We Believe in God, Our Creator

“Building Our Lives on Bedrock” #3 July 21, 2019 GWB “We Believe in God, Our Creator” - Genesis 1:1 - If you can, build on bedrock. There is no firmer foundation. The Empire State Building, completed in 1931, has a foundation that goes down 50 feet below the surface to rest on bedrock, the massive stone that can support such a building. Our lives also need a firm foundation! Here is bedrock: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The Apostles’ creed states: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.” Christians have always believed this! I. God created the world Genesis 1:1 1. Do you believe it? The first sentence of the Bible is bedrock for us. a. A naturalistic explanation of the world (without God) tells us life emerged from inorganic chemicals by chance. Then every living thing evolved by pure chance to be what we are. So life is random, without purpose, and after death—nothing. (We are animals.) b. For millennia, right down to the present day, the Bible teaches us a very different view of the world, and of ourselves. 2. God created “the heavens and the earth”—that is, the entire universe. a. God created the immense cosmos— time and space, galaxies, planets and pulsars. Our Milky Way is about 100,000 light years across and contains billions of stars. In the “known universe” [we cannot see how vast it is] there are billions of galaxies! b. God created it all out of nothing (Heb. 11:3). He commanded it into existence by his powerful decree (Gen. 1; Ps. 33:6-9)! c. As David contemplated the night sky, he marveled that God could care for him. Knowing more of the immensity of the cosmos, we join him in wonder (Ps. 8:3-4)! The vastness of the universe shows that it’s not about us—it displays the glory of God (Ps. 33:8-9; Rev. 4:11). 3. God is the subject of the first sentence of the Bible. a. God is powerful! Hebrew Elohim expresses this. Growing knowledge of the cosmos only enhances our understanding of his vast power. b. God is the King who owns all and governs all. We speak of “our property,” but we are only stewards of what is God’s. And we cannot control the future. God governs the entire cosmos to accomplish his purposes—and will one day bring it all under the rule of Christ, his Son (Eph. 1:10; Rev. 20). c. God is the Judge of all; he is “the Judge of all the earth” (Gen. 18:25). We all owe him an account of our lives. II. The creation ethic Genesis 1-2 1. The world God created was very good (Gen. 1:31)—so there was no distinction between what God made and the way it ought to be. Thus there emerges a creation ethic from these opening chapters of the Bible. a. God created Adam and Eve uniquely in the image of God (1:26-28). He blessed them, placed them in Eden, and lived in fellowship with them. This makes a distinction between animals and man. Adam and Eve are rulers over creation—charged to rule it and manage it (1:28; 2:15). This means animal rights advocates who say all species of life have equal value are in serious error. b. Labor. God commanded Adam and Eve to rule the earth, to govern its creatures (1:28); he directed Adam to work the garden (2:15). c. Worship. God worked six days and blessed the seventh, and made it holy. The Sabbath expresses man’s bond with his Creator. d. Marriage and family. It was not good for the man to be alone. God created Eve and gave her to the man. Sex is between husband and wife and brings the blessing of children (1:28; 2:24-25). Human dignity, work, worship and wedlock define human life and express God’s will, God’s good plan for us in his good world. 3. There is an ethic foundational to human life here; we live in a moral universe. God’s plan is a pattern of work and worship to give God glory. Families should live together in love; no sex outside the marriage bond. 4. Adam and Eve’s fall into sin plunged us into evil. Sin and death spread to all their children. Even in Eden God promised our Savior, Jesus (3:15), who came and crushed Satan at the cross and conquered him in the resurrection. Responding to God To live rightly, we must know our Creator and follow his wise plan! 1. We must love our neighbor; he is our brother; she is our sister. 2. We serve God in both work and worship. Life is filled with purpose. We are to do our daily work with all our hearts, as to the Lord (Col. 3:23), and worship him, our Creator and Redeemer, with joy and thankfulness. 3. Marriage and family are holy and good, ordained by God. We cannot alter God’s plan! The way we live should reflect God’s plan. Sex is God’s gift to be received only in the bonds of marriage. Single believers can devote themselves fully to God’s service, but must also honor his will. 4. We are stewards of God’s property. This teaches us to tithe and also teaches us to protect the environment. This is God’s good world—we should conserve it, and manage it as wise stewards. 5. Knowing that Almighty God is the Judge to whom we are accountable, we run for refuge to the cross, to salvation in God’s Son, who was condemned in our place to bring us as children back to our Creator.