God's Good World
The Gospel Project • Sermon • Submitted
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· 7 viewsGod created the world through the Son and for the Son
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Introduction
Introduction
Some people still are influenced by the intellectual climate of the nineteenth century, which did much to undermine a positive appreciation of the Old Testament. The philosophical stand-point of the time led people to conclude that the Christian religion, as found in the New Testament, was nothing more than the natural evolution of man’s ideas about God. Consequently the Old Testament was regarded as a primitive, and therefore outdated, expression of religion. [Graeme Goldsworthy, The Goldsworthy Trilogy]
Today, the Christian religion is evolving even more so as to incorporate the ethics and values of secular culture into the gospel. One of the most offensive ideas of the Christian religion is the notion that human beings are creatures who exist for one reason and one reason alone: for God’s good pleasure. Our primary duty is to fear God and enjoy him forever. The idea that we are all servants of God, property of the divine, is an intellectually offensive and repugnant thought. Such thinking seems undignified, backwards, dehumanizing, and naive.
What is the most popular theory of origins in secular culture?
On November 24th, 1959, The first edition of Darwin’s On the Origin of the Species appeared and all 1250 copies sold out on the day of publication. [Rousas John Rushdoony, The Mythology of Science]
According to evolutionary theory, how old is the universe?
13.8 billion years. The earth is 4.5 billion years old. Homo sapiens appeared around 200k years ago depending on who you talk to.
The law of non-contradiction would preclude the possibility that evolutionary theory and the Christian doctrine of creation could both be true.
The twenty-first century is witnessing an aggressive attack on the credibility of Christian faith. Daniel Dennett likens people of faith to drunk drivers in that they are not only a danger to themselves and others but are doubly culpable because they have allowed religion to cloud their rationality. [Phil Hills, Should Christians Embrace Evolution?]
In our text this morning, the answer to the three great questions of philosophy are answered here:
Where did we come from?
Is there life after death?
Why is there so much suffering in the world?
What is the meaning of life?
Even Charles Darwin had serious doubts about his theory of origins:
"With me the horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man's mind, which has been developed from the mind of lower animals, are of any value or at all trustworthy. Would any one trust in the convictions of a monkey's mind, if there are any convictions in such a mind?"
The entire gospel rests upon the Christian doctrine of divine, supernatural creation.
God Created Everything
God Created Everything
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
This account of the origins of the universe is diametrically opposed to naturalistic evolutionary theory.
The truth is that there are a number of religions that make claims about the origins of the universe.
The Epic of Gilgamesh (1600-2100)
The adventures of King Gilgamesh which include an account of the flood
The Enuma Elish (1000)
The Babylonian account of the emergence of the gods, the formation of the physical world, and the organization of the pantheon under the rulership of Marduk at Babylon.
The Adapa Epic
Babylonian version of the first man. He offended Anu, the god of heaven. He was warned by his own divine father, Ea, not to eat the food or water of death Anu would offer him. However Anu was persuaded by two lessor gods to offer him food and water of immortality. Adapa refused them, thinking it was water and food of death and missed out on eternal life.
But despite the reiterated claims of an older generation of biblical scholars, Enuma Elish and in fact share no direct relationship. [K.A. Kitchen, The Reliability of the Old Testament]
Did God create everything from nothing or as we like to say it, ex nihilo?
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone,
In other words, God made everything that was not God. Only God is eternal.
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,
All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
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For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
Creation out of Nothing: Because God created out of nothing, creation has meaning and purpose and points us to the Creator
How should knowing God as Creator impact how we understand who He is, who we are, and why we should obey Him?
He is the sovereign King who is over all. We are his creation, his subjects, his property to do with as he pleases. We have no claims on God. We should obey him because obedience is his right as sovereign Creator. If we love him, we will obey him.
The level of presumptuousness I witness among Christians is nothing short of shocking, not to mention extremely disturbing. We pick and choose which commandments and principles of Scripture we are going to take seriously and which ones we are not.
“So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead you rebelled against the command of the Lord, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country.
“And the Lord said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; otherwise you will be defeated before your enemies.” ’
‘But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’
By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
The Sin Achan and the consequences at the battle of Ai. Pseudo-Christians are called leaven by the Apostle Paul in . They must be purged from the body of Christ. It is wrong to “love” men more than God or more than the body of Christ.
I disagree with the commentary at this point. I see no reason to read into template metaphor as if God is giving us a guide for how he works in the world. We would do well not to play fast and loose with the biblical as if we have the right to shape it into whatever life-lessons we want.
If God created the universe and it is also true that all things must have a cause, then someone might ask, who created God?
How does it make you feel to know that God personally brought you into existence?
What should we think about evil and suffering in the world? What about in your life in particular?
Why do you exist?
God Created Everything Good
God Created Everything Good
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
Three times in this section Moses wrote that God saw that what he had created was good. However, in all, chapter one contains this expression 7x. In v. 31 he says “very” good.
Not only is God powerful enough to create something from nothing, he is caring enough that he creates only what is very good. He is transcendent over all creation, but he is also immanent.
Creation is good, in God’s judgment, because He created it for a purpose that it fulfilled—to reflect and display the good character of the Creator. God’s people should affirm and seek to preserve the goodness of God’s creation.
Does caring for God’s creation mean that Christians should become environmentalists? Protesting the use of fossil fuels, coal mining, and global warming?
Absolutely not! Such activism is outside the boundaries of the Christian church. But it does mean that you do your personal part. Don’t litter. It’s illegal and stupid.
We must not go further than the text commands us to go. Creation is fallen right along with sinful man. The only redemption it will experience is in the end, and that by fire. Christians cannot save the earth nor should they concern themselves with such distractions. Live responsibly in this world as much as it is in your power to do so.
How should the intrinsic goodness of God’s creation impact how we live in it?
All of creation witnesses to the existence of the Creator who will one day hold men accountable for this rebellion.
We should also take the time to acknowledge the wonder and beauty of God’s handiwork in creation.
Do we hold to a young earth or old earth view?
וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר י֥וֹם שְׁלִישִֽׁי׃ פ
This construction gives no reason to conclude anything other than these were 6 ordinary days and nights. There was evening and there was morning, a day one, two, etc.
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
God Created Everything for His Son
God Created Everything for His Son
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
He is the firstborn of all creation.
All things were created through and through and for Jesus.
Jesus is before all things.
In Jesus, all things hold together.
Jesus is the head of the body.
Jesus is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.
Jesus has first place in everything.
Jesus is your Lord and Master whether you live like it or not. And some day, you will bow your knee to him.
For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
What are some ways you have observed the destructive nature of sin?
As an fyi, environmentalism has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the gospel.
Be on the lookout for men who claim that all these social issues are also gospel issues. Before you know it, being a Christian will involve protests, political lobbying, having to vote and vote a certain way, etc. Jesus never left the church in the world in make the world a better place to live, more moral, kinder, gentler, less oppressive. He left the church in the world to preach the gospel, baptize converts, and make disciples. And only a few will respond to the true gospel.
The story of the Bible: Creation—Fall—Redemption—Restoration. This is the story of Jesus. This is the story that begins with “In the beginning God…”
This is the story of Jesus. This is the story that begins with “In the beginning God…”