking one day off per week.

This all sounds good—But that was the perfect world before sin entered in.

When I think of my life, I don’t think Genesis 1-2 where everything is “good.”

Remember this was written to Israel in a post-Fall world.

God gives Genesis to His people to give them comfort in His powerful sovereignty and give them confidence in their God.

God gives us the Sabbath to point us to a deeper rest that is given to us in Jesus.

God would send His Son, Jesus to give us this hope

Matthew 11:28 ESV

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

How does Jesus give us rest?

Gospel presentation

We have all rebelled against our created and our lives do not look like God’s good design.

But Jesus came to fix everything that we had broken and restore our lives to a right relationship with God by forgiving our sins through His death on the cross.

When we come to Jesus and have confidence in His sacrifice on the cross and His care for us, He promises to change our hearts and our lives to reflect His image again and give us rest for our souls.

If you’re not a Christian, you can have rest for your weary soul and confidence in your Creator and Savior.

Trying to be good enough to get to heaven—Jesus offers you rest by paying for your sin on the cross for you.

Take the next step

Read Genesis 1-3

Invite someone to experience confidence in the true God.

Bring a friend to church.

I promise they will hear the Bible/the gospel.

Statistics show that 85% of people will come to church if they are invited by someone they know.

Decide how you’re going to rest regularly.

At lunch today, after we’re loved and sent, I want you to talk about how you’re going implement regular rest into your life for you and your family.

What day of the week are you going to set aside to rest/replenish/and intentionally seek things that fuel your affections for Jesus?

Community Group

Image of God

What does it mean to be created in the image of God?

Do you view people as image bearers?

How does that effect how you interact with people?

What does this mean for our views on abortion, immigration, racism?

Rest

How difficult is rest in your life?

What are your rhythms of rest?

Matthew 11:28-30.

What is the rest Jesus offers?