Just Words:
Creation
Scripture Text: Gen 1.1-5 & Acts 19.1-7
Genesis 1 is one of the most talked-about passages in all-of-Scripture. And it’s important for us to look-at and understand because it puts things in perspective. …and it gives us perspective on political debates, …and educational-objectives, …but-also, I think it teaches us something about how to live our personal-lives.
I. Origins
The first thing to notice about this passage is that it talks about origins. Origins… the beginning;
…the start of this world.
Origins are important. This week, a new roof was put on the church. Apparently a hail-storm this past-summer did some damage to the shingles. Now, we wouldn’t call Dillon’s grocery-store and ask them to come-out and fix the problem ~ …would we? Dillon’s does a great job at what-they-do ~ …provide groceries-with-a-smile; …but they don’t-know what-to-do with a roof that has been beat-up by hail! So, in-order-to-fix the problem, …we need to go to the people who know about roofs.
Just before Christmas, our van broke-down. The battery went absolutely-dead! Well, in order to fix the problem, …I didn’t go to Walgreen’s! It’s true that the pharmacy has stuff to fix problems; …but the stuff-they-have is medicines; …and the problems they fix are health-and-body problems. I don’t think that Walgreens could fix the battery on our van!
When was the last time that you felt hunger pains?... My wife’s family says that when you’re really-hungry, …they say that “your big ones are eating your little ones”! After almost-eighteen-years in the family, …I still don’t know what that means!
But, the last-time that you felt hunger pains, …did you go down to the local furniture store?
Maybe you think these are silly-illustrations. But maybe-they-show that we instinctively recognize… …that-when somethin’-is-wrong, we go to the manufacturer or the store that sold the item. When you’re sick or when you have something that’s broken, and it needs-to-be-fixed, …we go to the source… where you got it, …to the one’s who made-it. They are the ones who know how to fix-the-problem. They have manuals that tell how to use and maintain their products. And-sometimes, when an-item breaks-down, and we take it in to be fixed, …we discover that we haven’t been treating (or handling) the item in the way that it was intended. But you-get-all-this by-knowing where the thing originated.
Genesis 1 tells us about the origins of the world; …it tells us about our own origins. Our beginnings are rooted in God ~ …He is an incredibly-powerful Being that created this world. We cannot properly understand ourselves or the world, …we can’t-properly-understand-it-all without understanding our origins.
Science may be able to tell us great, complex answers to all kinds of “how?” questions. But, science cannot answer the “who” question: …”Who is behind this world? Who created it-all?”
Our origins ~ …the beginnings of plant and animal life, …the beginnings of light and darkness, …physics and chemistry, …gravity and photosynthesis ~ …the origins of all-that-is ~ …physical matter and the laws that govern the physical realm, …the biology-of-man and the heart-of-humanity, …the complexities of DNA and the mystery of love ~ …the origins of all-that-is, is found in the will of God. He is the Originator. He is the Creator. “In the beginning, God…” Before all-this got-jump-started, …came-into-being, …thrown-into-motion, …before all-this that we call ‘our world’, …before-it-all, …there was God.
And the Spirit of God hovered-over, …like a mother-hen hovers over her about-to-hatch eggs; …or, like the concert-composer hovers over blank sheets of paper ~ …just-before he marks the first-note of a masterpiece; …or, as the painter hovers over an empty-canvas ~ …just-before the first splashes-of-color. The Spirit of God hovers over the nameless, shapeless, chaotic void-of-nothingness just-before He said, “Let there be light…”
Our origins are rooted in God ~ …in His will; …in His decision to create; …in His power to make; …in His love that motivated Him to act. Our origins are rooted in God!
II. Purpose
Because the Creation began with God ~ …and-not with dumb-luck,…and-not with pure-chance,…and not with a cosmic role-of-the-dice ~ …but because the Creation began with God, …the Creation has God-given purpose.
Knowing someone-or-something’s origins is about-more-than knowing where it started. It’s-about more-than knowing how the pieces fit-together. But, origins also tell us about purpose and intention. We cannot know or find the purpose for this world, …and we can’t know our-own-personal purpose-in-life apart from God’s will. That’s because He is our Creator. He is where it all began. He is the One who decided and acted and spoke this world into existence. What-that-means-is, …I’m not here on this-earth because of blind-luck. You are not here because of chance. We are not here on accident.
This world exits, …and we are part of it because God chose to create. And in-creating, He gave it-all purpose and design. In-order-for-us to find our place in this world ~ …whether you’re in grade-school or, living in the land-of-retirement ~ …in-order-for-us to find our purpose-and-place, we must look to God.
When He created us, he did-so with stuff-in-mind, …and with plans for our paths, …and with love for our souls. He is our Creator. Genesis tells us that God created all-that-is, out of formlessness and emptiness.
Many people experience life as void-of-meaning. Their lives are wayward, …aimless, …they are lost. They meander through the cosmos of confusion and frustration and desperation. They feel it in their hearts ~ …the hollow, empty feeling. Their lives are an incarnation of chaos ~ …moving from one-crisis to another; …they can’t seem to get their feet under them; …it’s-as-though their lives are like a ball in a cosmic-pinball-machine ~ …shoved and bounced and kicked to-and-fro. They want to get-focused and move-toward some bigger life-goals, …but the direction of their lives is-always-de-railed by crises and tragedies. Have you ever-been-there?... …where life is perpetual-motion, …but perpetually going nowhere!?!
Many, many people live their lives caught in the cycle-of-going-nowhere, …spinning their wheels, …wondering what’s-the-use, …believing there’s nothin’-better-for-them, …caught in a swirl of confusion and frustration and desperation.
But, when you understand your origins ~ …that you have breath and life because God-Almighty chose to create you ~ …when you understand your origins, …you also begin to understand that there must-be-purpose for your life. God don’t-do-nothin’ without purpose! He’s got His reasons. And there is reason for you. And there’s reason for me. And God has reasons why He has brought us together as a church-family.
Genesis, chapter-one, doesn’t-just tell us about the beginning-of-the-universe, …it also-tells-us about our lives ~ that we are created on purpose. Our lives have meaning when-we-see that we’re supposed-to-be fundamentally, foundationally rooted in Him!
And this is good news. It’s good-news for those who have been beaten-down and kicked-to-the-ground. It’s good-news for those who struggle under the weight-of-hopelessness. It’s good-news for those who wander-aimlessly, without direction. It’s good-news for children-and-teens who are early-in their journey-through-life. God created this world on-purpose and with-purpose. And the same-God who spoke all-this-universe into existence so-long-ago, …this same-God can shape our lives in-such-a-way that we are filled with purpose-and-meaning!
III. Value
An interesting thing happens in verse 4. God speaks, …and light shines.
Incidentally… did you notice that He doesn’t create the sun and moon until later?... It’s as though the light emanates from God-himself, …and not from some created-thing! It gives even-more “umph” to Jesus’ claim-that He is the light!
But-anyway!... God speaks, and light shines… …and verse 4 says, “God saw that the light was good”. This begins a pattern that we see throughout the process of creation. God creates. God evaluates. God declares that it is good.
Besides-the-fact that God is the Creator ~ …and-that we find our beginnings in Him; …and besides-the-fact that God created with purpose ~ …giving our lives meaning; …it is very-important to recognize that God evaluates His creation and-that He calls it good. What-God-creates, has value. It has moral-weight. It is not neutral; …and it certainly isn’t inherently-evil. Genesis tells us that at each stage in the process of creating His world, …God stopped long-enough to evaluate His work and declare it ‘good’.
This has huge implications for our lives. Today, we have scientists that use the bully-pulpit of science to teach-that we came from a muddy-pool of brooding-bacteria. From this point-of-view, …”good and evil’ are categories that don’t apply to life and the universe. From their point of view, …the world-we-live-in is a neutral place that doesn’t have design-or-purpose imbedded within it’s structure. Logically-speaking, if the world is a neutral-place, then it’s neither valuable nor worthless. “It’s just here!” “Deal with it!” “Make the most of it!”
But, that’s a far-cry from the picture-painted in Genesis. Life-and-existence have meaning-and-purpose because this world was-created with intention and design. And, God looked at His handiwork and called it good; …God is pleased with what He has made. It is to be celebrated.
It may be a crude-way of-saying-it, …but God don’t-make no-junk! This world isn’t trash. You aren’t garbage. I’m not waste-material. This church – and the people and the relationships we find here – …this body isn’t, royal-waste-of-time.
Why?... Because God is behind-it-all! And what God does, …God does well. What God creates, …God calls good.
Now, I understand that there’s sin in the world; …and sin has cast a long, dark-shadow over God’s good creation. However, …we should not let that sad-reality steal-the-joy of knowing that our purpose, …and our-pleasure are found in God! He creates out-of-love; …and He creates with purpose; …and He creates by His own choice.
And, here’s a news-flash, God isn’t done creating! He creates new-life in those whose hearts turn to Him in repentance. He creates new-life in relationships that seek reconciliation through His healing. He creates new-life in churches that are joined-together in a brotherhood of faith.
God is still in the business of creating. And because God don’t-make no-junk, …we can rejoice in the good that He creates within-us and between-us!
CONCLUSION
Politicians and reporters and educators will continue to debate the place of evolution in the classroom. They may-debate how the universe came into being... Some-say that it-all-started in a huge-explosion. Others say that it all very-gradually developed out of a primordial soup. But, those theories are scientists’-attempts to explain “how” the universe began.
Scripture, on-the-other-hand, teaches us that there is a much-bigger and much-more-important question: Who stands behind it all? Who got this whole thing going, in-the-first-place? Who is the master-mind who came up with this infinitely-complex, and absolutely-beautiful design that we call ‘the universe’?... Who?
And the Bible gives us the-answer to that-question: It is God! God created all-that-is, …created it in love, …created us out of love, …created-it-all with love in mind.
In one of my study-Bibles, I came across a terrific-comment:
“We will never know all the answers to how God created the earth, but the Bible tells us that God did create it. That fact alone gives worth and dignity to all people.”
I want to draw your attention back to verse 2, …which says: “…the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” In the Genesis account of Creation, the Spirit is the nurturing, abiding, hovering presence of God as the creative-work emerges. This is the same Spirit that Jesus promised to give to His disciples. This is the same Spirit that was poured out on His followers in the upper-room. This is the same Spirit that hovers over our lives ~ …whether they be filled with chaos and desperation, …whether we feel aimless and lost, …whether our lives are a mess and nothing-good seems to be found-there ~ …the Spirit of God is hovering over your life, …and God wants to do a new work in you! He wants to create something good, …where-before there seemed to be nothin’ of value. He wants to create something beautiful ~ …filled with God-given purpose. He wants to create something-incredible ..in-which His glory shines-forth. He wants to do a work-in us-that shows His Spirit is present and active, …hovering-so-close, …nurturing a new-birth, …a new-change, …a new-direction.
The Spirit of God ~ who was present as the universe was brought-into-existence ~ …The Spirit of God wants to create something new in you!... A new heart, …a new attitude, …a new point-of-view, …a renewed-relationship, …new hope; He wants to bring healing where there is brokenness; …order where there is chaos, …hope where there is despair, …love where there is bitterness, …faith where there is doubt. The God who spoke everything into existence can do a new work in you! Will you let Him create something new a beautiful in you? Will you let the Spirit change, or transform, or renew your heart and mind?...
