SEPTEMBER 20, 2020 SUNDAY MESSAGE
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The time I joined a Beginning Ceramics Class and accidentally made a good piece of art:
• I joined the class as an easy A
• Pinch pot ≠ // and shaped it or molded it into this (head shape)
• It took a lot of effort and I left it bald because I TRIED to make hair but looked bad (I had limitations)
• You ready? I’m gonna UNVEIL it
• I’m pretty proud of it...but it’s a fluke!
• That’s fun and I’m an image bearer of God and I made an image of something else but...
• I didn’t actually MAKE anything, I shaped it. The clay was made by a company out of existing materials.
• All I really did was arrange something recognizable out of something that had it’s origins somewhere
Now GOD, as the original creator, made this <unveil the GLOBE>:
• Well he didn’t create a globe of theEarth - he created the Heavens and the actual EARTH (and
everything within it)- Even my best example of Gods creation is a miniature.
• ...and He didn’t just form or shape materials, he spoke and matter existence came from non-
existence. He created something out of NOTHING!
• He didn’t wrestle with it, He had no limitations, He didn’t get to Adams hair and say “oops...I’ll just leave him bald” - He simply thought it and it became.
• The scriptures says he created all of it in 6 days (no matter how you interpret the idea of “6 days” this is still an impressive work of art)
• And on the 7th day, He was done...like he RESTED - or stopped - kind of like sat back and
ENJOYED WHAT HE HAD CREATED!! It’s like when an artist steps back after creating a
masterpiece and thinking, “okay, it’s finished.”
Have you ever felt like this? You created something and ENJOYED IT?
In fact, I want us all to pause and recognize yourself in this part of the story. What is something YOU created, accomplished, or made and paused to take it in as complete or you enjoyed what you created?
Maybe you...
• Renovated your Kitchen
• Finished the Lawn
• Tended a garden
• Made a gift for someone
• Maybe your Job/vocation contributes to this sense of creation within you!
I think, at one time or another, we have all had the opportunity to complete/create something and delight in it.
• This is a reflection of our creator inside of us and
• there is a sense of fulfillment that can be found in the things we create and tasks we do.
Sometimes we don’t get that though! We tend to see work as the thing that gets in the way of our weekends or vacations!
What if Adam and Eve did nothing?
But that’s NOT what we see SO have you ever wondered why God
gave people jobs in EDEN?
• Adam named the animals
• God put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it
• There was a mandate to “be fruitful and multiply”
In Eden WORK is established, we are to recognize that work and productivity is a GOOD thing! So how does that reshape our understanding of the renewal in the New Heaven and Earth?
Will there be work?
I want you to see that in-the- PRESENT, you are TASKED with DOING and there is PURPOSE in our doing...it’s all a part of God’s grand design!!
As we turn to our Bibles to Genesis 1:1, we are going to look at that design and address three things:
• the BEAUTY of it
• the AUTHORITY of God seen in
• The intentional STRUCTURE given in CREATION!
• After that - we will look at the plausible implications of that design on our lives today!
GO AHEAD AND OPEN UP TO GENESIS 1:1
First, there is BEAUTY found in this book as a poetic/liturgical writing. What do I mean by that? I don’t say that to necessarily imply that it can't be literal!
What I mean by poetic/liturgical value, is that this book sings like a song with VERSES and a REFRAIN.
• In the verses, GOD CREATES
• In the refrain, it is called GOOD
• Some suggest it is like a liturgical CALL & RESPONSE or ANTIPHONAL sung, recited, or
played alternately by two groups.
• CS Lewis saw this and depicted it in his Narnia series and
• I love the way the Jesus Story Book Bible says it...
Let’s read the introduction in the NIV
Genesis 1:1 says,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
There is not just BEAUTY but FEROCITY and AUTHORITY in these words!
• We see God’s POWER BECAUSE He speaks and things come into being. HE is the SOURCE of all creation!
• This statement is made in opposition to any and all other deities...
During this time, there were other creation narratives.
• They typically started with violent competition or death
• Most prominently, the Mesopotamian account called The “Enuma Elish” wherein a character named Marduk had to slay Tiamat in order to create the universe!
• but, in the Hebrew Bible, YHWH just IS the CREATOR, there is no competitor and...
• This sets the God of the Bible apart from would-be deities and establishes an authority unlike
any other!
• Likewise the earth being “formless and empty with darkness over the surface of the deep waters” is a reference to the Hebrew understanding that before God began ordering things, there was emptiness...or something worse:
• Because the sea refers to the terrifying primordial cosmic waters or sea of chaos...
• But even the sea simply obeys YHWH and operates under His will AND...
• THIS environment that God speaks and order begins!
With all of this, we are to understand that YHWH alone has complete and unchallenged RULE
in His creation. He REIGNS
• IN all and
• OVER all things
However, this RULER is a benevolent and relational God...As a result, He delegates His authority - allowing humanity to be participants in His reign and rule!
Even this participation is embedded into his intentional STRUCTURE...
We are going to take a look at this structure but we don’t have time to read all of the chapter so I need your help!! What happens on the:
1. Day & Night - Gen. 1:5
• And it was GOOD!
2. Waters above (the heavens) & waters below (the oceans) - Gen. 1:6-8
• And it was GOOD!
3. Land & Vegetation - 1:11-12
• And it was GOOD!
4. Sun (to rule the day) & Moon (to rule the night) - 1:16-18
• And it was GOOD!
5. Birds to rule the heavens; fish to rule the seas - 1:22 Something significant happens in verse 1:22. It says, “22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” We will come back to that later...
• And it was GOOD!
6. Land animals & Humanity 1:24-26
Let me point something out to you that you may not have seen before!
There is an intentional Structural/ Liturgical relationship between the two sections...
• What rules the Day & Night?
• What rules the Air and Oceans?
• What rules the land?
There is more than just framework but an implied understanding of representation and order. Everything has a:
• Kingdom Purpose and a
• Structured Order of Authority
...and just in case you thought I forgot, “God said it was ( PAUSE ) NO! God said it was VERY GOOD! Verse 31 reads “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good!”
Now, if you’re wondering where humans have a unique part in this story, check out Verse 26:
“26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
Humanity is crowned above the other CREATURES and CREATION!
Genesis reiterates this in verse 27…
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (it’s noteworthy that God has both male and female attributes) 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
From the VERY BEGINNING, we are told there is - amidst all of creation - one who stands out beyond the rest as being made in God’s Image. THIS IS HUMANITY & THIS IS WHAT I MEANS TO BE HUMAN
Sandra Richter writes, “This creature, unlike all the others, is made in the very image of God. Male and female, they are God’s representatives on earth and have been appointed as his stewards of all the wealth and beauty of paradise. But the narrative is not over yet...”
Chapter 2:1 says...
“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.”
This grand crescendo is that God takes place as King on the top of the CREATED ORDER and CHOOSING to partner with those who are made in His image. Take a look at this graphic:
Richter writes again, “Genesis 1 tells us of God’s first, perfect plan—a flawlessly ordered world infused with balance and productivity. Here every rock, plant and animal had its own designated
place within God’s design, a God- ordained space in which each could thrive, reproduce and serve the good of the whole.”
So, when it’s working as it was intended, all of creation thrives...
“And we see from the structure of Genesis 1 that the force that held this peaceful and productive cohabitation in balance was Yahweh’s sovereignty over all. But as Day 6b makes clear, God chose to manage this creation through his representative HUMANITY. Thus humanity is given all authority to protect, maintain and develop God’s great gift under God’s ultimate authority. This is who Yahweh is, who humanity is and how both relate to the creation.”
WOW!! So, when it’s working as it was intended, all of creation thrives...and this is STILL our
responsibility today....it gets disrupted in the next chapter but this is still our responsibility today!
• There is BEAUTY in it
• There is AUTHORITY seen in it
• There is life-giving STRUCTURE built into it!
In order for us to reclaim this, there is a natural rhythm we need to recognize involving our relationship with God. At the beginning of this series, I said it two threads running throughout the entire story called COVENANT & KINGDOM.
BOTH ARE SEEN RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING
• At the core, “COVENANT” is all about relationship: the word means “to become one.”
• By establishing the intimacy of His image upon people, there is
a covenant relationship created.
• God’s desire was that we should live in an unbroken union with him and have a sense of
BELONGING within God’s covenant
• And now, when anyone looks at us, they will see him!
Richter, Sandra L.. The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament (p. 103). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition. 1
• KINGDOM sits alongside the theme of relationship. There is responsibility to being one of
God’s CO-REGENTS.
• There is great purpose for you being on this earth with your gifts, talents, blessings and your
vocation.
• You must be a good steward of what God has put under your rule by being a fruitful, productive, multiplying, representation of the RULER.
• If you represent the King poorly, others will see our King as a bad King.
In ancient times, images of rulers were created and placed on coins and statues and distributed to lands that they could not or didn’t care to govern with staff. It was a way to make sure that the citizens in that area knew who their ruler was.
• Our God, however, sends living/ breathing images of himself by way of His people to represent
Him in all that we do!
• While other had idols that were lifeless and mute, God’s image bearers had the very winds of God breathed into them as they portrayed the Kingdom.
Our rhythm looks more like a pendulum swing between the two.
• Covenant relationship & BEING
• Kingdom Responsibility & DOING
BUT you NEED to know that Kingdom MUST always follow Covenant because healthy responsibility always follows relationship in God’s design!! If you get that wrong,
• you will STRIVE trying to earn something God has already given you,
• or try to BECOME SOMETHING OTHER than WHO GOD HAS CREATED AND GIFTED you to be!
• Or misuse your authority
• Or mistreat what God has given you go steward!
This is a great time to stop, to pause, and reflect on where we see ourselves in this story!!
We have all been called to the enter into the Beauty, authority, and structure of God’s creation.
May you embrace the Covenant Relationship of God in your life and, out of that, engage the Kingdom Responsibility in all you do!!
Think about the kind of nurses, and teachers, bus-drivers, students, businessmen, parents and technicians that God would have you become in order to represent Him well and allow our society to THRIVE as God intended!
Let’s join together to re-create and proclaim the Good News of Gods Rule/Reign as it was in EDEN and as it will be in heaven...here on this Earth!
COMMUNION:
(1 COR. 11:23B-26)
“The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
SAVE THE DATE: The 2020 Marriage Retreat is scheduled to be Saturday and Sunday, November 7 and November 8!
PRAYER REQUESTS:
We are hosting prayer team meetings for both the congregation at large and individuals to sign up for individual prayer.
SUGGESTIONS FOR WORSHIP:
Coty Miller’s own “Praise & Worship” Spotify playlist and “Praise & Worship” YouTube playlist (slightly different from each other), both of diverse music that are being constantly updated!
Bethel Music :
Bethel Music’s hours of live music YouTube Playlist, also being constantly updated
Bethel provides chords to most (if not all) of their songs here (just have to register email, but free!)
Live worship moments from the Upper Room YouTube Playlist
Journal writing! (I’m a writer too, so sometimes creative writing and writing my thoughts to God is my form of worship.)
Declare and worship with truth by singing and praying scriptures.
WORSHIP NIGHT! Dedicate a night to worship with friends and family, your house church or neighbors, those who need prayer, love worship, or just enjoy music through a video chat platform like Zoom. You can have one person leading at a time (switching off to whoever else wants to lead) while others sing along, pray, or prophesy, etc.
Serving your community, both online, in person, or both, is a great way to worship God, from spreading encouragement and God’s Word online to physically serving food to others. If you are able to go out and serve, click here for opportunities.
COMMISSIONING:
As Jesus said in John 20:21,
"Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
Go, be the Church!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen.