In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth

LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH

SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 20 JUNE 2021

GENESIS 1 VERSES 1 - 5

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"  We are living in dark days, difficult days, days whenever the foundation of the church is being eroded.  Here is a great attack on the preaching of the gospel.  An onslaught on what we believe.  Think of the topics of same sex marriage, abortion, conversion therapy,  So many difficult things coming against the church.  Conversion therapy may mean we will not be able to pray for people in our prayer times.  When the enemy comes in like a flood it is the spirit that raises up the standard against him.  The Lord is asking for that standard to be raised again. The word of God is being constantly under attack both inside and outside the church.  People are denying some of the things we believe even some of those standing behind the sacred desk.  We should always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us  There are those today who don't believe God exists.  Many are questioning how the world came into being - was it the big bang or not.  The arguments about the age of the earth - is it 600 years old or is it millions of years old?  Scientists have proved it is millions and therefore the say we don't need our bible today.  I want us to revisit some of these basic truths.  It is to the bible that we only can turn to.  It is our foundation for belief.  1 Peter 3 verse 15 "but sanctify the Lord in your heart and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you wth meekness and fear."  

Think today of the reality of God in the world.  We are bombarded today with the thought that there is no God, no proof of his existence.  Genesis 1 "in the beginning God."  Henry Morris wrote in his book The Genesis Record "the opening verse takes this fact for granted.  The bible sets out not to prove there is a God but that God exists.  You are coming to God because he is God.  That is so obvious that only a fool can say there is no God.  Psalm 14 verse 1 "the fool hath said in his heart there is no God."  The man in the world makes the boast that there is no God, no existence of God.  God does not need to prove his existence but sets it out as a fact.  The psalmist David was a young boy, he hadn't any PHD or was a theologian.  He did not attend Cambridge or Oxford universities.  Just a shepherd boy guarding his sheep day and daily.  He took his sheep to cool waters and green pastures, he watched over them as they grazed and when they slept at night.  Under those starry skies he would say "the heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament showeth his handiwork."  To Isaiah the prophet God came to him and said "Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power not one faileth." (Isaiah 40 verse 26)  Think of the words of Philip when he heard Jesus say he would leave this world.  Philip said "show us the father and that will suffice us."  Jesus replied "have I been so long time with you and yet thou hast not known me? He that hath seen me hath seen the father."  John 17 verse 3 "and this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God."  In his debate on marriage Jesus corrected those who argued against him.  In Mark 10 verse 6 "but from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female."  He was taking the minds of those who argued with him back to the beginning.  He made male and female, pointing them to God in heaven.  John 1 verse 1.  Remember when Paul was in Athens.  He spoke to those people who were very religious and devout.  When he went out into Athens he could see these various altars made for sacrifice.  There was one to the unknown God.  Paul said "for as I passed by I and beheld you devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God.  Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you."  There is a reality of God in this world.  No matter what great people try to tell us when we do a simple thing such as looking up into the sky and see the sun shining and the moon rising at night and the all the stars proves there is a God.  This verse tells me of the reality of God in the world.

We see something of the revelation of God to the world.  How would we ever have known God?  It is he who reveals himself to us.  How could you ever know you are a sinner and that the remedy for sin is through Jesus if it had not been God revealing it to you?  God speaks to us.  Only he can create that conviction of sin in our hearts, that we need to have a desire to turn away from sin which is repentance.  That we have grace to believe in God and it is God's works showing us that.  He shows us we have sinned and come short of the glory of God, that we will never be in heaven. He points us to Calvary where he sent his son to take your sin and the sin of the world.  He did it to atone for everyones sin.  He shows us that he asks you to believe it all - that is your part.  God will not do that for us.  He has given you the ability to look at everything around you and make a decision.  That is what he wants us to do.  The Philippian jailer asked "what must I do to be saved?"  He would do anything to be saved.  He was ready to do it.  We must come to that same place or we might never be saved.  The jailer turned from his wicked ways and trusted th Lord as Saviour.  Remember Zophar one of Job's friends who came to comfort him in his time of trouble.  Job was going through a difficult and terrible time.  He asked Job "canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almight unto perfection?"   When David lifted up his eyes to the sky and declared what he did, that was God's revelation to him  There are 2 types of revelation - the natural and the special.  Natural revelation is such as Psalm 19 verse 1, God shows us great things through creation.  That is God breaking into our lives and proving the existence of God.  Notice he saw the stars and his mind was changed.  He was looking for the one who hung the stars in place.  That is natural revelation.  Thomas Aquinas "if a rational man would draw the right conclusions from the facts of nature he would have to accept the existence of God in nature."  If we look around us and see God's work in making things surely it takes up the thought that there is a God.  Remember when Paul was in Lystra and he healed the lame man.  The people looking on Paul believed him to be a god, they would have sacrificed to him but Paul had to stop them.  He spoke of the reality and the revelation of the one true God.  Acts 14 verse 17 "Nevertheless he left not himself without witness in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness."  Look at the seasons how winter turns into spring and spring into summer and summer into autumn.  It comes around every year.  The very seasons prove the revelation and reality of God.  Genesis 8 verse 22 "while the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest and cold and heat and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease."  Natural revelation - that there is a God in heaven today.  We could never find out about God if we don't have that natural revelation.  We also have a special revelation as well when he reveals himself to us in his word just as he has done here in this very first verse of Genesis 1.  John 1 verse 1 the bible says "and the word became flesh and dwelt among us."  In Genesis the revelation of that third person of the trinity is evident "and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the water."  God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit all in the opening verses of Genesis 1.  Paul writing to the Romans stated "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and godhead; so that they are without excuse"  In Paul's day as today, there were those who could see the existence of God and turned their backs on God and went into every possible sin.  "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools."  What does it say bout the intellect of God today?  Denying the existence of God all around.  Don't need the design behind it all.  Peter was asked whom do men say that I am?  Jesus asked again "Who do you say I am?"  Peter replied "Thou art the Christ."  Jesus said "flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto you but my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 16 verse 17) A revelation was given to Peter.  

The relationship of God with the world .  The word "created" comes from the Hebrew word 'Bar'a meaning to make something out of nothing.  That is what it means - nothing was there previously.  The word is only used in connection to God.  It means God called into existence something that did not exist before.  Man can make things, form things but man cannot create things.  When God made this heaven and earth he spoke the word and it came into being.  He created all we have around us.