God is Our Creator | A Sermon on Genesis 1

Introduction
Today, we commissioned our River of Life volunteers.  It’s an important ministry God will use to bless homeowners in our community.  It will bless the adult and youth volunteers as we serve too.  The mission starts in just a few days, but we’ve been preparing for this mission for a long time.

We have another mission that is coming up July 13-17 called Vacation Bible School.  So today, I begin a new sermon series that will help us prepare for VBS.  Each Sunday, I will share a message based on the themes from VBS.  And I think the theme today relates to River of Life as well.  Because it’s about our origin story.

It’s about why we are called to serve one another and treat each other with dignity.  It’s about how a person’s worth is not valued by how much money they have, what talents they possess, or even what they can contribute to society.  We are all priceless treasures because we were crafted by God’s ingenious design.  We are the crown of His whole creation.  And each one of us bears the image of God.

Psalm 103:22
Praise the Lord, everything he has created,
    everything in all his kingdom.
Let all that I am praise the Lord.

The Theme of Day 1
The lesson for Day 1 of our upcoming VBS is about the origin story of all creation & humanity.  It takes us all the way back to Genesis 1 and creation and encourages us to praise God who created it all.  This is an important lesson for kids and for all of us, because it reminds us when we believe in God we can also believe in ourselves. Remember the creation story in Gen 1?

Genesis 1:1-2
¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.^{[a] 2} The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.     

There was a time nothing existed.  But God took nothing and He made something special.  I was blessed as a child to be surrounded by people who encouraged me to believe in myself.  My mom would often tell me, “You can do anything you put your mind to.”  My Grandma said, “God loves you and I love you.”  And though there were sometimes mean people who tried to put me down saying “You’re stupid” or “you’re nothing,” I had enough people I trusted saying “You’re something special!" that I didn’t let the mean people get to me.

I think about that when I see kids nowadays.  You don’t ever know what they are going through or how the people around them make them feel.  What message are they getting?  Do they know they’re loved?  Do they know they are one of God’s most precious creations?  Or do they think their value is tied up in how well they perform, how pretty or handsome they are, or what grades they make in school or how fast they run? 

How about you?  What do you believe about yourself?  Do you realize you’re one of God’s greatest treasures?  I don’t mean do you know that up in your head.  I mean, do you know it deep down in your heart.  I mean look at how beautiful is God’s creation.

On the first day, He said, “Let there be light.  And there was light.”

On the second, He created the sky.  

On the third Day, He made the seas and dry land with all the trees, plants, and seed-bearing fruit. 

On the fourth day, God created the heavenly bodies to mark the seasons, days, and years and to govern day and night. 

On the fifth day, God created fish and birds to govern the sea and the sky.  

And it was all good.  God said it was good.  And we see it is so, so good. So beautiful!  

But then something was still missing.  Something else was needed. So on the sixth day, God made people, male and female, in His image, to be like Him. 

He made us to be caretakers of everything He had already made–the fish, the sea, the birds, the sky, the animals, the earth.

He said, reign over it all (on His behalf).

And then, and only then, did God say, “it was all very good.”  
It was so good, God decided to take the seventh day off just to rest and enjoy it all.

Now, I don’t know if you realize just how special you are, but you are.  As beautiful and precious as creation is, you are the crowning jewel of it all.

God loves you.  In Genesis 2:7, it says he made the first man from the dust of the ground–imagine the mighty hands of God sculpting a human out of clay.  Then, it says, “He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.”  Oh my!  The Creator God who formed a billion trillion stars and carved out the grand canyon, knelt down to earth and breathed His spirit breath into the nostrils of His dirt man!  That is how we–God’s image bearers–came to be.

Made in the Image of God
And when I look at you today, that’s what I see.  I see people who bear the image of God.  I see people God loves so, so dearly.  He loved you so much, as Jeff preached last Sunday, “He sent His one and only Son so that whoever believes in [Him] will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

 

But we don’t always see ourselves the way God sees us.  Even though we hear His Word.  Even though we may have people–preachers or teachers or parents–who tell us: “You're precious.  You're a treasure.  You’re not nothing, you’re something special!”

And the people we serve this week at River of Life, they’re something special too.  That’s why we serve them.  They are made in the priceless image of God.  God loves them so much, He sent Jesus to die on the cross for them too, just like us.  And so we go to serve these precious people and I pray God gives us eyes to see them like God sees them.

And in a few weeks, we will host Vacation Bible School here.  And we have the wonderful privilege on the very first day, to tell the kids how God created us, and how they can find confidence in knowing they are crafted by God’s ingenious design.

Closing
Kids often hear (we all do) we need to make something of ourselves–be smarter, cooler, more successful.  But God’s Word flips that script.  Before we ever tried to prove our worth, God already designed us with purpose and love.  This truth changes everything!  We don’t need to chase approval or compete for value.  We already matter because the creator of the universe formed us intentionally, in His image. 

So you can walk with confidence, knowing you belong, you hold value, and you have been created for something extraordinary.  And whenever you look around and notice how wonderful is the world God created, you can give praise and celebrate God’s goodness and creativity.  You can join with the psalmist “Praise the Lord, everything he has created, everything in all his kingdom!  Let all that I am praise the Lord.” (Psalm 103:22)

So first, I want you to realize your precious worth as a bearer of God’s image.  Let this sink in today, like you never have before.  You are loved.  You are special. You are important to God and this world.  You are a person of priceless worth who bears God’s holy image.

Second, I want you see that the people all around us–the pretty ones, the ugly ones, the young and old, the rich the poor, and even the ones who smell bad, are also made in God’s image. He loves them and wants them in His eternal Kingdom.  And He is sending us to serve some of them this week at River of Life.

Third, I want you to be thinking ahead to VBS.  We will have the great privilege of serving those kids and telling them and showing them that they are precious and special and that God loves them and so do we.  It's something really important we need to do. VBS isn't just a tradition we do every year. And it's not just a way for us to attract more kids, more you families to our church (though that would be nice). But what we're doing is so much more. We get to tell these kids, show them, God loves them and we do too. Not because they're cute. Not because they're smart. Not because they're young. They are special and they are loved because God made them with His own hands, in His image. 

And you need to know that today too. God loves you. Not because of whatbyou have or what you can do or who you know or what family you came from or your history or your heritage or anything like that. God loves you because you bear His image. You're His son, His daughter. You're His masterpiece. And that makes you special.

So, Praise the Lord, everything he has created, everything in all his kingdom.  Let all that you are praise the Lord.

Building Godly Relationships – Reflections from Eden | A Sermon on Genesis 2:18-23

Introduction
Today, we’re continuing our series on the second creation story in Genesis.  Last week, we learned how the story of God’s creation in the Garden of Eden shows how intimately God was involved in creating us and how it shows He cares deeply for us and is not afraid to be involved with our messy lives. 

Today, we’ll learn how the creation story teaches us the importance of relationships—with God, with creation, and with others.  And we’ll learn about Jesus’ most important rule about relationships.  Are you ready?

Genesis 2:18-23
¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” ¹⁹ So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. ²⁰ He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.

²¹ So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. ²² Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.

²³ “At last!” the man exclaimed.  “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh!
She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’”

God Is Our Deepest Need
The story of the Garden of Eden shows God created us for relationships.  First of all, there is our relationship with God.  Something everyone of us needs to understand, we were made for God.  Life is not about us, alone.  If you have everything in the world you desire, but don’t have a relationship with God, you will be unfulfilled.  There will be a hole deep in your soul you cannot satisfy.  And it will unsettle everything else about your life.  So if you skip this first idea, you will always struggle in the rest of your life.  You have to start by getting right with God…

But People Need People Too
But isn’t it interesting what God says in verse 18?  “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”  Even God recognizes that people need people.  You might think God is all we need.  But even God knew we need relationships with other people.  That’s why church is so important.  Our spiritual life and our worship of God is not complete without including other people. 

So God created all the animals and let Adam name them.  And this shows how humanity has dominion and the important responsibility of taking care of creation.  We were created to “tend” the Garden and “watch over it”, not to just exploit it and use it however we wish.  But of all the animals God created, none was just right for Adam.

Bone of My Bone - Genesis 2:21-23
²¹ So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. ²² Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.  ²³ “At last!” the man exclaimed.  “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh!  She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’”

Finally, Adam had a helper just right for him.  And I just learned this week some insights about the Hebrew word for helper.  The Hebrew word for "helper" in Genesis 2 is ezer. It is a combination of two words, one meaning "to rescue" or "to save" and the other meaning "to be strong". It can also be used as a verb, meaning "to defend, protect, surround, and cherish".  It is the same word often used for God in multiple places in the Bible—such as in Psalm 115:11, “[God] is their help and their shield.”  So, think about that if you ever think a woman being man’s “helper” is a weak or degrading thing.  In the Bible, God is also called helper and uses the same word used for wives!

Eve was created from Adam’s very own rib.  This illustrates the unity and partnership God intended in human relationships.  We are to love each other, help each other, nurture, respect, and build up each other.  We are to be strong for each other when the other is weak.  We are to defend, protect, surround, and cherish one another.  What a beautiful and fulfilling design God gave us.

Unfortunately, we are broken.  We don’t experience the beautiful vision of the Garden in real life.  Because we sin, we live in a fallen world full of broken relationships.  People mistreat each other, use each other, and we all suffer the consequences of sin.

That’s why Jesus came to save us.  He showed us how we were meant to live.  He lived as the perfect human—doing everything right that we had done wrong.  Jesus suffered the same troubles we suffer and he was tempted in all the ways we are tempted, but He did not sin.  He was faithful to the end.  And then He died for our sins so that we can be forgiven if we will repent and turn to Him and follow His way of living.

The Golden Rule
As the perfect Son of God, Jesus taught the most important rule about healthy relationships.  In Matthew 7:12, Jesus said, “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.”

You see, not only did Jesus wash away our sins, He also shows how we can break free from the power of sin.  He shows us how to live.  And it goes right to the very core of who we were design by God to be—people who live in harmony with each other.
We are to treat people the way we want them to treat us.  How do you want people to treat you?

Do You Want People to Be:

• Fun to be around
• Loyal, honest & trustworthy
• Genuinely caring
• Want what’s best for you
• Praying for and protecting you
• Forgiving
• Cheering for you/supporting you
• Were generous with you
• Honored & respected you
• And truly loved you

Wouldn’t that be nice!  Don’t we all want to be treated that way? Jesus says, “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.”

How to Have Great Relationships with Others:
So you want to know how to have great relationships with others? Here’s the secret:  Treat others the way you want to be treat.

• Have fun
• Be loyal, honest, & trustworthy
• Genuinely care and want what’s best them
• Prayed for them and protect them
• Quickly forgive
• Cheer for them and support them
• Be generous with them
• Honor them & respect them
• Truly love them

Maybe you have some other ways, you want to be treated.  What would you add to your list?  The secret, in every situation, is to treat others the way you want to be treated.
Did your friend win a major award?  How would you want to be treated if you won an award?
Did your friend make a huge mistake?  How would you want to be treated if it was you?
Did your friend hurt your feelings?  How would you want your friend to treat you if it was you who hurt their feelings?

The key to great relationships is to imagine how you would feel if you were in their shoes and then to treat them the way you would want to be treated.

Holy Communion
As we reflect on God's beautiful design for relationships, we are reminded of how sin has distorted that plan. But through Jesus, we find hope. Jesus came to restore what was broken. His sacrifice on the cross was the ultimate act of love, making up for our sin and showing us how we can live in harmony with God and each other once again.

In Holy Communion, we remember this sacrificial love. We remember how Jesus' body was broken and His blood shed so that our brokenness could be healed. As we come to the table today, let's reflect on our relationships—with God and with others. Where there has been brokenness, seek restoration. Where there has been hurt, seek forgiveness. And as we take the bread and cup, may we be reminded of Jesus’ love and commitment to restore our lives and relationships to God’s original, beautiful design.

And remember, Jesus is not dead.  He is risen!  He is risen indeed!  And as we come to His table today, He is here with us to nourish and strengthen us, to impart His grace to equip us to live in His Kingdom where we live in harmony with God, with each other, and with all creation.

 

Genesis, Part 1 - The Creation

Introduction
            We are starting a new study on Wednesday nights and Thursday mornings at my church.  it's called THE STORY and it studies the whole Bible in chronological order, starting in Genesis.  So I thought I would share a series of blogs about the story of Genesis.  Today, I want to work through some of the highlights of the creation story from Genesis.  In particularl, I want to focus on how the story relates to people, how God’s perfect creation was spoiled, and the consequences of that spoilage on the world and us today.  So let’s look look first at Genesis 2:25

Genesis 2:25 – Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

            It's a short verse, but there is so much we can glean from it.  This is a picture of the perfect creation God made in the beginning.  Notice the total innocence of Adam and Eve.  They are naked, but they felt absolutely no shame.  When was the last time you could stand naked and feel as Adam and Eve?  They could because they were perfect in every way--just as God originally intended for humanity.
            Their bodies were yet to be touched by any sickness.  They had perfect sight, perfect senses, a body that functioned perfectly.  Have you ever known anyone who was a perfect physical specimen?  The closest we find to this in our time might be professional athletes or Olympians who are gifted with raw, natural talent and then spend their whole life developing that gift.  And yet, Adam and Eve were infinitely better than eve the best athletes we find in our world today.
            Their bodies were untouched by the slightest mental dysfunction.  They had perfect memory, perfect clarity of thought, perfect understanding.  Again, think of the most brilliant person you know or of whom you have heard.  Adam and Eve had infinitely better mental capabilities.
            They had no emotional problems, not eve the slightest.  For, no one had ever betrayed, harmed, spoken an ill word, had a misunderstanding or disagreement, been insulted or even perceived an insult, been depressed or sad or angry or anything other than at perfect peace and harmony with all God and all of His creation.
            So that Adam and Eve could stand completely naked before one another (and God) and have absolutely no shame.  They had no thoughts about blemishes, for there were none.  They had no feelings of vulnerability.  They felt perfectly safe.  They were not cold or concerned about getting a sunburn.  They did not have even a thought that there was anything to be ashamed of or that they were even naked.  To them—completely and utterly innocent as they were—it was an absolutely natural state of being. 
            And these attributes applied not just humanity. All of Creation was perfect. No wild beast threatened to harm Adam and Eve or any other animals, whether by malice or accident or necessity of food. No natural disaster existed on the earth—whether tornado or hurricane or wildfire or earthquake or frigid temperatures or scorching sun or flood or drought.  All nature was perfectly balanced and in harmony so as to make life completely sustainable and fit to enjoy.  And God and humanity were so close they lived in perfect harmony—talking to one another as friends walking through a garden on a beautiful day.  All this was the gift God gave to Adam and Eve. And yet, apparently, this couple wanted more.  The Serpent used that desire to tempt them.

 

Genesis 3:4-7

⁴ “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. ⁵ “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

⁶ The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. ⁷ At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

            You might ask: "What was so bad about eating the fruit?"   It was direct disobedience of the one and only commandment of God--a test of their loyalty and love.  It was distrusting God – Eve (and Adam) believed the Serpent who contradicted God and even insinuated God was holding out on Adam and Eve. They wondered if they could get more. (How could you possibly have more?). They somehow believed they could get more if they disobeyed God (even though God had never done anything to make them question His love for them).
            It was appealing to Adam and Eve to be free of total dependence on God.  When my son was a young child, he loved Cheez-Its.  I remember vividly on time we were sitting in the car together--he strapped into his car sit.  I gave him some Cheez-Its and he loved them.  He wanted more.  I was delighted to give him some decided I would give him as many as he liked, but I didn't give him the box for fear he would spill them or soil the contents with his sloppy hands.  So I handed him a handful again and again each time he asked for more.  After only a couple handfuls, Gavin determined he was not satisfied to let me feed him one handful at a time.  He wanted the whole box for himself.  Even thought I would give him as many Cheez-Its as he liked, Gavin didn't want to be dependent on me.  In that moment, I perceived an aspect of our human nature.  We want to be independent--even from God.
            Don’t you see the seeds of your own human nature at work in Adam and Eve?  We are so easily tempted to disobey God.  We often distrust God though He loves us completely and unconditionally--even giving up His own Son on a cross to redeem us. We say:

• “Why is God so mean to me?”
• “Why can’t I find a husband? ...have a baby?"         
• "Why can’t I have more money?  ...a better house? ... a nicer car?  Why is God holding out on me?”
• “Why do bad things happen to ‘good’ people?”  (As if we are good people.  Romans 3:10 clearly tells us, "No one is righteous--not even one."  There are no good people, thus bad things do not happen to good people.  Yet we accuse God of making this happen.)

            We just want to live our life the way we want to without God.  I mean, we want God in our life--especially when we are overwhelmed or in trouble--but we don’t want to be dependent on God.  “Just help us out, God, when we need You and, otherwise, we’ll visit when it’s convenient.”  Who really wants God to be their All in All?  So we see in Adam and Eve the birth of the very sickness in our own souls.       

            Adam and Eve took a chance on the Devil... and lost.  And now we see the aweful result:

Genesis 3:8-11

⁸ When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. ⁹ Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
¹¹ “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

            Adam and Eve were afraid of God--their best friend, the giver of all good things, their protector, sustainer, source of life and peace and love.  They were so afraid they hid.  So add to their malady: desperation and confusion.  For, how can you “hide” from the Creator of the universe--WHO created stars a trillion lightyears away and also created the very heart beating inside your chest?  But their fear filled them with desperation and--being otherwise innocent and unskilled in the black art of sin and deception--all they could think to do was “hide.”
            Oh, we are so much better at sin and deceit than Adam and Eve were.  We’ve had thousands and thousands of years of practice.  Some are so skilled they can go their whole life never letting a single person know the secret sins of their dark heart; some can even deceive themselves.  But NO ONE can hide it from God.  For THE ONE WHO KNOWS HOW MANY HAIRS ARE ON YOUR HEAD will come looking for you.  “Where are you?”  He calls and we cannot help but reveal ourselves, “I hid from you because I was afraid.”
            The innocence was completely gone.  Now Adam and Eve were agonizingly aware of their nakedness.  They were ashamed where before they were joyful and happy.  Their once perfect bodies now suddenly bore the awful marks of age and deterioration that must come upon every aging body. (Can you imagine terror that seized Adam and Eve as they saw for the first time in history their once perfect bodies reduced by stretch marks and wrinkles and age spots and a thinning hairline?  We take these things for granted now, but Adam and Eve had no experince to build upon.  Can you imagine their horror as they felt for the first time in history the aches and pains of old age and arthritis and the dulling of their senses--sight, sound, the ability to remember--the degrading of their reflexes, the onset of vertigo?)  And the ONE PERSON they could ask anything and completely trust for help they feared was now their enemy.

            However, despite their evil and rebellious and ruinous decision, God still was not their enemy.  They turned their back on God, but God did not turn His back on them.  God provided a sacrifice and protection.  

Genesis 3:21 – ²¹ And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.

            Despite their sin, God took pity on Adam and Eve.  Concerned for their fear and shame and safety, God sacrificed the lives of animals to make clothing for the naked humans.  Imagine the horror of the man and woman as they saw animals slaughtered for the first time in history.  The animals’ innocent blood was spilt because of human sin.
            The only protection suitable was animal skin.  Adam and Eve needed protection from a now hostile world.  The elements now were a deadly threat--exposure to cold or scorching sun could wipe them out.  And the inevitable consequence of sin is death.  The animals died in place of Adam and Eve.  They wore the skins as a tangible reminder of the cost of sin and yet also of God’s continuing love for people as the most important part of His creation.

Conclusion

             God made Adam and Eve perfect and gave them the freedom to love Him or not.  They chose to love selfish desires and independence instead of God. They betrayed God for a deceiving snake and lost.  Their sin corrupted all of creation--sin, death, destruction, and disorder are now the norm of this life. The only thing holding back the doom is the loving hand of God--who despite being betrayed--still hopes and longs for a restored relationship with His people.
            Eve is the mother of all who live (Genesis 3:20). And so, we inherited Adam and Eve’s sinful nature and their resulting suffering. But God has not left us without hope.  Through Christ, our sins are forgiven and we are given new life and eternal life.  Through Christ, we can once more come before God and each other with an innocent heart.  For our sins are no more.  They have been crucified with Christ!  His blood has washed our sins away!  The blood of animals was only a temporary solution.  It was insufficient to truly wash away our sins.  But the blood of Christ is all-sufficient.  It washes us clean for all time--every sin we ever committed and every sin we might commit in the future are scoured clean by the blood of Christ shed on the cross. 
            One Day, God will even restore Creation.  Romans 8:21 - “...creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.”  I invite you then, to take hold of this hope through God’s promise in Christ.  Turn away from your sin.  Stop chasing your own sinful desires.  Turn back to God.  He is your only hope, the hope of all Creation.
I invite you to bow your head and pray to God and turn your life over to Him completely.

“Lord God, forgive me my sin.  Just like Adam and Eve, I listened to the serpent in my heart and tried to find happiness on my own without You.  It did not work.  I am so sorry I turned away from You. Please forgive me.  Restore me, by the blood of Jesus Christ, to a right relationship with You so I may walk with You unashamed and unafraid all the rest of my days, and I can have everlasting life with You in eternity.  Amen.”