Now, turn with me to Genesis
1. On Tuesday evenings, the Lord willing,
I'm going to be bringing you a series of messages through
this book of Genesis. And the word Genesis in the Hebrew,
in the original, I may be pronouncing it a little bit wrong, is Berechev,
or Bereechev. And it means, it actually means
beginning, beginning. And if you consider the times
recorded in the genealogy of Genesis, if we just sit down
and calculate up, take a calculator and go over there and it says
Adam lived so many years and he died and so on and so on,
go through the generations. Go all the way down with your
calculator and calculate it all up, and if you consider all those
times recorded in the genealogies listed, there are 2,400 years
from Adam to when Joseph died in Egypt. But it is difficult, and I tell
folks this, especially my children as they went to school to talk
about creation and science clashes big time with biblical creation. And they say they don't agree
in the amount of time between creation and present time. And so creation must be a lot
older than what the biblical account of creation is. Well,
the biblical account as far as genealogy just concerns men from
Adam, to present day. I don't know how much time. Time
was not until after the fall. There was no time calculated
on Adam until after the fall. Adam was an eternal creature. He wasn't going to die. He wasn't
aging. He didn't do anything. And I don't know how long it
was that Adam walked in the garden with God before he fell. I don't
know. He could have walked there for
a million years for all I know. I don't know how long he was
there. But there was a time period, and there was no time. So how
do you calculate that? And then time with God, he said
with God a thousand years is like under a day, and a day like
under a thousand years. So in these seven days of creation,
were they seven literal days or seven days as God judges days? I don't know. I don't know. But I'll tell you this, it has
no bearing on the works of God except as it communicates to
us His purpose and will and His name and His affections. Time
has no bearing on God. You know, folks get all upset
when I start to preach about justification or something, and
I mention eternally justified, and they just go ballistic. Well,
you can't be justified till Christ dies. Well, God is an eternal
creature. Whenever that appointment was
of Jesus Christ, and I feel like there is no certain time back
there when all this began because it began in God. And how are
you going to calculate how old God is? I mean, you see what
I'm saying? You can just go on forever with
this. There is no way to calculate
that time. So in order to communicate the
truth, he uses that word in the beginning. So don't let folks
wrestle you down in that thing of calculating time in the book
of Genesis, because that's a lost cause. I just don't know how
old God is. I don't know those things. But
when He appointed Christ as our substitute, God considered Him
dead. He is the Lamb slain before,
it says, the foundation of the earth. But He wasn't dead. But He was. He was in the mind
of God, because who's going to overthrow the will of God? Is
there something down in time that an all-wise God can't see?
He said, I'm the beginning and the end. I'm alpha and omega
all at the same time. Time has no bearing on me. I'm
an eternal creature. I'm spirit. We're flesh. Do you see what I'm saying? These
things are eternal. Time has nothing to do with the
miracle of creation and neither does science. Science with all
of its great discoveries and its fossils and bones and all
those things has no evidence to prove their theories and conjectures
about creation. Not one, but everything they
have is a theory. It's just a conjecture. And they
say, well, we can date this because of certain laws of nature and
certain laws of physics. Well, what do natural laws, where
do they come from? Who puts those things into existence?
Who governs those things? Well, I just read to you one
of them there where he said in the Proverbs, he said, When thou
gavest to the sea its decree, that it should come so far and
no further. Well, who established that law?
And occasionally, he lets go of the law, don't he? And he
lets that thing come past that boundary just like he did down
here in New Orleans when that storm come through. All these
things are of God. Does he have natural laws and
use natural laws? He does. He does. But don't try
to calculate and put God in a box because of these natural things,
because he's behind those things. And he can twist them and turn
them and use them and not use them and whatever. So we sit
down like a clock has so many minutes and so many seconds,
and we're going to start dating stuff and pre-dating stuff and
all this kind of Tommy rock. We're just going to wind up with
a theory that means nothing to nobody. I mean, what have you
proved? If creation is a million years
old, what have you proved? And let me ask you this. Is it
easier for you to believe that God... It's not one iota easier
for me to believe that God created the heavens and the earth in
seven days as it is seven thousand years. What would time have to do with
anything? There was nothing here. There
was nothing to see. to use. It was nothing. It was without form and void.
There was nothing here. So what possible help could it
be to anyone to know that it took longer to create or a shorter
time? It had no bearing on it whatsoever,
does it? And science with all its conjectures and theories,
that's what they come up with. Creation, as it's declared in
the Word of God, must be received by faith. This book is a spiritual book,
and I'm going to take some time and talk to you about that tonight.
God is spirit. His words are spirit and they
are life. And everything between the covers
of this book is written for the child of God, it must be received
by faith, not by evidence, not by proof, not by any of those
things. And these are all the things
that this flesh wants. It wants evidences. You know,
I'm looking for the smoking gun. I'm looking for evidence all
the time, looking for evidence, looking for evidence. The evidence
is faith. That's what it is. Everything
in this book from the very beginning, when he says, In the beginning
God, boom, from that point all the way through to the last chapter
of Revelation, you're going to receive it by faith. Receive
it by faith. It's a spiritual book. A spiritual
book. Listen to this in Hebrews chapter
11, verse 1. He says, now faith is the substance
of things hoped for and the evidence. You see that? It's the evidence
of things not seen. Faith. Faith. I've got no physical
evidence of what I preach or what I believe, nor the work
of grace in my heart. I've got no physical evidence
whatsoever. In fact, if you compile the physical
evidence, it goes against what I say. And that's what men do. They compile what they call physical
evidence, and they try to disprove the spiritual message of the
gospel. And I've got before me a book. It's a book that we call
the Bible, which is identified and testified within its covers
as the Word of God. Every man who wrote in this book
was inspired of God. He was approved of God by miracles
and wonders and signs. read you a scripture over here
out of Hebrews, Paul said, ìHow shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the
Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him, God also
bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders and divers
miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will?î
And so it is from the first prophet to the last apostle. confirmed
that ministry by miracles and wonders and signs, which He did
by them right in the midst of the earth. And men and women
witnessed those things. It wasn't done in a corner, Paul
said. This thing wasn't done in a corner. It was done right out in front
of the whole world. And it's been done over a period
of thousands of years. Thousands of witnesses. We are encompassed about, he
said, with a cloud of witnesses. Just a veritable cloud of witnesses. It's the Word of God. Every man
who wrote this book was inspired of God. And it's a miracle in
its message written by so many authors of so many cultures and
so many backgrounds over such a long period of time. You know,
I opened up a book written in the 16th century, and I've got
to read that thing with a dictionary. There is that much difference
in language, isn't there? You read some of these old writers.
You read them in the 18th century, and you can't hardly read them.
English has changed that much between the 18th century and
now. And if you're not somebody who's read these old writers,
you won't get much out of them because they're using a language
you don't really understand. And it's wordy, and their messages
are long, and they just don't fit this time period, does it? Yet God takes men from all time,
from the very beginning, John, and spans the entire Old Testament,
the entire New Testament. And all these men's messages
are exactly the same and in harmony with one another, even though
they're centuries apart and cultures apart and languages apart. You see what I'm saying? Some
of them were royalty. Some of them were farmers. Some
of them were fishermen. Some of them were shepherds.
Pulls apart. And yet everything they said
is in strict harmony because they were all inspired of God.
And then God took all these men. Where's the books from 400 years
ago, 500 years ago? You can't find them. You can't
find them. Yet here's a book that's thousands
of years old, written by all these different authors, most
of them little known by anybody in the world, but God miraculously
brings all of these things together and preserves it, even though
men have tried to destroy it. And he preserved it. What I'm
getting at in all of this is that this book is evidence of
itself. It's a miraculous book all by
itself. All by itself. You don't need
any evidence. I don't need to speak in tongues.
I don't need to raise the dead. I don't need to heal the sick.
Because the canon of God's Word is complete. 100% complete, and
all I need to do is just receive it. That's all I need to do.
Just read it, receive it, rest in it, trust in it, rejoice in
it. That's all I need to do. It's a miracle in itself. It
doesn't need any evidence. The evidence has already been
given. Listen to these scriptures. In Hebrews chapter 1, He says,
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets. Now, sundry means various,
and divers means different. Various times and in different
manners. God did not say everything that he intended to say all at
one time. You ever think about that? He
didn't say everything that he intended to say in the garden.
though he pictured it in a few words. Some did all of in just
a few words, but he's got more to say on the subject. But he said what he would, when
he would, by whom he would, and then miraculously he preserves
it, confirms it, translates it into every language under heaven.
And this book then becomes the foundation of our faith. We are
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus
Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. Let me read you
one more scripture, and then I'm going back to Genesis. Over
here in 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 10, Peter is talking about
this gospel, this miraculous gospel of God that is being told
to us, he said, from the beginning. It has been preached to us from
the beginning. It is the gospel of God, the
everlasting gospel. And listen to what he says here
in verse 10. Now, he is talking about this salvation. Listen
to it. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired diligently,
who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you. Searching
what or what manner of time. Now, what's this? The Spirit
of Christ. You see that? Which was in them. How'd they get it? I didn't know
Old Testament saints were born again. Says here they were. Huh? Says here they were. The Spirit
of Christ was in them. And they searched for what time
this was talking about, which was in them, did signify when
it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that
should follow, unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves,
but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported
unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you, what the
Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, which things the angels desire
to look into. Verse 13, wherefore, gird up
the loins of your mind, get your mind set. Don't just read this thing like
a newspaper and go about your business. That's what Peter said. Well, I don't have to read Genesis
1-1, I've memorized it. You better not read this book
like a newspaper. You better not account of these
things like the morning news or something you heard on the
radio. These things are eternal things. This is the Word of God. And he said, when you go into
that house, don't go in there and doing the sacrifice of fools,
going in there blabbering around about stuff you don't know anything
about. He said, you go in there because God's in the heaven.
This is God's Word. This is God's means, God's house.
You see what I'm saying? This ain't the party. This ain't
the social club. This is God's house. And we come
in here and we hear the Word of God and we take note of it. That's what Peter's talking about.
Gird up the lawns of your mind and be sober and hope to the
end for the grace that is to be brought unto you as it comes
at the revelation of Jesus Christ. That's how it's coming. Hebrews 11, verse 3, he said,
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the
Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made
of things which do appear. Now, that's how I can read that
first verse in Genesis and receive it and rejoice in it and understand
it, by faith. I don't need any evidence. council
somewhere to approve it. I don't need the evidence of
a bunch of scientists and arguments and all that. I don't need to
dig up small bones that dates back to the time that men say
this book was written. Now go back with me to Genesis
chapter 1 and verse 1. I'm saying all these things to
you for a purpose. I'm laying a foundation for what
I'm going to say. In Genesis 1, verse 1, it says,
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And
there is not a man or a woman ever born, ever born. I am talking about
from the day of Adam to the end of time. There has never been
a man or a woman born who could take in the scope of what this
verse says in this Bible. I'm telling you, this verse is
so big. I looked at this verse and it
just, man, that thing started growing like kudzu. It just,
I mean, it was just unbelievable how big this verse of Scripture
is. One of the old writers, I just
love to read him, his name is Robert Hawker. And he began preaching
in about 1850, and I think he went to about, or I mean 1750,
and he went to about 1825 or somewhere along in there. you know, mid to late 1700s and
then early 1800s. But he made this statement, and
I looked at it for the longest time when I was studying through
the book of John, and we was on that first verse. And I didn't
deal with it then, but I want to deal with it now. He said
there was a beginning before the beginning. Because this book starts at the
beginning of creation. And John 1.1 doesn't. It says, 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, and all things were created by Him. And without Him
was not anything made that was made. There was a beginning before
the beginning. That was a beginning before the
beginning. And it is necessary for faith to understand this,
because faith is not interested in history. We don't care anything
about history. Faith is interested in the Savior. And the Savior gives reason and
purpose to creation. Creation has no interest to me
apart from that. What would it be? It would just
be a passing interest. It would be just like being interested
in watching a football game or something. Do you see what I
mean? But this becomes a vital interest. This book doesn't give you information
for pastime. It gives you information, food
for faith. It feeds you faith. And there
is a reason for this. There was a beginning before
the beginning. I read that to you out of John,
and it says, All things were made by him, and without him
was not anything made that was made. In him was life, the reality
of it, the beginning of it, the source of it, the promise of
it, the revelation of it. And this life was the light of
men. It was because of this purpose. This purpose of God concerning
redemption, this eternal purpose of God committed to Christ, that
creation has its being. It has its being. It links creation in all of its
glory to God's everlasting purpose of redemption. Creation is the
work of God's mediatorial king. Now, you need to write that down
and look at it every day, because we're going to get up and it's
going to be too hot, too cold. We're going to be sick and we
don't want to be, and we're going to be too well and feeling too
good and doing too much, and we're just going to constantly
complain unless we remind ourselves that creation and providence,
which is eternally linked to creation, you can't have a creation
without providence. And all these things are linked
to God's redemptive purpose in Christ. All these things. It's the work of God's mediatorial
king. Were it not for his authority
and appointment, Adam would have joined Satan when Satan fell. When Satan fell, he drug down,
it says, a third of the angels out of a third of the heavenly
host. with him, and they were reserved in chains of everlasting
darkness. There is not a hope or a glimmer
of hope or grace for those angels. As soon as they fell, bang, God
wrapped them up in chains of darkness, and that is where they
are going to stay for eternity. Well, Adam did the same thing,
if not worse. And God didn't speak to him that
way, did he? But he came to Him as a Savior. He came to Him as
God's mediator. He came to Him in kindness and
long-suffering, and slayed the substitute before Him, sacrificed
its blood, and clothed Him with the skin of the animal, and preached
the gospel to Him, and gave Him the promise of Christ. What a
difference! What a difference! You see how
He connects these things together? They are together. The voice
of God in the garden was the voice of the Savior, the voice
of the reconciler. Listen to what Paul tells the
Colossians. He said that they had redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of
the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. The firstborn of every creature. They are not a creature in existence,
not a planet in the heavens, not a sun or a moon or a star
or a planet that you can name, but he ain't the firstborn of. For by him," listen to this,
Colossians 1, verse 16, "...for by him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible."
Would they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers?
All things were created by Him and for Him, and He is, listen,
before all things. You see that? And by Him all
things consist. He is before all things and therefore
is the beginning before the beginning. That's what I wanted you to see. Whatever it is I can glean from
these verses, let me understand that they are inseparably connected
to him and the redemptive glory and purpose of God. In 1 Corinthians
8, verse 6, Paul is talking about their idols and food offered
to idols and all that in that chapter. But here is what he
tells them. He said, ìTo us there is but
one God, the Father of whom are all things, and we in him and
one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we in him."
He always links the creation with the mediator. He goes through
the books. It's unbelievable how many times
in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, when he's talking
about God's mediatorial king and his work, that he links creation
to it. He just keeps reminding you that
creation is a part of that redemptive work, not something separate
from it. Salvation is not an accident.
It is according to the purpose of God. Look at this verse over
here in Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3 and verse
8. Paul said, Unto me, who am less
than the least of all the saints, is this grace given, that I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery
which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who
created all things in Christ Jesus. to the intent that now,
under principalities and powers and heavenly places, might be
made known the manifold wisdom of God." And then over here in
Romans chapter 8, talking about our sufferings, all through this
chapter he's talking about the spiritual man versus the carnal
man. And he begins to talk about our
sufferings and the things that we suffer. and the things that
we see, things that we can't explain. Just like this little
girl that fell on the knife the other night sitting up there
in the hospital. Or Sheila's two little granddaughters. Both
of them got hurt. And Clancy over there got hurt.
All these things. They're unexplainable things.
I'm not explaining them. I just know they have a relation
to this some way. But he's talking about all these
things that we suffer in this present world. And he says down
here in verse 19, "...for the earnest expectation of the creature."
Waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. These things
are going to be until the manifestation, John, of the sons of God. Now,
listen to this. For the creature was made subject
to vanity. Huh? Made subject. That's what it says there. He
was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him
who hath subjected the same in hope. Oh, you mean God did this
on purpose? That's what he's saying. That's
what he's saying. Because the creature itself also
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only
they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit.
Even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption
to wit the redemption of our bodies. The whole of creation
is inseparably connected to, maintained for, preserved because
of this eternal purpose of God in Christ. That's why he does
it. And when this purpose is wound
up, so will the creation. So will the whole ball of wax.
The heavens and earth shall pass away. because of the connection
of creation to redemption. I see the very redemption of
God manifest and preserved in creation. And this is where I
want to go with you, because all of these next verses have
to do with that redemptive work of God. And I can show it to
you in the New Testament where he uses them and quotes them,
all of these next several verses. So did you get that statement?
The whole of creation is inseparably connected to, maintained for,
preserved because of this eternal purpose of God in Christ and
because of its connection to redemption. I see the way of
redemption manifested throughout creation. Everything in it, every
tree, every flower, every bird. Read the book of Job. Job's friends accused him of
doing some vile thing, that God poured out these sufferings on
him and took away his family and took away his living and
took away all those things and set him out there with balls
all over his body out there in the ash heap. And his friends
just kept quizzing him. And Job was defending himself
before. But Job went a little over the
edge. Job got to the place in his defense
where he went a little bit self-righteous. and a little bit self-centered
and a little bit more knowing than what he actually was. And
God told Job, he said, Now bird up your loins like a man and
you answer me. And wow! He hit him with three
chapters of questions, every last one of them concerning creation. He said, Explain to me the migration
of the geese. Have you ever entered into the
mystery of the hoarfrost? What about the snow? What about
the water that cycles from the sea up to the mountain and back
to the sea? What about these things? What
about these cycles of nature that you can't explain? What
about the seasons? What about the wild ass? And how it goes, and the mating
of all these things. What about all these things,
Russell? You ever enter into the mystery? That's what he told
Job. Have you even got a clue of who I am and what I'm doing?
That's what he's asking him. And Job said, Once have I spoken,
yea, twice. He covered his mouth. He said,
I'll never speak again. Because he saw something. a little
bit bigger in his scope and in his imagination of what God is
and what God is accomplishing. And he began to see the glory
of God even in the seasons and even in His creation and in the
birds and in the light. Not a sparrow can fall to your
ground without your Father. Ain't that what Christ said?
See that lily over there? He said Solomon in all his glory
wasn't arrayed like that lily. I'm telling you, everything in
creation has something to do with this redemptive purpose
of God and the glory of God. The whole of creation is inseparably
connected. The laws, and here's what I want
you to see too, the laws of nature are not sufficient. to accomplish
the purpose of God. The idea that God took something
which was already here and turned it over to evolution to produce
is unthinkable. Why? Because of its connection
to salvation. I know by experience that can't
be. It's contrary to the gospel. And the gospel is a person. The
gospel has to do with this eternal purpose of God in redemption
and creation is connected to it. It can't have evolved any
more than a sinner can evolve into a Christian. It can't happen.
It can't happen. In fact, creation is the stage. That's why I read Proverbs 8
to you a while ago. Creation is the stage upon which
God's greatest work will be manifested, and He will not trust this to
anyone except Christ. Do you see that? It's the stage, John. Listen
to this psalm, Psalm 19. He said, The heavens declare
the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto
day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language
where the voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through
all the earth, and the words to the end of the world. In them,
now listen, hath he set a tabernacle. In what? in creation. God sets a mystical
tabernacle, a picture, a picture of what he's doing. Now, listen
to this. He sets a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom
coming out of his chamber and rejoiceth as a strong man to
run a race. His going forth is from the end
of heaven and his circuit unto the ends of it, and there's nothing
hid from the heat thereof, nothing unaffected by the sun in this
great tabernacle. What's that picture? That's the
picture of Christ. Christ. There's nothing in creation
that's unaffected by this redemptive purpose of God. Nothing. It all
sits there and it all speaks. Over here in Jeremiah, I've read
this to you many times, and Paul quotes it two or three times
in the book of Hebrews alone, where he talks about that covenant
that he'll establish in that day. And you're no longer going
to have to teach every man his neighbor who God is and all those
things, because everybody is going to know me from the greatest
to the least. That's that covenant, that everlasting covenant of
grace that comes to us by the Spirit of God through the gospel
and is established in our hearts. That gospel knowledge. But listen to the next verse.
Have you ever read the verse that follows that? I never have.
I read that covenant. and rejoice in it, and then I
go on my way. Listen to this next verse, verse 35. Jeremiah
31, verse 35. Thus saith the Lord, which giveth
the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and
of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the
waves thereof roar, the Lord of hosts is his name. He connects
himself to creation, even in the everlasting covenant of grace.
As surely as the sun was given to light the day and the moon
and the stars by night, so this covenant redemption will light
up the hearts of all those within whom it shines. But perhaps this,
over in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, is one of the clearest of
these references And I quote this to you all the time over
here in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6. For God, who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Do you see that in creation? Let there be light. And there
was light. That's how that gospel comes.
I stand up here and preach every week, every week, every week.
All of a sudden, somebody comes in and God just grabs ahold of
them and He says, let there be light. And there's light. You
can't explain it. You'll spend the rest of your
life trying to understand it and trying to explain it. It's
just of God. It's of God. There's nothing
there. It's without form. It's void.
There's no understanding. There's no love. There's no affection.
There's no nothing there. He sends that gospel in. It's
there. It's there. Well, preacher, you're saying
God created the earth and put man over it, and put him on purpose
into a place where he knew he was going to fall? That's exactly
what I'm saying. That's exactly what I'm saying.
Why? Because this is the stage from
which God is going to show his glory. Listen to Paul over here
in Romans chapter 9. He is talking to these folks
about God's absolute sovereign election and God's absolute sovereignty. And listen to what he tells them
here in verse 17. For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for
this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my
power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have
mercy, and whom he will he will harden. Thou wilt say unto me,
Why hath he yet found fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Nay, but, O man, who art thou that replyest against God?" Now,
watch this. And consider this with what I've
just told you. Shall the thing formed. What's
he talking about? He's talking about that man,
John, that he made out of that clay and put over here on this
footing where he could fall. It was a temporary footing. He
knew he wasn't going to make it. But he set him over here
on this footing on purpose. He could have created Adam. and
put him on a footing where he could never fall. He could have
made him like the elect angels, not even a possibility of him
falling. But he didn't. He put him over
on this slippery slope that he knew he was going to fall because
he intended to redeem him forever. And in him he is going to show
his redemptive glory. Shall the thing formed say unto
him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? hath not the
potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honour and another to dishonour? What is God willing, willing,
willing to show his wrath and make his power known, endured
with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?
and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the
vessels of mercy which he had aforeprepared unto glory." Do
you see that? In the beginning, God. But there
was a beginning before the beginning. And in this beginning before
the beginning was this purpose set, and it is the purpose and
setting of the eternal counsel of God that determines the end
for which it was made, and determines how it's going to be regulated,
and how long it's going to be preserved, and to whom it's going
to be given. All these things determined before
of God. But we won't take that glory
away from God and give it to man. You're not going to do it
in this book. You're not going to do it in
this book. In the beginning, God. And listen to this. We were talking
about this the other night. It is the very creative purpose
of God that makes us responsible to God. Huh? Isn't there a little bit of that
in what Paul was telling him? They said, well, what you're
saying is just throw your hands up because who can resist Him? He's God. Who can resist Him?
So we're not responsible. We just throw our hands up. He
said, Who art thou that replies to him? You're the same formed.
And if you're the same formed, you're responsible to him that
formed you. Now, you may have to wait till
judgment to find it out, but you'll find it out. Every knee's
going to bow, every tongue's going to confess this redemptive
glory in Christ. You're going to do it here and
now in mercy and grace, or you're going to do it there in judgment.
But you're going to do it. You're going to confess it, and
you're going to see it. And his nature requires the assistance
of God to be preserved and is dependent on him for all things,
even so the sinner is totally dependent on God. Creation cannot
self-create and the sinner cannot evolve into godliness. Salvation
is called a new creation. He doesn't use that word evolution.
He doesn't use that word progressive. He said, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creation. That's what he said. A new creation. New creation. Old things are
passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. Being raised from death and condemnation, and raised
from emptiness to fullness, and raised from nothingness to preeminence,
raised from corruption to uncorruption, raised from earth to heaven.
Can you see that? From nothing to everything. That's what, from nothing to
everything, that's what this new birth gives you. A new creature. A new creature. Created on a footing that cannot
fall. Created in a representative that
cannot fail. Created in a substitute whose
sacrifice has both sanctified us once for all and perfected
us forever. I'd rather have that than I would
what Adam had in the garden. Wouldn't you? Huh? Created under
a new covenant, ordered in all things and sure. That old covenant
said don't touch that tree, don't eat that fruit, don't do this
or you'll die. This new covenant just says live. That's all it says. No threats
of punishment in it. Live. Live. What am I going to tell them
dead, dry bones? Preach to them. What am I going to say? Live.
That's all you're going to say. Death ain't got nothing to do
with it. They're already dead. Live. Live. You see what I'm talking
about? What a footy. What a new creation. What a thing
of God. All these things that God is
about to create is going to fall under the curse and fall under
the condemnation of God. But in this new creation, Ain't
nothing going to fall. All preserved in Him. All preserved
in Him. And then in verse 31 of Genesis
chapter 1, in our clothes, when God had finished creating everything,
including the man, when he finished his six days of creation, listen
to what he said. And God saw everything that he
had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and
the morning was the sixth day. It was good. God looked at it,
and it was good. It was God good, Russell. It
wasn't pretty good. It was God good. It was perfect. And in that day in which the
redemptive glory of God shall be accomplished and completed,
the mediator king will present the elect of the Father to him.
Now, the Father put us in Christ, he said, in order that his blessings
might be upon us. and that we should be holy and
without blame before Him in love. He said that's why He put us
in Him. That's why He put us in Him. Now listen to this, Colossians
119, For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness
dwell, and having made peace through the blood of His cross,
by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself. By Him, I say,
whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. and you
that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death to present you." Huh? To present you. That's what God
gave him to do, and he gave his reasons for it. And now in this
day, having accomplished this purpose of God in redemption,
in the body of his flesh through death to present you, unblameable
and unreprovable in his sight. And God shall behold his new
creation in that day and say, Behold, it is good. It is good. God himself, it says. Winston
is going to come over and wipe away all tears. They are gone. They are gone. They have no reason
to cry anymore. Not going to be any suffering.
Not going to be any pain. Not going to be any sun. The
sun ain't even going to... I think about that today. Man,
it was hot. And I was putting foam over my windows trying to
broadcast that heat from that western sun when that sun goes
down. It says there's not going to
be any sun. The heat of the sun is not going to shine on you
anymore because he's going to be the light of that city. Huh? Oh, my. Unblameable. Unretrievable. his side. What a blessing.