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The more I read the Bible the more convinced I am that God is God. The more I read God’s Word the more assured I am of God’s power and awesome plan. In fact the Bible is the self revelation of the God of the universe who has opened the door and invites us in to meet and worship Him.

This morning I would like to look at the last three words of the first verse of Genesis 1:1  “and the earth” Three words that stagger the mind. God masterfully planned and produced an amazing reflection of His Creative Glory. 1st we looked at – “In the Beginning God ”

God the Eternal, the Infinite, and Sufficient One steps into the universe that began at His command to exist. He states the origin, purpose, and destiny of all the Cosmos and we humans who ever lived in 7 Hebrew words that translate into 10 English words.

What does that mean?

First it means God is OMNIPOTENT

One of the prevailing truths of the Holy Scriptures is the ALL POWERFUL nature of our God. Puritan Pastor Stephen Charnock put it this way:

The power of God is that ability and strength whereby He can bring to pass whatsoever He pleases, whatsoever His infinite wisdom may direct, and whatsoever the infinite purity of His will may resolve…As holiness is the beauty of all God’s attributes, so power is that which gives life and action to all the perfections of the Divine nature. How vain would be the eternal counsels, if power did not step in to execute them. Without power His mercy would be but feeble pity, His promises an empty sound, His threatenings a mere scarecrow. God’s power is like Himself: infinite, eternal, incomprehensible; it can neither be checked, restrained, nor frustrated by the creature.

The prince of the nineteenth century English pulpit was C. H. Spurgeon who said:

God’s power is like Himself, self-existent, self-sustained. The mightiest of man cannot add so much as a shadow of increased power to the Omnipotent One. He sits on no buttressed throne and leans on no assisting arm. His court is not maintained by His courtiers, nor does it borrow its splendor from His creatures. He is Himself the central source and Originator of all power.

As Pink[1] said:

  1. Well, may we TREMBLE before such a God.
  2. Well, may we ADORE such a God.
  3. Well, may we TRUST such a God.

Shouldn’t we bow before Him as we enter His presence this morning? Let’s do just that as we turn to Psalm 90 and read in the presence of our Awesome Creator of the universe.

Second it means God is Omnipresent

A second truth of the God who initiated all the Cosmos is that He is everywhere present. This is the doctrine of OMNIPRESENCE.

Over forty years ago a Pastor in Chicago had a heart for his congregation’s need to get closer to God. He wrote what has now become a classic. It can challenge you if you will listen with your heart and not just your ears.  A. W. Tozer wrote:

What does the divine immanence mean in direct Christian experience? It means simply that GOD IS HERE. Wherever we are, God is here. There is no place, there can be no place, where He is not…No point is nearer to God than any other point. It is exactly as near to God from any place as it is from any other place[2]

God is here when we are wholly unaware of it. He is MANIFEST only when we are aware of His presence. On our part there must be surrender to the Spirit of God, for His work it is to show us the Father and the Son. If we cooperate with Him in loving obedience God will manifest Himself to us, and that manifestation will be the difference between a nominal Christian life and a life radiant with the light of His face.[3]

So when we sing, “Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,” we are not thinking of the nearness of place, but of the nearness of relationship. It is for increasing degrees of awareness that we pray, for a more perfect consciousness of the divine Presence. We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts. Why do some persons “find” God in a way that others do not?…I venture to suggest that the one vital quality which they had in common was SPIRITUAL RECEPTIVITY… Without attempting anything like a  profound analysis I shall say simply that they had spiritual awareness and that they just went on to cultivate it until it became the biggest thing in all their lives.[4]

2nd we looked at “God created the Heavens”

The spaces out there seem limitless, The sheer number of stars, galaxies and swirling energy seems beyond our comprehension, Yet He has named each star and they are obediently following their Creator. And the One who made the Heavens awaits meeting with you!

Now this morning thirdly

“God created the Earth”

Have you looked around to see God’s signature all over this planet. From the depths of the oceans to the heights of our atmosphere, this planet teems with life. In the deepest seas there are volcanic vents spewing superheated water heavy with poisonous metals and acids; incredibly there is an amazing flourishing of countless exotic and unique creatures. In every biome and ecosystem life overflows this planet.

  • Trees in the rainforests overflow with endless varieties of plants, insects, and animals.
  • Artic waters and south sea reefs have a complete cycle of life where one species lives in dependence upon another up and down the food chains.
  • Sands and soils around the earth are literally crawling with countless life forms all showing design exactly for the environment in which they live

May I just point out a few amazing examples of God’s Creative signature?

We can see our creator in the comparison of our AIR CONDITIONING to THE BEEHIVE’s: In order to preserve life in the brood area, the temperature of the beehive is kept at a constant 94degrees F through its ingenious construction and the activity of the bee “air conditioning engineers.” This temperature is maintained even though outside it varies as much as 60 degrees. Who taught the bee air conditioning?

We can see our creator in the comparison of our MECHANICAL PUMPs to THE HUMAN HEART: What machine can compare with the human heart that pumps 100,000 times every day and has a work expectancy of over 70 years without shutdown for maintenance or repair? Who designed the heart?

We can see our creator in the comparison of our SONAR to that of THE BAT: Using the same methods submarines use to detect underwater objects, the bat has such a sensitive sonar system that ‘it can avoid obstacles and catch flying insects on the darkest nights. Where did the bat learn sonar?

We can see our creator in the comparison of our COMPUTERS to OUR BRAINs: Your brain is most impressive and extremely complex. It contains many times more nerve lines than all the telephone lines of the world put together. The electrical signals from 200,000 living thermometer cells, a half-million pressure-sensing cells, and 3 or 4 million pain-sensing cells are all routed to the brain, plus the signals from the eyes, ears, nose, and taste buds.  An amazing example of miniaturization, the brain sorts, stores and acts upon these myfiad impulses. Who built this fantastic “computer”?

We can see our creator in the comparison of our MODERN GUIDANCE SYSTEMS AND migration of THE BIRDS and fish: The Pacific Golden Plover is an outstanding sea bird which breeds in Alaska but winters fashionably in Hawaii 2,000 miles away over open ocean. More amazing is the tact that several weeks after the parent birds leave, the young follow them-without a guide!  Where did the Plover get its guidance system?

We can see our creator in the comparison of MODERN PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE HUMAN EYE: Built-in supersensitive light meter.  Immediate automatic focusing.  Wide-angle lens.  Full-color instantaneous reproduction.  These are some of the remarkable features of the human eye.  Who planned and engineered the eye?

These and many other discoveries that men have made are prodigious Scientific achievements and the result of a very high order of intelligence. But since they parallel what nature has been doing for thousands of years, nature’s phenomena must also be the result of a very high order of intelligence.  The computer, for example, was conceived by man’s own ‘computer,’ the brain.  But who conceived the brain?  It too would have to be conceived and designed for its special work, otherwise the complexities of thinking would just ‘happen” and would therefore be unreliable.  Consequently, there must be a prior claim to man’s mind.  And that claim can only be the mind of the Ultimate Creator, God.

How about the incredible scientific accuracy of the Bible?

Oceanography

Oceanography Job 38:16 Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth? (KJV) [there are teeming life systems surrounding the toxic hot springs at volcanic vents, two miles down in the dark ocean depths unknown until this century]

Ornithology

Ornithology Job 39:26-30 Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, [and] stretch her wings toward the south? 27 Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? 28 She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place. 29 From thence she seeketh the prey, [and] her eyes behold afar off. 30 Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain [are], there [is] she. (KJV) migratory navigation not even closely imitated until satellite navigation, yet God built it into fish, birds and even insects!

Zoology

Zoology Job 38:41 Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat. (KJV)

They arrive with precision against all odds. But how do those 50,000,000 Bristol Bay sockeye salmon[5] get home at the same time each year? How do they know the exact time to return to their spawning spot from as far as 4,000 miles away? And to all return every time those same three weeks in June and July! They never miss their mark. Why? God gave them an absolutely focused sense of direction.

God has placed some nearly unbelievable senses into the animal world. Look at migratory birds. They fly thousands of miles exactly to their destination. How? Scientists conclude they have a sense of the earth’s magnetic fields, like an internal compass. The King of the Universe, our Creator, didn’t leave us out. How’s your compass?  Our directional capacity far exceeds the animal world’s awareness of  magnetic fields or one part per billion of where we were spawned. No, we have a direct line to the Creator. We have Him. He starts and finishes all we ever need. LOOK UNTO HIM!

Meteorology

Meteorology is the study of our atmosphere. Only a few hundred years ago was it found that air above us has mass or weight. However in the first and oldest book of the Bible nearly 4,500 years ago Job said Job 28:24-25 For He looks to the ends of the earth, [And] sees under the whole heavens, 25 To establish a weight for the wind, And apportion the waters by measure. (NKJV)

Hydrology

Hydrology is the water cycle of the earth. Water circulates from the ground and seas to the air and back again. Scripture explicitly documents this fact.

Ecclesiastes 1:7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea [is] not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. (KJV) Note: this was written 1000 BC before anyone knew of the hydrological cycle.

All the rivers run in the sea, to the tune of 286,000 cubic miles of water and yet the sea level doesn’t rise an inch! Why? Because of the marvelously engineered planet with its evaporation and condensation system of the hydrological cycle.

Go back 4500 years ago to the oldest book in the world and listen to God discuss Evaporation, Condensation, Vapor Clouds and Precipitation – all the elements of hydrology, through Job. Job 36:27-28 For He draws up drops of water, Which distill as rain from the mist, 28 Which the clouds drop down [And] pour abundantly on man. (NKJV) Now that is Scientific Precision!

  • Psalm 135:7 He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasuries. (NKJV)
  • Job 26:8 He binds up the water in His thick clouds, Yet the clouds are not broken under it. (NKJV)
  • Job 28:10-11 He cuts out channels in the rocks, And his eye sees every precious thing. 11 He dams up the streams from trickling; [What is] hidden he brings forth to light. (NKJV)

Isostasy

Isostasy is the relatively new study of the rotational balance there is in our global earth between the height of mountains and the depths of the oceans. The desire to understand earthquakes and so on has caused this scientific inquiry. There must be a balance for the earth to not wobble. Did God know about this? He sure does. Listen to Isaiah 600 years before Christ Isaiah 40:12     Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance? (NKJV)

Geodesy

Geodesy studies the shape, size and gravitation forces on the planet. Although science thought the world flat for a time the Scriptures have ALWAYS affirmed the truth.

Geophysics

The earth rotates (turning on an axis)  is a fact that up to the 1400’s was absent from science. The thinkers of the day said the earth was flat. The Hindu writings affirm that it rested on the backs of elephants. But God gives Scriptural truth in:

  • Job 38:14 It takes on form like clay [under] a seal (turning a cylinder in a axis to sign documents), And stands out like a garment. (NKJV) Wow, it rotates and

What holds the earth in space? Gravity. And what is gravity? God says He hung the earth on nothing!

  • Job 26:7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, [and] hangeth the earth upon nothing.

The Earth is Round

  • Isaiah 40:22 [It is] He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants [are] like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. (NKJV)

Geology

  • Job 38:4-6 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. 5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; (KJV)

Oceanography

When Moses recorded God’s Word saying He gathered the waters into one place he used the Hebrew word maqom which means literally ‘one bed’. Only God’s Word says that all the Oceans share one ocean floor. The Seven Seas are actually distinct yet sharing a common bottom.

But what kind of a Being is God? Intelligent?  Look at the plan of nature. Powerful?  Consider the multiplied millions of galaxies in space. Personal?  We can only know Him if He communicates with us.

But has God communicated with us?  Yes!  He has taken on humanity by becoming the man Jesus Christ, whose life is recorded in the Bible. And He has revealed to us, in a life identifiably human and unmistakably divine, that the true nature of God is love.

Two things are always true about love: love always desires the best for the one who is loved, and love expresses itself in giving.  This is how the Bible states it: “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son (Jesus Christ), that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

In spite of this love, in spite of this gift, in spite of this offer of eternal life, there is a barrier between man and God-man’s refusal to acknowledge God’s prior claim to his life.  Man is self-centered instead of God-centered, and the Bible identifies this as rebellion and calls it sin.  Furthermore, the Bible declares that ‘the wages of sin is death. 2 But God offers a solution in the gift of His Son, whose death on the cross paid the penalty for man’s sin and rebellion.

God went the limit.  Now comes your part.  Are you willing to admit that God is right when He says you have rebelled?  Do you recognize your need of a personal relationship with God?  Trust God that He will forgive you and give you eternal life because Jesus took the penalty for your sins.  Accept the Bible’s invitation, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. The Bible also says “if you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him (Jesus) from the dead, you will be saved.- It continues by saying, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

As you listen to me, simply speak to God, tell Him you want to change the direction of your sinful life and receive the offer of His gracious gift of Christ’s death in your place and for your sins! He will and you will know your Creator!

[1] The Attributes of God, p. 51.

[2] A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, Tyndale: Chicago, n.d., p. 62.

[3] Ibid., p. 64.

[4]Ibid.,  pp. 66-67.

[5] Salmon facts derived from the National Geographic, August, 1968, pp. 201-2.

 

Slides


Check Out All The Sermons In The Series

You can find all the sermons and short clips from this series, Genesis here.

You can find all the sermons and short clips from this series, Paradise Lost – From Creation To The Fall here.

Looking To Study The Bible Like Dr. Barnett?

Dr. Barnett has curated an Amazon page with a large collection of resources he uses in his study of God’s Word. You can check it out here.