Turn back to Genesis chapter
1. I gave it a simple title, Creation. Creation. God created the heavens
and the earth. The believer needs no more than
that, doesn't he? We need no more than that. God
created the heavens and the earth. And that satisfies me. It satisfies
every believer. Now the scriptures start with
God creating. When we go through the Old Testament,
the prophets always spoke of God as creating the heavens and
the earth, the sea and all that is. their end. They always spoke
of Him as the God of creation. The One that created all this
is God. Is God. If you'll notice, it
starts with, in the beginning, God created. No explaining who
God is. Not trying to explain who God
is, just declaring that He is and that all things In heaven,
earth, the stars, everything, the universe. We are still trying
to explore the universe. We are still finding things out
there that we didn't know years ago. How vast, how vast is the
universe. God created all of it. All of
it. And I would have all these young
children to know this. God created the heavens and the
earth. He created it. Teach him that.
Teach him that. All truth and all doctrine starts
with God first. It doesn't start with man. It
starts with God. If we are going to start right,
we have to start with God, the Creator. We have to start with
Him. Or we'll start wrong. We do not
start with man and then go up. We start with God and come down
to man. That's how we do it. Now, Genesis is the foundational
book of the Bible. You will notice this as we go
through the book of Genesis. All the truths of the gospel,
all the doctrines that we have to preach is found in this book. It's found in this book of Genesis. God's existence, creation, as
we just read, You know, I think the greatest fool of all is the
man who looks at this world and says, there is no God. That's
as foolish as me looking in the mirror and saying, I don't exist.
That would be just as foolish. And we see in this book the fall. You know, scientists and doctors
are all trying to figure out why this ailment or why this
happens. We have it right here in the
first three chapters of this book. We have the reason that
this world is in the mess that it's in. Sin. The fall of Adam. He was the
head of the human race. And we all fell in him. And then
we have in this book redemption. The shedding of blood. The sacrifice,
the priesthood, Melchizedek. It's all in this book. What a
rich, this is going to be a rich study. A rich study. We have the covenant of grace
that God made with Abraham. And I could go on and on. We
have all that in this book. But we also find a good example
of what happens in the new creation of a believer when God saves
him. I think we have that right in
this first chapter. Now, one of the things that you
will notice in chapter one, and I'm sure you've probably noticed
this as I read it and Frank read it, that each time God said,
first it happened. First God said and it happened. And then he saw that it was good. And it was so. Sin did not come from God. Every
time God said God created, he said it was good. No sin in it. Sin did not come from God. There's
no sin in the new creation. There's no sin in that new creation
in Christ Jesus. No believer. No sin in that.
It's of God. And also, you'll see this, this
statement. After its kind. After its kind. Everything produced after its
kind. There was no crossing. It was
after its kind. Now, in the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth. This world, this earth, did not
evolve from any matter. It did not evolve at all. God
created it out of nothing. If we make something, we have
to have materials to work with. But God created all this with
no pre-existing materials. God spoke, and it stood forth. God spoke, and it happened. And it was created just as He
purposed it. The only thing that He needed
to work with was His purpose, His power, His will, His Word,
His Spirit. It was all found in Him. By His Word, He spoke all things
into existence. And you know what? That Word
is the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn over to John chapter 1.
Over to John chapter 1. When He spoke the Word, everything
came into existence. Over here in John chapter 1,
you know it well. 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, who's Him? The Lord Jesus Christ. That's
who it is. The Son of God. Was not anything
made that was made. In Him was life, and the life
was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness,
and the darkness comprehended it not. The darkness overcame
it not. Light overcame darkness. Darkness
did not overcome light. You turn on the light, darkness
flees. So this is what happened. Now, verse 2 tells me, and I
don't want to get too far off here, but it tells me something
happened. In the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth, and the earth was, and that word
was probably should have been translated became. And the earth
became without form and void, and darkness was upon the face
of the deep. That word there, without form
and void and darkness, speaks of confusion. Confusion is not
of God. It's not of God. And darkness
was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters. It became without form and void,
and darkness, it says, was upon the face of the deep. God did
not create. God did not create without form.
He did not create void. We know that. God didn't do that.
He didn't create that. It became that way, I believe,
and I want to be careful here, not get too far off, but I believe
it became that way through a fall. Satan. I believe that happened
when Satan was lifted up with pride and God cast him out. Satan and the third of the hosts
of heaven that followed him. I believe that's when it happened.
Sin always brings void. Sin always brings emptiness and
sin always brings darkness. That's what sin brings. Look
over in Isaiah 14. Here's a hint at what happened
in Isaiah 14. Look in verse 12. How art thou fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the
ground, which did weaken the nations? For thou hast said in
thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God, I will sit also upon the mount of the
congregation in the sides of the north, I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High." I believe
when that happened, darkness, void, and empty. I believe that's
what happened. But I'll tell you this, this
is also a very good description of man by nature after the fall. He is void of spiritual light
and life. Void of it. He's filled with
darkness. Man's understanding Apart from
a divine work of God is nothing but absolute darkness. There's
no light in it, no spiritual light. If the light in them be
darkness, how great is that darkness? It's nothing but darkness. That's
all it is. He's void of it. Just listen. Just listen to natural men talk
about God. You think, where in the world
did you get that? Where did you come up with that
about God? You didn't get it out of the
Word of God. Just listen how they talk about God Almighty. And it doesn't take long before
you realize there's no light in them. Darkness. Darkness. Man is nothing but darkness by
nature. He's dead. He's void. He's empty. And he's confused. This is the truth. It's not popular. Truth is not popular in this
world. But he's confused. He lives confused. He dies confused. Unless God
comes along, unless he comes upon the scene, just like he
does here, unless he does this and commands light and life,
he'll live and die confused and lost. Unless God Almighty comes
upon the scene and does something for him. Unless the Spirit of
God, as it says here, moved upon the face of the water. Unless
He does the work. If He doesn't do the work, no
hope, no life, no light. Now the first thing God commanded
here, the first thing God commanded was light. Light. That which, what is that which
reveals God? Light. God is light. Christ said to be, He said to
be in the scriptures, He said, I am the light. He commanded
light. God does not work in darkness. He does not work in darkness.
He's light. God must command the light of
the gospel to shine into our hearts. to give the light of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Or we will never
see Him. We will never know Him. We will
live out our lives in darkness unless He commands the light
of the Gospel to shine into the heart. He has to command it to
happen. I can stand here every Sunday,
every Wednesday. Frank can stand here and teach
every Sunday. And unless God commands the light,
you'll never see it. You'll never see it. But if He
commands the light, you'll say, I see. I see it. I understand it. If He commands
the light, God must command the light. The Scripture says, Satan
has blinded the minds of them which believe not. God must command
the light to shine. It's over in 2 Corinthians 4,
6. God commands the light. Now notice, everything about
the new creation was good. Good. When we were made a new
creation in the Lord Jesus Christ, a new creature, there was and
is no sin in it. Because it's of God. It's a work
of God. And if it's of God, there's no
sin in it. Oh, there's still sin in this old flesh. One of
the things that struck me right before coming over here, I thought,
we live in a fallen world. But look, it still brings forth
fruit. Even with all this sin, it still brings forth fruit because
God commanded it to bring forth. Even though there's still sin
left in me, that new creation that God commanded
will always bring forth fruit. even though there's still sin
in me." You look at sin in this world, but it still brings forth,
doesn't it? It still brings forth fruit. That Word is still effective. It's still effective. Oh, when we were made a new creation
in the Lord Jesus Christ, there was no sin in it. Now notice
it says, "...and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters." What do we see here? That the earth could not fix
itself. It became void, empty, and darkness. And the earth couldn't do anything
about it, could it? It could not repair itself. God
came on the scene and created. God came on the scene and did
a work. He did a work. This is what happened. We cannot repair ourselves. We have fallen in Adam. We are
born in sin, shaped in iniquity. We cannot, absolutely cannot,
I don't care how many programs somebody puts you in and tries
to straighten you up, you cannot repair your sinfulness. You may
repair some habits. You may quit doing some habits
Start doing some other things, but you sure can't repair the
sin and the darkness and the void and the emptiness that's
there because of the fall. Only God. Only God can come up
on the scene and make a new creation. He's not going to repair that
old one. He gives a new creation. A new one. We cannot repair ourselves. The Spirit of God must move upon
us and give us life. Listen over here in John chapter
6. Let me read something to you in John chapter 6. God must do
this. He must do a work in us. John chapter 6 and verse 63. It is the Spirit that quickeneth.
The flesh profits nothing. There's nothing you can do in
this flesh to give yourself spiritual life. The flesh profits nothing. The words, he said, I speak unto
you, they are spirit and they are life, but it's the spirit
that quickens. God must quicken. He must give life. The Spirit
of God must move up on the center and give Him life. He must do
it. We do not evolve into believing. No, no, we are born of God and
then we believe. He makes us a new creation in
Christ and we believe. Also notice this, God's Spirit
moved or He worked, but also every time God created, the Spirit
moved, but the Word was spoken. It was never, never done without
the Word being spoken. And God said, let there be. God said, let there be light. He said, let the earth bring
forth. He kept saying, let, let, let. God said. If God said or says,
To you, to me, to anyone else that's a sinner, if He says,
let there be light, I promise you, you'll have light. If He
says, let it bring forth fruit, I promise you, you'll bring forth
fruit. If God says so. If He says so. And God said His
word was always used in creation. God will not save a man apart
from the gospel. The gospel will be preached and
sinners will be saved. Every time God saves a sinner,
the Spirit works and the Word is preached. The Word is the
source of light. The Word of God is the source
of light in the Spirit's hand. The Scripture says over in James
1.18 that it's the seed by which we are begotten. It says over
in Romans 10.17 that it is the instrument that
gives faith. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. There is no salvation apart from
the Word spoken. That centurion said, Lord, speak
the Word only, and my servant shall be healed. Lord, just speak
the Word only. The Word of God spoken in the
beginning, this dawned on me as I was looking at this before
coming over. The Word of God that was spoken
6,000 years ago is still bringing forth. He doesn't
say, God said, let there be light. And then God said again, let
there be light. And God said again, no, he said
it one time. One time He commanded light,
and light is. And this earth, the moon, the
stars, all that bring forth, they do their job, they're in
the heavens, they have their seasons and control, and all
of that is from the Word God spoke in the beginning. How powerful
is God's Word. Do I, let me say I, do I have
an idea of what I have here? The power of God's Word spoken. It can penetrate the heart of
a sinner. And if He commands it, it'll
bring forth fruit. It'll bring forth what He sent
it to do. There's no salvation apart from
His Word. And then it says in verse four,
God divided, and I'm not going to deal with every verse, we
never get through this. But God divided the light from
the darkness. A division is made here, a separation
is made. Scripture says, what fellowship
hath light with darkness? I'm just going to, tonight, I'm
just kind of skipping a stone across the water. There's so
much, so much here. But he put a difference between
light and darkness. Light and darkness cannot dwell
together. There's a difference. When God
created a new man, that new man is light in the Lord. When He
created you, a new man in Christ, you are now light in the Lord.
You are light. The Scripture says you are light
in Him, which is totally different. Now listen, it's totally different
and separated from that old man of darkness. He made a difference. That's why we have the warfare.
That's why we have such a warfare. There's a man of light and there's
a man of darkness there. And then he says here in verse
11, and God said, let the earth, the new creation, this new creation,
let it bring forth fruit. There's no fruit in chaos, but
this new creation. that God made, that God created. He commanded it to bring forth
fruit. When a sinner is born of God,
he will bring forth fruit. God commanded it. We are His
workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Thou hast brought all our works
in us. He's commanded the fruit, and
that fruit will happen. It will happen. And it always
bears fruit after it's kind. After it's kind. If the work
is of God, the fruit will be of God. That which is born of
the Spirit is Spirit. And the fruit will be the fruit
of the Spirit. Look over in Galatians chapter
5. Galatians chapter 5 and verse 22. But the fruit of the
spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness. And you notice it says fruit,
not fruits. This is all one. It counts as a fruit. This is
the fruit. Meekness, temperance, against
such there is no law. If God commands the fruit, it will be the fruit of the Spirit,
and that's the fruit it will be. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
meekness, temperance, it will be there in degrees And as we
grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, that grows also. And this fruit comes from, listen,
this fruit comes from what we are, not what we do. The apples
that grow on an apple tree grows on the apple tree because of
what that apple tree is. And that which is born of the
Spirit is what? It is Spirit. It is spirit. We are made partakers
of the divine nature. Now verse 14 and 15, God said,
let there be light in the firmament of heaven to divide the day and
the night and for signs and seasons. But here's a scripture I believe
this can refer to. Our Lord said in Matthew 5.14,
you are the light of the world. He put all these stars into the
heavens to rule the day and the night. And our Lord said, Ye are the
light of the world. This is why I believe Paul told
Titus, Be careful to maintain good works. You're the light
of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. You do not light
a candle and put it under a bushel. You notice where God put the
stars? above the earth where they can be seen, where they
can be seen. And they have their effect. You
may not feel like it, but as believers, as a church, the church
has its effect on this world. Take the church out of it and
you'll see darkness, void, empty again. You take the church out
of it and you have chaos again. You're the light of the world.
And although we are saved by grace alone, Christ alone, that
grace by which we are saved always produces good works. It always
does. And then he said here in verse
16, he made the greater light to rule the day, the sun, and
the lesser light to rule the night, the moon. God is a God of order. He made
these things to rule. He put them in their sphere and
he made them to rule. Without order, it's chaos. That's why you see all these
homes, especially in this day and time, all these homes and
everything, it's such a mess. It's out of order. The husband's
not the head of the home. It's not the way God ordered
it. It's just whoever can get it
done. It's just freelancing almost. But it's out of order. But God
is a God of order. He put the sun to rule the day
and the moon to rule the night. And you know what? They've been
doing that for 6,000 years. I'm sure glad that God commanded
them to do it and they obey. They obey His Word. You don't
see one star out there barely twinkling, wanting to be over
here where the big star is. It's got a brighter light. They
stayed where God put them. I'm glad. I'm glad He's a God
of order. I'm glad God rules and reigns
over all things. And then in verse 26, let me
look here. Now, after God made the beast
of the earth, and after his kind, and cattle after their kind,
and everything that creeps upon the earth after his kind, and
God saw that it was good. And God said in verse 26, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of
the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps
upon the earth. So God created man in his own image. And the
image of God created he, him, male and female. And that's the
way it is. Created He then. And God blessed
them. And God said unto them, Be fruitful
and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it and have
dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air
and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. And God
said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed. I have
given everything under your dominion. God created man in His own image. But it hit me when I was looking
at this before coming over here. This is a type, Adam we know,
is a type of Christ. The man this really applies to
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He was created, the human nature,
the body, a body has not prepared me, was created by the Holy Spirit. in the womb of a virgin. And
that man thought it not robbery to be equal with God. That man was as holy as God.
That man was righteous. That man loved God perfectly. It just hit me when I saw that.
This is Christ. Christ is the man that is perfectly
in the image of God Almighty. This is the man. And He has put
everything under His dominion. He rules and He reigns over everything
right now. Just as Adam was given this rule
and reign and dominion over this earth when it was created, before
he fell, Christ, the man, the man, is the man. who was created in
the perfect image of God. And you'll notice that the last
thing God created, the last thing he created was man. The last
creation of God was the Lord Jesus Christ in the womb of that
virgin. You see, God created Adam. You
and I were born from Adam. He created Adam. He created Eve.
We were born from He created the Lord Jesus, the man. The
son is given, the child is born. He created the manhood, the human
nature of Christ, and we are born from Him. We are born of
the Word of God, the seed. We are born of the Spirit, born
of the water, which is the Word. Born from above. He is the man. He is the man that has all dominion
over all things. And we are made in the likeness
of God in Him. We are made in the likeness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And when this is over, we'll
see that. We look through a glass darkly
right now, just darkly. We have a glimpse of it. But
one day we are going to be just like Him. David said, I must
be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. We are going to
be, we'll love perfectly like he loves. We'll love God like
we ought to love God. We'll love each other like we
ought to love each other. We'll worship God as he worshipped
God. He worshipped God perfectly. He loved God perfectly. As it
said, he thought it not robbery to be equal with God. That's
the man. And in Him, in Him, we are going
to rule and reign as kings and priests on the earth, that new
heaven and that new earth. This is the new creation in the
Lord Jesus Christ. God blessed Adam, but God really
blessed that second Adam. And you know, the scripture says,
all things are yours in Christ. And Christ is God's. We are so
blessed in Him. And God has put all things under
the feet of our head, of our federal head, the Lord Jesus
Christ, and given Him dominion over all things. And we shall
reign on this earth with Him. Let me show you something. Let
me show you something over here in 1 Corinthians 15. I had to have Frank look this
one up for me. In 1 Corinthians 15, verse 24,
Then cometh the end, when he shall
have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when
he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power,
for he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death, for he hath put all things under his feet.
But when he saith, All things are put under him, it is manifest
that he is accepted, that is, the Father is not under him,
which did put all things under him. And when all things shall
be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject
unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all
in all. And we'll get to enjoy that. The whole of creation, the first
creation, heavens and earth, all that we see was created by
God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God manifested in the flesh.
And the whole of salvation is all of God. From Alpha to Omega,
it's all of God. As you saw, and we saw here in
Genesis chapter 1, everything's of God. It's all of Him. Adam
didn't add anything to it, did he? No, God made him last. That first Adam. He made him
last. So that he wouldn't take any
credit for it. Or we would not try to attribute any credit to
Him for it. God made all things ready. And
that's exactly what He's done for us in Christ. He hath made
all things ready. Come and dine. He says come and
dine. Okay, Mike.