All right, let's open back up
to Genesis chapter one. Our kids have been going through
Genesis in their class downstairs. And the Lord said, search the
scriptures, in them you think you have life. They are they
which testify of me. We learned a lot of these stories
as kids, didn't we? Creation. I was listening to
Brother Tony read that thinking, how refreshing is Genesis chapter
one? Thinking about the Lord was creating
the earth and at that moment in time, there was no sin in
it. None. Isn't that wonderful? Everything
was in harmony. All those animals, He said all
the grass and the herbs are for everybody to eat. The lion and
the lamb sat there munching on grass together. Isn't that wonderful? Well, we're going to look at
the first day. Genesis 1, the first five verses. We're going to begin with verse
1. It says, In the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth. Now, who is that talking about? Who is God? Turn with me over to Psalm 136. Psalm 136 verse five says, to
him that by wisdom made the heavens, for his mercy endureth forever. Who is wisdom? Who has all wisdom? Turn with
me to Proverbs chapter three. Verse 19 says, the Lord by wisdom
hath founded the earth. By understanding hath he established
the heavens. The Lord made the earth and the
heavens. Who is the Lord? Turn to Colossians 1. Colossians 1. Verse 1 says, Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, by the will of God and Timotheus, our brother,
to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ, which are at Colossae,
grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord,
Jesus Christ. Now look at verse 16. For by
Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
earth, visible and invisible, Whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by him
and for him. And he is before all things and
by him, all things consist. So Genesis one, one is talking
about Jesus Christ. Yes. That's who Genesis 1, 1 is talking
about. Now turn with me to Hebrews chapter
1. Hebrews chapter 1, look at verse
8. But unto the Son, he saith, Thy
throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness
is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore, God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And thou, Lord, in the beginning
hast laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the
works of thy hand. Genesis 1.1 is talking about
Jesus Christ. Now go back to our text, Genesis
chapter one. Verse one says, in the beginning,
God, The Lord Jesus Christ created the heaven and the earth. Heaven is a place where God dwells. Wherever he is, that's heaven. It's a place of immortality.
Do you know that not one person died in the presence of Jesus
Christ? Do you know that? Wherever he
is, that's heaven. And heaven is a place of immortality. It's a place of life. Now, Lazarus
and different ones were already dead. And what happened when
he walked into their presence? Every one of them got up. Every
dead person he came upon got up. Nobody died in his presence. And every person who was already
dead that he came upon got up. He is life. Heaven is a holy,
spiritual place. Earth is a place where sin dwells. Right? Our enemy was cast to
earth as a bolt of lightning. It's a place where death reigns. Everything on this ball dies. It's a place of mortality. It's
a wicked fleshly place. Now I have two questions. Where
do I dwell? And what does that make me? I am of the earth, earthy. And my Lord God is from above,
heavenly. Turn with me to John chapter
eight. John 8, verse 23 says, He said
unto them, you are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this
world, I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you that
you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I
am He. The God in Genesis 1, 1. He said in verse 24, you shall
die in your sins for if you believe not that I am he, you shall die
in your sins. Then said they unto him, who
art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, even
the same that I said unto you, from the beginning. Same one I was in the beginning. So let's go back to our text
in Genesis chapter one. I am the earth, okay? And verse two says this, The
earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face
of the devil. That's who I am and that's what
I am. By nature in my earthly state,
I'm without form. Turn over to Jeremiah four. Jeremiah chapter four, look at
verse 19. It says, my bowels, my bowels, I am pained
at my very heart. My heart maketh a noise in me. I cannot hold my peace because
thou hast heard, oh 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
have not known me. They are soddish." And that means
silly children. And they have none understanding.
They are wise to do evil. That means they know exactly
how to do evil. But to do good, they have no
knowledge. I beheld the earth and low it was without form and
void in the heavens. And that literally means the
sky and they had no light without form. That's me. And that's you
as we are right here in our flesh without form. This is what that
means. Wasted. Genesis 1.1, we just said that
the Lord created all that without sin. You know what we did? We
wasted it. It means desolate. It means deserted. It means worthless. It means
vain. It means empty. And it means
a thing of nothing. We're just a bunch of nothing.
Our text over in Genesis 1.2 says, And the earth was without form
and void. Deuteronomy 32 tells me I am
void of counsel. Completely void of counsel. I can't receive it. I can't give
it. Not in my natural state. You
know, a man calls himself a counselor. Man, I'd never want to be a counselor.
Isn't that the number one suicide rate in the world in psychiatrists?
Man thinks he's a counselor. We have one counselor. Proverbs 7 tells me that because
I'm earthly, I am void of understanding. We just saw that in Romans 3
also, didn't we? By nature, I don't understand. I can't understand. Why? I'm
void. Nothing there. Proverbs 11 tells
me that I am void of wisdom. Romans 1 says my mind is reprobate,
which means void of judgment. There is a way which seemeth
right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death,
without form and void. Why am I so desolate? Why am
I so ignorant? Why am I so void? Look at our
text. Genesis chapter one, verse two
says, it's because darkness was upon the face of the deep. Darkness, spiritual darkness. That means I'm dead. Darkness. Job said this, just listen to
a few quotes. Job said, the grave is my house. I have made my bed in the darkness. I have said to corruption, thou
art my father. To the worm, thou art my mother
and my sister. And where is now my hope? As
for my hope, who shall see it? David said, he hath made me to
dwell in darkness as those that have been long dead. Therefore
is my spirit overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate. Isaiah said, the people that
walked in darkness have seen a great light. But our Lord said,
men loved darkness rather than light. He said, if thine eye
be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore
the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness? It's not just kind of dim, it's
black. Can't see your hand in front
of your face. Our text, Genesis one, verse
one says, in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
and the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon
the face of the deep. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love, wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, verse two says, the Spirit of God moved. upon the face of the waters. God moved in the beginning was
the word. The word was with God. The word
was God and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, but
God moved. It wasn't looking too good. It
was all empty. It was all desolate. It was all
void. It was all blind. It was all
dead, but God moved. Verse two says the spirit of
God moved upon the face of the waters and God said, let there
be light. I love this chapter. I love the
whole book, man. Turn to 2 Corinthians 4. 2 Corinthians
4. Verse six says, for God who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. He hath shined in our hearts
to give the light. What is this light? 1 John 1, you don't have to turn.
1 John 1 verse 5 says, this then is the message which we have
heard of Him and declare unto you that God is light and in
Him, is no darkness at all. There's no sin in Him. There's
no death in Him. No darkness at all. That's the
message. The Gospel of John chapter 1
verse 4 says, In Him was life, and the life was the light of
men. Christ is the light. God said,
let there be light. And there was light. He didn't try to give light.
He didn't ask the darkness if it would accept the light. God
said, let there be light. And there was light. No resisting that, is it? When
a dead sinner hears the call, he comes. When a blind man hears, look,
he sees. His eyes are open. David said
in Psalm 27 verse eight, when thou saidst, seek ye my face,
my heart said unto thee, thy face will I see. That's how God moves. He moves with authority. He doesn't
put on a bake sale. He doesn't go knocking door to
door, asking people if they'll accept his tract. He moves with
authority through his word. God said, now, if he gave me this light,
If He gave me His light, what did I give Him? If I got His
light, what did He get? Turn with me to Luke 23. Luke chapter 23. Our Lord hung on the cross between
two thieves, right? Two male factors. Two men who
were without form and void, blind, dead. Verse 39 says, And one
of the male factors, which were hanged, railed on him, saying,
If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering
rebuked him, saying, Does not thou fear God, seeing thou art
in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done
nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. Do you know
what it sounds like to me? This man has been given some
light. Verse 40. The other answering rebuked him,
saying, Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condition? And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done
nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said
unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. And it was about the sixth hour,
that's high noon. And there was darkness over all
the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened and
the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. Our Lord and our God hung there
on that cross for three hours in total darkness. Verse 46 says, and when Jesus
had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands,
I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. He took upon Himself my desolation,
my emptiness, my darkness, that I might have His light. Now let's
go back to Genesis chapter 1. We're about to see some good
news, as if we haven't already. Go to Genesis chapter 1. When I saw this, it's the best
news I've ever seen in my life. The best news I've ever seen. I was on cloud nine for two days
after seeing about four or five little words. Verse four says, and God saw
the light. We ignorantly sing, I saw the
light. I don't care what I saw. You
know, all I care about is that God saw that light. When God now looks down on this
empty, dark center, do you know what he sees? When he looks at
me, do you know what he sees? Jesus Christ. As he looks at
me, he's looking into the face of Jesus Christ. Isn't that amazing? He sees the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ and he loves me, Christ's sake. Verse four
says, and God saw the light that it was good, not me, it was good. And God divided the light. I'm not worthy to be sanctified,
set apart for holy use. Jesus Christ is. And God took
Jesus Christ in this old center and He divided the light from
the darkness. God said, I have put a difference
between the Egyptians and Israel. between darkness and light, between
the world and my people. Verse five says, and God called
the light day. The day star that arises with
healing in his wings as he is, so are we. Verse five says, and the darkness
he called night. And our Lord said concerning
his heavenly kingdom, there shall no night be there. No sin is gonna be there. No
darkness is gonna be there. Verse five says, and the evening
and the morning were the very first day. Three score and 10. I'm 36 years old. Everybody who
is past 35 is on the downhill slide. We're in the evening right now. This is the evening. And one
of these days, we're gonna close our eyes and we're gonna wake
up in the morning of the very first day. The first day physically
walking with and talking to the Lord Jesus Christ. And it will
always be the first day because there's no night there. I thought about how our hearts
are going to burn within us. You know, that moment when the
Lord takes that word and his spirit drives it into your heart
and something happens. Salvation is not a feeling, but
something happens. That's never going to go away. Our hearts are gonna burn within
us. I thought about how fresh everything is. You remember when
you first started hearing the gospel, and this old sinful flesh,
after a while, you turn to Romans 8, 28, and you say, yeah, I know,
all things work together for good, yeah. You remember how
fresh it was? We love to go on vacation. We
love it. I love every part of it except
for the drive home. When we're in the car going down
the interstate, I'm not a big fan of interstates, but when
we're going on vacation, it's exciting. We're on the interstate. We were at home. All our stuff
is in the van and we're going and it's exciting. And we finally
get there. And we go get our key, you know,
from the rental place and that's exciting. And then we get to
the condo and we look at all the rooms and it's exciting.
It's the very first day. And we walk out to the beach
and see the ocean and it's exciting. And we know tonight we're gonna
go eat at a restaurant and it's exciting. Very first day. When we've been
there 10,000 years, we're gonna go around telling everybody,
today is my first day. Yes, I just got here. It's my
first day. First day. It's like I just saw
the Lord for the very first time. What a day, what a day. Glorious day that'll be. Isn't
that exciting? I pray the Lord will bless us,
help us, keep us, separate us, open our eyes, give us light,
cause us to wake up in the very first day. All right, let's stand
together.