It is not that I did choose thee,
Lord, for Lord, that could not be. Yuba-Sutter Grace Church
would like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Rick
Warda. We currently meet at the Yuba
County Library, located at 303 2nd Street in downtown Marysville,
California, on the corner of 2nd and C Street. Weekly services
are held on Sunday at 11 a.m. at the library. For more information,
visit our website at ysgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Rick Warda.
The scripture for our sermon today is Genesis chapter 1, verses
1 through 5. Let's read it together. 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. And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light. And there was light. And God
saw the light, that it was good. And God divided the light from
the darkness. And God called the light Day. And the darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morning
were the first day. I've entitled this message, The
Word of God. In scripture, God tells us what
is true. We know that what God says is
so because God said it. God has spoken. The proof is
God's Word. The proof has therefore been
given. Nothing can prove God's Word. If there was something
that could prove God's Word, whatever that is, it would have
to be more authoritative than God's Word. But there is nothing
more authoritative than God's Word. Scripture in the Psalms
calls God's Word the Word of Truth. Psalm 119, verse 43. And again, thy law is truth. Psalm 119, verse 142. Jesus said this about God's Word. Thy word is truth. John 17, verse
17. If God's Word is the truth, and
if His Word tells us that His Word is the truth, then we can
only know truth by what God said. This is a fundamental principle
made known in Scripture. Since God's Word is truth, and
His Word is the ultimate authority Then if we seek to prove God's
word by science or by our experience or by philosophy or anything
else men commonly rely on, then we subject God's testimony to
man's judgment. To do so is to hold God suspect
as a common liar. It is to make man God because
it makes man's approval necessary to believe God. It makes the
creature greater than the Creator. Whenever men hold God's Word
suspect, they make God a liar, and they worship and serve the
creature more than the Creator. God created man, but man will
not believe God unless, by his own sense and reasoning, man
is able to validate God's Word. Thus the creature, man, becomes
more authoritative than the creator, God. But scripture says this
about puny man. Let God be true, but every man
a liar. Romans 3 verse 4. Scripture says
this about God's word. Thou hast magnified thy word
above all thy name. Psalm 138 verse 2. What does
this mean? What could be higher, what could
be more important to God than His name? When God says He has
exalted His word above all of His name, it means that God's
word is immutable truth. Truth is what God says. There is no truth but what is
revealed in God's word. And everything hangs on God's
word. All things consist and are upheld
by the Word of God. But this scripture, Thou hast
magnified Thy Word above all Thy Name, also means something
more. It means that if God's Word were
not true, God Himself would not be true. It means that if God's
Word could fail, God would not be God. God has staked Himself
to His Word. If His Word fails in either its
truth or its fulfillment, then God is not God. Therefore, God
has magnified His Word above all else. Should not we do the
same? When we read, In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth, we have the very fact
that God created all things, and this is the truth that God's
Word proves. and it therefore stands in need
of no other support. Indeed, it is idolatry to seek
another proof beyond God's Word. God Himself has exalted His Word
above His name. All that may be known of God
is revealed in His Word. Now, when we talk about the Word
of God, we are talking about three things. God's spoken Word,
God's written word, which is scripture, and the living word. None of these can fail. All stand
or fall together. But the living word of God is
not a thing. The living word is himself God. Scripture says it this way, 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. Without Him was not anything
made that was made." John chapter 1 verses 1 through 3. Now I am
fully aware that Jehovah's Witnesses deceive themselves and attempt
to deceive others by mistranslating this text of scripture. but their
own publications reveal their error. I will therefore not spend
any more time here to expose their deceptions. I will merely
tell you what God has said. To know the truth, you have to
believe scripture. Read it for yourself. Every translation
of the Bible correctly identifies Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
as the Living Word of God, who is Himself God, one with the
Father and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when we talk about
the Word of God, we are talking about the eternal, uncreated,
almighty Son of God Himself, who is Himself Jehovah God, one
with the Father and the Spirit. Again, scripture makes it clear
that we can only know God by His revelation of Himself. Scripture
says God has revealed himself to man in five ways. First, in creation. Creation
declares the glory of God. Psalm 19 verses 1 through 3 says,
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth
forth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech,
and night unto night showeth forth knowledge. There is no
speech nor language where their voice is not heard. All of the
works of God declare His glory. Creation is God's work. Creation
declares God's eternal power and Godhead. Romans 1 verse 20. If God created all things, then
He is before all things. He must therefore be eternal.
If God created all things out of nothing, then He must be almighty. And if God created all things
and gives life and breath to all, then He is the judge of
all. He gives life and takes life
at His will according to His law and justice. If God created
all things, then He is all wise. If He upholds all things, then
He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Creation bears record
of these things about God. But second, God also makes himself
known to every man in his conscience. Men innately know that there
is a God. God has written the effects of
his truth on every man's conscience. Men therefore instinctively know
there is a God and that he is all-knowing, that he is judge
of all, and that he is almighty. Scripture says that God has shown
to all men what may be known of himself by creation. Romans
1 verse 19. Therefore, men instinctively
know right from wrong in their conscience. But men have rejected
the knowledge of God. Men do not like the truth of
God. They do not like God being God. They suppress and reject
the knowledge God has shown to them. They hold it down and they
do not like to retain God in their knowledge. Men prefer to
believe a lie than to believe the truth God has shown to them
because their hearts are evil. And the third way God has revealed
himself is in his word, the written word. The written word of God
tells us what God has said. And most importantly, the written
word reveals the living word. Now, the fourth way God reveals
himself to us is by his spirit. The spirit of God inspired men
to write scripture. According to 2 Peter 1 verse
21, holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. The Spirit of God moved chosen
men of old by secret and powerful influences to write scripture.
But we cannot understand spiritual things unless the Spirit of God
reveals them to us. The Bible is a closed book until
God makes Himself known from His Word by His Spirit to our
hearts. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse
11 says, What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit
of man which is in him? Even so, the things of God knoweth
no man, but the Spirit of God. Now, God reveals himself to men
in creation, in his written word, and by his spirit, to make himself
known in the living word, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Creation
not only declares the glory of God as Creator, but creation
is itself the work of Jesus Christ, the Living Word. It therefore
reflects His purpose. It conveys His message. And throughout
Scripture, the written Word of God testifies everywhere, from
beginning to end, of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the Living Word. And finally, the Spirit of God,
by the grace and mercy of God to sinners, takes the written
word and reveals to their hearts the living word, the Lord Jesus
Christ, in His person and in His work. The Spirit of God reveals
Christ from scripture in all of His perfections. This He does
by revealing Christ's person and His offices and His saving
work. The Apostle Paul told Timothy,
"...from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures, which are
able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ
Jesus." 2 Timothy 3, verse 15. Scripture is able to make us
wise to salvation because Scripture reveals the person and saving
work of our Lord Jesus Christ. When the Spirit of God takes
the things of Christ and makes them known to us from Scripture,
then He gives us faith in Christ as our Lord and our only Savior. Romans 10, 17 says, Faith comes
by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Therefore, God must
reveal Himself. Men cannot discover God by curiosity,
by investigation, by reasoning, by science, or by philosophy. God must make himself known. and he makes himself known in
the scripture of truth. The purpose and the subject matter
of everything by which God makes himself known is meant to lead
us to see and know God in Jesus Christ, who is the Living Word. God is invisible, God is a spirit,
and yet he makes himself known in the Living Word. How does
he do this? John 1.14 reveals the answer. The Living Word of God, the Son
of God, who is the Lord of all, became flesh and dwelt among
us. The Son of God, who is the Living
Word, who is Himself God, the one God, equal with the Father
and the Spirit of God, took to Himself the nature of man. He joined a real human soul and
body to Himself. How did He do this? How did the
eternal God become embodied in human nature? He was born of
a woman. He who is eternal and immutable,
who cannot change, took on a human body and soul. All that makes
God, God, Jesus Christ is, because He is God. And all that makes
man, man, Jesus Christ became. He is the God-Man. He is the
Son of God and the Son of Man. As Son of God, He is all that
God is in His nature. And as Son of Man, He is all
that man is. But as man, Jesus Christ had
no sin. He knew no sin, 2 Corinthians
5.21. He did no sin, 1 Peter 2.24. He was made in the likeness
of sinful flesh Romans 8, verse 3. But in him
there is no sin. 1 John 3, verse 5. He is holy,
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and as our God-man
mediator, he is made higher than the heavens. Hebrews chapter
7, verse 26. Now, as God's Word is truth, as God's Word upholds
all things and is upheld by none, as God's Word is immutable, it
cannot change. and as God's Word cannot fail,
as God accomplishes all things by His Word, and as God has magnified
His Word above all His name, and reveals Himself by His Spirit
from His Word, even so, Jesus Christ, the one mediator between
God and men, the one who is the eternal, unchanging God, this
one is the one in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. And this One is Lord of all. This One is the Lord and only
Savior. For as God accomplishes all things
by His Word, as His Word created all things out of nothing, and
as He formed the perfect heavens and earth out of the formless,
empty darkness, so He has by Himself created and made a perfect
people out of His own wounded side. Isaiah 43 says it this
way. Thus saith the Lord that created
thee, O Jacob, he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not. I have redeemed thee. I have
called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. Isaiah 43 verse
1. Jesus Christ created all things
in the beginning. Jesus Christ upholds all things
by his word. Jesus Christ made all things
by His power to fulfill His purpose and for His glory. Jesus Christ
is exalted above all. No man has seen God at any time,
but Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God and who is eternally
in the bosom of the Father, He has made God known. He has revealed. He has declared Him. Jesus Christ
is the Great God and the Almighty Savior. The prophet Isaiah said
Christ would be called the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
Isaiah 9, verse 6. And at his birth, the angels
said Jesus would be called Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God
with us, Matthew 1, verse 23. If Jesus Christ fails to do all
that God has said, then God ceases to be God. If Jesus Christ fails
to accomplish God's eternal will, then God ceases to be God. If Jesus Christ fails to save
His people from their sins and bring them to glory, then God
ceases to be God. If Jesus Christ fails to save
his people, those God gave to him from before the foundation
of the world, if he fails to save those people from their
sins by his death on the cross, then God ceases to be God. If Jesus Christ fails to take
those who are spiritually nothing and make them the sons of God,
then God ceases to be God. If by His one offering, by Himself,
Jesus Christ fails to perfect forever those God gave Him in
eternal election, to perfect those who in themselves are formless,
empty darkness, then God ceases to be God. But He cannot fail. Jesus himself said heaven and
earth shall pass away but my word shall never pass away Matthew
24 verse 35 you see in the beginning when there was no earth and there
were no heavens the Lord Jesus Christ spoke and brought the
heavens and the earth out of their nothingness by his almighty
all authoritative word Colossians 1.16-17 says it this way, By
Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
earth. All things were created by Him
and for Him. And He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist. In six days, Christ made a perfect
world out of a formless, empty darkness. And after man's sin,
he revealed himself to be the Lamb of God who takes away the
sins of his people throughout the world. From the beginning
of the scroll of scripture to the end of the scroll of scripture,
and everywhere throughout that volume, it is written of Christ
that he would do the will of God. Psalm 40 says it this way,
Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire, mine ears hast thou
opened, burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come. In the
volume of the book, it is written of me, I delight to do thy will,
O my God. Yea, thy law is within my heart. Here in this scripture, the Lord
Jesus Christ speaks as the God-man, our mediator. He speaks of the
sacrifice he would make of himself because God's eternal will was
in his heart. that will which was written in
scripture in the book of God in the volume of the book and
he came to do it and he actually fulfilled that will. He who spoke
and by his command all things came into being out of their
nothingness according to the eternal preordained will of God
the Father This same living word of God took on a body and soul
of man that he might own every responsibility of his people
to the law of God, and that he might die to satisfy the justice
of that law in the place of his people. He whose word is all-powerful
and created all things, gave himself in life and as a sacrifice
for his people to God in his death on the cross. And by that
tremendous act of grace and obedience as the substitute for His people,
He saved His people from all their sins. He whose Word created
all things by His own blood made all of God's people perfect before
Him. Hebrews 10 verse 14 says, by
one offering, He, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Living Word, hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified, those set apart by
God the Father from eternity in His electing love of them
in Christ. This is the purpose of creation. God, who is all-sufficient in
himself and who needs nothing but gives life and breath to
all, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, determined
to glorify his Son in the people he would create and perfect in
the life and offering of his only begotten Son, our great
God, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. as God does all by His
Word, and as He then looks at His work and tells us what He
did, and tells us the perfection of it by the revelation He has
given in His Word. as God does all by His Word,
and as He then looks at His work and tells us what He did and
tells us the perfection of it by the revelation He has given
to us in His Word, and as He calls us to look upon and admire
Him in His work, So God did all in our salvation by the Lord
Jesus Christ. God looked upon all that Christ
did and in the gospel he tells us what he thinks of Christ and
his work in our salvation. And that is why we are saved,
because of what God thinks of Christ and His work. God has
exalted Christ, the Living Word, our great God and Savior, the
God-Man, our Mediator. He has exalted Him above all
things. He has perfected His elect people
by Christ's one offering of Himself for them. And now, the Word of
God. Our Lord Jesus Christ, from His
exalted throne in glory, says to all men everywhere, look unto
me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God,
and there is none else. Isaiah 45, verse 22. all who look, though in themselves
they are nothing, formless, empty, darkness. Yet, when by the Spirit
of God they are enabled with God-given eyes of faith to see
that Christ is all of their salvation, and so look upon Him, they live. As God commanded the light to
shine out of darkness, He has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4.6 Do you hear
Him in the Gospel of His Word? Do you believe Him? He has said,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. John 5, 24. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Acts 16, verse 31.
If Christ is the only truth and the only salvation that you have,
if He is all of your salvation and your only hope to stand holy
and without blame before God for all eternity, then you have
been born of God. You are His new creation. 2 Corinthians 5, 17. You are His workmanship. Ephesians
2, verse 10. You are the product of His grace
alone. Therefore, give all glory to
God for all that Christ is and all that Christ has done. Give
Him glory in your heart. Give Him glory in your prayers.
Give Him glory in all that you do and all that you say. Declare
His glory who created you who were nothing out of His pierced
side by His gospel word. You've just heard a sermon by
our pastor, Rick Warda. You may contact us by email or
by phone, or download a copy of this sermon by visiting our
website at ysgracechurch.com.