Andrew Fountain - Creation

Goal:

A sense of wonder and awe at God’s power and beauty.

Creation

1. The Genesis Account of Creation
2. Creation in the Rest of Scripture
3. Jesus, the Creator
4. Our Response to the God who Creates

Genesis 1

1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2. Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water.
3. God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light!
4. God saw that the light was good, so God separated the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1 & 2

• 1:1–2 Summary statement “In the beginning”
• 1:3–2:3 Creation described in six days
• 2:4–25 Creation described with a focus on the first humans—we are different because God’s breath is breathed into us
  v.7 “then the LORD God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

Issues that split Christians

1. Old earth/Young earth (6000 years)
2. Literal 6 days, or poetic/symbolic
3. When were all the different varieties of animals created?
   
   1. In a moment, exactly as they are now
   2. Intelligent Design: gradually, over millions of years

Three positions on Creation
(a simplification)

• 6000 years ago
  animals created in 6 days exactly as they are now
• A much longer time ago
  animals created in 6 days exactly as they are now
• A much longer time ago
  animals created over time (not randomly as with evolution) “Intelligent Design”

Essential truths

• In the beginning there was God
• Everything was created by him, however he did it, and whatever the time-frame
• Creation is a revelation of Himself.
  Don’t lose site of the wonder of creation!
• Literal Adam & Eve, the first humans
  (Much of the teaching of the N.T. assumes this)

Studying the Old Testament:
Three Step Process

1. The Scripture we are studying now
2. How this builds on the story so for
3. How do the rest of Scripture fit wih this?

Psalm 19

1. The heavens declare the glory of God;
     the sky displays his handiwork.
2. Day after day it speaks out;
     night after night it reveals his greatness.
3. There is no actual speech or word,
     nor is its voice literally heard.
4. Yet its voice echoes throughout the earth;
     its words carry to the distant horizon.

Cornell University presentation, 2020

“Embryo—from Single Cell to Amazing Wonder”

Embryonic development continues to amaze scientists.
Marcos Simoes-Costa is one.
He studies the neural crest—stem cells that induce parts of the body.
research.cornell.edu/…g-wonder

University College, London, 2019

The wonder of the single cell

Professor Buzz Baum (UCL/MRC Lab for Molecular Cell Biology) 14 May 2019

www.ucl.ac.uk/…der-single-cell

Romans 1

19. because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
20. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse.

Psalm 33

6. The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.
7. He assigned the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs.
8. Let the whole world fear the Lord, and let everyone stand in awe of him.
9. For when he spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command.

John 1

1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God.
2. The Word was with God in the beginning.
3. All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.
4. In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind.
5. And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it.

4. How We Respond

• Have a sense of wonder

Psalm 8 – We are to look after creation

3. When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made,
     and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place,
4. Of what importance is humanity, that you notice them?
     Of what importance is humankind, that you pay attention to them,
5. and make them a little less than the heavenly beings?
     You grant mankind honor and majesty;
6. you appoint them to rule over your creation;
     you have placed everything under their authority,
7. including all the sheep and cattle,
     as well as the wild animals,
8. the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea
     and everything that moves through the currents of the seas.
9. O LORD, our Lord,
     how magnificent is your name throughout the earth!

God Sustains creation

• The “Deist” viewpoint: “God just winds the clock”
• He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17)
• The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. (Hebrews 1:3)
• In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. (Job 12:10)
• In him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28)

How We Respond

• Have a sense of wonder
• Care for his creation
• Know that he is still involved moment by moment with you and me
  (e.g. Life of Joseph)