Why Is Creation Key?

Text: Genesis 1

Proposition: The question or origins is really a question about the existence of God, the nature of God and the purposes of God from which we see our cause.

Introduction: Have you ever worked on one of those 5000 piece jig saw puzzles? Most people set up the lid that has the picture of what the puzzle should look like when finished and then begin to sort out the colors and shapes accordingly. They solve the puzzle by what they believe it should look like. It’s somewhat like the news story which hit the front lines this week about the skeletal remains found in South Africa. The actual find was in 2008, funded by a number of different interests among which was billionaire Richard Branson. The remains were found in a cave that had animal remains mixed in with them and from this they were able to distinguish two different skeletal conclusions and not only that but also a 1.2 million year time line and a place in the evolutionary hall of fame. The part that is the most irritating to me is that this is presented on National News services around the world as simple fact and is stamped with the good household seal of approval called ‘Science’. So how critical is it for each of us that we sort out this issue of origins, is it just up to each to believe what they want to, does the conversation over origins really matter in terms of the way I live my life? As you wrestle with this question you will eventually come to the point of moving from fact to faith. The issue of evolution and creation both present details of facts however neither is reproducible, neither stops at the point of evidence and both demand a belief that now is an act of faith. So you could say that Evolution has as its end a faith that is as real in its passions and values and purposes as is the faith that comes from the conclusion that God is the One who causes origin. So you really have two religions, the issue isn’t about reason and facts and science verses theology, it’s about one faith verses another. The question of origins is really a question about the existence of God, the nature of God and the purposes of God from which we see our cause. If we work that statement in reverse and define our cause and reason for being in terms of what we want then the conclusions about God become greatly distorted. If we look at Scripture in Psalm 14:1 it says, “The fool has said in his heart , “There is no God…”, it implies that a fool begins with a flawed belief even though he may have great knowledge. Romans 1:20 says a similar thing, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” How important are origins? They are the key to the very values, beliefs and purposes by which you live your life in this brief window of mortality and in eternity to come. So come on a journey with me as we begin at the beginning, it’s what the word Genesis means. Let’s look again at Genesis 1.

I. An Overview of Genesis. If you’ve ever been confused as you’ve read this book of Genesis it’s likely because there is no other book like it in the Bible. It covers more than 2000 years of history, more than all the other books of the Bible put together. It has four parts to it:  1) The Creation, of all things, time, space, matter, living things and man; 2) The Fall, the corruption that begins with sin as it severs the relationship between man and God and introduces death into the living world; 3) The Flood, the effect of sin in a young world that prompts the overarching change of global flood; 4) The Nations, the emergence after the flood of peoples that are now separated into linguistic and regional groups, one of which God elects to use as the group through which He will reach all the rest. Genesis is believed to have been written by Moses, passages like Exodus 17:4, Lev. 1, Daniel 9:11-13 or Mathew 8:4, Mark 12:26, John 7:19 all refer to him as the author. The early church fathers like Josephus considered this to be true and the history of Moses himself points to a well educated writer that was inspired by the Spirit of God in recording this. So let’s look at Genesis 1:1.

II. In the Beginning… Before time was, before what we know, all of what we know came to be, God was. In the beginning God, out of nothing, ex-nihilo, created the heavens and the earth. By the heavens is meant the canvas that we call space. According to Albert Einstein, space is not the empty “nothingness” that most of us perceive it to be. It is filled with what Einstein called ether,  “an all-pervading, infinitely elastic, massless medium.” (Dict.com)  Everything that exists within the bounds of our universe does so within this massless medium. This is the heaven that God created and then God created the earth and placed it in that massless medium of space. The earth that He created out of nothing was formless and void, it says in verse2. The Hebrew words for formless and void are the equivalent of our words, ‘confusion’ and ‘empty’. It says darkness was on the face or surface of the deep, the deep being another word to describe the entire earth. And the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters. Was it that God could not have just instantly created a finished universe and earth and mankind? Of course he could have, He is absolutely able, so why the slow, step by step process of creation? Is it that God is wanting us to see the way He creates, moving slowly so we can see His ‘hands’, so to speak. Is it that the way the earth was formless and void, filled with confusion and empty, so too are we? Like a mini universe of cells, darkness covers us, the effect of sin renders man in a place of confusion and emptiness and the Spirit of God waits for the next command from the Father, “Let there be light!” Does the beginning of all creation pattern the way that God intends to create faith and salvation in man through Christ? Is this why John wrote, “In Him was life and that life was the light of men.”? (Jn. 1:4) In the beginning of each of us, God created. This is the start.