Thursday, August 27, 2015

"The Creation of the World: Five Amazing Truths" (Genesis 1:1-2:3)




“The Creation of the World: Five Amazing Truths”

The creation of the world is described in 34 verses (Gen. 1:1-2:3) and approximately 900 words, fewer words than the Declaration of Independence (1,458 words). One reason for such a brief outline of creation is that people in ancient times depended on the oral transmission of information. Each generation passed on to the next generation by retelling their stories. Here in Genesis 1 is our story and it is what God wants us to know, about Him, our world, and ourselves.

Here are five amazing truths from the story of the creation of the world.
1. Before anything else existed, there was God
In the beginning God” (1:1). When is the beginning? Go back as far as you can imagine, put your finger on that, God was before that. God doesn’t have a birth date! “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Ps. 90:2). God is both infinite and eternal. To say He is infinite is to say that He is unlimited, measureless, boundless. To say God is eternal is to say that He has no beginning and no end, He is Lord over time, He has no past, no future, God is unchanging throughout all time. He has always been what He has always been and will always be.

2. God has created all that exists
God created the heavens and the earth” (1:1). The word for “created” is the word (“bara”) that is only used of God creating. What is unique about the creation story is that God did not use pre-existing materials, He created “out of nothing” (“creation ex-nihilo”). The writer of Hebrews explains it like this. “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” (Heb. 11:3).

God created by the power of His Word. Repeatedly in Genesis 1, it is God who speaks and it is so (cf. 1:6-7, 9, 11, 14-15, 24). Isaiah’s poetic testimony about God as the creator of all things is moving. “Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing” (Isa. 40:26). In Isaiah’s time there would have been about 5,000 stars visible at night. Astronomers today estimate that there are more than 400 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy and that there are 125 billion galaxies in the universe. And the God who created each of them calls them by name.

3. What God has created is good
In every act of creation what God creates He calls good (cf. 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). Creation is good because a good and gracious God created it. We need a biblical worldview that affirms the goodness of God’s world and the proper way to enjoy it. If the world seems evil, it only appears that way at times because sinful people have corrupted what God called “good.”

God created a good world that is to be enjoyed but not worshiped. We can only enjoy God’s good world when we set God’s creation in the proper order. Worshiping God’s creation by making idols of sex, pleasure, other people, material stuff, etc. will never satisfy. Only when we are properly related to our creator and redeemer can we truly enjoy God’s good creation.

4. People are the crowning achievement of God’s creation
All people are made in the image of God (1:26-27)! All people are created as spiritual beings, capable of relating to God, all people possess a moral nature. All people are made in the image of God! Grasping that truth alone would eliminate racism, it would give us a profound respect for the sanctity of all human life, born and unborn, and would end strife, bring peace and godliness, and change our world!

5. Human beings have been given the stewardship of God’s good creation
All that God did in creation, he did for you (cf. 1:29, 30). The Father created a good world for us to enjoy, there is just one stipulation, we are caretakers, stewards (managers) of God’s good creation. The first command in the Bible is found in 1:28. We show gratitude to God our creator by caring for what he’s given us in a way that brings honor to God.

How are you managing God’s creation? Closer to home, how are you doing in your corner of the universe? Even believers have to resist indifference and the desire for self-interest. We have to care about God’s creation, it’s a part of who we are. Knowing these amazing truths about creation, let’s seek to live in the light of them, teaching them to our children and grandchildren, and let’s show people in our world who are filling themselves with empty idols and building their lives on false hopes the better way, God’s way, the way of life!

Amazed By God’s Good Creation!

Pastor Joe


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