11 3

Hebrews Series- Fellowship Baptist Church

Passage:     Hebrews 11:3

Theme:       Faith and God’s Work of Creation

Proposition:   The Creative Work of God is fundamental to all His other work    

Introduction:

We have learned:

Established that faith is not only necessary for salvation but also for a life of obedience to God.

Established that weak faith results in a dysfunctional Christian life.

Established that faith is different from and precedes trust

Established that faith is a work of God (by grace)

Today we encounter the first belief listed that is only accepted by faith—the creation of the universe as a direct result of God’s spoken command.

The question that crossed my mind:  Why is this listed first?

          -because it is the first in history?

          -because it is the first in priority?

          -or both?

Regardless of the answer, the fact that it is listed at all communicates to us that it is important.  In fact, it is the only event listed that does not involve a human protagonist – one who is at the center of the action.  And yet it is still listed.  So in some way, the creation story is important, and can only be accepted by faith.

It is important because the Creative Work of God is fundamental to all His other work

There are those in the religious community, some who claim to be saved, who deny that the Genesis record of the creation is fact.  They believe it to be only an allegory or story that seeks to explain the creation in a way humans can understand, but it should not be taken literally.  The result is a mix of poor theology and evolutionary dogma.

In the end, they believe that while the creation story is interesting and an attempt to explain the origins of the universe, we should focus on the gospel and let the scientists explain to us how we came to be. One of the leading voices for mixing God and evolution put it this way:  belief in a recently created universe is a “rather peripheral (to the gospel) dogma.” (Ross in A New Look at an Old Earth by Don Stoner)

This is a strong statement.  Is the story of the origins of man and the universe a peripheral doctrine?  Is the creation story important?

Yes.  The idea of a literal creation of the universe by the direct and immediate action of God is foundational to all that we believe.  In fact, if this account in Gen. 1 is simply a nice story, everything else in the Bible is suspect and our theological beliefs fall like a house of cards.  For example, if God did not directly create the universe by His word then we have no premise for:

          Man’s submission to God

          Man’s condemnation by God

          God’s control of the universe

          Sin in the human race

          Any need for redemption/redeemer

          The restoration of the universe – creation of the new heaven and new earth

Origin of disease and death by sin and thus no hope for ultimate release from its grip

Institution of marriage

Functional authority in the home – role of husband and wife

The traditional family

The new creation of believers in Christ

Christ as our redeemer as the second adam

These are just some of the doctrinal truths that have no basis and thus no meaning.  What we find is that The Creative Work of God is fundamental to all His other work

But there is more.  We must understand that there are many sociological issues that have their foundation in an evolutionary premise:

Race conflicts –

the idea of multiple races of man - On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life

            Neitzche – God is dead; Darwin’s bulldog; Social Darwinism

Franco Prussian War

WWI

WWII

Homosexual rights

Animal rights – the equality of humans and animals – issue of speciation

Abortion rights

Euthanasia

Feminist movement

Green movement – the idea that man must somehow become the savior of the world

What we must realize is that the truth of God’s personal, direct creation of all that exists and a literal interpretation of the Genesis account of creation, man’s sin, and the curse are foundational to all that we believe and trust, are inseparably crucial to how we live and view our world.

As part of our understanding of its importance, I want us to focus on 4 aspects of the creation, and their importance to us and our relationship to God.

God’s creation of man was unique and special

Not like the creation of animals or any other life form

          Personally formed by God – 2:7

                   From the dirt of the earth

                   Given life from the breath of God

          Made in the image of God – 1:26

Being – personality, identity, self-awareness, ability to discern right from wrong (conscience), immaterial that is eternal

Given authority

          Over the animals

                   Communicated in the statement of dominion – 1:28

Demonstrated by the right to name – 2:18                

          Over the woman

                   Demonstrated by the right to name – 2:21-23

                   Established through the origin of the woman

God’s creation was immediate

Spoken directly into existence

God did not use an evolutionary process to create.  There were no

“pre-humans” and there was not death prior to the fall.

The diversity of the creation existed immediately

Not accomplished over a long period of time

God’s creative work was purposeful

For His glory and enjoyment

          To reveal Himself to mankind

          To bring praise to His name from His creation

For man’s enjoyment

Man was not intended to be equal to or subject to the creation.  He was to have dominion over it.

God’s creative work establishes His ownership and authority

Not made from anything else – wholly His own work

The creation is beholden to Him and answerable to Him.