February 1, 2015

The Six Days of Creation

In the creation account we see God's separation and setting of things into covenantal relationship. By virtue of creation all people are covenantally related to God, either as covenant keepers or as rebels.

Scripture:  Genesis 1

Sermon Notes:

  1. God calls all created reality outside Himself into existence.
  2. Genesis 1 is unique and set apart from pagan creation myths because the account was inspired and given by God.
  3. All people stand in covenantal relation to God by virtue of creation, either as covenant keepers or as rebels. 
  4. God created both the heavens and the earth, bringing order and form from the chaos.
  5. Heaven provides the model or pattern for the earth: the host of heaven is a model for man who is to become a host; God revealed the plan for the temple from heavenly one.
  6. At creation heaven and earth were not separated by any barrier.  The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
  7. On Day 1 God created light. The Spirit of God provided light for the first three days, before the sun was created.
  8. On Day 2 a separation of the waters formed the heavens. The separation is removed as God’s kingdom comes out of heaven.  In creation we see God’s separation and setting of things into covenantal relationship.
  9. The Judao-Christian worldview de-divinizes the cosmos; though it is upheld by God’s covenant word, the creation is not God. In the pagan view, the cosmos is everything and  everything is one. People worship creation and themselves.
  10. The creation is not divine, but it is not without divine activity.  In fact miracles everywhere if we open our eyes.
  11. We’ve been raised to think in a humanist enlightenment paradigm, and so we miss the supernatural hand of God animating His creation (cf. Psalm 29).
  12. Today creation is seen as impersonal and mechanical, instead of personal and covenantal as God created it.
  13. On Day 3 God’s separating work is seen again in dividing the waters from the dry land.
  14. God’s creation is pronounced good because it is patterned after heaven.
  15. In Genesis 1 we see a pattern of eight creative acts: Day1 light; Day4 luminaries. Day2 sky/expanse; Day5 birds/fish.  Day3 a) earth and b) vegetation;  Day6 a) animals and b) man.
  16. God’s in creation structure shows that His work is purposeful and deliberate.
  17. All things exist by the creative word of God and this provides a self-perpetuating order.
  18. There are risks with attempts to bring together what God has separated (e.g., infertility).
  19. On Day 4 God created celestial light bearers which serve as signs of the passage of time and illuminate the earth (Isaiah 40:22). The heavenly lights are called rulers (cf. Exodus 18).
  20. We must not force upon the text notions which aren’t there, such as the framework hypothesis.
  21. On Day 5, the earth is filled with birds and fish which begin to reproduce after their kinds.
  22. On Day 6, in a special act of creation, man is created, and he is blessed by the God of the creation covenant.
  23. “Let us make man in our image” is a reference to the plurality within the Godhead; the image of God in man entails the moral attributes of righteousness, holiness and dominion.
  24. God created man and woman distinctly and by different means, excluding all pagan homo cosmologies which are resurgent in our time.
  25. A homo-erotic or bi-sexual culture can have no blessing from God.  The gift of procreation is an aspect of God’s blessing.  
  26. In covenant with God, man is to exercise dominion over the creation.  
  27. God will bring all his work to maturity by the dominion activity of man; empowered by the Spirit of God, man is God’s priest in His temple with work to do
  28. Through Jesus we have entered into the inheritance of the renewed creation.  Having renewed covenant with God each Sabbath, we find grace and strength to serve Him.
  29. We are made in the image of God, set as His priests to serve Him; recreation is taking place by our service of His Kingdom that earth might become a copy of heaven.

Application Questions:

  1. What is the implication of being a creature of God, that applies to all people?
  2. What does the pattern of the creation week teach us?
  3. Give examples of God’s supernatural creative activity at work in the world today.
  4. In what ways is the earth patterned after heaven?
  5. Explain the importance of the separations, distinctions and kinds in Genesis 1.
  6. What the significance of the image of God in man?
  7. What is the importance of the Sabbath rest to man’s dominion calling?
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