I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Genesis chapter
1. Genesis chapter 1. The Apostle Paul made this statement under the
inspiration of God's Spirit. Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel. With that thought, I began to think on this first
chapter of Genesis, chapter 1. And as I began to look at these
words again, I began to think that which the Spirit of God
moved upon the Apostle Paul to pen is the exact thing that the
Spirit of God does in all the scriptures. He, the Spirit of God, preaches
Christ. He speaks only of Christ. The Lord Jesus revealed the very
heart, the subject of all the scripture. When he spoke to two
on the road to Emmaus, after he had risen from the dead, And
this is what he did, the Lord did. Beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the
things concerning himself. This Bible is not about history. It's about Christ. And in all
the Scriptures, we behold Him, and we behold correctly that
which the Spirit of God has set forth. Miss Him, and we missed
the message. Now, according to the Word of
the Lord, According to the word of the Lord Jesus Christ, beginning
with Moses, we're starting a new year. First Sunday in 2019. And I want us to look at five
verses of Scripture. And by the grace of God, behold
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. These five verses speak of the
creation. They do. These verses speak of
Christ, the savior of sinners. Genesis chapter 1 verse 1, In
the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. In the beginning of time. There is no beginning of eternity.
But in the beginning of time, whenever that was, the Lord God of heaven, Jehovah,
God, in the beginning, Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
God, created the heaven and the earth. He spoke into existence
out of nothing. He created. He didn't say he made it, though
he did. We can make something. We can make something, but we've
got to have something else. He created out of nothing. the heaven and the earth. The scripture declares in Hebrews
11 through 3, through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by
the word of God so that things which are seen were not made
of things which do appear. He spoke this into existence. But not only do we behold the
creation of the heaven and the earth, here, as I said a moment
ago, we behold the first gospel message ever preached, ever recorded
for us, preached by God Himself, concerning the glory of Almighty
God to redeem and save His people, a people that He everlastingly
loved, a people that He chose in Christ. Man was created by God. Created, the scripture says,
God took the dust of the ground and breathed into man the breath
of life. And man became a living soul
and was placed in a garden. A garden named Eden. And he was
commissioned to dress the garden and to keep it. He was given
a pleasant employment. He was given a place that he
would do nothing But obey and worship God. Worship, the heart
of worship is obedience. Obedience. Remember the example,
the best one I can think of. The Lord told Abraham, take your
son, your only son. You take him and sacrifice him
unto me for a burnt offering. A sweet savor offering is what
that was. An offering only for God. Abraham
staggered not at the promise of God. The Messiah was going
to come through Isaac. That's what he said. That's what
God told him. The Messiah is going to come through Isaac. Now I want you to take Isaac
and you sacrifice him unto me. How's the Messiah going to come
through Isaac if I'm getting ready to sacrifice Isaac? Abraham
staggered not at the promise of God. He believed God. Messiah is going to come through
Isaac. So he took that boy, some of
his servants, traveled three days, came to the place. God
said, this is the place. Abraham told the servants, you
stay here. The lad and I are going to go
worship God. That's what we're going to do. Abraham was going
to go up there and sacrifice that boy. And we're going to
worship God. Adam was created and placed in
a garden and given the responsibility to dress the garden. That's what
Genesis 2.15 says. And to worship God. Do exactly
what God called him to do. He walked with God in fellowship,
communion. And the scripture declares that
God gave Adam rule, dominion over all of these trees. He could eat of all of them,
but they had one stipulation. Of every tree of the garden thou
mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. and man did eat and man
did die spiritually. And that fact right there is
set forth in the second verse of Genesis chapter 1. And the
earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face
of the deep. Now, Isaiah 45, 18 declares that
the earth was not originally formed, void, and without form. Listen to this verse. For thus
saith the Lord that created the heavens, God himself that formed
the earth and made it, he hath established it He created it
not in vain. He formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord and there is none
else. That's Isaiah 45, 18 if you'd
like to go back and read that again. God created this earth
The scripture declares, I'm reading it, He created it not in vain. He created it not void. He created,
He formed it to be inhabited. Now, the truth of that second
verse, something happened. The scripture doesn't say what
happened, and I'm not going to speculate on what happened. I
read some, they said this may have happened. Whatever happened,
happened. But something happened between
verse 1 and verse 2. There's a word in there that
gives great insight. And the earth, you see that word
was right there? Do you know what that word interpreted
is? Became. And the word Became. I looked it up again just to
make sure. I want to make sure when I stand
up and say something because hopefully someone will look it
up Russell and say I want to check him up on that. The word
is to be but it means become. Come to pass. Exist or fall out. That's what the word was means.
And the earth was, became, fell out, a waste place, a worthless
and indistinguishable void of corruption. confusion and emptiness. Now the scripture says that God
did not create the earth in vain. He did not create it like that.
He formed it to be inhabited. But the scripture says the earth
became without form and void and darkness Scripture says in
verse 2, was upon the deep, upon the abyss. Now, what happened
again? I don't know. But something happened. And this earth became that which
it was not originally created to be. Now, no greater picture. Remember, this is the proclamation
of the gospel of God's free grace, sovereign, saving grace of His
people. Paul said, I'm determined not
to preach anything except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Nothing! Nothing! And the Spirit of God
preaches nothing. But Jesus Christ, the Lord said,
the Spirit, He will speak of me. And this picture, this type,
no greater picture, no greater type, describes the state of
fallen man who became that which he was not originally created
to be. Now he's darkness. without light,
without knowledge. He's without form. Without form. The best way to understand what
a word is, just look it up. What does that mean? Without
form. Waste. Waste. And void. Indistinguishable ruin. That thought of that void and
that ruin and that thaw came back as Jeremiah. Hold your place right there.
Look at Jeremiah 4. Jeremiah chapter 4. Jeremiah
chapter 4 verse 19 to 23. Here's Jeremiah the prophet preaching. And what he's proclaiming, what
he's bewailing, is the fall of God's people. But listen to the
wording that the Spirit of God moved on this man to make. Listen
to this. Jeremiah 4.19, My bowels, my
heart, my bowels, my bowels, I'm pained at my very heart. My heart maketh a noise in me. I cannot hold my peace because
thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm
of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried, for the whole land
is spoiled. Suddenly are my tents spoiled
and my curtains in a moment. How long shall I see the standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet? For my people is foolish. They've not known me. They're
soddish children. They have none understanding. They are wise to do evil, but
to do good they have no knowledge. I beheld the earth, and lo, it
was without form and void in the heavens, and they had no
light. See how the Spirit of God moved
on Jeremiah to compare the fall of man with the corruption of
the earth. But whatever happened, I don't
know. But something happened back in Genesis. The scripture
declares that this earth, this without form, void, darkness
was on the face of the deep. Now, created first, not in vain,
a place to be inhabited and now it became something. And so did
man. Man was created to walk with
God, to know God, fellowship with God, love God, obey God.
And the Lord said, in the day you disobey, in the day you eat,
you're gonna die. You're gonna die. Man is born right now, listen,
every man, every woman, apart from Christ, united to Christ,
trusting Christ, trusting Christ, not trusting himself, Not trusting
his free will. Not trusting his faith. Not even
trusting his faith. I have faith in my faith. Well,
you've got faith in the wrong thing. I can tell you that. But
in Christ, without Christ, he's darkness. He's void. He's without
form. He's vain. He's dead in trespasses
and sin. Void of understanding. void of
life, void of safety, void of hope. But according to the indescribable
wisdom and grace of God, the Lord God of glory reveals something
to Moses that is the greatest revelation that a sinner will
ever hear. I will be gracious. To whom I'll be gracious. and
I'll show mercy on whom I'll show mercy. The choice is up
to God, not up to me, not up to you. And the Spirit of God,
the scripture says in the latter part of the second verse, moved
upon the face of the waters. God created the heaven and the
earth, and the earth became. without form. Man was created
by God to walk with God, and man because of sin became without
form. Void. Darkness. But He who everlastingly
was pleased to show mercy and compassion to whomsoever He will. And that's who I'm preaching for, to. Who are they? I don't know. I
don't know. But if God calls them out of
darkness, God will reveal them. And they'll believe God. They'll believe the gospel. How
are they going to believe though? The Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters. The Spirit of God, like the wind,
in John 3.8, He bloweth where He listeth. You hear the sound
thereof, but you don't know where He's coming, you don't know where
He's going. I don't know what He's doing this morning. But
I can tell you this, I know God's going to save His people. I know
He's going to comfort His people. And I tell you, His people desire
to be comforted. They desire to hear. found within
the mass of humanity, of all that fell in Adam. Everybody,
but found within the mass of fallen humanity. Almighty God
has a people. They're somewhere. They're scattered. They're in every nation and kindred
and tribe and tongue. And Almighty God knows them,
because He chose them. of people that He's going to
show mercy and compassion. The Scripture says in Ephesians
1-4, according as He hath chosen us in Him, before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him
in love. And the Spirit of God, the Scripture
says, moved, it brooded, is what it is, brooded and watched over,
knowing exactly where all God's elect are and when the time of
love has come. He who is long-suffering, the
scripture says, not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness, long-suffering to us God's elect, God's people,
not willing that any should perish. God's elect. Go back and read. Go back and read 2 Peter and
find out. I've heard this scripture misquoted
so many times. God's not willing that anybody
should ever perish. That's not what it says. Go back
and read it. He is longsuffering to us where
He's talking about the elect of God. Those scattered throughout. God's chosen. He's not willing
that any of His chosen are going to perish, but that all should
come to repentance. And when it pleased God to call
out His own, what happens? Look at verse 3. I'll tell you
exactly what happens. And God said, let there be light. And there was light. Do you know the God that we serve
and bow to? You know who He is? He's God. Almighty God. Let there be light. Hold your place right there.
Turn to Isaiah 59. Isaiah 59. In verse 20, I'm going to read a
couple of verses into verse chapter 60, but look at Isaiah 59 verse
20. The best way to prove Scripture is
with Scripture, not with an opinion. Everybody's got an opinion. Everybody's
got a thought. Well, I think, well, I thought,
you know, well, Naaman thought, you know, I thought that, you
know, the prophet would come out and, you Iron sharpeneth iron. Scripture
proves scripture. Listen to this scripture. When
God said, let there be light and the Redeemer shall come to
Zion. Now I tell you what, we can just
stop right there and I can tell you this. Zion is the chosen
people of God. Zion is the church. A goat doesn't
become A sheep. God doesn't make sheep out of
goats. Sheep are sheep. They've always
been sheep. The Lord says, other sheep I have that are not of
this fold, they're not Jews. Them I must bring. But they were
still sheep. They were always sheep. And the
Redeemer shall come to Zion and unto them that turn from transgression
in Jacob. Who is Jacob? Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. He's talking about God's Jacobs
here. Sayeth the Lord, as for me, he
said, this is my covenant with them. Sayeth the Lord, my spirit
that is upon thee and my words which I have put in thy mouth
shall not depart out of thy mouth. nor out of the mouth of thy seed,
nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord from henceforth
from evermore." What he's saying is this. Isaiah, I've given you
a message. And those that come after you
and those that come after them, just like you that I've called,
they're going to preach the same thing you preach. They're going
to preach what I tell them. What are we going to say? Look
at verse 1, chapter 60. Arise, shine, for thy light is
come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold,
the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the
people. But the Lord shall arise upon
thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. The Spirit of God brooded over
the waters. And God said, let there be light. And light was there. When it
pleases God, He puts His people under the sound of the gospel.
The gospel that Paul said, I'm not ashamed of this gospel. Let
men say what they will. Let men say, I don't believe. You're trying to keep people
out. Oh no, no, no, no. I'm saying what God said He's
going to bless. And the rest of it is a lie.
I'm going to preach the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace
and I'm going to tell men about God Almighty who chose to show
mercy on whom He would. Who chose to show compassion
on whom He would. Who chose a people and put them
in Christ. I know that because that's what
He said. And then I'm going to preach the gospel. I'm going
to preach this message of redemption. I'm going to tell them this is
what God said He's going to do. Light! You preach this message,
Isaiah. Light has come unto you. 2 Corinthians 4, 6, For God who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness. Buddy, I tell you what, that
don't sound like no God said, now listen, if you'll just please
let me be God, if you'll give me your heart, I'll save you
if you'll let me. No, but God who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness, who spoke the word and it was,
has shined in our hearts to give the light who has illuminated,
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. When Almighty God is pleased
to open the understanding, He gives a new heart and the light
of Christ shines because God gives it. And the scripture says
in verse 4, saw the light. What is it concerning a believer
that Almighty God sees and is pleased with? He sees His Son. If Christ be formed in you, Christ
be created. God saw the light and I'm so
thankful I'll be honest, how many times I wonder, is there
any light in me? The way I think, the way I act,
disrespectful. And God saw the light even when
we don't. And this is what God saw. And
it was good. It was good. Good. God saw Christ who is the light
of the world. That's what John 8.12 says. The
light Himself who was set up from everlasting, from the beginning,
or ever the world was, that it was good because He's God. Only
God is good. And He revealed Christ as the
light, to be the illumination of God's Spirit. And it is only
by the light that we behold the glory of God to show mercy and
compassion to whomsoever. How would I know that? How would
anybody know that? Except the light is shining in
our hearts to give the knowledge, the wisdom, the understanding
of God Almighty's mercy and compassion. But not only do we see Him as
the illuminator of God's glory, He's also revealed to be the
light to us, to show us that we've been saved by grace, by
grace, and has shown us something of ourselves. When we see Him,
I tell you what we see also. We see something of us. How do
you know that? Well, the latter part of verse
4 says, and God divided the light from the darkness. God Almighty
caused a distinguishing difference to be known. He divided it. He caused there to be an understanding
of the difference between in regenerating grace A quickened,
a made alive object of God's mercy realizes now that there
is a difference that God has made by His Spirit. A difference between spiritual
light and spiritual darkness. And by the light of God, the
believer knows that he's got two principles working inside. God divided the light from the
darkness. Where before there was only one
principle. Before conversion, what was that?
Spiritual darkness. That's all I had. Now there's
a new principle. There's light. And those that
know him, know there's a difference. There's a perception of a difference. There's an old man and there's
a new man. And before darkness, spiritual
darkness was undisturbed. Let me ask you this, how much
does it really bother an unbeliever that he does not know God, walk
with God, follow Him? What does it bother him? It doesn't
matter. He has no perception. Oh, but when Almighty God shines,
when God says let there be light, now there's a disturbance. Now
there's a battle going on, a conflict that never ends until you leave
this world. Paul said in Romans 7.21, I find
then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with
me. Now, a believer knows by spiritual
light that God has set a division between the two. And last verse,
and God called the light day. and the darkness he called night. And the evening and the morning
were the first day. This last verse, in closing,
sets forth something of the understanding and the walk of a believer, and
that walk that he's going to have until his departure. out
of this world. Again, he knows that there's
two natures in him. He knows that. Day and night. He knows that. There's still
a nature called night in me. There's an old man. There's flesh. That old man that hates the things
of God. But there's a new nature. It's
called day. 1 Thessalonians 5, 5, ye are
all the children of light and children of the day. We're not
of the night nor of darkness ruled by it. It's present with
us, but sin doesn't have dominion over us. But this last part is
an amazing passage of Scripture. The Scripture says, and the evening
and the morning were the first day. by this knowledge when Almighty
God imparts life and light and understanding. And the believer
perceives that there's two natures now, day and night. That dwelling in his flesh, there's
no good thing. But he believes God. He loves
God. And he knows that there's an
evening. And I looked it up to find out
what that meant again. It means the night, the evening,
the night. And the morning, the end of night
and breaking of day or coming of sunlight. He knows now that
those two natures are still there. But this is what the scripture
says concerning that knowledge. And the evening and the morning,
the realization of the two natures that's still there, this battle
that wars within, were the first day. The first day of Israel
understanding. The first day of illumination.
The first day, the dawn of the eternal day in Christ. That's
the day he really started living. First day. I pray that God be
pleased to bless this word to our heart. And may we be found
thankful for the message of the Spirit of God, even in the creation,
to behold the glory of God, the sovereign grace of God, in the
redemption and salvation and regeneration of God's people
for Christ's honor and for our eternal good. All right, let's
take a break.