In the Beginning, Part 2

Today on Summit Life with J.D.

Greer. John 1-1. In the beginning was the Word. The Word is going to be Jesus. That's the Word in the Gospel of John. The Word was with God. The Word was God. All things were made through him.

Without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life. And the life was the light of men. And that life and light stepped into a world of darkness where sin had caused chaos and destruction. And what you see is that Jesus' ministry is a series of him putting creation back together again. Hey, thanks for joining us here today on Summit Life with J.D. Greer, pastor of the Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.

I'm Molly Vidovitch. If you grew up in the Western world, you're probably familiar with the Genesis account of creation. God's speaking the earth into existence, creating animals and trees, and ultimately his masterpiece, humans. But why did this story get included in the Bible?

Is it just for the sake of our curiosity so we know where we came from? Well, today, Pastor J.D. explains the bigger implications here. We're discovering what the creation account reveals about God's design for us. And it's part of our new teaching series that we just began called The Whole Story. So let's get started.

Pastor J.D. titled this message In the Beginning. Genesis 1, verse 1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. Tim Keller says that in these three verses, you can see three things that were present before creation began, each of which that has profound implications on how we live. Three things present before creation.

Here we go. Number one, before the creation, there was God. There was God.

You say, Well, duh. But you may not realize how unique this is in creation accounts. In most other ancient creation accounts, the universe comes from something. There are usually multiple gods, and our universe is the result of some cosmic battle. According to one myth, for example, the human race arises from the blood of a slain god. In another one, they're created from the remains of a dead sea monster.

In these accounts, humans are typically an accident or an afterthought, the result of larger cosmic forces that have nothing to do with them. Yet in the book of Genesis, everything starts with one God, who creates all by himself out of nothing. And then Genesis says something else. It says that God made man and woman in his own image. Genesis 1 26. Then God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness.

Verse 27. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, He created him. Male and female, He created them.

Here's what all that means. If all things come from God and God made us in His image, there are two things that we will only ever be able to find in Him. The first is the measure of our lives. And by measure, I mean what is good, what is bad, and what life's purpose is. You see, in order to say something that is something is right or wrong, you have to have a standard to which you are comparing it.

To say something is against the design, you have to know what the design is. And if the universe is simply randomly colliding material particles, then there can't be any design or purpose, and thus there can be no right or wrong. So because we come from God, God provides the measure for our lives. And then because we come from God, we also find our meaning in Him.

That's the second thing. You see, the human heart is designed so that it only works when God is at the center. The way the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible said it is that God has put eternity in our hearts. And what that means is that every man and woman, boy and girl, has this yearning in them that says there's something more than just what I see here on earth. Because you are made in the image of God, you will never find your place in life until you have found yourself in God. Number two, before the creation, there was love. Before the creation, there was love.

Let me show you this. In verse 26, God says, let us make man in our image. When you read that, you say, well, who is us?

That's a great question. Go back to Genesis 1. What you see is that in the first three verses of Genesis, what Christians call the Trinity, that God, one God, one essence of God existing in three persons is there in the very first versions of Genesis.

But here's what it means for us. In God's very essence from the very beginning, He's existed in relationship. God's love in the Trinity spills out onto the canvas of the universe and then He invites His creation into that love. That's why one of the phrases you see repeated throughout Genesis 1 is the phrase, and God saw, and God saw. You know why that phrase is all through there? Because God is like a good parent. What do good parents do?

They watch their kids all the time. In the Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis presents creation happening as Aslan the lion, representing Jesus, singing this song of joy and intimacy in the Trinity and creation just spills out of that song. Here's what that means for you practically. Listen, because we are created in the image of a God who exists in love, just like our lives will never be complete until God is at the center, our lives will also never be complete until we are living in love and community with others. The path of godliness always leads toward community, always. The path of godlessness always leads toward isolation. The path of godliness leads toward relationships and commitment and things like small groups. Don't you inherently know that community leads to life?

Don't you know that? The reason that you know that is because it's an inherent part of God's life too, and you're made in God's image, and that's why your life will never be complete until you're in that deep committed community. I realize that things like small groups can be messy. I realize that sometimes it's easier if people don't know the junk that's going on in your life, but I'm just telling you that your life will always be deformed.

It will always be unhealthy when you're not in the kind of relationships that God created you to be in. Before I go on to number three, let me stop here to answer the two biggest questions that I get on Genesis 1 and 2, because I have to answer them, and because they seem, of all the places in the message, they seem to fit best here. All right, here they are. First, for some people, they point out that there appear to be two different creation accounts. There's one in Genesis 1, and there's a second one in Genesis 2, and some of the order of the details is different between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2.

They say, well, is this a contradiction? Well, like I pointed out just a moment ago, Genesis 1 is an artistic rendering. Genesis 2 is like an essay. Genesis 1 is not meant primarily to be a historical documentation of the facts. Genesis 1 is meant to be a poetic celebration.

That doesn't mean that it is unfactual, just that its purpose is celebration, not documentation. This is actually a really common pattern in Scripture. For example, in Exodus 14, we have the narrative describing Israel's escape from Egypt to the Red Sea, but in Exodus 15, you have the celebration of that event through a song that Miriam wrote. In Judges chapter 4, you have the documentation of a battle that Deborah and a guy named Barak had over the Canaanites. In Judges chapter 5, you have a song, the song of Deborah celebrating that victory. It doesn't mean that Judges 4 is history and Judges 5 is a myth.

There's the history of Judges 4, the documentation, and then the celebration of Judges 5 that fit together. The same is true with Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. Genesis 1 is the poem that celebrates the who and the why of creation. You're not supposed to line the two up and try to compare details as if the author who put Genesis 1 and 2 back to back was so dumb that he didn't know what a contradiction was. You see, you have to interpret Scripture the way that it's written, which leads to an even bigger question. And that is, does Genesis 1 teach that God created the world in seven literal 24-hour days?

Or does each day maybe represent millions of years and maybe God used things like evolution as a part of the creation process, or maybe it's some mixture of the two? And what about the dinosaurs? Where do they fit into this whole thing?

Right? Now, a lot of Christians get really passionate and been out of shape on this question. I put this question in the Jesus Democrat or Republican category of questions.

And I do not want to disappoint you, but I'm not going to answer those questions in detail here. Not because I'm a wimp, or not just because I am a wimp, but listen, because speaking solely from the realm of Bible interpretation, I don't think you can use the text of Genesis 1 to come to a rock-solid conclusion on that question. You see, again, whenever you interpret something in the Bible, you have to ask why it was written before you press it for answers. Genesis 1 is an artistic expression celebrating creation. It's pretty obvious that the author of Genesis 1 did not have in mind the scientific nuances of creation and evolution in debate when he wrote Genesis 1. The focus of Genesis 1 is not how he created, but that he created. The age of the earth is a question for scientists and theologians to explore together.

But I don't think you can use Genesis 1 to slam the door shut on either option. Listen, I know godly, God-fearing scientists who think that God used the processes of evolution to accomplish just about everything. And I know some others that are very well educated, went to some of the finest institutions in the land, who say that God specially created the big things and then let the processes of natural selection develop a lot of it from there. And to note, by the way, both those positions have been held throughout church history. You go back to the early church fathers, and by that I mean the guys who lived in the first 500 years of the church.

Guys like Irenaeus, Athanasius, Augustine. They believe that the days of Genesis 1 were not literal days but represented long periods of times, not a literal week. I would encourage you to get into the questions, study it out with an open Bible and an open mind, and not look at others, here's a key part, with disdain who are struggling with the question like you are. You see, people in our church who believe in literal 24-hour days sometimes look at those who don't and say, compromise her.

You're an enemy of the faith. You don't really believe the Bible. And that's not always true. And on the other side, people who believe that it's not literal 24-hour days will say back to them with disdain, you primitive knuckle dragging Neanderthal. You prove the existence of cavemen because you're as dumb as one.

But that's not true all the time. Many of them are very well read and are just wrestling with the implications of science and theology. The point is to have this discussion charitably and not turn into dogma a question that scripture did not intend to settle. And for the 12 of you out there who are thinking, well fine, he's not going to answer this question now. I'll just email him and ask him later and I'll get the real answer then. I have two things to say to you.

Number one, I know who you are and I've already got filters on my email set for you, okay? Number two, this is my real answer. Y'all, what we know Genesis 1 takes off the table is this idea that everything in the world was created through some blind random forces where nothing times nobody equals everything. By the way, science takes that off the table also, but for sure Genesis 1 does. All right, so in the beginning there was God, in the beginning there was love. And for those of you that are like, I hate these intellectual sermons, point three is really touchy feely so you can come right on back in, okay?

So we're done with that. Number three, before the creation there was God, there was love. Number three, there was darkness. Before the creation there was darkness.

Genesis 1 again, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form. It was void, empty.

Darkness was over the face of the deep. And then God says, let there be light and everything began in like the second phase of creation. Now that's kind of odd because it seems like God has intentionally, intentionally first created a dark empty mess. And only then, after creating this dark empty mess, only then does the word go to work. That is so significant because God is trying to show us two things that are so important for us.

Here's what he's showing. Here's the reason God did that on purpose. Letter A, because the word brings order out of chaos. That's what God is trying to show us. Through the word of God, God brings order to the chaos of creation.

Why did God do it that way? To show us in the same way, our lives are a formless, dark void until God's word comes in to bring life and peace and beauty and order. And when his word departs from our lives, our lives descend back into chaos. The writer of Genesis, Moses, second book Exodus, shows you this process in reverse. In Genesis 1, you've got God's word bringing order out of chaos.

In Exodus, you've got Pharaoh rejecting God's word. And so God sends to Egypt the 10 plagues. I told you at first, you may be tempted to think of the 10 plagues as like 10 really bad, you know, tricks that God did to punish Pharaoh.

But if you look deeper, there's more to it than that. There's a very logical, natural progression to the plagues. In the first plague, denial turns to blood.

So out of the Nile that's turned to blood come the frogs, from the frogs come the gnats, from the gnats come the disease, from the disease comes the boils, then the sun darkens. It's as if, listen, creation is unraveling. And there's a point that's being made. It's not just that God has power. If God had just wanted to prove to Pharaoh that he had power, you know, Moses could have come in and said, I have a word from God and then levitated, right? Or he could have put the Darth Vader chokehold on Pharaoh or something.

That would have proven it. But the point is not simply that God has power. The point is that sin de-creates. In Genesis 1, God brings order out of chaos and the plagues of Exodus, sin causes order to descend back into chaos.

The word of God creates, sin de-creates. And the same is true in your life, right? Sin has destroyed some of your lives. That's why you're bound up in an addiction. That's why your family's all messed up.

That's why your self-image is all torn apart. It's because sin has come in and brought chaos and disorder, and it's messed you up emotionally, and it's messed you up relationally, and it's just torn your life apart, which is why there's a letter B that you're supposed to learn from it. The author is showing us that the word will one day redeem what sin has destroyed. Where this story gets really good is John chapter one, when the apostle John starts with creation and then puts a twist on it. John 1-1, in the beginning was the word. The word is going to be Jesus. That's the word in the Gospel of John. The word was with God. The word was God. All things were made through him.

Without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And that life and light stepped into a world of darkness where sin had caused chaos and destruction. And what you see is that Jesus's ministry is a series of him putting creation back together again. So he begins to heal diseases.

He begins to heal diseases and opens blinds eyes, literal dark eyes, and he makes the lame walk. And then he's going to walk on top of water showing that he has got power over a chaotic, dark world. He's going to forgive adulterers and thieves and remove their shame and transform them into new people. So greedy thieves like Zacchaeus become excessively generous people.

And people that are bound up in impurity and adultery, they become people who live with generosity and character. He's going to raise the dead. And what you see is that wherever sin had left a dark void, Jesus stepped in and said, Let there be light and life again. But then at the end of his life, at the end of the Gospel of John, the strangest thing happens. The one who is the life and the light goes back into darkness and chaos. When Jesus dies, the earth literally shakes. It's like it's coming unraveled again, and a midnight light darkness falls upon the earth in the middle of the day. The Spirit of God quits hovering above him.

In fact, Jesus will look up and say, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Because God had turned his face away. And it's the greatest mystery. Jesus, the architect of the most beautiful creation, is put into the darkness and void of sin so that we who had rejected the word could have light and life again through his death and his blood. Jesus allowed himself to be de-created on the cross so we could be re-created in the resurrection.

By the way, here's like the best part. At the end of the Gospel of John, he points out a few things that just look to us like details, but they're really important in light of Genesis 1. John points out that Jesus died on the sixth day of the week of Friday. What else happened on the sixth day?

That's when man was created. It's like Jesus is bringing an end to the curse of that creation. But then Jesus is resurrected from the dead on the first day, on Sunday of the new week, showing he is beginning a new creation. And then when Jesus in the Gospel of John first sees his disciples, he does something that's really, really odd. And you probably just dismiss it when you read it as like, oh, that's just a weird Hebrew custom. Jesus finds his disciples, he walks up in their face and he breathes on them. You're like, well, I don't know what that's about, but we don't do that anymore.

They didn't do it then either. He is breathing into their nostrils the breath of life so that man can again become a living soul. And he says to them, receive the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is beginning the new creation. See what that means is that if your life has been destroyed by sin, if you're bound in an addiction, if you walk in darkness, if your family is unraveling, if you turn to God by faith in Christ, he'll make all things new. And that just happens by the process of him putting his word back inside of you. It's a gradual process. It doesn't happen all at once.

But as the word comes into you, life and light enter you again. I'm not saying that immediately when that happens that all your family is going to get put back together. I'm just trying to help you see that your real problem in life is not your family. Your problem is not your job. Your problem is not annoying people.

Your problem is not even your addictions. Your problem is you have a dark heart that is dead and separated from God. And that has colored everything in your life. And Jesus can come and make it new when you receive his power through his blood to resurrect you and forgive you and save you. So the first three verses of the book of Genesis shows you what God is up to in the world. It shows us that we're made for him, that we're created for relationship, and that his word brings life and order out of darkness and chaos.

Let me conclude all this by showing you what that means for you in your role in life. You see, you and I are made in his image. If you were to only answer the question of what does it mean to be in God's image based on Genesis 1, what would you answer? What is God doing in Genesis 1? He's creating. 12 times in Genesis 1 he creates. So if you were saying I'm in his image and he's a creator, it means that we are co-creators. What you find in Genesis 1 and 2, this is really important, is that God puts us into a world that is incomplete.

It is imperfect. He puts us into a garden. A garden needs to be developed.

Plants need to be planted and cultivated. That's why the word, the phrase that God used over and over again in Genesis 1 is God saw it and it was good. That's right. Now good is good, but good is not perfect. Perfect means cannot be improved upon. Good means raw materials are good, but there's still some work that can be done.

The way I've illustrated to you before is this. When you guys see my wife, she comes to Briar Creek campus at 10 o'clock. When you guys see her, the woman is perfect.

Right? Her hair, her makeup, her clothes, literally a perfect 10, you cannot improve upon that woman. When I wake up next to her in the morning, she's good. Okay? She's good.

Raw materials are all there, but there's developments, right? God puts man into an imperfect world that's good. Now listen to this. It says you're a co-creator and I'm going to make you in my image so that some of you are going to be skilled as contractors and you're going to take the raw materials of sand and cement and you're going to make buildings that people can live in and some of you are going to take the raw materials of music and color and you're going to put together beautiful art and some of you are going to take the raw materials of justice and you're going to put together codified laws and you're going to be lawyers and I'm going to make you in my image and you're going to go throughout the world creating in a way that blesses other people. Y'all and then as Christians, we are also bearers of his word, which means that we go into the darkness and the chaos and the void of sin and wherever there is darkness and chaos, we speak light and life. Wherever there is brokenness, Summit Church, there ought to be members of the Summit Church there speaking. That means in impoverished neighborhoods.

That means in racial tension discussions, in places of oppression. Wherever there is poverty or disease or the devastation of war in every refugee community in the triangle, in every refugee community around the world, in unreached people groups, we are bearers of the word that bring light and life and recreate what sin has destroyed. You see, that's how you understand what you're supposed to do in life. Those two things, I just gave you the two-part calling of every Christian. Here's how we say it at the Summit Church, whatever you're good at, do it well to the glory of God, right? Because you're made in God's image. He made you good at something. Whatever you're good at, do it well to the glory of God and do it somewhere strategic for the mission of God. That just means being in a place where there's darkness and chaos so that you can speak light and life.

Are you living out that calling? You see, Genesis 1 asks you these questions. Do you know God? Because he's why you were created. It's why your life, that makes sense. Are you in community?

You need to get into a small group. Is his word present in your life? Is it transforming you?

Is it the center of your life? Have you received his offer of salvation? Because that's how he makes you new. Are you extending that word to others? Are you going into the places of darkness and preaching his light? Who are you supposed to be telling about Jesus? Whose empty dark life are you supposed to be speaking life into? Are you speaking life and light into the darkness?

That's a way that we can be more like Jesus even today. It's a strong challenge from Pastor J.D. Greer on Summit Life.

To hear this message again, go to jdgreer.com. You know, speaking of life, that's our goal every day here at Summit Life. We exist to bring the gospel to as many people as possible through the radio, web, and now through television. We'd love to have you partner with us in that to help more people dive deeper into the message of the gospel. When you give to Summit Life, that's the mission you're supporting. And as a little expression of our thanks, we've got a great new prayer resource for you from Pastor J.D.

It's a book called Just Ask. Most of us don't have a healthy, happy prayer life. We struggle with prayer. So what do you think keeps people from praying?

Molly, I feel like a lot of people don't want to say this out loud. A lot of Christians aren't convinced that prayer actually does anything. And they're like, well, sometimes I pray and things happen. Sometimes I pray that don't. Sometimes I forget to pray and the thing I should have prayed for happens anyway.

So how was this really, how was it really effective? What I want to show through this book, Just Ask, is exactly how God has hardwired the universe through prayer. So that prayer is the means by which, it's the vehicle by which he does his work on earth. So if you're a parent looking for help with your kid, if you're a spouse looking for help in your marriage, if you're trying to share Christ with a friend, you just ask. You ask because that's the means by which God will infuse his power into you. And it's such a necessary relationship that Jesus himself was driven to it.

And if it was necessary for him, it's going to be necessary for us. And I wanted to help equip you and move you down that path. Request your copy of Just Ask by Pastor JD when you donate today to support this ministry at a suggested level of $25 or more. Or you can also ask for this new resource when you join our growing team of monthly gospel partners.

It's easy to sign up by calling 866-335-5220 or give and request this new book online at jdgrier.com. I'm Molly Vidovich and I'm so glad that you were with us today. Thursday Pastor JD shows us that if we're honest with ourselves, we know we're not as good as we think we are. Discover why and what we can do about it when you listen Thursday to Summit Life with JD Greer. Today's program was produced and sponsored by JD Greer Ministries.