The Creation, Part 4

Turn with me and your Bible, if you would, to Genesis chapter 1. We've been there for seven weeks, and we're going to continue to be there for at least a couple of more weeks as we look at the creation accounts.

We ser a great God and we need to honor him as such. We 've been looking at the creation account. Realizing that Genesis chapter 1 is the foundation for the rest of the Bible. If you misinterpret Genesis chapter 1, if you miss what God is trying to tell us in Genesis chapter 1, then the rest of your life. Will be messed up to some degree. You need to understand the very first chapter of the very first book of the Bible.

That's why we're taking some time here. And we've been looking at the creation account. And we saw, first of all, that the creation account teaches us or illuminates to us the phenomenal work of God.

We saw that everything commenced with God. Everything was completed by God in six literal 24-hour Days. Everything was created, Bara, ex Nihilo, out of nothing. God took nothing and made everything. So we saw where the creation account Illuminates to us the phenomenal work of God. Over thirty times in chapter one, God makes reference. To himself, because the creation is all about God and his work. Number two, we saw where it accentuates.

The sensational way of God. God 's ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Psalm 8 tells us: when I consider the heavens. The work of thy fingers, the sun, the moon, and the stars. What is man that thou art mindful of him? Yet Job would say in Job 26. When you understand about the moon, the stars, and the sun, you only begin to see the fringes, he says, of God's ways. The fringes, the outskirts of the ways of God. The third thing we noticed about the creation account is that it reiterates to us the supernatural word of God.

Over and over and over again, God said, and it was so. God said, and it was done. When God speaks, Things happen. And so we see that in creation. We saw it in Hebrews 11, verse number 3. You also see it in the preservation of that creation. If you read Hebrews chapter 1, verse number 3. Because God upholds all things by the word of his power. We also saw that in regeneration. According to 1 Peter 1:2, it's the word of God that makes us. Believers that gives us the opportunity to be born again. It's a supernatural word of God.

And Genesis chapter 1 reiterates that fact to us. That we need to understand that God's Word is supernatural. So that when we read the Word of God, when we study the Word of God, there is a supernatural effect that takes place in our life when we look to God and submit to His Word. Lordship. Fourthly, we saw where the creation account illustrates to us the exceptional wonder of God. And we saw that through the first three days of creation.

On day one, God created time. He created matter. He created sp. He created the earth, which is matter. And that earth was covered with water. He created light. He created darkness and he separated the light from the darkness. It's a phenomenal work. Of God. It tells us of his wonder. On day two, we saw where God would separate heaven from ear. He would take waters, put them above the expanse, as well as waters that were below the expanse. And we talked about that Hebrew word rak, which means to pound or to beat.

and that the fact that the heavens are not infinite, but the heavens are literally finite, because 1 Kings 8 tells us that the heavens cannot contain God. God is outside the heavens as well as in the heavens. He is omnipresent. He is everywhere. And so we saw again the exceptional wonder of God. And then we saw on day three where God would do a mighty work once again when he would create the sun, the moon, and the stars. And therefore, we saw there was a physical purpose to the sun, as well as in the moon, the stars, as well as a spiritual purpose.

They were for times. They were for signs, signs of his coming, signs of his judgment. They were for seasons, a word used 219 times in the Old Testament. More than half of them are translated. Festivals. They were a time for Israel to know when to worship and how to worship. And so we saw that it mandated for us. On day four, the continual worship of God. We need to be people who worship God, who honor Him, who bow before Him, who serve Him. And therefore, we left off last time by saying, Are we the kind of people that worship God?

God seeks true worship, which is very important because God is the seeker, the individual is not. And therefore, we must understand that God is looking for people who are true worship of Him. We want to pick up our creation account by looking at verses 20 to 26 this morning. By looking at two more points, hopefully, we can get through two more, and that is point number six and point number se. It begins in verse number 20 with these words: Then God said, Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures.

and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens. And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that moves with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. And God saw That it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters and the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. And there was evening, and there was morning a fifth day. Then God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind.

And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. And God saw that it was good. The sixth thing that you and I need to understand about the creation account is that it demonstrates the monumental wisdom of God. It demonstrates to us the monumental wisdom of God. On day five, we have the first living.

Creatures, plants are never called living anything. The nef. That which breathes. Living creatures have two characteristics. Number one, they are mobile.

Plants are not mobile. Number two, they have consci. They have some kind of know-how. That is, in the case of animals, they have instincts. They are called living creat. And the Bible, for the very first time, tells us something about these kinds of creatures.

God begins to fill the sea with these kinds of creatures. He calls some of them great sea monsters. And we're going to talk about them in just a few moments. And then upon the earth, he has the living creatures, he has the cattle, which are just not cows. But in Hebrew they refer to domesticated animals. They refer to any kind of animal that can be tamed, that can be ridden. And then he talks about. The creeping things. In Hebrew, those are things that are low to the ground. So they either have legs that are not visible.

By the eye, or they have very, very small legs that can be seen. They creep along the ground like insects. And then he says that there are beasts of the earth. These are four-legged animals, animals that cannot be. Tamed that are wild kinds of animals. But you will notice that they are reversed in verse number twenty four or excuse me, verse number 25 indicating that they don't come from one another.

They don't evolve from one another. Verse number 24 tells you that the earth is to bring forth living creatures. The animals, the living creatures are made out of the chemicals, the elements of the earth, just like man is. And we'll find that in Genesis chapter 2, verse number. Seven. And so we have these living creatures, these creatures that are mobile, that have instinct. And we're going to. Keep that in mind because when we get to man, you're gonna have to tell the difference between what a living creature is in terms of a man versus a living creature in terms of an animal.

That's very important to understand. What makes us distinct from the animal is the key word relationship. You can never have a relationship with an animal. Although you might think you can, you cannot. Because animals are incapable of having relationship. They have inst. They know what to do when you feed them. They know what to do when you pet them. You stop petting them. You stop feeding them. You stop taking care of them. They'll go off where they can find someone who will take care of them and feed them.

They know how to act upon instincts. That's how Sham knows how to do his little whale thing there in the water and stand up and jump and touch the thing in the air because he gets a reward for what he does. But animals don't have relationship. They have instinct. There is a consciousness about them. They don't have self-. There is a difference. But I want you to notice something.

The Bible says that on day five, God created great sea monsters. Great sea monsters. What are great sea monsters? Somebody a couple of weeks ago asked me when I was going to talk about dinosaurs. Today's the day we talk about dinosaurs. The lizards, the huge lizards. It's important to note that these are creeping things. I'm not creeping things, these are living creatures. That are in the water, and God calls them the great sea mon. But if you need to understand something about these great sea monsters, According to pagan culture and according to Israelite culture, these dinosaurs were evil and rebellious, but that's not true.

Why? Because when God created them, they were good. In fact, one author by the name of Cas said this about these great sea monsters. Far be it from anyone to suppose that the sea monsters were mythological. Were mythological beings opposed to God or in revolt against Him? They were as natural as the rest of the creatures and were formed in their proper time and in their proper place by the word of the Creator. In order that they might fulfill his will like the other created beings. Similarly, it is stated in Psalm 148, verse number 7: Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters in all the deeps.

The poet invites all created forms of life to praise the Lord, and among the terrestrial creatures beneath the heavens, he invites, first and foremost, the sea monsters and the deeps specifically.

Von Red went on to say these words: Nothing in this realm is outside the creative will of God. Outside God, there is nothing to fear. Even this creature is good in God's sight. But I told you that the fifth or the sixth thing you need to understand about the creation of God is that it demonstrates to us the monumental wisdom of God. Turn me to Proverbs chapter 30 for a moment. Proverbs chapter 30. In Proverbs chapter 30, verse number 24, you read these words: Four things are small on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise.

The ants are not strong folk, but they prepare their food in the summer. The badgers are not mighty folk, yet they make their houses in the rocks. The locusts have no king, yet all of them go out in ranks. The lizard or the spider you may grasp with the hands, yet it is in kings. Palaces. Now turn with me over to Psalm 104.

Psalm 104. In Psalm 104, verse number 24, it says this, O Lord, how many are thy works in wisdom? Thou hast made them all. The earth is full of thy possessions. There is the sea, great and broad, in which are swarms without number, animals both small and great. There are ships, or there the ships move along, and Leviathan which thou hast formed to sp in it. Leviathan. What is Leviathan that is able to sport in the oceans? Of the world. You see the wisdom of God from the smallest of his created beings, the ant, to the largest of his created beings, Leviathan.

It's one of two dinosaurs that are mentioned in the Bible. The other one is behemoth. And so we see where the creation of God demonstrates to us the monumental. Wisdom of God. Which leads us further in day six to our seventh point. And that's this. The creation account validates the special wor of man. Validates the special wor of man. Listen very carefully. Verse number 26. Then God said, Let us make. We're going to stop right there. Then God said, Let us make. See the change in the Hebrew grammar?

First, it was, then God said, let there be, let there be. Everything came as a result of divine fiat. Let there be, and there was. All of a sudden, there was a major shift in the grammar. Listen very carefully. This is so crucial. Let us make. We are now introduced to the tri-unity of God. We got a hint of it earlier. In Genesis chapter 1, verse number 1, when it says, In the beginning, God, the plural name for God, Elohim. We talked about that several weeks ago. But now he says, Let us make. God lets you in on his divine nature.

There's something about God's divine nature that includes and is around relationship. God is going to do something He has not done up to this point. That is, He is going to become personally involved in His creative act. That is, God is never said to have a relationship with the sun, the moon, the stars, the galaxies, the planets. The trees, the cattle, the creeping things, the great sea monsters. God is never said to be in relationship with them. Why? Because God is going to burn all that up. Remember, we talked about it last week: the earth, the heavens.

The stars, the sun, the moon, the living creatures, the vegetation, the trees, the plants are all part of the stage that God is now setting to put on the main characters, and that is man. Everything else, he's going to destroy with fervent heat. He's going to wipe it all off the face of the earth. Only thing that lasts forever are the two. That He creates man and woman, and what they procreate throughout the rest of the world, man's life. And so, God is now saying, Let us make, there's a Trinitarian plan happening.

This is so good, and I'm tempted not to go into it because it's so long, but I got five minutes left. And so I went, I got to say something to get you back next week so that you understand that this is so powerful. Listen, God is in commun with Himself. God the Father, God the Son. And God the Holy Spirit. Let us make. What are they talking about? What did God talk about in eternity past? What did his conversation entail? We know from Psalm 2:7, Psalm 45, 7, and Psalm 110, verse number 1, that there is a conversation within the Trinity.

That God is three in one. That the Father is conversing with the Son, the Son is conversing with the Spirit, and the Spirit is conversing with the Father. So we know that the Bible gives evidence of communication within the triunity of God. The question is: what are they talking about? You want to know what they're talking about? If you don't know, I'll just stop right now.

Turn me to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. We know, listen very carefully, because I don't want you to leave today. With a misunderstanding of what we're going to talk about. Revelation 13:8, Revelation:, we know. That those who are believers, their names are written in the Lamb's book of life. The question is: when were they written in? Ephesians chapter 1, verse number 3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before what?

The f of the world. That's before Genesis chapter 1. Before the beginning of time. Before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He predestined us. To adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. You want to know what God was talking about? God was talking about redemption. Because in eternity past, God was preparing, are you ready for this?

A br for his son. And that bride was prepared in eternity past. Why? Because the son was slain. Before the foundation of the world. How do you know that? That's over to 1 Peter chapter 1, verse number 20. It says, For he was foreknown before the foundation of the world. But has appeared in these last times for the sake of you. What was foreknown before the foundation of the world? That Jesus Christ Himself would be the Lamb of God who would shed His blood for mankind. You see, in eternity past, God had had a conversation with him, a divine committee.

Divine conversation. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. And the whole conversation centered around the redemption of man, it centered around the incarnation of his Son. It centered around the death of his son, and then again the resurrection of his son. But none of that was revealed until Christ actually came to earth. To suffer and die for man. In fact, turn with me over to Titus chapter 1, verse number 2.

It says, In the hope of eternal life, which God Who cannot lie promised what long ag ago Now, the phrase long ages ago literally is translated before time began. When did time begin? Genesis chapter 1, verse number 1. So God can't lie. But listen, God made a promise. Who did he make a promise to? He didn't make a promise to man because man was not created until day six. And this happened before time began, before Genesis chapter one. God didn't make a promise to the angels because the angels are not eternal.

The angels are immortal. But they are not eternal. And salvation was never experienced by an angel. So salvation is not for angels. When angels fell, they fell out of heaven forever. Angels also were created, excuse me, somewhere within day one to day six. We just don't know which day they were created, but this was before time began. God made a promise. Who did he make a promise to? He made a promise to him. That would include the Son, and that would include the Spirit of God. He made a promise based on his eternal purpose.

Turn over to 2 Timothy chapter 1. 2 Timothy 1, verse number 9. God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose. And grace, which was granted us in Christ Jesus, what to say? From all eternity. That phrase is the same phrase in Titus 1, verse number 2, that is translated before time began. Folks, listen.

Before time began, God had a purpose. What was the purpose? The purpose was to redeem man. That those people who are redeemed would then become the bride for his son. God made a promise to a son, I will give you a bride. That bride will come from redeemed humanity. I will save them. I will grant to them faith. I will grant to them eternal life. The Spirit of God would convict them. The Spirit of God would draw them to Him. The Spirit of God would seal him so he too was a part of the conversation.

He too was a part of the entire plan of God because He is God. So God says, Let us make man in our image.

He had a conversation that included you and me. A conversation about a bride for a son. It demonstrates to us. The special wor of man. Man is the apex of his creation. We are what it's all about. The stage has been set. Everything is ripe. Everything is ready. Everything has been done except for one thing: man. Who then in turn would have a relationship with the living God? Because you see, nothing else has a relationship with God except for man. And there, God shows us from the very outset how special man is.

And we should be the kind of people who say, Praise be to God. You read John 17? What's it talk about? All that the Father has given me shall come to me. John 6 speaks of the same thing. Why? Because way back before time began, God had a purpose. And because he had a purpose, he made a promise to his son. I will give you a bride. And that bride will come from your redeemed humanity. And they will adore you, and they will worship you, and they will live with you forever and ever and ever. Let's pray together.