We turn in the Word of God to Revelation chapter 5. There's a typo in your bulletin. Revelation chapter 5 and then Psalm 104. Let's stand together for the reading of the Word. Revelation chapter 5, the great worship of heaven. John has his vision of heaven which begins in chapter 4 and verse 1. And here He looks upon the throne of God. And I looked, and behold, on the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. Then he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. Now when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints, and they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and you have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. and have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth.' And then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders. The number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands sang with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom. and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying, Blessing, and honor, and power be to him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever. And the four living creatures said, Amen, and the twenty-four elders fell down. and worshipped Him who lives forever and ever." Now, another scene of the throne room of God. Psalm 104. We'll begin at verse 1. Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, You are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty, who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, who stretch out the heavens like a curtain. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, who makes the clouds His chariot, who walks on the wings of the wind, who makes his angels, spirits, his ministers a flame of fire. You who laid the foundations of the earth so that it should not be moved forever. You covered it with the deepest, with the garment. The waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke, they fled. At the voice of your thunder, they hastened away. They went up over the mountains. They went down into the valleys to the place which you founded for them. You have set a boundary that they may not pass over, that they may not return to cover the earth. He sends the springs into the valleys. They flow among the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field. The wild donkeys quench their thirst. By them the birds of the heavens have their homes. They sing among the branches. He waters the hills from his upper chambers. The earth is satisfied with the fruit of your works. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle and vegetation for the service of man that he may bring forth food from the earth. and wine that makes glad the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread which strengthens man's heart. The trees of the Lord are full of sap, the cedars of Lebanon which he planted, where the birds make their nests. The stork has her home in the fir trees. The high hills are for the wild goats. The cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers. He appointed the moon for seasons. The sun knows it's going down. You make darkness, and it is night in which all the beasts of the forest creep about. The young lions roar after their prey and seek their food from God. When the sun rises, they gather together and lie down in their dens. Man goes out to his work and to his labor until the evening. Oh Lord, how manifold are your works, in wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your possessions, the great and wide sea in which innumerable teeming things are, living things both small and great. There the ships sail about, there is that Leviathan which you have made to play there. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God endures forever. We turn in the Word of God for the preaching of the Word back to Psalm 104. And maybe I said a few things quickly at the beginning of preaching last week, but Lord willing, after a few weeks in Psalm 104 and a few more occasional sermons, Lord willing, we'll turn to the Gospel of Luke for a series from the Gospel of Luke. From Psalm 104, we will be looking at Psalm 104 for at least, I think, the next four weeks, or rather three weeks after this today, one of those four. We looked at the throne of God last week, the realm of the king, throne of the king, the realm of the king, which will be creation, the provision of the king, providence. the purpose of the king, a new heavens and a new earth, and then the worship of the king or, oh, worship the king in that final message. So five sermons from Psalm 104. We are on the second of those and looking now particularly and more narrowly at God's work of creation. Again, last week we looked at the king's throne. Now we look at the king's realm or his work of creation. I'm guessing that most of you live in houses that you are probably very familiar with. Maybe your home is newer and you're not as familiar with it, but if you've lived in the same place for a number of years, you probably don't think much about entering the front door and finding your favorite chair or gathering around the dinner table the place becomes familiar to you and in a sense you just assume it's there. You don't do much thinking anymore about it. Maybe you do more than me, but this happens to me at least. It becomes sort of an ordinary thing. Something, as it were, even in the background. How much time have you spent thinking actually about your house? For example, who made it? All the people that labored to put it together all the gifts and talents that are represented from the truck driver who brought the material to the person who laid the foundation, the last finishing touches on the roof and the interior, people who made the furniture. You think about the tremendous amount of labor, industry that went together, cost and time and talents to result in a home, a place to call home. Again, we often just walk in the front door, don't we? and we just think, this is just here. Maybe we're, in essence, thinking, this just happened somehow. Now, if you've ever been involved in a building project, or if you've renovated something, you feel a little bit of the pain involved in actually making something. I want to submit to you that it's not uncommon for us to live in God's house, God's creation, and not often think about the architect and the maker of the same. And not rightly stop to contemplate what God has done and how He has made a special home for humanity. And that this making of a home so eclipses any home in this world. I just read this week, I saw a headline that the most expensive house in South Carolina for sale right now is in Greenville, it's in Simpsonville, $22 million. $22 million home. It's nothing. If you were to fly over the city on an airliner, it'd be a little speck. If you were to go just a little higher, you wouldn't see it at all. And most of the things that we've made in history, there are some notable buildings that have lasted, most of them are gone. Not so with God's work of creation. And as believers, we should be thinking about God's work of creating. We'll do that from Psalm 104, which is a psalm much about the creation of the heavens and the earth. Something we should never get used to. and never take for granted." A little bit of review before we get to the doctrine of creation as taught in Psalm 104. Remember the genre of this psalm. It is a praise psalm. Bless the Lord, O my soul. And we remember that that word bless or barak can both mean a gift that God gives or the ascription of praise to another, and that's what this is. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Note that the psalmist here is talking to himself He's giving Himself instructions on what He should do, and that's going to be in response to God's work of creation. There's an activity within that He's reminding Himself to do, much like Psalm 103, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. That there is a speaking to Himself, as it were, teaching Himself from the Word in relation to God's mighty works to praise the Lord. We saw that verses 1 through 4 begin with a vision of a king on his throne. And if we're going to go again through this psalm and the major themes, as I said a moment ago, we saw the king's throne last week. Today, the king's realm, his work of creation. Next week, the king's provision or the king's table, providence. And these, as it were, cannot be neatly taken from the psalm. Sometimes you hear a preacher and he says, okay, verses one through five is exactly this. Well, one through four in this case is the throne vision, but the rest of the psalm has four themes woven through it. And we're going to be looking at the psalm under four themes, the work of creation, the work of providence, that God will purify this creation, that he's worthy of worship. The rest of the psalm is the vision, the king over, verses 1 through 4, the realm below. Heaven is my throne, earth is my footstool, Isaiah 66 and verse 1. You could put that over this psalm. I said last week you could see The earth, as it were, from the perspective of far away in the universe, a little speck, and that's nothing compared to the immensity of God and how He views the smallness of us, humanity, like dust on the balance. And then the narrower or the zoomed-in view is the rest of the psalm, the creation itself, the majesty of God and the glory of His creation over which He rules. Praise in this psalm, and again, bless the Lord, O my soul, O Lord my God, you are very great, clothed with honor and majesty. Or verse 31, may the glory of the Lord endure forever. Or verse 33, I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. This praise explodes from the psalmist on account of this vision of the king over his realm, the king and his work. And so let's study from verses 5 through 26. I really could have read to verse 30, 5-30, the king has created his own realm, the creator king. A couple things, and some of this is again a little review from last week, but let's look at the text of verses 5-30 and look at God's creation of the heavens and the earth. Verses 5-30, God's creation of the heavens and the earth. And before we go to Psalm 104, it would be helpful in your Bible to turn back to Genesis chapter one and familiarize yourself with the narrative of creation as presented by the inspired servant of God, Moses. Holy Spirit, remember the word is inspired? Moses wasn't there. God told him what happened. And this is God's record of his own works given to his servant to be written down. Psalm 104, we'll see in a moment, follows this pattern. We saw this briefly last week. We're going to look at it in a little more detail. Verse 1, I just want to point you to a few themes in Genesis 1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And we learn from Genesis 1 a number of things. That God is the creator. And that it's not just God generally, but the God of the Bible, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And God the Father is active in creation. God the Son, the eternal Word, the Logos, and God said, let there be light. God the Son is active in creation. And the Spirit of God, verse 2, was hovering over the face of the waters. The Holy Spirit is active in creation. We see that again in Psalm 104. We'll see that in a moment. God sends forth His Spirit. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the true and living God, is the author of creation. And He did this in the beginning, before which there is nothing, out of nothing, ex nihilo we say, after which there is a creator and a creation. He does this in the space of six days, and we read that in verses 3 through 13. We read, and God said, the activity of the Word, by the Word of His power in the space of six days. And I want to set before you a little pattern that's in Genesis chapter 1, a pattern which some people use to say that Genesis 1 is literary and not poetic and not historical, but it is no less poetic. It's a pattern that goes like this, you know, getting back to the illustration of a house. When you bought your house, let's say if you bought a house, you came to it, it was what? Empty, right? You had to build the house, what's the thing you do next? You fill it with your things, your furniture, and then finally, once everything's in order, what do you do? You sleep there the first night, you move in. God in His work of creation did something analogous to this. He made the realms and then He filled them. Light and day. Light, day, night pattern. Light and darkness. Day and night pattern. Verses 3-5. In verses 14-19 we have the sun, moon, and stars that inhabit. The light givers. In verses 6 through 8, we have the creation of the atmosphere and then land. And we have fish and birds in verses 20 to 23. The birds of the heavens and the fish of the seas. The realms are filled. And then we have in verses 9 through 13, the dry land and the seas and the plants. And then we have the sixth day, the animals, it's the third day, the sixth day, the animals and man, man made in the image of God, now inhabit these realms and there's this beautiful symmetry to the work of God and pattern and glory. Three realms and each are filled with inhabitants. And this was as relayed to us by Moses, divine creation in the space of six days and all very good. Now Psalm 104. Actually, I have one more thing from Genesis 1-2, the seventh day he rested. And we read that in Exodus 20 and in Genesis 2. Psalm 104 directly echoes and refers to these works spread across the six days and the principle of rest. Verses 5 and 6, you who laid the foundations of the earth. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Attributing the original ex nihilo, out of nothing creation, to the Lord God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Lord, my God, who is very great, you laid the foundations of the earth. And there is reference Look at verse 7, to the voice of God, the word of God, and then in verse 30, you send forth your spirit and they are created. God, the triune God, is the originator, the creator of all things, out of nothing by the word of His power, echoed in Psalm 104. The power of creating was common to all three persons of the Trinity, is common to all three persons of the Trinity, God was the one who, in the beginning, made the essence of creation out of nothing. And that's a quote from the theologian John Calvin. How did he do it? Again, I alluded to this, but the text says very clearly it's by the Word. Look at verse 7, at your rebuke they fled, at the voice of your thunder. And then in verse 24, O Lord, how manifold are your works in wisdom you have made them all. And if you study the Old Testament, the idea of wisdom, the divine wisdom, wisdom is personified in the book of Proverbs, closely connected to the logos of John chapter one, the eternal word, the second person of the Trinity, the son of God, by the wisdom of God, all things were made. And what does that mean? We're not to think that God spoke simply as humans do and that these words of God, audible words, sound waves as it were, are the direct analogy. to how he created by the logos or by the word. But again, Calvin, God did not speak as humans do, but he demonstrated the power of his eternal word in the act of creating father and son together. And then in the space of six days, the realms we talked about, the realm of light and darkness, You cover yourself with light as with a garment. Verse 2, the waters of the expanse are in verse 3, the chambers of the waters in the heavens. Verses 6 through 9, we have the division of the sea and dry land. The waters stood above the mountains. At their rebuke they fled. At the voice of your thunder they hastened away. And the division of dry land and seas and God's decree that those would be separate realms is repeated here in Psalm 104. Vegetation for the service of man. In verses 12 through 14, He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, the vegetation for the service of man. There's inhabitants, verse 9. You have the sun and the moon in verses 12, 17, and 25. You have the birds and the sea creatures in verses 11, 14, and 18. And you have animals and man. Again, verse 14 and 15. He causes grass to grow for the cattle, vegetation for the service of man, wine that makes glad the heart of man. Man goes out to his work and to his labor until evening. He was made to tend the garden and to keep it. And all of the elements of Genesis 1 in creation are found in Psalm 104, the entirety of the creation week, the whole breadth of God's works. The mechanism of His action in creating. And even in verse 31, look at the text, May the glory of the Lord endure forever. May the Lord rejoice in His works. That's the language of Genesis 1 verse 31. When God saw everything that He was made, behold, He declared what? That it was very good, and then He rested and delighted in His works. What does this mean? A couple things. The psalmist, and this psalm doesn't have a title. Look at Psalm 103, the Psalm of David. But it has almost the same structure as Psalm 103 in terms of its opening language, Bless the Lord, O my soul. In terms of its closing language, Bless the Lord, O my soul. And in terms of its sustained gaze on the glory of God. In Psalm 103, the themes of redemption. Psalm 104, the themes of creation. David perhaps is the author, we're not sure, but it's very likely. Whoever the inspired author is, this inspired author had Genesis 1 in their hands. They saw and read the grand themes of the mighty work of God's creative power. the direct echoes of what God had revealed to humanity about how the world and the universe came into existence. From the Word and looking out, as it were, through the windows into the world, both of those filled his heart. And he knew and received the Genesis narrative. When he scanned the universe, much like Psalm 8, he saw the fingerprints of God. When he considered the heavens, he saw the work of his hand. Psalm 8 and 19 and 104 all have the same theme. And as an aside, not really an aside actually, a pertinent observation at this point is that whenever the Bible talks about the origin of all things, It says the same thing. God made it all. The second thing it never says is that there was any element of chance or evolution involved in the origin of all things. Nowhere. It is God who is the creator, the object of worship. And I could go text after text, Genesis 1 and Psalm 104, and we looked last week at John 1, and Colossians 1, and Hebrews 1, and Revelation 4 and 5. God is the originator of all these things. There are no evolutionary processes described in the Scriptures. I'm going to park here for a moment. One of the reasons why we're in the cultural moment that we're at, for example, confusion over masculinity and femininity, what it means to be a man or a woman, is the outright rejection of the Word of God concerning the origin and pattern of all things. If everything's chance, nothing means anything. There are no boundaries or lines. Matter of fact, there's an Israeli philosopher, he's a homosexual, he tweeted just this week, very well-known man, Yuval Harari, if anything can be done, then it must by definition be natural. There's no bounds, there's no order, there's no moral structure, there's no created boundaries to the world. There's no meaning. And this flows from a worldview that says the world came by chance. And it leads to the kind of open rebellion that we're experiencing right now. It didn't come by chance. The Word says it came by God. And it came in this arrangement in six days. The Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them. In the seventh day he rested. Moses wrote that in Genesis 1 by God's inspiration. God said it from Sinai. Those were words from the law. And some people like to think that the Israelites in the wilderness were a little bit stupid, so they needed a dumbed-down version of the creation account. They weren't like us. were smarter. Let me tell you something about Moses. In Acts chapter 7, when Stephen's about to be martyred, he reminds the Israelites that he was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He went to the best universities in the world. If you think that philosophy and science is something new, it's not. Moses was schooled in it all. And he, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, received the account of creation echoed here in Psalm 104 by the diligent, believing reader. And he was the instrument by which God has proclaimed to the world how all of this came to be. Jesus, in his ministry on earth, agreed with Moses. That's not a surprise, is it? Jesus believed that there was a literal Adam, Matthew chapter 19. that Abel was alive at the foundation of the world. That Noah was a real man and there was a real flood. That the judgment of Sodom, for example, in Genesis, was an accurate historical event that teaches us something about the holiness of God and his future judgments. Our Savior Jesus Christ, not one figure or event in the book of Genesis is mythological or typological, but historical. We should be the same. I would do well if we would read, for example, from Matthew chapter 19, just to give you the words of our Savior. It's a quote from Genesis chapter 2. Have you not read that he who made them at the beginning I'll put it this plainly. There is no room for long ages in the theology of Jesus Christ on creation. The beginning was when God made Adam and Eve. It's Jesus. Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female? For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, be joined to his wife, the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together let not man separate. And here's quoting from Genesis chapter 2. 1 and 2. without hesitation. And I would posit this, that if you get Genesis wrong, you'll get the Bible wrong. It'll be the beginning of the unraveling of our theology. The fact that God made in six days is fundamental to the tone and tenor of the scriptures. I want to read you one more thing from Exodus chapter. 31, God said that He gave the pattern of six days and one day of rest, six days of creation and one day of rest in the original creation as a sign to Israel that He is God. The psalmist in Psalm 104 understands and receives divine revelation. I have a lot of friends in Presbyterian churches that differ with what I just said and would want to find another way to extend long ages into Genesis chapter one. I consider them friends and I know that many of them are seeking to uphold the integrity of the scriptures and inspiration and inerrancy and everything else. But when we compare scripture with scripture, it's not compelling. God created in six days. Simple truths presented and received by the psalmist in Psalm 104. He made this terrestrial ball, separated land and seas, created the inhabitants by divine creation. So what can we learn from this? A couple things to learn. I mentioned it in passing, but number one, the creator-creature distinction. There's a throne. on which is God. Heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool. And there is a distinction in the Scriptures between God and His creation. We think about the eternity of God, the immensity of God, the glory and power of God. These things are seen in creation. And even from looking out the window and at the starry sky, the Bible tells you that you can know that there is a Creator distinct from the creation. Romans 1, his invisible attributes clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power in Godhead, that these are things that had a beginning, but there is one who has no beginning, and that is God. Everything else that exists is the direct result of the supernatural God-breathed sequential acts of the creation week, which, by the way, in Genesis chapter 1 and Psalm 104, Genesis chapter 1 and vivid grammatically is the Vav consecutive. It's a form of Hebrew that distinguishes narratives. It's the telling of what happened and it's received in Psalm 104 as that kind of narrative. God alone is the originator of all things, the architect of all things, the first cause, the object of worship, all sovereign. This is why, verse 1, O Lord my God, you are very great, you are clothed with honor and majesty. I can see it by your fingerprints in the things that you have made. It's also why he has total sovereignty over everything, including you. Matter of fact, when Paul comes up against this, what our confession rightly calls, the high and holy mystery of predestination, something to be handled with prudence and special care, that God is sovereign over the destinies of every man, woman, boy, and girl that has ever lived. Where does Paul go to to establish this to be true? Romans chapter 9. Does not the potter, rather, but indeed O man, if you're gonna argue with that, if you don't think God is sovereign, indeed O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it? Why have you made me like this? Does not the potter have power over the clay from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? He's the maker, he's the potter. We are what He has made. We are the clay. This comes from the doctrine of creation, which presents to you in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and a sovereign God who rules over creation. I want to give you a quote from Calvin. The first evidence of faith is to remember that wherever we turn, all which meets the eye is the work of God. So we ought to meditate. with care on the reason for which God created it. Why? In order that we might apprehend with true faith what is necessary to know concerning God. It is important to attend to the history of creation. You want to know God as creator, ruler, and king. Look to his work of creation. Second thing, it's very good. It's a very good creation. Genesis 131, it is very good. Look at Psalm 104, verse 14. Oh Lord, how manifold are your works and wisdom you have made them all. Verse 31, may the glory of the Lord endure forever. This psalm is a psalm that's rejoicing in goodness. Look at this example, verse 15. Wine that makes glad the heart of man. Oil to make His face shine, bread which strengthens man's heart. The trees of the Lord are full of sap, the cedars of Lebanon which He planted." You can just keep reading. The rivers flow through the hills. The wine is given to man. The whole creation is described here as good in its essence and then good in providence as God supplies for it. The word goodness is all over this psalm. Again, Calvin being placed in this most beautiful theater for God's glory, Let us not decline to take a pious delight in the clear and manifest works of God. Cultivate an eye for detail. I said this last week. Contrary to our age, which hates the works of God. You know the whole trans movement? What is it at its core? It's a hatred of the works of God. That's what it is. God makes you like this, you say no. You didn't. I'll be what I want to be. I will chart my destiny. Your handiwork, your image, male and female, I will hate. It's a rejection of the goodness of God. I want to talk to you young people here. You're growing up in a strange world, a world in which people will try to tell you on a sad and lonely day, that maybe, for example, crazy language that you're a boy trapped in a girl's body. What does the doctrine of creation say? That's not true. God made you after His image, male and female, and when He was done, He said, very good. And if anyone, listen to me, if anyone ever breathes that kind of satanic lie to you, reject it. And someone will try, someone in this church, on your lowest day, say, maybe God didn't make you right. No, He did. He made you to reflect His glory. He made us very good after His image, male and female. With wisdom and power, He fashioned you. And this isn't just for that question. This has to do with life in the womb. This has to do with all of us, with all our special needs and differences. God fashioned us. He made us after His glory. He made us after a pattern of goodness. And that creation, still in a fallen state, reflects that goodness. Why is that? Because it is God, clothed with honor and majesty, who made these things. Back to the idea of worship and having an eye for them. Parents, have you ever had your child bring you a drawing? What do you do, regardless of the I'll just say this diplomatically. You know what I'm talking about. Regardless of what it looks like, you love it. Why? Because it says something about the heart of your child. Something about where they're at, about the complexity and glory of who God made them to be. It says something about their love for you. And you receive it with gladness. It represents something about them. Doesn't it? We recognize this. In how much greater a way, the God who made all things, when he gives us his gifts, we're lifting our eyes to the throne of heaven and we're seeing complexity and glory and we should be worshippers. We know God who is invisible only through his works. An old theologian said, this is the reason why God, inviting us to know himself, places the fabric of heaven and earth before our eyes, rendering himself in a certain manner clear and manifest to them. It was made good and very good. A third lesson, the place of the earth in a biblical cosmology. Well, what in the world does that word mean? Cosmology means the study of the origin and eventual future fate of the universe. That's what cosmologists study. Most of them don't read the Bible. It would help. It's the idea of the history, structure, and trajectory of the universe. The biblical account, as I said earlier, is a big stumbling block for many people. For an evolutionist, the Earth is a cosmic accident. And nobody knows why it's here. People are spending billions of dollars trying to find another one in the universe. The scriptures say the Earth is central to the purposes of God. Heaven is my throne. The Earth is my footstool. Central. The Bible consistently places earth at the center. Genesis 1, Psalm 104, Psalm 96, and Isaiah 66. The earth is the primary focus of God's creative works and His redemptive works. The earth is the first in creation. The earth is unique in all the universe, filled with plants and animals and mountains and rivers and beauty and life. The earth is the place where the crown of creation created after the image of God, male and female, was placed. The earth. The earth was visited by God and angels all through the Old Testament. And it is into this world and on this earth, this soil, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The eternal Son of God came to dwell. This earth is at the center of God's purposes. Humanity is at the center of God's purposes. The doctrines of creation and man are so critical to the understanding of everything, including salvation. This is the place right now where God is gathering from every nation, tribe, and tongue through the preaching of the gospel, a host that will be with Him in the new heavens and the earth forever, which will be this earth renewed when Jesus comes again. Heaven will descend to earth, Revelation chapter 1, and there will be one realm of glory as Jesus makes all things one, things in heaven and on earth, Ephesians chapter 1. The Bible teaches the centrality of this earth in the created order. It's interesting that some of our most famous and rich people right now are alive. The smartest people alive. What are they all trying to do? Have you ever noticed this? Very interesting. Search for extraterrestrial intelligence, SETI, it's a big project, they're looking for aliens. If you take Paul Allen, who's passed away, but Paul Allen, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, what do they all have in common? Huge stacks of money and they all are making rockets to go to the heavens. And interestingly, Jeff Bezos, I just read this a couple of weeks ago, and Elon Musk, they want to fill the universe, here's a quote from Bezos, with trillions of humans. Which, by the way, will never happen. Do any research, you won't be alive when the rocket hits Mars. Not because it's going to hit Mars, even if it lands well. You can't live in space. Your bones are going to turn to jello. And maybe with technology we'll overcome challenges. We were not made to live anywhere else but here. This is home. This is where we were made, and this is where Christ came, and this is what he's going to renew to make a new heavens and a new earth. We should remember this, always. This is a good ground for proclaiming the gospel and witnessing God made a good world. Christ came into this world to save sinners. Christ will one day judge the world, and then he'll renew this earth. And heaven and earth will be one and this will be the dwelling place of God with men forever and he will wipe the tears from our eyes. And this all mysteriously flows from that first work of creation. Heaven is my throne, the earth is my footstool. Why did God make you in all things for his own glory? And to dwell with his people in the temple which has as its center the earth. And this leads, perhaps, one more thing to think about. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is intimately connected with the powers of creation. It's described in creation language. There's a first creation and then there's a new creation. You've been made a new creation in Christ Jesus by the gift of the Father, by the work of the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. And then, what is redemption? It's a bridegroom coming to rescue a bride. fabric of creation, male and female, Adam and Eve. This theater is not just for God's glory generally, but for God to reveal his specific triune glory in the salvation through Jesus Christ at the cross outside Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. It was all made in the mysterious purposes of God with that end in mind from the beginning. And so we should bless the Lord. Oh, my soul, we should say, oh, Lord, my God, you are very great, clothed with honor and with majesty. We should say, Lord, forgive me for not seeing and being a student of your glory and the things that you've made. Lord, it is a wonder that you've given me life and breath and made me after your image. Lord, I see you take care of all creation. And so Jesus teaches us, Lord, you will take care of us. And then, Lord, you have come to this world in order that you might bring a people to yourself to enjoy life in that temple forever. Lord, I praise you, the creator of all things. For the sake of your incarnate Son, have mercy on me as I offer you my life. and my worship forever. Let's pray. Lord our God, as we come to you, we confess you as a creator of the heavens and the earth who never faints or grows weary. Clothed with honor and with majesty, how manifold are your works and wisdom you have made them all. May your glory endure forever, and as you rejoice in your works, O God, we sing praises to you as long as we live and have being. We pray that our meditations on these things would be sweet to you and that we would be glad in you. Forgive our sins, and Lord, we look forward to the better day when sin and rebellion is purged. from your holy, beautiful creation. And Lord, we pray for grace daily to bless you from the depths of our souls for your mighty works. And we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.