Good morning Trinity Bible Church. Welcome to any guests or family that are visiting this morning. We are going through the first three chapters of Genesis. A quick explanation as it seemed there's been some confusion as most people were wondering when we're starting Revelation. And so because it was mentioned I've had a couple of discussions like no I've clearly stated from the pulpit that we were going to do three chapters of Genesis and then Revelation but I think once you say we're going to do Revelation that's all people here and so The reality is that after going through the Gospel of Matthew and covering the incarnation, humiliation, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, we wanted to kind of go through something that was covering kind of the essentials of understanding the Christian faith. And so wanted to take a going all the way back to the foundation or to the creation account and taking in the creation, the fall, and the promise of redemption that takes place in the first three chapters. Now there's much in the first 11 chapters that stand out from the rest of Genesis history, but wanting to primarily stay with the first three and ending with the promise of that redemption and having gone through the gospel And we know who that is based on where we are in the time of God's revelation in history of Christ our Redeemer. Then that left us with, well, what is it that the church and what is it that all saints of old and through all time are looking forward to. Well, it's not the here and now. It's not to live a good life and pass that on and to die and all these things. No, there's a promise. The promise was a new heavens, a new earth. The promise was a final eschatological hope and the final eschaton or the final ending of all things that culminates in this eternal kingdom. that we heard preached about. So we thought we'd take you to the middle of the story, then take you back to the beginning, and then go to the end, because that's how all good preaching happens. So that's why we're going through these first three chapters. It is going to seem a bit different. Even my own children are asking, why are we going through the same verses for four weeks in a row? Because I can, but the real answer is like going through the whole chapter one for a month, going through chapter two for a month, going through chapter three for a month. And if you've ever gone through Genesis, you know, that's plenty, there's plenty there. And so each week we'll be covering something different while going through the same chapter. So this week again we'll be reading through the entirety of Genesis 1. That'll be the the reading that I do. And then after I begin the reading or end the reading of Genesis chapter 1, the opportunity for everyone to to pray silently. Ask that God the Holy Spirit would illuminate your mind of the truth of the word. And through that illumination through the truth of the word and the the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit would draw you into the reality of perhaps your own sinfulness, your own idolatry, your own forgetfulness of the greatness of God, and then turn you more to Christ. After that time of silent prayer, I'll pray for us corporately, and then we'll enter into the time of the word. But now, reading in its entirety Genesis chapter 1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And 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. God called the light day and the darkness he called night. There was evening and there was morning the first day. 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 that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so, and God called the expanse heaven. There was evening and there was morning the second day. God said, let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place. Let the dry land appear, and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called seas, and God saw that it was good. God said, Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit, which is their seed, each according to its kind on the earth. And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their kinds, trees bearing fruit in their own seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning the third day. And God said, let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night and let them be signs for the seasons for days and years. Let them be lights in the expanse of heavens to give light upon the earth, and it was so. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, the lesser light to rule the night and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from darkness. God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the fourth day. And God said, let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth, across the expanse of the heavens. So God created the great sea creatures, and every living creature that moves, and with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them and said, be fruitful and multiply, fill the waters and the seas and let birds multiply on the earth. And there was evening and there was morning the fifth day. And God said, let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds, livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds. And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him. Male and female he created them. And God blessed them and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit, you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has breath of life, I have given every green plant for food and it was so. And God saw everything that he made and behold, it was very good and there was evening and there was morning the sixth day. This is the word of God. Please take this time to pray. Heavenly Father, as your church gathers here on the Lord's Day, we come. We come to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, Lord, and King. Lord, we offer up to you our praises, both in the fellowship of the saints, celebration of our shared union we have in Christ through God, the Holy Spirit, who indwells us, seals us, and binds us together. We come to celebrate our righteousness in Christ that we also bear in common. Lord, as we sit under the authority of your word, Lord, we pray, God, that you would illuminate our hearts and minds to the truth of the word. Lord, that your people would be confronted with their own sinfulness, with their own idolatry, Lord, the ways they have erred. God, through the power of the Spirit and the Word, may you convict us of these things. May we confess them to you. Lord, and be drawn closer to you through God, the Holy Spirit, and be made more and more in the image of Christ through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, which strengthens us to put to death sin in our flesh. And God, so we come, weak people, acknowledging our weakness and needing your strength and your grace and your mercy, which we know is greater than our waywardness. Lord, strengthen us in this life. Lift us up through your word and through the truth found in it. That you may be glorified when we gather together as assembly. You'll be glorified as we scatter out into the world during the week. Lord, that we would represent you well, being strengthened by the Spirit and the Word, and a reminder of the assembly gathered on the Lord's Day, where we celebrate a future hope of Christ returned, and fellowship and celebration which will last in eternity. Lord, we pray now. that you would be glorified and your church would be lifted up. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Last week when we started, I was emphasizing or hoping to emphasize the uniqueness and the purpose of the human being as it's represented just towards the end of chapter one. And the innate dignity that it is to be made in the image of God. And in doing so, setting that against every other ideology, every other belief system that we ourselves kind of take in on a daily basis. where the dignity of humanity is lessened, whether it be made equal with animals, where the dignity of life is lessened in the ease with which death is presented, and all the ways that the world seeks to steal this God-given reality of your innate worth in the eyes of God. and kind of mentioned a bit of the backdrop of this entire account. This entire account is happening to a group of people, the Israelites, who are in the deserts, in their wanderings. who have just been redeemed or rescued out of Egypt and now have been told that they're to go to a land that is their inheritance and that is a promise to them. And so they are now leaving what would be a supernatural rendering of God's power by ending essentially the power of the most powerful nation of the time in their life, which was Egypt, and putting them on a journey to another land that God had promised them. And in the midst of that, they will be through trials and tribulations, and most importantly, in most trials and tribulations that come their way, will be because of their own sinfulness, of their own rebellion. They'll be shown more miracles, they'll be shown more grandeur. And the law will be given to them and they'll be reminded, you shall have no other gods before me. And as Moses is given this, the five books of Moses by God and written down, this account of Genesis is to this real people who are going from one place to the next, one place of being delivered out of slavery and being redeemed by God to be put in a land called the promised land or the gift of the land that they were to receive based on nothing they've done, but solely God is doing this for them for purpose. It is purposed that they will be there ultimately for His glory. And the finality of it as it goes through the history of Israel is to bring us predominantly and specifically where the New Testament authors bring us through the chronologies of Israel, starting with Adam leading up to Christ, who is the Messiah, who is the promised one, who is the one who will deliver God's people, reconciling them back to God through the blood of Christ. All of this is to be understood through the whole telling of the creation account. This audience is to understand who they are and who God says they are, and more importantly, who God says he is. And so we now, so many years removed from that time, over 3,400 years removed, we now look at this in a society of where we are in the church, but the world around us believes a multitude of other ideas about origins, about God, about humanity, existence, existence after the afterlife, all these competing worldviews, which they're everywhere. This rings out for the Christian man and woman and child that the God who is delivering this message and delivered this message to Moses and has kept it true and reliable for the church, now we are to receive it in a manner to understand God is not presenting proofs for himself. He's not writing, this was not written so that you go, oh, this is a way that God proves himself to me. Belief in God is presupposed, meaning that it is properly basic that you would understand that a supreme God exists and has brought all things into being. That's how it's presented in Genesis, and so it's how I present it to you this morning. Now, differing from the long kind of like expanded theological overview. Today we'll actually go through these days and my hope is to show you the order and the structure in which God has created all things and still keeping in mind the pinnacle, the absolute pinnacle of that creation that is presented in the text is he created them in his image, male and female. The Israelites were supposed to see that, what it meant to be made in the image of God. And all people are to see that as well. But now we get into some of the things that some of you are... gonna disagree with me about, and others of you might be, I've never heard this before, and others might have to be woken up, but I'll try to get through it as quickly as possible while being responsible to the text itself. The creation account was not given in an absence of other ideas, just like as we walk through the world and talk with people, individuals that you have, that you meet or you work with or your neighbors with or your family with, taken in numerous ideas about the world, about God, about man. And if you ever get past any shallow conversation about sports or the weather or anything like that, you begin talking about real things, you'll see just how different it is. And of course, in the stage we're in now, if you can just get everyone, okay, let's go beyond politics and talk about something that's a little bit more important. Let's talk about origins. Let's talk about who you are. What is it to be human? Things like that. You're going to have this mishmash of stuff, this hodgepodge, if you will. And it was no different during the time of the writing of this as well. You had competing worldviews that I mentioned last week, there are literary markers in the creation account that are reminiscent or are similar to other creation accounts, be they Egyptian or Sumerian or Babylonian. And the similarities are really the literary markers, but the stuff that matters, the explanation that's happening within each marker is dramatically different than anything that was offered out there. And so we'll go through these days to show you that this was no chaotic battle between gods that was happening. This was the one true God creating. And he's showing his people, there's only me. And so if you go to worship some other created thing, Understand, as Jeremiah notes, the ridiculous nature of cutting a tree down, making a house out of it, and building a fire with it, and eating food over the fire that you built, and then finding another piece of that wood and deciding to carve something out of it. And then as you continue along your day, you put the little carving up and then you bow down to it. The idea of it is it's supposed to be so ridiculous and it's easily written out, and yet that's what people do. The heart is an idol factory and God is letting his people know like everything else out there that you worship is not God. If it's not me, it's not God. And so the way that this is written in in verse one, chapter one, verse one, the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. It's an interesting verse. For those of you that have studied Hebrew or have studied this in depth, you know, this verse really stands alone. It doesn't have to be connected to the rest of the story. And unfortunately, what comes with that in the modern kind of Age has been liberal, or again, I always feel like I have to do this, unfortunately, it has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with rejecting kind of orthodox truth of Christianity, have taken this kind of nature of the way that verse one differs or is not dependent on the verses that follow to say, oh, this was, this is God creating everything. And then verse two is quite the gap, where now all this stuff has stewed in like chaos and all these things. And so that is not what I think is the proper way to read it, nor has it been mostly throughout the history of the church, but you've probably come across books or things like that that teach that very thing. But what this is, is a very simple statement that Moses is giving and to the people and to us that God is giving through the Spirit. In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth. Meaning, in the beginning means before anything, and there's nothing there. And when it says created the heavens and earth, our mind, or the way we kind of are reading is like, okay, we know where the earth is, and we know the heavens is if that's where God is, or maybe it means the sky, it just kind of means what we see. But that's not the way Hebrew works. Heaven and earth is a description to describe everything. It's opposites that actually mean the totality. Or if you're a literature person, it's a merism. And what it means is heavens and earth, when that's described in the scriptures, is to say everything. And John uses that language, even though in Greek there's the word cosmos, which could kind of encompass that. And John in Revelation 21, just to see how it's connected, he goes back to that same phrase to describe that there is now a new heaven and a new earth, to describe like there's a new creation that comes about in the final eschaton. So at the very least, at the beginning, God is also thinking about the end. And so the beginning begins here. God created the heavens and the earth. It's a summary statement to let you know there's nothing Israel, who have just come out of Egypt, who've been told of all of these Egyptian gods that were defeated in essence by Yahweh's plagues, that there is no multitude of gods who are a part of creation. The water is not a God. The moon is not a God. The stars are not a God. The frogs are not gods. The dogs are not gods. None of that stuff. There's only one God and he created everything. Meaning he's not equal to it. He's not subservient to it. It's all his. And then what comes next from two through 31 is just examples of God saying mine. He names it. Sorry, I almost said that he claims it. And so he names it in accordance with the idea of having authority over it. And so everything he creates and he calls it something, that's God saying, I created it and it's mine. And even so, when you go all the way, when we get further into it in chapter two, when he doesn't name the animals and he allows, and he gives Adam that charge is to show that mankind was to be the vassal who ruled over the earth in God's place, having authority over that. And so then we're also gonna see some other themes where he's separating things and he's naming things and he's doing all these things. God is showing that there's not a single thing in all of the created order that is created that was not created by him. And so in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, everything. And then in verse 2, the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the faces of the water. Again, this is another thing that gets quite drawn out. The earth was without form and void, darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the water. Three clauses, just kind of statements that follow from one, although one doesn't have to be connected to it. And it's letting you know that God created all things and this is what they were like. The earth was without form and void. Darkness was over the face of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the water. The one that gets kind of talked about the most is this Hebrew phrase for without form and void. It's not mentioned together in that way very often in the Old Testament. And the other times it's mentioned, it's mentioned as like a desolate place. And so Jeremiah and Isaiah had mentioned it. It's two Hebrew words and they're not generally put together. And as a matter of fact, the Isaiah verse in 34, they're not actually together. They're in parallel lines together. But in Jeremiah, he uses this as a uncreation account, if you will. So without form and void is used to describe Judah and what's going to happen to it when Babylon destroys it. And he says that it's going to be the same phrase without form and void, meaning it's going to be desolate. But he's using it in a negative to show that it's uncreated. And here's where some of you might differ from what I'm about to say. The earth without form and void is not a negative. And darkness was over the face of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of water. It's not a negative because in order to make it negative you have to make the form and void something that was pre-existent or a matter that was there before God created, which is what a lot of people do. And in order to do that, they say that matter that was there, this formless and void aspect, is where you can get this long creation of count. And this formless and void is where evolution takes place. And it's a desire to marry these ideas of creation and evolution together in some way to kind of still keep it. But linguistically, it's not there as a negative as Jeremiah uses it. It's there just stating what's there. God's created it in this manner. And this is the structure of the Hebrew in this passage is to take two and then to take all basically the first three days as we're going to say is what you're going to call forms or the form of the earth, the form of the expanse, the form of the skies and the seas, but nothing yet inhabits them. And then now it's gonna go after that back to those days again, as it goes to one, two, three, and then day four is gonna correspond to day one, five is gonna correspond to day two, and six is gonna correspond to day three. The way that it was written is very specific in this manner, and I hope to show it to you today. God is God of order, not of chaos, and this here is not God battling or combating chaos as these other myths were. This is why it's so profound in the way that it was written as a polemic or an argument against every other belief system at the time that Israel would have received this is to say like there's nothing here that can fight against God. There's no struggle against chaos. There's God creating the earth without form and void. Darkness was over the face of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the water. So the darkness over the face of the deep. The deep is used all throughout the Old Testament. Actually this would have been very interesting to the Israelites as the Spirit of God we have here who is hovering over the face of the waters. In the account of what will be the release from Egypt, it's the same language. The deep will be spread apart by the wind of God that will spread the sea so that they will be redeemed and walk through the waters. The same phrase is used when the Israelites actually take the land in the book of Joshua. The same word where the wind will blow and keep up the water in a heap and it'll be there. The deep will be in a heap. I know. And then they will go through and actually take the gift of the land. So it's a reoccurring theme of God's power and deliverance over the water rather than the water in these other myths, these myths of the ancient Near East. The water being where deities either resided or came from or rose up and they're being equal struggled. There is no struggle. God is creating. So the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. This is tends to be used in many different ways. Some would say that it's the idea of the word can mean to vibrate the idea. The question is also asked, is this Trinitarian in nature? Is this the Holy Spirit? Is this the wind? It's a word for wind. that's used, which also is used for spirit. I would say more than anything, it seems to be in the plain understanding that as the spirit of God is there and as a wind kind of is over the water and will begin to move the water. But the reality is that if you're looking for Trinitarianism in this, while certainly in the Old Testament, the Trinity can be alluded to, there is no clear teaching of the Trinity until we get to the New Testament. There is the Spirit of God. There is God who you know as the Father. And there's also theonomies or Christophanies that seem to be, is this a pre-incarnate Christ? But they're very rare and it is not ever meshed together in the Old Testament. But when we get to the New Testament, it's clarified. So here, I think it's the cleanest understanding is this is the Spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters. He's the one who's created them. And then in verse three, God said, let there be light. And there was light. And God saw the light was good. And God, here it is, separated from the light from the darkness. God called the light day and the darkness he called night. And there was evening and morning the first day. So God says, let there be light. This is a question generally people have is like, what was the light? Was the account of the sun and the moon and all those that come later, was it that the light? Well, no, the light that it says, let there be light is just God giving light. And I just wanna say, if God just spoke all things into existence and he's creating them with purpose and he says, let's light this thing up, it will be so. And so there's not a contradiction of days, as I said, like, is this a confused account of creation? It's this is what you would call the form. This is the beginning of talking about the light, the light of this earth. And so the idea being, he's separating the light from the dark, he's calling it night and day, he's created then night and day, And then there's light. Again, the idea of the earth at this point is that it's not habitable in these days of creation. Now, going from then day one, which would be the first day of the week as it's called, and it would be Sunday. And so God said in verse six, let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, let it separate the waters from the waters. And God made the expanse and separated the waters when they were under the expanse of the waters, and they were above the expanse, and it was so. He called the expanse heaven, and there was evening and there was morning the second day. So now the second day, Monday, there is this idea of these waters, these waters of the deep, and now God in day one has made light, called it day, called it night, and then now he's come to the waters, and the idea is he's separating the waters And he makes an expanse, the Hebrew word for expanse is like to extend, imagine an infinite scroll, like ever seen like a scroll, like we don't use scrolls anymore, but that's too bad. And so, because scrolls are really cool, like if you went up to make a pronouncement to somebody and, I have this to say to you, you could have texted me, right, but this scroll is way cooler and I'm gonna nail it right here on your front door, my door is metal. Okay, I'm gonna give it to you and you're gonna read it, hang it somewhere. Imagine a scroll that just keeps unwinding and spreads. That's the idea of the expanse. God is taking the water because he's, what is he doing? What we're really reading about here as we get to human creation is a place, is an earth where his image bearer will live. and will multiply and will bless. And so he's making this creation habitable. So now it's what you would consider or call the atmosphere, the sky, the waters being separated from the waters. All of this is to show you that this is being habitable. As I mentioned last week, the sky being considered something like the waters because of the color, but also where water came from when it rained. There's also several ideas because the Hebrew word here is an idea of canopy. I'm not getting in all that, but like the idea of like a canopy of water that goes around the earth. I think the plainest rendering of it is, is that this is the atmosphere. This is the sky, the expanse. And here we have waters here and waters come from there. And this is kind of what it is. But God is the one who's making it essentially habitable. And so God called the expanse heaven. there was evening and there was morning the second day. And so then God said, let the waters under the heavens be gathered together in one place and let the dry land appear. And it was so. God called the dry land the waters that were gathered together he called seas and God saw that it was good. So now he's taking all the waters that are down here and he's separating them and making land. The idea being First day is darkness. God creates in his darkness is water and it's uninhabitable. And now he's making it habitable. And so he's giving light and he's moving the waters and giving essentially atmosphere, if you will, and the ability to sustain life. And then now he's moving to, let's move the waters and bring up land for, again, all of this is pointed to habitation. And so let the waters and the dry land appear. He called it earth and the waters that were gathered together he called seas and God saw that it was good. He names earth. He names the sea. He names the light. He names the dark. And now still dealing with the land in verse 11. And it was so. God saw that it was good. morning the third day. So now we've ended the third day. We have light, we have separation of the waters or atmosphere, and now we have the seas and the land separated, and now we have vegetation on the land. All of this is to go to the Israelite who's in the wilderness going, I like vegetation. I like not drowning all the time. I like breathing. The reality was to make them understand who has done all these things. When you look around to the created order, who is the one who has done this? There is only one. Now creation, ironically, is mentioned all throughout the New Testament. Paul's great apologetic against unbelief in the world to the Romans was that they should be able to look to nature and give credit to God for all that he's done. And then he attributes the fall or the sin for the reason why man doesn't acknowledge or honor God. Instead dishonors themselves and turns away from God and all these things. Jesus actually quoted every chapter of the first 11 chapters of Genesis except chapter eight. And it's mentioned, creation is mentioned in every book in the New Testament except five. Like this is to show people who God is. And so in this, we have the first three days. And now if you're going from nothing and then God speaking and creating each day. and now we have breathable air, we have light, we have day and night, we have land and vegetation, and now he goes back to light. And this is the way it's written in the Hebrews to bring you back now to day one, at least to if you want to think of it One author says it this way, think of the first three days as the form of a thing, and then the days one, two, and three, days four, five, and six, a filling of those forms. Meaning now that he's made light, pronounced light, named night and day, now he goes on day four to actually fill that. And said, God said in verse 14, let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and for years and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth and it was so. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, the lesser light to rule the night and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. So the fourth day takes the form of the first day and fills it. And now it's filled. Now we have the light is set in permanence with what he would call the sun, the moon, and the stars. Now, understanding the audience that receives this, that would have been a massive thing. The sun, the moon, the stars, they are all celebrated as gods in almost every conceivable Near Eastern culture. The sun, the moon, and the stars are worshipped as deities. They were later in other cultures aware, whether it be Assyrian, Babylonian, particularly Babylonian, and then later on as well with the Greeks and the Romans, like the stars, the moon, the sun, they all had names, those were all gods, all these things. And yet here he's saying like, with the ease of... Gosh, what's that really dumb movie? He's like does stuff and he grabs it and he throws it over there and it's like electric don't even don't say it out loud Please that's been so many years since I saw it. I'll be embarrassed if I remember what it is But it's like that like the Sun to move and start everything is being created. God's just speaking into existence He's doing it as he pleases So all of these luminaries, all of these things that because they were so high up and the people worshiped and those must be gods and they must be this, God's just, it's nothing. He's like, I'm gonna put them here. And the reality is, why is he putting there? He's putting them there all on display. He's putting them there for the earth to be habitable, for the earth to be glorious and for people to look up and go, not what God is that, but like what God created that. Who could have done that? Remember, not the how, but the who. Who is it that's done all these things? The audience receiving this wasn't there to witness the creation account. And neither is anyone else. But seeing the creation account reminds us of the glory of God who did this with the greatest ease. This is often the point that's made. God could have done all this in an amount of time that can't be measured by time. yet he specifically took six 24-hour days and specifically made each in a manner in order that would ultimately lead to the people to have a day of rest in order that they might properly worship the one who had created all things, had given them the law, had chosen them from amongst all the nations of the people, had protected them from all sides. All they had to do was obey his word, and they cannot, and neither can anyone else. And he sends his son, who was also there at this creation account, And prior to that account, they came up with a plan to do all of this, not with the beginning in mind, but with the end. It's all leading to the new heavens and the new earth. It's all leading to Christ ruling and reigning. This is concise and precise. And it's why I'm trying to point out like all this fits together beautifully in a way that's hard to imagine. And so now we have the sun, the moon, the stars, the end of the fourth day. And God said that the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures. and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens. So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves with which the waters swarm according to their kinds and every winged bird according to its kind. God saw that it was good. And here we have now, the earth is habitable. So what does God do? He puts ocean and lake and river life. He puts the life of the birds and all of the sky and look at what he tells them. Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters and the seas and let the birds multiply on the earth. And there was evening and there was morning the fifth day. Now life on the fifth day has been introduced to this masterpiece that God is making through the pronouncement of his word. For the purpose ultimately for his image bearers to watch over, to bless, And they too, you'll see, will receive a similar call. And of course, when you're looking at this now, the seas and the waters and the life that's in it, is going back to day number two. So day number two, which creates the skies and the water, is now in day five, those forms are being filled with life. And so now, and God said, let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds. Now this is the longest one. It's because man's involved. Livestock and creeping things, beasts of the earth according to their kinds. And it was so God made the beast of the earth according to their kinds, livestock according to their kinds, everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. God saw that it was good and God said, and it's ending there. So he's now saying all land animals are created on this day. The sixth day. And all the animals that inhabit the land, now the oceans, the rivers, the lakes, the skies are filled with life. All the vegetation that is given as food. And then in 26, God says, let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, over livestock, over the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. After describing all the animals that will take the earth, there's a unique change in the narrative. And this can't be stated overly in our day and age. As I mentioned last week, what is the prevailing thought of the world, if you will, on origins? It is that humanity is no different from the animals. And all of the ethical horror that's happened to countries that actually take that belief and run with it. All you have to do is mark communism in the 20th century. It was 100 million or something people put to death all in the name of another deity, the state. And so the replacement of God for some other God always leads to horror. And it's no different here as the animals are clearly and grammatically to be looked at as distinct from humanity while having the same maker, they are uniquely and utterly different because it is only man, mankind, that is the image bearer of God. And so this image bearer, this one who represents God, and now God who's claimed the authority over the whole creation now that we've gone days one through six. Again, how everything corresponds to if you want to form and fill. And now the land that was separated from the waters and vegetation was put on it now is filled with life. And that life being all the animals or the land animals, but man is now separated apart from them, very specifically with the language, grammatically, to let you know how different he is. In our image, no other creature bears that. The Creator only bestows upon humanity this designation of image bearer. And in our likeness, and give them dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, over the livestock, over every creeping thing. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. This is a statement that's called a statement in the absolute. And what that means, there's no wiggle room that God's giving to Moses in the understanding of the role of humanity on the earth. Not only are they to rule and shepherd and steward all of the creation, but this designation of image bearer sets them far beyond everything else. And it's that image or the image or being made in God's image that will be shattered in chapter three. As we'll be introduced in chapter two to Adam and Eve when we get there and to mankind as a whole and the responsibilities and even the dialogue they have with God in the garden. We're introduced to a magnificent reality of people without sin interacting with God in paradise. And it's shattered in chapter three when they yield to the temptation of taking the fruit that they were forbidden. And now all people who read this account and hold fast to it as true have to reckon with the idea that image bearing aspect of who man is in God has been ruined, not without repair, but ruined or broken. And so then that image bearer who's to rule and reign and steward and bless and multiply and multiply the worship of God on this earth, which if you're paying attention to this, the tapestry of God's creation is in fact looking down, if you will, on the earth to see what God is doing on earth. So the idea of kind of for the people who are are you know big into astronomy or whatever it is like like I understand there's probably a central location somewhere in the universe that would be considered the center of the universe but in God's creation the earth is supposed to be at the way it's written is to show you like what's happening here is the center of all the cosmos of all the heavens and the earth because this is where God is doing his work this is where he's putting his representative and ultimately this is where the son will come down to from his throne in his humiliation. It's a pronouncement of what's happening here in this creation. That broken image that happens in chapter 3 as sin enters into the world and after sin, death. And after that murder, war, the scattering of nations, the rebellion against God, it is then narrowed down to one family and the different branches of that family, ultimately to bring us to Christ, who comes from his throne in humiliation, as we just celebrated Incarnation or Christmas, ultimately to the cross to bind what is broken. The God of all creation, when we look to the creation account, we're to simply marvel. The one who spoke all things into the existence also called you and me and all those who are in Christ to him, and in us has made a new creation. And now, until Christ returns, we anticipate the following. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who's seated on the throne said, behold, I'm making all things new. He said, write these down for these words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have his heritage and I will be his God and he will be my son. Moving down towards the end of the chapter. And I saw no temple in the city for its temple is the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it for the glory of God gives it light. and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations, but nothing unclean will ever enter it, not anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life." When we read about the creation, let us celebrate and anticipate the new creation. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time here on the Lord's Day. Where these parts of the Old Testament may seem strange and archaic and difficult, Lord, may you make it simple in our minds through the Holy Spirit. Simple in the fact that the one true triune God, with the ease of speaking words, created all things. accrued all things and put them according to offer God the most glory. In the midst of his showing his glory to all of his creation, he assigned mankind a special and unique position as image bearers. And Lord, we feel and see and experience daily that broken image in our own life. While those who are in Christ have been made new creations, indwelt with the Holy Spirit, sanctified, and strengthened to walk in the newness of life, yet, like the Israelites of old, we fail. As our flesh and the indulgence of sin at times seeks and does rob us of our reveling in your glory. Lord, strengthen your church. The power of the grace and mercy of Christ is more, is greater, is in more abundance. Let us not fall to our own tendencies to lament. Let us not listen to the lies of the enemy. But let us be amazed at the one who calls darkness into light. That is Christ our Redeemer. We pray all this in Jesus name. Amen. Please rise as we conclude in songs of praise. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.