A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens begins his great novel “A Tale of Two Cities” with the following paragraph…

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—“

Of course, Dickens is talking about France and England in the 18^th century, but I think he is also picking up on a theme St. Augustine wrote about in his book, “The City of God” in which he contrasts two cities; the city of God and the city of man. Augustine, like Dickens, wrote on great contrasts, or antithesis. He spoke of the city of God, whose founder and ruler is God, the God who builds a glorious and gracious city; A city whose entrance is found in humility. He then spoke of the city of Man, whose founder and ruler is sin and lust, the kind of sin and lust that brings its own destruction and demise; A city whose entrance is found in pride and arrogance. This theme of 2 cities, the city of God and the city of man, is prevalent in Christian literature.

We have often talked of the city of God as the city that is God's people in God's place under God's rule and blessing and the city of man as the city that is not God's people that is out of God's place and that has rejected God's rule and blessing. In this case, we are simply exchanging the word “kingdom” for the word “city.” So, when we talk about the city of man and the city of God we are really talking about the two kingdoms that we all know are a present reality. Until Jesus returns, all believers will live in both of these cities!

As believers, we all live in the city of Man, and we all live in the city of God. As the Apostle Paul said, we have a kind of dual citizenship in this world. Our two cities are this earthly kingdom we call America and the kingdom of God. However, our citizenship as Americans ought to be one of people who recognize that we are ultimately sojourners and aliens in this world—for our ultimate citizenship is in the great eternal city whose Founder and Builder is God!

So, how did these two cities come about and how does this help us understand how God saves us? Well, to understand that we need to review the story of Creation and Fall thus far. So far, we have established that God, our King, created us as his people (Adam and Eve) in his place (the Garden) under his rule and blessing (living in perfect rest as long as they keep the law). However, Satan entered the picture and tempted Adam and Eve to exalt themselves instead of God. He convinced them that there is something better for them than what God had provided, thus they ate the fruit God commanded them not to eat and sin and death came upon mankind. We found that this resulted in a world that is filled with shame, pride and fear. It has resulted in broken relationships, a broken world, and certain death for all men.

Adam and Eve decided to listen to the voice of another god, and decided to enthrone a new ruler in their lives---themselves. As a result, they were no longer God’s people in God’s kingdom under God’s rule and blessing! Now, they were in the kingdom of man; a kingdom in which we see their 1^st son, Cain, kill his brother, Abel; a kingdom in which their first son builds a city for his own glory; a kingdom that becomes so wicked God must bring a flood to destroy mankind; a kingdom in which the hatred of God is so prevalent that he must institute the death penalty as punishment for men who kill other men; kingdom in which a man’s own son tries to humiliate him; a kingdom in which men raise up and actually try to build a city with a great tower to exalt themselves. And all this happens in 9 short chapters of the Bible!

So, what hope is there? If this is the city that Man created, the city into which we are all born, then what hope do we have? If we are all conceived and born into the city of Man---the kingdom that worships other gods---the city that is full of sin---the city whose ruling principle is pride, then how do we ever get back into the city of God? How do we get back into God’s kingdom? In order to answer that question, I want to look at Genesis 3-11.

My goal is to show you that God, our great King, has not abandoned us to the city of Man. Instead, upon the Fall of Man, God immediately goes about trying to save him, to rescue him, to bring him back into the kingdom of God. God is the King of Glory and the King of Grace. He is the King who breaks into the city of Man and saves us out of it!

In order to help you see that God is both our Savior and King and to help you recognize that God begins the project of saving us into his kingdom, the city of God (a project which is culminated in the coming of His glorious Son, Jesus) I intend to show you 6 truths about our Gracious King. Six truths that we learn about God as he begins to save men back into his kingdom. I want you to remember that while this is only the beginning of the story of salvation, a story that runs through the whole Bible and is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus, the lessons found here are consistent throughout the story. So, what are the 6 truths we learn about our Gracious King? What are these lessons that we might even call lessons in sovereign grace?

1. God graciously seeks those who are lost.

When I am asked whether our church is seeker sensitive? I always answer, “yes, if you mean that the seeker is God.” While we don’t believe that men truly seek God apart from him first seeking them we do believe that God does seek men! This seeking nature of God is shown in Gen. 3:8-9. Adam and Eve don’t go looking for God. He comes looking for them. They are working to avoid God. We do the same in our sin. We cling to this city, to this kingdom. We don’t go looking for God. He comes looking for us.

The whole Bible from Genesis 3 forward is about God coming to seek and save us as we flee from Him---not about us looking for a relationship with him. Even the writing of the Bible shows this. We just receive God’s Word. He seeks to communicate with us. He pursues us. He pursued us in the person of Jesus! Jesus said he came to seek and save the lost. We didn’t ask for Jesus to come. He was sent by God. In fact, we killed him when he came. Even the commission of the church shows God’s seeking nature. Contrary to what seems to be popular opinion, God didn’t say, “all authority on heaven and earth has been given to me…Go, therefore, and build beautiful buildings, offer great programs, and those who need me will come looking for me.” No, he said, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, and teaching them...” We are to go to the nations and seek those who are lost. Why? Because our God is a king who graciously seeks to save those who have been lost to the city of man and to bring them into the city, or kingdom, of God!

2. God graciously provides the payment necessary for forgiveness.

We have sinned and incurred the penalty of spiritual and physical death. The only way to be forgiven is through the shedding of blood. Without blood sacrifice, God’s righteous wrath is not turned away and we are doomed to the fate of all who live in the city of Man when God comes to bring war against that city.

God does not say to man, “You provide the blood sacrifice.” He says “I will provide it.” In Genesis 3:15 we find the first promise that God will pay the price. Second, notice that Adam and Eve tried to cover their sin with fig leaves, but God comes and covers them with animal skins in Genesis 3:21. God covered their sin. He covers ours. Even the OT sacrificial system was given to man, and it all ultimately served to point to the only blood sacrifice that would ever satisfy God’s wrath against our sin---it pointed to the Cross of Jesus Christ!

So, while the city of man is represented best by the towers men build in attempts to pridefully exalt themselves. The city of God is represented best by the Cross of Christ as he demonstrated humility. God is gracious enough to humble himself and pay our cost so we can be forgiven. This is your King. He is the king who seeks for you and sacrifices for your forgiveness.

3. God shows grace / favor to whom He will.

The 3^rd truth we learn about our gracious King is that he shows favor, or grace, to whomever he wills. This is the very definition of grace! Grace must be sovereign grace given to whomever God wills because grace is unearned. Grace is not merited. If someone deserved it, it would not be grace. If it was controlled by the will of man it would not be God’s sovereign grace. But, as Paul says in Romans 9:1, ‘It does not depend on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.”

We have a king who is merciful to us by his own choosing. This means God’s grace can’t be lost because it was never earned. We see this first with Adam. Why was God gracious to Adam? He blatantly sinned. Yet, God came looking for him and paid for his sins and saved him. Adam was booted from the Garden but God continued to be gracious to him. He prevented Adam from eating of the Tree of Life which would have led to an eternity in sin. He gave him a son through whom would come the Savior.

We also see this in that God was gracious to Abel, not Cain. He looked with favor on Abel’s offering. We see this with Seth's family, not Cain's family. Cain’s family is saved from destruction for a time, but they are not a family that worships God and enjoys his favor. Just look at Enoch of Seth’s line (the 5^th son of Seth---7^th from Adam versus Lamech, the 5^th son of Cain---7^th from Adam). We also see this with Noah and his family, not the rest of the world.

Why? Was Noah not a sinner like everyone else? No! The text clearly says that all men were wicked (Gen. 6:5). When Noah is first mentioned the text begins by saying he received grace (Gen. 6:8). Then it goes on to say that Noah was righteous. Yet, we read that after the flood Noah got drunk and exposed his nudity. What kind of righteous man is this? He is a sinner to whom God is gracious. God is not gracious to him because of anything he did but because God is gracious.

4. God shows grace to those who humbly trust him.

The fourth point I want to make about our gracious King is that he gives grace to those who humbly trust him. Someone might say, “but I thought you just said God gives grace to whomever he chooses.” Yes, I did. And now, I am saying that God gives grace to whomever believes or trusts him. Some people wonder how these two truths of God’s sovereignty in grace and man’s responsibility can both be true. They are both true because the Bible says they are. This is how God has revealed that he works. No one will be saved who does not believe. Only those who believe will be saved. Man is 100% responsible for his eternal outcome. Faith is necessary for salvation. Also, no one will be saved unless God saves them. No one will be saved as a result of their own works. Salvation is 100% the work and gift of God. God is the one who gets all the praise and glory for our salvation. He did it! He saved us! When Charles Spurgeon was asked how he reconciles these two truths, his response was, “I don’t try to reconcile them, because friends don’t need to be reconciled!”

Let’s look at the text to see that God’s grace is only given to those who trust Him.

a. Adam and Eve

While it does not say in Genesis 3 that they believed God would save them it is assumed in their receiving the animal skins. Faith is just receiving. Faith is passive. Faith is not a good work or a virtue. We get an even more clear picture of their faith in Genesis 4 as Eve demonstrates that she learns that it is all of God, and not of her. She believes God.

b. Abel.

God shows favor to Able and his offering. Able offered the firstfruits. Able offered the fat portion. In other words, Able humbly trusted God (Gen. 4:3-5). Hebrews 11 tells us that Able brought his offering in faith. Able trusted God thus Able received grace. Whereas, Cain did not trust or believe God.

Cain trusted himself and was after his own good. For Cain, God was someone to be manipulated to get what he wanted. But, please don’t think that Cain did not have faith, or was not worshiping. The fact is that Cain had faith. He was worshiping. The problem for Cain and for all men is not a lack of faith or worship---it is the object of their faith or worship that is the problem! We hear people saying that all that matters is that someone has sincere faith, or is sincerely worshiping! No, that is not what matters. The Bible assumes people are believing and worshiping. The problem with man is not that he doesn’t worship or doesn’t believe---the problem is that he doesn’t worship and doesn’t believe in the True God—the God revealed in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible--- the God revealed in Jesus Christ!

c. Seth---Gen. 4:26

We see this with the contrast between Cain and Able, but also with the contrast between Cain and Seth. Cain wanted to use God to exalt himself. He wanted to exalt his own name and make himself known. He wanted the gifts but not the Giver. Able just wanted to exalt God. Seth just wanted to exalt God. When we read about Seth we see that he named his son Enosh---“human weakness,” and that men worshiped the Lord. Seth knew his life was to be given to worshiping his great King. Seth knew that humans were weak and needed God. Whereas, Cain named his first son Enoch and instead of men worshiping he built a city to exalt his own family (Genesis 4:17). For Cain, it was about personal exaltation, not about the exaltation of God.

d. Noah---Gen. 6:9

Noah walked with God. Noah trusted God and obeyed him. Noah’s faith was instrumental in God saving him from the flood and using him to bring about a new beginning for mankind. How can we say all of this about a man who was wicked along with all mankind, and who is shown to be sinful in his own behavior? Because Noah recognized his sin, and weakness, and was humbled to trust God. Noah knew he was doomed apart from God. His righteousness was a life of obedience that sprang from his trust in God as his only hope of salvation, and from his humble recognition that he has sinned and will sin again.

5. God extends grace through covenants.

The fifth 5^th truth about our gracious King that we learn is that he extends grace through covenants. I will write more on this in future. But, for now a short explanation will suffice. I mean that God makes a promise to man to be gracious to him. A covenant is an agreement between two parties, like the marriage covenant. Teresa and I promised to be faithful to one another in marriage for our entire lives. This is a covenant.

The covenants God makes with man are generally unilateral. Meaning we don’t go to God and say, “we have a problem here, how about we broker a deal?” God comes to us and says, “You have a problem, here is what I promise to do?” We have been given covenants from God. The first one we see is God’s covenant with Adam---“you can eat from any tree, but not that one in the middle of the garden, for the day you eat from it you will surely die.” Adam breaks that covenant and must pay the price for doing so.

God makes another covenant with Noah and all mankind with him. He promises to never flood the earth again and the rainbow is a sign of that covenant. Do you ever just stop after rain and look at the rainbow, and realize God is visually showing you that he is a God who makes and keeps promises or covenants? The covenant with Noah is a covenant with all men---whether they believe in God as Savior and King or not. It is a covenant of common grace to all men. In my next post I will write about the covenant with Abraham, which is a covenant only for those who believe in the God of the Bible.

6. God has always planned to be gracious to man for his own glory. Eph. 1:3-6

The sixth thing we learn is that God as our gracious King has always planned to be gracious to us, even before we fell into sin. He has always planned to do this for his own glory. We see the inference to that in Genesis, but we see it clearly portrayed in Eph. 1:3-6. God has always been planning to establish a kingdom, which we have called the city of God. He has always planned to save men into that kingdom or city.

It is unlike the city of man in that in the city of God we worship God, rather than self. In the city of God we are given grace, rather than the judgment coming to the city of man. In the city of God we are marked by humility, rather than being marked by pride. The city of God has the Cross as its chief symbol, rather than the towers built in tribute to the city of man. The city of God exists for the glory of God, rather than for the glory of man!

We are to live differently because of our incredibly gracious King! We are to look at those trapped in the city of man and desire to see them saved into the city of God. We are to be marked by humility. We are to be those who cling to the Cross. Admittedly, it is difficult. We are living in this “Tale of Two Cities,” and it is the best of times and the worst of times.

Prayer for Preachers

“Crucified preaching can only come from a crucified man." -E.M. Bounds

We live in a day in which our model for preaching and pastoral ministry is being pulled in numerous different directions by competing voices in the world of “professional ministry.” All of these cries for more faithful ministry are indeed needed. Yet, the flood of answers to the problems we face in ministry can become overwhelming and discouraging. What we see little of, in the midst of all these calls for reform in the church, is the cry to return the pulpit to the central place of ministry for the pastor. Perhaps the weightiest exhortation given to a pastor in the Bible is Paul’s command to Timothy. Listen to how the apostle Paul closed his final letter to his son in the faith, Timothy:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:1-5

Paul grounds his charge to preach the word in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, in Christ as the judge of all men, and in the appearing and kingdom of Christ. Can there be a loftier basis for an exhortation? It is this central privilege of the pastor to be a herald of God’s word that is so often minimized and overlooked. It is this glorious burden of preaching which can seem crushing and discouraging. It is faithfulness to this sacred charge where pastors most need continual encouragement, instruction, and prayer.

Forgiveness and the Justice of God

Have you ever considered that God's justice requires your forgiveness? This may sound strange since forgiveness is mercy and not justice. How can God's justice require I am forgiven? Well, if you are united to Christ through faith, then your sins have been paid for. Jesus is the propitiation (satisfaction of God's wrath) for all your sins (1 John 2:2). This is how John can say, "If we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9)." God's justice has already been satisfied on Christ so it would be unjust of God to now satisfy his justice against all those in Christ! Have you considered what this means? This means your forgiveness is inextricably tied to the righteousness of God! If God fails to forgive you, God is unrighteous. Is there any more secure ground for your forgiveness than the righteousness of God?

The Fall

I started our Bible storyline of creation by emphasizing that God created all things and is the Sovereign King over all things for His glory. He created us to be God’s people living in God’s presence under God’s rule and blessing. This is what we call being in the kingdom of God. Adam and Eve were in God’s kingdom, as God’s people, in God’s place or presence (the Garden), under God’s rule and blessing. As a result, they were at rest or peace. They had a good relationship with God, with others, and with the creation. However, the incredible creation of God has been corrupted by sin. It was corrupted by the Fall. As a result, man is no longer in God’s kingdom---he is not God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule and blessing.

We find the story of the Fall in Genesis 3:1-6. Satan starts with a half-truth and questions God’s Word. After being properly corrected, Satan tells a flat lie. Satan tempts Adam and Eve with the promise they will know good and evil. And they will know evil in that they will participate in it. God knows evil in that it is the opposite of all He is. He abhors it. Satan also tempts Adam and Eve with the promise of being like God---self-exaltation. Eve was deceived. She thought it would make her wise and her lusts got the best of her (1 Timothy 2:14). Adam was flat out rebellious. He was in the garden, with all God’s good gifts around and he thought I will disobey God and eat from that tree. We are told that as a result of this sin everything changed!

So what all changed? There were 3 relationships effected by the Fall: our relationship with God, our relationship with others, and our relationship with creation.

Our Relationship with God

When sin entered the world we were lost or alienated from God’s presence. We are no longer the people of God in the presence of God under the rule and blessing of God. We are no longer in God’s kingdom. Certainly, God is still ruling this earth but to be in His kingdom in the biblical sense is to be his people, in his presence, under his rule and blessing. This is perhaps the worst part of our spiritual condition because we lose the joy of knowing and being in the presence of God, we are in a state of eternal separation from God, we lose him as our treasure. There are at least 12 effects of the Fall on our relationship with God:

1. We are unable to do any spiritual good or truly seek God.

Rom. 3:10 as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;

Rom. 3:11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.

Rom. 3:12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

This is not a reference to our ability to be good in relation to other men, but in relation to God. God can no longer look at man and give the moral judgment “very good.” We were made to reflect His glory---we were made to bear His image---to reflect his holy character back to Him. As sinners, we are now a walking lie.

2. We are those without spiritual understanding.

1Cor. 2:14 ¶ The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

This is not a reference to our ability to understand anything. We are unable to understand things pertaining to God---we cannot really know Him. We can try to seek him on our own but we are just groping in the dark.

3. We are those who suffer shame. (Genesis 3:7, 3:10 cf. 2:25)

Adam and Eve attempted to over cover themselves for shame. How do we try to cover-up? What are our fig leaves? We try to cover up our sin by hiding it, lying about it, or minimizing it. We also cover up by talking about sin corporately, rather than personally. We say things like, “all people look at pornography,” to avoid saying, “I looked at pornography.” We cover up by assuming enough time has passed to make our sin go away. We cover up by assuming everyone does it, so I don’t have to feel too bad.

4. We are those who are now hiding in fear. (Genesis 3:8-10)

How do we hide from God? We hide behind intellectual arguments against the existence of God or behind some conception of God in our imagination---that He is not holy and angry about sin. We hide behind busy schedules and the noise of life. We hide behind excuses that others are keeping us from God.

5. We are those who are now experiencing guilt and tend to blame-shift. (Genesis 3:11-13)

We feel guilt because we are guilty. We don’t like to feel guilt so we either minimize our sin, or, most frequently, we find someone to blame. It is the fault of our parents, or spouse, or children, or church, or government. “The man is keeping me down.” We are just like Adam and Eve, saying to God, “It is this wife, or husband, or parents you gave me.”

6. We are faithless and unbelieving as Adam and Eve were and as Cain was.

7. We are prideful and decide we know better than God just as Adam and Eve decided they knew better than God.

8. We are disobedient and rebel against God just as Adam and Eve rebelled against God.

9. We are idolatrous and give glory to other people or things, especially ourselves, because we want to be “like God.”

10. We are lustful and driven by passionate desires for something just as Eve when she saw that the fruit looked desirable.

11. We are liars just as the serpent in the Garden was.

12. We are filled with ingratitude and do not give God thanks for what we have, but desire something more.

Our Relationship with One Another

In Genesis 3:16, we are told there will be strife between the man and the woman due to the curse. There is a role reversal. The woman desires to dominate the man and the man no longer lovingly leads. Instead of a marriage of where the husband humbly and lovingly leads his wife as she joyfully and humbly submits, marriage is degraded to constant conflict between a wife and her husband. This social conflict shows up in all human relationships. We see it first with Cain and Able, but it continues to show up in Genesis 6 and 9 with murder being discussed.

Our relationship with Creation

The curse of the Fall also includes physical ramifications. There is pain and suffering through child-bearing and through hard work and toil (Genesis 3:16, 17-19). Ultimately there is physical death as man is swallowed up by earth (Gen 2:17, 3:19 cf. 5:5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 27).

The Fall of the created order left man in a desperate and terrible condition. He is without God and without hope in the world. If I left you there at the Fall, you would be tempted to either despair and say “forget it, I may as well run after my sin,” or, try to clean up your act and assert your own righteousness. Either way, you would be missing the Gospel---the good news! You would be missing Jesus!

A couple of years ago, I sat at high school graduations and I saw people who were lost all around me. I saw students and teachers and administrators and parents (1000’s of people). And, I realized that when I get up to speak to these crowds I will breaking the law if I say the one word they all need to hear. I thought about saying it. I wanted to say it. But, I did not want the district to suffer a lawsuit if I did. So, I did the “mature and responsible” thing and kept my mouth shut. I kept from them the one name that they needed to hear. I joined the chorus of voices that told them to go out there into the world and try hard! I knew this was going to be the case, and I sat there thinking how crazy is it, how indicative of the Fall is it, that in our society “JESUS” is the one word it is illegal for public officials to say to students! Yet, what people need to hear is Jesus! They need to hear of their only hope out of their spiritual death and lostness. They need to hear the gospel. Jesus is our only hope out of the fallen mess we are in. We do not despair and we do not try to clean things up ourselves, because we have Jesus!

The Fall brings unrighteousness, Jesus is our righteousness!

The Fall brings us spiritual ignorance, Jesus is our Wisdom!

The Fall makes us lost, Jesus seeks and saves the lost!

The Fall makes us guilty, Jesus takes our guilt upon himself!

The Fall leaves us naked and ashamed, Jesus is our covering!

The Fall leaves us fearful of God, Jesus reconciles us to God and gives us boldness to approach the throne!

The Fall leaves us faithless, Jesus is our Faithfulness!

The Fall leaves us full of pride, Jesus humbled himself!

The Fall leaves us in disobedience, Jesus was obedient even to death on a Cross!

The Fall leaves us as idolaters, Jesus glorified only the Father!

The Fall leaves us in lust, Jesus was tempted in every way, yet without sin!

The Fall leaves us in our lying, Jesus is the truth!

The Fall leaves us in broken relationships and conflict, Jesus is our peace!

The Fall leaves us in racism and social strife, Jesus makes one new man!

The Fall leaves us in pain and suffering, Jesus suffered for us and is the ultimate healer who will restore all things!

The Fall leaves us to physical death, Jesus is our resurrection!

The Fall leaves us blind, Jesus opens our eyes!

The Fall leaves us deaf, Jesus gives us ears to hear!

The Fall leaves us hard-hearted, Jesus gives us new hearts!

The Fall leaves us in slavery to sin, Jesus gives us freedom!

The Fall leaves us in darkness, Jesus is the light of the world!

The Fall leaves us groping for treasure in this world---and awaiting certain eternal punishment, Jesus is our treasure and our eternal reward!

In the Beginning God...

In the Beginning God…

Genesis 1-2

As we begin to unfold the story of the Bible, we must start with the beginning. The Bible gives us the story of the beginning of the story of creation in Genesis 1-2. It tells us how we were God’s people (Adam and Eve) living in God’s place (The Garden) under God’s rule and blessing (perfect rest and harmony with God, one another, and the Creation). This is the 1^st chapter you might say in the great story of God’s grand story. Interestingly, these 2 chapters and the final 2 chapters of Revelation are the only 4 chapters of the Bible where sin and death are not present. So, you might say that the whole Bible is bracketed by the story of the original perfect creation and the finally restored and perfect new creation. As we look at Genesis 1-2, I want us to focus on 3 primary lessons we learn about the storyline of the Bible.

1. God is the King who created everything for his own glory.
2. God’s image bearers are the pinnacle of creation.
3. God’s rest is the goal of creation.

God is the King who created everything for his own glory.

We learn at least 3 truths about God from the story of Creation in Genesis 1-2:

God is Separate and distinct from (transcendence) yet related to and with His Creation (imminence).

Transcendence is shown by how he speaks the universe into existence (out of nothing) through just speaking it. He is separate from and above His creation. He is not like the gods of eastern religions who are part of the creation. He creates everything by the word of His power, and it all points to Him but he is not to be confused with it. He is not a God who needs man. He is a God who is in an eternally satisfying relationship within Himself. We call this the Trinity and we see this at work even in Genesis 1:1-2 (see also John 1:1-3). God is not “the big man upstairs.” We must stop lowering him, and making him altogether like us. We are made in God’s image. He is not made in our image! We do not have the freedom to say, “My God is this kind of God…” As if we have a designer God. God is God. He is wholly transcendent and separate from His creation.

He has revealed Himself through creation and most fully through His Word. He is a God who wants to be known and even described, thus why He gave His Word. But, just because we can describe him through his Word does not mean we can circumscribe Him. It does not mean we know everything. We can understand Him, otherwise He would not speak to us expecting us to understand Him. However, we cannot understand him exhaustively! When Job wonders why God has dealt with him by allowing his children to die, and by allowing him to lose everything, and suffer physical pain, God responded, “Job, Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.” God wants Job, and us, to understand that He is God and we are not!

However, this does not mean God is distant and uncaring. God is not uninvolved with His creation either. He is not the God of deism, who wound up creation and sat back to watch it. He is the God who is intimately related to and involved with His creation. He is imminent. We see this through how he speaks to His creation. While God’s speech shows us his transcendence and sovereignty. It also shows us his intimate relationship with His creation! God intimately relates to His creation through his word. He relates to his created universe by His Word (Gen. 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26). He relates to man by His Word (Gen. 1:28, 29; 2:16, 18). Even his image bearers relate to one another through “word”. (Gen. 2:23).

Do you understand the implications of this? You have a powerful God, who is altogether different from you but who desires to be intimately related to you! He is the God who wants to communicate with you and thus gave you His Word. He is the God who is not far from you but who is always there. He is the God who loves His people and who if you draw near to God he will draw near to you. He is the God who will help you. Call on Him to help you.

God is the Sovereign King over his creation.

We see God’s sovereignty and his rule through the manner in which everything obeys his Word. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God spoke and the universe leapt into existence! Therein is power and sovereignty. God ordered everything. There was no one commanding him. He did not ask anyone’s advice or permission. He created it all and he owns it all. He is the King!

We even see God’s rule in a partial answer of what it means to be made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27-28). Man is not only commanded by God what to do but he is, as an image bearer of God, given dominion or rule over the earth. To rule is to be like God. God even sets down a law for man in Genesis 2:16-17.

People will object and ask how we can counsel people in suffering if we have such a strong view of God’s Sovereignty. They say, “Well, if someone’s child dies, and God is Sovereign over that, then what do you tell them? Do you tell them this was God’s plan? How is that helpful?” First, let me say the answer is, yes, God planned it. Psalm 139 says he numbered are days before there was yet one of them. But, let me ask the counter question to this. If your child dies, and God is not Sovereign over that, then who is? Was God taken by surprise? Did he not care enough to intervene? Was it because you were totally irresponsible parents, or your child was completely irresponsible? Is this completely out of God’s hands and thus he is helpless to bring good from it? I guess this must be true if God is not Sovereign but I am not sure how that counsel is more comforting.

When the 5 year old daughter of Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman died. She was accidentally run over in the drive way by her older teenaged brother. What do we tell them? Is the brother responsible for the accidental death of his sister, in the sense that he was driving the car? Yes. Was God surprised? No. On the blog dedicated to their daughter they talked of how they just celebrated her 5^th birthday 10 days before this incident. They say the following, “…These words are unthinkable to type. And yet we trust in a God who was not surprised by this and because of Jesus I am certain through faith in Him we will see Maria again.”

God’s glory is the purpose of His creation.

Why did God create everything?

Psa. 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Psa. 19:2 Day to day pours out speech,

and night to night reveals knowledge.

God did everything to bring fame to His own Name. He did it all to show He is glorious. To display His unsurpassed character and attributes. This gives me great hope. Why? Because my good is grounded in God’s glory! God created, ultimately, to show the riches of his glory---His goodness and His grace to the objects of His mercy! As those who believe in Jesus Christ we are the objects of His mercy! Everything was created so that he might show us how glorious He is! Romans 9:22-23 addresses this,

Rom. 9:22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,

Rom. 9:23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—

My eternal destiny is as certain and secure as God’s desire to bring glory to His own Name is! You want security? You want assurance? There it is! It is found in God’s jealous desire to make His own glory known to us in His Son!

God’s image bearers are the pinnacle of creation

Not only do we learn that God is the King who created everything for His own glory from the creation account, we also learn that God’s image bearers are the pinnacle of creation (Genesis 1:26-27). Now, while we are a central figure in Scripture, we are just not the central figure in Scripture God, in Jesus, is the central figure of Scripture. This does not mean man is unimportant. We are the pinnacle of God’s creation in the material universe. Arguably everything was created the way it was to serve the needs of man. God created us and gave us rule over all the earth. When God created everything and declared it good it is not until God creates man that he says, “it is very good.” Why? Why are we so important? Because we are His image bearers. In other words, we are created as those who reflect the image of God. So while the rest of creation certainly bring Him glory, nothing brings Him the glory of man properly reflecting His glory. We are created to be like Him in many ways. First, we are like Him in our ability to rule and reign (Gen. 1:28). God has given us dominion over his creation and over people in various relationships---and we are supposed to rule lovingly as he does. Second, we are like Him in our ability to have relationships (Gen. 2:18) God is not alone. He has been in relationship with Himself eternally. He has designed us so that we would not be alone but would be in relationships. This is why he saves us into a community called the church, which is essential to our growth. Third, we are like Him in our ability to make moral decisions (Gen. 2:16-17). No other creature can analyze the morality of a decision prior to making it. God doesn’t give a law to animals. They do not sin and they do not have a Savior.

This is why human life is so precious and why God instituted the death penalty for anyone who would dare take the life of a man. In the death penalty God is affirming the seriousness of murdering a person and the value of human life. This is why we fight against anything that mars or destroys the image of God. Our culture has thrown out God, is it any surprise we are now destroying His image?

• We abort millions of babies every year, killing the image of God.
• We pervert sex, which was given to man and woman to bring unity and reflect God’s image, thus perverting God’s image.
• We participate in divorce, and thus tear apart God’s intention to bear his image through a married couple.
• We have rampant homosexuality, and now gay marriage, completely perverting God’s image as most fully shown through man and wife.
• We are participating in genetic experimentation that has frightening ethical implications!

And on and on our perversion and destruction of God’s image goes! What is amazing is how sin has messed up God’s original goal in Creation

God’s goal in creation is “rest”

God’s original goal in creation was that we would have “rest” with Him (Gen. 2:1-3). So, what is meant by rest? Do you notice that the 1^st 6 days all have---and there was evening and there was morning---but the 7^th does not? This is because God completed his work of creation on the 7^th day. I don’t mean God stopped working. God obviously continues to sustain the universe. What I mean is that God stopped creating because it was perfect. He did not need to keep creating. He finished the job and it was perfect.

In Genesis 1, man’s place and role in the created order is just part of a list of many other days of creation. But, in Genesis 2, we get a greater focus on man’s place and role. We learn that God created human beings to live in the perfect creation he had made with Him. They are to work. However, their work is not a burden but a joy. To be in God’s “rest” means to live in the perfect creation as he intended it. It means to live in the creation in which we are God’s people in a completely harmonious relationship with God and one another.

We were to live in God’s place, the Garden, in a perfect and completely harmonious relationship with the creation. We were to live under God’s rule and blessing, with perfect and completely harmonious life that does not include death, conflict, and sin. Yet, we sinned in Adam. We fell.

The good news is we already see themes here in Genesis that are picked up by the Gospel. God created and we ruined it with sin but through Christ God has promised a new creation. A new creation which will restore all things as they were originally intended. A new creation in which we will “rest.” While that promise is future, it is also present. When you trust in Jesus you are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). God brings you to life spiritually and fills you with the Spirit. You are once again God’s people, in God’s place, under God’s rule and blessing.