Creation Genesis 1

Sermon Nuggets Mon, March 5, Creation

Verses Gen 1:3-31  (NKJV)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

³ Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴ And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

⁶ Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” ⁷ Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. ⁸ And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

⁹ Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. ¹⁰ And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. ¹² And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ So the evening and the morning were the third day.

¹⁴ Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; ¹⁵ and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. ¹⁶ Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.¹⁷ God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.¹⁹ So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

²⁰ Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” ²¹ So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”²³ So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

²⁴ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. ²⁵ And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

²⁹ And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. ³⁰ Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. ³¹ Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Creation

       Last week I began a series on the book of Genesis. We looked at how God wanted to introduce himself as pre-existing, everlasting, permanent, all powerful, all knowing, loving, caring, transcendent, even giving us hints of his triune nature.

                Today I want to look at the rest of the chapter describing creation, fully aware that I don’t have the time to deal with lots of questions that come up. But remember this marvelous chapter was written for all ages, all cultures, all people of the world for all time and to present the creation story as remarkably as it does has to be the work of God. It is not a scientific explanation of creation as it is an introduction to explain the power and awesomeness of God in a way we all can understand and worship. It is wrong to insist that everything in the first chapter of Genesis provide detailed explanation of how God did things. It has a quite different purpose in mind. On the other hand, it is equally wrong to view it as merely teaching religious truth. It does speak about nature and physical life, and it is accurate in those areas. What it says is exactly true.

                In a quick way I want to address faith and facts in the story of Creation as  we marvel at the handiwork of God.

                A fellow BGC pastor Rick McKinnis  told the story that when his oldest she received what every 16 years old dreams of and that is a drivers license. He and his wife were trying to figure out how to adjust their budget to get a third car so their daughter could drive to work They concluded they could only afford a clunker.

One afternoon Rick gets a call from his wife. "Ok, what's going on." he says, "what do you mean, what's going on?" She says, "you know what I'm talking about." I go, "honey, I have no clue what you are talking about." She says, "Don't play this game with me. You bought Marilyn a new car didn't you?" I said, "No." She said, "Then how come there's a brand new Ford Aspire in our driveway with a note on it that says, 'Happy Birthday Marilyn ... love Dad'?" I said, "I have no idea. I didn't put it there.” “It's on the bill of sale, and there's even a note from the car salesman to her."

So, he gets home and sure enough there the bill of sale and the note from "Dad" (that he didn't write). He called the dealership and they said it was legit - the car really does belong to Marilyn, courtesy of an anonymous friend.

                Now I know there are lots of teens praying something miraculous like that would come about, but the only way something like that happens is that someone put it there and caused it to happen. Creation didn’t just happen. Nor was it anonymous as the secular world wants us to believe. It points to an order and marvelous design explained in no other way that God.

                I quote from Dr. Stedman, “From empty space with no force, no matter, no energy, and no intelligence, matter would have to become existent. Even if this could happen by some strange new process unknown to science today, there is a logical problem. In order for matter to come out of nothing, all of our scientific laws dealing with the conservation of matter/energy would have to be wrong, invalidating all of chemistry. All of our laws of conservation of angular momentum would have to be wrong, invalidating all of physics. In order to believe matter is uncaused, one has to discard known laws and principles of science.” Or as Bill Hybels puts it: "if there was a big-bang, who pulled the trigger?"

     Creation is a huge billboard pointing us first and foremost to the faith of our amazing Creator by whom, for whom, and from whom all things exist.

Pastor Dale

               

Sermon Nuggets Tues March 6 Forming

Verse Gen 1: . ² The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep…

 Creation is Presented as a matter of Forming.

          For reasons that can only be explained as God’s sovereign wisdom, He created this incredibly vast universe and chose to lavish special attention and care on a tiny planet in a small solar system located in the galaxy known to us as the Milky Way, itself an island universe shaped like a lens and estimated to be 100,000 light years across. When we realize the millions of such galaxies exist in the universe proper, we cannot even begin to comprehend the rationale behind God’s choice of us to be His chosen people. He then desires to be known by each individual who will open their hearts to Him by faith.

            After we are introduced to the eternal nature and power of God, he describes creation coming from darkness and chaos. Darkness filled the ancient man with horror and the deep terrified him as well. While things were out of order, the Spirit of God was there, hovering over the water. When you look at the first three days of creation you find God forming the world. Creation is presented as a matter of forming.

            The first day God formed light and separated the light form darkness. The second day he formed the water and the seas, and the third day he formed the dry ground and the earth. The characteristic verbs that tie together days 1-3 are separate and gather. These are the verbs of formation.

            Right now I am in the midst of my least favorite tasks, doing taxes. I feel like my table if full of void and chaos with receipts, notes, and forms in a mess. Although God created from nothing, I on the other hand have something to work with, but it needs organizing. I have to divide the taxes deductions from receipts that are non tax deductable. I am trying to bring piles into some understandable form.

Notice that, in these verses, there is a moving toward order out of disorder, and form out of formlessness, something comes out of nothing. The first step God took, according to the records, is to create light. Light, as we know now, is absolutely essential to life of any sort. Without light there can be no life. Scripture desires to underline for our understanding the fact that light is from God. We will talk about how can there be light without the sun when we look at the forth day, but understand first, that light is also a symbol of God.

Light can be viewed from three levels. There is first physical light, which is now filling your room and by which we can see one another. That is the physical level of light.

There is also a figurative level of meaning for the term. For instance, we speak of light as knowledge, or truth. Someone says, "Could you give me a little light on this problem?" He does not mean by that, turn on a lamp. He means, explain the nature of it to me. Paul uses the figurative meaning of light in 2 Cor 4:6, when he says, "For it is the God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ,"

 So light occurs on the level of mental or emotional reaction. Moral knowledge is light, and God intended the term to be used in this way.

There is still a third level of meaning, the spiritual level, which deals with the nature and character of God himself. John says, "God is light and in him is no darkness at all," {1 Jn 1:5b}. That light is equated also with the very life of God. In speaks of Jesus in this way, "In him was life, and the life was the light of men," {John 1:4}. Jesus said of himself, "I am the light of the world. If any man follows me he shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life," {cf, John 8:12}.

I think this can help us greatly as we come to this book of Genesis. Don’t miss the deeper truths by only focusing on the physical. Don’t miss what God is saying about Himself through the creation story. Notice how the forming of creation points to a Divine power that has design and cause and purpose behind all He does. The steps God took to accomplish this are recorded as several great creative acts occurring in certain progressive stages which logically succeed one another.

            The way in which God brought form to the formless world says that a world as ordered and complex as ours implies that there must be a Designer. In other words, not only has something caused the cosmos to exist, it seems to have done so with planning and reason and logic. Genesis doesn’t provide detailed explanation of how God did things, and I believe if it did, we couldn’t understand it, even as God presented to Job those questions that are beyond human explanation.

             Again, like light, the world needed an atmosphere to sustain water above the earth in great quantities or there would be no plants, there would be no animals, there would be no human beings, there would be no life on this earth. Our planet is unique in that we have thousands of times more water than would be expected in comparison with our neighboring planets, and that water is distributed completely around the earth in great quantities. It is this enormous amount of water that changes the character of earth and makes it different from the other planets.

And the third day there was the forming of the lands and the earth was a division needed to prepare the way for the filling of the world.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Weds March 7 Filling

Verses Gen 1: . ² The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep…

Creation is Presented as a matter of Filling

Days 4-6 of creation are given to the Hebrew word that means filling. The verbs that unite those days are teem and fill and be fruitful and increase or multiply. God first formed light and now he filled the skies with the sun and the moon and the stars. On day 2 God separated the water from the expanse forming the heavens and the seas. On day 5 God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.”  He created fish to inhabit the lower waters and birds the upper waters in the clouds.

            In the days 3 when God formed the earth he also formed vegetation. Likewise in the 6^th day we see livestock, creatures that move along the ground and wild animals, and then man to inhabit the dry ground. Food for the creatures was formed before he filled it with life which needed that food to feed upon.

            According to my Old Testament professor at Bethel Seminary some 30 years ago, Dr Ron Youngblood, we see the striking horizontal and vertical relationship between the various days it can hardly be accidental. It demonstrates the literary beauty of the chapter and symmetry and orderliness of God’s creative activity.

                God showed gracious loving concern to the animals by blessing them and making it possible for them to be fruitful and increase in number. Man is the climax of Gods’ creative activity. God has crowned him with glory and honor and made him ruler to take care of his creation.

The sun and moon and stars exist, first, to give light upon the earth. We know the speed of the earth as it rotates on its axis determines the 24-hour day we have. Yet that speed is regulated by the moon which acts as a brake upon the earth, raising and lowering the tides. It restricts the speed of the rotation of earth to the exact time that makes possible the 24-hour day, which is the length of time best adapted to the needs of man. Is that not remarkable? Other planets have entirely different lengths of days. On some of the planets a day would occupy months and even years of our time. On others they go much more rapidly. God has designed a 24-hour day for our planet because it precisely fits the need of humanity.

Second, they exist to measure the process of time, "for days and for years." says the Scriptures. They are the means by which we measure time. The orbit of earth around the sun determines the length of the year, which, again, is just right for human needs, providing a harvest once every 365 days, the right length of time needed to preserve human life upon the earth. The orbit of the earth around the sun is determined by two factors: the gravitational pull of the sun, and the velocity of the earth. Here we are told that God has ordained the sun and moon to provide measures of the time which mark off the segments of life we call days and years.

Third, they are designed to mark significant events; they are "for signs and for seasons." This is exactly what the sun and moon and stars do. We are all aware that eclipses, for instance, are like mileposts in human history, marking off certain dates. We can study events in ancient history because the eclipses have been recorded. Anyone familiar with the Bible knows how the sun and the moon and stars have served as great signs, whether in introducing Jesus to the Magi, or winning wars with Joshua, or sign to Hezekiah. People measure history by the stars and heavenly hosts.

When we talk about the filling of the heavens and earth with birds, insects, animals and humans this might be a good time to make some brief comments on evolution and creation. Clearly species change within species but “after their kind” has still been shown to be consistent. Science is at a total loss to account for the sudden appearance of true man, with his amazing faculties not found in the animal creation. Through the decades since Darwin, scientists have been looking for the links that would establish a connection, but these links do not exist in fact.

 Adam and Eve were intentionally created by God in his image. This is important doctrine which one cannot harmonize with the randomness of evolutional theory. We cannot conjecture how long Adam and Eve may have been in Eden and animals roamed the earth. It could have been 1,000s of years before the fall.

            These details of creation have never been a problem for me, as they are for many others. Once you have met in a personal way Jesus Christ and come to understand the greatness of God and the beauty of his World, I have come to believe in the power of an almighty God that can create a world in one day not six. He can create with everything completely mature according to scientific dating. That doesn’t bother me. I can believe in a God so creative and with eternity in mind that he can use all the time he wants to develop whatever he wants in his own timing, eternity is in his hands. For me these discussions are interesting, but people miss the forest for the trees. None of us were there. We can talk theory all we want, but the more I reflect on the design, but the more I am filled with wonder and love to the great Designer whose ways are beyond our ways.

            Genesis begins with a personal God who deliberately created the universe and made humankind in his own image. We are not the result of blind chance and natural selection. He created all the intricate complexities of life which no one can duplicate and it points us to the wonder of a God who wants our worship and our hearts.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Thurs March 8 Fruitful

Verses-  Gen 1: ²² And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”²³ So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

                        ²⁴ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. ²⁵ And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

²⁹ And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. ³⁰ Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was

Creation is Presented as a matter of Fruitfulness             

                Which came first the chicken or the egg?   I am not if people give this question the thought that it was given among the philosophers of old.

                Those who were involved with logic without divine revelation would conclude it is circular argument that cannot be answered. It is like asking if X and Y are needed in both cases how can you produce X without Y or Y without X? It does pose the question of evolutional beginning or creational beginning. The theory of evolution states that species change over time through mutation and sexual reproduction. They will point to mini cells and amebas that are non sexual and by some unknown cause (accident) mutation occurs making it into a sexual cell requiring x and y chromosomes to reproduce.

                Actually a couple of British scientists in 2010 found that a protein found only in a chicken's ovaries is necessary for the formation of the egg. The egg can therefore only exist if it has been created inside a chicken. "It had long been suspected that the egg came first but now we have the scientific proof that shows that in fact the chicken came first," said Dr. Colin Freeman, from Sheffield University's Department of Engineering Materials

      The argument in favor of evolution without a creator would say there was something pre-existing of both the chicken and the egg that brought about unexplained changes to lower species until both the egg and the chicken accidently came about at the same time. Therefore there would have been an earlier substance (egg like) to have had to develop. Now some scientists are questioning that.     

       The Genesis story has the command, “Be fruitful and multiply”. There was a man and woman created in order for multiplication to occur. There were fish and birds created in order for their fruit to produce.

                The grace and goodness and marvel of God created species as well as all organisms to re-produce and develop after their own kind. The first cause will be debated among mankind forever if they try to come up with a godless plan. Evolution is not a bad word. There are changes over time within species and inbreeding. But that is not the first cause.

                The food we eat, the animals we enjoy, the flowers, grass and trees- all living thing are created in a unique manner to “create” offspring. And we benefit by this create design in many ways that aren’t even discovered yet.

Jesus used this principle of fruitfulness recorded in John 15. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) 

Pruning and preparing and managing is something man can do to increase produce. Planting and watering and weeding is part of the work to make the environment for a plant to geminate and come forth. Dividing and replanting and changing flowers and plants by cross pollination is part of the command by God that says, “Be fruitful and multiply”. But without Him we can do nothing.

To produce fruit within the Christian we need the Holy Spirit. To make a species multiply God had to jump start the process.

And God saw that it was very good.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Fri March 9 Fulfillment

Verses Gen 1:       ³¹ Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Creation is Presented as a matter of Fulfillment 

As we see the completion of the creation there is a climax of the seventh day which is the day of rest, a day of holy unto God. It is the reflection of the fulfillment of the works of God. We see the works of God completed.

The heart of the meaning of Sabbath is rest, when God gave these instructions to Moses. When we have been working hard and are weary and tired we need rest in order to restore our strength. But this is not the significance of the word here. It simply means the ending of activity, the cessation of effort. God was not tired by his creative work. He did not stop because he needed to regain strength. He stopped because he was through. He had done all he intended to do with creation and he stopped..

To understand Jewish Sabbath is to see it as a shadow, a picture of that rest. All the Old Testament shadows pointed to Christ. They were predictions, of the coming of the One who would fulfill all these remarkable things

. Every lamb that was brought as an offering was a shadow of the work of Christ. Every burnt offering, every bit of incense that was offered, was a picture of the fragrance of Jesus Christ. The tabernacle was a shadow of  Him. The high priest, in his garments and his office, was a shadow of Christ as our High Priest. Read the book of Hebrews and you will see how beautifully all this is brought out. These Old Testament shadows were looking forward to the coming of the One who would fulfill these and thus end them. When the work of Jesus Christ was finished the shadows were no longer needed.

Before Judi and I were married, I had her picture which I looked at often. I would read her letters and they were very important to me. When we got married I seldom read the letters and the photographs became more historical images of our relationship. When the reality of her presence is with me, the symbols of her presence aren’t as important.

This is exactly what happened with these Old Testament shadows, including the Sabbath. When the Lord came, and his work was ended, making possible the true fulfillment of God's intention in the Sabbath, the picture was no longer needed. The weekly Sabbath ended at the cross. Paul specifically says this. In  Col 2:13, Because of the work on the cross let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.”

That is what the true Sabbath is, to cease from your own labors, your own efforts, your own activity; to cease from your own works and depend on the work of God. For just as the creation has God forming and filling so in our lives He formed us and now by his grace fills us with his Holy Spirit and we are then living in his rest and fulfillment for all eternity.

God Himself is the divine provision to produce fruitfulness and abundance of victory in a Christian's life. God did not rest until he had finished the work he had been doing. In a similar way Jesus did God’ work faithfully and urged other to do the same while there was still time. An even as He was being crucified for your sins and mine, only then He was absolutely certain that His work of redemption was complete did he say these word in the hearing of all who were at the foot of the cross, “It is finished.”

There is the physical reality of the creation, There is the psychological reality of the creation, the fulfillment of our understanding and sense of well being in the whole. But don’t miss the reality of the spiritual demonstration of creation that points us to trust in a God who began all there is and has completed all there will be and invites you, and me to join him in the best that is yet to be. He even provided the way. Come and rest in His fulfillment.

Pastor Dale 

How it all Began Genesis 1:1-2

Sermon Nuggets Feb 27 –Genesis

Verses- Gen 1  ¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

How It all Began       

            As I begin a sermon series from the book of Genesis we know this is where the story of God begins. I think the Bible takes undo criticism by the scientific world when they try to make it something it is not. In my own questioning as to whether the Bible was true or not I came to an observation. Scientific and medical theories kept changing all the time. What was told to me in elementary school was no longer true in Jr. High. What was told to me as true in Jr. High was false in High school and that was suspect  in college. Truths of the scientist’s claims kept changing. The Bible didn’t. But the more I thought about this subject I agreed that science and the Bible didn’t change, scientists and theologians did.

            What method would best to used for the Creator for framing a beginning to his book and to establish that God is also the our creator? In language simple enough for all men in all time.

I came across a writing by Frederick Filby, Chemistry professor in England. A study of Genesis in Light of Modern Science “The most amazing composition in all the world’s literature using only 76 different word forms fundamental to all mankind, arranged in a wonderful poetical pattern yet free from any highly colored figures of speech. It proves the perfect opening to Gods’ book and establishes all that men really need to know of the facts of creation. No man could have invented it: it is a great a marvel as a plant or a bird. It is Gods handiwork, sufficient for Hebrew children or Greek thinkers or Latin Christians; for medieval knight or modern scientist. for little children for cottage dweller or cattle rancher or deep sea fisherman; for Laplander or Ethiopian, East or West, rich or poor, old or young, simple or learned sufficient for all. Only God could write such a chapter and he did”

            Genesis is part of Holy Scripture and therefore has been given to us by God and speaks with His authority,  2 Tim 3:16 “All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”

            The Bible looks at creation as revealed in the first chapter as an historical fact.  Ps 136 speaks of the creation much like it is recorded in Genesis, and then goes on to speak of the other miraculous events in the history of Israel. Jesus talks about Adam and Eve as real people. Paul refers to the same when he introduces Jesus having a new creation compared to Adam who represents the old creation.          

We begin this week looking at the way in which God introduces Himself to us. There wasn’t anyone around to record this, so most agree this is probably from Moses as he spent time writing what God revealed to him. They did know some of the stories as they were passed on, but before that time they really didn’t. Two important ways God wants to reveal Himself to mankind is through creation, and through His writing and inspired Word. This series allows us to look at both.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Tues Feb 28 God’s Permanence

Verses Gen 1:1 “In the beginning, God….”

The Introduction to God’s Permanence

            “In the beginning God.” Science might be able to take us back to the Big Bang theory which they point to as the moment of creation, but if that original colossal explosion obliterated anything that came before it, as some scientists suggest, then nothing before that point can be known scientifically including the cause of the explosion. The Bible comes forward at this point to tell us. “In the beginning God.”

God confronts us as the One who was in existence before anything we can even imagine and who will be there after anything we can imagine. He is from everlasting to everlasting.

There has been lots of discussion recently about God from among the ranks of theologians and clergymen from within our Baptist General Conference. Because of the debate going on at the annual meeting, people have been discussing how much of the future does God know. Most of it? All of it? Some of it?

            The fact that we are even discussing this surprises most of us because God is from the beginning to the end. As we begin to try to define him he is beyond description. Many hundreds of years ago there was a wise man named Simonides. People came to him because he was one of the wisest men that lived. They asked him. “What is God, Simonides?” He said, “Give me a day to think about it.” They came to him the next day and said “What is God Simondies?” He said “Give me a week to think about it.” After the week passed they asked him again. “What is God?” “Give me a month to think about it? Following the month they said once again. “What is God, Simonides?” To which  he replied “Give ma a year to think about it.” At the end of the year the returned and asked the same question “What is God, Simonides?” And he said, “I am no nearer than when I first began to think about it. I cannot tell what God is.”

There are not boxes big enough, no mind comprehensive enough, no words all inclusive enough to describe God. We are limited in our understanding and in our experiences to convey his person and character so we must be humbled yet awestruck at who He is and how this all began.

            Since we are creatures of time, and God is not, how can we describe something outside of time since everything is sequential from our perspective. We have had a past, a present and a future. But time was not until God decided to parcel our out time by creating day and night. Now time began. Before day and night there were no universal watches- measurements or descriptions. To say God is ever permanent he is always was and forever will be brings us to the end of the series of questions but who created this, then what, what was before that? How did that begin and in the end we have the mystery of the revelation of the Bible that says, “God always was” In the beginning God. As far back as we can think there He was. So our history –earthlings begins who knows how many thousands, or millions or billions of years we can identify in our time verse one. In the beginning God.

             Psalm 90 is the song that David wrote when he reflected on the character and nation of God and how is all began. “Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were born, Or thou didst give birth to the earth and the world even from everlasting to everlasting. Thou art God.”

            God was in the beginning No earth, no sea, no sun, no stars, no planets, no animals, no matter, no energy before God. When you use the phrase in the beginning God it is telling us that God is self-existent. This is not true of anything else. Every effect must have a cause. But God is the ultimate cause and is Himself uncaused.

            A. W.   Tozer pointed out that science is the discipline that has the task of accounting for things and are impatient with anything that refused to give an account of itself. You can’t measure God, you can’t explain him, but it is with this impatience that you are forced to ignore or deny him. God’s self existence also means that he is not answerable to us and we do not like that. When John F. Kennedy Jr. drowned and I heard the news in Alaska there are people demanding of ministers to answer from God why. He doesn’t answer and so people prefer to ignore or deny him. He does not have to explain Himself to anyone, least of all me.

 Genesis is the beginning of inspired revelations. God is the Author; inspirer, revealer. He had no beginning. He is in all things and  by Him all things consist. He is before, in and after all things. He had no origin. He wants us to know he is eternal and eternity is in his mind for us.

You might look at Genesis as also the beginning of the story of salvation. If you want a one statement summary of the book of the Bible it is God’s revelation of Himself and his plan to mankind.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Weds Feb 29 God’s Power

Verse Gen 1  ¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

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 Introduction to God’s Power

            If the first verse says that God was in the beginning the same verse says “He created the heavens and the earth.” That is an introduction to his power. Humans are “creative”. At best we form or fashion things in our imaginations but strictly speaking we are craftsmen. We take words and sentences and create a poem or a story. We can take mud, stone, or plaster, and create a sculpture. We can take pencils and paper and lines and measurement and creation architectural building. We take paint and create a picture, but we must have something from which to create something else. God started with nothing and created something marvelous. He saw all that he created and it was very good.

            This idea of creating the universe was in the mind of God. The Spirit of God was brooding over the waters. There was chaos; there was no form; there was nothing.

            People were debating which profession was the oldest. The farmer bragged that Adam was a farmer so his was the oldest. The electrician declared before the world began God brought light, but the politician had bragging rights when he said, “Who do you think created the chaos?”

            There was nothing. The way God wants us to be introduced to Him was through his power. By his word something happened. He didn’t take something and form something out of something. Sometimes he does. He took dust from the ground and formed a man. He took a rib from man and formed a woman. That is power. But at the beginning God wants us to know his omnipotence in a way that nothing can compare. From nothing He just spoke the word something appeared. He brought order out of chaos, light out of darkness, life out of death.  

            We have marveled once again at the amazing power of nature when we see the devastating affects of Hurricanes and Earthquakes and Tsunamis. Thousands are killed and millions can be homeless Man might think he has power, but even a heavy snowfall like we are getting today in Stanchfield can silence the land, so great machines can sometimes take days to dig out. That is power, which still doesn’t compare to the heavens and the earth, light and darkness, sky and firmaments and seas. And God says. Let there be… and there was. John describes it this way. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God.”

            One day as William Jennings Bryan sat eating a slice of watermelon. He estimated that the melon was about 40 pounds, he collected a number of seeds and weighted them. Applying a little mathematics, he was amazed to find that it took nearly 5,000 to make up a pound. He wrote, “Recently someone planted just one of those little seeds in the ground. Under the influence of sunshine and shower, it took off its coat and went to work gather about 200,000 times its own weight. It forced all that material through a tiny stem and built a watermelon. On that outside it had a covering of green; within that, a rind of white, and within that, a core of red. Scattered on the inside were more seeds-each capable of doing the same work all over again. What architect drew the plan? Where did that little watermelon seed get its tremendous strength? Where did it find its flavoring extract and its coloring matter?”

          Bryan then pointed out that until we can explain a watermelon, we dare not underestimate the power of the Almighty. In supplying us with these wonder, which our pigmy minds cannot understand, the Lord has shown us His infinite wisdom and power. But then think not only of one item, but the miracle of all of it.

            To think of the vastness of creation speaks to the power of God. I often thought of the greatness when I think of the universe the stars and the galaxies. I had a college class in astronomy and looked more and more of the complexities and the vastness of space and it boggles my mind. But likewise in biology looking for life forms in the microscopes the worlds get smaller and cells and atoms and protons and amazing minuteness shows the power of the creative nature of God. But although science describes life only God can produce it, in animal and vegetable forms.

            Dr. James Boise, a pastor in Pennsylvania told of Mr. Simeon a scientist from Cambridge University was dying, he looked around and said to those in the room, , “What do you think especially gives me comfort now? The creation! Did God create the world or did I? Since He created the world, He can sufficiently take care of me.” e made the owrld, He can suffieciently take care of me in my deaht.”

             

            He not only has the power to create the world, but is our hope for the future.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Thurs March 1 God’s Purpose

(Some illustrations today were taken from Sermon Central.)

Introduction of God’s Purpose

            Why did God create the world? Could it add anything to His glory? Could it make Him more powerful, happier, and wiser? He revealed his glory so others can see it. He ascribes to his creation an opportunity to communicate with the creator. That generous attribute which is goodness results in “I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with loving kindness I have drawn thee.” Love was the motivation for creation to reveal Himself by his Work

            The fact that God created everything in it and tells us allows us to recognize his purpose. God tells us what is right and what is wrong and that is why there is meaning in life. Our chief reason for existence is to glorify him and enjoy him forever.

            The Scriptures tells us also about the beginning of man’s history as it ties into the Israelite people. It tells us about the beginning of the universe, of the heavenly bodies of earth and the seas and the lakes and rivers and streams and mountains and hills, of inanimate plant life, of animate life including water creatures and air creatures and land creatures. It also tells us of the beginning of human life and love, of marriage, and family, of work and play, of food and drink, of pleasure and delight. It also tells us of the beginning of sin and evil and consequences for fractured human relationships judgement and death.

            The beginning of the Bible says “God”;  the end of the Bible says “God”. All that is in between is the story of God. It reveals God who is working with His people and loves his people and wants them to get a bigger understanding of who he is.

            Creation is proof of God. Since there is a world there must be a world maker. This was God’s way of receiving glory to any, but a fool, who will look to the heavens and marvel. Ps 19 says, “the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork.” You can’t hear their language but it speaks clearly of the majesty and power of God. To say that man, plants, animals, the seas, the air the earth turning on its axis, the sun around which we orbit an the infinite riches and wisdom and planning of all nature- to say it just happened without a personal Creator is to say that computers also just happened. All the metal and plastic and microns and chips organized themselves.

            The God who creates you keeps your heart beating. He starts the juices that digest your food. He supervises the kidneys that eliminate poisons from the blood. He creates the antibodies in your blood to immunize you against certain diseases, 

Some one came to an Arab in his tent in the desert, and said to him. How do you know there is a God? He said “How do I know whether it was a man or a camel that went by my tent last night?” How did he know which it was? “By the footprints.” The marks in the sand showed whether it was a man’s foot or a camel’s foot that had passed his tent. So the Arab said, “That is the way I know God. I know Him by His footprints. These are His footprints that are all around me.”

The purpose of Creation simply is that we might know God and glorify Him.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Fri March 2 God’s Personhood

Introduction to God’s Person hood

       Now we have seen God is eternal, He is omnipotent, omniscient, loving, but God is also self sufficient   Being self sufficient means that God has no needs and therefore depended on no one other than himself.

When I was in high school I was chosen to recite a narration by James Weldon Johnson to the musical background of a choir. It told the story of creation in black poetry It began with “And God stepped out on space and he looked around and said: “I’m lonely-I’ll make me a world. And far as the eye of God could see Darkness covered everything, Blacker than a hundred mid-nights down in a cypress swamp. Then God smiled and the light broke, and the darkness rolled up on one side and the light stood shining on the other and God said, That’s good.” 

             It goes on describing in picturesque ways how God created the rest of the world, but when he was done God said “I’m lonely still. So he sat down and thought, “I’ll make me a man” he takes clay from the river beds and shaped it in his own image and breathed into it the breath of life. And man became a living soul.”

            Well it wasn’t intended to be a lesson in theology except to put in terms some can understand the greatness of God’s power, but in fact God was not lonely. He did not need us. We depend on oxygen, light, heat, cloths food. God does not need any of these things. We need other people. Some suggest that God lacked glory and created us to supply it. Or needed love and so made us to love Him, or he needed us to worship Him. To worship and know God is our delight and He glories in our delight, but God is self sufficient. But one of the reasons God is not lonely is that he is perfect in the triune relationship which is revealed to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

              There are truths that are clearly revealed in what is called progressive revelation from the Bible. In other words God tells us more and more about himself and mankind and his plan for the sending of Jesus, his Son into the world to save us from judgment and sin. It talks about living for God and loving God above all things, and it talks about the hope we have as believers in Jesus Christ to have in heaven. It talks about Jesus coming again to bring us unto himself.

              After Jesus came on the scene there are some things he points out in the Bible that were there all the time, only people didn’t understand it until it was revealed. Some things are not pointed out by Jesus, but are seen after we comprehend more of the story. When it comes to the person hood of God we know he is revealed in three ways, as one in three. The Holy Spirit is clearly identified not only as a Spirit from God but also as God himself. We call that the doctrine of the Trinity. As we read other portions of the Bible we understand God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit created the world.

             Colossians 1:15-17 tells us that Jesus not only created all things but they were created for Him and by him all things consist or hold together. When creation was done, the Lord Jesus kept his hand on the universe and He keeps planets in their orbits. We need not be surprised that in His life on earth Jesus created bread and fish enough to feed the five thousand besides women and children, and that He crated the wine out of water.

           In some similar way the Holy Spirit works with Jesus then and now. We see that the trinity had part in creation. It says the Spirit was hovering over the face of the deep. Some will point out that the Hebrew word can also be translated breath or wind. That is true in the Greek word also. But the Hebrew word for God Elohim is plural. If you were to look at vs. 26, 27 God is Elohim a plural form, “Let us make man in our image (that is plural) in our likeness. Vs. 27 is singular pronoun, in his own image, he singular created man male and female he created them.

           Christ was active in creation and the Spirit of God who moved upon the face of the waters. No jealousy, no competition, no aloneness in the Godhead. They are separate but one. 

            We say that Jesus is the savior of the world, but He is also not alone in saving sinners when you think of the interplay of the Trinity. God so loved the world, then Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, then it is the Holy Spirit who convicts the sinner who brings about the miraculous regeneration of the salvation in the believer so one is born of the Spirit.

            This begins dear friends as a worship chapter pointing us to our creator. It reveals now only the awesome characteristics which are beyond our comprehension, but shows a God who wants to be known as involved in your life and all the world around you. Yes, through creation we worship and declare the glory of God, but we also can know him as a friend as savior. Have you accepted his offer for salvation today? What a great beginning for this is greatest creation of all.

Pastor Dale

Day of the Lord Malachi 4:1-6

Sermon Nuggets Mon Feb 20 Day of the Lord

Verses- Mal 4: ¹ “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. ² But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.³ Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things,” says the LORD Almighty.                                                                                                                                                                             ⁴ “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.      ⁵ “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. ⁶ He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

The Day of the Lord

   Malachi was far richer for me than I anticipated when I started the series. Like most prophets he called Israel to repentance, and wanted them to confront sins of apathy and pretence. I also knew that the book of Malachi stressed the importance of tithing. What became even more focused for me was the longsuffering of God. He wanted to give them chance after chance of finding true blessing in proper relationship. To be right with God results in heartfelt worship, it results in holiness and proper relations with your spouse and families and marriages.  When it comes to training there is no substitute including the church, for what happens in the home for Bible teaching, memorization and teaching of the laws of God.

   Also what brought renewed focus for me was how central to worship was the act of giving. It wasn't something hidden, or something given out of manipulation. If we love God, central to expressing that are offerings.

   Now as we come to the conclusion of the book, the prophet discusses the Day of the Lord. This November will be a day of reckoning for all the political candidates. The judgment will come as to who will serve our nation, our state, our communities. There will be winners and losers. All have given everything they had to win elections. There are many differences of opinions with many fundamental issues. We urge you all to use your freedom to vote. When that Tuesday is done there will be celebration and there will be great disappointment and sorrow. The day of reckoning will have come. If you don't vote you will be without excuse to say my candidate didn't win. You hold responsibilities for your decisions or your lack of them. In fact when the Bible speaks of the Day of the Lord it also holds us responsible for our decisions or lack of them.

       Still speaking the words from God, Malachi is warning the people of the coming Day of the Lord. He describes it in unsettling terms. Its purpose is twofold: to bring to justice the unrighteous and evil doer and to bring reward and blessing to the righteous.

     The Day of the Lord has far greater significance than Presidential elections, or even a day in courts of our land.

     This is the subject of our meditations this week.

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Tues Feb 21 – Warning

Mal 4:1 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 

Warning of the Day of the Lord.

   Its purpose is twofold: to bring to justice the unrighteous and evil doer and to bring reward and blessing to the righteous. When the day is referred in with other prophecies it is looking to the consummation of the age, although sometimes it takes a more current historical warning of judgment on Israel and Judah for their sin.  I believe here he is referring to the end of the age.

    This day of the Lord will be the time of distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between the saved and the lost.  The primary concern of the passage is to show God is righteous and just. He will carry out completely what he says He will do. We cannot continue to live like we do without facing spiritual consequences. And for the one who is weary and tired and wondering indeed if they are forgotten of the Lord this word reminds us that He also provides comfort to those who love him.

    Our decisions have consequences. Our actions result in certain conclusions.

   There are three symbols that are used to describe the day of the Lord; they are fire, sun, and liberated calves.

   Fire symbolizes terror and destruction. The wicked will be destroyed like a handful of grass which is thrown into a fire.  The wicked will meet with punishment. We don't like to use the term much but in the New Testament it is hell-fire. Jesus speaks of it often.

   It is not easy nor do I find it enjoyable to speak of the wrath and severity of God but it is something that we need to hear. It seems like there are fads in theology just like there are fads in clothes. The fact that not much is preached about the judgment of the day of the Lord, has been an over-reaction of the day when you heard little else than the hell, fire, and brimstone preachers that scared everyone into making decisions for Christ like fire insurance, but little was said of discipleship, grace and love of God.

    We hear of the sermon of which Jonathan Edwards was often criticized as emotional narrow preacher, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. "Yet Edward read his sermons and did not have a powerful delivery. People today would readily fall asleep on him. Yet when the people heard him read this sermon in a monotone voice they cried out in terror as though they were over the very pit and felt the flame of hell itself.  That also become the beginning of revival.

   First let me say that it is because of the goodness of God that He reveals this truth to us. It is either true or it is not true. If it is true then how gracious it is of God to reveal it to us.

    Lots of controversy is given over the AIDS scare. Can we say, O don't tell us because that is negative talk. Or are we doing what needs to be done to prevent people, young and old from not only protecting themselves from a deadly disease, but also and more importantly from behavior which dishonors God in sexual promiscuity, as it is so normally transmitted.  Is that being judgmental or factual? Are we helping people or hurting them with the truth?

   The Lord's curse on the woman and the man is felt today. He is not indifferent to sin and rebellion or we would still be in paradise and not face severity of the great deserts, howling hurricanes, thistles, briars, and weeds.  The earth is filled with violence because of the curse of sin. The reason all of mankind was annihilated by the flood was God judgment on sin after repeated warnings to repent and turn to God and when the consequences of the truth came only Noah and his family were saved. God reminds us he has done it to Adam, to the people of Noah's day, to the Israelites to the people of Judah and it will even be worse with hell fire. Not a root or a branch will be left to them. All will be burned. Yet that is not the only purpose of the Day of the Lord.  This serves as warning of judgment.

  

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Weds Feb 22 Rejoicing

Verse Mal 4:2-3 . ² But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.³ Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things,” says the LORD Almighty.                           

Rejoicing the Day of the Lord

     Not only is there warning regarding the Day of the Lord as depicted by fire, but then there is also rejoicing. There are two more figures and symbols used in this prophecy. There is the symbol of the sun of righteousness.

       Sometimes the sun is looked upon as gentle rays quietly overshadowing the righteous. The effect of the sun is determined by that upon which it shines. It hardens clay and melts wax. The gospel has the same effect. It is the means of condemning and hardening unbelievers, while it liberates and softens those who believe (2 Cor 2:15-16)

    But at the Day of the Lord there will be the defeat of the wicked. That will also be an occasion for great rejoicing.  The purpose of this chapter is to also bring comfort to the people of God. When the day of the Lord comes they will enter into their reward.  As the newness of the warmth of sun comes so the righteous await the dawning of a new spiritual day of peace.

        After the storm there is a new day when the sun comes out and hope is renewed. There is healing in its wings. How does the sun have wings? Wings are for birds. Wings are for flying. As the sun rises and flies up into the sky again (from our natural observations) there is once again brightness and newness again. The prophet speaks of the healing which means the sick and injured and made right again.

     I visit a lot of people in the hospital. It is no fun to be sick or injured. Health comes in many ways. Prayer and confession brings spiritual health. It can also bring physical health. God has provided doctors and medicine and rest and proper food and balance they can help in the healing process also. There is peace available among people and truth that has an effect on mental and emotional health. When righteousness rises again it is like wings that causes the sun to come out again.

       As if he had wings Jesus rose and ascended up into the heavens, so in like manner he will return and bring righteousness, hope and healing.

        There is yet another symbol and this is the prancing calves which have been penned up and now released into the pasture where they can rump and run. This symbolizes the joy, freedom and exuberance like what is felt when the calves are released into freedom warmth and light of the sun.  They joy will be a result of complete victory of the righteous over all wickedness and evil.

    It is fun to be with new Christians, or see people come together in the Lord like in Russia or India who are newly saved. Listen to their songs, and words. It is fun to listen to the worship in prison when those who were in darkness have seen the light. They sing and come with joy. Now they have this freedom they don't know what to do with it. There is joy, but a pleading for more Biblical truth.

     There will be joy in the day of the Lord. There will be victory much like the victory of the Allied forces coming to release the prisoners of war.  It is not a day to fear and run from, but pray for and anticipate that all my trials Lord will soon be over. There will be dancing and jumping and expressions of celebration. Jesus is coming again.

    That's why John in the Island of Patmos to pray so Lord Jesus, come quickly. We seek to have the day hurried up as believers in Christ so we see and experience joy without Satan, sin, and evil.

            That is the way Malachi describes the day of the Lord. We see its purpose to judge and reward. What if it were today?

Pastor Dale

Sermon Nuggets Thurs Feb 23 Preparation

Mal 4:  ⁴ “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.      

Preparation for the Day of the Lord.

   The prophet concludes by calling the nation of Israel and all people to be ready. It is now a time of preparation for the Day.  There will be a time when all preparation is done.  Now is the time to revere the name of God and the prophet comes to prepare the people.

   How can we ever escape the fires of hell unless there is a way to prepare for God? That is the Good News of the gospel.

   Malachi says remember the law of my servant Moses, and remember Elijah who is coming before that great and dreadful day of the Lord. Moses is the great bearer of the Law of God and Elijah a symbol of the prophets of Lord. The law the prophets is what God calls mankind to remember.

     The law constitutes the means by which sin is challenged. It is a call to obedience.  What is mankind's response to the Law of Moses?

     The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania a few years back vacated a convicted murderer's death sentence ordering a new sentence hearing, because the prosecutor quoted the Bible in closing arguments. The accused was convicted of beating to death 70 year old Anna Mae Morris while robbing her. The jury that convicted Chambers agreed on the death penalty. But during the penalty phase of the trial District Attorney H. Stanley Rebert told the jury, “The bible says, "And the murderer shall be put to death."

     I read last week the same thing happened in another court of law. They do not allow the Law of Moses to be quoted and so influence the jury.

 The judge warned prosecutors that they could be subject to disciplinary action if they cited the Bible or other religious works

in support of a death penalty.

    If you teach others to keep His commands you are not being politically correct. I am so sick of the way our society dictates what is right and wrong that is so contrary to God's ways. Be warned- The most righteous of all judges will look into the soul of our nation and the souls of all people and judge us based on his word.

    Ecclesiastes concludes his book by saying, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." All else is pure vanity and emptiness.

    Part of preparation is taking heed to the law and its purpose, to convict us of our sin and point us to the one who is our sin bearer.

    I read this morning from Billy Graham’s latest book, “Nearing Home”, if an elderly woman whose daughter kept witnessing to her to repent of her sins and trust Jesus for her salvation. The problem was the mother saw herself as most people saw her. She was very kind, good, and loving to all. She did not seem to do anything wrong in her eyes. She lived a good life.

    When the daughter received the call that Mom was dying she flew home from Europe to her deathbed in Florida. Mom took her hand and said, ‘My dear, when I’m gone, take heart. The Lord has saved me. When I could no longer do for myself and was committed to this bed of infirmity, I realized I had come to the end of myself; I had no more control over my life. I felt lost inmy own house. The home health care attendant would read to me from the Bible, “There is none righteous, no not one.” 1 Chron 22:19 “Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God” and Luke 19:10 “for the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

   Her mother came to understand there was nothing she could do to earn salvation. It was already done by Jesus and she needed to accept by faith that gift.

    This is a time to prepare for the Day of the Lord.

Pastor Dale

 

Sermon Nuggets Fri. Feb 24 Promise

Verse Mal 4: ⁵ “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. ⁶ He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

The Promise of the Day of the Lord

     In addition to the law of Moses is also the prophets.  Many times in the O.T the law is symbolized by Moses and the prophets by Elijah. They were the two who appeared on the Mountain of Transfiguration. The law and the prophets emphasize the fact of sin, the necessity of repentance in the conversion of sinners, and the ushering in of the Day of the Lord.  The offices of the law the prophets were fulfilled in Christ.

       We read in Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."

     Jesus Christ is the good news. His is the Promised One. We have heard how Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the tree. By His stripes we are healed. Therefore a sinner can stand in the presence of God and live because the Lord Himself took our sins and bore our iniquities. That is Good News. The Lord cannot be just and rescind the punishment. He cannot be holy and righteous and let us go without correction. But the Lord has come down from heaven to take our punishment and He understands.

   John the Baptist was the preparer of the Messiah Jesus. So he is referred to my Christ as the one who fulfilled the role of Elijah. He would come and stand in the spirit, courage, and power of Elijah to arrest a godless people and cause them to seek God in repentance and faith. (Mat 11:10, 17:11)

   Then we notice a most unusual phrase. We notice that the purpose of the coming of Elijah was” turning the hearts of the father to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers.”  What does that mean? What was John the Baptist doing?  He was preparing the

people for God and calling the people to train and teach their children righteousness.  The most important thing is to think of your children so they will walk in the ways of God.

   Turning the father’s hearts to the children and the children to the fathers is I believe in the context the importance of seeing the teaching of the Lord of God within the home. Parents are often seen as responsible now for teaching the things of God and are responsible to God for religious teaching.

   I talked to someone who said her husband was Catholic, and she was Protestant. She said,    “we will not influence our children either way, We don't take them to any church. We will let them make up their minds."

       Well they are influencing them saying the things of God are not important. You'd never say that about education of science, math and literature, but things of God are far more important. When the ways of the fathers will become the ways of the children this will produce an obedient, covenant keeping community that will do justly love mercy and walk humble with God (Mich 6:6-8).

    I attended a conference where Gary Dalby spoke. He writes on importance of  Christian issues for men and fathers. He quoted this verse in Malachi. He asked about 200 men if their fathers ever gave them personal advice when they had their first children. Only 9 men raised their hands.  The point was vivid. Fathers have abducted their training responsibilities to churches, to Mothers, to schools.

       The Native American Indian missionary was mentioned if we can only get the men to respond to Christ their families would come. We can say all we want about the feminist movements, but here it is in the Bible, a prophecy. The purpose of John the Baptist the one who comes in the name of the Lord is for revival, Fathers, and men, to let God prepare your hearts and then pass that on to your children and grandchild. If you don't there will be a curse. There is lots of debate regarding family issues in the campaign, but it does not come from secular votes, it comes from the Word and Spirit of Almighty God. Turn your hearts to home.

     The final verse of Malachi is a fitting conclusion to the book. For his message is like the last rays of the setting sun which brings the era of the Old Testament of divine love to a close and awaits the bright radiance of the rising of the sun of the New  Covenant of the divine love revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

    Norman Macleod wrote a poem,

     "Some will hate you, some will love you.

      Some will flatter, some will slight.

      Cease from man, and look above you,

      Trust in God and do the right. "

  

     At the heart of the universe is the inescapable punishment for sin, but the heart of the gospel is that where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. God moved with pity and love, became not only our creator God, but also our Redeemer and Savior. He is our promise.

Pastor Dale