|
|
"In the beginning, God…"
The first four words make a powerful theological statement all by themselves. In the beginning, God. In the beginning, God was. In the beginning of what? The beginning of creation. Before creation was, God was. The first claim of the Bible is that creation had a beginning. But God was. God had no beginning. God made the heavens and the earth. But no one made God. God simply is. In the beginning, God. Those four words make a powerful theological statement all by themselves.
Creation is in the news a lot lately. What should be taught in our schools? Evolutionary theory? Intelligent design theory? Creation science? There are those who firmly believe that God should be left out of the discussion. There are those who firmly believe the discussion is moot without bringing God into it.
This sermon is about creation, and this sermon is about theology. I'm not going to get into the debate about evolution vs. intelligent design, though, at least not much. Not because it isn't important, but because what the Bible says about creation and its Creator has a lot more to do with the who, the what, and the why, than the how.
I have two comments to make about the contemporary debate about the how, and then I'm going to focus on five theological claims that Christians make about the who, the what, and the why.
Comment #1: In my opinion, believers in a creator God who blindly accept evolutionary theory as an entire package risk being naïve to at least one issue. At its core, evolutionary theory is atheistic. It presumes that events at the molecular and cellular level happen by chance and only by chance. It presumes that there is no purpose and no intrinsic value to anything that happens. Once any sense of purpose or value is brought into the mix, we are not talking about evolutionary theory anymore.
Comment #2: In my opinion, believers in a creator God who blindly constrain the creation events to seven 24-hour periods in history risk saying more about God and God's creation than the Bible does. Genesis chapter one uses the word "day" even before describing the creation of the sun and the moon-this word does not necessarily mean 24 hours. The first chapters of Genesis were not meant to be a manual of operations. The first chapters of Genesis were meant to introduce us to the God of the universe who, in freedom and in love, brought creation into being out of nothing.
The title of this sermon is Ex Nihilo-"out of nothing". That's the first theological claim that Christians make about creation. God brought creation into being ex nihilo. God brought creation into being out of nothing.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Before God created the heavens and the earth, there was nothing, except God. The Christian theological claim that God created "out of nothing" means that God did not gather raw materials and form them into creation, rather God spoke and creation happened in response to the power of his words.
To say that God created "out of nothing" is to affirm that God is sovereign. God is in charge. God is powerful.
To say that God created "out of nothing" is also to affirm God's boundless, generous love. God didn't create because he needed to; God created because he wanted to. God created in freedom and in love.
To say that God created "out of nothing" is also to affirm the otherness of God. That is, though God makes his presence known throughout creation, he himself exists separate from creation. He is not part of creation, and creation is not part of him.
Christians can speak of being powerfully affected by the evidence of God's handiwork in nature. Christians can speak of experiencing God's love and power and presence while we are in nature. But it would not be good Christian theology to equate nature and God. God made the trees, but the trees are not God.
The first theological claim that Christians make about creation is that God brought creation into being ex nihilo, "out of nothing".
The second theological claim that Christians make about creation is that creation and all creatures are radically dependent on God.
God created because he wanted to, not because he needed to. One of the consequences of that understanding is that creation is not necessary. Humans are not necessary. You and I are not necessary.
Keeps one humble, doesn't it? But it also reminds us of God's love. You and I exist, not by necessity and not as a result of blind fate, but because God loved us into existence.
But we are limited, as is all of creation. As creatures (human creatures, mosquitos, sparrows, whales, angelic creatures, …), we do not control our beginning or our end. All of creation is held in God's hands-its beginning and its end.
The second theological claim that Christians make about creation is that creation and all creatures are radically dependent on God.
The third theological claim that Christians make about creation is that creation is good.
Again and again in the first chapter of Genesis, God is reported to look out upon his creation and declare that it is good. That is why creation is good-because God declares it so.
Goodness is not an earned quality. Human creatures, mosquitos, sparrows, whales, angels: we are not good because we are perfect; we are not good because we are useful; we are not good because we are beautiful; we are not good because we are self-aware; we are not good because we have potential; we are good because God declares it to be so.
This understanding has powerful consequences. The child lying in a crib-too young to speak, too young to do anything except eat and sleep-too young to be useful, too young to be self-aware-this child is good…because God declares it to be so. The elderly person lying in bed at a nursing home-too confused to speak, too weak to do anything except eat and sleep-too worn out to be useful, too lost in dementia to be self-aware-this person is good…because God declares it to be so.
Even before we get to the part about humans being created in the image of God, we are told that God looked out on his creation and saw that it was good. Even before we get to the part about humans being created in the image of God, we are left awed before the power and love of God who created out of nothing and then declared it good.
To say that creation is good is not to deny that creation is fallen. To say that creation is good is not to deny that bad things happen. To say that creation is good is not to deny that creation is in need of redemption.
To say that creation is good is to say that we need not look inside ourselves for the source of our value; we have value because God said that his creation is good.
As I read on a poster in a child's room once: "I am me and I am good 'cuz God don't make no junk."
To say that creation is good is also to reject any doctrine of mankind that would teach that the body is bad and only the spirit is good. That body of yours is part of God's gift to you. It may not be exactly in the shape you would like, but it is part of you and it is good, even if it is not perfect.
The third theological claim that Christians make about creation is that creation is good.
The fourth theological claim that Christians make about creation is that creation and all its creatures are interdependent.
Humans are created to be in relationship with one another and with all of creation, as well as with God.
We cannot be who we were created to be in isolation. We just weren't made that way.
Creation and all of its creatures are interdependent.
The fifth theological claim that Christians make about creation is that creation has a purpose.
The God who created in freedom and love continues to be active in his creation bringing about his purposes. That which God created good, he will redeem, so that creation will fulfill its original purpose fully-without evil, without sin, without brokenness-in perfect wholeness.
The purpose of creation is to glorify God.
One of the historic catechisms of the church asks this question: What is the chief end (or purpose) of man? The answer is this: The chief end (or purpose) of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
The fifth theological claim that Christians make about creation is that creation has a purpose.
Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. … You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
|
|
