Main Scripture Text: Genesis 1:1 - 2:3
Main Idea: All of existence was created by the Word of God, according to His unrestrained, perfect will.
- Everything from the vast expanse of the universe and all that the naked eye can see of the night sky - the milky way, the planets, the moon, the stars and the Sun all the way down to the smallest particle and sub-atomic particles – everything was created by God.
- He has always existed before anything else was, God is.
- God is the only self-sufficient One, the Only Eternal One, who has no beginning and no end.
- Before anything else was, He was God, relating to Himself in three persons as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
- There are no other true gods – the God of the Bible is the God over all and the only One true God.
- He alone is Sovereign – He Rules over all – He is the Creator of All
- Whenever God commands and whatever He commands comes to pass instantly. No plan of His is thwarted.
2. God is Orderly
- There is a beautiful symmetry of order shown in the text, in the correspondence between the first three days and the last three days.
- On day one, God forms light; on day four, he fills the heavens with luminaries
- On day two, God makes the form of the sky and waters; on day five, He fills them with birds and fish
- On day three God makes the form of the land and plants; on day six, He fills the land with animals & man
- From the greatest to the most minute detail, God is a God of order
- Even just a "little" change in the orbit of the earth would render it unsuitable to support any life. And yet the earth is perfectly situated and perfectly supports life, unlike any other planet we have ever found.
- If we had less water in our planet or if the mixture of gases found in the atmosphere changed by only a few percent, or if the atmosphere was a small percentage thinner, life would not be sustainable on earth.
- This is not the result of accidental randomness – this is the purposeful intent of a God who has a plan for everything and who orders everything rightly.
- Every microscopic component of a living cell is breathtakingly complex, yet in isolation a cell cannot survive nor replicate. Additionally, all of the parts of a cell are necessary to its functioning and replication. A cell cannot work until every part of the cell works. Some of the smallest parts of cells are unimaginably complex and demonstrate intelligent design.
Psalm 8:3-9 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? 5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, 7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. 9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
- God's majesty is seen in His good provision and care for all that He has made
- God's goodness is seen in His giving man a purpose – we are not purposeless creatures with no point to our existence and life.
- We were given work and made to subdue the earth and take dominion and were given a good task to be like God in how we rule and reign over the earth.
- We can see God's goodness to provide for all that He made.
- He carefully made a self-sustaining ecosystem that would be able to support and maintain life because He is a good God who cares for His creation and because He cares for man.
- God's goodness can even be seen in the incredible diversity of foods, fruits and seeds that He has given to us to enjoy.
- Creation as God originally designed it was without any flaw and without any deviation or imperfection. Creation was without any death. It was beautiful in every aspect and it reflected the complete goodness of God.
"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness".
- God purposed to make man, so that he could relate to God. He made man in His very image.
- No other creature was made in the image and likeness of God but man – and just as God relates to Himself eternally in the Trinity, God made us like Him to relate to Him personally.
- Mankind as man and woman was made to hear God's Word and relate to Him personally.
- Man was created as the offspring of God and we were meant to be sons & daughters of God in eternity.
- God, the creator of all, though immeasurably great, is a personal, speaking and caring God who looks after the interests of mankind and superintends all the affairs of man.
Revelation 14:12-13 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!"
Songs for worship: Glorious & Mighty; Here I Am To Worship
Potential Application Questions
- How has your view of God been enhanced or changed as you heard about and reflected on His greatness as the Creator?
- How does thinking about the greatness of God help you trust Him more personally? In what areas or circumstances do you need to look up and see God more?
- How does trusting that God is a God of Sovereign order affect how you view your life and present situation?
- How does the beauty of Creation speak to us of God's character and nature?
- How does seeing the lengths to which God has gone to provide and care for mankind help you see His great love for us?
- Where have you doubted God's goodness towards you personally? What would repentance look like in this area?
- How does knowing that our life has purpose & that purpose is to relate to God personally and worship Him in all we do affect the way we view our life?
- What areas of worry or control do we need to repent of and turn to God in humble trust?
- How can we apply this passage to our lives in the area of personal worship and seek change for the long haul?
