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Pastor Scott L. Harris
Grace Bible Church, NY
August 15, 2021
The Purpose of Creation
Selected Scriptures
Introduction
For a variety of reasons I have felt prompted to concentrate for the next few weeks on some the foundational issues upon which our understanding of the world and ourselves is formed. I have been burdened for many years to prepare people not only for the things that could happen in life, but also for things we know will happen at some point in time since they are prophesied in Scripture. That has only intensified in the last year and a half as things I did not think could happen in the United States have become routine. For decades I have watched the steady erosion of our basic freedoms as the nation has turned away from Biblical morality so I am very aware of what has already been lost. The younger generations did not know those freedoms, so unless they know their history well, they will not recognize those losses, yet even the youngest generation knows that things radically changed in 2020. From my viewpoint, the road is being paved for the arrival of the antichrist spoken of in Biblical prophecy which in turn properly intensifies the anticipation of the Lord’s return. That is why I preached through 1 & 2 Thessalonians.
Even if my understanding of current signs is wrong and the Lord may yet tarry for a long time before He returns for His church, Jesus warned that we would have tribulation in this world (John 16:33) and Paul warned in 2 Timothy 3:12 that “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” The rapid increase of both in our own land only indicates the need to be prepared for it as quickly as possible. I fear that most professing Christians have been frogs in the kettle for so long that they cannot recognize that they are about to be poached. Paul’s admonition in Romans 12:2 to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” can be hard to recognize and apply when you are immersed in the world system resulting in assimilating its values into your own.
One of the indicators of this that I recognize is the despair that comes upon people when they are faced with news that they will not be able to live out what used to be called the American Dream. They will not be better off than previous generations. They may not be able to live where they like – including where they grew up. They may be blocked from the job they want or even lose the one they now have. They may face being ostracized by friends and relatives for not participating with them or at least affirming their immorality. They will fear the influence of society on their children or grand-children because it is adversarial instead of affirming. All of those are very negative and discouraging to say the least. But despair? Hopelessness? Desperation? None of those things should be true for a Christian at anytime since we have an abiding hope in Christ in all circumstances, yet they are reality for many professing believers. Some wonder, why try? Others find the counsel of Job’s wife to be attractive – curse God and die (Job 2:9).
How did Job hold onto his integrity in the midst of such adversity? How do fellow believers who face severe persecution around the world maintain faith, hope and joy? How can you have the same even if the dreams you had for your future are crushed? It starts with having a firm foundation in the fundamental truths of purpose. This morning we will look at God’s Purpose for Creation, the following week, God’s Purpose for Mankind, and after that “God’s Purpose of Redemption. Arising out of these truths will come a sermon on The Quest of Holiness followed one on the comfort that comes in The Incredible Sovereignty of God
The Problem
Even those who believe that God created everything can be strongly affected by evolutionary philosophy since it pervades nearly everything, and yes, that includes the current political battles and departure of the medical community from actual science. Evolutionary philosophy has demanded obeisance – bowing in submission to it – wherever it goes. The less firm a person’s belief in creation as God describes in Genesis 1, the greater their submission to evolutionary philosophy, and the farther removed they will be from responding properly to God as they consider His creation. Paul describes the downward decline in Romans 1 as God yields man to greater lusts and depravity of mind as man ceases to honor God, then worships what is created instead of the Creator, then ceases to acknowledge God.
Contrary to the basic premise of evolutionary philosophy that there will be improvement over time as the fittest survive, history demonstrates the opposite. In genetics, each generation carries a heavier burden of detrimental mutations than the previous. This is called the genetic load. Improvements in technology in agricultural production, food storage and medicine has increased the average life span, but genetic decline and the associated diseases continue to escalate. Technology has advanced by building on what has been learned in the past resulting in the manufacture of modern marvels, but technology has not improved civilization. Wars continue and the same devices that have such potential for good are also used for evil. Your cell phone and social media are blatant examples of that. Cameras that can be used for much good such as protection are also used for oppression by evil governments.
Why is man evil at heart? The Bible clearly explains that, but evolutionary philosophy can offer no explanation because random processes are amoral. All systems that reject the historical record of Genesis can only offer fictional tales, but man prefers to ignore actual history and follow such tales because it allows him to create his own reality to justify himself.
Consider the efforts in our own society in which a small faction is seeking to destroy knowledge of our national history, and they are being successful. That is the reason for tearing down monuments and promotion of fictional histories such as Howard Zinn’s books and the more recent 1619 project. Severing the ties to the past allows man to ignorantly pursue dreams for the future based on the musings of philosophy and fictional tales instead of truths of reality and fact. Rewriting American history is purposely done so that the nation can be more easily turned away from its heritage to something quite the opposite of it. Rewriting history to contradict the declaration of Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” is far more serious.
Without the correct starting point, you cannot understand how the present came to be. Even worse, without the starting point of creation itself, you cannot know the purpose of anything that exists. The evolutionary tale that everything came from a singularity that exploded into the current ever expanding universe strips any meaning from existence. You are simply a cosmological happenstance of random processes of physics. From stardust you came and to stardust you will return without any meaning to the brief and random interaction of the chemicals of which your body consists. That logically leads to so such despair that few people can handle it, so most merge evolution with other philosophies in order to regain some purpose to life. However, a life lived without purpose or for the wrong purpose will still end tragically for the road they are on does not end where they think it does. Jesus explained in Matthew 7:13-14 that there is a wide gate and a wide way that leads to destruction, and there is a narrow gate and narrow way that leads to life, but few are those that find it. God has a purpose for creation and for man and He has stated it clearly in His reveled word. Man can respond by either living according to that purpose and be blessed by God, or he can reject God’s purpose in favor of his own and be cursed by God.
The Purpose of Creation
The purpose of Creation begins with the fact of Creation. Genesis 1 declares the order of what God created on each day of Creation week. The heavens, earth and light on day one. A separation of the waters above and the waters below on day two. The separation of water from land and creation of plants on day three. The formation of the Sun, Moon and stars on day four. The living creatures of the sea and the birds on day five. The land animals including creeping things and man on day six. Exodus 20:11 summarizes, “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.”
The apostle John began his gospel account pointing out that the Word, Jesus Christ, was with God, was God and was in the beginning with God, and that All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being (John 1:1-3). The apostle Paul pointed out the same thing in Colossians 1:16, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.”
Various other Scriptures will point that God is the creator of particular aspects of Creation. For example, Isaiah 42:5 “Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it And spirit to those who walk in it,” and Isaiah 45:12, “It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands And I ordained all their host.”
The purpose of what is created is determined by its creator, and God created all things, so it is solely up to Him to determine the purpose. Again, as Colossians 1:16 states, “all things have been created through Him and for Him.” That purpose is stated in Revelation 4:11 by the twenty-four elders that fall down in worship of Him who sits on the throne in heaven saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” Paul put it this way in Romans 11:36, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” In Nehemiah 9:6 the Levites lead in worship of God declaring, “You alone are the Lord. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before You.”
God’s purpose of Creation is to receive glory and honor for Himself. Creation demonstrates the nature and attributes of God for which He is to receive worship by the creatures He created. As pointed out earlier from Romans 1, man’s decline into having darkened hearts and depraved minds begins with refusal to honor God as the Creator. Romans 1:18-20 states, 18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”
When we consider the various aspects of creation, our response should be one of awe of our creator and giving to Him praise, honor and glory. In Job 39-41 God points out various aspects of creation including Creatures He has made to Job as sufficient to demonstrate His power, majesty and the right to do as He pleases. Job’s response was “4 “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth. 5 “Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; Even twice, and I will add nothing more” (Job 40:4–5). A recognition and feeling of insignificance was also David’s response in Psalm 8:3-4, 3 “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; 4 What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?” Our response should be the same as we consider any aspect of all that God has created, and it does not matter whether you examine the vastness of the galaxies or the smallest intricacies of the organelles within a cell, we marvel at what God has created.
Paul states in Romans 1:20 that creation reveals aspects of God’s invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature. I am going to spend the rest of this sermon pointing out a few of these things to you. Frankly, my love for science – all aspects of science – is directly related to this. My concentration ended up being in sciences related to agriculture since I thought that would be a good way to make a living I would like, but I enjoyed all the fields of science I studied both in and out of college – chemistry, organic chemistry, bio-chemistry, physics, agronomy, entomology, mycology, plant pathology, nematology, soil science, general, vertebrate & invertebrate biology, zoology, microbiology, ecology, meteorology, geography, geology, astronomy, experimental design, and a lot of other “ologies” that were subsets of another field of study. Though God called me into working in His fields of ministry instead fields of crops, I still enjoy reading science articles on nearly any subject. I see Gods’s hand in everything I see in Creation, and that prompts me to give praise to Him. I view true science the same way that the founders of so many branches of science thought of it – it is understanding the mind of God by thinking His thoughts after Him.
The Heavens – Psalm 19:1
Psalm 19:1 states that “The heavens are telling of the glory of God, And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” The term heavens is plural because Scripture speaks of three heavens. First, the atmospheric heavens where our weather occurs. Second, the celestial heavens in which exist the Sun, moon and stars. Third, the dwelling place of God. All of them are part of creation and all of them declare the glory of God in one way or another. I will quickly mention something about each one and the things that are part of them.
The Atmosphere
There are a lot of references in the Bible to phenomena that occur in the atmosphere. Each of them become more intriguing the more in depth they are studied as they reveal the intricacies of God’s design.
Clouds themselves are incredible. Not just in the types and shapes they take – the various normal forms of Stratus, Cirrus and Cumulus and the various very strange forms that can happen, but also in the formation itself which requires microscopic particles for the water vapor to condense upon, temperature conditions and wind movements. Clouds are mentioned throughout scriptures including a direct association with God when He lead the children of Israel in the wilderness by a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night and in Jesus’ ascension and return in the clouds of heaven.
That water vapor condenses in to rain and snow of various types, and updrafts in a cumulonimbus cloud can produce hail as well as lightning and thunder. Gentle rains are a blessing while downpours and excessive rain that causes flooding is a curse. All of these are mentioned in the Bible multiple times with Psalm 148:8 calling on them to also praise the Lord.
Storms range from those that refresh with rain and cool air (Joel 2:23) to those that bring havoc and destruction. The most intense are hurricanes and tornadoes. All of it caused by variations in temperature which causes pressure differentials causing air to flow. The greater the pressure differences, the stronger the wind.
Earth’s atmosphere itself is made up of about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% other gases such as Argon, Carbon dioxide, Neon, Helium and Methane. It is right mixture and the right thickness. There would be no life on earth if it was too thin like Mars or too thick like Venus, both of which are 95% or more Carbon dioxide with only trace amounts of oxygen.
The Celestial Heavens
The Sun, the Moon and the stars where all created on day four specifically to give light on the earth and to be signs for seasons, days and years. Until there was some understanding of thermonuclear reactions, there was no understanding of how the sun functioned. It would be fair to call it a continuing hydrogen bomb as nuclear fusion converts about 700 million tons of hydrogen to helium per second. It is a medium size star that is 864,000 miles in diameter, about 1.3 million times the size of the earth, with a surface temperature of around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Its magnetic fields are of tremendous strength with fluctuations sending out solar flares of electromagnetic radiation that can cause serious disruption of radio transmission on earth 93 million miles away. Earth’s own magnetic field and its atmosphere protect the earth from the solar radiation that would other wise destroy life on this planet. These are the causes of the “northern lights” – the aurora borealis – which also occurs in the southern hemisphere – the aurora Australis. They are present and active whether you see them or not
The moon is the perfect satellite for the earth and precisely the right distance away for its size so that it can control the tides of the ocean without tearing the earth apart. Without tides stagnation, and especially in harbors, coves and estuaries would cause them to become cess pools of disease instead of sources of life. The moon travels around the earth at the perfect speed to keep it from spiraling into the earth or spinning away from it. Its orbit around the earth every 28 days marks the months with its position reflected in its phase indicating days elapsed. Its spin keeps the same side facing the earth. Until the moon probes of the 1960’s, no man had ever seen the back side of the moon. The relationship of the size of the earth, the size of the moon, its distance from the earth and the path of its orbit allow the phenomena of both solar and lunar eclipses. Though certainly not necessary for life, the phenomena recorded in history allows calculation of the date of ancient events, and solar eclipses allowed early study of the sun that would have been impossible otherwise.
The Stars mark seasons by which constellation can be seen at which time of year. There are many types of stars ranging from white dwarfs to red supergiants and they vary in temperature and composition. There is much theoretical speculation among astronomers about star formation, stages of existence, ages and distance, but since God states that He created all of them on fourth day of creation, we know their formation and age which does not allow enough time for any of their conjectures about stages of existence. Psalm 147:4 even states that God “counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them.” Man cannot even accurately estimate the number of stars in our galaxy (100-400 million) much less the universe – 20 billion trillion to a septillion (7 X 1022 – 1 X 1024). Since the invention of radio telescopes we can now “listen” to electromagnetic radiation waves emitted by the stars. Yet David alluded to that in Psalm 19:2-4 saying, 2 Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. 4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun.”
Galaxies are simply collections of stars gathered together and organized by gravitational and centrifugal forces. There is a wide diversity to the manner in which they are organized. The five classifications are Spiral, Barred Spiral, Lenticular, Elliptical and Irregular. Some of their shapes are astounding.
Keep in mind that until afer the hubble space telescope launched in 1990, the vast majority of the galaxies were unknown, but they have been known to God since creation and they have given glory to Him – Psalm 148:3–4, 3 “Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light! 4 Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens!”
The Dwelling Place of God
While no human alive has seen heaven, the dwelling place of God, descriptions of it have been revealed by God to the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6) and the apostle John (Revelation). We can praise God when we read those descriptions and think about it. Christians can further rejoice that Jesus’ promise is that He is preparing a place for us there and will one day return to take us to be with Him there forever (John 14:1-4).
The Earth
Psalm 24:1 states, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains.” Before I very briefly point out a few aspects of geology that should cause us to praise God, let me place the earth within its place as part of our solar system. Since the Bible is written from the view of men who lived on the earth, the celestial heavens are what exist beyond earth’s atmosphere. The earth is part of the celestial heavens in that it is the third planet from the Sun in our solar system.
The Earth is the unique planet of life. There is a lot of speculation about the possibility of life on other planets in distant solar systems. Frankly, too many astronomers have been spending their time watching Star Wars, Star Trek and other sci-fi movies. Not only is there no evidence for physical life apart from Earth (angels and demons are real and are not bound to Earth), according to NASA, the evidence for exoplanets consists of a handful of relatively close gas giants similar to Jupiter seen in space telescopes with the rest detected by indirect methods such as the dimming of a star as a plant crosses in front of it (transit), monitoring a star for slight dopler shifts in light waves due to a planet’s gravitational pull on the star, or a gravitational lensing “wobble.” Yet, from that minimal detection artists have drawn all sorts of images of what those planets look like even though NASA with their many speculations admits that they do not know if even the best known and studied exoplanets (TRAPPIST-1) possess atmospheres, oceans or glaciers. That exoplants exist only adds additional praise for the complexity of all that God has created including those things still unknown to man. However, I find the efforts in this area as only revealing man’s desperation to try to find some way to get rid of God. If another planet can be found with liquid water on it, they will claim it is enough to justify their evolutionary speculations and beliefs.
God has only revealed His creation of life on the Earth. A unique planet in what is called the “goldilocks zone” of being a planet of the right size and the right distance from the right kind of star for liquid water to form. If it is too close to the sun, it will be too hot and if too far away it will be too cold. If the planet is too small, it can’t gravitationally hold on to an atmosphere. If it too large, the atmosphere will be too thick. If it is a star is of the wrong type, its radiation would destroy the chemical processes of life. The same is true if the planet does not have its own magnetic field. The spin of the earth allows sufficient time for heating and cooling each day so that the surface gets neither too hot nor too cold. The tilt of the earth’s rotational axis as it travels around the Sun produces our seasons which enlarges the habitable areas and moderates storms. Without seasons the polar regions would never get above freezing while the equator would be scorched, and the temperature and thus pressure differences would produce storms of magnitude we could only imagine. Category Five hurricanes would be moderate.
Geology was one of the first science classes I took at a college level, and it has intrigued me ever since. That class included the standard indoctrination in the evolutionary geologic time scale, but in learning the physics of geologic processes and how to recognize them, that class became a bulwark against the foolish claims of eons of time to create the geologic features that we see on the earth. Everywhere I look the land bears witness to a worldwide flood. 2 Peter 3:5-6 explains that mockers willfully forget (NKJV), deliberately overlook (ESV), willfully ignore (HCSB) “that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, 6 through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.” That is a direct reference to the flood during the days of Noah recorded in Genesis 6-9.
The Grand Canyon is certainly an obvious example of a lot of water breaking through a barrier of rock that had not yet hardened in a very short time as are the scrublands of the Pacific Northwest, but both of those are post flood. The idea of stream capture as an explanation of the Grand Canyon is the sign of a desperate mind grasping in fantasy to explain it away. The Grand Canyon reveals the thick rock layers laid down in quick succession during the flood. The bottom layer rests on precambrian rock scrubbed flat. Some of the layers are reversed according to their evolutionary assigned dates. All of the rock layers including the sandstones are water deposited and the area covered by those layers is immense. The Tibetean Plateau is even larger. The explanation that the layers were formed in a delta fails so badly it is ludicrous since no delta that exists today begins to compare in size or evidences formation of such horizontally flat rock layers much less explains the formation of limestone, a precipitate, in a river delta. The Grand Canyon is actually a minor demonstration of the power of God.
Mountains themselves cry out in praise to their Creator. Psalm 104 describes events during the flood including, “The mountains rose, the valley’s sank down to the place which You established for them.” Psalm 65:6 points out that God “establishes the mountains by His strength, Being girded with might.” Mountains are mighty and majestic and commonly thought to be something that will last, but they will not – and no, I am not just talking about erosion. Many passages point to God causing mountains to quake (Sinai – Exod. 19:18; David’s description – Psalm 18; Isaiah’s description – Isaiah 5:25). The description in Psalm 114:4-6 is that “the mountains skipped like rams, The hills, like lambs.” Revelation 6:14 describes earthquakes to come that are so great they cause the mountains and islands to be moved out of place, and Revelation 16:20 describes a coming earthquake so great that “every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.”
Much could be said about the types of mountains that exist and how the various types are formed through tectonic uplift, pressure ridges, erosion of surrounding softer rock, and volcanoes. Then there are the very strange phenomena such as Heart Mountain in Montana which broke off from its base and slide about 40 miles and yet left the slide surface commonly undeformed.
Much could be said about the seas and oceans which were also formed by God as stated in Psalm 95:5, The sea is His, for it was He who made it,” or as in Psalm 33:7, 7 “He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.” God pointed to the boundaries of the sea, its springs and the recesses of its deep in Job 38:8-11, 16 in His revelation of Himself to Job. Does the sea, the sound of waters flowing or the crash of the waves cause you to respond as in Psalm 93:3, “More than the sounds of many waters than the mighty breakers of the sea, The Lord on high is mighty.”
Conclusions
We are past time and I have not even mentioned the creatures God pointed out to Job – the lion, mountain goats, wild donkey, ostrich, horse, hawk, behemoth, and Leviathan. There are thousands and thousands of creatures of every description and every size, from blue whales 100 ft long and 150 tons to trichogrammatid wasps only a 1/4 of a mm long, that declare by their very existence that praise is to be given to God. Then there are plants of every description and size from the 600 year old costal redwood growing to 380 ft tall to the quick blooming desert flowers that you have to get on your hands and knees to see. The same can be said for the world of microbiology and one celled creatures. Then there is the intricacies of cell structures, bio-chemistry and how DNA and RNA work to code and make the proteins that enables your body to function.
Have you considered the complexity of your incredible immune system? The government and pharmaceutical companies are ignoring it in the current crises because they worship the creature and his designs instead honoring the Creator and seeking to understand and follow His design. Have you heard any politician in the last year and a half call for even a day of prayer over the ongoing medical crises? The answer is the same as when you last saw a sign in a National Park that gave praise to God. When man ignores God and rejects Him as the creator, then expect foolishness.
Do not take your cue from government, societal leaders or celebrities. When you see, hear, touch, feel, taste or smell anything related to God’s creation – which is pretty much everything – then give Him praise. Seeking to understand His design in creation only deepens the praise. As you do that, you will find that you will join David in Psalm 139 proclaiming, “I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it well.”
Sermon Notes – August 15, 2021
The Purpose of Creation – Selected Scriptures
Introduction
We __________ to be prepared for tribulation & persecution (John 16:33; 2 Timothy 3:12).
We must ___________ being conformed to this world – Romans 12:2
Despair is an indication of being influenced by the __________ of the world
Despair can come upon a Christian, but it should not be and it can be ___________
The Problem
Evolutionary philosophy pervades society – and the less ____the belief in Genesis 1, the greater its influence
Technology improves, but mankind ___________physically (genetic load) and morally (Romans 1:18-32)
All systems that reject the historical record of Genesis can only offer fictional tales – but man prefers ______
Rewriting American history is serious, but contradicting _______________ is far more serious
Evolutionary philosophy strips any _________from existence – you are a brief, random chemical interaction
Most people merge evolution with other philosophies to avoid despair, but the __________still leads to ruin
The Purpose of Creation
The ________of Creation – Genesis 1, Exodus 20:11; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16, Isaiah 42:5; 45:12
All things have been created by God ____________& His honor & glory (Col. 1:16; Rom 11:36; Neh. 9:6)
Creation demonstrates the nature & attributes of God for which He is to receive _________by His creatures
A proper response to Creation is ____of the Creator & giving Him praise, honor & glory (Job 40:4f; Ps 8:3f)
Creation reveals aspects of God’s invisible attributes (Rom. 1:20), study of the sciences should _______that
The Heavens – Psalm 19:1-4
The Atmosphere
Cloud types
Rain, snow, hail, thunder & lightning
Storms of all sorts – gentle rains to tornadoes & hurricanes
Earth’s Atmosphere: The _______mixture & the right thickness – unlike Venus or Mars
The Celestial Heavens
The Sun – A continuous hydrogen bomb converting 700 million tons of Hydrogen to Helium per second
Magnetic flares hit earth’s magnetic field causing the aurora borealis & aurora australis (polar lights)
The Moon – the perfect satellite at precisely the right size, distance, spin and orbit
The Stars – All were created on day four of Creation. They mark the seasons by the constellations formed.
God knows their count & names (Ps. 147:4) and they praise Him (Psalm 19:2-4)
Galaxies – of all sorts of shapes & sizes gave praise to God before man knew they existed
The Dwelling Place of God – revealed in Scripture & Christians look forward to going there
The Earth – Psalm 24:1
A unique planet of life. Is located in the “goldilocks zone” of the right kind of star
The earth is the right size, distance, composition, spin, tilt & orbit
Geology – a proper understanding of the physics of geology counters evolutionary theory
People deliberately overlook the flood of Noah’s time – 2 Peter 3:5-6
The Grand Canyon – formed post flood – but Kaibab plateau formed during the flood
Mountains praise their Creator – Psalm 104; 65:6. God shakes them (Exod. 19:18; Ps 18; 114; Isa 5:25)
Seas & Oceans formed by God – Psalm 33:7; 95:5; Job 38:8-11, 16.
Conclusions
Animals of every description
Plants of every size
Complexity of Microbiology, Bio-chemistry, DNA & RNA, and body systems
Seeking to understand His design in creation only deepens the praise – Join with David in Psalm 139
KIDS KORNER – Parents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents at lunch. Older Children – count how many times something related to Creation is mentioned. Talk to your parents about what you see in Creation that causes you to want to praise the Lord.
THINK ABOUT IT – Questions to consider in understanding the sermon and its application. Why should we be prepared for tribulation & persecution? Why is despair an indicator of being influenced by the world? How should Christians respond and what enables that response? What is the connection between a firm belief in Genesis 1 and praising God? How does evolutionary philosophy match the decline of man described in Romans 1:18-32? Why is technological advancement not evidence of evolution? Why is the heart of man evil? Why is that question irrelevant to an evolutionist? Why is there an effort to rewrite American history? Why is rewriting of Genesis history more serious? What does Scripture proclaim about the fact of Creation? What is the purpose of Creation? What does Creation demonstrate about God’s nature and attributes? What should be the proper response when considering Creation? How can a proper study of the sciences enhance your understanding of God and giving praise to Him? What does the atmosphere reveal about God and bring praise to Him? What do the bodies in the celestial heavens (Sun, Moon, Stars & Galaxies) do the same? How is the Earth unique among all planets? What evidence is there for exoplanets and what can be known about them? How is earth a “goldilocks planet” in the “goldilocks zone?” Why do most geologist ignore Noah’s flood? What geologic evidence are you aware of that supports a worldwide flood and contradicts evolutionary philosophy? How do mountains bring praise to God? How do seas bring praise to God? What about microbiology? Bio-chemistry, body systems? How should you respond to experiencing and considering Creation?
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