Genesis chapter 1 is our text
this morning. Genesis chapter 1. And what we
are going to study today is extremely important. Now, certainly every
portion of God's Word is of equal importance, but we cannot be
ignorant of this one thing, the first thing, the subject at hand,
or else we will be ignorant of all things. We begin where it
all began, Genesis chapter 1. Now, the very word Genesis means
beginning, and everything follows because of what happened in the
beginning. That's how God's Word began.
Verse 1 of Genesis 1 reads, In the beginning God created the
heaven and earth. God created all things. It should be obvious to all who
hear this that man no longer believes God created this planet. Man no longer believes he has
a creator, but rather evolution is believed and accepted as fact
now. And that is just as Peter prophesied
it would be in the last days. Peter writes in 2 Peter 3 that
in those last days, these days, scoffers will come, scoffers
who, he says, are willingly ignorant of two things, the Word of God
created the heavens and earth and the flood or judgment of
all flesh. and the judgment of that creation. Peter said they'll be willingly
ignorant in the last day that God created the heaven and earth.
Romans chapter 1. I want you to turn with me to
the first chapter of the book of Romans. Romans 1 tells us
of man's utter rejection of a creator and what follows as a result
of that rejecting his creator. Unbelief. Romans 1, beginning
with verse 19, I read, that which may be known of God is manifest
in them, or to them. God hath showed it unto them,
for the invisible things of God from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even His eternal power and Godhead, or creatorhood and power, so
that they, or all, are without excuse. Because of that, when
they knew God, or that is, that there is a Creator and His power
that did it, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful,
but became vain in their imagination. Ridiculous in their notions,
in other words. And their foolish heart was darkened. And verse 22 reads, professing
themselves to be wise, they became fools. Oh, how wise. Oh, how wise man thinks he is. Wise in his own conceits, the
proverb says. Oh, how wise, but oh, how foolish. Psalm 14 says, The fool hath
said, No God, no Creator. Something as marvelous, as wondrous,
mysterious, complex, perfectly ordered as this universe, yet
man does not believe it was created, but rather it just happened.
It just happened. Ain't we lucky that it just happened
like it did. Now, I'm not going to argue against
evolution, though it can be completely refuted by the very science which
believes that supports it. There's a passage of Scripture
that says, a study of science, falsely so-called. Science meaning
the study of truth, but it's falsely so-called. Man wants
to get to the bottom of the truth, he'll find God at it. The fact
is, if you want to believe something badly enough, you will. And man
does not want to believe in a Creator, so he has imagined all sorts
of things and in an elaborate hoax has conjured up evidence
to support his rejection of a God. Solomon, the wise man, said this,
and you need to ponder this verse. He said in the proverb, money
answereth all. things. At the root of all things,
you'll find money behind it. And buddy, money can buy anybody,
just about. Let me just illustrate, rather
than argue against evolution per se, let me just give an illustration
of the absurdity of it all. Listen to this. Believer, or
one who believed God, who believed in his creator, believed his
word, his power. A believer was talking to an
unbeliever, an agnostic, an atheist, or whatever, an evolutionist. Because you're either a believer
or you're an atheist, an evolutionist. You can't believe God, God's
word, unless you believe all of it. You can't believe God
is Creator and believe evolution. You can't do it. One or the other.
Well, this believer was talking to this evolutionist, this unbeliever. And the believer said to the
man, that's a beautiful watch you have on there. May I see
it? The man gave it to him. Yes, you may. The believer looked
at it and asked him this question. He asked, do you believe that
this watch had a wise and skillful maker? Well, the unbeliever,
the evolutionist said, well, of course I do. It's easy to
see that it did, that the one who made this watch was indeed
wise and a skillful maker of it, a skillful watchmaker. You
can see that by the beauty of it, by the complexity of it,
by the intricacies of it, by the perfections of it, by the
precise movements of it. It's easy to see that this watch,
something so complex and marvelous, was created by a wise and skillful
watchmaker. Well, the believer in mockery
said to him, I don't believe that. I don't believe this watch
was created or made by someone. I rather choose to believe that
millions and millions of years ago, Floating out in space, there
were stems and crystals and gears and mainsprings and watch parts
floating in space. And all of a sudden there was
a huge explosion, a big bang. And now you have that watch.
That's how I believe that watch came into being. Why, the unbeliever,
the evolutionists say, well, that's foolish. You're a fool. And the believer said, no, thou
art the fool, man, to look at something as beautiful, something
as complex, something as intricate, something as perfectly ordered
and precise in its movements as this earth, your body, and
say that there's no wise and skillful creator of it. Thou
art the fool, old man. And so man willfully rejects
his creator because, now here is why a man rejects his creator. Number one, if he is creator,
then he owns us. If you made something, would
you not be the owner of it? If you created something, would
you not be the owner of it and able to do with that thing you
created as you please? Yes, you would. And that's exactly
who God is and what God does. He owns us. And He said that
very thing. Cannot I do with my own as I
please? Yes, He can. He created it. And
yes, He does. If He's Creator, He reigns and
rules. He reigns and rules. And man
does not want to have anyone reigning and ruling over him.
Man wants to be independent. independent, rather than have
one reign and rule over him. And if he is creator, then he
is judge. Whatever you create, whatever
you own, answers to you. You're the master, you're the
owner, it answers to you, and you are the judge of it. Man
does not want to have a creator. Well, look at the results of
man's willful rejection of God. In Romans 1, it says, verse 21,
when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. Glorified Him
not as Creator, Ruler, Owner, and Judge. Neither were thankful,
it says. We're not thankful. Don't acknowledge
that everything comes from above, as Scripture says. why the very
rain or water just falls out of the sky, which is necessary
for all of our food and clothing, our very subsistence. The sun
that shines every day, which sustains life on this earth.
This great big ball of fire just hanging in space, which this
life depends upon, why it just happened, rather than thank God
for it. Oh, mother nature is worshiped
rather than God now. Man would rather give the credit
to some fictitious thing called Mother Nature. Well, it says
that he was not thankful and became vain in his own imagination. Vain in their imagination. Made
up all sorts of things about God, or as they think God is. Go on, it says in verse 21, their
foolish heart was darkened. Their heart was darkened. That
is, someone darkened it because they rejected their Creator,
because they glorified Him not, neither were thankful, and made
up all sorts of things. Their heart was darkened. Who
darkened their heart? Well, I want you to turn with
me to 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, and be in for a shock. 2 Thessalonians,
chapter 2. There in Romans one, it says
they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, did not like
to think of God. God is not in all their thought.
They don't bring up God. They don't think about a God
or a creator, a judge, a ruler, an owner. No, no, no, no. So
it says that God gave them over. God gave them over to a reprobate
mind. The word reprobate means a mind
void of judgment, no sense. Look at this, 2 Thessalonians
2, verse 10 and 11. 10, 11, and 12 read this way. Because they receive not the
love of the truth, it says in verse 11, God shall send them
strong delusions that they should believe a lie, that they all
might be damned who believe not the truth. God sends strong delusion. God does. And it says that they
might be damned who believe not the truth. To put it in very
blunt language, it's as if God says, OK, you reject your Creator,
then to hell with you. That's exactly what God said. Romans 1, back in Romans 1, it
says in verse 23, they changed the glory of the incorruptible
God. Changed the glory of God. What
is His glory? God's glory. Why? It's His person.
It's His character. It's His power. His person, his
character, his essence, his person is immutable. God is immutable. If he's God, he doesn't change. Immutable means unchangeable. Something that changes means
it changes either for the better or for the worse. Why? He's God.
He's perfect. He doesn't change. His will,
his purpose, his person does not change. God does not change.
Never has, never will. He's sovereign. That's His glory.
His sovereignty. Doing as He will among the armies
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay
His hand because He's God. If He's God, you can't control
Him. You can't change Him. You can't
alter Him. He's God. That's His person. But no, man changes the glory
of God. Look at what he changes him into.
Made like to corruptible man. That's the first thing man makes
God into being. And I'm not just talking about
heathen religions, I'm talking about mainstream America misled
by false preachers which believe God's like a man. God is like
a man. Why? He's at man's will. He can't
do anything unless man lets Him, unless man chooses Him, accepts
Him, elects Him, allows Him to be God. What utter ignorance
and blasphemy is that? If God is God, you don't let
Him do anything. You don't let Him be anything.
If God is God, He's the one who lets us do things. He's the one
who wills, chooses, elects, allows. If God is God, then He reigns
and rules. If God is Creator, we are His
creature. And Romans 9 says just that. We are as clay in the potter's
hands. Oh, my. Man does not believe
he has a Creator. We'll find out. The God who created
this planet is someday going to destroy it. Because He would. Because He wills to do so. Because
man rejects Him. May this Creator reveal himself
to you. Thank you.
About Paul Mahan
Paul Mahan has been pastor of Central Baptist Church in Rocky Mount, Virginia since 1989; preaching the Gospel of God's Sovereign Grace.
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