Creation: Day 6 - Land Animals and People

Introduction The glory of creation points to Something/Someone greater than ourselves.  Who is this Creator who made animals in such variety? Why did He make people so much like the animals and yet so very different?  What does the story of creation in Genesis tell us about the Creator’s character?

Genesis was written to help us know the Truth about God.  The creation story reveals the character of God and the life He offers us.  If you want to know God and why we are here, you can find out by studying the story of creation in Genesis.

Genesis 1:24-31

24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. 25 God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings[a] in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry 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.

28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

29 Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. 30 And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened.

31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!

And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.

On the sixth day, God created land animals and people.

Science and religion have been embroiled in an unnecessary argument for at least 150 years.  Science argues that humans evolved from animals.  Religion argues this cannot be because it is not the way the Bible describes it.  Unfortunately, the debate misses the point.  Genesis was given thousands of years before the advent of science.  It was never intended to describe the creation of the world in scientific terms.  Genesis was written to speak to the mysterious longings within our hearts to know the Truth about God.  Science offers us information, but the Bible offers Truth that is far more profound than information.  

Why does it seem so important that the sequence of creation in Genesis does not match what the prevailing scientific theories of our time?  God must have told the story the way He did to reveal a wisdom that is different than that which science reveals.  It is unfortunate that science and religion have spent so much time trying to prove each other wrong.  It is much more fruitful to spend our time and energy pondering what God is really trying to tell us in the Genesis story.

We see in Genesis that God works systematically, day by day, to bring order out of chaos.  Day one is simply light. Day two is the sky.  Day three is land and vegetation.  Each day, God moves to more and more complex systems until He finishes with the most complex of all—humanity.  God is telling us something important here.  Humanity is special in all of God’s creation.

People are different from animals.

Each day when God reviewed what He created, He recognized that it was good.  But on the sixth day, after God made people, He reviewed His handiwork and recognized that it was very good.  What is it that sets people apart from animals?

Biologically, humans and animals are very similar.  We share the same basic structure and biological functions.  However, there is something special about humans.  It is more than intelligence.  There are animals that are smart too.  (One could make an argument that some animals are even smarter than people—depending on how you define intelligence.)  Some have said that being self-aware is the characteristic that sets humans apart from animals.

But we see that many animals are self-aware too.

Genesis tells us the difference between animals and humans in verse 26.  It says, “Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.””  The Hebrew word for image is salem.  Salem is the same word people would use to say that a son is the spitting image of his father.  Salem is also the word used for idols and for idol worship.

God created us to be like Him.

Throughout the Bible, God continually forbids people to make or worship idols.  In the Ten Commandments, the second command is do not make or worship idols of any kind.  Yet this is a perversion that humanity struggles with over and over again—even to this day.  We can find insight in this—not just that we shouldn’t make or worship idols.  We can also learn something about ourselves and God from this prohibition.

We were made to be the image of God—the reflection, the representation of God in visible form. God wanted us to be like Him, as a son is like his father or mother.  No other image of God or representation of God is adequate or permitted.  We are the only authorized “idols” who may represent God.  We were created to represent Him.  

Out of all the extraordinary creations that came from the infinite imagination of God, people were the creatures God designed to represent Him best.

Idolatry is such an affront to God because it fundamentally goes against the very core of who God is, who we are, and our whole purpose for being.  When we make an idol, we attempt to change the whole order of creation.  We try to make God the way we want Him to be.  We make God in our image instead of recognizing we are made in His image.  We switch the roles of our relationship around until we pretend to be the creator while demoting the God of the universe to our underling.  It is a reversal that is an outrage to all of creation, and an abomination to God.

Idols are not just a thing of the past or primitive cultures.  Unfortunately, idol worship is alive and well in our modern world right here in America.  Some idols we worship today are: money, celebrities, power, and possessions.  People may be more actively involved in idol worship today than at any time in our history.  And it is just as abominable to God today as it ever was.

We engage in idol worship anytime we put something or someone (even ourselves) before God.  It is the very definition of Sin—letting something else besides God be the first priority in your life.  This is not what God created us for.  God created us to be a perfect representation of Him and to worship Him as the center of our lives.

Jesus succeeded where we failed.

We have lived as selfish, sinful people who do not fulfill our primary purpose in creation for so long that we can hardly even imagine what it is like.  What are we supposed to do?  What does the perfect human even look like?  Jesus is the one who shows us.

Jesus came to show the way.  He is the perfect, uncorrupted image of God.  If you want to see God, look at Jesus.  He represents God the way humanity was supposed to from the very beginning.  And the most wonderful thing is, Jesus offers a way to restore the image of God in us.

Right now, because of sin, our “God-image” is broken.  But Jesus offers a way to put the pieces back together again.  He says, “Repent of your sins and believe the Good News.” (Mark 1:15)

Invitation

Jesus laid down his life to pay the penalty for your sins.  The blood he shed on the cross washes away all your sins.  If you will accept this gift He wants to give you, you can be forgiven and made whole again.  All the things you have done that you regret—both the mistakes you’ve made and the things you did on purpose—can be forgotten.  All you have to do is believe, repent, and start following Jesus today.

Pray today to get your heart right with God.

Creation: Day 5 - Fish & Birds

Introduction The world we live in is breathtaking and complex.  The glory of it all points to Something/Someone greater than ourselves.  Who is this Creator who swarmed the oceans with fish and sent birds to fill the sky?  What does the story of creation in Genesis tell us about the Creator’s character?

Genesis was written to help us know the Truth about God.  The creation story reveals the character of God and the life He offers us.  If you want to know God and why we are here, you can find out by studying the story of creation in Genesis.

Genesis 1:20-23 20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day.

On the fifth day, God created swarms of living sea animals and birds.

Both birds and fish are animals that swarm together as one unit in large flocks or schools.  On the fifth day, God concentrated on abundance.  

Notice that Genesis 1:20 specifically commanded the waters to “swarm with fish” and the skies to “be filled with birds.”  It was not enough to create a few fish or birds here and there.  No, God intentionally went overboard with an amazing extravagance.  Birds and fish were to fill the world with an overabundance.  And then, as if to make the point even more clear, God instructs the swarms to “Be fruitful and multiply.”

The fifth day of creation is the first time God said, “Be fruitful and multiply.”  It is a statement God will repeat seven times in the Bible.  It is clear that God desires life to be abundant.

There are over 15,000 known species of fish and some 10,000 species of birds.  Scientists believe there are another 2 million species we haven’t even identified yet.  According to wikianswers.com, it is believed there are somewhere around 500 billion fish swimming in the ocean right now.   That’s enough fish to cover all of Whitfield County with a layer of fish six inches deep!  It is estimated that there are 100 billion birds living on the planet right now.  That’s enough birds for every person in the state of Georgia to have 10,000 pet birds!  This is extravagantly amazing, but even more amazing is Jesus’ statement in Matthew 10:29:  “Not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.”

God Makes Life Abundant

From the very beginning, God intended for life to be abundant.  He intended for us to have everything we need and to be satisfied.  God did not plan for death or disease or disappointment to be part of His creation.  We have seen throughout this series that God most assuredly has the ability to accomplish His plans.  Why is it then that so many in our world do not experience the abundant life God wants us to have?

God is not to blame for this.  We are.  We have gotten off track.  Because we choose not to fully cooperate with God’s plan, we do not experience the fullness of the life God wants for us.  Our choice to stray away from God is called sin.  

The Bible tells us that the consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23a) and experience proves this is true.  

It is truly amazing that God didn’t just give up on us.  Instead, He actually still wants us to come back alongside Him and experience life in its full abundance.  That is why Jesus came. 

 Jesus said, “I came that [you] may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10b).  So it is still possible for us to have an abundant life.  

What is Abundance?

It depends on who you ask.  Every person will have a different answer.  Some would say abundance is all about how much stuff you have.  Another person would say abundance is more about quality than quantity.  Abundance means you have more than enough to satisfy.

It is hard for us to comprehend an unlimited God who can provide more than enough to satisfy.  We grow up thinking there is only so much to go around.  We fight with our siblings for the last cookie because we know there are only so many cookies. When we run out, someone must go without.  

God provides more than enough to satisfy all our wants and needs.  Just when we think we will run out, there is more.  You cannot exhaust God’s resources.  In Matthew 14, Jesus miraculously fed over 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish.  After everyone ate and was satisfied, there were twelve baskets of leftovers—more than what they started with.  

God knows what we really need.  God knows what we really want.  He wants to provide an extravagant abundance.  He can and He does.  Unfortunately, we do not partake because we are usually chasing after the wrong things.

The Truth is we often don’t know what we really want or need.  We may have some things in mind, but we don’t really know if they will really satisfy.  We often find they don’t.  Our disappointments leave us hungrier than before for the next “new” thing that we hope will satisfy.

Life in Christ is Abundant.

Only God knows what abundance is.  Only God knows what you really need.  He is the source of life.  When we abide in Him, life is abundant, the way He intended.  Apart from Him, we merely survive (for a time) desperately clinging to a dwindling life that quickly fades away.  We find abundance, moment by moment, as we live in God through Jesus Christ.

People think Christians live boring lives.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  We are following in the footsteps of Christ.  It is a path that leads us to heal the sick, bring sight to the blind, walk on water, and change the world forever.  We are waking up to realize that we are not here to be amused.  We are here to live.  There is a deep yearning within us for real purpose.  We refuse to pacify our hunger with the sweet lies an evil world tells, because we know how we live really does matter.

So many people miss out on the abundance God wants for them.  Even people who come to church regularly settle for less than God’s abundance.  They are like dogs that only catch the crumbs that fall from the table because they are afraid to surrender their lives to God completely.  Don’t be bashful when it comes to abundance.  God set a place at His table for you.  He invites you to His Feast!  Come, taste and see that the Lord is good!

Responsive Reading from Psalm 36:5-9

Pastor:  Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens;

People:  Your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.

Pastor:  Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,

your justice like the ocean depths.

People:  You care for people and animals alike, O Lord.

Pastor:  How precious is your unfailing love, O God!

People:  All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.

Pastor:  You feed them from the abundance of your own house,

letting them drink from your river of delights.

People:  For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.

Creation: Day 4 - Sun, Moon, and Starts

Introduction The world we live in is breathtaking and complex.  The glory of it all points to Something/Someone greater than ourselves.  Who is this Creator who hung the sun, moon, and stars?  What does the story of creation in Genesis tell us about the Creator’s character?

Genesis was written to help us know the Truth about God.  The creation story reveals the character of God and the life He offers us.  If you want to know God and why we are here, you can find out by studying the story of creation in Genesis.

Genesis 1:14-19
14 Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. 15 Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. 16 God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, 18 to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

19 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.

On the fourth day, God created the sun, moon, and stars.

Before we go any further, we need to consider the magnitude of this claim.  The Greeks and Romans and many others civilizations saw the sun, moon and stars and believed they were gods.  It is no wonder.  One cannot help but be in awe of these mysterious heavenly bodies floating across our sky.  However, Genesis claims that even these heavenly bodies are a creation of the One, True, and Living God.

This was an amazing testament to the early readers of Genesis about the power and majesty of God.  The Moon has a mass of approximately 81 Quintillion Tons.  Yet it travels around the earth at the blazing speed of 2,288 miles per hour.  At this speed, it still takes a little under 28 days to go all the way around the earth.  

 

Our Sun is even more impressive.  The sun looks small to us because it is 93 million miles away.  It’s so far away it takes about 8 minutes for sunlight to reach us.  It’s a good thing it is so far away or we would be incinerated.  The surface of the sun is 10,000 degrees F, but that’s nothing.  The core of the sun is believed to reach 27,000,000 degrees F!  The sun is huge!  If the Sun were a hollow ball, it would take 1 million earths to fill it up!

Genesis makes a stunning claim.  The creation of the sun, moon, and stars was no big deal for God.  He simple said, “Let lights appear in the sky…”  Psalm 33:6 puts it this way, “The LORD merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.”  Wow…

The sun is only one of the gazillion stars in space.  There are so many stars in the Milky Way galaxy that if we counted one star every second it would take 2,500 years to count them all! *The Milky Way galaxy is so large, it would take 100,000 years to cross it if we could travel at the speed of light – 186,000 miles per second.

If our whole solar system—the sun with its 9 orbiting planets---was the size of a quarter, the Milky Way Galaxy would be the size of the North American Continent.  Where is the quarter?  All this God breathed into existence, but it gets even more mind boggling.

The Milky Way galaxy is only one among a hundred billion other galaxies—each galaxy filled with hundreds of billions of stars with orbiting planets!  This is a composite picture of the known universe.  Somewhere inside there is a dot that is the Milky Way galaxy.  Somewhere inside that tiny dot is our solar system of the sun and 9 planets…  “The LORD merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born…”  How great is our God!

The sun, moon, and stars point us to God.

Genesis tells us God created these “lights” to be signs for us.  Through them, we know the time of day and the seasons.  But the sun, moon, and stars can guide us to even deeper understanding.  

The Prophet Isaiah said in 40:25-26 – “To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.”

When we see the sun, moon, and stars, it gives us a sense of the magnitude of God’s power.  It reminds us how big God is and how small we are.  This—if anything—should cure us of our selfish misunderstanding that life is all about us.  And yet, the Bible also tells us God knows exactly how many hairs you have on your head (Luke 12:7).  God is infinite enough to create a universe too big for us to comprehend and yet He is personal enough to be interested in every single hair and the DNA inside every cell of your body!

God gives us guides so we can know Him.

All of Creation guides us to know God.  As Romans 1:20 says, “Ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

However, God doesn’t stop with astrological and natural witnesses.  God goes even further.  He gives us people to guide us to Him.  Think about your own life.  There have probably been people who have taught you, inspired you, encouraged you, and helped show you the way.  Do you realize that God put these people in your life to help you?  God wants you to know Him and He often uses special people to help you.  You will probably never know how many prayers have been said on your behalf by people who care about you?  

God also gave us the Bible to guide us to Him.  Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”  The Bible is an amazing tool to help you know God.  Everything you need to know for salvation is written there.  Even more amazing, the Bible is the Living word of God.  That means you can read it as God speaking to you at this very moment.  If you open your heart to hear God’s voice, you can hear Him guiding you in your moment of need.

The greatest guide God gives us so we can know Him is Jesus Christ…

We can look at creation and know that there is a God and that He is incredible and that we are so small.  But God sent Jesus so that we can know for sure that this incredible God is deeply concerned about us.  John 3:16 says, “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Imagine, God made a universe that is 96 billion light years in diameter.  (It would take 96 billion years for a beam of light to get from one side of the universe to the other).  We cannot even comprehend how incredible God is, and yet He is so interested in you that He sent His one and only son to personally guide you to know God.

You might be thinking, “A God like that could never be interested in me.”  YES HE IS!  He would do anything to have a personal relationship with you!  He has done everything to have a personal relationship with you.  The only thing left is for you to choose to have a relationship with God.

Invitation

On behalf of this incredible God, I have the privilege today of inviting you to have a relationship with the One, True, and Living God of the Universe.  The One who made it all, invites you to choose a relationship with Him. Why don't you pray to Him right now? You don't have to use any special words. Simply talk to Him the way you would talk to a loving father. He'll listen and understand.

Creation: Day 3 - Dry Land

Introduction

The world we live in is breathtaking and complex.  The power and majesty of it points to Something/Someone powerful and glorious, more wonderful than we can even imagine.  Who is this Creator who sculpted the mountains and filled the oceans with water?  What does the story of creation in Genesis tell us about the Creator’s character?

In a world where we feel so small, we yearn to know our place.  Who put us here?  Where do we belong in this mighty world?  What is our purpose?  We need firm footing to stand, to build a foundation for our life and our family.  Give us something solid we can believe in.

Genesis was written to help us know the Truth about God.  The creation story reveals the character of God and the life He offers us.  If you want to know God and why we are here, you can find out by studying the story of creation in Genesis.

Genesis 1:9-13 9 Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. 10 God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. 12 The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.

On the third day, God created the dry land and vegetation.

We live on an incredibly beautiful planet.  A picture of the planet from space reveals a stunning blue sphere with swirling white clouds, continents of green and brown, all set against vast oceans.  The mingling together of all these elements paint a picture of a planet that is lovely and inviting.  Though each of the other planets in our solar system has their own beauty, none seem as friendly or appealing as Earth.  We look at the Earth and we feel, “This is home.”  Our earth would be much less appealing if it were only water.  God knew this and so He made our planet have dry land and water.

All the other planets take their name from a Greek or Roman god, but Earth derives its name from an Old English word that means “ground” or “soil.”  Similarly, the Hebrew word used for Earth in Genesis 1 is “eres,” which means field, ground, or land.  It would seem the very identity of our Earth is tied to the soil upon which we live and grow our crops.

The majority of the earth is cover by water.  However, God made a place for us to stand on solid ground.  30% of the Earth is dry land (approximately 200 billion square miles).  There are approximately 75 billion square miles of cropland or pastureland, 64 billion square miles of forests.  God made sure we have enough land to live on and that there are a variety of land types for us to enjoy—mountains, desserts, forests, prairies, and more.  All of this points to the creativity of our God.

God gives us a solid place to safely stand.

There is a remarkable difference between standing on solid ground with a firm footing and sliding around on slippery mud.  Mud is that uncomfortable surface that is halfway between dry land and water.  Mud can be fun to play in, but you don’t choose mud for firm footing.  No, for a firm place to stand or for a solid place to build our life, we want dry ground.

Jesus said, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.” (Matthew 7:24-25)  God gave us the ability to think and make wise choices, but we don’t have to overthink every choice we make.  We are fortunate that we have the teachings of God in Jesus Christ to guide our feet along a safe path.

Does it seem like your life is firmly planted on solid ground?  Or does it feel like your world is sliding around in the mud?  If you are slipping around, you may need to re-evaluate what you base your choices on.  Are you relying too much on your own understanding or do you rely primarily on what Jesus teaches in the Bible?  Be honest.  What really is the foundation of your life?

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

God gives us a good place to take root and grow.

You’ve heard the expression: “That’s about as boring as watching grass grow.”  

But watching a plant grow is only boring to us because it seems like nothing is happening.  If you speed it up and watch in in a time lapse, it's incredible. When God looks at us and sees us growing—physically and spiritually—He is pleased.  2 Peter 3:8 says, “A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.”  How exciting it must be for God to watch us grow, because He sees things at a different speed! Maybe it is something like a time lapse for God.

Part of the reason we are on this earth is to learn and grow from our life experiences.  Why would God put us here if it were not so?  (Either God would have skipped the whole earth-experience or He would use His unlimited power to solve all our problems in an instant.  But that is not the way our lives work.  We must struggle. We must exert ourselves.  We must stretch. We must endure hardships.  And through these trials, we learn and grow.  

In Mark 4:3-9 Jesus taught a parable about how we can grow and be fruitful in God’s Kingdom.  He said, “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. 4 As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. 5 Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. 7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. 8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” 9 Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

A relationship with God is soft enough for us to set down roots in.  God is not hard and harsh like the footpath or rocky soil.  Seeds (and relationships) cannot survive in these because there is no way to set down roots for a solid foundation or for nourishment.  God gives us the freedom to think for ourselves.  He gives us principles to live by in the Bible that steer us clear of unnecessary harm, yet we are free to apply those principles in ways that are relative to our current situation.  God is like the good soil that is soft enough for roots to grow down into and yet also firm enough to provide a plant with a sure foundation.  When we are firmly rooted in the Truth of God, we are nourished by the Living Water.  We have a hidden resource of refreshment to carry us through the tough times of life.  We look around at others who whither when life gets too hot for them, and yet we press on because we draw refreshment from our relationship with God.  The deeper our roots, the more secure we are.  Even when the storms of life beat upon us relentlessly, we may bend, but we do not break or fall over.  We are upheld because we are firmly rooted in faith and God holds us up when others topple over.

Conclusion

God made dry land for us to stand firm on and He gives us a firm place to take root and grow.  Is your life planted firmly on faith in Jesus Christ?  Are you tending your spirit each day to put down roots deeply in Him?  Days of drought are coming in your life when the trials of this life will beat down like the scorching summer sun.  Are your spiritual roots deep enough to draw refreshing nourishment from Christ when you need it most?  Storms will come too—storms that will threaten to uproot you and throw you down to the round.  Are your spiritual roots deep enough in Christ to hold you firm when the storm comes?  Christ calls to you today.  "Come.  Plant your life in me."

Creation: Day 2 - Sky

Introduction

The world we live in is breathtaking and complex.  The artistic genius of it points to Something/Someone higher, greater, more wonderful than we can even imagine.  Who is this Creator who set the world in motion?  What does the story of creation in Genesis tell us about the Creator’s character?

Long before science existed, people were already asking questions about how the world began.  We want to know where we came from.  We want to know Who made us.  We want to know why we are here.  Genesis was written to speak to the mysterious longings within our hearts to know the Truth about God.  The creation story reveals the character of God and the life He offers us.  If you want to know God and why we are here, you can find out by studying the story of creation in Genesis.

Genesis 1:6-8

6 Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters,

to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” 7 And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. 8 God called the space “sky.”

And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day. On the second day, God created the sky. At the time Genesis was written, people observed the world around them and tried to understand. They looked up into the blue sky and it reminded them of a vast ocean of water. *Yet, they could clearly see that the air above them was invisible. So it seemed there was an empty space between the blue “water” above and the water and land upon which we stand here on earth.

How would you describe the sky if you had never been told a scientific description of it?  Suppose you had no way of going up into the sky or into space to look around and measure what you found.  How would you explain this mysterious existence of earth below and blue sky above?

Children are inquisitive.  They want to understand the world around them—even before their minds are capable of grasping it.  Parents often struggle to answer their questions.  One day a 5-year-old boy asked his father if a stick was alive.  “No.  This stick is not alive.”  “But it comes from a tree.  Is a tree alive?” Asked the son.  “Yes, a tree is alive.”  “Then why isn’t this stick alive?”  How would you answer this child’s question in a way that they could understand?  Even more challenging: how would you explain the same thing to a dog or a cat?

How difficult it must be for an infinitely intelligent Creator God to explain the intricate details of His creation to people whose thinking is so limited.  This was especially true thousands of years ago when Genesis was written.  So God used words that made sense to ancient people.  He describes the sky or atmosphere as a “space” between the waters of the sky and the earth below. 

The Hebrew word is translated “firmament” in KJV.  This gives the impression that the sky is firm to hold up the blue expanse that we see above us.  God named the sky Shamaym, “heaven.”  The word means lofty—the home of God. God beckons us to reach for higher ideals. God created within each of us a desire to reach for something higher.  We could not even imagine God if it were not so.  One cannot help but look up at the sky and wonder about it.  We lay in the grass on a pretty summer day and stare up at the mysterious clouds above.  What are they made of?  What do they feel like?  They look like giant cotton balls floating in the sky.  It was not until the 1903 that man successfully built an airplane and soared through the sky.  However, people have watched birds soaring among the clouds since the very beginning, and we have longed to be up there with them.  It took thousands of years of longing, stretching, reaching before humanity was able to achieve our dream of flight.  If we never had the ambition to fly through the magnificent sky, we would never have achieved flight. We don’t just long for a higher altitude. God created us to yearn for higher ideals.  If we were just another one of the animals, we might only care about the basics that all animals need to survive—food, water, shelter, reproduction.  Yet the human spirit longs for higher ideals.  We value faith, hope, and love.  Our greatest joys in life come when we realize these; our greatest sorrows are when they are missing. Faith and Hope are two higher ideals God gives us. “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” (Hebrews 11:1)  Having faith gives you a distinct advantage.  If Orville and Wilbur Wright never had faith that flight was possible, they never would have risked the dangers of flight or the ridicule of those who did not believe it was possible.  The greater rewards in life are rarely within plain sight.  Faith enables you to push yourself beyond the limits of what is immediately visible.  Faith also empowers you to trust others.  Trust is the bond that enables people to work together—as husband and wife, as parents and children, as co-workers, as soldiers in an army, or as a church full of people who can count on each other.  Without trust, we must do everything on our own power—which is very limited.  But when we can trust others, we can work together as a group and accomplish so much more. Ultimately, faith allows us to trust the Creator.  Just because a person believes God created the world does not ensure they trust God.  Many people do NOT trust God.  We see the same mistrust played out in many religions—including biblical Judaism—where sacrifices were made to appease the gods.  Such religious practices reveal a deep mistrust of divine power.  Yet God turns this whole religious practice of sacrifice upside down through Jesus Christ.  Instead of people making a sacrifice for God, God—in Christ—sacrifices Himself for us.  God has done everything possible to show He is trustworthy.  Now it is our choice whether we will take hold of the higher ideals of faith and hope.  Do you have faith in God? Do you have hope? Love is the highest ideal for which God beckons us to reach. 1 Corinthians 13:13 says, “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”  We were created for love. There are 21 definitions for the word love on Dictionary.com.  However, the Greek word 1 Corinthians uses is “Agape,” which is “self-giving love, expressed freely without calculation of cost or gain to the giver or merit on the part of the receiver.”  The clearest demonstration of love is found in the life of Jesus Christ.  By all accounts, Jesus was an extraordinary man.  A man who can heal the blind and walk on water could have gained anything he wanted—power, wealth, prestige.  However, Jesus refused to seek anything for himself.  Instead, he gave up even the basic things most people desire—a way to make a living, a wife, children—and he dedicated his life to helping others.  We have seen a few exceptional people, like Mother Theresa, who lived a life of sacrificial love, but Jesus went even further.  Jesus showed us the greatest love of all when he laid down his life for the world. Jesus didn’t just die for his friends.  He sacrificed his life for people he’d never met—people like you and me.  He died for people most might overlook—the outcast, the forgotten, the neglected.  He died for people most might find despicable—those who have cheated, abused, murdered.  Jesus even died for those who drove the nails through his feet and hands into the cross.  He said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) When Jesus died on the cross, he demonstrated the highest form of love.  We admire his self-sacrificing love.  Somehow, it speaks to our hearts.  We know it is good.  We know it is right.  It awakens a longing within us to reach for this kind of higher love—even when it seems out of reach.  However, just as early people must have thought flight was out of reach, we hope that—with God’s help—we might one day love like Jesus.  The Truth is, we can love like Jesus.  With man it is impossible, but all things are possible with God.  And God beckons us to reach, to stretch, to grow toward love. Closing Whenever you look up at the fluffy white clouds that float high above us in God’s beautiful sky, remember to reach for the higher virtues in life: faith, hope, and love. Pray and ask God to help you. And then, keep reaching for the highest ideals in life.