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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/aj-higgins/the-wondrous-creation/
We appreciate all that have taken time to be with us. Now, I'm going to ask you to turn, if you will, first of all, to the book of Job and we'll read together in Job chapter 37. This is the conclusion of the argument of Elihu to Job and we'll break in at verse number 16, Job 37 and 16.
Dost thou know the balancing of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge? How thy garments are warm when he quieteth the earth by the south wind. Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong and as a molten looking glass?
Teach us what we shall say unto him, for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness, and so on. Book of the Psalms, Psalm 136. Psalm 136 and verse number 4. Psalm 136 and verse number 4. To him who alone doeth great wonders, for his mercy endureth forever.
To him that by wisdom made the heavens, for his mercy endureth forever. To him that stretched out the earth above the waters, for his mercy endureth forever. To him that made great lights, for his mercy endureth forever.
The sun to rule by day, for his mercy endureth forever. And the moon and stars to rule by night, for his mercy endureth forever. Those who like trivia facts will just mention this trivia fact that you can lodge away in your mind.
The most common sentence in the Bible, occurring perhaps 48 times throughout Scripture, his mercy endureth forever. That's a tremendous thing to think. The most common sentence in our Bible, his mercy endureth forever.
Now it's here in this chapter, a number of 20-some times, just in this chapter alone. But over 48 times in our Bible, mainly in the Psalms, that expression, his mercy endures forever. Now one other verse before we get into our subject.
And if you were here early enough, our dear brother actually quoted it for us through his cell phone. Genesis 1 and verse number 1. Genesis 1 and verse number 1. You hardly need to turn to it. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
We trust God will add his blessing. We'll be reading other Scriptures as we move along. But just for now, as an introduction. It is almost 95 years ago, November 26th, 1922. Howard Carter was a British subject, and he was excavating in the land of Egypt.
And he was intent on finding a treasure that he felt must exist. On that particular day, he made his way down a 26-foot long passageway to a sealed door. Made a small opening in the door, put a candle in it, just to make sure there were no foul gases coming from it.
And gradually enlarged it so that he could peer into that chamber. As he placed his candle into that room, gold glittered everywhere. And behind him stood one of the men who had financed this expedition, Lord Carnarvon.
And he just anxiously was awaiting what he saw. And he finally said, can you see anything? To which Howard Carter responded with his now famous words. Yes, wonderful things, wonderful things. He had come upon what we now know as King Tut's tremendous burial place with all of its incredible riches.
And he said, I have seen wonderful things. We're not looking in a tomb. We're going to be looking at the Word of God. Be looking at some of the wondrous works of God that are given to us in the Word of God.
Perhaps in our Old Testament, 69 times there's a word translated. And unfortunately, sometimes it's spoken of as being wondrous. Sometimes it's translated marvelous. Sometimes it's translated a wonder.
But we have read together of the wonderful, the wondrous works of God in creation. So tonight, with God's help, we want to consider the wondrous work of God in creation. Now, there are about seven or eight of them that you could find in the Word of God that are referred to as God's wondrous or marvelous works.
You do the arithmetic, there are five nights, so we'll just be dealing with five of them. And I'll just give you them now so you'll know where we're going this week. Tonight, we're going to be looking at creation.
Tomorrow night, we'll be looking at the wondrous work, the marvelous work of formation. That is how God has formed man. Psalm 139, we'll be looking at the marvelous work of God. Then Wednesday night in the will of the Lord, we'll be looking at the marvelous work, the wonderful work of incarnation.
Thursday night in the will of God, we'll look at the wonderful, the wondrous work of inspiration. And Friday night, this is the Lord's doing. It's marvelous in our eyes. The stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the head of the corner.
This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. We'll consider the great subject of Christ's exaltation. So those five subjects will occupy us. We'll be considering creation, formation, incarnation, inspiration, and exaltation.
And you can do your homework and find several others in the Word of God to consider and to appreciate. Now, undoubtedly, whenever anyone says they're going to be speaking about creation, people begin wondering, does he believe in an early earth or is he a gap theory person?
Does he think the world is really billions of years old or just 6 ,000 years old? Where does he stand in this in this argument that's even sometimes held among those who are very, very definite in their belief in a creation account of our world?
Well, I do have my thinking on that matter, but let me just put it another way. I think all of us have seen occasions where all of you that have children, grandchildren, you know what it's like. You buy them a very nice present and you wrap it and their birthday comes or Christmas morning comes and they tear open the package and they get their gift and an hour later you come back and they're playing with a box.
They're not the gift. I think to get occupied with the science of Genesis chapter one is sort of like playing with the box. Now, the box can have value, but I think the great reason it was Genesis one is given to us is not for us to be able to scientifically answer all the issues of creation.
Genesis one was given to us to worship the God of creation. To be able to appreciate the greatness of the God of creation and the incredible truth of the God that made this world and some of the features of that God that are revealed to us just in Genesis chapter one and two.
That's what we'll be looking at then together and considering something of the greatness. Actually, if you go through the word of God, it is interesting to see the different places that God introduces creation as an answer for different issues.
For example, we read. Well, we didn't really read it in its entirety, but were we to go back to the book of Job and begin in the very next chapter from where we read in chapter number 37 from chapter 38 to 42.
God peppers. That's the word I can use. He peppers Job with 70 questions, many of them having to do with creation, as though to tell Job, Job, if I could handle all of this, if I can bring all this into being and you don't have the slightest idea how I did it, Job, can't you just trust me and just leave everything with me?
So he gives us the account of creation to comfort those who are being tried. A comfort in trial. It certainly is a confirmation of God's greatness. It's actually a cause for worship. Now, you just turn over to when you have time to Revelation chapter four and you recall how that chapter ends with the beast and the four and 20 elders worshiping God for thy pleasure.
All things were and made and all things were created and made by the so they're worshiping God for creation. We should be able to worship God for the creation all around us. Nothing wrong with that. To just have you have never actually done it where you've just been lost in wonder at the beauty of creation, at the marvel of it.
We'll be worshiping God for creation as well as for redemption. God uses creation as well to silence and to challenge all the idols of the world. Many times in the prophecy of Isaiah, he is the creator God and they are just the the idols that men have to carry on their own backs and make for themselves.
We'll be seeing if time allows that creation is used as an absolute guarantee of God's covenants. I think that's vital to see. And I hope we'll have time to notice something of that. And we'll be noticing as well that God uses creation to prove the deity of Christ for great chapters in your Bible that deal with deity of Christ.
And it's easy to remember them because they're all chapter ones. John chapter one, Colossians chapter one, Hebrews chapter one, Revelation chapter one, four chapter ones that build upon the great doctrine of the deity of Christ.
And in three of those chapters, creation is brought in as part of the proof of his deity. John chapter one, without him was not anything made that was made. Why must his deity be established in the gospel of John?
Because our salvation rests upon it. Why must his deity be established in Colossians chapter one, head over all things, firstborn of all creation by him were all things made that were made in Colossians.
It's not our salvation, but it's our sufficiency. He's absolutely sufficient for the Christian life. We need nothing. Angels can add nothing to us. Philosophy can add nothing to us. All the things of chapter two that are brought in speculation and law keeping.
None of that is necessary. You have everything in Christ. He is sufficient. Hebrews chapter one, again, we're reminded of this one, the heir of all things by whom everything is made and consistent is being held together in chapter Hebrews chapter one.
His deity is necessary if he is going to be the sovereign. So salvation rests upon deity, sufficiency rests upon deity, sovereignty rests upon deity. And what about Revelation one? If he is going to be able to secure every purpose of God for the ages, he must be deity.
And so God will use creation as from the hand of Christ to substantiate the great truth of the the deity of Christ. But come now, if you will, just to where we are and we'll try to deal with some of these things just so you know where we're going.
And tonight, just a couple of headings to keep in mind. And if nothing else, you'll have an idea when I'm almost done. I want to talk about the creation and its greatness, the creation and its greatness, the creator and his glory, and finally, the creature and God's goodness, the creation and its greatness, the creator and his glory.
And then lastly, the creature and God's goodness, God's kindness to all of us in this great, great creation. Don't know if you've ever thought about the size, the size of creation. Some people think that the universe is infinite.
It is so vast. Let me just give you an idea of something of the vastness of creation. If you were to try to travel to the nearest star now, forget the sun for just a moment, that is actually the nearest star.
But aside from the sun, the nearest star, Alpha Centauri, which is 4 .28 light years away. Now, that doesn't mean much to anyone, right? But let me put it in more realistic terms. You get into your spaceship and your spaceship is able to travel 60 ,000 miles an hour.
Pretty good. And you stock up so you don't have to stop along the galaxy anywhere. You're going to make a nonstop trip to the closest star, Alpha Centauri, flying at 60 ,000 miles an hour. And you don't want to stop.
It's going to take you 46 ,000 years to get there. That's the closest star. And if you decide, I think I'd like to get to the edge of our solar system and get to the next closest galaxy, Andromeda. And you're a little bit more modest here.
You just get into your Boeing 747 and you just limit your speed to 600 miles an hour and you stock up again. Enough fuel to keep going. Guess what? 650 million years to get there. The voice of the vastness of our solar system.
Now, that's just our galaxy. That's just the Milky Way galaxy, one galaxy. And now on top of that, there are probably 100 million galaxies. The vastness of the creation. You may say, why did God have to make?
I mean, if everything is concerned with the earth and with Christ reigning over the earth and Christ redeeming a people from the earth, why did God have to make such a vast solar system? I mean, wouldn't just one galaxy have been enough?
Why such a vast? I think we'll see a couple of reasons. But could I suggest just one at this moment in time? The creator must always be greater than his creation. And if we cannot measure, if we cannot comprehend the greatness of the creation, how much greater the creator himself must be.
He has given us a vast creation. I've called it the voice of the vastness. It's shouting to us something of the of the tremendous character of the God whom we have come to know that he has given us such a vast universe.
One of your, I think he was a Midwest man. I think he was from Chicago, Frank Lloyd Wright, an architect of the previous century. And some of his works, I think there's one of his houses out here in Wisconsin somewhere falling, falling waters or something that's out here in Wisconsin.
Water can never rise higher than its source. Whatever man builds could never reflect more than he is himself. In other words, whatever a man creates can hardly begin to describe how, how intricate, how great his mind is.
It's always got to be less than he is. So that our creation with all of its vastness, with all of its greatness is only a faint reflection of how great the God whom we have come to know is in himself, the size then of the creation, the immensity of it.
How many stars in our Milky Way? How many stars just in our galaxy? 200 million. And there are over 100 million galaxies. Now, here is a fact. And I, you know, it's amazing that it should startle us. But when you think of what God told Abraham, it sort of just falls into place.
Astronomers estimate that there are as many stars in the universe. You ready? As sands upon the seashore. Now, if you know anything of math, 10 to the 24th power. OK, 10 to the 24th power. And if a computer could count three stars a second, nonstop, nonstop was able to do that.
After 100 years of counting, it would only have counted about 5 percent of the stars that are in our universe. You say, well, what's what's that mean? Let me just take you for just a moment to Isaiah chapter 40.
Israel has been a failure. Their track record has been one of deplorable failure. They have spent years in captivity. And Jacob says. My way is hid from God. My judgment is passed over from God. In other words, what Jacob is saying is God has forgotten all about me.
God doesn't know what's going on in my life. God doesn't really have any interest in me. You know what God says? God says, I know the names of every star. And when I do roll call, they're all there. He says, if I know billions upon trillions of stars.
He says, do you think that I don't know what's going on in your life? So let me just apply that for a moment to all of us here. The God that knows the names of every star. 10 to the 24. More than we could ever count.
None of us could ever, ever begin to. A computer can't do it for 100 years, three a second, nonstop. How much less we. But the God that is able to do. Do you think he somehow doesn't know what's going on in your life?
That somehow my way is passed over by God. God, you know, I'm just some insignificant. I'm, you know, all of us feel if you don't, you're a strange bird. You know, we're one of seven billion people treading planet Earth.
And you sometimes think, how can God know what's going on with me? Seven billion, that's that's that's kids play for God, right? I mean, he's taking care of trillions upon trillions of stars. And God knows exactly what is going on in every life.
He knows the grief. He knows the sorrows. He knows the pain. He knows the heartache. He knows the disappointments. And he says to Jacob, whose life was a failure. Now, I'm not speaking of Jacob individually.
The nation speaks to the nation. That's that lovely portion that says they that wait upon the Lord shall exchange their strength, exchange their strength for his strength, and they'll mount up with wings as eagles.
Now, those are lovely words in themselves, but applied understood in the context relative to to the nation. I think what God is saying is they will soar above all their failures in the past. They'll rise above them and life will be something even greater for them because there is strength in the God of creation.
He's also the God of redemption for us. But we're looking at his mighty power here as far as the God who has brought creation into being able to rise above it. They'll walk. They had failed in their walk.
They had failed in running as servants. God says, I can enable you to mount up with wings as eagles, to run and not be weary, to walk and not faint. This God is our God. And this God of creation, this God who has done this wondrous.
Marvelous thing we call creation is the God who was able to care for and meet the need of all of his people, the size of it, the immensity of it, the intricacy of it, the intricacy of it, everything working in absolute harmony, the perfect balance of everything.
Of course, the skeptic, the agnostic, the atheist would say, if it weren't, we wouldn't be here. And there's tremendous truth to that. If it weren't, we would not be here. Any little thing were different.
Just that slight change in axis of the earth, that slight movement closer to or further from the sun, an orbit that would be just slight, life would not be possible. One of the militant atheists of the 20th century, Stephen Hawking, he wrote a book called A Brief History of Time.
In it, he said, why does the universe go to all the trouble of existing? Why does the universe go to all the trouble of of existing? Almost like nothing makes sense. We are just some some cosmic accidents, some some strange happening in the movement of planets.
And here we are. And life has no meaning. We have no value. We're just accidents that have somehow occurred in their thinking. And Carl Sagan, who's who's now dead, he said, our planet is only a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic darkness.
In our obscurity and all this vastness, there's no hint that any help will ever come to save us from ourselves. Someone, I think he was the same one who coined the term cosmic orphans. We're just out there just on our own.
What a what an empty, tragic life and outlook that is. When the word of God reminds us of a God with tremendous interest and care in every single one of us, the tremendous intricacy of our universe, but also not just its size, but its suitability, as mentioned already, perfect atmosphere, perfect tilt, perfect rotation, perfect distance from the sun, everything just absolutely perfect.
And of course, the the skeptic says, well, that's the way it has to be or life wouldn't exist. And yet in this vast solar system, not even a hint, not even a hint that any other planet has been so blessed to be able to have life and to have all the conditions needed for for the life that we enjoy the tremendous security.
Let me you'll have to just take my word for this and look it up when you have a chance. If you are looking at Noah and you consider when Noah went in the ark and when Noah came out of the ark, if you calculate the days, it comes out to about a year and depending on your counting, 12, 13 days.
But that was probably a lunar year. Now, there's two ways you can calculate years, lunar time or solar time. A lunar year is about 350 days, give or take. A solar year is a week, 365 .333, something like that.
If you take it as a solar year, it is very likely that when Noah came out of the ark. The stars are exactly the same place they were when he went in and the sun was going in the same circuit it went when he went in.
Everything was just and so while everything around him changed, the whole landscape of the world changed with the flood. When he looked up, he realized there's something that never changes. God doesn't change.
He's the same and everything around may change the whole universe. The whole world has changed, but God is unchanging in all of his ways. What a tremendous sense of security. And we have that as well.
The seasons as they come and go, everything moving in its proper sequence, a rhythm that God has established in our universe, the movement of the stars, the movement of the sun or really not the sun, we move, not the sun, but the sequence of weeks, the sequence of seasons, all of those things are to remind us of the stability and security that God has placed in our universe.
But I want to come, especially if I can. There are four covenants, four Bible covenants that are still in force. Now, you may say, well, doesn't Hebrews talk about the old covenant and the new and the first covenant passing away and the second covenant?
Yes, it does. The first covenant was a covenant of law that has been superseded by the covenant that we'll look at in a moment. But four covenants, number one, the covenant he made with Noah, number two, the covenant he made with Abraham, number three, the covenant he made with David, and number four, the covenant that we testify to when we take the cup of the new covenant and drink it on a Lord's Day morning.
It's called a new covenant. It's called the second covenant. It's called a better covenant. And it's called an eternal and everlasting covenant. Nothing will ever succeed it and nothing will ever supersede it.
Now, what did he give to Noah as a sign of the covenant? A bow in the heavens. What about his covenant to the nation through Abraham? Well, I'm going to ask you to do some reading here. Turn to the book of Jeremiah and ask you to turn to Jeremiah 31.
Down the chapter, look at verse number 35. Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, the ordinance of the moon and the stars for a light by night, which divides the sea when the waves thereof roar, the Lord of hosts is his name.
If these ordinances should depart from before me, saith the Lord, then shall the seed of Abraham also cease from being a nation before me forever. Thus saith the Lord, if heaven above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord.
So God says there, if you want me to cancel my covenant with Abraham. As far as the nation is concerned, then he says you're going to have to cancel the ordinances, the ordinances that control the moon and the stars for a light.
So God says, I am putting in my creation. I am putting into the heavens above, not just a bow as a reminder of my promise to Noah never again to destroy the earth by water, but I am putting in my creation the ordinances of the moon and the stars as a guarantee that my promise to the nation of Israel will never, never be canceled.
What about his covenant with David? Well, just turn over one chapter, if you will, and look at chapter number 30 or rather two chapters, chapter 33 and look down the chapter, verse number 20. Thus saith the Lord, if he can break my covenant of the day and my covenant of the night, that there should not be day and night in their season, then also, then may also my covenant be broken with David, my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne.
And with the Levites, the priests, my mentors, as the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured. So while I multiply the seat of David, my servant and the Levites that minister unto me.
So will God break his covenant with David? God has said, I have made a covenant with the day and with the night. And if you could somehow cancel that covenant. Then you'll cancel my covenant with David.
Now, of course, that covenant with David is going to mean Christ reigning upon a throne in this world one day. But God has put into creation something to guarantee the bow for Abraham and for Noah. The moon and the stars for the nation, the covenant with day and the covenant of night for David.
What about the new covenant? Any sign in the sky, any sign in his creation when that new covenant was being established at Calvary, God turned off the lights and there was darkness. Sign in the sky. The sign in the heavens, the sign in God's creation.
That God was establishing a new covenant. The covenant that we enjoy. And as I've said, it is new. It is better. It is everlasting. And God has given us guarantees in his creation. And you could take as well.
I think it's lovely. In Malachi, the very last, virtually the very last words God speaks before 400 years of silence to the nation. What does he say? Unto you that fear my name shall what? The son of righteousness arise.
I can't help but think what it will be like for someone, a godly Jew, part of that remnant that spoke often one to another and the Lord hearkened and heard they would wonder, you know, will the day ever come when the son of righteousness will arise?
And God was saying just as that sun rises every morning in the east and no power on earth can hinder it. All the forces of men could not slow it down. All of the armies of earth could never impede it.
All of the machinations of Satan can never stop it. He says, just as sure as that happens, just as unstoppable as that is. So a day will come when my son will come and rain and bring healing in his wings to the nation.
Every morning, every sunrise would remind the nation or remind those who wanted to be reminded in the nation. God's promise will be fulfilled just as that sun is rising. Of course, he's given to us the bright and the morning star.
So there are signs in God's creation. God graciously, kindly has put into his creation these visible tokens to remind us of his faithfulness, of his promises, of his guarantees, the signs that are all around us in the sky.
I was going to speak about the simplicity of it, but let me just mention one thing. I think the greatest understatement, you know what I mean by an understatement, the greatest understatement that has ever been made is what we have in Genesis chapter one.
And he made the stars also. When we just said trillions upon trillions of stars and all it says is, and he made the stars also. That's all it says. It's like it was, I don't want to say an afterthought, but, you know, it's as though God is saying, you know, look, the big thing is, is Earth.
The big thing is Earth. That's where I've got to bring my son one day. That's the big thing. The stars, yeah, trillions of stars I can take care of in just a moment's time. The simplicity of it, the work of his fingers, just his fingers.
Now, of course, you remember his arm brought salvation. His fingers made the Earth. Far greater work. Redemption was a far greater work, far more costly to God than creation. But I want to speak, if I can, about the creator and his glory.
What is Genesis one revealed to us? We already touched on some of it. Let me just mention a few other things. Genesis one reveals to us some of the attributes of God, and they're worthy of our worship and worthy of our consideration.
First of all, it reveals to us his eternality. He is eternal. In the beginning, God created heavens and the Earth. So three things were created in Genesis chapter one. Time. Now, don't ask me to explain.
In fact, if you want to get into a wonderful sphere of philosophic arguments and philosophic reasoning, just Google what men think about time, what philosophers think about time. In fact, some think there is no such thing as time.
It's just a construct of our own making. But God is outside of time. It's another dimension altogether. He's outside. He made it in the beginning. God created. So God made time, he made space, and he made matter.
Now, if you can explain all that to me, the Lord bless you, and I'll be happy to listen. It really is something we can't. We have no frame of reference to understand what it means to create time. But that's what God did.
He is eternal. He is outside of all of this. He is over and above it, outside of it altogether. And he is self-existent. He is self-sufficient. Why did God make us? Why did God create human beings? I mean, don't please never think that God needed us, that somehow God needed people in heaven to enjoy his heaven.
For God to need anything means he's not God. He is absolutely self-sufficient. So it was really all for our blessing. It was really all for our joy, really all for for us, that this huge solar system exists, that into it came a savior, and that as a result of his work at Calvary, we have been redeemed.
It was all for us. We can add nothing to God because he is God, totally complete in himself. You may say, well, doesn't our worship add anything to him? All we're doing is confessing what's true of him already.
We're not adding anything to him. And we're we're only telling him what's already true about him at the very best. When we've said the very best we can say and the very best way we can say it. Really, it's very, very feeble and very, very limited.
And we're only beginning to touch the hem of the garment, really, as we think. So we learn something of his eternality. We learn something as well about his his majesty, don't we? Majestic. I mean, I'm sure some of you here have trekked the Rockies, both in the US and Canada, and you've been to the Grand Canyon and you've been to other places that revealed something of the majesty of just our little world.
And the God who made it all, the God who formed it all. Majestic beyond compare. We sang those words, holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, the God of absolute unrivaled majesty. His majesty is seen in his creation.
You know, something I'm sure I know when we were younger, we did this more as a married couple. You would drive around neighborhoods and look at some of the especially when you're living in a little three room apartment with hardly enough room to breathe.
And you drive around some of the nicest states and see some of the huge houses. And where we are, there are some areas there where people with quite a bit of money live. And you would get a you get an idea of how wealthy the person was by the house they lived in.
Right. I mean, you didn't find Bill Gates living in a little tiny two room bungalow. Right. Uh, so the house in its grandeur and in its size gives you some concept of how important and how wealthy the person is.
Do you know where God lives? You know, the only house big enough for God. Let's say at the high and lofty one who inhabits. Eternity. That's the only place big enough for God. Eternity. That's something that gives you some concept of the majesty of the greatness of this God.
He inhabits eternity, his his majesty, his sovereignty, not just his eternality, not just his majesty, but his sovereignty. That just means he has absolute rights. This world belongs to him. He has absolute rights over it.
He has absolute sway over what occurs, who he gives it to, what he does with it, how he moves nations. And so Paul will take up that tremendous truth, won't he? In Acts chapter 17, he's preaching there to philosophers, the Stoics and the Epicureans, and he's preaching there and he tells them God that made the worlds.
He determines the times beforehand of nations and how long they exist. Their measure of prosperity, their measure of influence, and he moves them like pieces on it, on a chessboard, all to accomplish his purposes.
And he says God is above our concepts. He's not like those idols you've made. He's above our contributions. He needs nothing. He's above all of our counsel. We can't give him advice. He's above our confines.
We can't keep him in a little temple made with hands. This God is so great. He's the God of the nations. He controls everything. He is sovereign in all of his ways. He's a God who's marked by sufficiency.
We've mentioned that already. Self-existent, self-sufficient. Something also about his creativity, the tremendous creativity of the God. Actually, one of the things we could talk about is some of the traits that God has given to human beings as sharing, in a sense.
I say that carefully, sharing. We are also marked by creativity. Human beings are marked by creativity. But think of the creativity of God in creation. I'm not a fisherman. You wouldn't want to go fishing with me.
But 22 ,000 different kind of fish. There are over, at least at this point in time, 9 ,000 species of birds, and no two birds have the same song. Now, there's actually, I can give you a reference book if you want on songs of birds and how unique they are to each particular species.
9 ,000 different birds with 9 ,000 different songs they sing. And some of them are quite complex. God of absolute, of a wonderful creativity. And he's given that to men as well, to human beings, to be creative.
The rest of the creation works by instinct, right? And maybe a little bit of adaptation. But as far as creativity, I mean, that's a human being thing, right? The tremendous ability of men. And all we're doing is, in all our creativity is, we're a poor replica of the original.
God is the original in all of his creativity, and we're poor replicas. But part of God's tremendous character seen in Genesis chapter 1, the variety of things that he makes. He is seen in his eternality, in his majesty, in his sovereignty, in his sufficiency, in his creativity.
All of that is revealed to us in Genesis, that and much, much more. The God of goodness. Why did God say? Now, you'll challenge me this one day, and you can tell me why later on. One day, God did not say it was good.
But in all the other days, God said, it is good. It is good. It is good. It is very good. Was God just, and I say this reverently, just complimenting himself? Or was God giving us an insight in Genesis chapter 1 as to what is good?
If he is, what is good? Good is what carries out the word and will of God. God spoke and it was done. And when it was done, God says, that's good. That has that has fulfilled my will. That has fulfilled my word.
Therefore, it's good. Now, God said what was good before ever. There was an ethics committee before ever. There was a philosopher forever. There were any debates about what was good and what was not good long before the Greek philosophers began their long, tedious arguments over the ultimate good and the good life.
God said, here is what is good. So absolutes were established in Genesis chapter 1. God says, what is good is what conforms to my will and what conforms to my word. That is what makes something good. That which is contrary to my will, that which disobeys my word is not good.
Evil and God called things in Genesis 1. God put names on things. Very, very clearly, he called it day, he called it night. And it's interesting because when you come to Genesis chapter 2, another one of those responsibilities that God shares now with his creatures.
God allowed Adam to give names to things. That was God's prerogative in chapter 1. God now, he says, I'm going to make you responsible and have you name things. So that'll be an easy way to move into just this very last point that we don't have time.
We'll deal more than probably tomorrow night. And that is the creature and God's goodness. What separates us as human beings from the rest of creation? Number one, we are rational. At least most of us.
There might be a few exceptions, but most of us are rational. That means we can think. Cognitive ability. Animals have memory by training. But as far as reasoning and deducing, no, human beings are rational.
Human beings are relational. In relationships, we thrive. Without relationships, we shrivel. We are relational. Now, I have to be careful here because you can get in trouble saying these things. If you love your cat or you love your dog, forgive me.
But really, human beings were made for relationship with each other. And if you want to have a relationship with your cat or dog or your parakeet, you have to act like they act, right? You got to get down on the floor and bark and you've got to meow at them.
But to have a relationship on a human level. And of course, not only can we have a relationship on human levels, but we were made relational as far as the vertical with God himself. The ultimate relationship that we actually can look up and have a relationship with God.
So we were made rational. We were made relational. There is a very strange thing and you may not have ever thought of it. We were made reflective. Now, what that means is just this. You can stand outside yourself and see yourself, right?
You can monitor yourself. Like, you know, when you're up here, you're monitoring yourself. You know, am I keeping people awake? Am I putting people to sleep tonight? You're monitoring yourself. You're looking at yourself.
It can be a help. It can also be a huge problem. But whatever it is, but we're made to be reflective. Animals can't do that. Animals just act on instinct. And one of the greatest blessings, but also one of the greatest, greatest dangers.
We were made responsible. Responsible. We have consciences. We have been given free will. And as a result of free will, we are responsible. That set us apart. Genesis chapter one. Let us make man in our own image.
Man as being rational, being able to think and being able to reason, come to conclusions. Man as being relational, having a relationship with each other, having relationship with God. Man as being reflective, being able to look upon himself and analyze himself and assess himself.
And man is being responsible. In that sphere of responsibility, there is a great potential for growth, for blessing, for usefulness. But of course, there's also. And when God made man, he realized the tremendous risk.
Giving men free will. What we would do with it. This then is that is the God that. Has accomplished this wondrous work of creation. It's vastness. It's voice to us. What it reveals to us are the virtues of God himself.
All of that revealed here, the wondrous works of God. One of the significant poets of a past century. Actually, she and her husband, both were poets, Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Elizabeth Barrett Browning was probably a better poet than her husband.
And in one of her poems, she was speaking about the creation. And here's what she wrote. Earth is crammed with heaven. You get that? Earth is crammed with heaven and every common bush, a fire with God.
But only those who see. Take off their shoes. The rest sit around and pluck blackberries. Get the message. Eyes to see. Eyes to see the universe as filled with the glory of God. May God help us to appreciate the God of creation, that this God is our God.
A God who can care for us. A God of power, a God of wisdom, a God of love, a God of goodness. And this God is our God. And he can see to our welfare and we can trust him both for eternity as well as for time.
Now, we'll speak to God in prayer. Our Father, we bow together. We thank you once more for the tremendous truths we have looked at. The God who has made this vast universe, galaxy upon galaxy, stars without number.
We marvel to think that the God who is able to name every star and keep every star in its proper place is the God who holds us in his hand and the God who holds us in his heart as well. We bow in worship to thank thee again for ever, ever considering us, ever loving us, ever planning for us an eternity of bliss and an eternity of unfolding revelation of the riches of thy grace.
We bow to thank thee once more for the gift of thy son and thank thee again for all he accomplished upon the cross of Calvary. We thank you for those who have come tonight to hear thy word. We pray that there will be encouragement and strengthening in light of what we have looked at and as well that we might be much more conscious of the thanksgiving we owe to thee, even for thy creation and the wonders of it and the beauty of it and all that it reveals to us of thyself.
We look to thee to give us safety in our travels as we return. Thanks again in our Lord Jesus worthy name. Amen.