Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / Faith From the Beginning Until the End (Hebrews 11:3) - Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

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Faith From the Beginning Until the End (Hebrews 11:3) - Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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So as I have said, we're looking at creation
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tonight. And so this is a continuation, if you
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will, on us looking at key doctrine that we believe
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to be true. So this year on these fourth Sunday
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evening worship services, we have looked at things
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that the Bible teaches that we believe are so
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very important. And I would say creation is one
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of them. It's kind of how the Bible begins, right?
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So I really think we need to look at this. And
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at the same time, if I can, some of you were
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in the Covenant Sunday School class this morning
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as we looked at Hebrews chapter 11. And guess
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what we're looking at tonight? Hebrews chapter
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11. That's called Providence. But you might say,
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well, this is an interesting starting place to
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look at creation from the book of Hebrews, and
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you're correct. But we will get into the Genesis
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account shortly. But what we have in Hebrews
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chapter 11 is called the Hall of Faith. And it
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asks, it begins the chapter with a very important
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question, really an answer to a question. What
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is faith? So I'm going to read verses one. I'm
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going to combine them together. Verses one through
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three this evening. So give attention to God's
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holy word. Now faith is the assurance of things
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hoped for, for the conviction of things not seen.
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For by it the people of old receive their commendation.
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By faith we understand that the universe was
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created by the word of God so that what is seen
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was not made out of things that are visible.
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Yes, we're starting in Hebrews 11 here, but I
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think especially verse three is very central
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to our discussion on creation. Creation, as the
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Bible presents it, has kind of been on the hot
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seat of late. a recent history where people are
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examining scripture and they've got some different
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ideas about how God began all the things that
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he began. Even within our own denomination, we
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have those who are trying to come up with different
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methods for how to understand creation. I'm not
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going to go through all of those methods, all
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of those theories. I don't think it would be
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helpful in this setting. But still we might look
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at this and we might ask, are we supposed to
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take creation literally as Genesis 1 and 2 seems
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to show us? I played my hand. Are we supposed
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to see it as kind of poetic? Are we supposed
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to ascertain the length of the days in creation?
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Is there a possibility the days are really long?
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Is there a possibility that there are episodes
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and millions of years between all the days? There's
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a lot of discussion going on. about creation.
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But you know what isn't really being said enough?
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We need to take the Bible's teaching on creation
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on faith. That's what needs to be said. You can
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do all the research that you want to do. You
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can watch all the documentaries on Netflix or
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YouTube. There are a bunch of them out there.
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You can go to the Answers in Genesis website,
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which is a fine website. You can study Hebrew,
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the language of. You can go to the Grand Canon
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and you can study the layers of sediment. But
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if you don't take creation on faith, you have
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entirely missed the point. Why is there something
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rather than nothing? Because of God and God tells
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us in his word to take this on faith I've mentioned
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that Hebrews chapter 11 is the hall of faith
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And so you've got different individuals in here
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their faith and what they did in faith. You've
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got Enoch You've got you know David's in here
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Noah's in here, but when I look at these individuals
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I Don't see people questioning them or questioning
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the way that Scripture puts it for them. Maybe
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they just don't care that much about Enoch, but
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I don't hear anybody saying, well, you know,
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Enoch, it says he was taken up into heaven, but
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I don't believe that. I don't hear anybody talking
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about Enoch. As far as Moses in the Red Sea goes,
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I hear non -believers and I hear liberal scholars
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questioning whether or not they really passed
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through the sea. But I don't see Christians having
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a problem with this and I don't see Christians
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having a problem with Rahab or David or the prophets
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and I definitely don't see Christians having
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a problem with what continues into chapter 12
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that Jesus is the author and the perfecter of
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our faith Because we know what is the condition
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for salvation. It's faith. You got to believe
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in Jesus So why is it then? that people have
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such a hard time believing in creation as presented
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by the Bible. Why is it that creation and faith
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just goes out the window? Also, at the same time
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as I say this, I'm not encouraging blind faith
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either. We have evidence here. Ours is not a
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blind faith, but a faith that sees by the light
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of God's sure Revelation. So what do we need
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to do? We need to uphold the biblical narrative
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while understanding God's teaching on creation.
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Douglas Kelley says this, to understand Genesis
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1 through 3 and to make sense of life itself,
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we must seek with the help of divine revelation
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to interpret time through God rather than God
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through time. Did you catch that? Interpret time
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through God rather than God through time. And
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this is very important because if we get off
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the rails with creation, the way the Bible begins,
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if we get off the rails here, what will we do
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with the rest of Scripture? What will we do with
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the fall? What will we do with the flood? What
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will we do with the virgin birth? What will we
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do with Jesus' miracles? What will we do with
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the resurrection? What will we do with the second
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coming? We need to get off on the right foot
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with the Bible and that begins with creation.
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And so what is the classic doctrine of creation?
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It's called ex nihilo, which means out of nothing.
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Meaning at one time there was nothing and then
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God spoke and then there was something. It's
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a way of saying that the visible reality we perceive
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does not originally come from other things that
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we can see. We got to take it back to the beginning
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and we realize in the beginning God created the
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heavens and the earth. But you weren't there,
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were you? And I wasn't there either. So what
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do we need to do? Hebrews 11 3 tells us we need
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to take it in faith. God did not fashion the
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world out of some other world. It didn't speak
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itself into existence. God created by His Word.
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Now some people have a really hard time believing
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this, that God spoke and things came into being.
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But does anybody bat an eye when Jesus is on
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the boat and the storm's going on and then Jesus
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speaks and the storm is done? I don't hear anybody
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have a problem with that. Or what about when
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Lazarus is dead in the tomb and Jesus says, come
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out of there. Does anybody have a problem with
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that? Or when Jesus tells a lame man to get up
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and walk. So we can definitely affirm that God,
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and specifically here his son, has the power
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with his speech. And so this is the way that
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it's presented, that God speaks and there's something.
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There's two things that I think you all will
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affirm. Everybody who is in this sanctuary, I
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think you'll affirm this. Is God the source of
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life? Yes. Heads going up and down, right? Is
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the Bible God's Word? Yes. Because we believe
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this, why not derive our information from the
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Word about creation? It seems to me that when
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it comes to creation, Christians tend to be a
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little bit like Peter. Do you remember when Jesus
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commands Peter to get out of the boat and he's
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walking on the water and he's doing good? When
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is he not doing good? When he takes his eyes
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off of Jesus. And when we take our eyes off of
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Jesus, this is when our faith falters. And when
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we come up with excuses for Scripture, but we
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ought not make excuses for Scripture, we ought
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to believe it. Again from Douglas Kelly, nothing
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could be more logical or more intelligent than
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to accept the information from the one who made
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it, from the one who was the eyewitness, and
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from the one who is truth itself. Friends, as
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it pertains to creation, we have to go to the
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source. Do you remember being in school and having
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to write a research paper? Maybe some of you
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are still in school, right? You can have all
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the secondary sources that you want, but if you
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don't have the primary source, you don't have
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a source, right? So with creation, what do we
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need to do? We need to go to the primary source.
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But what he might say, well, That makes a lot
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of sense, but what if I don't understand the
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source? What if I don't understand Genesis 1
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and 2? Or what if I don't understand Hebrews
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11, 3? Well, we rightly should look elsewhere
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in the Bible. So let's go to Psalm 33. Psalm
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33, 6 through 9. And I think you'll see that
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this very much pertains to our discussion this
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evening. Psalm 33, 6 through 9. By the word of
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the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath
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of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters
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of the sea as a heap. He puts the deep in storehouses.
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Let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the
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inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him,
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for He spoke and it came to be. He commanded
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and it stood firm. So yet again we have here
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the Bible telling us that God spoke things into
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existence and so the question that we really
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need to ask is do you believe this word? Do you
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believe that God created all things by the power
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of his word? And what I would encourage you to
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do is to take some time with the creation account.
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really try and understand it but do so from a
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straightforward reading of the passage. In order
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to do anything else you almost have to do literary
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gymnastics to get it to work but the straightforward
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reading of the text tells us what we need to
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know. And this has been the teaching of historic
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reformed Presbyterianism and I don't want to
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be out of accords with our standards and I believe
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that our standards are faithful to the text.
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And so consider this from Westminster Confession
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of Faith the beginning of chapter 4. It pleased
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God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost for the manifestation
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of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom, and
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goodness in the beginning to create or to make
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out of nothing the world and all things therein,
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whether visible or invisible in the space of
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six days and all very good. That has been the
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Reformed position for a very long time and so
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we want to keep that position as it accords with
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Scripture. So what I want to do now is go to
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Genesis and you could turn there if you like.
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Let's see these days. Let's see what God does
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with each one of them. Genesis 1 verse 3. already
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three and four to begin and God said let there
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be light and there was light and God saw that
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the light was good and God separated the light
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from the darkness God called the light day and
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the darkness he called night and there was evening
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and there was morning the first day so you see
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light and dark separated here The creation of
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light, you've got day and night. The text says
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there was evening and there was morning the first
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day, meaning that the days have distinct boundaries
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around them. And that pattern is going to continue
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throughout these six days of creation. Look at
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day number two in verses six through eight. And
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God said, let there be an expanse in the midst
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of the waters. Let it separate the waters from
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the waters and God made the expanse and separated
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the waters that were under the expanse from the
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waters that were above the expanse and it was
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so and God called the expanse heaven and There
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was evening and there was morning the second
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day. So what do we have in day two? Well, once
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again, we have this same kind of pattern going
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on here there was evening and there's morning
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the creation of the sea and sky at day three
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verses nine through 13. God said let the waters
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under the heavens be gathered together into one
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place and let the dry land appear and it was
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so. God called the dry land earth and the waters
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that were gathered together he called seas and
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God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the
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earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed,
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and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their
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seed, each according to its kind on the earth.
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And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation,
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plants yielding seed according to their own kinds,
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and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed,
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each according to its kind. And God saw that
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it was good, and there was evening, and there
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was morning the third day. And so on the third
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day, we have the creation of dry land with vegetation.
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How about that outside? It's springtime going
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into summer. It's very green. OK, God has created
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this day for verses 14 through 19. And God said,
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Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens
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to separate the day from the night and let them
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be for signs and for seasons and for days and
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years. and let them be lights in the expanse
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of the heavens to give light upon the earth.
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And it was so. And God made the two great lights,
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the greater light to rule the day and the lesser
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light to rule the night and the stars. And God
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set them in the expanse of the heavens to give
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light on the earth to rule over the day and over
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the night and to separate the light from the
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darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there
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was evening and there was morning, the fourth
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day. So you have the creation. The stars and
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of the Sun and of the moon these things they
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also give light and then day five verses 20 through
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23 and God said that the water Swarm with swarms
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of living creatures and let birds fly above the
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earth across the expanse of the heavens So God
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created the great sea creatures and every living
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creature that moves with which the water Swarm
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according to their kinds and every winged bird
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accord to its kind and God saw that it was good.
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And God blessed them saying, Be fruitful and
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multiply and fill the waters in the seas and
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let birds multiply on the earth. And there was
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evening and there was morning the fifth day.
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So you have these waters that are now filled
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with the fish and you have the skies that have
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the birds flying through them. And then we get
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to perhaps our favorite part, day six. look in
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verses 24 through 27 and God said let the earth
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bring forth living creatures according to their
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kinds livestock and creeping things and beasts
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of the earth according to their kinds and it
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was so and God made the beasts of the earth according
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to their kinds and the livestock according to
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their kinds and everything that creeps on the
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ground according to its kind and God saw that
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it was good. Then God said let us make man in
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our image after our likeness and let them have
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dominion over the fish of the sea and over the
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birds of the heavens and over the livestock and
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over all the earth and over every creeping thing
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that creeps on the earth. So God created man
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in his own image. In the image of God he created
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him. Male and female he created them. God creates
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what we might say is the crown jewel of creation.
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He creates people. He creates people who are
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made in his image. And then what does God do
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after all of this? He rests, right? He rests.
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And I think this is very interesting to see that
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on the seventh day, God rested because we might
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say, well, we know the scriptures tell us that
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God doesn't slumber or sleep and he doesn't grow
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tired. So what sort of resting is God doing?
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God is delighting in his creation God blesses
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the seventh day and makes it holy and this is
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very important because you'll remember that later
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on the Israelites they're given the Ten Commandments
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right and they are given this command that they
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are to remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy
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Listen to this from Exodus 2011 for in six days
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the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all
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that is in them and rested on the seventh day.
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That's from Exodus. Their rest was grounded in
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His rest, and as far as I know, we still have
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a seven -day week, do we not? We don't have an
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eight -day week. We don't have a nine -day week.
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We don't have a six and a half day week. We have
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a seven day week and we are to continue this
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rest. But thanks be to God that Jesus was raised
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on Sunday, the first day of the week. And so
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that Sabbath rest has been moved to the first
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day of the week. But we still enjoy a day like
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today of worship and of rest and of service to
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others, right? This is good news for us. This
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is good news for us that God creates as He did,
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that He gives us rest as He did, but I also want
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to point out one more thing to you, and this
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time we can go back into Hebrews, but don't go
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to chapter 11. Go to chapter 1. Hebrews chapter
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1 verse 3. This is speaking of your Savior. Hebrews
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1 3 he is the radiance of the glory of God and
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the exact imprint of his nature and he upholds
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the universe by the word of his power Colossians
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1 17 says something similar that Christ holds
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it all together what we are to understand from
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these texts is that God preserves his creation
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Some view God is nothing more than a creator
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But that's unbiblical. God is intimately involved
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in every single moment of your lives. It's not
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like God created and then took some time off.
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He rested from this created order, but he continued
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to uphold. This is good news for us because this
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means that we are upheld and that God will not
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let us go. Now all of this probably sounds slightly
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good to you, but you're wondering, How does this
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impact me tomorrow? When I'm celebrating Memorial
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Day or when I go back to work on Tuesday or when
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I got the grandkids, how does all of this help
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me? A few points of application. Let's not get
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too far away from Hebrews 11 .3, remembering
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faith. We have in scripture God's special revelation.
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As great as creation is, creation General revelation
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does not tell me how to be saved. General revelation
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doesn't tell me how Jesus died to atone for sin.
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And trust me, I love being outside. I love going
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for a hike, right? But we need God's special
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revelation in order to know about Jesus. And
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we need to believe it. But this also applies
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to creation too. So this week, today, this evening,
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why not give thought? to the biblical narrative
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of God's creation. Why is it that Christians
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are so entranced with eternity ahead of us but
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not eternity past? We should give thought to
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this because this is given to us for our good.
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This is within the Bible. Consider what God has
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done in creation and do as Hebrews 11 .3 says.
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Take it in faith. But secondly, Enjoy creation.
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I hope you enjoy creation. I hope that you go
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for walks and I hope you go for a hike or I hope
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that you just sit on your front porch and marvel
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at what God has made because it's beautiful,
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isn't it? Do you agree with that? There you go,
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head's nodding. Yeah, Psalm 19. The heavens declare
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the glory of God and the sky above proclaims
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his handiwork. God's creation screams that he
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is a good God. and that He has created all that's
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before us and we can enjoy it and we should take
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care of it. I know. Third point. Reference creation
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in your evangelism efforts. Francis Schaefer
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once said that if he had an hour next to someone,
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maybe he was talking about being on a plane.
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If he's sitting next to somebody on a plane and
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he knew they were not a believer, He said he
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would spend the first 55 minutes of the hour
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talking about the creation of God, how man is
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made in the image of God. And then he would spend
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the remainder of the time talking about the gospel.
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And the reason he said that is because he realized
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how important it is that we understand who God
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is. But where we have come from, where we went
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wrong, why we are the way we are, and who is
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in charge. So reference creation as you share
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the gospel. Last, very last thing. John chapter
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1, verses 1 through 3. Listen to this, especially
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the first verse, and tell me, what does it sound
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like? John 1, 1 through 3. In the beginning was
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the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
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Word was God. He was in the beginning with God
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all things were made through him and without
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him was not anything made that was made. I would
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submit to you that John's gospel gets started
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remembering Genesis 1 1 in the beginning. This
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also tells us that Jesus was in the beginning.
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Jesus is not created. Jesus Equal in power and
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glory with the Father and the Spirit. He's actually
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a part of the creation efforts listen to verse
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9 and 14 the true light which gives light to
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everyone was coming into the world in verse 14
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and the word became flesh and dwelt among us
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and we have seen his glory Glory as of the only
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son from the Father full of grace and truth as
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God kicked off creation with light so Jesus is
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the light that we need. He came to conquer the
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darkness of sin and to all of those who would
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believe in his name, he gives the right to become
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children of God. You Christian, you belong to
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the maker of the heavens and the earth. Isn't
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that amazing? And secondly though, know this,
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that as God upholds creation, he also upholds
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you. Let's pray.