11 3 (2)
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:
Last week we looked at the importance of God’s creation of man. We saw that God:
Personally formed man in a way that was different from the rest of the creation.
Physically, personally made him from the dirt and breathed into him life. The creation of the woman was also unique as he took part of the man to make the woman. They came from the same flesh and in marriage they reunite as one flesh.
People are incomplete if they are not married.
Made man in the image of God.
Involves identity, self-awareness, discernment of good and evil, immaterial part that is eternal, and man was given authority by God over the creation.
The point of last week was to establish a framework for a proper view of man and his relationship to the rest of the creation. Without an understanding that man was a unique and special creation of God, our worldview is distorted.
Today, I would like for us to look at two other important truths about God’s creative work and how they impact our relationship to Him.
My desire is that you will not only understand the importance of the creation story, but that as a result of this study, you will understand God more fully and more correctly, and that because of this, He will be more highly exalted and glorified in your life.
God’s creative work was purposeful
Proverbs 16:4 "The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble."
It was accomplished by a person not a force or by chance.
Hebrews 11:3 (ESV)
3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
Psalm 33:6-9 (ESV) By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! 9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
Psalm 95:4-5 (ESV) In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
Therefore it is not the result of random chance.
For His glory
To reveal Himself to mankind
Ps 19:1For the director of music. A psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Ps 19:2Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
Ps 19:3There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Ps 19:4Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world . . .
Romans 1:18-23 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
To bring praise to His name from His creation
Psalm 103:20-22 Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! 21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will! 22 Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Revelation 4:9-11 (ESV)
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Romans 11:36-38 (ESV)
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
For man’s enjoyment
Man was not intended to be equal to or subject to the creation. He was to have dominion over it.
Right leadership will result in true pleasure for the individual who possesses the authority.
He will recognize his authority derives from God and should be used for His glory.
He will use his authority to pursue the best for the other person.
He will find true satisfaction and enjoyment in obedience to God.
God’s creative work establishes His ownership and authority
Not made from anything else – wholly His own work
Hebrews 11:3 (ESV)
3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
He owes credit to no one else. It belongs entirely to Him.
It is sustained by Him.
Nehemiah 9:6 (ESV)“You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.
Psalm 119:90-91 (ESV) Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast. 91 By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants.
Psalm 146:5-6 (ESV)
5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever;
The creation is answerable to Him.
Genesis 9:6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.
Job 38:4-11 (ESV) “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, 7 when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, 9 when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, 10 and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, 11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?
Psalm 74:16-17 (ESV) Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun. 17 You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you have made summer and winter.
Acts 17:24-26 (ESV) The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,
Daniel 5:23 (ESV)
23 but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored.
Hebrews 2:10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
Psalm 33:8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
Isaiah 17:7-8 In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. 8 He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense.
Isaiah 45:18-23 For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the Lord, and there is no other. 19 I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right. 20 “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save. 21 Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. 22 “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. 23 By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’
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.
1 Corinthians 8:6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
Colossians 1:15-17 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
What does this mean for me?
The creation was accomplished by a person, by that person’s word and according to His plan. What we see around us and we as people are not here by random chance.
That my life can be meaningful and that there is purpose in life. There is something for me to accomplish.
There is nothing outside of His control. There is nothing that can threaten the believer. I am safe and I can trust Him.
If God did not create, there is no ultimate meaning outside of myself or my culture. Therefore there is no purpose beyond self-satisfaction.
That I must come to Him on His terms.
I must portray Him correctly. To intentionally do otherwise is to create a God that is acceptable to me.
I have no right to determine my own course or purpose in life, and to do anything else or to exalt anyone above Him is sin.