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Voddie Baucham - In the Beginning, God Created · Voddie Baucham Sermons

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: This morning, it was my responsibility, as we scheduled this out,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: to preach through Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1 through
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 1 and verse 25, to look at those
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: six days of creation. Well, small problem. I'm not going
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: to make it past verse 2 this morning. We will
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: examine Genesis chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. And we
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: will answer... A very simple question. A question, by the way,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: that I just found out was the number one Google
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: search of 2007. Google always puts out information about its searches,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: you know, or the top celebrities searched for and all
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: this sort of thing. And, you know, and everybody goes
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: and looks to see if they won, you know, that
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: last year. And none of you won last year for
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: the most searched celebrity. They also put out the number
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: one who is search. And in 2007, the number one
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  Speaker 1: who is search on Google was who is God. Number
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  Speaker 1: one search for all of 2007. Who is God? Inquiring
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  Speaker 1: minds want to know. Who is God? We are unclear
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: about who God is. Genesis chapter 1 verses 1 and 2,
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  Speaker 1: not at all unclear about who God is. There is
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  Speaker 1: a clear and precise proclamation of God in Genesis chapter
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: 1 verses 1 and 2. There is not a proof
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: of God in Genesis 1. That's not the goal of
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: the writer of Genesis, to prove the existence of God.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: If you are looking to proof of the existence of God, well,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: you need to go to Anselm and others to find
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: philosophical proofs of the existence of God. The writer of
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  Speaker 1: the Pentateuch is not concerned with proving to anyone that
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: God exists. The writer of the Pentateuch assumes that God
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  Speaker 1: exists and that it is foolish to assume anything other
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  Speaker 1: than the fact that God exists. The writer of the
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  Speaker 1: Pentateuch is far too intelligent to assume that this world
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: is somehow a cosmic accident. So you will find no proof.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: The cosmological argument for the existence of God not present
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  Speaker 1: in Genesis 1. The teleological argument for the existence of
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: God not present in Genesis chapter 1. You will not
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: find the moral argument for the existence of God in
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 1. You will find the proclamation of the
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: existence of God in Genesis chapter 1. And that proclamation
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: of God consists in the fact that God created the
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: heavens and the earth. The world is here. And as
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  Speaker 1: the psalmist says, day by day, it issues forth its speech.
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  Speaker 1: And it proclaims to us its creator. That's what Genesis 1,
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  Speaker 1: 1 and 2 is concerned with. Answering that question, not
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  Speaker 1: is there a God, but answering the question, who is God?
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  Speaker 1: By the way, this is a very pertinent question in
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  Speaker 1: our day, and I want to set this out for
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  Speaker 1: you at the onset. This question of who is God,
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  Speaker 1: viewed from the perspective of cosmogony. Don't you just love that? Cosmology, cosmogony,
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  Speaker 1: all these sort of words. Our understanding of the universe
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  Speaker 1: and the way the universe is made, the way the
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: universe exists. When you look at the question of God,
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: there are a couple of ways to answer it from
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: the perspective of creation. There are only a few ways
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: to look at creation. Three basic ways you can look
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  Speaker 1: at creation. Number one, the argument that matter is eternal.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: The material universe is eternal. That's number one. That's the
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  Speaker 1: first possibility. That matter and all of the substance that
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  Speaker 1: makes up this me and this table and the tablecloth
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  Speaker 1: and those chairs, all of those elements, they are eternal.
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  Speaker 1: They have always existed. That's one line of argumentation. They've
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  Speaker 1: existed in different forms, and perhaps, you know, there are
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  Speaker 1: those who argue that You know, there was once this small,
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  Speaker 1: dense ball of matter, and every bit of matter that
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  Speaker 1: now exists was once condensed into this small, dense ball
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: of matter. And that somehow there was an explosion, and
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  Speaker 1: as a result of that explosion, that dense ball of
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  Speaker 1: matter has scattered all over the universe, and through a
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  Speaker 1: process of time and chance, has turned into the world
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  Speaker 1: that we now inhabit, but it is eternal. There is
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  Speaker 1: a second possibility, and that second possibility is that matter
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  Speaker 1: is not eternal, but it generated spontaneously. It generated spontaneously.
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  Speaker 1: There was a moment when there was no matter, and
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  Speaker 1: then there was a moment when there was matter. It
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  Speaker 1: happened spontaneously. There was no cause. And then from there
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  Speaker 1: you go back to the same starting point of what
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  Speaker 1: is commonly known as the Big Bang. There is a
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  Speaker 1: third possibility and that third possibility is this. That matter
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  Speaker 1: came into existence as the result of one who stands
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  Speaker 1: beyond matter who created it and called it into existence.
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  Speaker 1: Those are the only three possibilities, folks. There are no
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  Speaker 1: other possibilities. So if we were down at Texas A
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  Speaker 1: & M or the University of Texas or we were
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  Speaker 1: over at Rice and we were standing in a biology
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  Speaker 1: class or we were standing in a chemistry class or whatever,
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  Speaker 1: whatever was being taught to us about the universe and
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  Speaker 1: its origins would come from one of those three perspectives.
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  Speaker 1: Either one, the professor would have to stand there and
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  Speaker 1: say that matter is eternal or Two, the professor would
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  Speaker 1: have to stand there and say that matter is not eternal,
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  Speaker 1: but it generated itself spontaneously. Or three, the professor would
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  Speaker 1: have to say that there is someone or something outside
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  Speaker 1: of matter who brought matter into existence. That doesn't even
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  Speaker 1: get us to the question of how this matter, once
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  Speaker 1: brought into existence, became what we now know as the universe.
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  Speaker 1: It's a whole other question that we'll get to after
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  Speaker 1: we pass by verse two. But those are the only
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  Speaker 1: three possibilities. Because those are the only three possibilities, and
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  Speaker 1: here's where the rubber meets the road on today's message.
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  Speaker 1: When our children are taught about the origins of the universe,
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  Speaker 1: they are being taught about the existence or the non-existence
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  Speaker 1: of God. Let me say that again. When our students
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  Speaker 1: are being taught, when our children are being taught about
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  Speaker 1: the origins of the universe, They are being taught about
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  Speaker 1: the existence or the non-existence of God. If they are
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  Speaker 1: being taught possibility one or two, they are being taught
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  Speaker 1: that atheism is the only logical conclusion. It is only
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  Speaker 1: if they are being taught possibility number three that theism
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  Speaker 1: is even possible. And again, there are other ways to
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  Speaker 1: look at possibility number three, pantheism, deism, and other things
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  Speaker 1: like that. It doesn't necessarily have to be biblical theism.
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  Speaker 1: But whatever our children are being taught about creation, whether
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  Speaker 1: we are shipping them off to a school somewhere or
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  Speaker 1: whether we are educating them ourselves at home and using
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  Speaker 1: some curriculum to teach our children, whatever they are being
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  Speaker 1: taught about the origins of the universe is laying the
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  Speaker 1: foundations for what they will believe about the existence or
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  Speaker 1: the non-existence of God. So once we come to possibility
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  Speaker 1: number three, to this idea that matter is not eternal,
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  Speaker 1: this idea that matter was brought into existence, there are
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  Speaker 1: other questions that have to be dealt with. And there
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  Speaker 1: are many pieces of literature out there about the beginnings
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  Speaker 1: of the world, Some of them come from, as I said,
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  Speaker 1: a pantheistic perspective that this world basically is God, that
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  Speaker 1: God basically is the world, that all of us have
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  Speaker 1: a spark of the divine in us because this world
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  Speaker 1: itself is divine. It's one possibility. Another possibility is the
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  Speaker 1: possibility of deism, that somehow, yes, there was this initial
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  Speaker 1: creation of God, matter itself and the world itself. And
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  Speaker 1: after that, there was this sort of big bang that
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  Speaker 1: randomly assimilated itself into what we now experience. Then there's
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  Speaker 1: the other possibility, the possibility of biblical theism. And that's
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  Speaker 1: what we see in Genesis chapter one, verses one and two.
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  Speaker 1: It reads, in the beginning, God created the heavens and
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  Speaker 1: the earth. The earth was without form and void and
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  Speaker 1: darkness was over the face of the deep and the
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  Speaker 1: spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
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  Speaker 1: Simple enough. Straightforward. That's the way the Bible begins. And
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  Speaker 1: how else should a book like this begin? Amen? In
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  Speaker 1: the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. There
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: are several things about God inherent in this text. inherent
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  Speaker 1: in these first words in the text. In the Hebrew,
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  Speaker 1: there are these three words, birshith, barach, elohim. Birshith, in
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  Speaker 1: the beginning. That word connotes not time or space. It
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  Speaker 1: connotes beyond time or space. So when we talk about
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  Speaker 1: this birshith, we're not talking about a long time ago.
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  Speaker 1: That's very important. When we talk about God and the
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  Speaker 1: existence of God, we don't use terms like time because
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  Speaker 1: God created time. time, space, and matter. So God exists
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  Speaker 1: outside of time. The theological term for that is God
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  Speaker 1: is eternal. God has always existed. God is not bound
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  Speaker 1: by time or space. So when we talk about God,
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  Speaker 1: we're not talking about a man who is very, very old.
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  Speaker 1: We're not talking about a man at all. We'll see
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  Speaker 1: that momentarily. We are talking about God who exists outside
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  Speaker 1: of time and space. Imagine it this way, if you will.
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  Speaker 1: Time could basically be represented by a straight line, by
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  Speaker 1: a point here and an arrow heading out that way,
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  Speaker 1: or a point here and a point there, the beginning
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  Speaker 1: of time, the end of time, two points, and a
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  Speaker 1: line connecting those two points. Now, along that line, if
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  Speaker 1: this line represents all of time and all of human history,
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  Speaker 1: there would be this point over here, which is the
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  Speaker 1: point of creation. And then over here, you'd have Adam
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  Speaker 1: and Eve, and then you could have You know, Abraham
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  Speaker 1: and the patriarchs and Moses, you can put them on
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  Speaker 1: there anywhere on that timeline. And then, you know, down
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  Speaker 1: here somewhere, there would be the cross for, you know,
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  Speaker 1: the time of Christ. Down here somewhere, you have the
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  Speaker 1: end of time. Now, the question is, where do you
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  Speaker 1: put God on that line? The answer, you don't. You don't.
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  Speaker 1: God is not bound by time and space. All time
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  Speaker 1: is equally accessible to God. So if the line is
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  Speaker 1: this line here on the floor, God is outside of
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  Speaker 1: that line and is able to look down on all
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  Speaker 1: of it. God is eternal. God always has existed and
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  Speaker 1: God always will exist. Now here's what's ironic. What's ironic
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  Speaker 1: is you stand up and say in our culture, God
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  Speaker 1: is eternal, and people say, well, you know, I just
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  Speaker 1: don't know that I believe that. Really? But you believe
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  Speaker 1: that matter and the universe are eternal. One of those
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  Speaker 1: makes you the intellectual elite. Another one makes you a
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  Speaker 1: narrow-minded religious fanatic. Imagine that. Imagine that. Something's eternal. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: Is it matter? That makes no sense whatsoever, and we'll
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  Speaker 1: talk about that in a moment. Why it doesn't make
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  Speaker 1: sense at all that matter would be that which is eternal.
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  Speaker 1: God is that which is eternal. By the way, here's
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  Speaker 1: what's beautiful about that. There are other passages of Scripture
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  Speaker 1: that talk about this attribute of God being eternal. My favorite,
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  Speaker 1: of course, is in John chapter 1. Those first three
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  Speaker 1: verses in John chapter 1. In the beginning was the Word,
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  Speaker 1: and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
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  Speaker 1: He was in the beginning with God. Now we know
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  Speaker 1: that John chapter 1 is talking about Jesus. So Jesus
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  Speaker 1: is co-eternal with the Father. We also know because of
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  Speaker 1: here in verse 2 that the Spirit is co-eternal with
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  Speaker 1: the Father. So when we talk about the God who creates,
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  Speaker 1: we are talking about the Father. We are talking about
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  Speaker 1: the Son. We are talking about the Spirit. It's not
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  Speaker 1: like Jesus was absent during creation. Colossians chapter 1 also
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  Speaker 1: makes that very clear. So the triune God of the
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  Speaker 1: universe is the eternal God. It's very important to realize
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  Speaker 1: that when Jesus came into the world through Mary's womb,
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  Speaker 1: he did not come into existence through Mary's womb. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: He has always existed. He just went and got a body. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: He just went and wrapped eternal God in flesh. God
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  Speaker 1: is eternal. There was never a time when there was
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  Speaker 1: not God. There will never be a time when there
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  Speaker 1: is not God. God is eternal. The universe is not eternal.
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  Speaker 1: Beersheeth in the beginning. Barach, in the beginning, created. That
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  Speaker 1: word barach is only used for God. That word does
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  Speaker 1: not mean to make something. That word means to bring
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  Speaker 1: something into existence. Don't miss that. This word is only
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  Speaker 1: used as the prerogative of God as he creates ex nihilo,
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  Speaker 1: out of nothing. God is the only one capable of
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  Speaker 1: doing that. Now, we have a lot of handy people
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  Speaker 1: here in the room. We got a whole lot of
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  Speaker 1: homeschoolers around the room. And those of you, you know,
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  Speaker 1: one of the things that I have the privilege of
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  Speaker 1: doing is being at homeschool conventions and state conventions around,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the United States. And homeschool conventions, the state
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  Speaker 1: conventions for homeschoolers, that's a place, for those of you
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  Speaker 1: who are not homeschoolers, the state convention is a place
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  Speaker 1: where homeschoolers go to feel guilty. It is. It is.
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  Speaker 1: Because we find out all the stuff that everybody's doing
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: that we're not doing and then you just feel guilty
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  Speaker 1: and you go home and whatever, you know. There was
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: a conversation that happened once at a homeschool convention it
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: was a conversation between two homeschool children and they were
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  Speaker 1: talking about their parents and what they do homeschoolers are
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: very resourceful people and they were getting into conversations about
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  Speaker 1: the bookshelves in their house and well you know my
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: daddy made the bookshelves in our house and well that's
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  Speaker 1: okay my daddy my daddy built our house you know
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  Speaker 1: by himself with his own hands okay whatever They were
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  Speaker 1: talking about the food that they ate. They were getting
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: ready to eat sandwiches, and they took out the sandwich. And,
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  Speaker 1: you know, one boy said, well, my mommy made my sandwich.
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  Speaker 1: And the other boy says, well, my mommy not only
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  Speaker 1: made my sandwich, my mommy made the bread that my
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  Speaker 1: sandwich is on. And he goes, really? Because my mommy
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: made my bread too, but she ground her own wheat.
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: And then the other boy goes, well, good for your mommy.
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  Speaker 1: Not only did my mommy grind her own wheat, my
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: mommy grew her own wheat. And then the one homeschool
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: boy was kind of stuck, you know. And he goes, well, yeah, well,
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  Speaker 1: my mommy, she grew her own wheat, and you know
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  Speaker 1: the water that we water it with? My mommy made
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  Speaker 1: that too. Well, there you went a little far. You see,
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  Speaker 1: human beings can make things, but we cannot create things.
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  Speaker 1: You and I are incapable. of making matter from nothing.
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  Speaker 1: We can't do that. I can take something and I
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  Speaker 1: can use that something in order to produce something else,
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  Speaker 1: but I cannot in and of myself produce matter. I
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  Speaker 1: can't do it. Produce time, produce space. I can't do it.
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  Speaker 1: So not only is God eternal, but God is the
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  Speaker 1: eternal creator of the universe. God created the universe. He
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  Speaker 1: spoke the world into existence. God did not borrow what
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  Speaker 1: was already here and turn it into something else. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: if we believe that the universe is eternal, We cannot
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  Speaker 1: believe Genesis chapter 1. Because if the universe is eternal,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: then the wrong word is used here for what God
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  Speaker 1: did when he made this world as we now know it.
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  Speaker 1: Because if the universe is eternal, God did not create
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: the world out of nothing. He made the world out
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: of what already existed. But the Bible says that God
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  Speaker 1: created the universe. Not only that. But if we deny
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  Speaker 1: the fact that God created the universe, and this is
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  Speaker 1: what people try to do. It's interesting that we try
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  Speaker 1: to do this. We try to separate the world into
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  Speaker 1: these two realms, you know. Oh, we have the realm
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: of faith over here, and then we have the realm
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  Speaker 1: of science over here. And you have people who, on
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: the one hand, claim to be Christians, and on the
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  Speaker 1: other hand, buy into these ideas of cosmology that are
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: absolutely unbiblical. Not only are they unbiblical, but they would
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: force you to deny all of Scripture. If you believe
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  Speaker 1: in an eternal universe, and if you believe in a
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  Speaker 1: God who maybe just participated a little bit in this
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  Speaker 1: process of creation, you must deny the whole Bible, not
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: just part of the Bible, not just Genesis. That's not
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  Speaker 1: just what we're talking about here. Look with me for example.
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  Speaker 1: And there's a lot of verses of Scripture here, but
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: we need to read these. I want you to get
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  Speaker 1: a feel for what we're dealing with here. Exodus chapter
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  Speaker 1: 20 and verse 11. So now we have to reject
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: the Pentateuch. Job 38.4. heaven and earth the sea and
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  Speaker 1: all that is in them and rested on the seventh
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  Speaker 1: day so now we have to reject the pentateuch job
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  Speaker 1: 38 4 where were you when i laid the foundations
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  Speaker 1: of the earth tell me if you have understanding so
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: now we got a problem with job look at psalm
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  Speaker 1: chapter 8 verse 3 when i look at your heavens
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: the work of your fingers the moon and the stars
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  Speaker 1: which you have set in space Psalm 96, verse 5.
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  Speaker 1: For all the gods of the peoples were worthless idols,
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  Speaker 1: but the Lord made the heavens. Psalm 102, verse 25.
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  Speaker 1: Of old you laid the foundation of the earth. And
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  Speaker 1: the heavens are the work of your hands. Psalm 115
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  Speaker 1: verse 15. May you be blessed by the Lord who
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: made heaven and earth. Psalm 121 verse 2. My help
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. Psalm
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  Speaker 1: 134 verse 3. My Lord bless you from Zion. He
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  Speaker 1: who made heaven and earth. Psalm 136 verse 5. To
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: him who by understanding made the heavens for his steadfast
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  Speaker 1: love endures forever. psalm 146 verse 6 who made heaven
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  Speaker 1: and earth the sea and all that is in them
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  Speaker 1: who keeps faith forever psalm 148 verse 4 and 5
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  Speaker 1: praise him you highest heavens and you waters above the
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  Speaker 1: heavens let them praise the name of the lord for
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  Speaker 1: he commanded and they were created so now not only
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: do we have to get rid of the law we
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: got to get rid of the wisdom books because they
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: are clear about the fact that god created the heavens
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  Speaker 1: and earth well what about the prophets listen to jeremiah
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  Speaker 1: chapter 10 verse 12 It is he who made the
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  Speaker 1: earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom.
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  Speaker 1: And by his understanding, he stretched out the heavens. Jeremiah 32, 17. Ah,
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  Speaker 1: Lord God, it is you who has made the heavens
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  Speaker 1: and the earth by your great power and by your
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  Speaker 1: outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you. Jeremiah chapter
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  Speaker 1: 51 and verse 15. It is he who made the
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: earth by his power, who established the world by his
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: wisdom and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. So
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: now we have to get rid of the prophets. Well,
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: what about when we come to the New Testament? Mark
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: chapter 13 and verse 19. For in those days there
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: will be such tribulation as has not been seen from
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: the beginning of the creation of God, created by Until
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: now and never will be. John chapter 1 verses 1
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: and 2 we already read. Acts chapter 4 and verse 24.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: to God and said, Sovereign Lord who made the heaven
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: and the earth and the sea and everything in them.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: How about Acts chapter 17, verse 24? The God who
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: made the world and everything in it, being Lord of
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by hands.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: So now we have to get rid of the Gospels,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: and we already have to get rid of Acts. Well,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: we have epistles left, don't we? No, we don't. Romans
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: chapter 1, 19 and 20. For what can be known
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: about God is plain to them because he has shown
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: of the world in the things that have been created.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: 1 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 6. Yet for us
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: there is one God, the Father, from whom all things
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: are and for whom we exist. And one Lord Jesus
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: Christ through whom are all things through whom we exist.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 9. And to bring to
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: light for everyone that is the plan of the mystery
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: hidden for ages in God who created all things. How
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: about Hebrews? For every house is built by someone, but
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: the builder of all things is God. How about 2
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: Peter chapter 3 and verse 5? For they delivered or
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: deliberately overlooked this fact that the heavens existed long ago
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: and the earth was formed out of the water. and
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: through the water by the word of God. How about
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: if we get to Revelation? Maybe we can hold on
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: to that. And to the angel of the church that
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: laid us here, write the words of the amen, the
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Revelation chapter 10, verse 6, and swore by him who
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: lives forever and ever, amen, who created heaven and what
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: is in it. Revelation chapter 21, verse 6, and he
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: said to me, it is done. I am the alpha,
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: the omega, the beginning and the end, to the thirsty
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: I will give from the spring of the water of
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: life without payment, 22, 13. I am the Alpha and
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: the end. You give up on the idea that God
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: created the earth. You give up on the whole Bible.
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: So when people argue that when we're talking about creation,
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: we're just having a conversation about Genesis, they lie. They
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: are deceived. They are deceived. and they are deceiving others.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: We give up on creation. We give up on the
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: whole Bible. We give up on the law. We give
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: up on the wisdom books. We give up on the prophets.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: We give up on the gospels. We give up on Acts.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: We give up on the epistles. We give up on Revelation.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: We give up on everything. Everything. So this is not
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: just about Genesis trying to be poetic. This is about
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: the clear message of the Bible from word one to
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: word last, that there is an eternal God who is
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: the creator of all things. Not only is God eternal,
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: and not only is God the creator, but God is
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: also the sustainer of all things. In the beginning, God
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: created the heavens and the earth. Listen to this. The
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: earth was without form and void, and darkness was over
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: was hovering over the face of the water. Here's what's interesting.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: God didn't just make the complete creation in a moment.
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: He didn't just do that. And we're going to look
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: at how it unfolded over six days. But God didn't
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: just stand up and go, now. And everything is there,
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: perfect and pristine. No. First... God creates the primordial matter
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: from which he will create the world. Isn't that interesting?
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: So the argument that somehow God just threw it all
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: out there and then was uninvolved goes completely out of
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: the window. Because first God created matter. then turned matter
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: into what we now see, experience, live in, and are.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: God was actively involved in creation and continues to be
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: actively involved in creation. So the idea of deism, the
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: idea of the watchmaker goes completely out of the window
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: because now we see the providence of God as God
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: is intimately and intricately involved with every aspect of creation.
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: Nothing is done by accident. There is not one rogue
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: molecule in the entire universe. Not one. He is the sustainer.
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: Acts chapter 17. Turn there with me if you will.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: Acts chapter 17, beginning in verse 22. Verse 22. I
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: love this passage of Scripture. I love this interaction. Paul
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: dealing with his pagan culture, meeting them right where they are,
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: and arguing philosophy with them. Because God makes sense philosophically. Amen?
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: Doesn't matter where you go. You can't run from God.
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: You know? Well, I'll go to science. That's fine. Genesis
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: will find you there. Well, I'll run to philosophy. That's cool.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: Paul will be waiting for you when you get there.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: You know? Where are you going to go? Well, I'll
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: go to the law. That's great. Leviticus, it'll be there
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: ahead of you. Exodus, Deuteronomy, they'll all be there ahead
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: of you. You want to run to the law and
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: run away from God, you can't get away from God there.
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: There is no discipline where you can get away from God.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: You can't do it. You can't do it. And so
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: here they are in philosophy. So what's Paul going to do?
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: They're over there in philosophy. Philosophy. Acts chapter 17, beginning
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: verse 22. So Paul, standing in the midst of the
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: Areopagus said, men of Athens, I perceive that in every
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: way you are very religious. For as I passed along
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: and observed the objects of your worship, I found an
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: altar with this inscription, to the unknown God. By the way,
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: they gather here at the Areopagus and they're always learning
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: and teaching something new. Now, they realized that there were
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: gods and deities and religions out there that they didn't
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: know anything about, and they didn't want to offend anybody.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: So they had a catch-all. And the catch-all was this
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: altar to the unknown God. So somebody comes in and
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: talks to them about the God that they don't know,
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: and they can just kind of go, oh, cool, we
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: got something for him too, right over there. Paul says
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: to him, to them rather, what therefore you worship as unknown,
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: this I proclaim to you The God who made the
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: world and everything in it. Don't miss that. The God
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: who made the world and everything in it. Not one
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: random molecule. There's not one molecule that God's out searching for.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: Not one. Not one. Be Lord of heaven and earth
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: does not live in temples made by man Nor is
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: he served by human hands as though he needed anything,
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: and everything. He gives to who life and breath and everything?
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: All mankind. Which means that God did not divorce himself
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: from the universe thousands of years ago when he created man.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: He didn't just say, here, I'm going to create man.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: I'm going to put within man this ability to reproduce
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: and these laws of reproduction will give us future men.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: But I myself will sit on my throne and I
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: will not have to be involved in that process. No,
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: read it again. Himself gives to all mankind life and
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: breath and everything. Whatever you have, you got it from God.
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: He made from one man every nation of mankind to
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: live on all the face of the earth, having determined
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling places, that
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: they should seek God in hope that they might feel
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: their way toward him and find him. Yet he is
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: actually not far from each one of us. God is
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: not just the creator of the universe. He's the sustainer
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: of the universe. Every people group finds its origin in God.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: Every nation with a boundary has a boundary that was
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: set up by God. Every person who has life and
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: breath and being has it directly from the hand of
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: Almighty God, not as the result of a cosmic accident.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: God is the eternal creator and sustainer of the universe.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: Not only that, but we see here, that God is
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: also omnipotent. Omnipotent. God has all power. God is the
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: one who brought everything into existence, which means that there
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: is nothing in the world over which he does not
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: have power. Listen to this from A.W. Pink. In the beginning,
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: God created the heavens and the earth, and that argues
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: he is infinite and omnipotent, for no finite being possesses
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: the power to create And none but an omnipotent being
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: could create the heavens and the earth. Amen, A.W. Pink.
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: He's omnipotent. God has all power. Because he creates and
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: sustains the universe, because every molecule of the universe was
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: created by God, God knows every molecule of the universe.
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: God directs every molecule of the universe. God controls every
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: molecule of the universe. There is nothing beyond the power
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: of God. There has never been nor will there ever
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: be a moment where God wonders what to do. He
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: has all power. It's the beautiful statement that Jesus makes
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: when he is resurrected. All power has been given to
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: me in heaven and on earth. All power. It's been
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: given to him by his Father. All power. Not some power,
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: not a lot of power, but all power. Not superhuman, supernatural.
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: God is omnipotent. He has all power. There is no
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: realm where God is helpless. None whatsoever. Thirdly, God is necessary.
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: God is necessary. The fact that God is eternal and
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: that God created all other things means that God is
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: inherently necessary. What does that mean? I'm not necessary. The
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: world came into existence. I was nowhere to be found.
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: God did not consult me. God did not need me. Amen?
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, God inherently needs nothing. Nothing.
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: So all this, you know, God created the universe out
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: of a need to create or out of a need
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: for man. Help you if you believe that. God needs nothing.
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: We saw that in Acts chapter 17. He's not served
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: by human hands as though he needs anything. God doesn't
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: need you. He's going to prove it one day because
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: you're going to die and the earth's going to keep
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: on spinning. He doesn't need you. He doesn't need me.
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: By the way, that makes his grace that much more magnificent. Amen?
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: God does not need me and yet he has redeemed
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: me and uses me for his glory and his purposes.
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: The almighty God who needs nothing. He's the only necessary being. Why?
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: Because he's the only thing without which there is nothing else.
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: Which means any student who is taught that creation is
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: even possible without God is being taught that God is
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: not a necessary being. If God is not a necessary being,
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: then he is inherently not God. Therefore, anyone who is
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: taught that God is not necessary is actually taught that
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: God does not exist. So our wonderful Christian teachers who
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: pat themselves on the back because, well, in my biology class,
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: I teach them what the textbook says about all that
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: evolution stuff. But then I teach them that there's another theory.
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: Another theory? Here's one that's possible. So all these people
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: who are now fighting tooth and nail, we want creation
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: taught in the schools right alongside evolution. Evolution. We don't
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: want them teaching the scriptures per se. We just want
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: them teaching that this is one theory and here is another. No, sir.
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: According to that, God is not a necessary being. If
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: God is not a necessary being, God is not God.
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: You follow me? God is God all by himself. As
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: I've said before, I'll say again, God's not running for God. Amen?
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: In this primary season. God's not biting his nails about
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: the primaries, y'all. He was the only one around when
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: the votes were cast. There's never going to be a recount.
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: He's God all by himself. And he is the only
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: inherently necessary being In the universe. The only one. In fact,
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: because of this attribute of God being necessary, anyone who
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: argues against the existence of God is actually arguing against
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: his own existence. He's the only necessary being. Not only
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: is God the only necessary being in this omnipotent being,
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: But God is this self-sustaining being. He's the only self-sustaining being,
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: which is why we desperately need the very providence of God.
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: The earth was without form. It was void. In the Hebrew,
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: tovu wovohubohu, One of the favorite phrases of beginning Hebrew students.
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: It was formless. It was void. And it was dark.
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: But the Spirit of God hovers along the face of
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: the waters. Doing what? You see that in verse 3.
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: He begins this work of taking this primordial matter and
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: forming it into what we now know, into what we
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: now see in the universe. Who is God? I'll tell
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: you who God is. God is the eternal creator of
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: the universe who is omnipotent, who is intelligent, who is
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: actively involved sustaining his creations. who is the only necessary
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: and the only completely self-contained being that there ever was.
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: That's who God is. Is that all that God is? Man,
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: that's just verse 1 and 2, the first book in
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: the Bible, okay? But I don't know about you. I
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: can get somewhere with that right there. Amen? Amen. I
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: can get a long way with that. Here's what I
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: want you to see. Here's what I want you to understand.
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: Because so many Christians in this day and age, you know,
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: are sort of caught up with this idea that somehow
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: because science has proven that the world is billions of
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: years old. Well, by the way, that's assumption. number one.
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: Science has not proven anything about the age of the universe.
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: Nothing about the age of the universe. All of that
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: is based on assumptions. All of it is based on assumptions.
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: And it's all being changed constantly because the assumptions change constantly.
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: Scientists can't tell you how old the universe is. They
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: can't tell you if it's 3 billion years old or
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: it's 30 billion years old. I don't know about you.
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: 3 billion years old, 30 billion years old, that's a
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: lot to me. Amen? That's not being off by a decade.
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: So is the earth 3 billion years old or is
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: it 30 billion years old? Or is the earth 3
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: billion years old or is it 2 billion years old?
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: And people will argue, well, you know, 3 billion years,
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: 10 billion years, it's not that big of a difference. Well,
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: here's the deal. If you acknowledge the fact that you
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: can be off by billions of years, how come the
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: earth can't be between 6 and 10,000 years old? I mean,
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: if you can be off by billions of years and
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: you got 3 billion and you could be off by
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: a billion or two, How come it's crazy to say
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: six to ten thousand years? We've already acknowledged that you
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: could be off by billions, right? Let me say one
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: more thing here before we close verses one and two.
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: There are many who try to make The creation account
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: in Genesis jive with the old, old, old earth. And
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: what they do is they put an undefined length of
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: time between verse 2 and verse 3. It's called the
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: gap theory, okay? It's called the gap theory. What the
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: gap theory does is it allows people to say, on
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: the one hand, I believe Genesis, and on the other hand,
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: I'm a scientific person because I believe that the earth
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: is billions and billions of years old. And the way
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: that I reconcile those two is I say right here,
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: you know, the earth was without form and void and
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: darkness was over the face of the deep and the
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And in
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: verse three, and God said, we don't know how long
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: it was between hovering over the face of the waters
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: and God said, that's the gap theory. That's the gap theory.
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: Small problem. What does Exodus 20 and 11 say? In
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: six days, God created the heavens and the earth. And
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: on the seventh day, he rested. See, what the gap
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: theory does is the gap theory has God creating matter.
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: And then billions of years pass by, and then God
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: goes to work with the matter. Problem is, the creation
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: of matter is part of the creation of the world.
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: Gap theory doesn't work. You can't get there from here.
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: All of these ways of trying to make things jive
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: with science. Here's what's interesting to me. Science tells us
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: that though 99% of us here in this room were
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: raised with science books that said Pluto was a planet.
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: Now science admits that they're wrong. Pluto does not meet
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: the criteria for being a planet. Pluto is not a planet.
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: So what has science said to us? Science has said
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: to us, We don't even know about our closest neighbors
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: in our own galaxy, but we can tell you how
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: old the whole thing is. Bless your spirit if you
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: want to trust that. Pluto's not a planet. But you're
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: a non-scientific thinker if you don't believe the world is
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: billions and billions of years old. Isn't that interesting? Science
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: has not proven that the world is billions of years old.
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: But that didn't keep people from writing it. Science hadn't
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: proven that Pluto was a planet. Didn't keep people from
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: writing it. Didn't keep you and me from believing it.
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: Learning it. I had tests. I passed tests on the
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: solar system with a lie. I did. I need to
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: go back to my elementary school science And my teacher
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: needs to remark my exam on the solar system. Because
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: I said Pluto was a planet. Pluto's not a planet.
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: I was wrong. But we don't do that. Why don't
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: we do that? Because that's the nature of science. See,
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: here's the other thing. People have tried to teach us.
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: Science is accurate and absolute. Religion, not so much. Really?
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: Is science precise and absolute? Of course it's not. That's
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: why we continue to grow and we continue to learn.
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: And we continue to discover things scientifically all the time.
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: The bubonic plague. We didn't understand that. I mean, we
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: didn't get it. We didn't understand viruses. We didn't get it.
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: We didn't understand it. Now we have a better understanding.
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: That's the nature of science. So the first thing I
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: want you to understand is you don't have to be
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: held captive to this idea that somehow there is a
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: world over here that's scientific and then there's a world
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: over here that's religious. Nothing could be further from the truth.
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: Genesis means what it says and says what it means.
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: And where it attempts to be scientific, it is scientific
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: and it is accurate. Genesis teaches that God created the
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: heavens and the earth. That he is the creator and
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: the sustainer of the universe. That he is a necessary,
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: intelligent being. who is intricately and intimately involved with the
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: world today. That's what Genesis 1, 1 and 2 teaches.
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: Know that. And also know that anything that we are
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: holding on to that denies any aspect of that is
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: out of bounds. And we better be careful. If we're
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: wrong about creation, we're wrong about a lot of things.
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: I'll give you one example. And we'll close with this.
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: If the creation account in Genesis is not literal, and
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: there'll be more on this next week. The creation account
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: in Genesis is not literal. And we've already demonstrated that
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: the rest of the Bible is not trustworthy. Because the
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: rest of the Bible talks about the creation account as literal.
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: But if the creation account is not literal, then what
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: we read there in Acts chapter 17 is really off base.
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: Because in Acts chapter 17 and in Romans 5 and
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: several other places, we read the same account that we
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: read in Genesis 1. That from one man, Adam, God
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: created all men. In Romans chapter 5, we read that
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: because of the fall of one man, Adam, All of
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: us fell into sin. Well, newsflash. If we are talking
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: about a long period of time that was thousands, if
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: not millions of years, then Adam is no longer a man.
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: Adam is now a race of men. And the account
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: of the fall is a fairy tale. And we no
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: longer have redemption through the one man, Jesus Christ. Still
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: think it doesn't matter? If Adam was not a man
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: and Eve was not a woman, we don't have a
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: leg to stand on as it relates to the definition
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: of marriage. Think about that. How do we define marriage
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: as one man and one woman for life? If Adam
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: wasn't one man and Eve wasn't one woman, but they
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: represent a race of men and women over a period
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: of time. thousands or millions of years marriage can be
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: configured any number of ways you still think it doesn't
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: matter It matters. Let's pray.