God's creation of the Heavens and the Earth (Part Two) by Gordon Wilson (20 December 2008)
Mr Wilson gave a second talk on Genesis 1. In the first talk, we considered the fact, repeated three times in the chapter, that God created the universe, life, and man. We compared this assertion with the popular theory of evolution, which suggests that life simply happened all by itself for no apparent reason. This notion is correctly described as a theory because it is entirely speculative, with absolutely no hard evidence to back it up. Indeed the much derided Genesis account is not actually at variance with any proven scientific fact. In other words, Creation cannot be disproved. Scientists privately acknowledge that evolution is not a credible explanation for the origin of life, but they adhere to it publicly in order to avoid awkward questions such as Who is God? Why did He create us? What does He want in return? The more we learn about the world around us, the clearer it becomes that its beauty, precision, and intricate design could not possibly have arisen by chance. Of course God's ultimate piece of design, His 'tour de force' if you like, is ourselves.
Gen 1 v 26 “Then God said 'Let us make man in our image and let them rule over all the earth’”
Our vast superiority over all other creatures is no evolutionary accident. It is a privilege which has been granted to us by our Creator. It is a position that we occupy by virtue of the fact that God has equipped us with a mind which differs from that which He has given to other creatures. He has enabled our mind to know and worship Him, but He has also given us the freedom of choice as to whether or not we do so. He has made our mind so powerful that, like God himself, we have a capacity for creative thinking. However, when we began to build the Tower of Babel in an effort to reach heaven -
Gen 11v 6 and 7: “The Lord said 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other’”
That is why there are so many languages in the world to-day, however, God still enables us to speak at least one language reasonably well and you are going to use this enormous intellect to read something in perfect English to demonstrate our phenomenal brain power:
Aoccdrnig to rseearch at an Elinsh Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the lerttes in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. Therset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae wedo not raed ervy lteter by itslef but the wrod as a wlohe. Ins't taht amzanig. Mroe celevr tahn a cmopuetr.
The human mind, ladies and gentlemen. God's masterpiece. Now the scary part. Listen carefully to this. Not only did God design our mind, He knows everything we think. Even harder to understand is the fact that God is not bound by time God exists simultaneously in the past, the present and the future. Therefore God knows the future before we do and He knows everything we are going to think before we think it .The Lord Jesus is the Son of God. The Bible tells us that
Hebrews 1v3 The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being and that
John 1v2 He was with God in the beginning. Jesus said of himself
John 8v58 I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am like God His Father, Jesus has always existed, and will always exist.
Hebrews 13v8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
However 2000 years or so ago, He took human form and entered into time for a short while. But He still knew what people were thinking and were going to think. For example when one of his disciples –
John 13v37 and 38 Peter asked ‘Lord why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you’ 'Then Jesus answered, 'Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the cock crows you will disown me three times.’
Matthew 26v 21 and 25 And while they were eating, Jesus said. 'I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.' Then Judas the one who would betray Him, said 'Surely not I , Rabbi 'Jesus answered. 'Yes it is you.'
These incidents prove two things: 1) God knows what is going on in our minds better than we do ourselves. 2) We can be knowingly or unknowingly dishonest Jesus said repeatedly 'I tell you the truth.' that is to say God cannot lie. What is more when
Genesis 1v31 God saw all that He had made, and it was very good
He meant that it was perfect, especially the man He had made in his image. In other words, the human mind as originally designed by God would have been incapable of lying. So what has gone wrong? Why do we now have some difficulty telling the truth? How did this fault arise in our mind? And how has it affected our relationship with our Creator?
Faced with this tendency to lie, man has devised a legal system whereby someone accused of wrong doing will be required to stand trial. We may never stand trial in this life but ultimately
Romans 14 v 10 & 12 We will all stand before God's judgment seat then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Imagine the scene, we are now in God's courtroom. There will be no jury present, no lawyers for the prosecution or defence, because the whole truth is already known to God. Our crime in legal terms is grand larceny, in layman's terms, theft .The charge is as follows
Genesis 2 v 15 to 17 That in the Garden of Eden the Lord God commanded the man' You are free to eat from any tree in the garden but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for when you eat of it you will surely die.'
However Genesis 3 v 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom she took some and ate it . She also gave some to her husband and he ate it .
Old Testament God may cite the case of King David, who thought he had got away with adultery and conspiracy to murder.
But Hebrews 4 v 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight . Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account .God's sentence upon David was this:
2 Samuel 12 v 13 &14 You are not going to die . But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.
David was only spared to preserve the line of descent to Christ. Again we realise that God can read our minds like an open book. He knows that His perfect design has been compromised by our theft of the knowledge of good and evil. He can see that:
Isaiah 53 v 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.
And as a consequence, we must surely die, because God never breaks His Word. But wait a minute. Who is that sitting at the right hand of God? How did He get those nail marks in His hands and feet? God introduces Him
Matthew 17v5, Mark 9v7, Luke 9v35 This is my Son, whom I love, listen to Him.
The Son of God speaks John 3v16 For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
God calls the apostle Paul to give evidence
1 Corinthians 15 v 3 and 4 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
2 Thessalonians 1v 6 and 7 When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven, He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the Gospel.
Romans 10 v 9 If you confess with your mouth 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
There follows a witness statement from John the Baptist
John 3 v 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life but whoever rejects the Son will not see life for God's wrath remains on him.
Finally the apostle Peter takes the stand and speaking from experience says
2 Peter 3 v 9 The Lord is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
However, it is the Son of God himself who has the last word
John 11v25 and 26 I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this? A hush descends over the proceedings God awaits an answer to His question before passing judgment.
Psalm 139 v 1-4, 23 and 24 O Lord you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise. You perceive my thoughts from afar .You discern my going out and my lying down. You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord Search me, O God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
One final thought. God will hold us accountable for what we believe in this life. Man says 'seeing is believing'. But when we see God face to face it will be too late. Jesus says:
John 20v29 Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed The apostle Paul warns
2 Corinthians 6 v 2 I tell you, now is the time of God's favour, now is the day of Salvation.
Think about it. Some helpful quotations on faith - If you believe that Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father why should you find it difficult to believe God's account of His creation. By love you may feel and touch God by thought never God is beyond our reasoning, intellect, and understanding. He will only reveal Himself to our faith. Nothing is so hard from the world's point of view than the life of faith, whereas nothing is easier from God's perspective – Pascal The Heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of – Pascal God loves you not because you are clever not because you are good but because He is your Father Give your soul peace in solitude; Gain strength in prayer, make it tender with love sweet in humility. Keep it in the presence of God.
1 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 18 to 31 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling - block to the Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength .Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no-one may boast before him. It is because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God - that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord".
