Good morning. You can imagine how humbling
it is to be here. It's humbling to be a member
of his kingdom, and it's more humbling for me to be a member
of his work Last night I was sitting here looking at all of
you men and thinking I have been listening
to these men my whole life. My whole life. And you're still doing it. And
I'm thankful that you're still doing it. Thank you for telling me the
truth. Here I stand, I can do no other.
I was listening to Houston play Amazing Grace and I sang the
verse in my mind, "'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear."
And then right after that, grace, my fears relieved. Thank you, Brother Todd, and
thank you to this church for everything you've done for us
in Kingsport. We're very grateful. We're very
grateful. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 1. Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 says,
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. Who is God? Who is that talking about? Turn with me over to Psalm 136. Psalm 136 verse 5 says, to him
that by wisdom made the heavens. Whoever he is, he possesses wisdom. Because by wisdom, he made the
heavens. Who has all wisdom? Who is the possessor of wisdom? Turn with me to Proverbs chapter
3. Verse 19 says, The Lord by wisdom
hath founded the earth, by understanding Hath he established the heavens? The Lord made the earth in the
heavens. Who is the Lord? Who is the Lord? Turn with me
over to Colossians chapter one. Colossians chapter 1 verse 1
says, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God and
Timotheus our brother, to the saints and faithful brethren
in Christ which are at Colossae, grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 16 says, for by
him were all things created. that are in heaven and that are
in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him
and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things
consist. So Genesis 1.1 is talking about
Jesus Christ? Yes, it is. That's who Genesis 1 is talking
about. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
1. Hebrews 1 verse 8 says, But unto
the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A
scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou
hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God,
even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above
thy fellows. And thou, Lord, in the beginning,
has laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the
works of thy hands. Genesis 1.1 is talking about
Jesus Christ. Now let's go back to Genesis. Verse 1 says, In the beginning,
God The Lord Jesus Christ created the heaven and the earth. Heaven is a place where God dwells. It's a place of immortality,
life. No one has ever died in the presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not one person. He is life. It's a holy place. It's a spiritual
place. Earth is a place where sin dwells. It's a place where death reigns. Every single thing on this earth
dies. Everything. I cannot think of
one thing that does not die on this earth. It is a wicked and
a fleshly place. Now let me ask two questions. Where do I dwell and what does
that make me? I am of the earth, earthy. My Lord God is from above, heavenly. Turn with me over to John 8. John chapter 8 verse 23 says, And He said unto them, You are
from beneath, I am from above. Ye are of this world, I am not
of this world. I said therefore unto you that
ye shall die in your sins if you believe not that I am He. Who? the God in Genesis 1-1. If you
believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins. Then
said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, Even
the same that I said unto you from the beginning. The very beginning. Now back
over in our text in Genesis chapter 1. Verse one says, In the beginning,
God created the heaven and the earth. Now, I am the earth. Verse two says, And the earth
was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of
the deep. That's who I am and that's what
I am. By nature in my earthly state,
I am without form. Without form. You don't have
to turn, you can listen to Jeremiah chapter 4, verses 22 and 23. For my people is foolish, they
have not known me. They are soddish or silly children
and they have none understanding. They are wise to do evil. They
know exactly how to do that. But to do good, they have no
knowledge. I beheld the earth and lo, it was without form and
void in the heavens and they had no light. That's me. And that's you as
we are right here in our flesh. Without form. That word means
wasted. Wasted. Desolate. Deserted. Worthless. Vain. Empty. It means a thing of nothing. The truth of our matter is this.
We are all Just a bunch of nothing. That's so sad. That is so sad. Genesis 1.1, Genesis 1.2 are
chapters that the Lord wrote that have no sin in them. That
was before man fell. And we lost it. Wasted it. Back to our text in Genesis 1,
verse 2 says, The earth was without form and void. Deuteronomy 32
tells me I am void of counsel. I'm void. Completely void. I can't receive it. I can't give
it. Not in my natural state. Proverbs
7 tells me because I'm earthy that I'm void of understanding. Void. I don't understand. I can't understand
why I'm void. Proverbs 11 tells me that I'm
void of wisdom. Totally void of wisdom. The same
wisdom that created the heavens and the earth, I'm void of Christ. Romans one says my mind is reprobate,
which means void of judgment, void, totally Void. There is a way which seemeth
right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Without form and void. Why am
I so desolate? Why am I so ignorant? Why am I so void? Look at our text, verse two,
it says, is because darkness was upon the face of the deep.
Darkness. Spiritual darkness. What that
means is I'm dead. I'm dead. What do you mean you're
dead? You're talking right now. I am
spiritually dead. Without Christ, as I am earthy,
I'm a dead man. Dead. Darkness. Job said, The
grave is mine house. I've made my bed in the darkness. I've said to corruption, Thou
art my father. To the worm, Thou art my mother
and my sister. And where is now my hope? Who shall see it? Darkness. David wrote, ìHe hath made me
to dwell in darkness as those that have been long dead. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed
within me. My heart within me is desolate.î
Isaiah said, ìThe people that walked in darkness have seen
a great light.î But our Lord said, ìMen loved darkness rather
than light.î Isn't that sad? He said, If thine eye be evil,
thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the
light that is in thee be darkness. How great is that darkness? How great? Genesis 1.1 says,
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And
the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the
face of the deep. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His
great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in
sins. Verse 2 says, And the Spirit
of God moved. But God moved. In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was with God. The Word was God. And the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. He had dwelt among us here on
this vile, sinful world. He walked among us. He lived
among us. He died among us. He rose among
us. God moved upon the face of the
waters. Verse 3, And God said, Let there
be light. Turn with me over to 2 Corinthians
chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 6
says, For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness
hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. He hath shined
in our hearts to give the light. 1 John says, God is light, and
in Him is no darkness at all. The Gospel of John says, In Him
was life, and the life was the light of men. God said, Let there be light,
and there was light. He didn't try to give light.
He didn't ask the darkness if the darkness would accept the
light. God said, let there be light. When a dead sinner hears God
call, he comes. When a blind sinner hears God
say, look, he sees. David said, When thou saidst,
Seek ye my face, my heart said unto thee, Thy face will I seek.
That is how God moves. With authority. With authority,
thanks be to God, it had to be with authority. I was dead. I was bored. Could be any other
way. One way. Well, if He gave me
His light, what did I give Him? If I got His light, what did
He get? Well, let's go to Luke 23. Our Lord hung on the cross between
two thieves, two male factors. Two men who were without form
and void, blind and dead. Luke 23 verse 39 says, And one
of the male factors which were hanged railed on him, saying,
If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other, answering,
rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God? seeing thou art
in the same condemnation. And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done
nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. You know what
it sounds like to me? This man has been given some
light. Verse 40, The other answering
rebuked him, saying, Does not thou fear God, seeing thou art
in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we
receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done
nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said
unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. And it was about the sixth hour
and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth
hour. And the sun was darkened and
the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. Our Lord and our
God hung there on that cross for three hours. in total darkness. Total darkness. Verse 46 says, And when Jesus
had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. He took upon himself my desolation,
my emptiness, my darkness, that I might have His light. Now, let's go back to Genesis
chapter 1. We're going to see the good news of the gospel right
here in Genesis chapter 1. Verse 4 says, And God saw the
light. God saw the light. He took my
darkness. He gave me His light. And God
saw the light. That is the greatest news this
sinner has ever heard. God saw the light. When God now looks down on this
empty, dark, wasted sinner, do you know what he sees? Jesus
Christ. He sees the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ. There's a song that says Christ
liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. Oh, what a salvation this. that
Christ liveth in me. Verse 4 says, And God saw the
light, that it was good. I'm not good. I'm no better than
I was before. I'm just a sinner saved by grace. Thou art worthy. The only thing
good in me is Christ in me. That's it. Verse 4 says, And
God saw the light that it was good, and God divided the light
from the darkness. God said, I've put a difference
between the Egyptians and Israel. Between darkness and light. Between
the world and my people. Why? It's because of the light. That's what makes a difference.
That's the only thing that makes a difference. God divided the
light. Verse five says in God called
the light day. The day star that arises with
healing in his wings. As he is, so are we. Verse five says in the darkness
he called night. And our Lord said concerning
his heavenly kingdom, there shall be no night there. None. No sin there. No darkness there. Verse five says in the evening
and the morning were the first day. Everybody who's older than 35
is in the evening. Three score and 10. I'm just barely in the evening,
but thankfully I'm in the evening. One of these days we're going
to close our eyes and we're going to wake up in the morning of
the first day. The first day physically walking
with and talking to the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. The first day of physically beholding
the beauty of the Lord. I heard about it. The half wasn't
told. Can you imagine how our heart
will burn within us? It's never going to go away.
It will always be the first day. There's no night there. Hannah
and I love to vacation at the beach. We love going to the beach. We get excited about it. And
I'm not a big fan of interstates, but when we're going to the beach,
the interstate's fine with me. It's exciting. Our hearts are
burning within us. And then we finally get down
there and you go to the rental place and you get your key. And
that's exciting. And then you go to the condo
and you look at all the rooms and pick your room and it's exciting.
It's the first day. And then you put your stuff in
there. Let's go down to the ocean and you see it for the first
time this year and it's exciting. And then we're going to go out
to dinner tonight and it's exciting. Well, when we've been there 10,000
years. We're going to go around telling
everybody today's my first day. Yes, it's my first day. I just got here. I just beheld the most beautiful
face I've ever seen in my life. What a day. What a day. May the Lord bless His Word.