We have in Genesis chapter 1
God's record of creation. This is the inspired record of
how the earth came into being. In preparation for this message,
doing a little bit of reading, I saw that back several years
ago NASA launched into space an 18-foot tall satellite. It had a camera. It was all made
by Johns Hopkins University. It was called Fuse. It stood
for Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer. Say that three times. It was on a mission which the
estimated cost was $214 million. And this was the goal, to discover
the origin of the universe. Well, they could have saved themselves
a lot of money if they had just read Genesis chapter 1. This is God's record of how everything
came into being. The Spirit of God says in Exodus
chapter 20, for in six days the Lord made the heaven and the
earth, and all that in them is. And he rested on the seventh
day." Now as to the creation of man, the record is briefly
given in verses 26 and 27 of Genesis chapter 1. And God said Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the
fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, over the cattle,
and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth. So God created man in his own
image, In the image of God, created He Him. Male and female, created
He them. As you read through chapter 1,
you read of the work of the Lord. And usually what the Lord did
begins this way, as in verse 3. And God said, in other words,
here's a divine edict. This is God's pronouncement. This is God's declaration. God
said this, let there be light, and immediately there was light. Look at verse 6, and God said,
Chapter 1 again, verse 6. And God said, let there be a
firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the
waters from the waters. God said. Here's a divine pronouncement. Look at verse 9. And God said,
let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one
place. Verse 11. And God said, This
is divine edict. This is a divine command. God
Himself, Elohim, the mighty God. God said, let the earth bring
forth grass and so forth. Look at verse 14. And God said, let there be lights
in the firmament of the heaven. Verse 20. And God said, let the
waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath
life. And then verse 24, And God said,
God pronounced, God declared, this is a divine command or edict. And God said, let the earth bring
forth the living creature after his kind. Now those are what
I refer to as impersonal words. God just made a declaration. He spake and it was done. Words of command. However, when
our God made man, The wording is quite different. Look again
at verse 26. And God said, let us, let us
make man in our image. That is a shift in the language
that is used. This is much more personal. This is not a divine edict. This
is not a command. This is a shift in language. Here is the Father speaking to
the Son and the Spirit. This is the first revelation
of the Trinity. Now in the creation of all things,
chapter 1 begins this way. In the beginning, God created. That word God is Almighty One. He is the powerful God. He's
the only one who could have done what all has been done. None
could create but God. Man can't create. We can form
things, we can make things out of that which has already been
created. But we cannot bring into existence
that which had no existence beforehand. Only God Himself could speak
and say like this, let there be light, here's a divine command,
and the lights came on. But when it came to the creation
of man, there is no divine edict There is no divine command as
it was with everything else. Rather, here is a, here is God
speaking within himself. In creation, we know the Father
created, and the Son created, and the Spirit created. We know
that. But in this passage of Scripture,
we're not introduced to the fact that there is within the Godhead
a plurality until God creates man in His own image. And when God creates man in His
own image, God speaks within His own heart, within Himself. The Father speaks to the Son
and to the Spirit and says, let us make man in our image and
after our likeness. We're introduced to the Trinity.
Now, it is only fitting that God the Trinity would introduce
himself to us in such a fashion in the creation of man. For you
see, all of creation was made as a stage, this earth was made
as a stage upon which God the Triune God, that is, Father,
Son, and Spirit would save and elect people. That's why the
earth was made. Of all the celestial bodies,
of all the stars that God has made, of all the planets that
God has made, only one can be inhabited, and it's inhabited
by man. And he was made as that location. where God the Father and God
the Son and God the Holy Spirit would bring about that which
would give God the greatest glory, which is the salvation of poor
lost sinners like you and me to the praise of the glory of
His grace. Long before God created the world,
somewhere out in the vastness of eternity past, Father, Son, and Spirit speak
within themselves and ordain within themselves to save and
elect people. God the Father selected a people
that He would save. First of all, He selected a Savior
who would do the saving. Christ be my first elect, God
said. Then He chose us in our living
head. God the Father chose a Savior. He chose the method of salvation. And all things that had to do
with the salvation of an elect people, out of the grace of His
own heart, Out of everlasting love for His covenant people,
He chose us unto salvation in Jesus Christ. And the Father
gave us to the Son as a gift. And the Son of God received us
as a gift. As a gift of God's grace. The
Father is the originator of salvation. The Son of God is our surety. He received us from the Father
and He said, Father, I'll save these that you give Me. You can
depend upon Me. So God the Father trusted us
to His Son. In Ephesians chapter 1. Look
at Ephesians chapter 1. Let me show you this verse of
Scripture. Ephesians chapter 1, look at verse 13. Actually, let me back up to verse
11. In whom? In Christ. 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, in whom you also trusted." Here's
the question. Who first trusted in Christ? The Father did. The Father first
relied upon His Son. He relied upon His Son to save
all of the objects of His grace. All of those that the Father
gave Him, the Father trusted Christ Jesus and said, Son, save
them all. And He gave them to the Son of
God as a gift of His electing grace. And the Son of God received
us and made a covenant oath. to redeem His people, to reconcile
His people, to wash the sins of His people away, to make His
people righteous, to bring them all safely home to God. That
was all ordained in the covenant of grace. Behold, the Trinity
at work! The Father electing the Son as
our surety, as our Savior, as our sin offering, as our sacrifice
and substitute. And the Spirit of God chimed
in and said, Father and Son, I promise to send the gospel
to each of these elect ones who will be redeemed by the blood
of the Son. And I will make that good news
message of reconciliation and redemption accomplished by Jesus
Christ, I'll make it to be a good news message to the objects of
our grace. I will make them to be born again
by the power that I have in myself. I will resurrect them from the
deadness of their spiritual grave. I'll give them eyes to see the
beauties and the glories of the Son. I'll give them ears to hear
the gospel. I'll give them a new heart to
believe. I will save them by my grace. Father, Son, and Spirit,
as it were, join hands together and promised and covenanted the
salvation of His people. And so we get to Genesis over
here again in chapter 1, and we see it's only when man is
to come on the scene that God reveals Himself as the Trinity. And God says, let us. Let us
make man in our image. Let us make him to the praise
of the glory of our grace. We know this, all creation exists
for the glory of God, doesn't it? We, last Friday, a week ago, we went to, we visited
Kennedy Space Center. And we watched an IMAX film on
the Hubble telescope. And from the view of that telescope,
we now know that there are billions of galaxies out there. And each
galaxy has billions of stars. Those are galaxies and stars
that no, no human eye will ever behold. No human eye will ever
observe them. Why were they made? Well, listen to Revelation chapter
4 verse 11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things,
and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. They're created
for God's pleasure. We're so self-centered. We think
everything revolves around us. And if we're not careful, we'll
even focus on us in salvation. I'm thankful for what it means
for me. Forgiveness of sins and an inheritance
that's incorruptible and undefiled and will never fade away. But
first and foremost, everything God does, He does for His glory. And all of creation exists for
God's own pleasure. I was visiting a lady, it's been
two or three years ago up in Michigan, of course, and we're
sitting out on her back porch having a cup of tea. She had
the most beautiful blooming plant on her back porch. I don't even
know what it was. You ladies, you'd probably recognize
it. I can't remember the name of
it. It was just gorgeous. And I made mention of it. I said,
that is just absolutely breathtaking. I said, you know what, you ought
to just take that potted plant and put it out front so everybody
can enjoy it. She said, no, that one's just
for me. It's just for me. And all that
God has made, it's just for Him. It's just for His glory. And
yet, and yet, it's for His family too. Isn't that right? It's for His family. And we're
His adopted children, brought into the fold of salvation and
brought into the very family of God. But of all that God made, He
only made one planet to be inhabited by man. He made the earth. And He got everything ready for
the man. There was nothing else to prepare.
Nothing else to get things ready for man to inhabit the earth.
Everything was made for man. And then God said, let us make
man in our image. And He did. You see, our God
is the God of eternal purpose. And with us, everything about
our salvation. This salvation we enjoy in Christ
Jesus. This forgiveness of all of our
sins. This right standing with God. It was all made for us, ordained
for us, predestinated for us before the world was ever made
and before we were ever made. It was all made ready and then
God brings us on the scene. And we enjoy what He's done. God fashioned man. Look at chapter
2 and verse 7. Now here's a more detailed account
of the way that God, this triune God, fashioned man. Chapter 2
verse 7. And the Lord God formed man. That word formed is literally,
he was the potter. You look up the word and you'll
find the original word goes back, the root word means he was the
potter who formed man. The Lord says, I'm the potter,
you're the clay. Hath not the potter power over
the clay? To make one vessel to honor and
another vessel to dishonor? So here's the great potter. And He forms, He fashions man
from the dust of the ground. God did it. He created man. He fashioned man from the red
earth mixed with water. Now, here's man. God made him. When God made Adam, don't you
know he was the perfect man? I was flipping through the channels
the other day and I go by ESPN every once in a while and these
guys are doing weight lifting and all that and they got their
six pack and all those muscles and everything. And I got to
think, what must Adam have looked like when God made him? Are you talking about the perfect
man? The perfect body? God fashioned him with his own
hands. The hands of God. The hands that
were nailed to the cross that redeemed us. God took mud, red
dirt and water and fashioned this man. Oh my! Fully with evolution. It takes more faith to believe
evolution, that man came from a glob of something or other,
than it takes just to believe the Word of God. God formed man. He fashioned man. Here's the
great potter at work. And he fashions this man. He's
a perfect stature. And perfect weight. And his muscles
are perfect. And God gave him all of the organs
that He gave him. Perfect skin. Everything was
absolutely perfect. Except, at this point, there
was no life. See what it says? And the Lord
God formed man of the dust of the ground. We can't stop right
there. Because all you've got is a man
standing there who can't move, he can't hear, he can't see,
he can't walk, he can't taste, he can't speak, Oh, I see a spiritual picture
here. There's a lot of fine looking
people in this world, morally speaking. They're just the best of society. They seem to live right. They're
generous. So many people are very kind
and thoughtful. But just one problem. No life. No life. And there won't be any
spiritual life till God breathes. We can pat men on the back and
say, you look good, you act good, live by the Ten Commandments,
just do the best you can, you'll be alright. He's dead. No matter how a man or a woman
may look to these eyes, if God Almighty hasn't taken the gospel
word and breathed life into his soul, he's still dead, no matter
how good he looks. And I may be speaking to somebody
tonight, you may be a fine, upstanding citizen, a wonderful family man,
a wonderful father, an outstanding mother, But the Savior said, you must
be born again. I was watching a little bit of
golf this afternoon. And a famous golfer died yesterday. And they were talking about what
a wonderful man he was. And I'm sure outwardly, as we
measured goodness, he was a good man, a generous man. He had a
big family, 11 children, 71 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. When they all got together, that's
about 90 people, including mom and dad. And different older
golfers were talking about what a wonderful man he was. But I know he was a Mormon. He denied the deity of Jesus
Christ. Let me tell you something. No
matter how much other people may brag on you, it doesn't matter at all what
men say. All that matters is what God
says. And God sees us as we are. And if we're yet in our sins, then we're dead. We're dead. And here's what God has to do.
Just like He did to Adam, God breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life, and only then did man become a living soul.
It wasn't until then. Oh, he looked good before that. But God had to breathe. God took Ezekiel out in the wilderness,
out in the desert, where there had been a great battle. Lots
of warriors, lots of soldiers had died. Then many years ago,
all that was left was bones. The Lord said, O son of man,
can these bones live? Lord God, thou knowest. Thou
knowest. God made them to stand up a mighty
army, and they looked good, but still there wasn't any life.
There wasn't any life until Ezekiel said, the Lord said through Ezekiel,
breathe on these bones. Come from the four winds. Breathe
on these bones that they may live. Oh, that's us. Oh, God
the Spirit, breathe on these bones that they may live. Otherwise,
that's all we'll ever be is just bones. Just bones. Beautiful bones to everybody
else. But dead in trespasses and in
sin. Like you read tonight from Ephesians
chapter 2 back in the office. God spoke. Created man. God said, let us
make man. He did. He did. according to His covenant design. And it's broken down for us here
in chapter 2 as the great potter. He formed man. And I'll tell you what, the great
potter, he's forming every man according to his own sovereign
will and purpose. I don't know what kind of vessel
he's going to make out of you. But whatever kind of vessel He
makes out of you, I know this, He'll get the glory. He made a vessel out of Pharaoh.
He sure did. For this same purpose I raised
you up, that I might make my power known in you. God used
him, that vessel, earthen vessel, fitted to destruction, and God
cast him away. And if we've got any sense about
us tonight at all, any spiritual sense whatsoever, we'll say,
oh God, I know you can do what you will with me. And you will
do with me what you will. I fall at your feet. If you will,
you can show me mercy. You can show me mercy. I read
in this book, Christ Jesus died for sinners. Lord, I'm one. I'm
one. I need the blood. Don't you?
Come on now. I need the blood. I need the
blood to wash away all of my sins. I can't do it. I can't
erase one sin, much less all of them, because I don't even
know how many I got. We studied in the Bible class this morning,
Leviticus chapter 4, the sin offering for unknown sins, sins
of ignorance. We're ignorant as to how many
times we sin every day. We've got no idea. We probably
couldn't count them all. But I'll tell you this, the blood
of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all of them. From all
of them. That's what I want. I plead the
blood, don't you? I plead the righteousness of
Jesus Christ, don't you? Lord, you do with me as you will.
And you'll get glory. You'll get glory by me like you're
going to get glory by everybody else. But I'm going to fall at
your feet. And I pray that you'll glorify
your grace and your mercy in saving this poor dead dog sinner. Oh God, breathe into somebody
tonight. And I tell you, if He breathes
life into you, your heart will start beating for the first time. And you'll take a breath. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. And your eyes will be opened.
And you'll see the beauties of Christ Jesus. You'll see the
work has been done. And you will hear His voice.
He will open your ears and you will hear His voice. Come unto
me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. And you will say, Here I come, Lord. Here I come. And He will give you a mind to
think of the things of God. Give you understanding. and you'll
understand what you didn't understand before, how God can be just and
holy and righteous and save a dead dog sinner like you to the praise
of the glory of His grace. Through the blessed substitute,
He'll give you understanding, give you a mind that functions.
And here's what He's got to do though. Breathe. Breathe on me, oh breath of God. Breathe life into me. and breathe
it into you and glorify your grace in saving this center. Amen. All right, let's sing the
closing song.