God's Greatness in Creating the Earth

Well, good morning. I want you to imagine with me for a second, imagine that you are the nation of Israel, and please do what you can to try to mentally put yourself in the shoes of the Israelites. Your parents had been under the oppression of Egyptian captivity. It was their generation who had experienced divine deliverance as Almighty God raised up Moses to lead his people out of captivity and into the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Your parents' generation was there when God sent plagues upon the Egyptians, forcing them to release Israel. Your parents knew what it was like to have their backs against the wall when they came to the Red Sea with the Egyptian army hot on their trail. And they saw how God miraculously parted the Red Sea so that they could walk safely on dry ground just ahead of the Egyptians who drowned when the sea collapsed over them. Despite God's gracious provision every step of the way, many of your parents grumbled.

Many of them complained they forsook God, and they worshiped idols instead. As a result, many of them were laid low in the wilderness, and so here we are. You are the generation assembled together to hear the word of the Lord. Please keep in mind that Moses has spent countless hours in the presence of God, listening to his voice, and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, recorded the word of God.

I'm gonna ask you to please stand with me, please stand with me as we hear the word of Elohim. If you have your Bibles, you are free to turn to Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1, and we will read together, beginning in verse 1 all the way through to verse 13. Then God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters. Oh, I'm sorry, Genesis 1:1, in the beginning, You're thinking that I have the wrong translation.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, let there be light, and there was light, and God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness, and God called the light day and the darkness he called night, and there was evening and there was morning one day. Then God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate the waters from the waters, and God made the expanse and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse, and it was so.

And God called the expanse heaven, and there was evening and there was morning, a second. Day then God said, Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place and let the dry land appear, and it was so. And God called the dry land earth and the gathering of the waters he called seas, and God saw that it was good. Then God said, Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed and.

Fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them on the earth, and it was so, and the earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them after their kind, and God saw that it was good and there was evening and there was morning, a third day. Would you pray with me, please? Dear Lord, I think of the apostle Paul, where in the word that he says how he has been called by God to preach to the Gentiles, the unfathomable riches of Christ.

And Lord, here in your word this morning, we behold riches unfathomable.

Lord, in your word here this morning, we behold the creation account, and we behold the Creator of all of creation, Lord, we behold you. God help me to communicate to your people that which is unfathomable. Help me, Lord, by your grace and through the power of your Spirit to give expression to who you are. And Lord, that your people might be built up and encouraged as they hear your word being preached here this morning.

Oh God, give to me the grace that I need so that Lord, in your power and in your strength, I might be a blessing to your people here this morning. Lord, we just pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. You may be seated.

The sermon this morning is entitled God's greatness in Creating the Earth, God's greatness in creating the Earth. the sermon will be presented in 3 main parts or through 3 main sections, if you will, and first, we will look at what the creation account reveals. What the creation account reveals, and then secondly, we will consider who the creation account reveals, and so from the what to the who and then thirdly, we will consider why. Why reveal the Creator of creation?

What is the big deal about this? What is The purpose behind the account that we have just read. And so let us begin with what the creation account reveals. There are 7, answers or 7 points that are going to be made in connection to this, what the creation account reveals.

So number 1, Number 1, and we see this in day one, I'm not gonna spend a lot of time here because Milton nailed it last week, but in day 11, the creation account reveals the creation of the earth and we saw that in Genesis 1 verses 1 through 2, where it says that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and Note that in verse two, it describes this earth that God created as beginning in a formless or a without shape way. It was without shape and it was empty and darkness was over the surface of the deep.

And so this is what we see in the initial stages of the creation of Earth. Let us move to point.

Number 2, still day one, the creation account reveals the creation of light and it says in verse 3 that God said, Let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good and he separated the light from the darkness, and God called the light day and the darkness he called night and there was evening and there was morning one day. In Isaiah chapter 45 verse 7, we read these words, where God is speaking and he says, I am the one creating light and forming darkness, and just stop to think about the value of light.

I am no scientist, so I cannot give full expression to the value of light, but what I do understand is that light is extremely important and that light is a provision from God.

To all of his creation, and I do believe that as a result of God creating the light, we should be led to a place of worshiping Him and adoring Him and exalting Him. Well, let us hasten on then to day number 2, and this brings us to point number 3 that the creation account reveals the creation of the earthly atmosphere, and we see this in verses 6 through 8. It says God said, Let there be an expanse, expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters, and God made the expanse and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse, and it was so, and God called the expanse heaven.

There was evening and there was morning, a second day.

And so in this account here, we read about how God created this earthly atmosphere. OK. picture this, you've got a formless and void earth and over the surface of the deep, you've got water. I'm not sure that it was absolutely pure water to begin with, but you've got like this water, this liquid, probably water mixed with earth like a marshy, a marshy situation over the face of planet Earth and then what God is going to proceed to do is he's going to separate the water from the water, there's water below and then there's this water beyond the earthly atmosphere and then inside of this water, there is this, this, this heavens, if you will, he calls it here as his word says, he calls this expanse heaven.

And really what is going on here is that Moses is communicating that God has created this earthly atmosphere. The Bible speaks of three heavens, you have the atmospheric heaven, the celestial heaven, and then the place of God's abode. The apostle Paul himself talks about being caught up into the third heaven. And so we're not talking here about the 3rd heaven, we're talking about the 1st heaven, the earthly heaven, we're talking about the atmospheric heaven.

And please understand that there is a lot going on when God creates this atmospheric heaven. In so doing, he creates an environment in which life as we know it will be sustained, life in which we know it will be sustained. Plant life is sustained, animal life will be sustained, and human life. Our lives will be sustained.

This atmospheric situation was absolutely necessary for the sustaining of life and contrary to the thinking of some in the day of Moses, there was no air God. There was no atmosphere God, if you will. God Himself is the one who created the air. God Himself is the one who created this atmospheric environment inside of which life, our lives could be sustained.

Brothers and sisters, please understand that this is very, very personal. OK, understand that from the moment you first breathe until life's final breath, that every single breath that you breathe is a gift from Almighty God to you. He is the God of the air. He is the God who has provided you with the air that you breathe, that sustains your life.

And so, and so perhaps every single breath that we breathe, there ought to be a sense, we ought to have inside of us the sense that That is a gift from God. That is a gift from God. And I don't know what the number of breaths are that we breathe from the time we are born to the time we die, but there are essentially countless breaths that we breathe, countless gifts given to us by Almighty God. Let us move on to number 4.

The creation reveals, this account reveals the creation of a water canopy above the Earth's atmosphere, and again we see that in verses 6 through 8, here on the second day of creation, God is going to create this water canopy, and I already gave Some expression to that, but please note that it says that God made the expanse, separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse, and it was so. And so we have here a picture, if you will, of water that is beyond the earthly atmosphere.

Beyond this firmament, beyond this expanse, if you will, and so there is this water. Now I wasn't there to observe it, so I don't know exactly what that would have looked like.

creation scientists will tell you, that there was a water canopy that existed out there beyond the immediate earthly atmosphere. Well, This may very well explain a lot of things. This water canopy could have functioned like a greenhouse, if you will. Imagine the earth and then the earthly atmosphere and then beyond that atmosphere, there is this water canopy, if you will.

Such a canopy creation scientists say could have filtered the harmful sun rays that were aimed at the earth. It would have resulted in a more balanced climate across the globe from the North Pole to the South Pole and everywhere in between. It would have allowed for greater amounts of vegetation as well as a greater spread of vegetation. It would explain life forms in various areas where we would not expect it, and scientists have discovered in the ice of the North Poles and in the ice of the South Poles, they have discovered life that once lived there, that does not live there anymore.

This would help to explain perhaps human longevity, and there's a lot that can be said with all of these points, but because of time, we're not going to go there, but I just want you to understand that there is a way in which we can understand what life was like on planet Earth even before the time of the flood, and this helps us to understand or to account for. The possibility of a great flood as recorded for us in Genesis chapter 7 verse 11, where it says that the floodgates of the sky were opened.

The floodgates of the sky were opened and it rained on the face of planet Earth for 40 days and 40 nights and, and, and the, the grounds burst open and waters came from the ground as well, and this helps us to explain and to understand how it is that the entire globe could have been covered in water in the day of Noah when the flood waters came. This would perhaps help to explain then the fossil record which indicates that there was a catastrophic disaster that took place.

And it might even help to explain the ice caps as well as the ice age. And again, I'm gonna leave you hanging. I'm sure that you may have some questions. I'm not going to focus in on the scientific stuff, though it is fun to do that, but really the purpose of Moses is not so much, and God's purpose through Moses is not so much.

to give to us a scientific textbook as it is for God to reveal Himself to his people through this account, but in so revealing, there are certain things that he says and there are certain conclusions that we might be able to arrive at based upon our presupposition and belief in God and him creating all things, the heavens and the earth. And now understand too that the water canopy can be seen as a gracious provision from God designed for the good of humanity. However, The great flood represents a judgment from God and humanity afterwards suffered the consequences.

Prior to the flood, God looked upon the face of humanity and he saw that every thought and every intent of the heart of man was wicked continuously.

And that caused God and His Holiness to be upset and so his wrath is going to be poured out upon a humanity that has despised and rejected Almighty God, and so God will judge them, Through the flood and he's gonna wipe out everyone except Noah and his immediate family. And again, this water canopy that we read about in Genesis 1:6-8, I think helps us to make sense of the great flood that God would cause upon the earth at a later point in history. Well, let us move on then to day number 3 and the 5th point here that the creation account reveals the creation of land, the creation of land.

We see that in verses 9 through 10.

It says that the Lord God said, let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so, and God called the dry land earth. This is a setup. God is setting things up. God has a plan in place, he's got a, a purpose in mind, and everything he does is done with purpose, and so he is setting the scene up for the vegetation, and the animals and the humans that would inhabit the land.

Again, please understand that a part of what we discover here is the kindness of God. God created an environment inside of which we would be able to live and dwell and have our being. The next time you walk on land, I want you to consider the fact that God gave that to you as a blessing to you. Let us move on to number 6, the creation account reveals the creation of seas, the creation of seeds in Genesis 1:9 through 10, and God said, let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and so on the face of planet Earth, God is gonna cause the waters to be gathered.

In one place and let the dry land appear and it was so, and God called the dry land earth and the gathering of the waters he called seas and so understand that the waters below were gathered into one place and the gathering of these waters he called seas, that is plural. And I don't know that I fully understand all of this, but what I think that I can say is that all of the waters in one way or another is interconnected. All of the water in one way or the other is interconnected in some way.

and yet at the same time as we look across the surface of the land, we can notice that there are different bodies of water.

Some of those bodies of water, no doubt were salt bodies of water, and other would be freshwater bodies of water. Yet below the earth's surface, below the crust, if you will, somewhere. There is a connection between all of the waters so that we can say with Moses that the waters below the heavens were gathered into one place and yet at the same time, we can refer to them as seas because as we look at them, we see that there are different bodies of water. So God created this.

And again, we see a God who is moving in such a way. So as to set things up to where life would be sustained. We receive water. As a gift from Almighty God.

In his kindness, he set a system up inside of which you and I would benefit from the system. God made it for us. At the end of the day, this is a setup in which God is setting things up for Adam and Eve and by way of extension for us, who are their ancestors. In Psalm 95:5, we read that the sea is his, for it was he who made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

Come, let us worship and let us bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our God, our Maker. The psalmist understood aright that as he contemplates the seas in this passage, That the only logical, the only logical step to take the conclusion. is that we are to worship and bow down.

We are to kneel before the Lord, our Maker. He is the one who not only made the seas, but he made us, and he did these things for His glory, for our good. Well, we'll move on to number 7. The creation account reveals the creation of vegetation.

And we see this in verses 11 through 12. God said, let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them on the earth. And it goes on in verse 12 to say that the earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them after their kind, and God saw that it was good. And so please take note of this little phrase, each according to its kind.

God created all of the different kinds of plants, if you will, all of the different kinds of trees, all of the different kinds of flowers. He created all of these different kinds, and this argues In favor of microevolution. This argues in favor of the fact that on a small scale change within a kind can take place and God does this because he knows this would be needed for the survival of the various kinds, if you will, or the various species. Another thing to point out here is this.

Now, now consider the fact that on, on day 3, God is gonna cover, the, the land on the earth with this vegetation. Now, if you, if you could have been there 5 minutes after it was accomplished, And perhaps you would have come across just a gigantic redwood, fully formed, and it may be that as you look at the redwood, based upon your expert training, that you would conclude that this redwood must be a few 100 years of age. And yet, and yet the, the fact is that God had created it within that day, perhaps he had created it five minutes before you were there to see it.

And so you are assuming that there is an age to this tree.

That is not true after all. You see, God created the earth, along with the entire universe, with this appearance of age. You can apply that same line of thinking to Adam and Eve. God brings Eve to her husband and then say 20 minutes later, you, if you happen to have been there, you get an opportunity to meet them and I'm sure you would not have seen, the, these little infants.

you would have seen them fully formed, and you may conclude that they're, they're whatever, 44 years old, I believe is the perfect age. That's how old I am. And so they probably were 44 years old. Based upon what you would have thought, but the reality is, is that they weren't as old as what they appeared to be.

Jesus turned the water into wine. That was his first miracle, right? He turned water into wine. And the folks that were there to drink that wine, they said to themselves, wow, this is good quality aged wine.

And yet it wasn't as old as what it appeared to be. You see, understand, brothers and sisters, that we, we who embrace a young age of the earth belief. We're not out to lunch with such a belief. It's very legitimate given our belief in Almighty God and His power to create all things.

It's very legitimate for us to believe that he created, all things with an appearance of age and that things aren't as old as what some of the evolutionists say that they are. When they say that the earth must be billions of years old and the solar system itself must be trillions of years old, maybe not. I would submit to you, no. Personally, I would affirm a young view of the, of the age of the earth, but I'm not gonna fight over that issue.

It's just what I believe and it's the doctrinal position of Cornerstone Fellowship Bible Church. This is what we as Cornerstone believes. Also keep in mind how the creation of this vegetation supports a 24 hour day. Now think about it, God creates the vegetation here on day 3.

OK? If the days as some might contend, if the evening of the day was like extremely long, say, millions of hours long, and then if, if the daytime of the day was just as long, the fact of the matter is, is that if the evening were that long, it would result in the death of the vegetation. Or if, if the day were that long, it would likely result in the death of the vegetation. And so it seems to make good sense to say that, that we're looking at a 24 hour day and then we are looking at, the vegetation being created on the face of planet Earth within the context of this 24 hour day.

day 3, and then the next day he's gonna create the sun and the moon and the stars, and it's likely that it was 24 hour day. And the thing is, is when it talks about there was evening and there was morning, OK? It doesn't say there were evenings like, and mornings, like there were multiple cycles. of day within the day.

There was one evening, it's in the singular, there was one morning, there was one day, and, and the Israelites in hearing this, they would be thinking to themselves, OK, a day is a day and so I believe that God created all things within the context of a six-day period. We should be blown away. By the various forms of plant life. that God created on the earth.

It does us well. to stop and to be still in the presence of Almighty God. And as we are observing the works that his hands have made, To worship Him for the things that He has created. I remember way back many years ago when I was 21.

And I came to faith in the Lord Jesus. And, and for the first time, my eyes were open to the majesty of God as revealed in creation. It was as if I was living life in black and white, and then all of a sudden someone gave to me color. On the other side of conversion, I, I received color and I'll never, never forget that I remember walking outside of the front door of my home and I just had to stop.

And I looked at the different trees, and the grass, and the flowers. And I had seen what I had never seen before in God's creation. And this creation pointed me to the majesty, and the glory, and the greatness of God Himself. I saw different shades of colors of green on the trees that I had never known to have existed before.

And this is just a part of, of God opening our eyes to see what it is that he has created, so that we might, as we behold the works of his hands, that we might worship him, that we might recognize in what he has created, who it is that he is. Think about the vegetation for a second. Some of that includes the food. That you and I eat.

The next time you peel open an orange, And you break it into its various parts. And you, and you put a, a part of that orange into your mouth. I want you to remember. Where that orange came from.

And I want you to worship God. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:31, whether then you eat, or you drink, or in whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. And something as simple as eating a banana can be done to the praise of God's glory. It is his gift to you, it represents his kindness to you, and your heart should be fattened with praise for Almighty God.

Has he not been good to provide for us, a land upon which there is vegetation, and this atmosphere inside of which we can breathe, and the food that we eat. He has been extremely good, and I believe that this is in part what it is that God through Moses wants to communicate to Israel, and by way of extension, this is what God wants to communicate to us, that we might worship Him and exalt in Him and see him for Who it is that he is and this is gonna get us to the next, part of the message as we focus now our attention on who the creation account reveals, who the creation account reveals.

I've got 11, you're gonna fill in 11 points and this, this is insufficient. This does not do justice, and whatever it is that I am able to say about each point, it is insufficient.

Understand we are talking about unfathomable riches, we are talking about one who is incomparable, we are talking about one who is infinite, and all of who it is that he is. We are talking about a great and glorious God, a majestic God, and here it is me. I'm trying to communicate this to you. Well, here we go.

Who the creation account reveals. Number one, and a couple of these points are reviewed from last week, but I'm throwing it in there because last week's sermon was so good that I just felt like I needed to steal from Milton. Number one, the creation account reveals a God who is majestic, and remember that, His Majesty is seen in the name Elohim, which is used 25 times in this chapter, and it is a name for God that implies, and I quote from Milton, he is not just God, he is the most excellent God.

Whatever a God should be, he is the consummate God.

And I do believe that implied in this definition of Elohim is the fact that he is the only God and there is a clear distinction between him and his creation. There is a distinction between the Creator and the creation. He alone is God, there are no other gods, and he alone is Worthy of our praise. Let us move on to number 2, the creation account reveals a God who is triune.

We observe 9 times within the description of days 2 and 3, Elohim, the Hebrew, a name for God Elohim with a third person singular verb. OK, follow with me please. Elohim with a third person singular verb. And so we will discover in the passage places where it says, he who said or he who made, or he who separated, he who called, he who saw, and so the, the name of God Elohim is used with these verbs and in every instant these verbs are given to us in the third person singular meaning, it is he who made.

It is he who made. And if Elohim is given to us in the plural, we have right there a sense of plurality and a sense of unity. Not that this proves the Trinity, but it opens the door for belief in the Trinity, which later revelation makes it very clear, we worship one God, eternally existing in three persons. That is the God that we worship.

In the beginning was the Word, the Word was God, the Word was with God. And according to John chapter 1 verse 14, the Word became flesh. We have a sense there of the fact that we have a God who has existed in the form of the Father, and even the Son and other passages would lend support to the idea that he exists in the form of the Spirit to, one God eternally existing in three persons. The creation account reveals a God who speaks, a God who speaks.

Elohim said, is mentioned once in day 2 and twice in day 3. He is a God who speaks and observe the power in the spoken word. Brothers and sisters, by the power of the spoken word, waters were separated. By the power of the spoken word, the earthly atmosphere was formed.

By the power of the spoken word, the waters on earth were gathered into one place and dry land appeared on the earth. And God was able to accomplish these things through the power of His word. In Job 37:4 we read, a voice roars, he speaking of God thunders with his majestic voice, and he does not restrain the lightnings when his voice is heard. Other passages, but one that I want to point you to then is Psalm 29:3.

The voice of the Lord is upon the waters, the Lord of glory thunders, the Lord is over many waters, and the voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is majestic. You see God's voice, his word, what he says is powerful, it's majestic, because, because it comes from the one who himself is powerful and majestic. And yet, this God speaks to you. He speaks to you.

He did not have to speak to us. God has spoken to us the gospel. And through the power of the gospel. Most of us have been born again into a living hope that cannot perish, spoil or fade.

Through the power of His word, through the power of the gospel, the good news that Jesus died on the cross so that our sins might be forgiven, that he was raised bodily from the dead so that we too can have the hope of being raised from the dead through the power of His word. We experience hope and confidence. You see, God has spoken. Moving on to number 4, the creation account reveals a God who creates, and I don't wanna get caught up so much on the fact that God creates as much as I wanna focus our attention actually on his creativity.

Oh my goodness. Is not our God creative beyond imagination? I have a daughter, she's, I believe, 14 years old. The older I get, the less I remember how old any of my kids are anymore, but I think my daughter Emma is 14, she can correct me afterwards if I was wrong, but she does art.

And I stand behind her shoulders and I look down at what it is that she is doing and I see this creativity. And I am just blown away by this creative ability that God has given to her, to be able to have a picture in her mind of what she wants to create, and then she goes about her business with, whatever medium she wants to use and she creates it and by the time it's done, I am just, I'm blown away. And yet how much more is our God who is in heaven, how much more is he creative and he has demonstrated his creativity across the face of planet Earth and in the entire universe, and even in the creation of you and me.

He is an absolutely creative God.

We do not know the exact number of the species of flowers in the world, but I was looking it up and some say that there are over 1 million species of flowers. Creativity. Do you ever stop? To smell the roses.

Seriously, Do you ever take the time in the presence of Almighty God to be still? And to, and to observe his creativity. You ever look at a tree. Like I was saying that I did on the other side of being saved, and do you ever marvel at the tree itself?

Take a giant step back and, and find yourself in amazement over the forest that that tree is a part of, and then take a real, a step forward and take a real good close look at the tree and you observe the tree, but then you begin to observe every single leaf on the tree. He is absolutely creative. And I've read that there are over 1000 species of trees. And each and every single tree.

or flower of the same species is unique in and of itself, and God is creative in creating all of these things. The creation account number 5 reveals a God who is powerful. And his power was demonstrated in the creation account when he separated water from water. I don't understand that, but that's what he did, and I'm sure that it was from the human side of the equation, hard to do.

Just imagine taking all of the water that does exist. On the earth and then separating it and causing some of that water to stand out in the canopy. Can you do that? Can you do that?

You cannot, but God did, and his power is demonstrated in separating water from water and separating the water from the land. And brothers and sisters, can I submit to you that God's power is demonstrated in his ability to separate your sin from you. When I came to faith in Christ, There were sins in my life that I was guilty of that I tried to stop, but that I couldn't. But when I heard the gospel for the first time through the power of the gospel, and you can relate to me with this, through the power of the gospel, God is able to help us to get to a place where we are new creatures in Christ.

We are new. I'm not saying that I don't struggle with sin. In fact, I do, and the very fact that I feel inside of me the struggle is an indicator of the power of God to transform a heart, because before I came to Christ, I did not care. But as God began to move upon me, and as he began to regenerate me, and as he began to help me to see the truth and begin to believe in the truth, I realized that I was accountable to him, and I couldn't stop my sin, though I tried and it was through hearing the gospel that through the power of the gospel, how Jesus died for me that I was able to experience a deliverance, where I experienced freedom from the guilt and the power that sin had over me.

Again, I haven't arrived. But brothers and sisters, God through the power of the gospel is more than able to separate your sin from you. Walk in the newness of life that you have been called to. Do so with confidence in this great God who reveals Himself to you and who has revealed Himself to us in creation and through this creation account that Moses is delivering to Israel, and by way of extension to us, he is powerful.

Number 6, the creation account reveals a God who is sovereign. To be sovereign means to rule and to reign, to be in control. And his sovereignty is on display in creation. He rules over all things created, and all things created.

Do his will. All 103 elements listed in the periodic table submitted themselves to God's sovereign rule as he formed the earth during days 12, and 3 of creation week. Again, I'm not a scientist, I don't fully comprehend all of that, but God's word says it, so I believe it, that God who created all things, no doubt caused all elements to submit to his power and his authority and his rule and his sovereignty. One of my favorite passages of scriptures in Psalm 29:10 where we read, How the Lord sat as King at the flood.

Yes, and the Lord sits as King forever. There is nothing that at the end of the day thwarts his sovereignty. His sovereignty is demonstrated in creation, it's been demonstrated throughout the entire course of human history, and we see his sovereignty and all of these attributes, if you will, demonstrated in the person of Christ as we behold him at the cross. You can bring all of these things together and you can see in Christ at the cross, many of these truths about God.

Evident Because he is. The exact representation. Of God Number 7, the creation account reveals a God who is purposeful. He had a plan.

He had a plan. Creation as we have observed it so far is a divine setup. It's a setup. Everything with a purpose, everything with a rhyme and reason, nothing by mistake.

God is exercising his sovereign plan here in the days of creation, and as he takes a formless and void earth, and he begins to form it and brings it to the place at the end of day three where it is fully formed, his plan ultimately is to fill the earth. His plan ultimately is to fill the seas with fish and to fill the air with birds, and to fill the land with animals, and ultimately, To put upon this land. Human beings, creatures created in the image of God, designed to glorify Him by reflecting his image in the relationships with one another and thus the earth being filled with the glory of Almighty God, as we, the high point of his creation, reflect his glory.

This is an amazing God.

All things with a purpose. Number 8, the creation account reveals a God who provides. And if you can read through the creation account and not be overwhelmed, not be blown away, not be struck by God's provision for us, there is something wrong. The unsafe people out there, they can look at creation, it doesn't do them a thing, but for us who are God's people as we observe what God's hands have created, and we understand he did these things for us and for His glory, that we should be blown away by the fact that he is a God who provides.

We see his provision with the atmosphere, we see his provision with the water, which is in, which, which can be inhabited and which sustains life. we see his provision in the land and in the vegetation. He is a God who provides. And his greatest provision, if we fast forward in history, right?

is observed at the foot of the cross. Where we needed our sins to be atoned for. And we see at the foot of the cross how it is that Jesus died on the cross, in our place, taking upon himself the wrath of Almighty God, so that God's wrath was poured poured out upon Jesus, and so, and so our sins in Him are forgiven, and through him and his sacrifice, we are freed, we are freed. What provision The creation account reveals a God who loves.

You can't, you can't spend much time at all working your way through the creation account without being struck by just how much he loves. And let me make this personal. He loves you. He loves you.

He did have you in mind during the six days of creation. You are not someone that he thought of later on in history when you came into existence, but he had you in mind, yeah, he had you in mind even before creation began, and he creates these things with you in mind. when we think about what God has created the heavens and the stars and the earth and all things, Why in the world? Would he give any thought to us?

We should be staggered at the thought of who he is and blown away by the fact that he thinks about you and me. How precious are his thoughts to us, the psalmist says. Number 10, the creation account reveals a God who is faithful. He is faithful.

Three times we read and God said, and at the end of the narrative, 3 times we read and it was so. In verse 6, then God said, let there be an expanse, and then a bit later, and it was so. In verse 9, God said, Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, let dry land appear, and a little bit later it says, and it was so. Verse 11, God said, let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind with seed and then on the earth, and it was so.

You see God, fulfills his purposes. He, he fulfills his plan. If he says it's going to be, then you can take it to the bank, it at the end of the day will be. He is faithful.

And there are a number of verses that we can point to to underscore the faithfulness of God. Hebrews 2:17 said he had to be made like his brethren in all things, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. You see, the faithfulness of God is seen in the fact that Jesus made propitiation for our sins. This is an indicator of his faithfulness and so Jesus himself then is our faithful high priest.

First John 1:9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. First Peter 4:19 says, let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator. in doing what is right. Interesting that Peter thinks of God in terms of the Creator and as he thinks of him as the Creator, he connects his faithfulness to it.

The one who created all things, did so and in the process of doing so, demonstrated his faithfulness, Brothers and sisters, he is faithful to you. He is faithful to you. Do not blaspheme the good name of God. By concluding that he is not faithful.

I don't understand all of what he's up to all of the time. Sometimes hard things happen in life, sometimes difficult situations come our way, and there are times in which we find ourselves at our bedside in tears, and we can't go to sleep at night because we are so upset, but that does not negate the faithfulness of our God. And our God who is faithful has said in his word that he will complete the work. That he began in you.

He who began the good work will complete that work. Faithful is he, and so we can trust in Him because he in fact is faithful. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 says, the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, no temptation has overcome you, but that which is common to man, and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also that you may be able to endure it.

And finally, number 11, the creation account reveals that God who rejoices. He is a God who rejoices. There are 2 times on day 3 where Moses declared that God saw that it was good and this declaration was made after an aspect of God's creating. God created the seas and the lands, and he concluded by, by saying that he observed that it was good, then he, he again, made the vegetation and God said or he declared or, or, or he observed, that it was good.

listens to Psalm 104:31 where it says that the glory of the Lord, let it endure forever. Let the Lord rejoice in his works. This indicates that God desires to rejoice over the work that his hands have made, so let the Lord be glad, let him rejoice in the works of his hands. Part of the reason that God is satisfied with his creation has to do with its purpose in providing for and sustaining humanity.

Indeed, our God delights especially over those created in His image who are his own. Listen to Zephaniah 3:17. The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior, he will exalt over you. With joy.

He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. We created in the image of God by His grace, have the capacity to bring pleasure. To God. As we observe what he has done and as we respond in worship and praise of God, we're gonna finish quickly here but we're going on to the 3rd, the 3rd, part of the message, why reveal the Creator of creation?

Please keep in mind that Moses under divine inspiration wrote Genus or wrote Genesis for the nation. I'm, I'm catching what you have. He wrote, oh, and now this pulpit's wanting to fall on me, Again, under divine inspiration, Moses wrote Genesis, Genesis, for the nation of Israel, to prepare them for entry into the land of promise, and we see God speaking through Moses to the nation of Israel in these passages, and by way of extension, he speaks to us through the creation account, and here's the deal, Moses does this because he wants for us to know him.

He's he's not a God who, who hides himself from us.

He is not a God who created all things, wound it up, got things going and then took off, but he is a God who not only created, but he is intimately involved in the works of his hands, he is involved in creation. And God Himself is revealing himself to us through Moses that we might know him, not just intellectual knowledge, but really knowing him. That as we get to know who he is, we respond with hearts that are fattened with praise, and we know Him, we love him, and he worship Him, this is absolutely critical.

AW Tozer has said that what I believe about God is the most important thing about me.

And so God here is revealing Himself through Moses to Israel, because they are getting ready to enter the land of promise. And it's not gonna be easy. It is a tall order. There are enemies in the land, and there are those who would come against them to bring them down.

There are false gods out there in the land, and God is wanting to reveal Himself to them as the one and only true God, so that they might know Him. Secondly, the Creator is revealed so that we might trust in Him. God wants Israel to trust in their God. This is why he reveals himself as the creator of all of creation because he wants to give to them a picture of who he is, so that they might have the faith that they need to go into the land.

And conquer the land in the name of God. Keep in mind that there were those who doubted. There were those who were afraid of going into the land. There was a whole generation who had been laid low in the wilderness because of their faithlessness, and the second generation of believers needed to know that I can trust in my God.

They needed God to reveal Himself to them so that they might go into the land and do what God had called them. To do. They needed to behold the great God. They needed to see him through the eyes of faith, and they needed to go into this land victorious, able to conquer.

Number 3, the Creator is revealed so that we might overcome difficulties. It wasn't gonna be easy. There would be difficulties along the way, there would be challenges along the way. And so God reveals Himself to them, and by way of extension to us that we might overcome difficulties, and then fourthly, the Creator is revealed, so that we might fulfill God's call upon us.

I know with certainty that there are people here who are struggling with God's call upon them. There are people here, wives perhaps who are struggling in their role as a wife and as a mom, men who are struggling in their role as a husband and as a father. There, there are people who are struggling for one reason or another, people who have lost employment and who don't know where the next paycheck is going to come. And you see what God is saying to Israel, through the creation account is look at me, look at me.

I am a faithful creator, I am faithful, I am your God. I am powerful, I am able, I love you, I care for you, I will provide for you. I will say yes to all of my promises. You can take it to the bank when I speak, my powerful word will be fulfilled.

Trust in me and know that I can help you to overcome. This is your God. This is your God. This is your God.

Worship him. Praise his name. I trust that in your heart of hearts, That you just find yourself. Just worshiping.

Elohim Our majestic God. Pray with me, please. Lord, we just give thanks to you for your word. Lord, I pray.

That you would help us to be ever more mindful of who you are. That Lord, we would see your goodness. And all of the things that you have done for us and has provided us with that we would see your goodness, your faithfulness, your love and your kindness. You are our provider.

You are our Lord and our God. And Lord, we pray. That you would just help us to grow in our capacity to worship you, to love you, to exalt in you, to bless your holy name. As we sing, help us to sing with hearts that are just filled with praise in Jesus' name, Amen.