THIS IS MY FATHER’S WORLD

Genesis 1:9-13

This is our third week to study from the first chapter of the book of Genesis and what I want to do is reinforce some things that have already been said because they are important for understanding this book…and then I am also going to present some things that might cause you to say that I am stretching it a bit.

First of all we need to remember who this book was written for initially.

  • The first audience for this book was the children of Israel who were in the wilderness and who would soon be crossing the Jordan River into the Land of Canaan.
  • And when they went into the Land of Canaan they would encounter all kinds of pagan gods…and pagan teachings.
  • When they went into the land of Canaan they would encounter gods who would be credited with great wisdom. Gods who would be credited with the organization of the world, the creation of man, and the creation of other gods…fertility gods that would be credited with bringing forth offspring and abundant crops.

And Moses would reassure them through the creation account found here in Genesis 1, and through the Exodus account and through the events of Mt. Sinai that there is only ONE almighty God who brought all things into existence and who defeated the gods of Egypt as demonstrated in the 10 plagues…and who parted the Red Sea and closed it again.

  • And He would reassure them of the rewards of being faithful to God and warn them of the dangers of rebelling and turning away from God.
  • Moses would remind them of “who is in charge here anyway!”

You see, Genesis 1 wasn’t written to give us scientific information (even though the information it does give is accurate). Genesis 1 is theological. It says there is One all-wise, all –powerful, all-knowing, faithful, loving God. .

Now, here this is (rock). One of the questions that always comes up when you study Genesis 1 is “How old is the earth?”

  • Since there was only one creation then this rock has to be as old as the earth…so how old is this rock? (The world of science says that this rock would be about 4 ½ billion years old!)
  • Could that be true? (4 ½ billion years allows the evolutionist plenty of time to work in their different theories).

Well, I am not an evolutionist…I am a creationist…I believe in the creation. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that this rock or the earth has to be young.

You see, there are two views of creationism. One is the Progressive Creation view.

  • The idea is that God created the world but you don’t know how long each day was.
  • Each day may have been a long period of time.
  • The word “day” in the Hebrew is the word “Yom” and it is hard to know exactly what the word means.
  • And they will point out the events that took place on the 6th day and they say that all of that could not have been done in one day.
  • And the will point out that a solar day as we know it (the time it takes for the sun to orbit the earth) could not have existed before the sun and moon were created on the 4th day.
  • So Progressive Creationist conclude that we don’t know how long the days of creation were…they could have been long periods of time…so this rock could be 4 ½ billion years old. (No need to break fellowship with those who hold to that idea.)

But, that is not the view that I hold. I am a six day creationist.

  • I believe there were 6 – 24 hr. days in which God created the world.
  • And the primary reason that I believe that is found in Exodus 20:11, when God gave the 10 Commandments…and when He came to the 4th Commandment about Keeping the Sabbath, remember what He said?

Ex 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day;

  • I think it was pretty clear to the Hebrews when Moses gave this command, that he was talking about 6 solar days.
  • So, I believe that God created the heavens and the earth, and the sea and all that is in them in 6 – 24 hr. days.

But still, we can’t insist that the earth is young. The reason we can’t is because we don’t know how much time elapsed between vs 2 and 3 of Genesis 1. We don’t know how long the earth was “formless and void, and covered with darkness.”

Now, another thing, when it comes to determining the age of the earth or this rock we need to remember that God built age into His creation.

  • For example, when He created Adam…Adam was a grown man…he wasn’t a new born baby.
  • Now Adam may have looked to be 18, or 35, or 42, or 50…but if you would have been there when he was created you would know that Adam was just a few minutes old.
  • God created Him with age.

So this rock may have the appearance of being 4 ½ billion years old and yet it may only be 6000 years old.

  • So if people say that he earth is very old it could very well be.
  • What we need to be careful about is trying to make Genesis answer questions that it was never intended to answer.

Now, I am not so sure that “when” all this happened is as important as “why” it happened.

  • Isaiah 45:18 says that “God created the earth to be inhabited.”
  • Psalm 115:16 says: The heavens are the heavens of the LORD; But the earth He has given to the sons of men.

God’s creative work was intended to prepare the world for man.

  • That meant that certain conditions had to change before the earth could fulfill its purpose.
  • Notice, when God created the “heavens and the earth” in vs. 1 and 2 He doesn’t say that it was “good.”
  • But only after each day of creation in which God prepared things for man to live on the earth did God declare things as being “good.”
  • Everything that God did here in Genesis 1 He did for us.

Now, let’s quickly consider each of the days of creation.

  • Day One: The first condition that God changed so that we could live on this earth is He “separated the light from the darkness.”
  • A lot has been speculated about the source of light here because the sun and moon won’t be designated as a light giver until the 4th day in vs. 14-19.
  • What is this light? Don’t know for sure but perhaps the best answer is God Himself being the source of light.

In Revelation we read two times that heaven is not going to need a sun because God Himself will be the source of light.

  • From the earliest part of the Bible we are told that God can dispel any kind of darkness.
  • He can dispel the darkness in a man’s heart; He can dispel the darkness that Satan has put in an unbelievers mind so they can see the glory of Christ; it seems probable that God is the one who dispels the darkness here in vs. 3.

Day Two: God created an atmosphere that can support life; vs. 6-8. He separated the waters below from the waters above with an expanse between.

  • I am not exactly sure what the waters above are but most scholars believe that at one time the earth had a great canopy of water above that would have created a greenhouse affect which would have kept the climate nice and would have kept the vegetation plush. It would have made the whole world a paradise for man.

Day Three: God said, Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place and let the dry ground appear.

  • The God said let the land produce vegetation, plants bearing seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their own kind.
  • And it was the first kind of life on the planet.

And one of the things we need to notice is fertility is a gift from God.

  • This was important because, remember, the Israelites are getting ready to go into the land of Canaan where they will encounter the god Baal…and the people worshipped Baal because he promised fertility. He is the god who brought forth rain and the crops.
  • Well, Moses points out here that God is the one who makes the crops grow. It is God who makes the world fertile and productive…and not Baal.

Day Four: God creates the Sun or the greater light, and the moon or the lesser light, and the stars…and they are to be “for signs, and for season, and for days and years.”

  • Notice, they are not to be worshiped. They were created to serve man.
  • One of the big religions that the Israelites would encounter when they went into the land of Canaan was astrology.
  • This would reassure them that the heavenly bodies were not to be worshiped .but were made to serve them. (For those who think it is fun to dabble with astrology charts or to read horoscopes…you need to read Deuteronomy and Isaiah again to see what God thinks about it. They were not made to predict or to dictate your life. They were made to be signs for days, and seasons, and years and to give light and to reflect His glory. We need to use them for what God designed them for and not something else.)

Day Five: God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let the birds fly above the earth.”

  • Now, there is something significant about the word “creatures” here. In the Hebrew it is the word “nephesh” and it speaks of “soul life.”
  • In other words, on day 5 God created things that had an awareness of their aliveness.
  • They had consciousness; they had intelligence; they had a sense of being.
  • It is the same word used of Adam in chapter 2:7 when he is referred to as a “living being.”

And notice, God didn’t bless the plants but He did bless the animals.

  • He blessed the animals in the sense of giving them the gift of reproduction.
  • In other words, it is a blessing or a gift from God to have consciousness and to be able to relate intimately with another of your kind.

Day Six: Now God creates the creatures for the land.

  • And in the Hebrew it says that He created three kinds of creatures.
  • Notice the word “cattle”…that word speaks more of the dumb and docile beasts.

Then He created the “creepers”; insects, spiders, amphibians…things that crawl along the ground.

And then He created the “beasts of the earth”…or the wild animals.

Now, let me tell you something interesting. It is likely that the animals created on the 6th day were originally vegetarians. Look at vs. 29:

Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food ";and it was so.

  • Now, the Bible doesn’t talk about eating animals until you get to Genesis 9:3 after the flood.

Now, if in the creation the animals were not made for man to eat…and they were not necessary for him to wear (they were naked and had no shame)…what were the animals for?

  • It is very possible that God created the animals strictly for man’s fascination.
  • So the man could see these living creatures and be filled with awe and wonder at God’s magnificent creativity.
  • The Bible is full of scriptures of how we are to see that, and to see the birds, and the wild beasts and just be amazed at God’s incredible imagination.
  • Apparently the animals were meant for man’s fascination but that was all lost at the fall of man in the garden.

And then finally on day 6 God created man…man was the climax…the crowning point of His creation…the focal point of all that He designed.

  • “This is my Father’s world…but He made it for us.”
  • And we will talk more about the creation of man next week and what it means for man to be created “in the image of God.”

Now, let me close with three lessons I believe that we need to learn from the creation. First, we need to realize God’s pleasure in His creation.

  • God said that all that He made is “good.”
  • And even though man sinned causing the ground to cursed, that does not mean that God is so preoccupied with man’s fall that He forgets the rest of His creation
  • In fact, in Genesis 9, after the flood, God makes a covenant with man, but He doesn’t just make that covenant with man, but He makes it with all living creatures.

And look at Ps 145:9:The LORD is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works.

And remember what Jesus said in Luke 12:6: Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? And yet not one of them is forgotten before God.

  • And so it seems that God has a real concern for His creation and we ought to take pleasure in what God has made because God does.
  • And not only should we enjoy God’s creation but I think that we as Christians ought to take a stand when we see people who deliberately pollute, and maliciously destroy God’s creation with no regard for what they are doing.

Second Lesson: I think we ought to learn the lessons that God designed the creation to teach.

  • First, the creation ought to teach us to be reverent.

Romans 1:20 says: For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made,

  • The creation ought to teach us that we are creatures of the mighty and awesome God and He did it all for us.

The creation ought to also teach us to be grateful. 1 Tim. 4:4-5 says: For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude; 5 for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.

  • The reason it is “sanctified” is because God said “Let it be” and it was.
  • It all came from God: our food, our medicines, our clothes, all of it comes from the creation that God made…and so we should receive them with gratitude and thankfulness.

And then the creation ought to teach us to trust.

  • You often hear people say, “I am worried about my future. I am worried about taking care of my family. I am worried about providing for them.”
  • The creation is supposed to teach us not to worry.

Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6:26: "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

Then in vs. 30 he says: Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. 30 "But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you,

If God takes that kind of care of His flowers and His grasses, and His little birds why do we think that He will not take care of us?

  • Every day the creation is teaching us to trust in God.

And then the final lesson to be learned: We need to turn our AWE into praise of the creator. The first great dividing line between pagan and a child of God: pagans worship the creation; the child of God worships the One who made it all..

Let’s do that at this time. Let’s stand and praise God in song.