GENESIS 1: 6-26 - INTRODUCING CREATION

I begin with a story about Sir Isaac Newton, the renowned mathematician, physicist and astronomer who died 300 years ago. He had a skilled craftsman to build for him a working model of the solar system in which balls representing the planets were geared together to move in their correct orbits. He showed it to an atheist friend who asked him who made it. Newton replied, “Nobody.” His friend said, “Evidently you misunderstood my question. I asked who made this?” Newton again said “Nobody” and added, “What you see here just happened to assume the form it now has.” This made the friend angry who retorted, “You must think I am a fool! Of course somebody made it, and he`s a genius. I want to know who he is.” Newton then said, “This thing is but a puny imitation of a much grander system whose laws you know. I am not able to convince you that this mere toy is without a designer and maker. Yet you profess to believe that the great original from which the design is taken has come into being without any designer or maker!”

In the section from Genesis chapter 1 we are looking at this morning – vs.6-26, God is mentioned 20 times! The phrase “God said” occurs 7 times, and we are told 6 times that God made things. Where, as is the case with vegetation (v.11) it doesn`t say so, it is implicit because God commanded the land to produce it. In v.24 God commands the land to produce living creatures and the next verse confirms he made them. God was directly involved in all the aspects of creation which is why so often it says that God said this or said that. He didnt just stand back and let the world create itself. God created everything. Genesis chapter 1 is not meant to be a scientific explanation of creation but a simple account of how God created the universe and everything in it. But let me be clear. Where science contradicts the Genesis account (and we must bear in mind that scientists don’t always agree amongst themselves) we must believe the Bible which is God`s revelation to us – His infallible word. The main objective this morning is to establish what we can learn about God from this passage, not to ponder theories about creation.

The first point is that we have an Awesome God who created. He didn`t create everything at once. He created in stages. Each stage is called a day. The concept of light and darkness, day and night has been introduced in vs 3-5 – Day 1. On Day 2 God created the sky which I think includes the atmosphere. (vs 6-8). On Day 3 He created the land and seas (vs 9&10) and vegetation including edible fruit (vs 11-13). On Day 4 God created the Sun, Moon and Stars which would also include planets. On Day 5 God made the creatures of the water and creatures of the sky. So in simple terms, fish and birds (vs.20-23). On Day 6 God made the creatures of the land, referred to as livestock and wild animals (vs 24-25). The final verse in our passage, 26 is a bridge between today`s talk and the one next week. God states His intention to create mankind in His image, and in v.27, which is beyond my remit, confirms He did so. God`s creation is so vast, spectacular and diverse. We can only stand in awe of it, and all the more so of the One who made it. We should bow down before Him in worship. That should be our response. Psalm 33: 8&9: “Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere Him. For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded and it stood firm.”

The second point is that we have a Purposeful God who ordered. There was an order and purpose in creation. We have seen that it was not haphazard. We can see from the passage an orderly sequence. Having been told at the beginning of the chapter that the earth was formless, empty and dark we see in the following verses how God gives it light, He shapes and forms it and He fills it. He reverses disorder and gives purpose to each aspect. Has it occured to you that without the Sun and Moon, without periods of light and darkness people would not have been able to measure time, whether by days, months or years? If you want to ponder how orderly God was in creation then I recommend a reading of Psalm 104. Verse 5 of the psalm says, “He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.” We can always trust God.

What was the purpose of creation? First, for God`s own pleasure. A lot of people, including no doubt some of you, like making things. It is personal enjoyment. I lack practical skills and are not motivated in that way. But I have always enjoyed writing and at my previous church I founded and produced a monthly magazine for 27 years. I have kept all the issues. A poor example perhaps compared with those who can make beautiful or useful objects with their hands. In Genesis 1 we are told at each stage of the creation that God saw it was good. He was pleased with it. A second answer is given in Isaiah 45:18, “God who fashioned and made the earth, He founded it; He did not create it to be empty but formed it to be inhabited.” We see that purpose unfolded in our passage. The vegetation alone would have given colour and visual beauty but the creation was not complete without living creatures. God created seed bearing plants and trees that would bear fruit with seed in it (vs.11&12). Creatures would need a food supply and God not only created edible fruit and vegetables but those with seeds which would then produce more. Most important of all He would create human beings to whom he could display His glory and receive from them honour and praise. For those of us who know and belong to Christ there was a specific purpose. In Ephesians 1 v.4 Paul says this: “God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.” Just think. Before the events described in Genesis chapter 1 God already had us in mind as individuals. That is amazing. We were created not at random but for a purpose.

So, Created by an Awesome God whom we need to worship. Ordered by a Purposeful God whom we need to trust. Finally, the creation was Good showing us a Generous God who deserves our thanksgiving. 5 times in our passage we have the phrase, “And God saw that it was good.” In v.10 in relation to land and seas, v.12 about vegetation, v.18 about the heavenly bodies, v.21 about fish and birds and v.25 about land animals. That word translated “good” is the same in Hebrew as the one used in Pslam 34:8, “Taste and see that the LORD (Jehovah) is good.” The creation was good because God is good. He is generous. At the time God completed the creation of the world it was perfect in abundance. Let me give you 2 examples of God`s generosity in creation from our passage. V.16, when it says “God also made the stars.”

He put in the night sky countless stars. Just in our galaxy it is reckoned that the Milky Way contains between 100 & 400 billion stars! Second, v.21, in the seas God didn`t just create fish and larger marine creatures but he created to the extent that the waters were teeming with them. And in the next verse, God said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas.” Our God is bountiful. He was generous then and is generous today. We should be full of thanksgiving. Let me read Titus 3 vs 4-7. “When the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” We have a Triune God and Genesis chapter 1 is not just about the Father. In v.2 the Spirit of God was there.

So was Jesus and we finish this morning by connecting the creation with Jesus. John`s Gospel begins with thes words: “In the beginning was the Word (a reference to Jesus) and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” In v.26 of Genesis 1 God uses the plural when he speaks of Himself, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness. I am going to mention briefly 4 occasions from the Gospels which we can link to Genesis chapter 1. First, one Sabbath Jesus and his disciples went through cornfields and they began picking some ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands to eat the grain. Some Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” But it occurred to me that he was also the Lord of the Grain which God made. (v.11). Second, when the disciples told Jesus that although they had been out at night in their boat they had not caught any fish. He replied, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” They did what he instructed. It was such a large catch that it took great effort to bring the net ashore. We are told it was full of large fish – 153 of them. The sizes of the fish were large, the catch was large. A miracle performed by the One who was there when God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures.” (v.20). Third, Jesus was also there when God said, “Let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” (v.20). During the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.” Fourth, before calling his first disciples Jesus was sent by His spirit into the wilderness for 40 days to be tempted by Satan. We are told that during that time he was with the wild animals. He had been present when God first created wild animals. (v.25). He was also there when God said, “Let us make mankind in our image to rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, livestock and all the wild animals.” A clear distinction between human beings and all other living creatures. But a greater difference is that mankind was made with a spiritual dimension, the capacity to know God. For us today that is through Jesus who became a man himself! God sent him to be an atoning sacrifice for the sins of those who will trust Jesus for personal salvation, and commit to and follow him.