Welcome to the Audubon pulpit. The following message was recorded by Jerry Marcelino, pastor of Audubon Drive Bible Church in Laurel, Mississippi. For more information about our ministries, please visit our website at www.audubonchurch.org. Now here's Pastor Marcelino. Let's turn to the word of God, to Genesis chapter one. And this morning we begin a careful exposition of verses one of chapter one through The end of chapter three will probably be here for a couple of months at least unpacking this great section of God's word. Last week, you remember, we began with an introductory message on the voice of authority. This morning, we want to deal with the first day of creation. And I want to read to you right now, verses one to five. And as you're turning there, I want to just say. and say a prayer in a moment for all of our college students. I know last week we lost a number of them to college, and this Sunday we're saying goodbye to some more, and we'll miss them very much. We'll pray God's blessing upon them for another great year in school and God's provision and blessing upon them. Genesis chapter 1, verses 1 to 5, the first words of the Bible. 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 and 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. And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day. Let's pray. Lord, we ask now that You would bless this series, this particular unfolding of now these Verses into the first three chapters of Genesis, we pray, Lord, that you would honor your name, that you would enable me, your servant, to be clear, to be faithful to your text. We pray, Lord, that we would see our application on how to put these to work, these great truths in our fallen world. And Lord, I pray that you would please, especially Lord, cause us to just revel in who you are, the great God. of the heavens and the earth, the only God who made us in his image, who stoops low from his grandeur in grace to communicate and to love us and fellowship with us. We thank you, Lord, that we know we're not biological accidents. And this is all from one big accident. Lord, we thank you that our lives do have meaning. And they're found in knowing you. And so, Lord, we pray that you would bless this time in your Word, that you would bless all those students as they go into the various areas for study. No doubt they'll have worldview clashes, no doubt. In some of the places they'll be going, there'll be the opinion that would be against what I'm going to say today. I pray that they would be bold and clear and that they would learn. And they would speak confidence, your word to bring to bear your light in the dark world in which we all live. We thank you, Lord, that you're at work in this realm. We thank you that you're saving sinners. Now, Lord, build up your church in Christ's name. Amen. I hope you saw from our time together last week that there are massive differences between what the Bible says about origins and what our society and our modern civilization, postmodern civilization is advocating as the only understanding of why we're here. Let me just think for a moment of really what the prevalent view is saying. The common view taught both in public education and in public universities and so on Is it 15 billion years ago? An accidental collocation of atoms heated up. And as a result, an explosion took place called the Big Bang. And somehow, by hook or by crook, the result of that was. Planet toys were formed. Somehow life out of impossible mathematical proportions, which I'll share with those probably with you next week, astronomical proportions, somehow, someway, virtually beyond impossibilities of impossibilities, life was formed. Let's say there was plant life. And somehow that plant life and through various means of accidents, human life crawled out of the primordial soup. And like I said last week, it's interesting. And I say this with reality here behind my words. If I could summarize evolution, it basically says this. From the goo to the zoo to you. I'm being fair. You see, when you eliminate God, As the author of all origins, you'll believe anything. And somehow, someway, out of this big accident, living, breathing, loving human beings, with intricacies so vast in their anatomy, it's mind-boggling. I read an article a while back on just the nose. It's an amazing thing. It's the nose. Someone told me last night that, I thought they said, did you know that certain parts of your body don't stop growing? Your ears and your nose. Anyway. And that person pointed out to me, I won't tell you who it was, showed me someone who I agreed his nose is continuing to grow. I'm not so bad myself. It's an amazing you could study the brain. And all the circuits, it's just that's by accident. That's by chance, an accident. You see, this is the world we live in. In which it denies. That everything began with God. That were made in the image of God. and that we will face God someday. And so they come up with all these very interesting, foolish explanations, other than what God has already said clearly, to try to explain the world we now see. The Book of Romans says quite clear in Romans 1 what the problem is. It's the heart of men. Let me just go to a familiar passage we all know there, Romans one. And as always, have your Bibles ready, we look at lots of passages and also be alert, because I'll be reading many quotes today, some lengthy to get to a better paint the picture for us. But in Romans one. It tells us in verse 20. For God's invisible attributes, his characteristics, namely, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen. In other words, the immaterial aspects of God, the non visible aspects of God have been clearly seen, perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made so that men are without excuse. Again, we can walk outside this building today in a beautiful Mississippi day. We could see all kind of flowers and trees. And what I just read to you, what it's saying is in that you can see God. The handiwork of God. Not the result of a biological accident, because I just want to ask you the question, if there was a Big Bang, who lit the fuse? See, they don't ever answer those questions. And people that are non thinking. Are easily hoodwinked initially and are made to feel inadequate. But I've read enough and interacted with enough scientific people to know. That the arguments they use. Cannot hold scientific water by the proper definition of science. The book of Genesis is so crucial, if you make a mistake here on the first verse of the first chapter. You have difficulty with the rest of the Bible. Foundational issues are addressed here, worldview. Your view of history, beginning and end, notice in the beginning, there is a beginning. Evolution says there was no beginning. Except the big bang. From eternal matter. We learned last week there is a voice of authority and God has spoken clearly in his word, and let's go now to three things I want to point out in verses three, one through five. The beginning, God in control and he's still in control. The earth got on the move and then the day got at work in day one. Genesis 1 1 in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Henry Morris, great creation scientist. Said this about Genesis 1 1, he said. Genesis one one is unique in all literature, all science and all philosophy. Every other system of cosmogony or opinions about how origins came about. Whether an ancient religious myths or modern scientific models, they all start with eternal matter or energy in some form from which other entities were supposedly gradually derived by some process. Only the book of Genesis even attempts to account for the ultimate origin of matter, space and time. And it does so uniquely in terms of special creation. I agree with Henry. Now, The other alternative besides immediate creation by God, by his spoken word, is what's known as spontaneous generation. Now, we all like to be spontaneous. If you're not spontaneous, you're a boring person, right? Very important for men to be spontaneous with their wives and taking them out suddenly and romancing them. It's great to be spontaneous and do something fun and exciting, unplanned before, just suddenly to do it. Sometimes it's very apropos. And what they believe, the evolutionists, the naturalists, what they believe is, is that suddenly everything happened and it had nothing to do with God. Now, I want you to understand something here. That's not scientific. If I don't want to read you an interesting quote by a man, a Nobel Prize winner in science, he died 1997, born 1906. And notice the problem isn't that Genesis 1.1 is not scientific, scientific facts being scripturally articulated. The problem is man's moral condition. That he'll believe anything but God, because he loves his sin. Now, listen to the scientist, a Nobel Prize winner, he said this. There are only two possible explanations as to how Life arose. Spontaneous generation. Arising. Onto evolution. Or a supernatural creative act of God. He's right. He narrowed it down to those two. It's either that spontaneous generation or a divine fiat. By God, through his spoken word, he goes on. There is no other possibility. Spontaneous generation was scientifically disproved. This guy's an unbeliever now and he's an evolutionist. Spontaneous generation was disproved 120 years ago by Louis Pasteur and others. But that just leaves us with only one other possibility. That life came as a supernatural act of creation by God. But I cannot accept that philosophy because I do not want to believe in God. Therefore, I choose to believe in that which I know is scientifically impossible. Spontaneous generation. Leading to evolution. Well, there you have it. Why do men come up with all kind of different philosophies of how to interpret the origins of the universe? Why? I'm going to cover a number of different philosophies and opinions. Why? Why do they do this? Well, the Nobel Prize winner told us. He will not believe in God. That's nothing scientific there, is there? No, it's called a worldview. It's called a presupposition. It's called what comes natural to him. John 319 tells us men by nature love the darkness and hate the light and they don't come to the light, lest their deeds be exposed. So the problem isn't. Those bullheaded Christians and Bible thumping Christians. The problem is a moral one. This man demonstrated quite clearly. Furthermore, I want to illustrate by two other quotes that will shock you, but again, it paints the picture, because if the Bible is not true and if Genesis is a bunch of stories, then your only other alternative is to believe these next two quotes. Not have a middle ground that's compromised. Carl Sagan, known for the TV series Cosmos and his book Cosmos. He's an astronomer, Cornell University. He died of cancer a number of years ago, about 10 years ago. Near his death, the time of his death, he said this. Total evolutionists, atheists. I would love to believe that when I die, I will live again. That some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue on. But as much as I want to believe that and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert that there's some kind of afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest it. More than it is just simply wishful thinking, period. A hopeless mission. But this one might take. The award. Dr. Stephen Jay Gould, who also died prematurely, about 60 years old from a. Again, a form of cancer, he was a Harvard paleontologist, which means he was studied ancient bones and artifacts and so on. Just prior to his death, and so you learn a lot about a man right before he dies, say. That's what he said. We are all here, and I want you to know this now, we're all here because of this, this is what he said. We are all here because one odd group of fishes had a peculiar fin anatomy that could somehow transform into legs like other terrestrial creatures. We may yearn for a higher answer to all of this, but none exists. We must construct these answers ourselves from our own wisdom and ethical sense. There is no other way. Ethical sense. Naturalists don't have immaterial. Sense. If you're a naturalist and evolutionists, Darwinian evolutionists. Then you're a full materialist. That means there's no such thing as a spirit world. There's no such thing as concepts of morality, conscience, love. Those are non tangible items. And yet, he says, we have to make some ethical sense out of all this. Let's see either that or the God created the world. As you said, which one you want to believe? In the beginning, God created. There is a beginning. He created the heavens and the earth. He created all things, in other words. All beings, in other words. Everything was made and spoken into existence by God. Now, notice from the outset that the Bible assumes and never argues that God exists. It assumes God. Furthermore, the Bible assumes monotheism. What do I mean by monotheism? There's one God, just as the Bible teaches. Israel in the ancient world was a monotheistic nation in the midst of polytheistic nations, nations that believe in many, many gods, the Phoenicians, the Canaanites and so on. All around them, Syrians, Acadians, Babylonians, all polytheistic nations. And henotheistic. What do I mean by that? Henotheistic would be someone like the gods of Egypt. They had a pantheon of gods and they had supreme gods above the other gods. So they were henotheistic. Polytheistic. And in the midst of all that is one monotheistic nation, Israel. This is important as I lay this out for you. Because What evolution is saying is this, is that God didn't create anything, God doesn't exist, everything's by an accident, and all we are are bags of protoplasm. Furthermore, the Bible, I mean, the evolution says that that creation are or I'm sorry, monotheism is the conclusion, conclusive stage of religious evolution. That's interesting. Religious evolution. And what they say, they say that through their analysis is that there were six stages and now we're in the monotheistic stage. For example, he said, The original earth dwellers were animistic. We still have animists today in different parts of the world, but animistic, which means they worship the spirits, evil and good spirits, bad and good spirits, animistic, ancient tribal peoples. But evolution moved them to totemism. What's totemism? You know, like Indians used to worship at totem poles and throw rocks at totem poles. So then they moved from fearful of the spirits and offending the spirits to now creating objects, totemism. Then they say that move to ancestor worship, which kind of country still have that China has ancestor worship. So now they worship the ancestors. They evolve from animism and totemism now to ancestral worship. Then, fourthly, to polytheism, to many different gods. Then to henotheism, like I just told you, Pantheons of gods with supreme gods over other gods. And then finally, through evolution, thank goodness, revolution monotheism, the more sane position. Now, that's what evolution says would happen in religious things, but let's go back to Romans one for a moment. Since we're concerned with what God has to say, not the incapable people who have just read quotes about. Who are about as consistent as mud. In Romans 1, we learned that monotheism was the first stage, and everything that followed was a degeneration from God's original design. Notice in Romans 1, for the wrath of God, verse 18, is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Who, by their unrighteousness, suppress the truth. So in other words, they're acting unrighteous. And in doing so, they're suppressing the truth, the truth they know about. Monotheism, God, God has spoken God's law. They know it, they don't like it, they suppress it and create other ways to God or gods. So it's a degeneration from an original monotheism. Furthermore, it goes on. Verse 19, for what can be known about God is plain to them. Notice God monotheism single because God has shown it to them. Then it was invisible attributes. We've read that his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen. So the men are without excuse. Verse 21, for although they knew God, how do they know God in their conscience? In their thoughts, all men know God. I've talked to people that for the world, different places, different religions. They all have a conscience. Why? They're made in the image of God, whether they acknowledge God or not. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, they degenerated from. See, the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7, 29, God made men upright, but then they sought out many devices. It's a degeneration from original creation. They did not give honor to God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts, it's a heart condition, were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools. and exchange the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles as idolatry, polytheism, henotheism. Therefore, God gave them up to the lust of their own hearts, to impurity, to dishonoring their bodies among them because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. Well there it is. The Bible says no evolution is wrong. It didn't begin with monotheism and then degenerated with animism and degenerated to monotheism or evolved to that. And then the Bible says it started with monotheism and degenerated to where we have today the massive confusion and atheism humanism that we have today. From order to disorder. Not from, as evolution says, disorder to order. Order to disorder. Now why the disorder? Because of the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden. And with that, it says in Romans 8, that even the creation has been groaning longing for the day of redemption. Even the physical, theological strata of our world is in upheavals because of the curse of the ground and of man. This all makes sense to me. Do you realize in the beginning God created Just that statement, in one swoop, does away with atheism. Atheism says there's no God. It does away with, in one swoop, pantheism. Billions of people believe in pantheism today. What's that mean? All is God, God is all. All things and all people are God and gods. Hinduism, Buddhism, does away with it in one swoop. Polytheism goes out the window in that statement. In the beginning, God created polytheism out more than one God that's out. Humanism's out, humanism says man is God, the master of his destiny. One swoop out goes humanism. God is God. And in one swoop. Despite what Charles Darwin felt and wrote. And I could do a whole sermon series on his life, it's a disaster. I won't. I want to preach the word, not talk about him. In one swoop, evolution. Which says man, somehow by crook or by crook, or who knows what kind of thin anatomy, who cares? Crawled up out of the primordial soup and here we have each other today. In one swoop, that's out the window. In the beginning, God created. Now, this word created is very important, Barah, because nowhere else in the Bible is it used of anybody but God. It's used elsewhere in Amos 413, where it says, and God created the wind. It's used in Psalm 5110, where it says, Oh, God, create in me, God, create in me a clean heart. It's used in Isaiah 65, 17 about God who's going to create a new heavens and a new earth. You see, it's the only time it's used. It's only used with God's authority. Nowhere else does it ever say, used of man creating. You know, the Bible says nowhere in the Bible does it say that man created anything. and doesn't create, he's a creature. God made the heavens and the earth. Now, there's different views, I won't get too much into it, let me just say this. Many Christians have bought into and compromised, have bought into the whole teaching that that that God made the ingredients to be like so and think about this illustration. Kids might you might get this. This is the typical view of theistic evolution. People that believe that, you know, in evolution and that God made it through evolution. Basically, they believe this, you know, it's like your mom making a cake mix, you know, she mixes all kind of things in a bowl. So, mom's a picture of God. So, God has the bowl, God throws everything in there and then mixes it all up and evolution takes over for God. And that's what they try to marry as they understand science to be acceptable. Somehow, somehow it becomes now instead of what the Bible says, God created the heavens and the earth. Now, all of a sudden, it's these processes outside of God that know are nowhere to be found in the Bible. One guy named Hugh Ross is real big. He advocates progressive creationism, the day age theory, he says, oh, you know, he said, you know, seven ages. Progressive creationism, I mean, on the face of it, You know, he means well, I don't know his heart says he's a Christian. He's been completely affected. By the scientific community of the secular view and somehow come up with some kind of hybrid view, he thinks. And what it is basically is uniformitarianism, and what that means is this is that everything will always kind of go along, give enough time to kind of keep like a machine that just keeps on going long, long ages and time. And second, Peter three. We see what Peter says about that. In 2 Peter 3, we read this. For they will say, the mockers who come with their mocking at the end of the age, where is the promise of Christ coming? For ever since the father's fellowship, watch, this is uniformitarianism, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning, notice here, of the creation. It's not theistic evolution. Uniformitarianism, progressive creationism. Long periods of times, yes. Then you have people like Stephen Jay Gould, you know, the guy that said we're all from fishes. I read his quote earlier. He came up with a view called punctuated equilibrium, which basically says this. There were seven punctuated epochs, like seven days, seven from his scientific study. And he said that then there were massive times in between punctuated and Billions of years, punctuated billions of years, punctuated billions of years. That's what the fish guy says. OK, well, here Hugh Ross is saying basically the same thing, but let me let me say what Doug Kelly said about that. The uniformitarian assumption that millions, notice it's an assumption, it's not scientifically provable at all. The uniformitarian assumption that millions of years of geological work would be required to explain structures such as the American Grand Canyon, for instance, is called into serious question by the explosion at Mount St. Helens in the state of Washington on the 18th of May 1980. Massive energy equivalent to 20 million tons of TNT destroyed 400 square kilometers of forest in six minutes. changing the face of the mountain and digging out the depths of earth and rock, leaving formations not unlike parts of the larger Grand Canyon. Recent studies about St. Helens phenomena indicate that if attempts were made to date these structures, which we know it happened six minutes in 1980, we know that this is science. We know what happened. Now we go measure it. Right. OK. It says these structures on the basis of human form material theory, millions of years of formation time would be necessary to form what they now see is with twenty nine years and counting. Right. Well, there was a test done that he doesn't mention this article. I read this test and what they what they found was this is that coal was formed in six weeks. Fossils. forbade in six weeks from the catastrophism and modern dating methods by scientists, secular scientists were applied there and made their records show that what they see there in the others took place two million years ago. Two years ago, we know what happened 29 years ago. We know what happened 29 years ago. And just like many things in our day that don't reach the media because of a biased media, don't think that information wants to be trumpeted all over our country. They've downplayed it and suppressed the truth in unrighteousness. But we know what the Bible says and we should be captive by the word of God. We know what God has to say and we should rest in that and trust him. Secondly, notice the earth. God on the move and the earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep in the spirit of God. Was hovering over the face of the earth, so God's on the move, but again, You have all these different opinions within Christendom. You have people who come up with this view called the documentary hypothesis, which basically says there were a bunch of editors and cutting and pasting the Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, the Pentateuch, and they were cutting and pasting. Somehow, you know, the futuristic and the creationistic views that come from a natural reading of the Bible now is evolutionary and theistic as well. Then you have the framework hypothesis, which basically says it's just a frame, the gist of it. Basically, it's six non-literal days. The days are not 24 hour days. They're kind of generic there. You see, all of these things are attempts to disarm what the Bible says clearly. Like I said last night at the wedding. And my sermonette. The Bible is so clear, it's scary. The bigger issue is men don't want to believe what it says. And they want to please men, other men. Jesus talked about that in John 5, 44. They want the glory to come from men instead of standing in suffering, if necessary, with God's people as Moses chose to suffer with the people of God rather than enjoy the riches of Egypt. It's an issue of what does God say and then believing what he says. And that only allowing true scientific inquiry to address it and understanding what God said and the words used in Genesis one. Are 24 hour days, that's the etymology, the word means 24 hour days. The grammar is consecutive. All throughout the seven days. Connected by what's known as a conjunction or a while consecutive in the Greek and the Hebrew. And it's continuous. It's the idea of progressiveness, a process. And this is important, because when you look at this context here, this next verse, I've just read you verse two, where it says in the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the earth. This passage is taken as being the key text on the gap theory. And the gap theory is that between Genesis 1 1 and 1 2, there was an evil world that took place in which God had to curse it and judge it. And that's why it was formless and void. But the problem is the word for formless or form and form and void without form and void in the Hebrew. Those two words are taken as meaning basically a wasted area of darkness. Now, there's two ways you look at it, you could say, well. Why would I inject an opinion in there and come up with this idea that somehow there was a primordial world that got judged and even used to bring in the flood and all that, and then they got to recreate the world after a big mess? The same words also mean referred to a desert or wilderness. Now, if you view creation as a process, God spoke it into existence. OK. And then you have. The earth without anything else on it, because he has a plan to create. Land plant seeds, human beings and the other days, that's why there's nothing there in the first part. That's without form and void. Also, the word there void. Again, doesn't always mean what they say it means. In fact, it says in Isaiah 45, 18, let me just give you the key text here. In Isaiah 45, 18, this kind of slays it right off the bat. In Isaiah 45, 18, it says. Using the same word. For thus says the Lord who created the heavens. Who formed the earth and made it, he did not create it empty. He formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord God and there's no other. So it's clearly a process. There it is. So why inject a gap theory into it? Why all of a sudden is there something that's not there in the text? And there's all this a whole world that took place and got cursed and demons and everybody and all these five pollutant theories and. No, it's right there in Genesis 40. I mean, Isaiah 45 18 explains. the process right there. People say, well, darkness is evil. Well, who says darkness is evil? I know some children think it's scary at night time. But you realize the word for darkness is also used in Psalm 104, and it doesn't say that darkness is inherently evil like they imply in this theory. And notice here, furthermore, What it's saying is, is that there is somehow a dateless past that God created a perfect heaven and earth. That was ruled by Satan and fallen men. OK, the Bible says God created out of nothing, ex nihilo, we learned that last week, he spoke and it came to be. His voice. He created the form And then in days one through six, he filled the form. Form, then filling. Form and then filling through days one through six and then rest from God. Now, who's doing the creation here? Well, God, who's God? God, the Father, God, the Son and God, the Holy Spirit. It says in Psalm 104, 30 that the Holy Spirit created the world. It says in Colossians 1.16 that Jesus Christ created the world. It says in Genesis 1.1, God the Father created the world. We know the Holy Spirit is God. Remember the accusation of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, verses 3 and 4. Remember that? They had lied and God killed them. Why? Because they had lied to the Holy Spirit. Who is God, it says. So the Holy Spirit is hovering over here. On the on the on the moment of creation. And this is a very powerful picture here, God's presence is at work here. The Holy Spirit is there, a creation, the father speaks, the son is made at all. And you understand how important the doctrine of the Trinity is. It's all there. Darkness is over the face of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. So there's. The form. Of the earth. Water's there and it's dark. It's a process. And then he fills it, as it says in Isaiah, 45, 18, so God's on the move. God, the Holy Spirit is on the move. God's in control. God made the heavens and the earth. He's in control. He's in control today. He's in control of your individual life. Nothing happens in your life apart from God's all wise plan to bring you either to your knees and coming to Christ or to strengthen you that you might turn around and strengthen your brother. But God's sovereign and everything. He's on the move, he's active in creation. Evolution is completely foreign. All forms of anything but immediate creation is foreign to the authority of Scripture. And lastly, versus three to five, the actual day God at work. Now, there is a parallel here on day one, you have light, but the question here is, what's the light? It's not the sun, it's not the moon. Not the stars. What's the light? And God said, let there be light. And we said over the dark expanse of the earth where it was waters and the Holy Spirit there, then the father said, let there be light. And there was light and God said 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 the first day. There's no reason in the language, in the context, in the grammar, nothing in this context would make me think anything other than a 24 hour day. Go with me to Exodus, the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20. I could take you all over, this would be a sermon in itself of just how the word for day, yom, in Hebrew is used. But what's quite clear is that, especially the language here, there was evening, there was morning, The first day, there's darkness and then there's daytime and there's nighttime. See, all the languages of a 24 hour day. It's perfectly natural. And why would we go elsewhere when there's no scientific, empirical evidence that could demonstrate anything other than what the language, the grammar, the etymology, the context says? Why would I go outside of all that? One way I do it is to please men. Become an adulteress to Jesus Christ. Exodus 20. Verse 9 to 11. Remember the Sabbath day. Keep it holy six days. Six days, earthly days, 24-hour days. You shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant, your female servant or your livestock or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth to see and all that is in them. and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. There's no reason in that context at all at any point to not take that any other way than a 24 hour day. Now, there's there's there's a form and a feeling parallel day one, the light, I'll talk about that in just a moment, the light and a day for the luminaries, the sun, the moon, the stars. Day two, the sky and the waters below. Day five, the birds and the fish. Sky, birds, fish, the water. It's Hebrew parallelism. Day three, the land and plants and seeds. Then day six, the filling of that. The animals and man. And the plants for food for the bull. Form, verse two, filling. former God at work in his creation. And notice at the end of God's creative acts in chapter two of Genesis, verse one, three, God rests. And so that's a picture of our earthly 24 hour days and seven day week. And also reminds us that we have rested from our works. Because of the work of Christ. As we celebrate the Salvation Sabbath, as the book of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews four, particularly 10 and 11. And I notice four things that we draw to a close, and God said the book of Hebrews chapter 11, we just go there just for a moment, Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11, three, it says, by faith, we understand that the heavens were created By the word of God. Now, why so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible, so God spoke X out of the hello out of nothing, he spoke the world into existence and he said, let there be light. And there was light. But people say, well, if it's not this sun and moon, what light was it? I believe it was the light that God chose to reflect, which was himself. How do I know that? Go with me to Revelation 22. Because when God restores the new heavens and new earth and righteousness, there will also be no need for light from the sun. In Revelation 22 talks about verse four, we'll see God's face. That's the reward of heaven. But notice verse five. And night will be no more, and they will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever." You see that? There's coming a time when there will be no more need for the sun. God will light it. It's a restoration of the garden and of the creative world before the earth. Let there be light! God turns on the light of His luminescence. Not yet the sun and moon. It'll happen later on day four. But the light of God, John 1 9 says there was a true light coming into the world, enlightening every man, Jesus Christ. The light of the world, John 8 12. In some sense, we don't understand all the details, we don't need to. God spoke light and light happened in the midst of the darkness. And it goes on, it says, and God saw that the light was good and God separated the light from the darkness. And God called the light day. Notice, just like Adam named the animals. God called the light. God himself, God called it day. and the darkness He called night." It's all from God. And there was evening and there was morning. The first day of creation. Now, for me to believe anything other than what it says, I had better have biblical reasons for doing so. And if I if I escape from the natural reading of what it says. But I can assure you, there's something bigger going on in our lives in which we're trying to meld somehow the pressure from the world seem intellectually with it. And in doing so, become unfaithful to what God has said in his words. This brings us back in closing to act 17. Let's go there again. In act 17. Versus 22 to 24, we are given a great example of how we are to function in this world, a world that denies the immediate creative. Act of God denies what I've just been expounding to you from God's word. How do we function in such a world? Here it is. Act 17. Listen, college students, as you go back to realms that will not be very inviting and very, very welcoming of what I've been talking about as you go back in those realms. You need to be meditated on Act 17 and you don't need to be frozen in your classes and ashamed. You need to pull your professors aside and respectfully, yet firmly and clearly. give your opinion. Don't sit back and allow other Christian friends to hear this garbage and you not clarify points. You can get these audios. You can get the DVD on the Internet. We're on the Internet. You can download sermons, you can you can listen to the rest of my search, whatever you can get books I can recommend. You should be able to be articulative in college and thinking through these issues, unashamed of the gospel and the clarity of God's word and growing in your ability to explain to other believers to help them. in this difficult world we live in. Acts 17, 22. So Paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus said, Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way that you are very religious. They're very religious. They were very philosophical in ancient Greece, much like our day. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription to the unknown God. Now watch what he says. What therefore you worship? And listen, think of our world and what it worships. Just think. Think of all that our world calls dear to itself. What therefore you worship as unknown. This I proclaim to you. Now look what he says. The God who made creation, who made the world and everything in it, being, present tense, Lord of heaven and earth. He does not live in temples made with man. Let me just unpack this for just a second. In that statement, Paul is saying this. He's saying, I have the answers to the ancient philosophical debates. The first question you philosophers bat around on Mars Hill is this. Who am I? The God who made the world and all things in it. Here's your answer. I'm made in the image of God. Second question, Athenian philosophers. Why am I here? It's been battered around this question for millennia. All the ancient Greek and Roman philosophers debated it. Why am I here? Paul says you're here to know the true God and glorify him. That's why you're here. Who am I made in the image of God? Not a biological accident. Not a bag of protoplasm. Made in the image of God. An image bearer of God whether I say I believe in him or not. Secondly, why am I here? I'm here right on schedule. Living right where I'm supposed to live, Acts 17, 26. Doing what I'm supposed to be doing for the sole purpose of bringing honor and glory to the God who made me in his image. 1 Corinthians 10, 31. Then Paul says this. No doubt you're questioning Athenian philosophers and where am I going? What happens at the end when the light switch goes off? Where am I going? You're all trying to battle around. Is there an afterlife? This and that? I'm here to tell you that you'll face God, the God who made you, the only God. Look at verse 30, Acts 17. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. Because if you don't repent, I want to remind you of this, verse 31, because he has fixed the day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed. And of this, he has given assurance to all by raising them from the dead. There's coming a judgment. Where are you going? Third question, philosophical question. Heaven or hell? Paul was bold. Paul didn't shy. Listen, we need to be clear Gracious, yet firm and bold as Paul. He didn't shy back. He faced them head on and told them what the Bible had already said. Paul knew his Old Testament very well. And so must we. The final question they all kept batting around is, does life have any meaning at all? And the answer is yes, I can get up tomorrow morning knowing that my life has meaning. I know God. I know why I'm here. I know where I'm going. Everything in my life has meaning. That's the answer. And listen, if you get creationism wrong, you can't answer those four questions. And that's why men are still babbling to this day, trying to figure out what's right in front of their face. It's because they're darkened in their understanding, Ephesians 4, 18. blinded by the God of this world, 2 Corinthians 4. But God, as it says in Acts 17, he's not far from each one of us. If we would seek him, we will find him. I say to you in closing, Acts 32, 17, 32 and 34. Now, when they heard this message from Paul about the resurrection from the dead, some of those people went, creation that is spoken in the creation. They mocked. You don't believe in evolution. What are you, stupid? Blinded by Bible from the church you go to? Some mocked. They still do today. Doesn't change the facts. It doesn't change the facts at all. Some mocked. Others said, we will hear you again. It's interesting to hear you again. But some believed. Some believe. And that's how it is today. Mockers. Hesitators. And those who believe. Will you believe today? Will you believe then walk out of this building today and say, look at what God has done. Look at that plant. Look at the beautiful sky. Look at the heavens declare the glory I believe God's going to bless this service. May he be honored. Thank you, Lord, for your love for us. We thank you that you have spoken clearly. In your word, help us, O God, to to bow our knees to your word, to read your word, to meditate upon your word, to love your life and message, to proclaim it and raise our children and speak to our co-workers, speak to our neighbors, invite them to hear the word, show them the way to salvation. Help us to trust You when we're afraid, to rest in the God who made us in His image. And Lord, now as we who have come to know You and received Your forgiveness and who've been caused by You to repent and give our lives to You, Lord, we come to You now, Lord, and we proclaim Your death together in which we celebrate the supper. Lord, we ask that You would help us To proclaim your death and remember what you came to this earth to do. The creator of the world has bowed low to be amongst his creatures. Going from the grandeur of heaven to to stooping low in grace to know his people. To save them from their sins. To be at work in their lives. And to cause them to be amazed by his grace. Help us, O Lord, now. The Lord, we would enter in with hearts of praise and thanksgiving. And Lord, I pray you would save others in our midst. Lord, you give them the joy of knowing you, Lord. Move in our midst. We ask all this in Jesus name. Amen. We hope you've been blessed and challenged by this message from Jerry Marcelino, pastor of Audubon Drive Bible Church in Laurel, Mississippi. For more information about our ministries, please visit our website at www.audubonchurch.org or call us at 601-649-8570. For literature and other resources, including titles by Pastor Marcelino, please visit the Audubon Press web store at www.audubonpress.com or call us at 1-800-405-3788. All our products are discounted 30% or more all the time. At Audubon, we desire to be disciples and to make disciples. Thank you for listening.