10 Amazing Miracles from Scripture Series (10 of 10)
Creation: The Big Bang Reality
December 13, 2015 CFBC Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
A The Bible puts tremendous significance upon the fact that God created the universe, the Creator of Creation.
1 Genesis 1:1 (NASB) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
a We don’t hear first that God is Love, Holy, Good . . .but that He is the Creator.
b In the Gospel of John, the most theologically oriented of the Gospels, creation comes screaming out of the gate: John 1:1-3 (NASB) 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
aa John is telling us that we can’t think back to a time in eternity that Jesus was not present. (Coeternal)
bb v.2, God is the creator and the Father worked through the Word to create creation.
2 Believing that God is our Creator is significant to our faith.
a Hebrews 11 is called “The Hall of Faith”, in which the author writes, “Hebrews 11:3 (NASB) By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”
b In the last book of the Bible, John the Revelator writes that the 24 elders praise the Almighty in part because He is the Creator: Revelation 4:11 (NASB) 11 "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created."
c In the picture that God has presented of Himself to us in His Word, is the clear role of Him as Creator.
B Believing that God is the creator effects our understanding of everything concerning our faith.
1 Man was uniquely created by God.
a He created the heavens, earth, sun, stars, waters, animals, plants . . . but the creation of humankind from the dust of the earth/rib from man . . . in God’s image, makes humankind different than the rest of creation.
b That tells us something about the sanctity of life, protection of the unborn, being a voice for the silent.
aa How we treat each other, love one another.
bb If we truly believe He created us, formed us in our mother’s womb, uniquely/wonderfully made . . . then we truly are special amongst God’s creation.
cc Jesus’ didn’t come to redeem any other part of creation but humankind.
c If we deny/alter the belief that God is our creator, we then have to alter our views on everything else about what we believe about the Bible.
2 Isaiah describes God’s power to create, His provision to sustain and His presence to help.
a Isaiah 40:21-22 (NASB) 21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
b From His sovereign position in heaven God watches over His created universe.
aa Nothing or no one can be compared with our transcendent God.
bb God is almighty and all-powerful, but even so He cares for each of us personally. Isn’t that awesome? ... that the Sovereign of the Universe cares for you?
C Let’s jump down to verse 21. I love Isaiah’s awareness here. "Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?"
1 News about God’s sovereign power is not new. It has been evident to one and all since the beginning of time.
a God existence and amazing power has been evident since the foundation of the cosmos itself for the inanimate cosmos itself could not be responsible for such grandeur and intelligent life.
b Isaiah boldly proclaims that the Lord is the "unmoved mover" (Aristotle) behind His awesome creation.
c So many who see and hear are blind and deaf toward God.
2 God is also the Governor of the world. Look at the first half of verse 22. "It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers."
a Twenty-two hundred years before Christopher Columbus, God said our planet was circular (The Hebrew word encompasses the concept that the earth is a sphere) and not flat.
b Here it was in God’s Word all along. Science acts like it is superior to Scripture, but I’ll take God’s explanation every time.
aa If you feel small when you imagine God’s creation, it’s because you are!
bb God says we’re like grasshoppers! Picture yourself on a hot summer night out on the deck with your family and friends having a barbecue.
cc How much do the grasshoppers in your lawn affect your evening? A little background noise maybe? Hardly a distraction.
c That’s the entire human race before God and His awesome purposes.
3 Verse 22 continues to declare that the Heavens Are God’s Handiwork. God "Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in."
a The word heavens describes all of God’s created universe. In the beginning He said, "Now, let’s make the universe" and poof ... as easily as you put up an umbrella, it was all there.
b Do you have any idea the immensity of the universe God spoke into existence?
c For many years I’ve tried to find a decent description. Try this on for size: We’re on planet earth, and we are 93,000,000 miles from the sun. Imagine that distance as the thickness of a piece of paper.
aa From the earth to the sun, 93 million miles equals a piece of paper.
bb With that in mind, the distance to the nearest star is a stack of paper 71 feet high, with every single piece of paper representing 93 million miles. (Stay with me; this is getting outrageous.)
cc The size of our galaxy is represented by a stack of paper 310 miles high (the distance from Chicago to St. Louis), with every single piece of paper in that stack representing 93 million miles.
dd That’s just our galaxy, and it’s one among millions.
4 You say, "Oh, I understand that." Well, think about this then.
a The known universe is a stack of paper 31 million miles high with every piece of paper representing 93 million miles!
aa Now for those of you who like math, there are 10.4 million sheets of paper in a stack 1 mile high.
bb Therefore the known universe is 31 million miles of paper, with each mile representing 10.4 million sheets of paper and each sheet of paper representing 93 million miles.
cc Are you getting a headache? [Gripped by God’s Greatness, p 42.]
b In every description we see of God’s reality, we are struck by the immense distance that exists between us and God-in power, in size, in ability, in majesty.
aa The gap is too great to measure. This must be what the astronauts felt viewing the earth from the moon’s surface. (December 24, 1968, Apollo 8, orbited the moon, read Gen. 1.1-10)
bb We are so small... so infinitesimally tiny. God, on the other hand, could inhale the universe in a single breath.
cc The writer of Hebrews understood this.
You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Your hands; They will perish, but You remain; And they all will become old like a garment, And like a mantle You will roll them up; Like a garment they will also be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end (Heb. 1:10-11).
Conclusion:
A Over the last 10 weeks we’ve looked at some amazing miracles from Scripture . . . but perhaps the greatest miracle of all is that the Creator created us . . . love us . . . wants to have fellowship with us.
B That’s why Jesus came, manger, cross . . .
Notice to Sermon Central Users:
My name is Mike Fogerson, and I pastor a Southern Baptist Church in Chester, Illinois. I have been a long-time user of Sermon Central and truly appreciate its content and contributors. Some of the best sermons I’ve ever preached have been reworked material from this website. As you use the material from my sermon bank, understand that it is work that has been done from not just myself, but from hundreds of other pastors as well. If you see part of your message, or a bunch of your message with my name on it and this upsets you, please email me and I will quickly respond and cite you as the main source. My intent is not to claim someone’s work as my own. I am disclaiming up front that I use the resources from Sermon Central and appreciate the tool. I simply want all those who use my work to know that some of these messages were inspired by the Holy Spirit working through other pastors. Because I do use the messages of other pastors I waive all claims of originality or origin of creativity for the messages posted under my messages. I pray God blesses your preaching ministry for the glory of His Kingdom.
Respectfully,
Mike Fogerson
