GENESIS CHAPTERS 1-3. THE FINGERPRINTS OF GOD.
HAS ANYBODY EVER HAD THEIR HOME BROKEN INTO AND THEIR POSSESSIONS TAKEN AND DESTROYED? MAYBE WHILST YOU ARE ON HOLIDAY OR UPSTAIRS ASLEEP, A WINDOW HAS BEEN SMASHED AND ENTRY GAINED THE NEXT DAY YOU RETURN FROM HOLIDAY OR FROM UPSTAIRS AND YOU FIND YOU HOUSE RANSACKED AND PILLAGED, ITS A MYSTERY TO YOU WHOSE DONE IT? THE THIEVES HAVE GOT AWAY? SO YOU TELEPHONE THE POLICE, THEY TAKE A STATEMENT AND EXPLAIN THE FORENSIC DEPT WILL BE DOWN LATER IN THE DAY SO NOT TO TOUCH THE CRIME SCENE.
YOU ARE AT A LOOSE END WHO’S DONE IT? YOU HAVEN’T A CLUE, BUT WHEN THE FORENSIC TEAM ARRIVE THEY START TO DUST FOR FINGERPRINTS, THEY BEGIN TO FIND CLUES AND THE MYSTERY STARTS TO BE UNRAVELLED AND AS THE PRINTS ARE MATCHED TO THEIR DATABASE AN INDIVIDUAL IS IDENTIFIED.
FRIENDS WHEN IT COMES TO CREATION MANY PEOPLE FEEL ABSOLUTELY UNSURE AND CONFUSED IN REGARD TO CREATION BUT LIKE THE FORENSIC TEAM WHO FOUND THE FINGERPRINTS TO SOLVE THE CRIME... THERE ARE FINGERPRINTS OF GOD ALL OVER THE PLACE TO LEAVE US WITHOUT DOUBT HOW THE CREATION. THIS MORNING WE WILL BE DUSTING DOWN FINDING THE FINGERPRINTS OF GOD ALL OVER HIS CREATION. THERE ARE SAO MANY WE WILL BY NO MEANS LOOKING AT THEM ALL BUT WILL BE LOOKING AT SIMPLY THREE AREAS THAT THE BAPTIST CONFESSION OF FAITH REFERS TO
ARTICLE 4. Creation
In the beginning it pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for the manifestation of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, to create or make the world and all things in it both visible and invisible, in the space of six days, and all very good.
1. THE FINGERPRINTS OF GOD IN CREATION
After God had made all other creatures, He created man, male and female, with reasoning and immortal souls, rendering them fit to live that life for Him for which they were created;
- being made in the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness; having the law of God written in their hearts, and having the power to fulfil it;
2. THE FINGERPRINTS OF GOD IN HUMANITY
- and yet living under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will which was subject to change.
Besides the law written in their hearts, they received a command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. While they kept this command they were happy in their communion with God, and had dominion over all other creatures.
3. THE FINGERPRINTS OF GOD IS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CREATION AND CREATOR.
BUT BEFORE WE DO THAT LETS UNDERSTAND SOMETHING ABOUT COMPETING WORLDVIEWS ALL OF US HAVE WORLD VIEWS GLASSES WITH WHICH WE OBSERVE THE WORLD AROUND US.... WE LIVE IN AN AGE WHERE EVERYBODY IS AFFECTED BY WORLDVIEWS NO-ONE IS IMPARTIAL – WE ALL HAVE OUR OWN BIASIS - WORLDVIEWS - NOT EVEN THE EMINENT OXFORD PROFESSOR AND CELEBRITY RICHARD DAWKINS IS IMPARTIAL (JOKE!)
• TWO HEAVY WEIGHT WORLDVIEWS PUNCHING IT OUT, AT THIS TIME IS - ATHEISTIC PSEUDO SCIENTIFIC WORLDVIEW - BIBLICAL CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW.
ATHEISTIC WORLD VIEW.... IS ONE WHICH IS DEVOID OF GOD - WHERE THE INDIVIDUAL HAS COME TO THE POINT OF HUMAN EXISTENCE WHERE HE/SHE THINKS OUR SYSTEMATIC THINKING IS FAR MORE SIGNIFICANT IN INTERPRETING WHAT WE SEE AROUND US FROM A PREMISE THAT THERE IS NO GOD. AND THAT WE EVOLVED BY CHANCE. THIS WORLDVIEW WILL SIMPLY DISREGARD THE DESIGN FEATURES, SEEN ALL AROUND THEM IN CREATION AND HUMANITY WHICH TO MEN LIKE EINSTIEN WERE SIGNS OF HIGHER INTELLIGENCE AND REBUILD IT A PSEUDO SCIENTIFIC WORLDVIEW OF NEO DARWINISM - MERE COSMIC BLIND CHANCE .....
ON A RECENT SCIENCE WEBSITE THE EDGE 117 SCIENTISTS WERE ASKED “WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS TRUE EVEN THOUGH YOU CANNOT PROVE IT?” PROF RICHARD DAWKINS SAID, “I BELIEVE BUT I CANNOT PROVE, THAT ALL LIFE, ALL INTELLIGENCE, ALL CREATIVITY AND ALL ‘DESIGN’ ANYWHERE IN THE UNIVERSE IS THE DIRECT OR INDIRECT PRODUCT OF DARWINIAN NATURAL SELECTION,’’WWW.EDGE.ORG
NOTE RICHARD DAWKINS HERE HAS JUST STEPPED OUT OF THE ARENA OF EMPIRICAL SCIENCE AND ENTERED THE ARENA OF HIS PERSONAL WORLDVIEW WHICH IS FILLED WITH PSEUDO SCIENCE DOGMA. HIS WORLDVIEW, DEVOID OF GOD , IS HIS STARTING POINT. SO MR DAWKINS IS NOT IMPARTIAL, HE HAS A BIASED AN AGENDA TO PROPAGATE AND UPHOLD ITS DOGMA TO HIM IT CANNOT BE REFUTED.
• RESPECTED SCIENTISTS BIRCH AND EHRLICH STATED IN THE JOURNAL NATURE CONFIRM THIS STANCE OF SCIENTIFIC DOGMA . “OUR THEORY OF EVOLUTION HAS BECOME...ONE THAT CANNOT BE REFUTED BY ANY POSSIBLE OBSERVATION. EVERY CONCEIVABLE OBSERVATION CAN BE FITTED INTO IT. IT IS THUS “OUTSIDE OF EMPIRICAL SCIENCE’ BUT NOT NECESSARILY FALSE. NO ONE CAN THINK OF WAYS TO TEST IT. IDEAS, EITHER WITHOUT BASIS OR BASED ON A FEW LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS CARRIED OUT IN EXTREMELY SIMPLIFIED SYSTEMS HAVE ATTAINED CURRENCY FAR BEYOND THEIR VALIDITY. THEY HAVE BECOME PART OF AN EVOLUTIONARY DOGMA ACCEPTED BY MOST AS PART OF OUR TRAINING.” NATURE JOURNAL P214 1967
HERE WE SEE SCIENTISTS ACKNOWLEDGING THE RELIGIOUS NATURE OF THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION YOU SEE TO A SCIENTIST WITH AN ATHIESTIC WORLDVIEW IN THE FIRST PLACE, HE WILL NOT START FROM THIS PREMISE OF GOD AND DESIGN BUT WILL DISREGARD DESIGN FEATURES HE SEES THE WHOLE OF CREATION AS A COSMIC ACCIDENT. SO NO SCIENTIST IS WITHOUT BIAS HE WILL ALWAYS BE COLOURED BY HIS WORLD VIEW.
YET ITS INTERESTING TO NOTE THE BIBLE STATES... ROM 1:28 THEY DID NOT CONSIDER IT WORTHWHILE TO RETAIN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD . ROM 1:19 -21 ALTHOUGH THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IS MADE PLAIN THROUGH CREATION V19,20 YET THEIR THINKING BECOMES FUTILE AND ULTIMATLY EXCNHANGE THE TRUTH OF GOD FOR A LIE.
SO WE NEED NOT BE SURPRISED BY THIS WORLDVIEW WHICH IS PROPAGATED UNDER THE GUISE OF UN BIASED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH WHEN IN REALITY IT IS ANTI GOD, PSEUDO SCIENCE AND MAN MADE RELIGIOUS DOGMA.
BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW : CHRISTIANS OUGHT NOT TO BE ASHAMED OR BAFFLED BY SO CALLED SCIENTISTS WHO CONSIDER IT NOT WORTHWHILE TO RETAIN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD. TO BOLDLY STATE GOD IS THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS, THE UNCAUSED CAUSE. AS BIBLE BELIEVING CHRISTIANS WE NEED TO RETAIN THIS KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THAT OTHERS HAVE REJECTED - AFTER ALL IT IS CLEARLY TAUGHT IN SCRIPTURES, REVEALED TO US IN NATURE, AND IMPRESSED UPON OUR HEARTS AND MINDS BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD WHEN A PERSON IS CONVERTED.
IT’S CLEAR FROM THE BIBLE AND THE BAPTIST STATEMENT OF FAITH THAT OUR GOD IS CREATOR THE MASTER ARTIST BEHIND THIS WORK OF ALL CREATION . HE IS THE ONE WITH SUPERIOR INTELLIGENCE AND HIS FINGERPRINTS ARE FOUND ALL OVER THE PLACE.
AS CHRISTIANS THIS IS WHAT WE ARE TO BELIEVE..... THAT GOD CREATED THIS WORLD, AND HE DID NOT USE A PROCESS LIKE EVOLUTION TO CREATE IT, EVOLUTION IS NOT CONSISTENT WITH WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES ABOUT CREATION.
YET SINCE THE ENLIGHTENMENT PERIOD PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO ACCOMMODATE EVOLUTION INTO THE BIBLICAL FRAMEWORK, EVEN PROFESSING CHRISTIANS WHICH IS WRONG FOR THE TWO ARE NOT COMPATIBLE AND HAVE BLATANT CONTRADICTIONS. I BELIEVE THESE INDIVIDUALS ARE MISINFORMED AND FAIL TO SUBMIT TO WHAT THE SCRIPTURES STATE.
WE MUST ALWAYS RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO PUT SCIENCE BEFORE SCRIPTURE. SCIENCE LIKE ANY OTHER INTEREST OF MAN IS NOT NEUTRAL , MEN AND WOMEN ARE NOT INFALLIBLE AND UNBIASED BUT ARE BIASED AND FALLIBLE .
SCIENCE LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE MUST BE SUBJECT TO SCRIPTURE, FOR THE WORD OF GOD IS TRUTH AND GOD IS INFALLIBLE. WE MUST BE AWARE OF MANS LIMITATIONS, BAD SCIENCE IS OFTEN FORCED BEYOND THE REMIT OF UNDERSTANDING AND BASED UPON ASSUMPTIONS AND INFERENCE (EVOLUTION). WHERE AS A LOVE FOR THE BIBLE WILL FORCE US TO GOOD SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION.
WHICH WORLDVIEW GLASSES ARE YOU WEARING? EVOLUTION AND CREATION ARE NOT COMPATIBLE.
• GENETIST RICHARD LEWONTIN FROM HARVARD UNIVERSITY STATES, “WHATEVER THE DESIRE TO RECONCILE SCIENCE AND RELIGION MAY BE , THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM THE FUNDAMENTAL CONTRADICTION BETWEEN EVOLUTION AND CREATIONISM. THEY ARE IRRECONCILABLE WORLDVIEWS.” INTRODUCTION TO, SCIENTISTS CONFRONT CREATIONISM P26 1983.
SO WHY I’M A CREATIONIST?
1. THE BIBLE CLEARLY STATES THAT GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH.
2. THAT GOD CREATED IN A LITERAL SIX DAYS GEN.1:3,8,13,19,23, 31,2:2 GOD HAD FINISHED 7TH DAY. HEBREW – YOM 24 HOUR PERIOD. (NOT MILLIONS OF YEARS)
3. THAT WHEN GOD HAD FINISHED HIS CREATION IT WAS GEN 1:31 VERY GOOD. THERE WAS NO DEATH AND DISEASE PRIOR TO HIS CREATION. (EVOLUTION THEORY BUILDS ON TOP OF DEATH BLOODSHED AND DISEASE)
4. GOD CREATED EVERYTHING ACCORDING TO THEIR KINDS. ( NO MACRO – YET MICRO EVOLUTION TAKES PLACE VARIATION WITHIN A KIND)
5. GOD CREATED HUMAN BEINGS IN HIS IMAGE (DIFFERENT TO THE ANIMAL LIFE FORMS) AND HE FORMED THEM OUT OF THE DUST OF THE GROUND NOT SOME SUB-HUMANOID AND BREATHED LIFE INTO THEM.
6. JESUS CONFIRMED THE GENESIS ACCOUNT OF CREATION, HISTORICAL ADAM AND EVE MATT19:4, HE SPOKE OF ABEL MATT23:35, NOAH MATT.24:37 LUKE 17:26, AND THE GLOBAL FLOOD MATT.24:38-39, LUKE 17:27. )
7. THE APOSTLE CONFIRMED THIS HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF GENESIS PAUL SPEAKS OF ADAM AND EVE (ROM 15:14, 1COR 15:22,45 2COR11:3 1TIM 2:13-14.)
8. AND IT WRITTEN UPON MY HEART AND CONSCIENCE THAT I AM A PRODUCT OF GODS HANDIWORK. HIS SPIRIT TESTIFYING TO THE FACT.
1. THE FINGERPRINTS OF GOD ARE FOUND UPON THE CREATION. V1
BAPTIST CONFESSION PART1 STATES: IN THE BEGINNING IT PLEASED GOD THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT, FOR THE MANIFESTATION OF THE GLORY OF HIS ETERNAL POWER, WISDOM, AND GOODNESS, TO CREATE OR MAKE THE WORLD AND ALL THINGS IN IT BOTH VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE, IN THE SPACE OF SIX DAYS, AND ALL VERY GOOD.
THIS SIMPLE STATEMENT IS ONE OF THE MOST PROFOUNDEST STATEMENTS CONFRONTING THE MODERN MIND - IT IS A STATEMENT THAT WE TAKE ON BOARD BY FAITH – HEB 11:3 BY FAITH WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE UNIVERSE WAS FORMED AT GOD’S COMMAND. GOD DOESN’T SPEND HIS TIME TRYING TO PROVE TO YOU HIS EXISTENCE, HE BELIEVES THAT EVERY HUMAN BEING ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET IS WITHOUT EXCUSE ROM.1:20 FOR SINCE THE CREATION OF THE WORLD GOD’S INVISIBLE QUALITIES - HIS ETERNAL POWER AND DIVINE NATURE ARE CLEARLY SEEN, BEING UNDERSTOOD FROM WHAT HAS BEEN MADE, SO THAT MEN ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE.
ISN’T ROM 1:20 SO TRUE? GOD IS CLEARLY SEEN IN CREATION. YOU JUST KNOW THAT GOD IS BEHIND IT ALL (GENERAL REVELATION). THERE HAD TO BE A GOD BEHIND IT ALL. WHEN THE AMERICAN ASTRONAUTS – ANDRES, LOVELL AND BORMANN GAZED IN AWE AT THE EARTH FROM THEIR ORBIT AROUND THE MOON ON CHRISTMAS EVE 1968. THESE THREE MEN EXPERIENCED A DEEP CONVICTION THAT WHAT THEY SAW COULD ONLY BE EXPLAINED BY SUPERNATURAL CREATION AND DESIGN.
READ PSALM 19: 1- 4. THE HEAVENS DECLARE THE GLORY OF GOD! ARE YOU NOT FILLED WITH AWE WHEN YOU LOOK UPON CREATION?
• ONE OF THE THE GREATEST SCIENTIFIC MINDS OF OUR TIME ALBERT EINSTIEN WROTE, “THE HARMONY OF NATURAL LAW REVEALS AN INTELLIGENCE OF SUCH SUPERIORITY THAT ALL SYSTEMATIC THINKING OF HUMAN BEINGS IS UTTERLY INSIGNIFICANT.”
FRIENDS GODS FINGERPRINTS ARE ALL OVER HIS CREATION ARE THEY NOT AND ALL THE SYSTANATIC THINKING OF HUMAN BEINGS THAT SAY OTHERWISE ARE UTTERLY INSIGNIFICANT.
“GRASP THIS!” GENESIS 1:1 WE SEE THE UNIQUE CREATIVITY OF GOD: THAT GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH .
THE WORD CREATE HERE IS USED TO REFER TO SOMETHING WHICH IS FUNDAMENTALLY NEW, WHEN GOD CREATED MAN YOU WILL SEE THE WORD USED IS FORMED GEN 2:7 A DIFFERENT WORD THAN THIS ONE HERE FOR HE FORMED MANY OUT OF THE DUST OF THE GROUND BUT WHEN HE CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH IT WAS ALL TOGETHER DIFFERENT .
HUMAN BEINGS ARE CREATIVE, BUT WE CAN ONLY CREATE OUT OF THINGS – WE ALWAYS NEED THE RESOURCES, WHETHER IT IS DIAMOND ON A SIGNET RING THE STONES NEED TO BE MINED TO THE CARS WE DRIVE WE NEED THE RAW MATERIALS AND THE PARTS MADE, TO CONSTRUCT THE CAR. EVEN IN THE CREATION OF LIFE WE NEED MALE AND FEMALE AND THE NECESSARY BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS TO PRODUCE LIFE. YET THE AWESOME FACT IS THAT IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH OUT OF WHAT (PRIMORDIAL SOUP) NOTHING, GOD NEEDED NO RAW MATERIALS.
THE HEBREW WORD FOR CREATE IS MORE RESTRICTIVE THAN THE ENGLISH WORD CREATE - WE USE IT BROADLY ANYTHING FROM A MOTOR CAR - TO A HOUSE CAN BE CREATED. BUT THE HEBREW WORD CREATED - BARA WHEN USED ONLY REFERS TO ABSOLUTE CREATION OUT OF NOTHING. GOD CREATED IT ALL OUT OF NOTHING.
AND THAT IS A FINGERPRINT OF GOD........ THIS ANSWERS A BIG EVOLUTIONARY DILEMMA? “HOW DID IT ALL BEGIN ?” WHAT WAS THERE IN THE BEGINNING TO CREATE? TO BEGIN THE PROCESS AND HOW WAS THAT CREATED?” GOD IS THE SELF EXISTENT GOD THE UNCAUSED CAUSE OF ALL THINGS. EVOLUTION CANNOT ANSWER THAT QUESTION.....
WHAT’S THE LIKELIHOOD OF THE FORMATION OF LIFE FROM INANIMATE MATTER IS ONE OUT OF 10 WITH 40,000 ZEROS AFTER IT. IT IS BIG ENOUGH TO BURY DARWIN AND THE WHOLE THEORY OF EVOLUTION.”
POPULAR NOTION IS THE BIG BANG? WAIT A MINUTE YOU TELLING ME MY LONG LOST ANCESTOR WAS A PIECE OF ROCK?
BUT WHAT CREATED THE BANG IN THE FIRST PLACE – WHAT WAS PRESENT BEFORE THE BANG AND WHAT CREATED IT? THAT ALL LIFE CAME THROUGH THE PRIMORDIAL SOUP? WERE JUST A BUNCH OF CHEMICALS? BUT WHERE DID THE INGREDIENTS FOR THAT COME FROM AND WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?
THE LAW OF BIOGENESIS CLEARLY STATES THAT ‘LIFE CAN ONLY COME FROM LIFE.’ AND HERE IN GEN 1: 1 WE HAVE THE STARTING BLOCKS OF LIFE THE ETERNAL LIVING GOD WHO IN THE ABSOLUTE BEGINNING CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH. HE IS THE UNCAUSED CAUSE THAT THE ATHEIST NEEDS TO SEE.....
DR. MICHAEL. DENTON, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW IN HUMAN MOLECULAR GENETICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO IN NEW ZEALAND HAS CONCLUDED, “ ALL THE EVIDENCE AVAILABLE IN THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES SUPPORTS THE CORE PROPOSITION…. THAT THE COSMOS IS A SPECIALLY DESIGNED WHOLE WITH LIFE AND MANKIND AS ITS FUNDAMENTAL GOAL AND PURPOSE, A WHOLE IN WHICH ALL FACETS OF REALITY HAVE THEIR MEANING AND EXPLANATION IN THIS CENTRAL FACT.” (NATURES DESTINY. HOW THE LAWS OF BIOLOGY REVEAL PURPOSE IN THE UNIVERSE. NEW YORK FREE PRESS, 1998) P389
MORE IMPORTANTLY WHY DID GOD CREATE OUT OF NOTHING?
BECAUSE IF GOD HAD MADE THINGS OUT OF GOD STUFF - WE WOULD HAVE BECOME WORSHIPPERS OF THE CREATED (MOTHER EARTH) RATHER THAN THE CREATED. BUT THE PROPHETS AND APOSTLES FORBID ANYTHING BUT THE WORSHIP OF GOD. SO TO WARD OFF FALSE TEACHING ABOUT THE DIVINITY OF THE EARTH. THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS AND REFORMERS WERE COMMITTED TO CREATION OUT OF NOTHING.
EARLY 2ND CENTURY BISHOP AND APOLOGIST IRENAEUS WROTE: IT IS PROPER, THEN, THAT I SHOULD BEGIN WITH THE FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT HEAD, THAT IS GOD THE CREATOR, WHO MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH, AND ALL THINGS THEREIN... AND TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THERE IS NOTHING EITHER ABOVE HIM OR AFTER HIM ; NOR THAT, INFLUENCED BY ANYONE, BUT OF HIS OWN FREE WILL HE CREATED ALL THINGS, SINCE HE IS THE ONLY GOD, THE ONLY LORD, THE ONLY CREATOR, THE ONLY FATHER, ALONE CONTAINING ALL THINGS, AND HIMSELF COMMANDING ALL THINGS INTO EXISTENCE.
AND IT THINK THIS IS OF PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE, BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE EVOLUTION HAS TOOK US AWAY FROM THE CREATOR TO THE WORSHIP OF THE CREATED. WHICH ALL THERE IS AND SO WE WORSHIP THE ORIGINS OF IT ALL AND ANY FASCINATING DETAIL OF THE EARTH AND ITS CREATURES WE HAVE BECOME WORSHIPPERS OF OUR ENVIRONMENT. ROM 1:25 THEY EXCHANGED THE TRUTH OF GOD FOR A LIE, AND WORSHIPPED AND SERVED CREATED THINGS RATHER THAN THE CREATOR - WHO IS FOREVER PRAISED. AMEN.
YET GOD CREATED EVERYTHING OUT OF NOTHING FOR HIS ETERNAL GLORY , THAT WE MIGHT WORSHIP HIM ALONE, AND HE DID IT OUT OF NOTHING AND AS WE PONDER THIS THOUGHT WE ARE FILLED WITH AWE AND PRAISE TO HIM FOR HIS ETERNAL POWER, WISDOM, AND GOODNESS TO CREATE ALL THINGS BOTH VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE FOR HIS GOOD PLEASURE .
POSITIVE LIFE APPLICATION: GOD AS CREATOR
WHEN WE ACKNOWLEDGE GOD AS CREATOR- WE SEE THE VERY REASON FOR THE BUILDING BLOCKS TO ALL OF LIFE. THE WORD GENESIS COMES FROM THE GREEK WORD MEANING - ORIGIN / SOURCE.
IF WE HAVE A DISTORTED VIEW OF OUR ORIGINS, WE WILL HAVE A FAULTY FOUNDATION BECAUSE FROM OUR ORIGINS STEMS OUR LIFE, OUR IDENTITY, OUR PURPOSE, OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE DIVINE AND CREATION, THE ANSWER TO HUMAN DEPRAVITY , OUR SAVIOUR AND OUR HOPE, WITH GOD AS OUR FOUNDATION WE HAVE THE VERY MEANING TO OUR EXISTENCE AND PURPOSE HERE ON PLANET EARTH AS A RESULT WE WILL REFRAIN FROM BECOMING MORE AND MORE SELF ABSORBED AND ABSORBED IN THE WONDER AND WISDOM AND GLORY OF GOD AND HIS WAYS.
SO A FUNDAMENTAL POINT TO UNDERSTAND , IS THAT THE WHOLE OF CREATION WAS NOT A MEANINGLESS EVENT BUT A PURPOSED AND DESIGNED EVENT BY GOD MANIFESTING HIS GLORY.
UI AND WE WERE AT HE CENTRE OF HIS CREATIVITY. NOT PLACED HERE BY CHANCE WITH NO PURPOSE BUT WE ARE HERE BECAUSE THERE IS A CREATOR WHO DEEPLY LOVES YOU AND DESIRES AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU. OUT OF ALL OF GODS CREATING PROCESSES, WE SEE THE PINNACLE OF THAT PROCESS IS IN HUMAN LIFE, OUR IDENTITY AND PURPOSE IS FOUND IN OUR CREATOR.
2. GODS FINGERPRINTS IN OUR HUMANITY 1: 26 -27. WE ARE MADE IN HIS IMAGE.
PART 2: AFTER GOD HAD MADE ALL OTHER CREATURES, HE CREATED MAN, MALE AND FEMALE, WITH REASONING AND IMMORTAL SOULS, RENDERING THEM FIT TO LIVE THAT LIFE FOR HIM FOR WHICH THEY WERE CREATED;
- BEING MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD, IN KNOWLEDGE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND TRUE HOLINESS; HAVING THE LAW OF GOD WRITTEN IN THEIR HEARTS, AND HAVING THE POWER TO FULFIL IT;
- AND YET LIVING UNDER A POSSIBILITY OF TRANSGRESSING, BEING LEFT TO THE LIBERTY OF THEIR OWN WILL WHICH WAS SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
“WHO AM I? “WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE HUMAN ARE WE JUST A HIGHER FORM WHICH AS EVOLVED OVER TIME, DID GOD CREATE US FROM SOME SORT OF SUB –HUMANOID CREATURE OR WERE WE CREATED DISTINCT ACCORDING TO OUR KIND LIKE THE BIBLE STATES ?
FRENCH PHILOSOPHER VOLTAIRE ONCE EXCLAIMED ABOUT THE NATURE OF OUR HUMANITY, THAT MEN AND WOMEN ARE SIMPLY ‘TORMENTED ATOMS IN A BIT OF MUD, DEVOURED BY DEATH, A MOCKERY OF FATE. THIS WORLD, THIS THEATRE OF PRIDE AND WRONG, SWARMS WITH SICK FOOLS WHO TALK OF HAPPINESS.’
• SERIAL KILLER : JEFFREY DAHMERS STORY. 1978 -1991 HE KILLED 17 MEN AND BOYS IN THE MOST GRUESOME WAY. IN AN INTERVIEW IN THE STATE PENITENTIARY BEFORE HIS UNTIMLY DEATH BY ANOTHER CONVICT IN 1994 HE WAS ASKED WHY HE DID IT? “IF MAN IS PRODUCT OF BLIND CHANCE AND THERE IS NO GOD, THEN NO RIGHT AND WRONG, WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME WHAT IS RIGHT AND WHAT IS WRONG?”
DAHMERS HAD COME TO THE CONCLUSION WITHOUT GOD LIFE WAS MEANINGLESS – THAT HUMANS WERE JUST AN EVOLVED SPEICES WITH NO RIGHTS AND WRONGS , HE COULD DO WHAT HE PLEASED, WHAT EVER YOU DID IT HAD NO CONSEQUENCES, ITS ALL MEANINGLESSNESS ANYWAY.
BUT THE AMAZING FACT OF THE GOSPEL IS THAT EVEN FOR SOMEONE AS EVIL AS JEFFERY – CAN BE FORGIVEN AND BE BORN AGAIN - HE CAME TO THE POINT OF REALIZING THAT THERE IS A GOD AND THAT HUMAN LIFE IS SPECIAL AND THERE IS RIGHT AND WRONG AND HE NEEDED TO REPENT AND TURNED TO CHRIST.
HERE IN GENESIS WE SEE THE KEY TO OUR HUMAN ORIGIN, THAT VOLTAIRE IS COMPLETELY WRONG….. THAT WE ARE NOT MERELY A BIT MUD AND ATOMS (ALBIET CORRECT WE WERE FORMED OUT OF THE DUST OF THE GROUND) BUT THERE IS SO MUCH MORE WHICH POINTS TO THE FINGERPRINTS OF GOD.
A) MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD.
GEN 1:26 “LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR IMAGE” THIS SHOULD TAKE OUR BREATH AWAY THIS SETS US APART ON THE 6TH DAY HE HAD FINISHED CREATING ALL OF CREATION AND ALL THE CREATURES THAT FILL THE EARTH HE SPOKE AND IT WAS (COMMANDED) . YET HERE HE CREATED THE FIRST HUMAN BEINGS IN THE IMAGE OF THE FATHER THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT (CONSULTATION WITHIN THE GODHEAD). V26 LET US MAKE MAN IN OUR IMAGE .
ADAM WAS MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD THIS MEANS HE WAS NOT BUT FLESH, LIKE THE ANIMALS BUT SPIRIT /SOUL ALSO HE WAS DISTINCT TO HUMANITY , THIS IMAGE IS IN THE SPIRIT AND NOT IN BODY – FOR GOD DOES NOT HAVE A BODY. HERE IS OUR GOD CONNECTEDNESS .
ADAM WAS CONNECTED TO THIS EARTH LIKE THE ANIMALS, BUT ABOVE THEM AND BEYOND TO THE ETERNAL. HIS PURPOSE IS WAS TO LIVE TO THE GLORY OF THE FATHER THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT IN WHOSE IMAGE HE WAS MADE IN TRUE KNOWLEDGE, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS. ADAM HAD A PERFECT RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD ……..
THIS IS SOMETHING OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD WE ARE UNIQUE… HUMANITIES REAL PURPOSE AND WORTH IS FOUND IN GOD. A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD SHARED CHARACTERISTICS FOUND IN HUMANITY TO THE GODHEAD
ALTHOUGH ADAM SHARED THIS PERFECT IMAGE , YET WITH THE FREEDOM OF WILL TO DO RIGHT AND TO DO WRONG 2:16-17. GEN:3. THE FALL: AS A RESULT OUR IMAGE OF GOD HAS BEEN DISFIGURED - WE HAVE LOST THAT WHICH ADAM FIRST HAD TRUE KNOWLEDGE, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS OF GOD IN HIS LIFE……OUR LIVES THROUGH ADAMS WERE DISTORTED AND EFFECTED OUR CHARACTER AND OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD TO THIS DAY. (YET WE ARE MORE THAN AN ANIMAL – THE IMAGE OF GOD)
BUT IN THE 2ND ADAM IN CHRIST ARE IMAGE CAN BE RESTORED COL 3:10 . PUT ON THIS NEW SELF, WHICH IS BEING RENEWED IN KNOWLEDGE IN THE IMAGE OF ITS CREATOR. EPH 4::24 WE ARE TO PUT ON THE NEW SELF, CREATED TO BE LIKE GOD IN TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS. SO IN CHRIST OUR IMAGE IS BEING RESTORED IN OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS.
B) A NEVER DYING SOUL.
GEN 2:7 THE LORD GOD FORMED THE MAN FROM THE DUST OF THE GROUND AND BREATHED INTO HIS NOSTRILS THE BREATH OF LIFE, AND THE MAN BECAME A LIVING BEING. GOD’S WORK HER CONTINUES TO AFFIRM HUMANITIES UNIQUENESS, A NEVER DYING SOUL/SPIRIT : YES GOD FORMED THE MAN OUT OF THE DUST OF THE GROUND ..CONFIRMING HE’S PART OF EARTH (SCIENTISTS HAVE GOT THAT RIGHT) … BUT HE BREATHS THE BREATH OF HEAVEN INTO HIM AND GIVES HIM LIFE, MEANING HE’S A PART OF HEAVEN AS WELL.
SOME PEOPLE THINK WERE JUST A BIT OF WATER WITH 17 TRACE ELEMENTS FOUND IN THE DUST, AND WHEN YOUR DEAD YOUR WILL RETURN TO IT AS FOOD AND FERTILIZER . BUT THEY IGNORE THE VITAL INGREDIENT TO LIFE, THE BREATH OF GOD IN EVERY HUMAN BEING MADE IN HIS IMAGE. THE SOUL OF HUMANITY WHICH IS ETERNAL.
KING SOLOMN MADE THIS POINT: ECCLES 12:7. AND THE DUST RETURNS TO THE GROUND IT CAME FROM, AND THE SPIRIT RETURNS TO GOD WHO GAVE IT.
ANOTHER KING 8TH CENTURY ROMAN EMPEROR CHARLEMAGNE HAS AN INTERESTING STORY SURROUNDING HIS BURIAL.
THIS FAMOUS KING ASKED TO BE ENTOMBED SITTING UPRIGHT IN HIS THRONE. HE ASKED THAT HIS CROWN BE PLACED ON HIS HEAD AND HIS SCEPTER IN HIS HAND. HE REQUESTED THAT THE ROYAL CAPE BE DRAPED AROUND HIS SHOULDERS AND AN OPEN BOOK BE PLACED IN HIS LAP. THAT WAS A.D. 814.
IN THE 10TH CENTURY , EMPEROR OTHELLO DETERMINED TO SEE IF THE BURIAL REQUEST HAD BEEN CARRIED OUT. HE ALLEGEDLY SENT A TEAM OF MEN TO OPEN THE TOMB AND MAKE A REPORT. THEY FOUND THE BODY JUST AS CHARLEMAGNE HAD REQUESTED. ONLY NOW, NEARLY TWO CENTURIES LATER, THE SCENE WAS GRUESOME. THE CROWN WAS TILTED, THE ROYAL ROBE MOTH-EATEN, THE BODY DISFIGURED. BUT OPEN ON THE SKELETAL THIGHS WAS THE BOOK CHARLEMAGNE HAD REQUESTED – THE BIBLE. ONE BONY FINGER POINTED TO MATTHEW 16:26: “WHAT GOOD WILL IT BE FOR A MAN IF HE GAINS THE WHOLE WORLD, YET FORFEITS HIS SOUL?”
CHARLEMAGNE WAS A MAN WHO HAD GAINED A VAST EMPIRE , FAME AND FORTUNE YET HE KNEW THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SOUL, IT WAS ALL MEANINGLESS COMPARED TO HIS NEVER DYING SOUL.
• WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE IS A MAN THAT HAS GREATLY EFFECTED OUR SOCIETY PEOPLE ADMIRED HIS WISDOM AND LITERARY GENIUS, BUT EVEN HE IN HIS LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT STATES ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THERE IS MORE TO MANS LIFE THAN THE PHYSICAL. : “IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN, I WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.... IN PERFECT HEALTH AND MEMORY, GOD BE PRAISED, DO MAKE AND ORDAIN THIS MY LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT IN THE MANNER AND FORM FOLLOWING. THAT IS TO SAY, FIRST I COMMEND MY SOUL INTO THE HANDS OF GOD MY CREATOR, HOPING AND ASSUREDLY BELIEVING THROUGH THE ONLY MERITS OF JESUS CHRIST MY SAVIOUR, TO BE MADE PARTAKER OF LIFE EVERLASTING...”
• WHAT ABOUT OUR SOULS HAVE WE COMMENDED THEM TO JESUS? ARE WE TRUSTING IN THE ONLY MERITS OF JESUS OUR SAVIOUR AND LORD?
3. THE FINGERPRINT OF GOD IN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CREATION AND CREATOR.
28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
Gen 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
A. OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CREATION.
WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN RULE OVER IT WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO CARE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, WE ARE CALLED TO BE FRUITFUL AND INCREASE, TO USE ITS RESOURCES FOR OUR NEEDS, WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN DOMINION OVER ALL OF CREATION – GODS CREATION .
APPLICATION - THE VERY FACT THAT HUMAN BEINGS TAKE A RESPONSIBILITY ABOUT THE PLANET SPEAKS OF THE FINGERPRINT OF GOD (NO OTHER CREATURES ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT AROUND THEM IN THE WAY HUMANS ARE? ) THEY USE IT BUT THEY DON’T START TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE CAN BETTER MANAGE IT! HUMAN BEINGS THINK ECOLOGICALLY ABOUT THE PLANET AND ITS RESOURCES. AND WE ALSO FAIL IN DOING IT CORRECTLY (FALLEN NATURE) AT TIMES.
BUT THIS IS A KEY FINGERPRINT OF GOD IN THE RELATIONSHIP WE SHARE WITH CREATION. HUMANS ARE DOING WHAT GOD ALWAYS INTENDED FOR THEM TO DO TO RULE, TO BE FRUITFUL AND TO TAKE CARE OF THE PLANET.
HUMAN BEINGS ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT ECO ISSUES ITS BIG BUSINESS - THEY BECOME ECO WARRIORS. BUT SADLY MANY TAKE THE CREATOR OUT OF THE EQUATION AND WORSHIP THE CREATED RATHER THAN THE CREATOR.
THEY SPEAK OF ENVIRONMENT ISSUES; CLIMATE CHANGE TO CONSERVATION AND THEY DESIRE TO BRING CHANGE, BUT ALL THEY SEE IS NATURAL CAUSES.
THEY FAIL TO SEE THAT WHEN ADAM SINNED THE EARTH WAS CURSED (GEN 3:17) SINCE THIS POINT IN HISTORY THE EARTH HAS BEEN DECAYING (THE ENVIRONMENT ISSUES ARE JUST A SYMPTOM OF THE CURSE AND MANS FALLENESS NOT TO CARE FOR THE PLANET AS HE OUGHT. )
ROMANS 8:22. WE KNOW THAT THE WHOLE CREATION HAS BEEN GROANING AS IN THE PAINS OF CHILDBIRTH RIGHT UP TO THE PRESENT TIME. THEY FAIL TO SEE THAT GOD HAS PROMISED A NEW CREATION AND THIS WHOLE EARTH IS WAITING IN ANTICIPATION OF ITS OWN REDEMPTION REV. 21 A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH.
B. OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR CREATOR
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
Gen 3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
• THE FINGERPRINT OF THE HUMAN WILL
THE INCLINATION OF THE HUMAN WILL : ADAM HAD THE CAPACITY TO SAY NO, TO DO THE RIGHT THING HE HAD GODS PERFECT WILL BEFORE HIM , HE WAS IN A PERFECT RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS CREATOR HE WAS CREATED MORALLY UPRIGHT AND PERFECT BUT THE WILL TO DO WRONG……
Eccles:7: 29 This only have I found:
God made mankind upright,
but men have gone in search of many schemes."
BUT HE TRANSGRESSED WENT HIS OWN WAY, AND AS A RESULT OF ADAMS TRANSGRESSION WE ARE ALL BORN IN SIN AND BY NATURE WE ARE ALL UNGODLY.
• NOTICE ADAM LISTENED TO GOD HE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO THE RIGHT BUT HE ALSO HAD THE WILL TO TRANSGRESS, HE CHOSE THE LATER, HE FAILED TO APPLY WHAT HE HAD HEARD. LIKE ADAM WE HAVE ALL SINNED. YET WE ALL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITIES TO PUT IT RIGHT IN CHRIST, WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LISTEN AND RESPOND TO THE GOSPEL. WITHOUT THE GOSPEL WE ARE GIVEN OVER TO OUR OWN DEPRAVITY ROM 1:28 FURTHERMORE , JUST AS THEY DID NOT THINK IT WORTHWHILE TO RETAIN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD , SO GOD GAVE THEM OVER TO A DEPRIVED MIND, SO THEY DO WHAT OUGHT NOT BE DONE.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF THIS DEPRIVED MIND ROM 1:29 – 32.READ: WICKEDNESS –EVIL-GREED AND DEPRAVITY-ENVY-MURDER-STRIFE-DECIET AND MALICE –GOSSIPERS - SLANDERS – GOD HATERS – INSOLENT – ARROGANT – BOASTFUL - INVENTIVE TOWARDS EVIL – DISOBEDIENT TO PARENTS - NO UNDERSTANDING -NO FIDELITY - NO LOVE – NO MERCY - APPROVE OF WHAT IS WRONG AND AGAINST GOD.
ISN’T THAT A MIRROR OF OUR WORLD, OUR NATION, OUR COMMUNITIES AND OUR OWN LIVES… THIS IS A VERY CLEAR FINGERPRINT OF WHAT GOD HAD PROMISED TO ADAM AND TO US ALL.
• THE FINGERPRINT OF DEATH
BUT THE NAIL IN THE COFFIN IN REGARD TO OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD IS DEATH ITSELF. GEN 2:17 GOD SAID, “YOU SHALL SURELY DIE.” GOD PROMISED ADAM DEATH AND IN ADAM ALL DIE. AND THIS ISNT REFERENCE TO PHYSICAL DEATH ALONE, BUT THE SPIRITUAL DEATH THEY EXPERIENCED IN SEPERATION FROM GOD. CAST OUT OF THE GARDEN WHERE GOD WALKED IN THE COOL LIGHT OF THE DAY AND SO IT IS WITH US PHYSICAL DEATH AND AN ETERNAL DEATH SEPARATED FROM HEAVEN WITH GOD AND SENTENCED TO THE PIT OF HELL AWAY FROM GOD FOREVER
BUT ALL IS NOT LOST, BECAUSE EVEN BACK THERE IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN A PROMISED SEED IS PLANTED. GEN. 3:15. “AND I WILL PUT ENMITY BETWEEN YOU AND THE WOMAN , AND BETWEEN YOUR OFFSPRING AND HERS; HE WILL CRUSH YOUR HEAD, AND YOU WILL STRIKE HIS HEAL.”
• THE FINGERPRINTS OF GOD IN CREATION.
• THE FINGERPRINTS OF GOD IN HUMANITY.
• AND THE FINGERPRINTS OF GOD IN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CREATION AND OUR CREATOR .
• ALL ARE REAL EVIDENCES TO BE FOUND THATY OUR GOD IS A CREATOR GOD AND WE ARE HIS CREATION.
AMEN
PASTOR Aubrey Vaughan
