Mountainside UMC
January 4, 2015
The Story Series – Message 1
Creation: The Beginning of Life as We Know It
Intro to The Story in Prayer portion
If you have your copy of The Story with you I invite you to turn
to page 1 as I read this opening sentence. Please Read with me…
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Today
this statement may not jolt you but this is a Radical Declaration :
In it’s day, and remains to this day perhaps the single, most
controversial and important sentence and radical declaration that
has ever been written. It changed the world.
Historians have written that in reference to the Scriptures of the
Old Testament, that it is almost impossible to conceive how these
words shaped the world and in particular these opening words.
Imagine for a moment that as you were growing up that you had
never heard that there was a personal God who created all things,
who promises life beyond this world. Try then to imagine
significance of this very first verse that in the Ancient Near East,
where these words were written, there were a number of myths
about how creation took place..
But Moses writing these words makes his declaration of his faith
and calls us to believe this truth as well. Today in a world where
many want to believe that there is no personal God who created all
things and to whom we must each give an account of our life, it is
no small thing to make this same faith declaration that, “In the
Beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Please understand that this declaration is not just there is a God
who created the heavens and the earth and everything that exists
but that this God is the focal point of all existence and without
understanding this nothing else makes sense.
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This is not just the declaration of a God who creates all that exists
but it is the introduction to the main character who is not distant
but amazingly personal as we will quickly see. In the beginning
God created the heavens and the earth. 10 words declaring the
main character and his first actions relating to all that we see but
WHY?– what’s the point or purpose? From a Biblical
perspective, creation is just an introduction, a backdrop, the
background to the main event and purpose of creation.
Before we see the purpose we are told that the backdrop was
created in six days or division. Days 1, 2, and 3 are places created
by God. Day 1—Light and Dark then Day 2—Sky and Water then
Day 3—Land. Days 4, 5, and 6 those places are filled with the
things the places were created for. Day 4—Sun and Moon/stars
Day 5—Birds and Sea creatures Day 6-Animals and human beings
Just a short side note on DAY 4(sun, moon & stars) that I will
mention refer back to in a couple of weeks, but I want highlight
today. Most of us think that God put the sun and the moon and
stars in place for lighting the night and day and this is true.
However what is often overlooked(myself included) is that God
says that there is a second reason. On the top of page two at the
beginning of the first full paragraph we have these words. “And
God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the
day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark the sacred
times, and days and years…”
What does “signs to mark the sacred times mean?” Some suggest
particularly Jewish scholars will say that these will refer to the
Feasts of Israel. Add to this that Christians believe that the feasts
of Israel point to Jesus(Passover) and the Holy Spirit(Pentecost)
and Christ’s Return(Tabernacles) and God’s activity upon the
earth. Is there anything that has recently happened in our world
that connects the feasts, the moon, and recent events(several
months ago) that God could be using as signs to get our attention?
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It is possible. In two weeks we’ll be looking at Joseph whose story
I believe may have a connection to recent & upcoming events. Tsr
So in the beginning God creates the Heavens and the earth and
why did he do all this? Was this some extravagant science fair
project or artistic expression? No there is a clear and present
purpose beginning on the last paragraph on page 2.
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our own image, in our
likeness, so that hey may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds
in the sky…. So God created mankind in his own image, in the
image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
Let me quickly and briefly break open a little bit of the wonder of
these sentences. With everything else in creation God just said,
“Let there be” This part of creation is on just an earthly level. God
creates the light/darkness. “Let there Be”. He creates the sky and
water. “Let there Be.” The land and animals.. Let it Be. But there
is a major transition where the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
stop what they are doing and say “Let Us.”
“Let Us” let the God who is not only love but let the God who is
community realized in the fellowship of the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit extend and expand the fellowship of this love and let’s create
a being made in our own likeness. This I believe, is intended to be
the great esteem builder and insight regarding who we really are.
God looks at us in a way that is radically different from creation.
We were made in the Likeness of God. It’s like the difference
between building a house and having children. We can build a
house to live in and build it the way we like it but when you have a
child you have a relationship with someone who reflects your
being and life. It is a world of difference. You and I are that
important to God. We are not something he just created, we came
from his heart, soul, mind and strength. Value is Bestowed in
this reality that we bear God’s own reflection and worth.
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So God creates light-darkness, sun, moon, stars and the earth and
everything that inhabits the land and sea and even Adam and he
calls everything “good.” But then a few “days” later Adam(still in
perfect relationship with God) is naming all the creatures of the
earth and God calls out something that he has Adam recognize as
“not good.” Adam(unlike the animals) does not have a companion
that complements him and Adam sees this need for community.
God then performs the first surgery in Scripture and removes
Adam’s rib. One wayward translation suggested God removed his
brain. God takes Adam’s rib and creates Eve or woman. Why did
God take a rib? Why not another bone? Practically if God had
taken a part from any other part of the body, there would have been
a great chance of being disabled. Some suggest it was easier for
Eve to count ribs to make sure Adam wasn’t cheating on him.
One reason for God using a rib is because it was prophetic. God
knew Adam, the first Adam would fail in leading creation in the
direction of righteousness and would choose sin or rebellion
instead. From the beginning, God had a plan for redemption. As
Eve(or Adam’s bride) came from Adam’s rib, Jesus(second Adam)
after dying on the cross was pierced in his side or his ribs. From
his side flowed blood and water. Through Christ’s offering(blood
and water) the New Testament church was given life. Communion
So Adam wakes up after being under anesthesia. He’s got a scar
and there is this beautiful woman in front on him he calls “WhoaMan” and in Hebrew it is “Isha” meaning out of “Ish.” God says
of these two… “And the two shall become one.” And you see the
something of the signature of the God. God exists as Trinity where
one plus one plus one, equals… one. And then he creates human
beings in his image--male and female- the man leaves and cleaves
to the wife and they become one flesh. So they have each other &
don’t have to shop for clothes, they have perfect relationship with
God, they have a Garden with no weeds, who could ask for more?
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Early on, God told Adam, You can eat of everything in the garden,
the trees, plants or whatever, just don’t eat of that one tree. It
wasn’t that they didn’t know right from wrong. Wrong was to eat
of the tree. But it was the act of doing what they knew was wrong.
Let’s look at the text. Top of page 5. Now the serpent was more
crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He
said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat fruit
from any tree in the garden’?” The enemy always twists the truth.
If we don’t know the truth(word)ourselves, it will get twisted. It is
twisted in such a way that portrays God as stingy and not generous.
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in
the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree
that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or
you will die.” That isn’t what God said either. He said nothing
about touching the tree. She makes God sound more severe.
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said… The serpent
didn’t just twist it, he reversed it. Eve fell for it. What should she
have done? She could have gotten clarification from Adam.
Exactly what did God say? Better than that, she had access to talk
to God face to face. She could have inquired of the Lord and
clearly had those questions answered. Today God has given us the
tools of the Scriptures, the Body of Christ(other believers) and
Prayer to find guidance in our life. Let’s stop and inquire
So Adam and Eve choose evil, they knowingly choose to do wrong
and they are self-centered and notice their nakedness. They hide
and grab some fig leaves and then to Adam’s horror Eve asks her
the unthinkable question, “Does this fig leaf make me look fat?”
They try to hide from each other and from God. Really? Yet we
do the same thing as if God doesn’t know our hearts.
Look now at this sentence. “Then the man and his wife heard the
sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden...”
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If you imagine God as a distant God, seated high on a throne
above his lowly subjects then that is not the God portrayed in the
opening chapters of Genesis. Genesis reveals a God where
communication with God is in the context of taking a walk.
Have you ever had a revelation while taking a walk? Maybe you
were walking alone and you received an insight into something
significant and you were thankful you took the time to allow your
mind to reflect and even listen to the promptings of the spirit.
Maybe you took a walk with another person or group and got to
know something or someone whom you didn’t know as well.
Walks have a way of doing that. God shows up in the beginning
not seated on a glorious and distant throne but instead on a walk
with Adam. It was likely a common occurrence, it was likely a
favorite time for both God and Adam as God reveals himself to
Adam in such a common and casual Manner. Jesus & Emmaus
The big idea and grand vision is to be with us. The community of
God wants to extend his community with us. God is not some
angry, cosmic or distant being. He has not lost his desire to be
with us. God doesn’t force anyone to be in relationship with them.
Yet as with Adam and Eve we are given a choice. There are two
trees in the Garden. There choice and also ours is the tree that
alienates and separates us from our God. God is not finished.
God then begins to implement the plan of redemption. Not only is
Adam’s rib a foreshadowing of the redemption in Christ but an
animal is slain, blood is shed because without the shedding of
blood there is no redemption. But Adam and Eve are horrified by
the sights adn sounds of death as an innocent animal’s life is
sacrifices to provide a temporary covering that points toward the
reality that one day a lamb, the lamb of God, Jesus, Jeshua
(Savior) would have to sacrifice his life on a cross to not just cover
sin but to remove it once and for all for all eternity.
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Adam and Eve are then sent out of the Garden and away from the
Tree of Life. This as an act of mercy as the Lord is not going to
allow Adam and Eve and all who follow to live in this state of
brokenness for eternity. Adam and Eve are then placed in a
window of opportunity where each one of us are placed where
have the chance to choose to ask for forgiveness and trust in the
provision through Christ to come back into a relationship with God
or choose an existence without God and everything that God
created that is good, light and life and encompassing love.
We must make this choice in a fallen world. Adam and Eve
experienced this fallen reality not only in their own life but in their
children as one child Cain murders his own brother Abel. Sin
manifests as death and suffering and then isolation as Cain goes
out from the Lord’s presence into the land of Nod.
Humanity continues in an increased awareness multiplying effect
of sin as nearly everyone turns away from God. The first
paragraph on page 8 says this, “The Lord saw how great the
wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that
every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil
all the time. The Lord regretted(grieved) that he had made human
beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.”
God however finds one man who is different. He is not perfect.
He is not without sin, but he will obey God’s voice. He will
choose to do right. He will act in faith. He is Noah of whom God
instructs to build an ark and to prepare for the judgment that will
come. And as I Peter 3:20-21 tells us… In it(the Ark) only a few
people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water
symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of
dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward
God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It’s all a part
of God bringing us back to the Garden that he might walk with us
without the barrier of sin. Will it work? The choice is ours.
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and the opportunity to walk in faith is a small window.
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Special Features (visuals, audience engagement)
Place: On the map in the front inside cover of The Story, draw a
tree between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to represent the
Garden of Eden.
Place: Later in the message when talking about Noah, on the map
in the front inside cover of The Story, draw an ark where it says
Assyria.
The Old Testament map from the inside cover of The Story is
provided as a .jpg file in the Maps folder on the Weekend Services
page of the Online Resource Library.
Upper Story/Lower Story
Much of the following material is taught by Randy Frazee in the
adult curriculum DVD. The adult curriculum video lessons were
based on his original teaching in these sermons, so be aware that
there will be overlap between those videos and the Upper
Story/Lower Story segments of these sermon features documents.
God created the world with the grand vision of dwelling together
with us in the world. It is God’s supreme passion to be with you.
God gave us freedom of choice. Adam and Eve chose out of the
freedom of their will to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good
and Evil, thus ruining God’s vision of dwelling together with us.
Sin was deposited permanently into the nature of Adam and Eve, a
deadly virus separating them from a holy God. God banished
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Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and set angels to guard it,
in order to keep them from the Tree of Life, which would sustain
life forever. Without access to this tree, they would eventually die.
We think God is being cruel by letting us die. But it’s actually an
act of God’s grace to keep us from being able to sustain our life
forever in a state of sin and hatred. Man’s choice resulted in
separation from God, and it broke his heart. The ‘rest of the story,’
the entire Bible, tells us of the relentless pursuit of God and the
extent to which he will go in order to get us back.
The flood is God’s first attempt to go to great measures to get us
back. But it doesn’t work because it doesn’t deal with sin. Sin goes
onto the ark with Noah, and it disembarks with him (Genesis 9, not
in The Story).
Application
Point: You are the point of The Story. When God replaced Adam
and Eve’s fig leaves with garments of skin, he gave us a clue as to
how far he would go to fulfill his supreme desire to restore a
relationship with us. Even when we are ashamed and feeling
vulnerable, he covers us in order to restore our relationship with
him, but covering us requires the shedding of blood. We are
invited to soak in the fact that the God of the universe wants to be
with us more than anything on earth, literally.