We begin our class period this morning by reading a few verses. First one from Psalm 33, by the word of the Lord, where the heavens made, the starry host by the breath of his mouth. And Isaiah in chapter 40 verses 25 and 26, six speaks of creation. To whom will you compare me or who as my equal says the Holy One? Let your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them, is missing. And then in Romans 1, chapter 20, we read, for since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. These and many other passages speak of creation, our subject for this morning. Let us pray. Lord our God, we have a great momentous deed that you have performed before us this morning. Much misunderstood, disgusted all times, but it still is a wonder to behold the result of your great creating activities. And God open our minds to understand more fully how important it is that we acknowledge you as the Creator and the maintaining one of all that there is. Bless us now together, we pray for Jesus' sake, Amen. We want to begin by referring to what Voss writes about when he speaks of the mapping out of revelation. Pages 19 to 44. He speaks of the pre-redemptive revelation. And I call your attention again to this little sketch that I've given you about the covenant. And here in this first part, the compact arrow that refers to the pre-redemptive revelation. Before redemption had to be announced, God was revealing Himself. Every time He spoke and called something to come forth, He was revealing by word because He spoke. And by deed because a deed followed the spoken word. And the spoken word and the result indeed were in time recorded by Moses Himself. We won't go into that part of it. I've got a little article coming up and pissed the theory on next time that speaks of the mosaic authorship of the creation account. But the point I want to stress definitely is this. That Voss is very correct in growing a distinction between pre-redemptive and redemptive revelation. Pre-redemptive before the fall. It was an indirect revelation at that time because it wasn't all spoken. Much of it was by deed. And it's indirect in this respect, Voss says, in that it also caused mankind to come forth so that by nature as Paul says in Romans 1, just being part of creation testifies to one's heart that there is a creator, God, who is infinite and powerful. That is an indirect revelation because of the way we have been made and are made part of the universe. But there was also a direct pre-redemptive revelation because God spoke directly to Adam and Eve. When He gave them the cultural mandate, the social mandate, and when He spoke to them about the possibility of death entering. And then there was the redemptive revelation which really begins in chapter 3, verse 9. When God seeks out Adam and Eve hiding, where art thou? That's where the redemptive revelation in word begins. It begins with a seeking word. New revelation is given at that time. It never can be separated from the pre-redemptive revelation because the pre-redemptive revelation gives us the setting in which the redemptive revelation comes forth. Without the pre-redemptive revelation there be no setting, no framework in which redemptive revelation would come and be meaningful. And redemptive revelation is a restoring revelation. It tells us what we are restored to and in a sense the pre-redemptive revelation gives us God's original order, intent, plan, for humanity and the cosmos. It's given in a germinal form but it's there. This pre-redemptive revelation also comes through indeed. God comes and He spoke to mankind. But then in what He did in dealing with Satan and Satan's seed, how he dealt with Cain, then right from then on we see God speaking and God dealing. And again in time this too was recorded. This redemptive revelation right from the beginning speaks of a seed that's to become the mediator. It speaks of God's grace but the word Cain, H-E-N, in Hebrew or the Heth, the word is not used. But God comes to mankind when they are most undeserving and there's a revelation of grace even though the term isn't used. There's a revelation of mercy. Mercy is God's love toward the miserable and God shows His love toward the miserable. It's a word of redemption but there's justice also that's revealed in the way a sentence is spoken. So there is that pre-redemptive and redemptive revelation. I've stressed these few points to help you. And you're reading a verse and hopefully that you can remember it in case you're asked to give a little essay account of it in time. Moving on to the second point now, understanding creation. The first thing I want to point out is that I don't like the word prologue. As some people use it for Genesis 1 and 2 and even for Genesis 1 up through 11. As if the real revelation begins with Genesis 12 with Abraham or with Exodus like Eichrod and others would say and everything else is prologue just a word before. In the same way, I don't like to call John 1 the first so many verses prologue either because the redeemer is identified so specifically and clearly as the creator, the light giver, the revelation of grace and truth. And that's not just a prologue. My that's identifying the person of whom much will be said. And Genesis 1 and 2 is foundational, I say, for the understanding of scripture because it gives us the whole kingdom setting, the framework within which everything takes place that is revealed. It is revealed in scripture. I read to you from Isaiah 40. There for example, Isaiah is speaking about the definite fact that God is going to bring Israel back from exile, the great Babylonian empire and the Assyrian empire seem to be invincible. But what are the nations under the power of a creator God and to understand the doctrine of creation is to give you a good sense of the mighty power, the sovereignty, the all controlling ability of God. If he could create a way there and know every speck of dust how much more is it possible to look to him as their great restore from the exile. Yes, Isaiah appeals to the doctrine of creation in chapter 40 when he introduces the great plan of redemption that God is initiating again, working out through the return from the exile. And then on the New Testament passages, Matthew 13, 15, Matthew 19, 4 to 6. There are references that come from Jesus mouth when speaking of marriage, when speaking of divorce and its sinfulness. He comes right out and says, friend, the beginning it was not that way. And when he appeals to various basic factors in life, Jesus refers to creation. Paul, when he was out preaching Acts 17, 24 to 26 at the, on the early Apagus and the Greeks had to hear that from the very beginning God had created mankind from one source, the beginning of humanity. And I could have referred to John one, one to three, you know, and I read it referred to that how Christ is introduced there as the word who was with the father and who made all things. I wrote you from Romans 1, 20 and verse 25, Ephesians 1 to 4. He was 4 to 3, just a few passages of the many that continually refer back to the great fact that there was a creation and that God the Creator brought forth this great setting, his cosmic kingdom within which mankind can live. Now I want to go on to the fact of creation. One thing that I regret is that so often we get arguing with scientists that we don't spend enough time looking at it from the theological, biblical perspective or the biblical theological perspective. Creation is a fact, let the scientists listen. Creation is a verbal noun, it refers to a great act of God, a most integrated and a most comprehensive act when refer to that by looking at some verbs, but it's also a verb, it's also a noun, it refers to the result of the creative act. So the fact of creation, the fact of the act and the fact of the audit, this world in which we live is a creation that came forth by the creating activity of God. Now I hope that all of you were able to receive a copy of the creation acts and time references. Right down the middle of that sheet first I want you to note that I list 11 creation acts. There are 11 acts that are recorded in Genesis 1 up through Genesis 2 verse 4. The first great act is recorded in Genesis 1, 1 in the beginning God created the heavens in the earth. He brought it forth, that's before days, that's when all things had their beginning. They were unformed, they were not developed. Then the second act took place on what is referred to as day 1. God spoke and there was verb 2 and 3. God saw Yara and that verb is repeated again and again through that passage. God kept watching that his word actually brought forth what he wanted. And then we have the verb that is separate and that is repeated a number of times in the passage. And then we have the verb Kara called and God named and God knew exactly what name to give to each of the various things he brought forth as he separated, refined, made produce. So act 2 was the separating of light and darkness day 1. Act 3 recorded in verse 6 and 8 uses a number of verbs but the verb that had been used before is asa to make. And then the verb separate comes through again too. And what was made was or separated was the sky, the expanse, the rakia from our earth, the earth. That was day 2. Now go and to verse 9 and 10 and you have act 4. Let the waters be gathered Kaba. And let them be bound together. That verb Kaba is a unique verb twisted, bend it, inseparably bound together. Let the waters be. And then that verb again that is the same as to see but in the passive and let the land appear. But the waters really be brought together and let the land appear. That is referred to as act 4 on day 3. But another act took place on day 3 according to the revelation there. Let that land dhasa bring forth vegetation. And then we had the verb yasa to go forth or come forth. Let out of the earth that has appeared come forth. So embedded within the earth when God included the earth the potential for vegetation was there. God caused it to come forth on that second act of the third day which basically is creation act number 5. Then on day 4 verses 14 through 19 we have a number of verbs. And the one verb that especially sets out to me is not done to set and to give. And God set them. He appointed them. God it refers to God having married the great lights. Then what the emphasis is on their duty on their place. What they should be doing. That's day 4. Act 6. Then we get act 7 verses 20 and 21 where we get another verb again. Shout out. Let the waters team. Let them swarm. And it doesn't say that God again brought in a new fact of life. It seems as though it was right there in the water although he goes on to say for act 8. That that's an act 9. I'll come to that in a moment. But a second act on day 5 is the bring forth of the creatures of the air. Let them fly just like in the water. Let them swarm in the heavens. Let them fly birds all winged creatures. And then what is said there of both the teaming life in the water and the flying life in the atmosphere. God blessed them. Barak. The very verb he used when he created man and woman and said be fruitful multiply. God blessed. He gave them the potential, the power, the freedom, the enjoyment of reproducing. So the fish can have enjoyment and the birds can have enjoyment as they under God's guidance and direction increase and fill the waters and fill the sky like man and woman living together being one flesh can have the enjoyment of reproducing filling the earth with offspring. Well, that's act 7 and 8 on day 5. Then on day 6 we have some more verbs. We have the verb Yatsa again and we have the verb Asa that is to come forth and to make. And then there's reference to the creatures on the land, the big creatures. And for the second time the verb Barak to create is used in that passage. You have a reverse one and then you have it again way down in verses 26, 25, 22 in that area where it talks about the animals and it's also used when it speaks of mankind three times the verb Barak to create out of nothing only three times. When everything came when the beast of the field and when mankind was made and note and two that act 9 which includes the creatures of the land came forth on day 6 and act 10 when he made male and female and told them to rule and to increase and to have dominion. That's all part of act 10 on day 6. And then we go to chapter 2, the verbs Kala to complete, Shavat to rest, Kaddash to sanctify the seventh day and there you have the eleventh act. So there are indeed eleven creative acts and it's presented to us as one before day. And then within the period of what we refer to as 10 days as 6 days, 7 days, sorry, we have these 10 creative acts. This has led some people to speak of a framework or literary framework of a creed. I don't go for that type of language. I want to look at what the text says and the text says that God did such a magnificent work. You can describe it with one verb. You can't describe it as a single act. It was a process separating, dividing, forming, assigning, blessing, mandating and he brought forth the universe and when it was finished, Kala finished, completed. That is the great theological fact of Genesis 1 and 2 that God brought forth in a stupendous way in a way that's almost impossible for us to literally describe. In a specific period of time referred to as seven creation days, he brought it all forth. I'm not going to argue with scientists. I'm going to ask them to listen to me when they want me to listen to them and I hope you'll do that too. You've got to listen to the scientists but you always have to believe them and state the biblical facts and such a way that the scientists listen to you and believe you because you're trying to set forth God's word directly because this word concerning creation comes to us not indirectly but directly from the written page, Genesis 1 and 2. I repeat that this creation, this creation acts are foundational for your understanding of what God did and what God does and will continue to do. Now who are the agents of creation? Genesis 1 indicates and sums 33 for 6. Clearly says there's a 3-fold agent. There's a speaks of God, never used the word father yet, but later on God the father, creator of heaven and earth, but he spoke and then we read again 2 and sums 33 for 6 by the word of the Lord. John 1 tells us that that word was none other than the second person of the Trinity. The second person was definitely involved in the creating. He was the great forming, producing agent as the father spoke, the sun produced, and then the spirit, the ruach was there and those that would say that was only a wind, forget them. It was more than wind. It was the spirit like a mother hen on her eggs and chicks brooding and in Psalm 106 we read that a spirit of Lord makes life to abound the earth as we knew, didn't fruitful the ground. The spirit that was at work right from Genesis 1 to on has continued to be operative throughout the entire period of creation right up to this day and will always be busy as the refiner, the beautifier, the life giving agent within creation. Genesis 2 tells us that God breathed into man the breath of life, that was an act of the Holy Spirit giving unique life, giving real character to that act of barra, bringing forth something new out of nothing by the act of the infinite God. So there's the three agents now the character of the acts and I have referred to these and I like to spend a whole lecture on this pointing out that if you want to be a creative person here's a good pattern to follow and if you want to be a creative scholar writing a test here's a good pattern to follow. You want to be a creative person writing papers want to be creative person as a husband as a father. First of all notice that these acts are ordering when God spoke God commanded there was something authoritative about him not have brewed authority but God spoke and everything he called for came because he is the great authoritative one. With him is all authority he ordered secondly everything that he did was ordered I mean it came in the proper order it's amazing if you go through the creation account God didn't ask fish to come forth on the first day. Now there's a pattern a development a succession first things first second things then then third then forth there was good organization good development and then it was directive I in a way I refer to that already in but something very specific and I'm thinking now of the fourth day and God directed the sun in the moon and the stars to be controlling agents of time. The seasons day and night seasons years and God directed man the animals the mankind to be fruitful to multiply to fill God gave specific direction he said what he wanted and then God was very productive every one of these acts was productive God was able to produce being the great sovereign God. I don't know about that but do notice that the account tells us that every time God said something something happened just what he wanted was produced and then we have that Hebrew verb to and God saw step by step he looked good does that mean perfect. No nothing more to be done or no good has this basic concept among various other concepts but the word good told in Hebrew means admit the standard that was set for it each day God was able to bring forth to direct set in place bring into existence exactly what he wanted and he looked and he said that's what I wanted. And God declared it that way you know I've learned from God in that respect being a father very children that when I've asked the kids to do something they did it my word I got to I could get them to do something next time so much more easily if I looked at what they done and I said good if it was good sometimes I had to say pretty good sometimes I say let's try again but God never had to try again no he's a perfect father. I wasn't exactly the perfect father always but nevertheless you know I learned a lot from God the creating fathers to how to say good it's exactly what I was looking for step by step God never missed God always produced he always got what he directed was always in the face he ordered was beautifully arranged good but then we get the word Kala in Genesis chapter 2 completed and he completed it all that was intended as the cosmos was there in potentialities in germinal forms many things but the material all these here different elements that we have on our chemistry tables they were there all the different potentialities for life as we can bring them forth through our various hybridizations of variations that we can produce was there wasn't necessarily all unfolded and developed to the full extent but it was there Kala it was completed there is no growing creation in the sense of an objective now and there's no longer either a creation in the sense of a verbal now God is no longer creating completed those are the character of the acts but now let's look at the character of the creating one now these words you won't find all directly right there in the text but as you look at scripture we know that the creator is wise and what do you understand but the word wise will come across that again and again again as a father I sure learned what wisdom was and what was and what folly was if I can put when the kids were in trouble and if I could figure out who was at the bottom of it all the who and what he did and when he did it and why he did it and where he did it then I pretty knew how to deal with it but I had to get these five W's together first the who the what the where the why the when when I get them all put together hey that's wisdom putting it all together you know well God was wise and we read that man that to the wisdom of God is revealed look how he knew just how to do everything he knew the how he knew the how because he knew the who the what the when and the where and the why wise but as he created he's holy that's what the New Testament tells us to the holiness of God what he understand the holiness this that God is totally separated from that doesn't mean that he doesn't reach forth and is involved in but what he created is totally other than what he is himself he didn't make the universe a part of himself is what I'm saying and when he created us we're not just a little sparks of the divine were products of the divine but not little sparks of that that we've got the divinity of God within us no God remained holy as he created and as he established the most close relationship because at the moment between what he made and himself he kept himself separate he kept himself distinguished from he kept himself holy pure not saying that what he created was impure but he remained the great spiritual God that he was he remained the absolute sovereign one he did not in any way finalize himself or limit his power he remained the great sovereign board creating gone through the all these acts and and the various types of acts God showed that he was indeed the king ruling over every aspect over every dimension sovereign now where do I get this idea of love three descriptors for God so love the cosmos John 3 16 he loved the whole world now some people on limit that was sinful people I think that John is talking there that God loved the whole cosmos and he has loved it since the day he made it and he made it because this was an act of love in creation we can see God's love God's getting of himself God imparting himself God giving something forth and as if in a way at the holy sovereign one keeping his hands and his arms stretched out keeping that universe that cosmos within his care God is the fellowshiping God let us make he fellowships with the son and the and the spirit but as soon as he's created man and woman he's there talking with them he's telling them what to do and then he comes to them in the cool of the day each day and he fellowships with them he's not a deistic type never was not from the very beginning of creation he's well pleased he saw it was good and anything that meets the objective makes God smile I hope God is smiling on us right now I hope we're meeting his objective I think of that often as I sit at my desk as I go into my gardening as I try to be a grandfather to my children am I making God smile he is so well pleased with the objectives of net really as a loving sovereign holy God he's a smiling God as he spoke and as it came he smiled just what I wanted how good and then he's a maintaining God he what he created on the one day he kept so that he could proceed on to the next now as you think about all these things I'm sure that you can enrich your mind and your understanding of what God is like by considering what God did and how this Scripture first of all revealing it to us in German or form Genesis one and two and then telling us beyond throughout all the Scripture how he the great creating God the triune one is a father he's a father father of creation father of you and me he's the Lord but he's a loving wise and holy one who'll never leave us nor forsake us from a certain point of view I get as much if not more comfort from knowing that God is my creator father then I do from the fact that Jesus is my savior Lord I can't separate the two but to know that Jesus is my savior Lord is great but as a safe one I've got a function in this creation don't I and father is there guiding and directing controlling everything according to his plan when he made it now the creation of male and female we've got to stop at that for a moment divine counsel let us make it's not just the father the son and the spirit were definitely involved those that would say that this let us refers to God talking with the angels that to me is nonsense the angels aren't creating agents so I pointed out before who are the creating agents the father the son and the spirit the father the word and the ruler let us let us now make man Adam ha Adam humanity let us make them in our image and likeness now I'm sure that when you are going through your studies in the course on God and man that you deal at length with this whole concept of image unlikeness I want to point out here that the idea of an image or likeness first of all represents a similarity I can get an idea of what God is like for looking at you Rachel you're made in his likeness I can say the same of every one of you here to get a general idea of God what God is like God has his eyes God has his mouth God hears God stretches forth his hand God is present everywhere there's something so personal about God and we have the great privilege of being like God and if we are born again and Christ is indeed the Lord of our heart and our heart is this throw then indeed we can even more than ever before reflect the fact that we're like God we're not the same as but he made us in his likeness and to be made in the likeness of God definitely also points out that we're part of his family that we share in a unique and a mysterious way in the love and the life the activity of God my kids share in my family I shared in my father and mother's family and you know and I get this particularly from Genesis 5 because there it says that Seth was in the image of his father Adam so when there's a believing son who follows and carries out the father's work there is that idea of image there of likeness of similarity but more there's also the concept of representation we're asked to represent God that's why he created us in his image to be like him to mirror him to participate in his royal love life family so that we could represent him here God wanted representatives God wanted a mediator between himself and his whole cosmos that he has made and he put Adam and Eve right in the middle of that we by creation are the mediators of creation made in the image of God we were given a mandate come to that moment to have dominion to rule and when the first Adam fell a second Adam had to come to be the mediator to fully carry out as well as to do the redemptive work that Adam and Eve and their children were in a way mandated to do created in a unique relationship with God mirroring him being in his likeness he says represent me there do my work be my vice-region be there rowing not in your own power be there controlling not in your own power be there working with me not just for me but with me we are workers with God in the great cosmos that's what it means to be in his image and we're created male and female Genesis 1 verse 26 following the female has just as much the mandate to be an image bearer and a servant of God male and female are giving unique roles the word male Zakaar indicates already if you want to get very very pointed and very literal refers to that which points Nakeba the Hebrew word for female that which is pierced that refers there to the different roles even in the intimate facts of life different roles but equally royal members of God's family equally called upon to represent God equally called upon to be of service there's reference and there's been much discussion moving on now to this headship concept and my church is having a big discussion about that now what does it mean to be head and we who have talked a lot about the covenant of works you know the food is that there is a headship idea there I think that our forefathers that talked about that work correct and those that talk about male and female side by side because that's the way it's going to be in the great esktaton I think they're trying to rush certain things I do believe that the scriptures do speak very specifically of unique roles with the husband the father taking that leading role in which he exercises an authority which is always a loving authority I'm reminded of a young man who when I married him and it refers to this young couple that I spoke about before who had never read anything but Genesis but Matthew they got the creation account when I married him I told him by the story of a father when he saw his wife having jumped off the cliff at the south shores of Australia to rescue a little boy that had stumbled over the edge as they were fishing the mother had dove down into that turmoil and he saw that she could rescue the child but she'd never be able to save herself and the father said to the children you need your mother more than me and he dove in was able to push his wife upon the ridge and he died in the banging surf and I asked him do you love your bride enough to do that and after the service he said preacher I wish you hadn't asked me that mankind has a tremendous responsibility the male has the leadership role but that doesn't mean that he's got the slave driver role by any means the two accounts that we have of creation have been much discussed and you can go to commentaries for that and I won't take the time for that but now I want to raise the question is there a covenant of creation the first thing I want to ask is this did God establish relationships when he created the world if covenant basically refers to this idea of a bond an inseparable bond and relationship of love covenant refers to a relationship of life of love an inseparable bond which marriage is supposed to reflect in life did God establish a relationship he did when he created man in his image male and female there is the most intimate relationship we've already seen that did God establish relationship between mankind and the cosmos he most certainly did he gave three mandates not only the cultural mandate he gave the social mandate Mary leave your father a mother man be one in flesh with your wife be fruitful and multiply there's a social mandate and he gave a very definite social relationship but he also established a relationship between mankind and the cosmos rule over it I had this other little chart but the copying machine gave out on us you'll get it next time and we'll start with that a little bit more fully and discuss that more fully next time there are biblical references and you'll find them in the book especially by the dumbbell and also by Robertson biblical passages such as Hosea 6 Jeremiah 33 Genesis 6 that speak of a covenant that seems to have been there before God ever dealt with Noah and Abraham was there a covenant of creation reformed theology has always wanted to speak of a covenant of work which seems to suggest an element of merit but you'll find that both dumbbell and Robertson have problems with that even though it stated clearly in Westminster Confession that God established a covenant of works and both of these are Presbyterian reformed men and it's interesting that Voss doesn't talk about a covenant of works either Voss doesn't speak of a covenant of creation either but the other two men do where relationships establish we'll start with that next time