CREATION (at Generation Rising Event)

INTRO

Good evening!

My name is Ryan… I have the privilege of being one of the pastors at Georgianna Church… over in Merritt Island.

And I’m thrilled to be here with you all tonight!

Have you had a good time today???

Thank you so much for having me here … thanks to Jennifer McDowell for the invitation...

and everyone working hard on stage and behind the scenes to put this on...

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Jennifer shared her heart with me for this event and I immediately resonated with this idea of seeing people set free.

Here’s what I know… we serve a God who CAN… so my prayer tonight is that He WILL.

This is what the gospel… the good news of Jesus is all about.

This is why I’m a pastor… I believe that when we gather at an event like this or every Sunday in our local churches.... that there is the potential for freedom in these places.

When we set aside time to worship and call out to God… we can be set free.

And one reason why I love the church is that these opportunities come around AT LEAST every single week…

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At Georgianna, my local church, we just went through a sermon series exploring the major themes and movements of the Bible… trying to find a way to wrap our minds around the BIG story of scripture.

If you’re like me and you grew up in church… sometimes the Bible just seems like a COLLECTION of stories. Some are inspirational… some are heroic… let’s be honest here, some are just downright strange...

But I could never figure out how they ALL fit together.

And so at Georgianna we started at the beginning… at Creation in Genesis… and tried to trace a big story throughout scripture.

And here’s what we found out… God IS writing a BIG story… and it doesn’t just stop at the Bible. It goes on to include you and include me and include the faithful people who have followed Him for thousands of years.

God is writing a BIG story and you are in it.

Which tells me that God is also writing YOUR story… and he wants a good and purposeful story for you.

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So we don’t quite have the time to through all of the movements and trace our way through all of scripture tonight...

But I want to talk about Creation… where we started… where the whole story begins.

Because it matters how our story begins.

How God chooses to begin His BIG story… tells me something important about MY story and YOUR story.

It matters how our story begins.

OPENING PRAYER

Holy Spirit… empower us to live out good and purposeful stories… enlighten us about the story that you have written for us… as well as the BIG story that is being written in your world.

GOD

So Creation… the very beginning of God’s story.

I mentioned that I grew up in church and I’ve heard Bible stories my entire life… but even if that’s not your experience… I would imagine that you’re still somewhat familiar with the Creation story.

Maybe you’ve heard the names Adam and Eve before.

Maybe you know that there is a really crafty snake in the Garden of Eden.

Maybe you’ve heard that there were 7 days involved…

But to those of you who THINK you already know this story… let me ask you this...

What was created first? Animals or People?

Who says animals? Who says people?

THE ANSWER IS: “it depends on which story you read!”

Who was created first? People or animals? It depends on which story you read.

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Maybe you think you know the story already… BUT

Did you know there are 2 creation stories in Genesis?

When I think of hearing these stories for most of my life… an assumption that I always had was that the Creation story was just one story. But it’s actually two!

You’ll find that the Bible actually does this in a few places… Maybe you’re familiar with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They all tell the story of Jesus’ life and ministry. BUT… they tell it from a unique perspective.

So Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell the same BIG story, lots of similarities… but they’re not identical.

If you have read much of the Old Testament you may have encountered a few books known as Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. Same idea… many of the same stories you read in Samuel and Kings show back up in Chronicles. Lots of similarities… not identical.

The difficult thing about the creation stories is that they’re back to back and they’re in one book… Genesis … and if you’re not careful you may breeze right through one and into the other without noticing that they’re a little different.

And in case you’re curious… Genesis 2:4 is that hinge point… where one story ends and another begins.

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Let’s take that question for example: what was created first, animals or people…

Let’s look at this together, if you have your Bibles OR PHONES I’d love for you to read along with me… we’re turning to Genesis 1- so that’s going to be page number… 1 in your Bibles.

If you look at Genesis 1:21 you see the creation of sea animals… if you look at Genesis 1:25 you’ll see the creation of land animals.

And then after all of that Genesis 1:26 says, “Let us make mankind in our image…”

Animals and then people.

With me so far?

But if you flip over to Genesis 2:7 you see that God is creating a man… and then in chapter 2, verse 19 you’ll see God creating animals.

People, then animals.

There are several other clues that tell us that we have two stories… God is referred to differently in the two different stories. In one story you’ll see that God is called God throughout the story. In the other story you’ll notice that God is called LORD God throughout the story.

God creates differently in the two stories. In one story God simply speaks things into being… in the other story God forms things… he makes a man out of the dust.

REFLECTIONS

But so what right?

A question I want to live in for a little while is probably one that you’re asking yourselves right now…

WHAT’S THE POINT?

Yeah, maybe that was interesting trivia… and you can tell your friends… “Hey did you know the Bible tells two creation stories?”

...but what do we do with these two stories that talk about the same event?

And how does this impact the BIG story that God is telling…

People today see stuff like this and we may have an unfortunate knee-jerk reaction sometimes… to two different versions of something.

Sometimes we want to debate.

Which one is the right one?

What are the facts?

Was creation literally 7 days?

What do we do about dinosaurs? I didn’t see them mentioned anywhere!

How old is the earth really?

I like debates, I really do (I know that’s strange)… and we can have an offline conversation about all of that…

BUT NONE OF IT IS THE POINT OF THE STORY.

The point is not to deconstruct our knowledge and beliefs about any of those things…

But what does this story teach me about God and God’s BIG Story?

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I gotta be honest… I see people writing books about this stuff and I hear about arguments… and to me… it just seems like it’s all stuff that is impossible to know for sure.

And so it’s distracting… because I don’t think any of that is actually the point.

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Tonight I want to focus on that first story… literally the first words in the Bible...

Because IT MATTERS HOW THE STORY BEGINS...

What is the point of this first story?

The first story has order. 6 days of creation, then rest on the 7th. Culturally, in the ancient world, 7 was a number of completion.

The first story is repetitive. We find the same phrases over and over…

***“And God said let there be __________________ and it happened… and God saw that it was good… and it was evening and it was morning, the first day.”

***“And God said let there be __________________ and it happened… and God saw that it was good… and it was evening and it was morning, another day.”

It’s almost like verses.

The first story has a very intentional structure… If you look REALLY close You’ll see that Day 1, 2, and 3 are directly related to day 4, 5, and 6.

God creates particular things on Day 1, 2, and 3.

And then it all kind of repeats… where on Day 4, 5, and 6 God creates the things that are in charge of what was created on Day 1, 2, and 3… in the same order.

I’ll tell you what… the Creation story is one of my favorite stories in the whole Bible.

I know this is a lot and if you don’t have a Bible in front of you… check it out when you get home… It’s literally all in the first chapter of the book… I promise you can remember that.

You see… when we sit with Genesis 1 for a minute you’ll notice that this first Creation story is clean… it’s ordered and super intentional… it says that it is good in several places, and in one part… the part about you and me… it crescendoes and says that it is VERY good.

SO WHAT IS THE POINT OF THE STORY?

Genesis 1 was a song. Your Bible begins with a song about us… and all of God’s creation. It is a work of art that celebrates a loving God who is an artist.

It is intricate… it is intentional… it is complete. And it is good.

The point is this…

God is Creator. And He intentionally designed something that is really good.

A beautiful garden. A good creation.

And at the beginning of your Bible there is a song that celebrates it.

Before you ever get into the story of Adam and Eve and the fruit and the serpent… and the pain of The Fall as we call it… that’s all in that SECOND creation story…

But before you ever get to any of that… you’ll find a song that celebrates God’s intentional creation.

This first story is full of design and full of purpose. And because you are IN IT… so are you.

***Before that Story of Pain… there is a Song of Purpose.

***Before the Story of Pain… there is a Song of Purpose… over you and over me… and over this entire creation. It is good.

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Several years ago… my father-in-law and I created something that I was really proud of.

My wife and I had bought a house that happened to have a formal dining room.

The problem was… we had just bought a house… which meant we didn’t have any money for a nice dining room table in that room.

So we did what we could do… with her dad’s help we built what I think is a pretty nice table.

More than that we actually were able to get red oak wood that had been lumbered from her grandfather’s farm.

So there’s a lot of meaning for us with this table.

And since then… it’s gone wherever we have… we have moved it to 6 different houses with us...

In that time we have had a daughter and we can still see the fork dents in it from where she would sit as a toddler learning to eat.

It’s a really meaningful piece of furniture… I know what it’s like to create something really special and purposeful and good.

Maybe you do as well.

APPLICATIONS

So we have these two creations stories in Genesis…

and aside from just knowing about the 7 days that are involved, I think that our traditions and our memories tend to focus on that second story… the one about Adam and Eve and the fall.

It highlights our massive failure… and our need for redemption right?

And historically, churches have done a decent job at convincing us that we are a broken people. Some churches are REALLY good at telling you what a huge sinner you are!

But if we can begin to untangle these two creation accounts we’ll start to see them both as the unique works that they are.

And that second story is important… and we see it play out in our lives...

BUT you need to know...

Before the Story of Pain… there is a Song of Purpose.

Before the failure… there is the fullness of God’s design.

Before the breakdown… there is the blueprint of something good.

Church… Yes! we are a fallen and broken people, in need of redemption… BUT you need to know that at the beginning of it all… there is a purpose...

There is a masterful, intentional design behind all of this.

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Speaking of design… (THIS IS CRAZY…) DID YOU KNOW...

A zebras stripes act as a bug repellant? They get far fewer horse fly bites…

The back part of a woodpecker’s tongue is wrapped around its brain as a cushion to help prevent concussions?

Otters hold hands while they sleep so they don’t drift apart?

2 Humans can come together and create a whole nother human! (we’re not going to talk about how)

CRAZY!

People… God is an amazing artist… He designed you on PURPOSE… and He called you very good!

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But it doesn’t always feel this way, does it?

Sometimes… maybe more often that not… that story of a fallen humanity… that story of Pain… feels more like your story than anything else.

Sometimes our failures and faults feel like our entire reality.

One lesson that I have learned (and one that I still am learning) is that guilt is an incredibly destructive force.

It’s different than remorse over something you’ve done wrong… remorse that encourages us to make changes.

I’m talking about the guilt that we just live in and stew in sometimes. Where our bad decisions feel more like our identity than just our mistakes.

Guilt is destructive… and it is a terrible motivator. In fact it is a de-motivator.

It has the opposite effect of remorse… it might keep you from making changes.

But tonight… I want you to know… Before the Story of Pain… there is a Song of Purpose.

You may have made some bad decisions… But God still made you with purpose and He calls you good.

Maybe you feel like you’ve thrown your potential away because of an addiction...

Maybe you feel like you’ve messed things up beyond repair..

God made you with purpose and He calls you good.

Or insert whatever it is that always has the capability of dragging you down… calling you guilty or unworthy.

BUT before all of that… God made you with purpose and He called you good.

Sometimes when all you can see is your sin… you forget that you are a son! And you are a daughter!

Because before the Story of Pain… there is a Song of Purpose.

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Before the Pain… there was a Purpose… and it is still our Promise.

This is why, in the grand story of God, it matters how the story begins.

In the beginning of the story… in the beginning of Genesis we see a perfect creation… a beautiful garden… everything living in harmony… God walking and talking among His people…

And IT IS GOOD.

And yes there is this huge disruption… and the story continues through it’s chapters and movements… but the whole time God’s good garden hovers over the story.

AS THIS FUTURE PROMISE THAT REALLY IS OUT THERE!

It is that purpose that we were meant for… to live in relationship with our Creator...

And it becomes a Promise… it is NOT null and void after the Fall… or after any of our bad decisions.

It is our promised future! That this is what God’s Kingdom will look like.

We see this in Revelation 22.

YES, we are literally going from the first chapter of the Bible to the last chapter of the Bible.

***Revelation 22:1-3a

Revelation 22:1–3a (NIV)

1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life… No longer will there be any curse.

And so here is a picture of Creation, brought back to its Purpose

It’s a city that looks a whole lot like a garden… there are rivers… there is a Tree of Life… and God is among His people…

And it specifically mentions a curse has been undone. The Story of Pain is over…

Because before the Pain… there was a Purpose… and it is still our Promise.

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This scene DOES remind us of that original garden… but I want you to notice one thing that is different about the ending.

In Revelation We see a character in the garden that maybe we didn’t notice before… suddenly there is a Lamb.

And It is the centerpiece of the Story… it is how the whole narrative changes direction.

Jesus is how the BIG story… AND your story/my story changes direction.

He has said that He comes to give us life and life to its fullest.

To restore what was broken.

Before the Pain...

Before YOUR story of Pain… God designed you with Purpose… and He calls you good.

And this is not null and void after humanity’s Fall… or after YOUR fall.

It is still a promise.

WE

It matters how this Story begins.

BOTH creation stories are so important… they both loom large as the Story continues.

And they both tell us something fundamental about ourselves… we are BOTH guilty AND still God’s good creation.

And we are not meant to live and dwell in that guilt… because God has masterfully designed you on purpose.

Maybe you need to hear this today… you were created with a purpose… and God made you very good.

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That table I told you about… the one that I’m really proud of… did you know that 6 moves can be hard on a piece of furniture?

Did you know that when you build something out of solid wood… that the wood acclimates differently to the environment of each place?

Our table is not as perfect as it used to be.

The gaps in the planks are getting bigger.

There are some pieces that are not held in as tight as they used to be.

There are some scratches from forks and caked in crumbs in the crevices.

But you know what was never an option for us? To get rid of it.

We’ve had things that didn’t survive this move or that move...

We’ve had things that were just easier to throw away than to fix.

That will never be the case for this table.

It is the centerpiece of our dining room and ONE DAY it will be restored.

It might be when I retire… but I’ll get to it.

But It was painstakingly built with meaning.

And it doesn’t matter what damage it has seen… it is beautiful to me and my family. And it was created with purpose.

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Sometimes life has a way of reminding us that we are fallen… we are damaged… we’ve made bad decisions… that we are truly children of that second Creation story...

But don’t forget the first one… that beautiful SONG.

That says You are a daughter… You are a son of God… You were painstakingly built with meaning…

This is a God who doesn’t throw His creation away. HE. FIXES. IT.

God made you on purpose… and He calls you very good.

CLOSING PRAYER

Who You are, who we are, who You’ve called us to be…