The Story - Sermon 2 Series

The Story - Chapter 1

September 12, 2010

When’s the last time you saw a movie that had a huge beginning, a beginning that if you missed it, you missed a crucial part of the story. Maybe you were stuck in line buying popcorn and snacks, and suddenly the movie begins; and when that happened you had two very serious problems - first, the lights are out, and you couldn’t find where your seat was, and nobody was looking for you either; and secondly, you missed the beginning. And when you finally get to your seat, you try to ask those your with what happened, and all they do is shush you. Because they are already deeply engrossed into the movie. Ever have that happen to you?

When that happens you miss the crucial set up for the entire movie, and you feel like you’re playing catch up the entire time. Well, the story of the Bible opens with a big bang. And this big bang is not an accident. God is behind it. And you don’t want to miss anything in the story. The Bible, God’s Word.

With that in mind, I want you to watch what I believe is one of the best readings of the creation story in Genesis 1, which is page 1 of The Story.

Apollo video reading scripture . . .

Wasn’t that great?

“In the beginning, God created.” Right there, by the 4th word, we’re introduced to the main character of the Bible, God.

As we continue to read through Genesis 1, it would seem that the main vision for God is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the way He goes about accomplishing this mission.

The sequence and pattern of creation in Genesis 1 is simple, yet it’s so overwhelming to see what God is doing. There’s a 2 part pattern. On days 1-3, God is busy creating the places of His creation. And on days 4-6, God is busy putting the objects in these places.

For example, on day 1, God is separating the light from darkness; on day 2 God creates the water and the sky; and on day 3 He creates the land. Then when you look at day 4 He puts the objects of the sun, moon and stars in the places of the light and darkness. On day 5 He puts the fish and the birds in the places of the water and sky; and on day 6 He puts the animals on the land. It all works in an amazingly orderly fashion. Wouldn’t you love to have seen what God’s blueprints looked like? And at the end of every day, God looked over what He accomplished and said, “This is good!” This had to have been amazingly impressive.

Yet, the best was still to come, because you see, this was the prelude, this was not God’s core passion or vision for what He wanted to accomplish. The pride and joy of God’s handiwork comes in Genesis 1:26-27, bottom of page 2, what He creates in these two verses is the core of His passion, the primary subject of His big idea. In these 2 verses God creates people. When you look at the world and all the beauty, we need to realize, all of that was for us. We read —

26 Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27 So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

After God created us, He stepped back and again looked at His creation and this time, and catch this folks, this is the only time in the creation story, God stepped back and now instead of saying “this is good,” God now says, “This was very good.” Please understand the word very in Hebrew can also mean abundantly or greatly. God was excited, thrilled and very, very pleased with His creation.

How wonderful is that to hear? How great to know and hear God say this about you and I. Whenever you’re feeling low or depressed about your lot in life, remember these words, remember this is how God feels about you. He loves you, and He considers you not just good, but very, very good.

We should start everyday with that thought. Because you know, when I wake up in the morning and I look in that mirror, I say to myself, “this doesn’t look good.” But when God looks at you, He says, ‘looking at you is better than an ocean view. It’s better than watching the sun rise. Looking at you is better than a Colts super bowl victory. You need a boost of self esteem today? Drink in some of this God esteem.