Divine order of all made good
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
The Divine order of all made good
The Divine order of all made good
gen1.6-
6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. 9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. 14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. 20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. 24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
There are so many patterns to see here, there is so much we can learn from . The interesting thing is how much people overlook because of their desire to answer questions that Genesis is never meant to answer.
The whole bible is a revelation of God and most closely resembles a history book with different types of literature styles. It is never meant to be a science book or a math book or an art form… although there are moments where we find good science, math and art. We cannot approach the Bible and especially Genesis with a desire to answer questions that are not the point. This is simply why we will not get caught up in a debate of Old Earth and Young Earth.
We believe in a literal 7 day creation account and we loosely hold to a young earth viewpoint. I say loosely hold that viewpoint because it is not a gospel issue, in that it doesn’t mean that people who agree or disagree are saved or not. There is room for those who vary in opinion on this. Yet we hold to it because we find no sufficient reason from scripture to wander from it, meaning it is nothing more than speculation based off of science that the bible does not directly speak to. We also hold to it because to unravel this view based on sources outside the scriptures is a dangerous practice that can be a gospel issue if you apply it to other doctrines found in scripture. So for simplicity and fidelity we hold this view. And saying all that to say, this is not the point of genesis. Genesis is an orderly account of the nature of creation and the structures God put in place.
I love what the Reformation study bible says about .
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. 4 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground,
In the beginning, God. The Hebrew word for “God,” the first subject of Genesis and the Bible, is plural to denote His majesty. There is no other god (Deut. 4:39; Is. 40:21, 28; 43:10; John 1:1; Col. 1:17). He is truth, the basis for all sound knowledge (John 14:6). God is personal; He speaks and acts
Gen. 1 does not attempt to tell us in detail how God manufactured the physical world and everything in it. Rather, it seeks to explain the hierarchy of relationships and boundaries established by God. Behind the simplicity of presentation, structured around seven days, the text does not tell us everything about the processes by which God created the world. Even so, it affirms certain important truths about the creation of our world, including the fact that God directly made all things, that everything He made was originally very good, and that men and women are made in His image.
It is necessary for us to be on the same page about scripture and Genesis specifically, and that is this...
The Bible is a revelation of God, who he is, what he has done, and how we are to live in light of this knowledge of God. Simply put...
The Bible is about God
The Bible is about God
I cannot emphasize this enough. In a day and age when the modern evangelical church tries desperately to make man the center of all scripture and the main hero, we need to hear this more than anything. The Bible is a divine revelation of God. It contains the origins of humanity only because it is the beginning of our in relating to who God is and how we are to live in light of this knowledge of him.
Genesis opens with the Bible’s most extraordinary claim… There is 1 God, only one, and he made everything. Everything in the heavens and everything in the earth. And as Jared Wilson mentioned last week, this is a major distinctive from all other creation accounts that people would try to promote in their own religion.
One God who is outside of time and space. He creates matter out of nothing and he does it by speaking! The ancient world would’ve heard of a such a unique God and creation story that it demands a response. you either believe or you reject it. Likewise to this day we need to ask ourselves, what are we to do with this? If God is the sovereign ruler who creates and controls everything, then everything we read after this point is seriously important to us in getting to know God.
All of life’s greatest questions and purposes begin and end with God. Who God is determines who we are and why everything in the universe exists. God’s role as creator and all powerful king is seen here in . We are going to see a pattern emerge that shows is sovereign rule over all things. We will see how God provides for people before making them by first creating the whole universe and the planet with everything on it.
Since God is the creator, that will mean that everything he creates including humanity is meant to be his servants. And we all have similar and yet very different roles in serving God as our creator. Like the sun moon and stars we are called to give glory to God. Like the animals we are uniquely fashioned by a creative God who instills beauty in the smallest of details, yet our voice is unlike theirs.
And most importantly our image is distinctively different from the celestial beings and heavenly bodies above, the majestic beauty of the natural world around us, and different kinds of flesh that cover the animals who display their magnificent creator. Our image is made after his likeness, but more on that next week. For today lets dive into the text and see just how orderly and divine this creation is. Keeping in mind that we already heard about the first day of creation which included the creation of Light and the formation of the the heavens and earth out of what is described as a chaotic dark state.
6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. 9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
gen1.
So here is in days 2 and 3 we see the creation of the sky and the water as well as the land and vegetation. Notice the order of creation here is how God provides land and vegetation before animals and people. God is showing that his order provides for what follows. That may not seem too deep a revelation about God, yet it is profound to notice and see how this pattern is always repeated once scripture tells of the struggles of men in the future. Every time there is an issue and man is directly affected, we also will see how things are developing in preparation for what is coming next.
Think about it… in almost every story we have in scripture, God is always providing for his people before they are aware of it. Abraham needs to sacrifice his son Issac, and God already had a ram stuck in the thickets waiting for him, God provided for his people. Jacob and his sons are starving in a famine that is throughout the land, and God has already placed Joseph in the Palace of Pharoah to deliver his people from the deadly drought. What about Esther? She is faced with life defining challenges that carry implications of life and death for her and God’s people. Mordecai is having a death planned for him with no hope in sight, and God is working behind the scenes in the kings heart to give the favor to his people and deliver them from harm, yet they don’t know it till the last minute.
I could go on and on but the most profound way we see God provide for his people is greater than land, vegetation, and animals. It is greater than simple sacrifices being prepared, divine placement of his children under the darkest of circumstance by having your brothers sell you slavery in order to bring them deliverance, and it more mind-blowing than seeing the misdirection and plot twist of an enemy preparing his won death by trying to kill God’s servant...
It is how all these things are telling one story… The Gospel is the story in which God provides for his people before they even recognize their deepest need in him. God provides a savior for his people when he himself in the deity of the Son steps out of eternity into the timeline he created for his people to do for them what they cannot do for themselves. He himself was the true sacrifices that was provided before the foundations of the world, he was our real brothers that we sold into slavery, who becomes a ruler that saves his wicked brothers. And while our enemy Satan is plotting his demise and death, he by sovereign order of the King uses the instrument of his death to crush his enemy forever.
Every story in scripture speak of God’s redeeming power for his creation and all this is first seen in the order of creation and how he provides place for his people to live and be sustained by in lush vegetation. In we see God, the supreme ruler and creator of all things, form the various realms of the world in days 1-3, and in days 4-6 we will see what diverse life forms these realms are created for.
The second thing we see develop here is a pattern of creation in God’s power and character. Every day in the 6 days of creation we see the same pattern. An announcement, a command, a report, an evaluation, and a conclusion. And it looks like this.
Announcement - “God said”, Command - “let there be”, a report - “and it was so”, evaluation - “it was good”, a conclusion - “the first day”
Announcement - “God said”, Command - “let there be”, a report - “and it was so”, evaluation - “it was good”, a conclusion - “the first day”
Why is this worth pointing out? Thinking of the first few generations to hear this and understand this about God, it would have made their God a very distinct God among the other peoples they encounter.
Many ancient peoples worship the elements of creation itself as various gods. These supposed gods would create things in narrative stories of war, love and intercourse, rebellion or chance. These gods were far off and feared because of their wrathful character. These gods were unknowable, out of reach, somewhat indifferent to their creation.
Yet what we see in is a framework of creation that shows the character of a God that is not an element of creation… this god created all the elements. He is not the the Sky he crested the sky, he is not the land, he created the land, nor is he the wind or rain, he created these realms and elements. Because of the hebrews could proclaim a god who hung the stars in their place and created the Sun and Moon, while other religion worshipped these entities. This made the claims found in give automatic pre-eminence to the God of scripture! And the pattern we mentioned, declares an even more magnanimous maker, who loves, speaks, is involved and powerful yet is outside of the time he instituted for his creation.
Think about when the Bible says, ‘God said” it shows us two things. First that God speaks! and Second that God creates by his word. So a speaking God that creates and controls all things with the command of his words. This God is so powerful that his words carry his very divine essence. This is taught all through scripture...
ps
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
A speaking God commands creation and that is final, it stands firm. Yet scripture continues this theme in later passages as well. But his word becomes even more powerful and known by His people...
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
What John is telling us is of great value when looking back to , because it declares that the Command of God by his words, is actually a divine essence of God himself, his words are part of him and the word that created all things wasn’t just speech but is part of God himself… The word is now known to us as Jesus, who is the word that became flesh and dwelt among us. .
Yet this pattern in is showing more to these ancient people… Yes God speaks and creates by his word in an announcement but that command is gracious language… “let there be” - Light, let there be an expanse, let the waters, let the earth, let there be lights, let the waters swarm, let the birds fly, let the earth bring forth...
These are all commands that show a loving and caring nature. We have to ask the question, why does God speak this way? Why is God revealing himself to his creation by telling us that his speech is in such a gracious tone? Let me digress for a moment… We know that Moses wrote the first 5 books of scripture, we call this the Pentateuch. Genesis being the first book of the Bible, is a narrative of things that happened thousands of years before Moses was even born. That means that these stories were being handed down by oral tradition, but also knowing that Moses, being the greatest prophet of his time, had direct communication with God on multiple occasions; we can be sure that this is direct revelation from God that inspired Moses to write this account.
We refer to this as the creation of genesis account, because it is a re-telling of things that God said happened. We believe that this is just as inspired as any other portion of scripture. Unlike the secular world of Science that holds to theories. They have the Big Band theory, and the theory of evolution. Notice the word… THEORY
A theory is a set of accepted beliefs or organized principles that explain and guide analysis and one of the ways that theory is defined is that it is different from practice, when certain principles are tested.
Translation - Theories are not proven, but widely accepted.
We do not proclaim a creation theory, but an account that is a revelation of God, that comes By God.
And so the question is why does God speak to us in this way… in telling us that his words were, “let there be...” instead of just saying, Lights, Earth, Sky, Water, Animals, People.
Clearly we can see that God is not alone, he is talking to someone while creating, and he is doing it in such a way that is talking in permissive ways, as opposed to commands that sound like, “do this now, or make it so.” Why is this? The reformation study bible says this about the command of “let there be...”
“God’s will is irresistible. It is carried out by divine imperative.” And this divine imperative is spoken with care and love for his creation.
And then we see that the story is not just how God announced and commanded these things, but we see a report of exactly what happened. The words, “it was so...”
Gods magnificent and powerfully creative words actually accomplish exactly what he said they should do. The words, “It was so...” is consistent with all we know about God doing exactly what he said he would do.
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
This should give us great hope that from the point of creation all through the rest of scripture… from moments long past to future moments, that once God says something, it is done.
Think of the implications of this… Every promise in the OT was fulfilled in Christ. Everything he said would happen did in fact happen. Look at Christ. Everything he did and said he proven true… and when he hung on the cross for your sins and my sins, when he said , “It is finished!” he meant it and sealed it! And when he said he would be with us always, he meant it and sealed it! And when he declared that he is coming back for his Church, you better believe we can count on that.
If in we saw that the words of God created and accomplished exactly what he said, then why should we question him in any other portion of scripture?
So we have an announcement, a command, and a report. Then God inspires Moses to report how God evaluated his creative beginnings… The simple words, “It was good...”
How sad would it be if this account did not include these simple words? We would be left to think that there may have been things he created that were not good. But the language is emphatic, that everything God created he reported was ALL GOOD! So if God made it, it WAS good.
Now we know that is coming and that mankind will fall in to sin and everything will go awry, but before that… IT WAS GOOD! Even the dark and deep waters, the very things that always represent chaos in scripture, here in it was made good! And this is no moot point, because we need to see God is in absolute power over what will later be seen as chaotic destruction, namely darkness and water, like natural storms. Knowing this is what makes so powerful… Knowing only God is absolute over his creation will help us understand the deity of Christ.
26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”
matt8.
In the Gospel transformation ESV study Bible it has this footnote -
“Jesus’ calming of the storms demonstrates his own divine identity, manifesting not only his power but also his gentle concern for his followers.”
Jesus is God, the same who in the beginning created with a divine order to prepare this realm for his creation, he is now restoring this fallen realm with divine power for his special creation. He does this by exercising the same power that created this world in rebuking the elements of this world! What a mighty God we serve!
But finally the pattern we looked at has one more step… and announcement, a command, a report, an evaluation, and then a conclusion… “The First Day, The second Day, the third day, etc...”
“God said, let there be, and it was so, it was good, the first day”
Repeated all throughout this creation account, this eternal God speaks to us to tell us How he created everything and he communicates in a way that we will understand… TIME! Look at it…
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
gen1.
So God created light on day one, he declared one each day so far that there was evening and morning and a time period of a day. But on day 4 we see the specifics of how he intends to rule time for his people. Even though God is himself outside of Time, since he created it, he must be outside of time, and yet he creates time and communicated in time, because we can only understand time. God must create something we can understand in order to relate to him, but yet he is eternal with no beginning and no end, and even that we have knowledge of…
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
Time is something God creates for us, he himself is outside of it, and he gives us an awareness of it, yet there is still a mystery to time and eternity. Because God is unknowable in all his ways.
But the point of in the creation account is to show how he will deal with mankind. He communicates to us in a manner of time and gives us different kinds of lights to track this time. He will continue through all scripture use these created lights to inform proper worship of him and track time in relating to him. Time is something we cannot stop or slow down, yet he uses it to teach us and train in looking forward to enjoying him. God’s word uses time to encourage his people forever...
23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
God is eternal, his love never ceases, and yet in time his mercies are new every morning. Only the God of can be eternal and use time for his peoples good. But the greatest he does this is when he steps out of eternity into time. He is Lord of time and much as he is Lord of the Sabbath and Lord of the Harvest, he truly is Lord of All!!! Including everything else he created.
20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. 24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
gen1.20-
Did you notice one more important phrase??? According to its kind?
This is the single most destroying fact about creation that keep evolution a theory only… Species can only reproduce according to their kind. Vegetation does not produce birds. Fish do not produce trees. Livestock and animals can only produce other animals. And next week when we see the creation of Humans, they will only produce other humans… and according to its kind is the real crux of the matter because there will come a time when the kind of humans fall into sin and then begin producing other humans and all of them are produced according to their kind… sinful humans producing sinful humans. According to its own kind is a powerful phrase that cannot be overlooked. Why?
Because in there is a curse pronounced on even the land and it begins to produce its own kind and is made up a hard breaking soil full of thorns and thistles. Yet the beginning was all good, and still to this day everything God created, which is everything, only produces after its own kind!
This is the divine order of all made good. But it is mirrored by the Gospel story of How this eternally powerful Creator who is the Sovereign King of the whole world, will fix all that is wrong. That in the end of his book of revelation we call the Bible he even declares that his created lights of the sun will be nothing compared to to the radiance of God’s presence. There will be a new creation and a restored state of being with a city at its center…
rev21.
23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
But who is this lamb? remember what we said about the power of gen. 1 repeating “God said”, “let there be”, “and it was so”, “it was good”, followed by a conclusion… The true light of God who is the light of the world and the bread of life will show us that the Gospel is beginning in pattern in .
john1.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
The divine order and beginning of all made good is the divine order and beginning of all made new and redeemed… When the God who created all things including time, stepped out of eternity into time to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. To restore us to himself in order to enjoy his creation and glorify him forever and ever and ever, to the praise of his glorious grace upon grace upon grace.
Do you know this? have you believed this? has the Spirit revealed this to you? are you submitted to this truth? If this day you hear this and it makes sense for the first time, then repent of sinful living that has kept you separated from the God that created all things and come to him to today but calling on the name of the lord of creation… His name is Jesus!
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.