God’s Good Creation
Date: Sept 7, 2008
Scripture: Genesis 1
We want to look for just a few minutes this morning at “God’s Good Creation.” And there are two things that will help us set the foundation for understanding creation.
1. “In the beginning...” Those first three words of the entire Bible have been the subject of much discussion down through the generations. Still today, theologians (and others) debate what “in the beginning” really means. In the beginning of what? In the beginning of time? In the beginning of God’s creativity? In the beginning of the earth as we know it? In the beginning of what?
And the reason we have those kinds of debates, is because we as humans, being the limited finite creatures that we are, can never quite put our finger on what the “beginning” of anything, really, is.
For example: When does LIFE begin? That’s been a very hot topic for years.
When does life really END. Another hot topic.
The answer to those two questions have all kinds of ramifications and serious consequences depending on what answer we settle for.
Other questions about beginning that can be debated, but the answers don’t, perhaps, have nearly as weighty consequences, are things like:
When did my house really begin? Was it when it was completed, or the first brick was laid, or the foundations were started, or the excavators came in with bulldozers, or the surveyors brought t heir instruments, or the architect drew his plans, or the developer had an idea, or some man somewhere had the first idea of house? (Preacher’s Commentary, Gen. 1:1-31).
The point of recognizing these unanswerable questions is so that we can understand, that no matter what the beginning was - that God ordained to be the very first words of that which is the basis for our faith, and therefore our life, and therefore our eternity. No matter what that beginning is referring to.....
2. In THAT beginning, God...
No matter what that beginning was, God was there. And so we come to understand that even before we consider God’s creation, we consider GOD - the Creator.
ILL: An astronomer was lecturing to a group in France, and declared, “I have swept the universe with my telescope, and I find no God.” A musician in the crowd appropriately rebuked the astronomer: “Your statement, sir, is as unreasonable as it is for me to say that I have taken my violin apart, have carefully examined each piece with a microscope, and have found no music.”
Right from the very beginning, whatever that was, - there was God, the Creator. And it is through his creation that we can learn five very important things.
The first thing that creation teaches us with the very first words of scripture is that:
1. There is only one God.
We hear the reverberations of what that one true God, through Moses, would eventually give to the people of Israel - and what Jesus, as God incarnate, would give to the religious leaders of his day, and to all of us today, that there is, and shall be, no other gods, before the one true God.
Before we consider the creation. We must acknowledge the Creator.
“In the beginning God created...”
This morning we are sitting out here in this beautiful park, enjoying the sunshine, hearing the rustling of the leaves in the trees. The children are over under those trees playing games. And so we are experiencing today, as part of our worship, the wonder of God’s creation as we are in it. But not only are we worshiping IN God’s creation today, we ARE God’s creation. And I want to draw your attention to something which I believe is very significant in this first chapter of Genesis - the opening book of the Bible.
The Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
In the first few verses we see that God created the water and the sky and the land, and he separated the light from the darkness. He brought order out of the space that was chaos. And at the end of verse 10 we see that God stepped back, looked at what he had done to that point and “saw that it was good.”
Then we see that God made growing things, plants and trees and seed-bearing fruit, the kinds of things we have enjoyed so much from our gardens this summer and as the harvest approaches fast, the corn and the peas and the soy-beans. And then we see at the end of verse 12, once again God stepped back, looked things over and he “saw that it was good.”
Then God made the stars and two lights, one big one, one not so big, to shine down on the earth to govern the day and the night and he saw that it was good.
And then he made the waters swarm with fish and he put birds in the air and he saw that it was good. And made the animals and saw that it was good.
And then in verse 26, we find that God created us - he created human beings in His image, and he blessed us, and told us to govern the earth, and then he looked over everything he had made, and he saw that it was VERY good.
When God looked at the whole thing, together, he saw that it was VERY good. Up until that point, each of the things God had made, was good.
So creation teaches us:
2. As individual creations of God, we are good.
3. Together, we are very good. We saw that just this week as the Women’s Fellowship prepared for, and then had, their basement sale. One women could never have accomplished that - but together - together it seemed like everything went like clockwork. And there was coming and going, and sharing of responsibility and laughter - and even good food at the end of it all. We are created good. Let’s not forget that together, we are very good.
One of the most exciting parts of the creation story as we read it in Genesis 1, is HOW God created.
Through most of this chapter we read,
God said, “Let there be light...”
God said, “Let there be a space...”
God said, “Let the waters beneath...”
God said, “Let lights appear...”
God said, “Let the waters swarm...”
God said, “Let the earth produce...”
God said, “Let us make human beings...
What? The account of creation goes from “let there be” to “let us make.” Now that gets me really excited about who I am as one of God’s good creations. In all the other cases, God spoke his creation into being. Except us. Except you and me. When it came to you and me...he MADE us.
4. God spoke everything into existence, but he made us.
I was talking to someone just this week who was telling me about the model airplanes he makes. And they’re from a kit, but he said something rather striking as he explained to me about making those airplanes. He told me he sometimes puts hours and hours of research into the plane that he’s building, and he always makes at least one change to every airplane.
You know what that tells me? The airplanes are unique. And I don’t think it’s stretching the analogy too far to suggest this morning that when God makes us - each of us - he makes us unique. We’re all from the human being “kit” but before we are ever fashioned in our mother’s womb (as the Psalmist says), just like the research that goes into those airplanes. Before we are fashioned in our mother’s womb, God knows us. And he knows the very thing about us that is going to make us unique.
Every single one of us here today, is known by God, and specially designed by him to be all that we can be for His honor and His glory. He loves you. In fact He loves you so much, that’s the reason he made you the way you are.
Now I don’t know about you - but sometimes I have a bit of a problem with that. You know, God loves me so much that’s why he made me the way I am? Hmmm. (Pause) Make no mistake about it my friends. God loves you. And he made you, like you are, for His honor and His glory. And if you have a problem with that, may I suggest to you, you have not yet discovered the beautiful person God made you to be. You are unique. And you have value. And those things in you that you dislike - that have been corrupted or tainted by the hurts and struggles of life, or by bad choices, or wrong decisions, are the very ashes from which our Redeemer (whom we sang about just a few minutes ago), will bring the most beauty, and the kind of enduring, gentle strength, that brings honor and glory to HIS name, because of what he has accomplished in you.
God spoke everything else into existence, but my friend, He made you.
There’s one other thing I want to draw to your attention today about creation. It may seem a bit academic, but I think it’s important for us to mention it, especially in this day. And that is this:
5. Everything that God created, produced offspring of the same kind.
Everything that was created at the beginning - all the things that today produce offspring - or multiply - multiply the same kind.
In other words, lizards don’t produce birds.
Apple trees don’t produce pears.
Dogs don’t produce cats.
Monkeys don’t produce humans.
Oh oh. :-) When was the last time you heard Darwin’s theory of evolution refuted from the pulpit?
Well, it’s like this. I figure if teachers can teach evolution in our schools, preachers can preach creation from our pulpits! Not only can we, but we ought to.
God’s good creation, is very good.
Let’s acknowledge the Creator and His Creation by singing # 28, For Beauty of Meadows....
