All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Genesis chapter 2. Genesis
chapter 2. Having considered the detailing
and the unfolding of the revelation, creation of God in chapter 1,
We now want to begin chapter 2 and we pray that the Lord give
us some understanding into God's work of creation. The scripture
declares in verse 1, thus the heavens and the earth were finished
and all the host of them. Now this verse summarizes everything that was
said in the first chapter. The scripture declares that the
heavens and the earth were finished. That means they were completed. And all the host of them. Now I'm going to give you the
definition of what the host of them means. Now when you think,
when I first read this, I'll just kind of share my thought
pattern with you. I thought, okay, they finished
the stars and the sun, moon, trees, everything was done. And that's true. There's no doubt
about that. But that's not the significance
of what's being said. When God finished, the heavens
and the earth were finished and all the host of them. Here's
the definition of the host. It means the company of things
in the order of their nature and the progressive discharge
of their functions. Now, let me explain what I just
said. The Spirit of God declares that when God created the heavens
and the earth, and the host of the heavens and the earth were
finished, We realize back in verse 1 of chapter 1, the scripture
says, in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Now
let me tell you what was created in the heaven and the earth.
Everything. Everything was created on the
first day. God created the heaven and the
earth, everything would later be brought into being on the
appropriate days of God's good pleasure, but everything was
created on the heaven and the earth. Now we'll see this in
just a few minutes in this passage that we're looking at this evening.
Everything was created and set in order according to God's wise
counsel and power. The word host also in the definition,
it means like the organization of an army. Whenever God created everything,
everything that would come to pass on every day, in every successful
week and month and year, everything was created and set in array
like an army. I was thinking about when you
look, if you go to a parade and you're standing on the side of
the street and you watch the progression of this parade, well
there goes the clowns and there's the fire truck and there's this
float and then there's this float and this float. All of that was
organized. If you have something that you
have planned, an event, you're going to have a dinner, you're
going to have something like that, and you have a schedule, and you
make out your schedule, and all of the details are worked out,
and you've got it all written down, and at this time you're
going to be here, and you're going to do this, and you're going
to do this, and you're going to do this, this, this, this, and all the arrangements
are made. and everything is prepared and
organized so that whenever that time comes, a play, if you have
a play, and this person is supposed to come onto the stage at this
moment, and at that moment, the band is supposed to play, and
this is supposed to happen, and this is supposed to happen. All
of it's organized. That's the host. Thus the heavens
and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. Everything that would be brought
to pass was made. Now it wasn't brought into existence,
but in the mind, will, and purpose of Almighty God, it was there. It was set in array. It's almost
like the only way I can explain it from looking at the definition
is to say it's set. Whenever it was time, for the
plagues in Egypt. All of the lice and the frogs
and the flies and the hail and everything, all of that was ready. It was set as if it was prepared
and it's set as a mighty army. Whenever you see in the scriptures,
you talk about in the host of the army, it means the array.
It was all set, you know. There's the archers, and there's
the lancers, and there's the guys, there's the artillery,
and there's this and that. All of it's there. That's what
it meant, the host. The heavens and the earth were
finished and all the host of them. Everything was set, it
was made. Everything was created and finished. There was nothing brought into
being at the day it came forth. God Almighty finished it. So here we see, when we realize,
when the scripture says all things work together for good to them,
it's because all things are as a host, as an army set in array. And so we're taught that nothing
comes to pass by chance. Nothing is changed because of
circumstances, but everything is divinely ordered and orchestrated. I can't think of another word.
You understand what I mean? It's orchestrated. This is according
to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel
of His own will." Do you think God Almighty knows what He's
going to do tomorrow? Do you think He's made all the preparation?
Do you think everything has been set for before the foundation
of the world? Do you believe that to everything
there is a season and a time, to every purpose under heaven?
We're beholding the unfolding of the indescribable providence,
wisdom, power of Almighty God. Almighty God is going to bring
his people to himself. And he's going to make sure that
everything works according to his purpose. All power has been
given unto the Son that he should give eternal life to as many
as God has given him. Everything is according to His
will. The heavens and the earth finished. And all the host of everything
that God Almighty has been pleased to bring into effect tomorrow
is set. And it's just waiting. And when
God says, come forth, it's going to come forth. David, speaking
King David, Speaking of his salvation, spoke of this very thing. He
said, although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made
with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure. That is, ordained in all points
by God's eternal counsel and disposed by his wise and powerful
providence, which will overrule all things. This is all my salvation,
David said, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. So the Lord declared in chapter
1 verse 31, when that first chapter set forth God's creation in the
unfolding and in the fourth day fifth day and all those days,
He brought forth what He created on the first day. He manifested
and God saw, verse 31, everything that He had made and behold,
it was very good. And the evening and the morning
were the sixth day. So we're seeing the exhibition
of that which God has created and seen to be very good, that
we might behold in time and eternity the exceeding riches of His grace
and His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. You know, we relate
everything to time, don't we? But in the accomplishment of
things concerning Almighty God, everything with Him is now. He is the eternal God. Verse
two says, And on the seventh day, God ended His work which
He had made, and He rested on the seventh day from all His
work which He had made. Now, after the sixth day, the
Lord on the seventh day said that His work was ended. It was done. It's the same word
as finished. In verse 1, the heavens and the
earth were finished, On the seventh day, God ended. It was done. He rested. Not rested in the
sense of being weary, but one who has finished what he's done. So he ceased. All of his work,
there was, you know, nothing with man can ever be said to
be truly finished. I told you, I told somebody,
I think I may have used this illustration before, people would
ask me, how do you know when you finish a painting? You don't
finish a painting. You just come to a stopping point.
I mean, it doesn't matter. Neil, you build a piece of furniture.
You say it's finished. There's always something else
you could have done. With God, God finished it. There was nothing
else to be added. There was nothing else that could
be... He alone knows the demand of
His completeness. And when God said, It's finished! It's finished! And so God ceased
from creation. He ceased from His work. Only
the omnipotent, omniscient God could know It's done. All is done. And it's very good. So on that 7th day, God did no
more creating. And God, verse 3, blessed the
7th day and sanctified it. Now listen, here's why. because
in it he had rested from all his work which God created and
made. So the Lord satisfied. He said everything that he had
done was very good. He was satisfied with his finished
work and he blessed and sanctified. He pronounced the seventh day
to be good. He pronounced it to be good.
He blessed it. and He sanctified it, that is He separated it to
be a special day from the other six. Now that's what He did,
that's what Scripture says. That seventh day was to be remembered
and honored, declared to be a holy day unto the Lord for the remembrance
of that which God had finished in creation. That day was a precious
day. Turn with me to Exodus. Hold
your place here. Exodus chapter 20 verse 8. Exodus
20 verse 8. God pronounced that day according
to the law. Now listen, this, the finishing
of the work of God, this was a day that God, even in His law,
in the Ten Commandments, spoke of as being a day to be reverenced. And remember, now look at Exodus
chapter 20 verse 8. Remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and
do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord
thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work,
thou nor thy son nor thy daughter, thy manservant, maidservant,
nor thy cattle, or the stranger that is within thy gates for,
because. Why was there a Sabbath day in
the law? Why was there a Sabbath day? Why? Here's what it says, for,
because. In six days the Lord made heaven
and earth and the sea and all that in them is and rested on
the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day and hallowed it. So if you want to know, according
to God's word in the Ten Commandments, why there was a Sabbath day,
the day of the Saturday, Why there was a Sabbath day? Because
God said, that's a holy day set apart by me in remembrance of
what I did in the creation. And then the scripture says back
in Genesis chapter 2 verse 4. These are the generations of
the heavens and of the earth when they were created in the
day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. These
are the generations. That word right there, generations,
is an amazing word. These are the generations. Actually,
the word there, it means the birth facts. Birth facts is what
it means. When we have a child that's born,
we have what's called a birth certificate. And that birth certificate
is one, it's an official document. It's issued by the state, and
it's got all the vital facts that's associated with the birth
of a child. It's recorded for history, the
history of that birth, of that child. It'll have the child's
full name, and it'll have the name of the parents, and it'll
have the date. that that child was born on and
it'll have the place where that child was born, it'll have the
doctor's name, you know, where it was, the name of the hospital.
All of the pertinent facts of that birth date, it's a birth
certificate. So the word generations here,
that The word generation means the birth facts. So the scripture
declared these are the birth facts. The generations of the
heavens and the earth when they were created in the day that
the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. God's declaration
that this is what happened. This is how God did it. He created
on the first day the heaven and the earth. Six of the days he
brought them all forth. He brought these birds and the
seas and the firmament. That is the birth facts. We have
a piece of paper. God said this is the way it is.
And this is it. We're looking at it right here.
Here's the birth facts of the generation. Verse five. And every
plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb
of the field before it grew, For the Lord God had not caused
it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the
ground." Now, every plant, every herb... Now, we read back in
chapter 1 that this is how God created it. He brought it forth.
But what this is saying right here is that every plant and
every herb, before it was in the earth, when there was not
a plant nor a seed, from which anything could spring forth and
be displayed in the earth. It wasn't that they didn't exist. They existed. But God had not
brought them forth yet. But He did in time, and so when
it was pleasing to God, He would bring it forth. But the reason
that He had not brought it forth was because in his wisdom, power,
it had not rained yet. And it was going to need rain
whenever it was. This was going to be for man's
existence. And there was no man to till the ground and there
was no rain according to God's good pleasure and wisdom. So
therefore, all of this, the herbs and the plants and the seeds
and everything else, It wasn't brought into existence until
God said, let it come forth. And then it was. And so there
was going to be that time. The earth said in verse six,
but there went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole
face of the ground before God was pleased to bring forth the
plants and the herb and the rain. and man, there went up from the
earth a fog of vapor. And it watered the whole face
of the ground. It prepared the ground. And by that mist, by that fog,
by that vapor, the earth was made ready and was fitted to
nourish the plants and the herbs that God had already created
and would bring them forth. And when it pleased the Lord,
he brought them forth. And then verse seven says, and
the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living
soul. Now, the Lord formed man. Now here we have the exact detailing
of what happened from what was declared in chapter 1 verse 27. So God created man in his own
image. In the image of God created he
him, male and female created he them. Here we've got the exact
account of what God did. The scripture says that God formed
man of the dust. And again, words are everything. The word formed, it means he
squeezed into shape or molded into form. That's what the word
means. He formed a man. He made a man out of the dust,
the dust of the field. And just as the only thing I
can relate to is making a pot, throwing a pot, a pot wheel,
a potter's wheel. and taking your hands and it's
just the way you move your fingers, just how you push in your hand.
You can make it whatever you want to make it. And if it doesn't
look good, you just kind of wad it up, throw it back on there,
do it again, make another one. But that's how you make a pot.
And this God formed man. He squeezed into shape or molded
into form a man. And he formed him from the dust
of the ground. This is what we always remember.
God made us marvelously. I don't know anything about,
some of you that are in the medical field, I don't know anything
about medical stuff, but the little bit that I do know, it
just amazes me how the body is just so magnificent. But it's
dust, it's dust. And that's what it'll go back
to. As high as we would try to elevate ourselves in our own
mind and ability, we are dust. Dust. But God formed man of the
dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life and man became a living soul. The breath of life, it
is the soul of lives. The soul of lives. Natural and
spiritual. That's the difference between
a man and an animal. An animal's got a natural life,
but he doesn't have a living soul. He doesn't live forever. Man has a temporal life, and
he's got an eternal life, a spiritual life. He possesses the life that
is different from that life of the beast of the field. He was
made in the image of God. That's a shadow, a picture of
how God Almighty, God is eternal. And man has this temporal life,
like all animals do, but man's soul will live forever. So with
the significance now of that, I wanted to look at those seven
verses and see just exactly what was being said. But as we close,
I want to close on this note, how the finishing of what God
does you know is everything with God is finished. So here we see
the importance of God finishing and resting and blessing and
sanctifying that which He does. All of the honor, the glory and
praise in man's creation and second creation. being born again. All that Almighty God ever purposed
to do in the first creation, the second creation, regeneration,
regeneration, born again, born from above, it's all been finished. And God Almighty has rested in
that which He's done. And He's blessed the work that
He's done. So God Almighty in the will and
purpose of Him who loved a people from before the foundation of
the world. Those for whom the Lord Jesus Christ has stood as
surety to answer every demand just as God Almighty did everything
and arranged everything as a host in order. And it stands ready
to be brought forth according to God's good pleasure. Same
thing in man's salvation. All the works were finished.
from the foundation of the world. Everything that was done. God
Almighty saw the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
God knew His people. I know my sheep. All of the sheep, they're
all His. They've always been in Him. We
looked at Romans 8 verse 29 and 30. How God Almighty, everything
that God had done eternally is now being brought to pass. But
it was all done I'm going to just read it, I'm not even going
to try to remember it. For whom he did foreknow, now
here's the host, here's the host being displayed. All of this
is finished. For whom he did foreknow in Christ,
in mercy, he also did predestinate. to be conformed to the image
of Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren,
moreover, whom He did predestinate." Now here again, all this is done.
It's finished. Then He also called or named.
And whom He named, whom He called. Then He also justified. Whom
He justified, then He also glorified. Almighty God has finished all
the works of creation and salvation. from before the foundation of
the world. And He created all and rested in that which He created. And concerning our salvation,
God Almighty who rested in the work of creation, He rested because
it was finished. When the Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world, being sent to the Father with a work that He
was to do, He finished it. That's what he cried from the
cross. It's finished. But it was finished in the mind,
will, and purpose of God before the foundation of the world.
God trusted in Him. He saw the Lamb slain. But here's
what the Father saw right here. It is finished. And the people
of God, God rested. Christ rested. And now the people
of God rest in Him. who has finished the Father's
work on their behalf because He finished it. Was there anything
else added or needed in God's creation? Is there anything else added
or needed in man's salvation? It's done. All of it's done. And just as God Almighty brings
forth every day and we behold the magnificence of the host
that had been finished and prepared and set in array. We're watching
and beholding the unfolding of what Almighty God is eternally
purposed to do in the salvation of His people. The scripture
declares that there is a rest for the sheep of God. There's
a rest in Christ. Let me tell you the rest. Here's the easiest way I know
to describe the rest of God's people. Faith. God's people believe God. I believe Him. When the scripture
says that He chose us in Him before the foundation of the
world, I rest, kneel in that. I rest in that. When the Lord
Jesus Christ, when the scripture says He had borne our griefs,
our iniquities, that He was made sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him, let me tell you what rest is.
I believe God. I believe Him. I believe that. Somebody said, do you truly believe
that Christ bore all of the guilt of all of His people for all
of eternity? I mean, a time and He put it
away? You believe? I do. I do believe
that. I believe that. The rest of God's
people is that they rest from their laboring to try to establish
their righteousness before God. I'm not trying to do that. I
can't do it. I know that. And these words
of comfort from the Lord God Himself to God's people settles
their heart and they rest. I'm not concerned that there's
something that's still left to be done. I'm not concerned about
that. Somebody say, you're going to rest your soul on that? Yes.
What else do I have? Peter said, Lord, where are we
going to go? What are you going to do? If it's not finished,
what are you going to do about it? I got that from both Scott. What are you going to do about
it? If God didn't finish it, what are you going to do about
it? This is the only hope we have. So the Lord's people, they
have a constant desire. You tell me again, tell me how
the Lord finished it. He finished creation and all
the hosts. I believe that. I believe that
everything is going to come to pass. Everything has come to
pass and everything is going to come to pass. I believe God
set it in a ray. I believe He's made it. He's created it. Everybody
that's going to be needed in the workings of that day, God's
brought them into existence. He's raised them up wherever
they were going to be needed to be raised up. He's put them
in whatever position that they're going to have to be in. He set
it in a ray and He brings it all to pass. And I believe that
concerning my salvation, everything that was needed, I don't even
know bare what was needed. I don't even know what was needed
to please God. I don't know. I don't know the
demands of God's justice. I don't know. I don't even know
how to think like that. I can't figure it out. I'm not
worthy of the least of His mercies. I don't know. But He knows. And I believe Him. Come unto
me, he said. All you that labor, heavy laden,
he said, I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. I burden
light. I pray God bless this to our
hearts tonight for his glory and our good. Amen.