As we set out to lay down our 12 Stones of the statues and testimonies of God, we do so in the context of the grand narrative of God; Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Consummation. It is fitting then that we would begin at the beginning, the very beginning. First, I want us to define what we will be talking about over the next three weeks.
Doctrine of Creation: God created the entire universe out of nothing; it was originally very good; and He created it to glorify himself.
We are going to look at creation in three parts, beginning with the idea of Creator God.
We will look at this idea by analyzing this simple sentence found in Genesis 1:1
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
When? In the beginning
Who? God
What? Created
We want to look at what each statement says, what it teaches us about God, and why it is important for us to understand.
I. Eternity of God: Psalm 90
The Bible simply assumes that God exists. In the beginning. What does this mean, but that there was nothing before this. However, the Bible is clear that in the beginning God already was. In the beginning, He is present. The primary idea here is God’s eternity.
By this we mean that God has no beginning (He has always been),
no end (He will always be),
and no succession of moments in His own being, He is not bound by time and space (before the light and darkness were divided into day and night, He existed)
and He sees all time equally vividly, yet he sees and acts within time and space in order to interact with us, so that we might relate to Him.
A. Timeless in His own being - This idea of the eternity of God is sometimes referred to as God being infinite in regards to time. That is to say that He is unlimited in relation to it. Time does not limit God or change Him in any way.
The fact that God has no beginning or end is plainly seen in Psalms 90:1-2, "Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God."
God’s eternity is also suggested in passages that talk about the fact that God always is or always exist, as in Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
The fact that God never began to exist can also be concluded from the fact that He created the universe out of nothing, as we will talk about next week.
These passages show that the facts, that God always existed even before there was time, combine to indicate that God’s own existence does not have any succession of moments or any progression from one state to another.
To God, all of His existence is always somehow present - though this blows our mind because it is so different than what we experience.
Why is all of this important? Because it shows us that God is not going away, that God is not dead and that He is in fact unchangeable. If we stop for a moment to imagine what it would be like if God could change, the importance of this doctrine would become most clear.
If God could change in His being, perfections, purposes or promises then any change would either be for the better or for the worse. But if God changed for the better, then He was not really the best possible being in the beginning, so how could we know that He was the best possible being now. He would not be perfect and therefore would by definition cease to be God.
If God could change for the worse, what kind of God might He become? If he became less holy or good He would not be perfect, and again by definition cease to be God.
B. Sees all time equally - Part of God not being limited by time is His ability to see all time equally. It does not pass by Him like dots on a number line. He stands above the graph and sees all points equally from eternity past to eternity present. Psalm 90:3-4 says, "You return man to dust and say, 'Return, O children of man!' For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night."
In the New Testament, Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3:8, "But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
With these verses taken together, we can imagine how God sees time and why this is so important for us to know and to pass on to those who come behind us. He can remember all the events of a thousand years at least as well as we can remember yesterday. God does not forget. All of history is to Him as though it just happened!
On the other hand, one day from God’s perspective seems to last for a thousand years. It is as if it never ends, but is always being experienced. All of history is to Him present to His consciousness forever.
Together we see that the whole span of history is as vivid as if it were a brief moment that had just happened, but as if it is going on forever. No event ever fades! God sees and knows all - past present and future - with equal vividness! That is our sin and our tears, our rebellion and repentance, our worship and our idolatry.
This is why God is concerned about generational faithfulness and rebukes our generational arrogance! Because for Him it is all eternal, as Isaiah 46:8-11 says, Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
C. Sees events and Acts within time - We must guard against misunderstanding by completing the definition of God’s eternity. Paul writes in Galatians 4, But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
God observed clearly and knew what was happening within the events of history.
At the right time, he acted within time and space.
We should never think that God does not know the difference between the past and the present. It is evident within Scripture that He acts within time and that He acts differently at different points in time, always in accordance with His nature and character, but appropriate for the day. That is why the Psalmist says in 90:12, So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
We must affirm both that God has no succession of moments in His own being and sees all of history equally vividly, and that in His creation He sees the progress of events over time and acts differently at different points.
In short, He is the Lord who created time and who rules over it and uses it for His own purposes.
II. Independence of God
In the beginning, God. There was nothing else and God already was. That tells us that not only is God eternal but independent. By this we mean that God does not need us or the rest of creation for anything, yet we and the rest of creation glorify Him and bring Him joy. This is sometimes called His self-existence. What it means for us is that God was alone at creation and perfect. He could have gone on forever without creating anything, but He chose to create just the same, and it gave Him joy to do so.
Paul proclaims this truth to the men of Athens when he said, "The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything." (Acts 17:24-25)
Some people have said that God created human beings because He was lonely and needed fellowship. This would disregard the complete unity and fellowship of the Trinity and make God dependant on creation, making it lord over Him instead of Him being Lord over it. In John 17:24 Jesus speaks to the Father of, "your love for me from before the foundation of the world.
Some say that God created us to show off His glory." However, in John 17:5 Jesus says, "And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed."
He had all glory and shared it with Himself before we got here and He is not beholden to us for His own glory. We do Him no favors when we recognize His glory, He has done us a favor by revealing it to us and making us instruments of it. It is not just that God did not need creation for anything, it is that He could not need creation for anything. The difference between the creator and the creation is immensely and fundamentally different.
We are not lesser versions of the same kind. We are of a totally different kind, made to look like Him. It is not just that we exist and God has always existed. God necessarily exists in perfection. We do not necessarily exist, but only by God’s desire and then we exist as fundamentally imperfect.
The balancing consideration (and there is always a balancing consideration) is the fact that we and the rest of creation do in fact glorify God and bring Him joy. So, we must guard against the false idea that we are meaningless (as we will see in patheistic Buddhism). God determined to create us and determined that we would be meaningful to Him. That is where our meaning lies and where our value comes from. We will look more at that idea in a couple of weeks when we talk abut the Image of God.
III. God’s Relationship with Creation
How does this all work together? This is what we need to make sure that our children and grandchildren understand. The teaching of Scripture about the relationship between God and creation is unique among the religions of the world.
A. Transcendence - The Bible teaches that God is distinct from His creation. He is not part of it, for He has made it and rules over it. The term that we use to talk about God being much greater than creation is transcendence. Now I get a hard time about using all of these big words. However, it is important that when our children get to college they are not convinced that they are ignorant because they do not even know what they believe. Very simply, transcendence means that God is far above creation in the sense that He is greater than creation and independent of it (as we have already talked about).
B. Immanence - The Bible also teaches that God is very much involved in creation, for it is continually dependent on Him for existence and functioning. The term that we use to talk about God being intimately involved in creation is immanence. It literally means “remaining in.” The God of the Bible is no abstract deity that is removed and uninterested. The Bible is again the story of God’s involvement with His creation. It is the statues and testimonies that He wants His creation to remember. In His hands is the life of every living thing (Job12) and He gives all men life and breath and everything (Acts 17) and holds all things together (Col. 1) and upholding the universe by His word of power (Heb. 1).
Both God’s transcendence and immanence are affirmed in a single verse when Paul speaks of one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all, in Ephesians 4:6.
C. Four Opposing Worldviews - In order that we do not appear ignorant, and so that we are ready to give a defense for the great hope that we have in Christ, I want to briefly look at how the biblical view of Creator God is in direct opposition to the four prevailing views about God.
1. Materialism; This is the most common philosophy of unbelievers today. It clearly denies the existence of God altogether. Materialism would say that the material (physical) universe is all there is. This is the heart of the Naturalistic Meta-Narrative that we talked about last week that stands in direct opposition to the biblical assertion that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Christians today who focus almost the entire effort of their lives on earning more money and acquiring more possessions are teaching practical materialism to their children and grandchildren, since their lives would not be much different if they did not believe in God at all.
2. Pantheism; This philosophy is derived from the Greek idea that everything, the whole universe is God or part of God. This recognizes the essential existence of God but denies several essential aspects of His character. If the whole universe is God, then God has no distinct personality, He is no longer unchanging, or holy. Ultimately, most pantheistic systems, such as Buddhism, end up denying the importance of individual human personalities.
When we teach that God exist, but do not exhibit any real personal relationship with Him, we pass down a heritage of practical pantheism to those who come behind us.
3. Dualism; This is the idea that both God and the material universe have eternally existed side by side. They are the two ultimate forces in the universe. The problem with this is that it indicates a false eternal conflict between God and His creation, between the spiritual and the physical. So, we can not be sure that God will triumph over the evil physical universe because it denies His lordship over creation and the fact that creation came about because of God’s will that it be used solely for His purposes and for His glory.
When we talk about God as though He was one side of a Star Wars like Force caught in an epic battle against the Dark Side, we teach a practical dualism. More importantly, when most non-Christians (including our children and grandchildren) begin to be aware of the spiritual aspect of the universe, they often merely acknowledge that there are both good and evil aspects to the spiritual realm. This is spiritual, but not belief in God or Christianity.
Most New Age spirituality is dualistic and most of the young people growing up in our churches hold more of a dualistic worldview than a biblical one. Of course Satan is delighted to have our homes and churches full of people who think there is an evil force in the universe that is perhaps equal to God.
4. Deism; This is the view that God exists but is not now directly involved in creation. Deism holds that God created the universe and that His is far greater than creation (He is transcendent). Some deists also agree that God has moral standards and will ultimately hold people accountable on a day of judgment. However, they deny His present involvement in the world, excluding His immanence. He is the divine clockmaker who wound the clock and left it to run on its own. While this does affirm many attributes of God, it denies the entire meta-narrative of the Bible.
Many “lukewarm’ or nominal Christians today are, in effect, practical deists. They live lives almost totally devoid of genuine prayer, worship, fear of God, or moment-by-moment trust in God to care for our needs. It is heartbreaking how many of our children are growing up believing God is out there because they never saw from us that He is in us!
Take these Stones Home
Doctrine of Creation: God created the entire universe out of nothing; it was originally very good; and He created it to glorify himself.
Psalms 90:1-4, Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You return man to dust and say, "Return, O children of man!" For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night.
Time does not limit God or change Him in any way.
Talk to your children about how God gave us time so that we could measure our days but that He is timeless.
God does not forget.
Talk to your children about how God does not forget by showing them how they remember today better than last week and explaining that every day is like today for God.
God’s timing is perfect.
Talk to your children about how God always does everything at the right time by explaining how there is a time for everything, like dinner time, bed time, family worship time.
God did not need to create.
Talk to your children about how God is perfect and that he does not need any thing.
Ask them, Why did God create the world?
God chose to create.
Talk with your children about how God chose to create and to make us. Explain to them that our value is grounded in the fact that God chose to make us valuable to Him.
God is distinct from His creation.
Talk with your children about how God is different from creation. Ask them to share what they think makes Him different. Share what you think makes God different.
God is very much involved in His creation.
Talk with your children about how God is involved in creation. Ask them to share things they are thankful to God for and share with them how those things show that God is involved in their lives. Share what you are thankful for and how that shows that God is involved in your life.
No comments:
Post a Comment