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Joy in Creation. Streams, January 2013. Why creation?. Bible starts there God starts there People start there. The Biblical drama. A drama in three acts: Creation Fall R edemption. The Beetles!. Creation reveals God’s glory.
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Joy in Creation Streams, January 2013
Why creation? • Bible starts there • God starts there • People start there
The Biblical drama • A drama in three acts: • Creation • Fall • Redemption
Creation reveals God’s glory The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 19 v 1-4
God is clearly seen in creation For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20
The chief end of creation is to worship its Creator, and to do so in joy • “ Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, all your works shall praise your name in earth and sky and sea” • ‘Joy to the world, the Lord has come!Let earth receive her King;Let every heart prepare Him room,And heav’n and nature sing Joy to the earth, the Saviour reigns!Let men their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains Repeat the sounding joy’
When you send your Spirit, they are created… may the glory of the Lord endure for ever; may the Lord rejoice in his works (Ps 104: 30-31)
Four living creatures Around the throne of God “were four living beings… and the first was like a lion, and the second like an ox, and the third being had the face of a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle…… Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come!” (Revelation 4:6-8; Ezekiel 10:14)
All creation praises God • You made the heavens…. and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything and the multitudes of heaven worship you. (Nehemiah 9:6) • The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalm 19:1) • All your works praise you Lord….. Let every creature praise his holy name, for ever and ever. (Psalm 145:10, 21)
C H Spurgeon “True devotion not only hears the praise of God in the sweet song of feathered minstrels but even discovers it in the croaking from the marsh or the in the buzz of the blue fly which singeth in the windowpane.”
Overwhelmed by Praise • “If we truly understood the growth of a grain of wheat, we would die of wonder.” Martin Luther, 16c • If we understood creation’s praise aright, it would “transport us with admiration of God”; “you cannot in one glance survey this most vast and beautiful system of the universe in all its wide expanse, without being completely overwhelmed by the boundless force of its brightness”. John Calvin, 16c
Joy! • Let the trees of the forest sing, let them sing for joy before the Lord. (1 Chron 16:33) • The pastures are clothed with flocks, the valleys also are covered over with corn. They shout for joy, they also sing. (Ps 65:13) • Let the floods clap their hands, let the hills be joyful together.(Ps 98:8) • Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth! And break forth into singing, O mountains! (Is 49: 13)
Jonathan Edwards ‘We hence see the exuberant goodness of the Creator, who has not only provided for all the necessities, but also for the pleasure and recreation of all sorts of creatures, and even the insects and those that are most despicable.’
Holy joy God made animals “for the admiration of God and holy joy” and they find their fulfilment in praising their creator. Martin Luther, 16c
Humans have been given the task of orchestrating and conducting creation’s song of praise
Sing to the Lord! “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord all the earth… Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy.” Psalm 96:1, 11-12
The whole creation groans For the creation was subjected to meaninglessness, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay …. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Romans 8:20-21
Cruelty is wickedness • Good people take care of their animals, but wicked people are cruel to theirs. Proverbs 12:10 • You (Jesus) love what is right and hate what is wrong. That is why God, your God, has chosen you and has given you the joy of an honour far greater than he gave to your companions. Hebrews 1:9
Discipleship “Because Jesus is Lord we have no right to pick and choose the areas in which we will submit to his authority.” John Stott, 2011
Mission For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1: 20
Creation regained For the creation was subjected to meaninglessness ….in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Romans 8:20-21
Restoration of creation ‘The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them….. the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.’ Is 11.6-9 ‘In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the creatures that move along the ground. ‘ Hosea 2.18
