Foundations of the World (Genesis 1)

Introduction

Please open up your Bible to Genesis 1

Today we begin a new sermon series called “Foundations”

In Matthew 7, Jesus tells the story of two men, each who decided to build a home. From the outward appearance, both homes seemed to be quite comfortable. The same materials were used, and they both seemed structurally sound. But the foundations these men chose to build on were fundamentally different. One man found a nice flat slab of bedrock, and built his house on that rock. He is described as “a wise man.” But another man took the easy way out and built his house on the sand. Maybe he wanted some beachfront property, or a nice open space out in the desert. He is described as “a foolish man.” One day a major storm hits. The wind begins to whistle and howl and beat relentlessly. Then the rain begins to fall and fall, and doesn’t let up. The waters rise, and great flash floods form. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” Only the house built on the rock can withstand the storm.

With record rainfall and snowfall this winter in California, we know all too well the power of water, and the importance of foundations. After a nasty wildfire season and then record rainfall, water has washed away tons of dirt and created canyons and sinkholes like this one : on the 243, leading up from Beaumont to Idyllwild.

I believe this image right here is a picture of the current state of our society as well. America is facing an alarming increase in depression, drug addiction, pornography, sexual deviance, violent crime, national debt, and abortion reveal serious cracks in the foundation of our society. At some point, the whole thing will collapse. Our only hope is to retrofit our worldview with biblical truth.

The problems we see today in society are symptoms of a much deeper problem. You see, media, politics, art, sciences, the economy, entertainment, and the education system, are all reflections of our culture. This culture can be traced back upstream to philosophies and ideas, and ultimately to some metanarrative called a “worldview.” In America, most of our institutions now operate from a secular, humanistic worldview.

The Greatness of God’s Power (vv. 1-8)

Read vv. 1-8

Heb. Elohim. This name speaks of his majesty and his power. Just as God’s love is most clearly on display through the cross (Rom. 5:8), so his power is most clearly on display through creation.

Isaiah 40:18 To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? V. 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

Refutes all of this world’s philosophies. Henry Morris quote – “This one verse refutes all of man’s false philosophies. It refutes atheism, because the universe was created by God. It refutes pantheism, for God is transcendent to that which He created. It refutes polytheism, for one God created all things. It refutes materialism, for matter had a beginning. It refutes dualism, because God was alone when he created. It refutes humanism, because God, not man, is the ultimate reality. It refutes evolutionism, because God created all things.

“Created” (1) – Heb. bara. To make out of nothing. Big snowfall this past week. I’ve never seen so many snowmen! Snowmen in yards. Snowmen on streetcorners. Snowmen on sidewalks. Snowmen on Facebook. But each of these snowmen were “made” out of previously existing material. God “made” out of nothing. There were no pre-existing ingredients.

“And it was so” (7, 9, 11, 15, 24, 30) – God spoke, and it happened.

“expanse” (6) – firmament or vault. Something firm and shiny. Like a rooftop or canopy to “hold up” the waters. If day one introduces us to quantum mechanics, day two we see hydrology and meteorology.

“gathered” (9) – “pertaining to a collection or mass going to a central location by linear movement” (DBL). It is the nature of water to scatter or spread. But God can do the very opposite! Exodus 14:21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

Application: financial problems. Relationship problems. Problems at work. Struggles with temptation. God is big and strong enough to help you! How amazing that in prayer, we have access to this same God! Take your problems this week to the God of the universe. Also, think about the miracle of salvation! The “new creation” is just as miraculous as the “first creation,” and it is fashioned by the same God.

>>We have already seen the creation of light and separation of water. These are just the opening credits of God’s power. He is far from done…

The Goodness of God’s Creation (vv. 9-19)

Read vv. 9-19

God is good. He is perfect, he is kind. All that he is, and all that he does, is worthy of our praise and approval. Lk. 18:19 No one is good but God alone. Psalm 106:1 Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! If God is good, we would expect his creation to be good as well. That is precisely what we see.

God’s inspection: It was good (10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31)

Psalm 104:24 O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. vv. 27–28 These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.

Earth perfectly situated. Scientists sometimes refer to this as the “goldilocks effect.” “Not too hot, not too cold, but just right. Any closer to the sun, and we would burn up. Any further, and we would freeze. The tilt of our axis gives us our seasons. The moon’s size and position aid with crowing crops and the daily tidal flow of the oceans. The speed of our revolution gives us just the right amount of light and darkness. The size and mass of our planet give us just the right amount of gravity. Everything is perfectly suitable to sustain life. It’s almost as if someone designed it this way!

Note the description of the heavenly host.

Contra : Shumash the Sun God. “His seats of worship were Larsa in southern Babylonia and Sippar in northern Babylonia, in both of which his temple was called E-babbar, “shining house.” He also is honored in magnificent hymns in which he is saluted as the enemy and the avenger of evil, but as the [beneficial] furtherer of all good, esp. of that which concerns the races of men. All legislation is ascribed to him as the supreme judge in heaven. To him the Babylonians also ascribe similar powers in war to those which the Egyptians accorded to Re.” (Orr, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, p. 371)

And our modern “priests,” the academic community. : “Roughly 4.6 billion years ago, in the Orion arm of the Milky Way, a spinning cloud of hydrogen and other interstellar matter succumbed to the effects of gravity and began collapsing on itself…Radiating outward, the energy helped counteract gravity and stop the coud’s contraction. Equilibrium set in and a star was born – our star, the Sun”

God simply made it all, and it was all good!

>>How quiet it must have been. Wind blowing through the trees. Waves crashing upon the ocean. No other sounds. But all of that was about to change. Over the next 48 hours, there would suddenly be hooting and howling, flapping and swishing, mooing and quacking, and most delightful of all, laughing … and talking…

The Sacredness of God’s Image (vv. 20-31)

Read vv. 20-31

Realm and the ruler (light > stars. Water/sky > fish/birds > land/plants > animals/man).

“kind” – genetic boundaries. Roughly equivalent to “genus” or “species” in our modern classification. There is tremendous variation, but also limits to that variation. E.g. >350 breeds of dogs (chihuaua to Great dane). >25,000 species of orchid!

Image of God – the capstone of God’s creation. His masterpiece. Both man and woman.

Psalm 8:3–9 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, … O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Conclusion

Will you believe this? What is preventing you?

Must be accepted by faith. Hebrews 11:3 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. What is preventing you?

“I have to see it for myself.” You take people’s word for it every day. You rely on so-called “experts.” How do you know whom you can trust? Is there any chance they could be wrong? Have you ever really challenged their assumptions?

“But there seems to be so much evidence for evolution.” No one else was there. Scientists can attempt explain the origin of the universe apart from God, but none of them were there. They can replicate creation in a laboratory or look for signs of life on a distant planet, but even our best scientific models on based on uniformitarian principles, i.e. that things have always been the way they are now. But with this intact.

You have to take someone’s word for it. Why not trust God? This is the foundation to everything else we will look at in the weeks ahead.

Gen 1 – evolution/creation

Ps 1 – postmodernism (personal truth) / absolute truth

Gen 2 – gender and marriage are fluid / family is central institution

Gen 3 – life is hopeless/life has purpose

Gen 6 – pluralism / judgment and salvation

Gen 12 – rationalism / faith