The Story Series Message 1

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. 2

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? 3

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 4 from his heart, soul, mind and strength. Value is Bestowed in this reality that we bear God’s own reflection and worth. 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 “Whoa- Man” 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 & 5 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? 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. 6

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...” 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 7

(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.

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 8

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. 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 9 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 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.