me if you would back to Genesis
chapter 1. We are going to look at one verse
for our text today. I've been thinking about this
verse for probably a month now, wanting to look at it together. It is so full of all. I'm in awe by it. It's just so
full of glory. And I was glancing at a book
that a man named Arthur Pink wrote called The Attributes of
God. And he had some comments, he
had some scripture references concerning this verse and it
just captivated me. I've read that book before, but
I pulled it out again and it just captivated me. I would like
for us to consider this one subject and I pray it will captivate
all of us. I pray it will. I'm asking the Lord if he will
do for all of us what I believe he's done in my heart. I can't
put into words what he has done to my heart on this, but I pray
he will do that for all of us. Verse one, it's this subject
right here. Verse one says, in the beginning,
God. In the beginning. God, our aim
in this message is the Lord, our God. This is going to be
all about him. This is just all about him in
the beginning. God. The great tragedy of man is he
doesn't know God. That's the great tragedy of man. He does not know who God is. God is man's maker, and man doesn't
know who his own maker is. But John 17 verse 3 says, this
is life eternal, that they might know thee, the
only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Eternal life depends on us knowing
God, knowing God, knowing who he is. You can't know someone
until you know who that person is. That's the first thing that
has to happen. If you're going to know somebody, you have to
know who they are. But knowing somebody can't stop
right there. To know them, I mean to know
them. There are a lot of people on this earth that I know who
they are, but I don't know them. This is life eternal that we
might know him. In a relationship, in a union
with him, we must know who God is, but we must know God. We need to know God. We must be vitally joined to
God. And if you'll turn with me to
Matthew 11, this is what our Lord said in
Matthew chapter 11 concerning this thing of knowing
God. Matthew 11 verse 27 says, Our Lord Jesus Christ speaking,
he said, all things are delivered unto me of my father, and no
man knoweth the son, but the father. Neither knoweth any man
the father, save the son, and he to whomsoever the son will
reveal him. If we are going to know God,
Know who God is, but more deeply, more importantly, know God. Know him in his person. Know
his character. Know the essence of who he truly
is. The Spirit of the Lord Jesus
Christ is going to have to reveal that to us. And that's the truth.
That is the truth. We can read all we want to. We can stand up here and talk
all we want to. We can think and meditate all
we want to. But if we're going to know God,
the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ is going to have to reveal
him to us. That's our prayer. Lord, reveal
yourself to us. I pray that's what He'll do for
us today. I pray that our God will reveal the truth of Himself
to us through the revelation that He's given to us in His
Word. I want to know Him. I want to know God. I pray that
we all do. I pray that we all want to know
God. There are some people on this
earth who do not want to know God. They do not care either
way. I pray that's no one here. I
pray that we all want to know God. I pray that we all will
know God by the revelation of himself in his word. So let's
take a minute here and look at this subject of in the beginning,
God. And I want to start with this
right here. All right. The essence of God. Turn with me if you would
to first John chapter five. First John 5, our text says,
in the beginning, God. Well, who is God in the essence
of His being? When we talk about this God who
was in the beginning, who are we talking about? First John
5, verse 7 says, for there are three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. The Word is the Son, the Son
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who John 1.1 says was in the
beginning with God and was God. Verse 7 says, there are three
that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy
Ghost. And these three Try to get your mind around that.
Try to get your mind around, are they three persons? Yes.
Are they one God? Yes. When we talk about Him,
are we talking about three people? Yes. Are we talking about one
God? Yes. I can't fathom that. These three are one. Verse eight
says, and there are three that bear witness in the earth, the
spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree
in one. There is one God who is made
up of three persons, the Father of God, the Son of God, the Spirit
of God. These three equal persons are
one God. And these three equal persons
are seen and made known in the image, in the being, in the bodily
form of the Lord Jesus Christ, He, Him, God. The Lord Jesus
Christ, the fullness of God. In John 14, 9, the Lord Jesus
Christ said, He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. In John 10 30, he said, I and
my father are one. So when we read in the beginning,
God, what we are reading is in the beginning, God, the father,
God, the son, and God, the spirit existed together. Proof of that is, and we're not
gonna turn back over there, but our brother just read it for
us a moment ago. When God created man, God said,
let us make man in our image. God said that. Let us, and it's important that
we remember that. I want us to know who God is.
When people talk about God, you're gonna hear everybody, everybody
all over the place talking about God, God. Every time we mention
God, we're talking about three people. God said, let us make
man in our image. So God, the father, God, the
son, and God, the spirit were all in the beginning. Not that
there was a beginning. There is no starting point or
ending point with God. Try to get your mind around that.
I've said this so many times. To some degree, we can fathom
something not stopping. But there's no way you can fathom
no beginning. It goes as far that way as it
goes that way. And I'm going to tell you something.
This is so critical that we understand this. If we want to know something
about God, This is the foundation of it. This is the basis of it.
Honestly, I believe you'll see that here in just a second. Psalm
90 verse two says, from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Habakkuk 112 says, art thou not
from everlasting? Oh Lord, my God. My Holy One. Are you not from
ever before everlasting? Deuteronomy 33 27 says the eternal
God is our refuge. So there was no starting point
with God. But before anything else was,
there was a beginning. No starting point. But before anything else was,
there was a beginning and God dwelt in that place. And in that
time, if we can say it that way, and he dwelt there alone. This
is, this is so good and so critical. I hope we get ahold of this word
right here alone. That's a good word for our God. Start to finish alone. Christ
saved his people alone. Who is Christ? God. Alone, alone,
alone. All right? He dwelt there. Just think about this. From everlasting
eternity. God dwelt alone. Alone. This is so important if we're
going to understand the truth concerning our God. Because He
is God, He dwelt in perfection. He dwelt in completeness. He dwelt in perfect contentment. Perfect contentment. Lacking
nothing. In need of nothing. Now, I'll tell you why this is
so important we understand this. It's because as He was, that's
how He is. That's how He is, all right?
From everlasting eternity, God dwelt alone in perfection, in
completeness, in perfect contentment, lacking nothing, in need of nothing,
in need of nothing. As he was, that's how he is.
God does not change. Acts 17 verse 25 says, God is
not worshipped with men's hands. God was worshipped for an endless
eternity before the hands of men were ever even created. And it's still the same way today.
It says, God is not worshipped with men's hands as though He
needed anything. I want us to really get a hold
of this. God does not need anything. He never has. He never has. Men stand up in pulpits today
telling people what God needs from them. Why is this so important? It's because everybody sees Him
as being incomplete. Everybody sees this whole thing
as being incomplete, sees Him as being in need of something,
lacking something. Won't you give yourself to Him?
He needs you. Uh-uh. Nope, not God. God is in need of nothing. Well,
what am I? Nothing. He's in need of nothing. He never
was. He never has been in need of
anything. Men who get up in pulpits and
say that don't know God. They don't know God. The very
definition of His name is the self-existent one. The fact that He is God means,
the definition of it means, He is in need of nothing. That's
what God means. He is in need of nothing. In
the beginning, God was in need of nothing. For an eternity, God was self-sufficient, self-satisfied. Self-governing, self-everything. Isaiah 40 says, no one was there
to direct him or counsel him. Who directed him? Who counseled
him? Who told him to do? As it is right now. It has always
been that everything that he does, everything he has ever
done, was and is a sovereign act on his part. Everything. He did only what he determined
in his heart to do. From the beginning, in the beginning,
he was under no obligation to anybody or anything. There was nothing in existence
but him. Our text says, there came a point
when God created the heaven and the earth. In the beginning,
God created the heaven and the earth. There came a point when
he created the heaven and the earth, but for an eternity of
existence, there was no heaven. There were no angels. They're
created beings. There was no universe to be upheld
by the word of his power. There was no earth for him to
delight in from everlasting for a span of a past eternity. There was nothing but God in
all of his glory. And that's what he was in throughout
that entire span of time. He was in his glory. That's in
the beginning. God was in his glory. Nothing about God changes. He
said, I'm the Lord. I change not nothing about God
changes. So when his creation came into
being. The way that he is over all of
his creation right now in glory and in power, that's the way
he has always been. From before creation ever existed.
The coming in of his creation that did not increase his glory,
that did not increase, that didn't give him sovereignty, that did
not give him authority or power, that only manifested his glory
and his sovereignty and his power that has always been. That's
all it did. Now, here's what this means.
God does not need for us to glorify Him in order for Him to be glorified. He does not need our glory. God
does not need for us to praise Him in order for Him to be praised.
Nehemiah 9 verse 5 says, Blessed be thy glorious name, which is
exalted above all blessing and praise. He is above all blessing
and all praise. He's above it. He's so far above
it. He is above all worship of Him. He doesn't need our worship of
Him. We owe it to Him. But He doesn't gain anything
from our worship of Him. He doesn't need any external
glory from any of His creatures. He is glory. That's the point
we're trying to make here. He is glory in Himself. All right, listen to this. The
heavens declare His glory. Isn't that what the Scripture
says? The heavens declare the glory of God. They declare His
glory. The heavens don't give Him glory. They declare His glory. They declare the glory that He
already is and already has. I pray we might learn something
about God today. His creation of heaven and the
heavens and earth and man and everything that is, all of it
is the revelation of His glory. He created man in his own image,
didn't he? All of it is the result of his
glory. Therefore, all of it is to the praise of his glory. All
of it. Look with me, if you would, at Romans chapter 11. Romans 11 verse 33 says, Oh, the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are
his judgments and his ways past finding out for who hath known
the mind of the Lord or who hath been his counselor? or who hath
first given to him and it shall be recompensed unto him again.
For of him and through him and to him are all things to whom
be glory forever. Amen. Of him, through him, to
him is everything. And it's because all glory is
His. Everything is from His glory. Everything is by His glory. Everything is to His glory. Everything
that He has done is accredited to His glory. Now with that being
understood, look with me if you would at John chapter 1. John 1 verse 1. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was
life. And the life was the light of men. Down in verse 14 it says, And
the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. Do we understand who it is that
came to us? People think about this man Jesus
who came and they envision a baby in a manger. Do we understand who it is that came to us? Do we have any concept of who
it is that suffered for us? Do we have any idea who it is
who gave his blood for us? People think a man died for men. Oh, he made himself to be a man.
All right. But who is that man? Can we grasp any concept of who
came down here to live and die for us? First, Timothy 316 says without
controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God. was manifest in the flesh. That is just, I'm so looking
backwards like this. I'm so in awe over it. It's just so deep. God was manifest
in the flesh. Why? Here's the answer. His glory
Because of what he was back then. It's because of what he existed
in back then. His glory. His glory originated
all of it. His glory revealed all of it. Look with me at Ephesians 1. I'll be quick here, but look
at Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1 verse 3, it says,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ. It's all in Christ. According
as He hath chosen us in Him. He chose us in Himself. Back
then, if we can fathom, back then in all of that perfection,
in all of that satisfaction, He chose us in Him before the
foundation of the world that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love. Having predestinated us all the
way back then, unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself according to the good pleasure of His will. Verse 6
says, to the praise of the glory of His grace. God chose and elect
people in Christ all the way back in the depths of eternity. And He predestinated those people
to be adopted by Christ. It was predestinated that God
in the body of Jesus Christ, the fullness of God, would come
into this world and pay the price of that adoption. Why? His glory. The will of His glory, the good
pleasure of His will to the praise of His glory. That was His glorious
will, the will of His glory. What started that? What caused
that? What desired that? His glory.
Verse six, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He
hath made us accepted in the beloved. in whom we have redemption
through his blood. I honestly have entered into
just a little bit more of who it is that gave his blood
for us. What it means that Christ gave
his blood for us. Just the glory of this, the glory
in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of his grace. Are we forgiven
through that blood? Do we have any idea whose blood
that was? Do we have any idea of the glory
of this payment? Verse eight says, wherein he
hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made
known unto us the mystery of his will from the depths of eternity
past. According to his good pleasure,
which he purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the
fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even
in him. in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will, that we should be to
the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. God chose
to make his people accepted in Christ through the redemption
that is in his own blood, the forgiveness of sins, according
to the riches of his grace, God did this. God chose to do this. And he's made known to his people
through this word right here, the mystery of his eternal will,
that he purposed within himself before the foundation of the
world to gather all of his people together in Christ, sinless and
redeemed in his blood. to give them an eternal inheritance
from everlasting to everlasting according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.
Why? It's because he's God. It's because he's God. That was the purpose of his glory. That was the praise of His eternal
glory. Verse 13 says, in whom you also
trusted after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation, in whom also after that you believed, you
were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest
of our inheritance unto the redemption of the purchased possession unto
the praise of His glory. through the believing of his
gospel being preached, through the truth about God being preached
and the spirit applying that truth and God's people believing
that gospel, his people are sealed by that spirit of promise until
he comes back to take us home. That was and that is the ending
result of his glory. Thinking about that makes me
say with David, what is man that thou art mindful of him? What
is man? Thou the eternally existent God,
thou the eternally glorious God, the God who did not need man. and was under no obligation to
save man. Why would a God this majestic
and this holy do such a thing for insignificant man? Insignificant man. And that's
what man is before him. Isaiah 40 says, the nations are
as a drop of a bucket and are counted as the small dust of
the balance. Lebanon is not sufficient to burn. Cedars of Lebanon, not
sufficient to burn. All nations before him are nothing
and are counted to him less than nothing. Why would a God so glorious
do such a thing for insufficient, wretched, sinful worms like we
are? Our Lord Jesus Christ answered
that by saying, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy
sight. Amazingly, that's what the eternal, omnipotent, all
powerful, all controlling God was pleased to do. God Almighty
does whatever God Almighty wants to do. And that's what God Almighty
wanted to do. Sinful man has tried to bring
him down to a pitiful, wretched level. that we are on, so he
can, in his mind, try to understand God and understand his judgments
and understand his ways. In doing so, man has lost sight
of God, lost sight of who he truly is, who Jesus Christ truly
is. He is the self-existent I Am
from the beginning. He is the Creator. He is the
Savior. He is the sustainer. He is in
need of nothing. We are in need of Him. May God reveal this to us. I
pray God will reveal Himself to us, that we might know Him,
truly know Him, that we might see Him as He is in all of His
eternal glory and power. I'm gonna close with this. Turn
with me over to 1 Timothy 1. 1 Timothy 1 verse 17, it says, Now unto the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and
ever. Amen. May our eternal God, Jesus
Christ the Lord, Be reverenced and worshipped and glorified
and praised from eternity to eternity for who He was, who
He is, who He will forever be. In the beginning God, in the
end God. Amen.