Summer Road Trip 2023: #1 Creation
Genesis 1:26-31 Victory Fellowship
June 25, 2023 - Rev. Roderick Grabski
Healing Service
Summer Road Trip 2023
Learning the major events in the history of God and people will give you a clearer understanding of the Bible and its life-changing message for today. We’ll simplify it by using seven simple keywords:
#1: Creation, #2: Sin, #3: Promise to Abram, #4: Commandment, #5: Jesus, #6: Salvation, #7: Heaven
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Then, when everything else was ready, God created humankind. God created the whole world by speaking it into existence out of nothing. His crowning creation was humanity itself – created for relationship with God.
Picture the earth as it began, formless, shapeless. Then picture how God created it. As you picture it, we need to remember, we were not an afterthought. We were the purpose of the creation. God was not just playing in the mud. God was moving creation along for a reason. Us.
When God began, Genesis tells us that the earth was formless, a void in the darkness. Certainly not fit for human habitation. The very first thing God created was light! God separated the light from the dark.
God created the earth, and on the barren earth, God called forth vegetation. Without vegetation, there could be no animal life.
Then when all was ready, God breathed life into us, and we became what God had been going for in the very first moments of creation. A partner with God!
Differences in perspective: In today’s world, there are two very different opinions of how all of this happened.
• The first opinion is that creation is a totally random act. All of the things I just mentioned, happening over millions of years, just happened to happen that way. This randomness is considered a statistical probability based on the number of galaxies in the universe, and billions of stars. If anything, it had to happen. Those holding this position focus only on the how. Those holding this view state that there is no reason for anything beyond randomness.
• The second opinion holds that Creation comes from Intelligent design (AKA God created). Going beyond was is, and how it happened, it asks the question, why? Why is there a universe? What came before the universe? It looks at who we are and how we got here, and it sees logic and order instead of randomness.
Why Does it matter?
If we are a random act – there is no purpose or plan to our existence. We are merely a random act in a random universe. There is nothing beyond what we can see and touch. It takes away our humanity.
• If there is no reason for existence – people do not feel like they have a purpose, do not know how to find meaning in their lives.
• Without a creator, we lose something important. The big word for it is ontological truth. When it comes to morality, it means that truth will always be truth. Right will always be right. Wrong will always be wrong.
What we replace it with is called relative truth. Relative truth says that what is right for me is my right. It puts ME in the center of the universe.
• Sadly, another issue that comes to life without a creator is a lack of value of human life. We see it today when we see issues of abortion, assisted suicide, and euthanasia being discussed. So often they avoid the issue of value of human life.
But we see it even more in acts of mass killing. Whatever you believe on gun control, it will never stop someone who is intent on killing. We have seen people drive their cars into crowds, use acts of bioterror, perform acts of arson. We see it in wars with drones and bombs. Human life is not valued.
• Instead, life becomes only about us. Without a creator, we have no reason to be kind to our neighbor except as it benefits us. We do not need to follow the law except as it benefits us. We replace the creator with ourselves.
• Finally, we do not have to value creation. There are many people out there today who talk about issues we have with how we are treating the earth. But have you listened to why? We need to care for the earth because if we don’t it will create harm to us.
If we are designed by a creator, we see things totally differently!
• First of all, there is a purpose behind our design. We grow up knowing that God created us. God created us in His own image. We are loved by God. And God wants us to look, act, walk, in His own footsteps.
• So we look to God for our morality. Jesus made it simple. Love and respect God. Love and respect yourself. Love and respect your neighbor. As Jesus pointed out, all of the commandments are based on these simple facts.
• All life is created by God and treasured. God said creation was good. God created the world and gave us dominion over it. It is our responsibility to care for it, just as we care for our own homes. We are stewards of the earth.
So, it really comes down to the question: Why did God create us?
• Scripture is clear: God created us in His own image. We are called to be in relationship with God. Who better than our Creator is the One who brings healing?
COME for PRAYER and ANOINTING
SONG: He Is
Genesis 1:26-31 (HCSB)
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image;
He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.
28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” 29 God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you, 30 for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it. I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.
