WEBVTT 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:10.560 We've got 34 verses, so it called for a whiteboard. 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:13.519 Well, good morning, and welcome to Trinity. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:21.199 My name is Mike, and this morning I'd like to invite you to turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter one. 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:28.320 If you didn't bring a Bible with you, please don't hesitate to hop up and grab one from the stack in the back. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:32.240 And if you don't have your own Bible, we do have some in the back that are giveaways. 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:36.799 Please feel free to take one and keep it. 00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:48.719 There's something about holding an actual book and writing on an actual page that helps us learn in a way that just listening or looking at a phone doesn't. 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:54.399 So I'd like to encourage you to make a practice of opening a Bible with a pen in hand. 00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:58.000 And I think that's especially true this morning. 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:03.679 As we look at a text that's familiar, try to pay attention well together. 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:08.239 I love, I love the first several chapters of Genesis. 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:15.840 The creation story has so much to teach us about God and about the world and about what it means to be human. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:21.760 And this is the first time we've looked at it here at Trinity in our two and a half years of existence. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:25.840 I'm quite certain it will not be the last. 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:30.159 This Sunday in the liturgical year is Trinity Sunday. 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:36.319 The reason this text is in the lectionary is because from the beginning, there's a subtext. 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:41.920 We can see God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit working to bring creation about. 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:44.480 And we're not even talking about that this morning. 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:47.680 But we'll have to come back to that in a future time. 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:53.920 This morning, instead, I'd like to keep things simple, found foundational. 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:59.439 This is a text it is easy to skim through because it's long. 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:05.599 Many of us have heard it over and over again over the years. 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:12.080 Here's what I think Genesis 1 is trying to do at the most basic level. 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:17.120 Genesis 1 is trying to introduce us to God. 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:24.159 Speak to his character, purpose, identity, show us how he works. 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:26.319 So that's what we're gonna do this morning. 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:32.319 We'll ask the question: what does Genesis 1 reveal to us about God? 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:38.159 We'll do this by walking through the text, yes, all 34 verses again. 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:44.719 We'll make some observations about what God does and how he does it. 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:50.639 My plan is to do it in 20 minutes so we can welcome the kids back up. 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:53.599 Someone's gonna, Pastor Mary's gonna set a timer. 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:54.639 We'll see. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:57.039 First, let's pray. 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:05.039 Gracious God, thank you for this beautiful day, for the chance to gather, to sing, to pray, to hear from your word. 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:12.639 I pray now that as my words line up with your words, that they would fall on ears and hearts, ready to receive them and respond. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:20.240 And gracious God, if I say anything that isn't from you, I pray that those words would quickly be forgotten. 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:25.439 And I pray all these things through Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:26.400 Amen. 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:30.240 In the beginning, God does what? 00:03:32.800 --> 00:03:39.439 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:49.280 The earth was without form and void, darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:52.159 First, God creates. 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:54.800 God is creative. 00:03:55.520 --> 00:04:04.240 It's in his nature, it's in his character to creatively bring beauty and order out of the darkness. 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:09.280 And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:14.080 Second, God speaks. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:18.240 God speaks. 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:25.920 And when he speaks, things change. 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:32.959 A word, a word is all it took, and something comes from nothing. 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:37.439 And then look at this: God saw that the light was good. 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:39.839 And God separated the light from the darkness. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:44.160 God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:49.839 And there was evening, and there was morning the first day. 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:51.279 Third. 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:02.879 God saw the light, and he saw that it was good. 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:08.240 God looks, he's looking, he's paying attention. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:19.519 My friend Hannah, who preached here at Trinity a few weeks ago, made this observation in her book, Feasting on Hope, that babies are born looking for the face of their parents. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:27.120 We are born looking for a face that's looking for us. 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:37.600 And right here, from the very beginning, the scriptures establish the fact that God sees. 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:42.800 This is a pattern we're going to see in the verses that follow. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:46.240 And you've heard me say this over and over again. 00:05:46.560 --> 00:05:51.439 Anytime we see repetition in the Bible, we ought to pay attention. 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:58.079 If you've got your own Bible in your lap, you're going to start seeing these words over and over and over again. 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:00.480 So as we go, underline them. 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:01.519 They're important. 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:09.600 The repetition speaks to God's character, to who he is, to how he works and is working. 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:11.759 So look at the pattern. 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:21.439 God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters. 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:23.279 And God made, he created. 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:25.839 The words are different, but they mean the same thing. 00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:27.120 The expanse. 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:34.000 And he separated the waters that were under from the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse, and it was so. 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:38.240 And God called the expanse heaven. 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:43.439 And there was evening, and there was morning, the second day. 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:47.839 Let's pause here again, briefly, to make observation number four. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:50.160 If you've got a Bible, open your lap. 00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:52.879 Underline the word called. 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:54.720 This is actually the second time we've seen it. 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:56.399 He did it back in verse 5 as well. 00:06:56.560 --> 00:06:57.680 What do we see here? 00:06:58.000 --> 00:06:59.600 God names. 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:04.399 God names. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:08.879 He doesn't just create, but he names. 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:12.959 It's personal, his relationship with creation. 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:14.879 It's relational. 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:27.279 He cares enough about his creation not just to create it, not just to speak it into creation, not even just to see it, but to name it. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:40.639 I heard once that if you ever visit a farm, you can tell immediately which animals are pets or kept for breeding or milking or laying eggs versus which ones are intended for the slaughter. 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:43.279 Anyone want to guess what the difference is? 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:45.279 A name. 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:48.480 You don't name the pig that's going to be bacon. 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:55.040 You do name the cow that's going to give you milk every day for a generation. 00:07:56.639 --> 00:08:00.879 A name speaks care, relationship. 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:05.360 And God called the expanse heaven. 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:08.319 Let's see if the pattern continues. 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:12.639 So far, God creates, speaks, seas, names. 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:14.160 We'll pick it up at verse 9. 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:21.519 God said, there it is again, let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear. 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:22.879 And it was so. 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:26.800 And God called the dry land earth. 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:33.279 And the waters that were gathered together, he called seas, and God saw that it was good. 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:44.080 And God said, Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, fruit trees bearing fruit, in which is their seed, each according to its kind on the earth. 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:50.000 And it was so, and I'm so God that gre I'm so glad that God created fruit because it's delicious. 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:54.480 And the earth brought forth vegetation, some of which is delicious. 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:57.919 Plants yielding seed according to their own kind. 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:02.960 Trees bear all the kids are like, amen, broccoli is just okay at best. 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:12.960 Trees bear fruit, in which is their seed each according to their kind, and God saw again that it was good. 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:16.799 And there was evening and there was morning the third day. 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:27.440 And God said, Let there be lights in the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons, for days and for years. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:29.279 And aren't the seasons wonderful? 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:32.879 I'm so glad God created the seasons. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:34.639 And it was so. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:42.639 God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, the lesser night to rule the night, and he created the stars. 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:52.080 He set them in the expanse of the heaven, gave light to the earth to rule over the day and over the night, to separate the light from the darkness, and God does what? 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:56.879 Verse 18, he saw that it was good. 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:04.399 Are you picking up on the pattern? 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:08.799 Verse 20, and God does what? 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:19.279 Said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens. 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:30.960 So God created the great sea creatures, every living creature that moves, and what creativity created Cappy Baras for crying out loud. 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:34.399 And he saw that it was good. 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:41.440 And then in verse 22, there's a slight change in the pattern. 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:42.720 Do you see it? 00:10:44.000 --> 00:10:53.120 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, fill the waters and the seas, let birds multiply on the earth. 00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:56.000 And there was evening and there was morning. 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:03.919 God blesses. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:06.000 That's a change in the pattern. 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:15.279 He doesn't just create, speak, see, name, but now he blesses as well. 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:18.720 That's my fifth observation about God's character. 00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:20.879 And do you see this? 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:25.039 When God blesses, he blesses for a purpose. 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:32.159 Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters and the sea and let birds multiply in the earth. 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:40.320 He blesses the creatures to procreate, to themselves be creative. 00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:43.039 And it continues. 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:49.120 Verse 24. 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:58.480 God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds, livestock, creeping things, beasts of the earth according to their kinds. 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:01.600 I guess this is when he made the capybara, and it was so. 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:06.720 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and the livestock. 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:13.440 This is why we have bacon according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:14.960 And God does what? 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:22.000 He saw that it was good until the sixth day. 00:12:47.360 --> 00:13:07.440 Verse 26, God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:11.759 And God created man in his own image. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:14.399 In the image of God, he created them. 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:18.240 Male and female, he created them. 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:29.039 This is where Genesis 1 begins to speak not just to the character of God, but to the character of humanity. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:38.080 We're told that over and over again in these two verses. 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:45.919 First in verse 26, let us make man in our image once, after our likeness to. 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:50.960 Then again in verse 27, so God created man in his own image. 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:55.360 In the image of God, three and four, God created him, male and female. 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:09.600 First. 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:28.559 And you have a creator. 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:34.559 It's repeated three times in verse twenty-seven alone. 00:14:35.679 --> 00:14:38.639 So God created man in his own image. 00:14:38.799 --> 00:14:40.960 In the image of God, he created him. 00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:44.399 Male and female, he created them. 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:48.240 You are created. 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:50.240 You have a creator. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:52.720 You are not God. 00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:54.720 And second. 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:07.120 You are made in the image of God. 00:15:10.240 --> 00:15:12.879 Theologians call this the Imago Day. 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:15.919 You are precious. 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:18.080 You are precious. 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:27.840 And we, male and female, belong to God in a way that is personal and unique. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:35.360 And unlike the rest of creation, you look like your father. 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:38.799 And this is good news. 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:43.120 And it's unlike the rest of creation. 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:45.440 Now look at this. 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:47.200 God isn't done yet. 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:48.559 Verse 28. 00:15:49.360 --> 00:15:51.039 And God blessed them. 00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:56.720 And then he gives them, gives us purpose. 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:01.919 It's corny, but God blesses humanity to be a blessing. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:13.360 Continuing, verse 28, God said to them, it's worth noting that this is the first time God speaks to creation, other than blessing the birds and fish to multiply. 00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:22.480 Every other time he's spoken up until this point, it's been to himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, triune God in relationship with himself, speaking and creating. 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:25.279 But here, God speaks in a way that's personal. 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:28.320 He speaks directly to humanity. 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:31.679 He says, Be fruitful and multiply. 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:34.559 Fill the earth and subdue it. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:40.080 Have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. 00:16:40.159 --> 00:16:50.960 And God said, Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, every tree with seed in its fruit. 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:54.799 You shall have them for food. 00:16:55.519 --> 00:17:06.799 And to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the heavens, to everything that creeps on the earth, and everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food. 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:08.400 And it was so. 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:24.319 He delights. 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:30.079 God delights. 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:42.400 He delights in you and me. 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:47.200 The same way a parent delights in a child, right? 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:53.519 The same way, like, I don't know about you, but Pearl decided to giggle during the first reading. 00:19:54.319 --> 00:20:02.400 And the same, like, I don't think that there is a sound in the world that is better than a baby or a toddler giggling. 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:03.759 Right? 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:09.279 How many of us hear a little one giggling and there's we can't help but smile, right? 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:10.079 We delight. 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:12.160 That's because we're made in God's image. 00:20:12.400 --> 00:20:16.640 And he delights in his good creation, in the gift of it. 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:22.319 He delights in the giving, the creating, the seeing, the naming. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:24.640 It's very good. 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:27.440 And then he rests. 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:30.960 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:32.720 All the host of them. 00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:41.519 On the seventh day, God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:55.039 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. 00:20:57.519 --> 00:20:58.720 God rests. 00:20:59.119 --> 00:21:00.559 It's repeated there. 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:04.640 Look, God is no taskmaster. 00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:11.119 God is not primarily interested in production. 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:20.480 God's not primarily interested in effectiveness in the way the world sees it. 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:24.480 He's not primarily interested in optimization. 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:36.640 Heck, the sovereign God of the universe could have spoken a word from the start and done it all. 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:44.319 Instead, he lingers for days over his work. 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:50.799 He could have spoken one word on the first day and it could have been done. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:59.759 Instead, he takes his time creating, seeing, blessing. 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:03.839 Naming, delighting. 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:11.599 And when he's done, he stops and he rests. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:24.640 When we refuse to rest, we are one hundred percent saying that we know better than God. 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:35.599 And he's not interested in effectiveness the way the world is. 00:22:37.440 --> 00:22:40.480 This is how God works. 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:46.720 He creates and speaks and sees. 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:50.480 God names and blesses. 00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:52.240 He gives. 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:53.920 He delights. 00:22:55.359 --> 00:22:59.440 He lingers for crying out loud. 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:02.960 And then God rests. 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:05.839 This is who God is. 00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:07.039 This is what God does. 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:11.200 And this is how, this is how God does it. 00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:16.000 As for you and me, well, we're not God. 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:18.799 We're not God. 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:21.440 We're created beings. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:27.680 But we've been created in his image, male and female, he created us. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:29.920 He's made us like him. 00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:39.519 And he's invited us into his work, to steward it, to care for it, to rule it. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:24:25.519 Could it be, could it be, if we really are made in the image of God, that we're designed, perhaps, to work like he does, to create, and see, and name, to bless, to give our best away, to delight in it, to linger, and then at the end of the week, to stop and rest and delight again, because he does it each day in the good gifts of God. 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:48.480 I wonder, I wonder, how would our lives and our families, our neighborhoods, and our workplaces, how would they be different if we worked and rested and delighted like this together? 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:50.240 Let's pray. 00:24:50.559 --> 00:24:56.799 Gracious God, thank you for this word given to us. 00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:06.319 God, thank you for what it reveals about your character, about the way you work. 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:22.559 And gracious God, I pray that you would form us to be a people who work like this, creatively, joyfully, open-handedly, giving our best away. 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:27.119 Would you slow us down a bit, teach us to delight? 00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:43.119 God, I pray that in doing so you would form us to be a witness to our friends and neighbors and co-workers who are told by the world that their value depends on their productivity. 00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:54.400 Would you remind us again that our value lies not in our productivity, but in the fact that we are made in the image of God? 00:25:55.920 --> 00:25:58.880 We pray all these things through Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:25:59.200 --> 00:25:59.680 Amen.