This morning we’re beginning a new series titled “Making All Things New.” We’ll be spending eight weeks looking at how God interacted with His creation and chosen people, laying the groundwork for everything to be in place to send His Son into the world.
Growing up, we watched “The Sound of Music” every year. There’s a scene in the movie in which Maria teaches the Von Trapp children how to sing. They break out in song as she informs them, “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. When you read you begin with ABC, when you sing you begin with do re mi.” When you want to know God, you should also start at the very beginning. Please turn with me to Genesis 1 (read, pray).
I once heard a story about a child who was intently drawing a picture. Mom got curious and asked what she was drawing. Her daughter told her she was drawing a picture of God. Mom responded, “But nobody knows what God looks like.” The child looked up and answered, “They will when I’m done!” That’s what I want to do today- begin to draw a picture of who God is.
The first thing we learn about God from our passage is that God is eternal. The first four words of scripture are “In the beginning, God.” This is not a fairy tale story starting off with once upon a time, it’s a historical narrative written down by Moses. This phrase informs us that God has no beginning. Before He begins to create, God is already there.
In contrast, the secular world promotes this idea of the Big Bang Theory. Too often, it gets taught as fact and not the theory it actually is. I will always appreciate my 7th grade science teacher, Mr. Kinna, because when it was time to take the test about the earth’s origins, he added an extra credit question at the end allowing us to explain how we thought the world began.
I was curious about the statistical probability that life could have happened by chance with the Big Bang being the origin. Stephen Hawking wrote that if the rate of the universe's expansion one second after the Big Bang had been smaller by even one part in 1015 the universe would have re-collapsed. P.C.W. Davies concluded that a change in the strength of gravity or the weak force by one part in 10100 would have prevented a life-permitting universe. And Roger Penrose determined that the odds of the Big Bang's low entropy condition existing by chance are on the order of one out of 101230. Those were just a few examples I came across.
You see, the answer to how the universe began can’t be answered beyond the level of theory by science. At some point, you have to make a decision to put your faith in an origin. You have to determine whether you will place your faith in the idea that matter, which according to the Law of Conservation, cannot be created nor destroyed, somehow was created from nothing. Or you can place your faith in a higher being who was already there from the get-go. I choose to believe in the eternal God.
God continues to reveal His eternal nature throughout scripture. For example, when Moses was talking with God at the burning bush, in Exodus 3:14, God reveals His name (read). I Am Who I Am- He has no beginning, He has no end. The God who was, and is, and is to come is the God who sent Moses to free His people from Egypt.
He confirms His eternal nature in Revelation 1:8 (read). Why claim to be the Alpha and Omega? They are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, the equivalent of A and Z in our alphabet. It’s an even better statement than Amazon’s slogan- we’ve got you covered from A to Z. God has no beginning or end, He IS the beginning and the end. There was nothing before Him, He just always was and always will be. I’m reminded of the worship song we sing sometimes. My Savior loves, my Savior lives, my Savior’s always there for me. My God He was, my God, He is, my God is always gonna be. Our God is eternal.
The second thing we learn about God is that He is the Trinity, the Godhead, Three-In-One. The Jews declare this fact (without even realizing it) when they quote the Shema, found in Deuteronomy 6:4 (read). The Hebrew word when it says God the first time is actually in the plural form, so it’s a declaration that this plurality is actually a singularity. There is only one God, whom we know to show Himself as three persons- Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
Now, the existence of God as Trinity is hinted at in Genesis 1. Genesis 1:1 tells us that in the beginning God created, but it continues in verse 2 (read) to state that the SPIRIT of God hovered over the waters. Then we’re told in verse 26 that, in a manner of speaking, God was talking to Himself (read). Did you notice that? Let US make man in OUR image. One God, three persons.
John summarizes the creation story as he opens his gospel (read John 1:1-3). Verse 14 adds that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, so we know that this passage is about Jesus. John is telling us that Jesus, being God, is eternal and participated in the creation process.
Paul reiterates the idea that Jesus was at the creation in Colossians 1:16 (read). All things were created by Jesus for Jesus.
My favorite depiction of the Trinity happens when John the Baptist baptizes Jesus (read Matthew 3:16-17). Immediately after the baptism, all three persons of the Trinity were present. Jesus is coming up out of the water. The Holy Spirit is described to be like a dove coming to rest on Jesus. The voice of the Father is heard coming from the clouds. Three persons, one God, all present at the same time.
The third thing that we learn about God from this passage is that God is the Creator (read Hebrews 11:3). I mentioned it earlier, at some point you have to have faith that there was something in existence at the beginning of time. We proclaim that would be God. It has always intrigued me the atheists who proclaim we arrived through macro-evolution determined an order of events that lines right up with the creation narrative. Their problem is that by removing God, they have to compile a much longer time frame for our existence to be possible. And yet, when they put the evolutionary timeline together, they follow the same order in which God created the heavens and the earth.
Earlier, we read through the six days of creation. Let’s look at the order a bit closer. Days 1-3, God forms the domains in which life will exist. Days 4-6, God fills those domains before resting on day 7. Here’s what I’m talking about, check out this graphic. On day 1, God forms light from darkness and calls them day and night. On day 4, God fills the day with the sun and the night with the moon and stars. On day 2, God forms an expanse to separate the waters above from the waters below, resulting in the sky or atmosphere. On day 5, God fills the seas with fish and other water creatures and He fills the sky with all kinds of birds. On day 3, God forms dry land by pulling back the seas and then produces vegetation. On day 6, God fills the land with livestock, creeping things, and beasts.
In fact, when Job is responding to his friends, he indicates that all of creation knows where they come from (read Job 12:7-10).
Now, because I’m wanting to keep the focus on who God is and save the discussion for who we are for the next sermon, I don’t want to spend too much time on the masterpiece of God’s creation- mankind. I do want you to notice how God takes extra steps to create humans. Everything else was simply spoken into being. When it came time to make humans, God decided to make us in HIS image. Then, in Genesis 2:7, we’re given more details of God’s creative process for humankind (read). God took the dust of the earth, formed the first human, then breathed the breath of lungs into his nostrils. We are unique from the rest of creation.
So, why would God inspire Moses to write this narrative? He wanted us to know that He is eternal. He wanted us to know that He is the Trinity. He wanted us to know that He is the creator. Most of all, He wanted us to know that He made all this so He could have a relationship with us.
In fact, because we fell short, He sent His Son to restore the relationship. Jesus paid our price on the cross, but conquered sin and death so we can return to God. We accept this gift offered by God by believing Jesus is who He claimed to be- the Son of God. We repent, or turn away from our sin. We declare that Jesus is now in charge of our lives. We get baptized in the waters, joining with Him in death, burial, and resurrection and becoming a new creation. God makes all things new. Won’t you let Him do that for you today? If you need to make that commitment, please come forward as we stand and sing.
