Genesis 1.14-31
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Glorious Day (chorus)
Call to worship / Old testamenT reading: pastor andrew loginow
Haggai 2.5-9
New testamenT reading:
dr. brett loginow
John 2.13-22
song:
The lord almighty reigns
Historical reading:
pastor michael champoux
Apostles Creed
song:
Christ or else I die
Confession & Pardon
pastor Zachary mcguire
song:
Come behold the wondrous mystery
Sermon:
dr. alex loginow
Genesis 1.14-31
Introduction
There is a show on HGTV called House Hunters, have you ever heard of it? Bethany has a friend that she works with who was on an episode of House Hunters, like he and his wife were the couple who hunted 3 different houses to find their new home. If you like that sort of thing you should check it out – the episode is called, “A Sweet Home In Alabama.” When I looked up the episode I noticed that they were on episode 4 of season 196…196! And House Hunters is 1 of like 1,000 different home related shows.
People love content about finding a home, building a home, interior designing a home, home improvement, etc. Why is that? Why are people attracted to watching, hearing about, or experiencing the search for, building of, or interior designing a home? Why do people love to give others a tour of their home or show off home remodels? Genesis 1 may give us a glimpse into our love for home – our love for a place that is our own, a place that reflects who we are, a good place to live.
Cosmic Temple
Last week we looked at the 1st 3 days of creation and this morning we consider the latter 3 days of creation – days 4-6. Last week we noted that in days 1-3 of creation God formed the creation and in days 4-6 God fills the creation. As God orders the initial chaos of Genesis 1.2 He begins by forming the habitation in days 1-3 and then He fills the habitation, or inhabits what He formed in days 4-6. And as Moses wrote Genesis 1, preparing to send the ancient Hebrews into the Promised Land he is reminding them of their origin, of where they’ve come from. He is teaching them about the 1 true and living God who created all things, but that is not all that Moses is doing. Let’s take a look at the latter 3 days of creation and see what the Spirit and the Word have to say in light of the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ.
4th Day (vs. 14-19)
In verses 14-19 we read about the 4th day of creation. Here God is filling what He formed on day 1. On day 1 God created the light and separated it from the darkness. Now on day 4 God fills the light and darkness with the sun, moon, and stars.
Notice in verse 16 that Moses does not refer to the sun and moon explicitly but instead calls them the greater light and the lesser light. Many ancient Near Eastern cultures worshipped the sun and the moon; think of the Egyptians who worshipped the sun. God called the first Patriarch Father Abraham out of the land of Ur, which was a people group who worshipped the moon. Moses is telling us that the sun and moon are not divine; they are simply the greater and lesser light created by God to do his bidding.
Do you also notice how anthropocentric this pericope is? The description of the celestial creation is not only from the human perspective but Scripture also makes the audacious claim that the sun, moon, and stars were, in a sense, created for humanity. God says he created the sun, moon, and stars to be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years. The celestial creation is not gods to be worshipped but they are also not purely natural matter disconnected from humanity. God created the sun, moon, and stars for us, for light, for warmth, for signs and for seasons.
As we saw in the 1st 3 days last week we can note again this week that Moses is not concerned with literalism or scientific precision. Moses isn’t concerned with the fact that the moon reflects light and does not produce it. Moses is not concerned with reconciling why verse 18 says that God placed the sun and moon in the expanse to separate the light and darkness even though he already said that God separated the light and darkness in day 1. Moses isn’t writing a literalistic chronology of creation. Moses is writing a poem, a psalm, a hymn, a song describing the 1 true and living God who created all things and orders all things.
5th Day (vs. 20-23)
We see the same thing in verses 20-23 as Moses describes day 5 of creation. Just as God filled the light and darkness He formed in day 1 with the sun and moon, on day 5 God fills the sky and sea He formed on day 2 with birds and sea creatures. Moses emphasizes how intentional God is with his ordering of creation – God created the sea creatures according to their kinds and God created the birds according to its kind (vs. 21). Moses isn’t giving us a technical taxonomy but he’s describing what we can all see with our own eyes – there are so many different kinds of fish and other sea creatures, and birds and other winged creatures and God created each according to its kind.
Then verse 22 says that God blessed the birds and the fish. God will do the same with humanity on day 6. There are a small number of times in Genesis that God’s blessing refers to wealth but overwhelmingly in Genesis when God blesses someone or something it refers to having babies. And that’s what verse 22 explicitly says – And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply...” God blesses humanity with the same exact words in verse 28.
6th Day (vs. 24-31)
But before we get to humanity God first creates the land animals on day 6. Once again day 6 fills what was formed on day 3 – on the 3rd day of creation God separated the seas from the land and then called the vegetation up from the ground and now on day 6 God fills this land He formed with animals and then humanity. Like He did with the fish and the birds, God creates the land animals according to their kinds (vs. 24). Moses lists 3 different categories of animals in verses 24-25 – livestock, creeping things, and beasts of the earth.
Again this isn’t trying to be a precise scientific taxonomy, but what any person can see with their own eyes. Livestock is literally the word cattle in Hebrew (בְּהֵמָה) and refers to all domesticated animals. Creeping things are pretty self-explanatory. Beasts of the earth refer to all of the larger wild or undomesticated animals.
Then in verses 26-31 we arrive at the climax of the creation account, the apex of God’s creation – humanity, male and female in his image! We noted this 2 weeks ago so we’ll just make a passing comment right now but here we get our 2nd whisper of the Holy Trinity in Genesis 1 where God declares, let us make man in our image. Every other creative speech-act of God in Genesis 1 has the Hebrew verbal form called the jussive, which is impersonal but here in verse 26 the verb is, for the 1st time, a cohortative of resolve, which indicates divine deliberation. Verse 26 is not merely using a “majestic we” or a “royal we” as many scholars contend, no! Here we get a glimpse into the 3 persons of the Holy Trinity deliberating over the creation of God’s crowning achievement – humanity.
This grammar also shows us how special humanity is compared to the rest of creation. God’s crowning achievement is creating humanity, male and female, in His own image to glorify him! The word image is the Hebrew צֶ֫לֶם; it means, “something cut out,” like a statue, or a carving. The Greek (εἰκών) and the Latin (imago) convey the same idea. Humanity – male and female – are like pictures, or statues, or carvings of God; we represent God in a way that nothing else in creation does.
And God blesses humanity with the command to have babies – to be fruitful and multiply. These verses correct the confusion of so many of our modern western culture’s sins. First, our culture devalues human life while placing more value on animals, plants, and the plant than people. But Genesis reveals that human life is God’s crowning achievement – from conception to the grave every life is valuable because we bear the image of God.
Second, God’s creation of gender and marriage is intentional and good. Gender is not fluid but created specifically by God. Sex is created by God and is only intended for each man with his wife alone in marriage for procreation and pleasure. Any sexual activity otherwise is sin. Of course, there are certain people gifted singleness by God but the clear and overwhelming assumption of Scripture proven by human history is that every man and woman get married and have babies and this is good.
At this point the picture Moses has been painting all along comes into focus. Moses cares nothing of the age of the earth, or the nature of the days of creation, or the intersection of Christianity and science; instead Moses gives us this poetic description of God building a place in 6 stages, culminating in his rest and enjoyment. God is building a house where heaven and earth come together and his presence and power are on display. God is building His cosmic temple.
In the ancient Near East this is exactly how temples were built – in these stages, culminating with an image of the god placed in the midst of the temple so that the community can know the god is with them and worship him. God builds this cosmic temple in these 6 stages and then places his image – humanity – in the midst of his temple so that all of his creation can know his power and presence and worship and enjoy Him. In fact, Genesis and Exodus form a sort of Hebrew chiasm beginning with the making of God’s cosmic temple in Genesis 1, building toward the 2nd ½ of Exodus where Moses instruct the ancient Hebrews how they are to build the temple when they enter the Promised Land. Not only is there a Hebrew chiasm for Genesis-Exodus, but also the whole OT does the same. In our English Bibles Malachi is the last book of the OT, but that was not true for Israel – the last book of their OT is 2nd Chronicles; when Jesus and the apostles read the OT, 2nd Chronicles was the last book and 2nd Chronicles ends with Cyrus sending the exiles back to Jerusalem to build the temple. The OT begins with the building of a temple and closes with the building of a temple
Christ the Temple
So it shouldn’t surprise us that the NT picks up right where the OT left us. As St. John opens his Gospel he recapitulates the language of Genesis 1 (In the beginning was the Word…) and then in verse 14 John writes, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The Greek word dwelt is σκηνόω, which means, “tabernacle;” it’s the same word used of the tabernacle in the LXX. John reveals to us that Jesus is the true and final tabernacle/temple – Jesus is the place where heaven and earth converge. What John hints at in chapter 1, he makes explicitly clear in John 2.13-22, which we read in our Call to Worship – Jesus is the true and final temple.
In Matthew 12.6, speaking of himself, the Lord Jesus says, “Something greater than the temple is here.” And in Revelation 21.22 St. John tells us that there will be no temple in the new creation for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. Jesus is the true and final house of God where heaven and earth meet. Jesus is the place where God’s presence and power are on display for his people.
Just as the temple was the place where God’s people offered a spotless sacrifice for their sin, Jesus is the true and final spotless sacrifice for our sins – Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world! Genesis 1 is leading you to place your faith in Jesus Christ. Do you have the ears to hear? The Scripture is pointing you to the knowledge that there is 1 true and living God who created you in His image and that you have sinned against him in thought, word, and deed, and that you are guilty, and deserve eternal conscious punishment in hell. But the good news is that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus lived without sin and then died on the cross in the place of God’s people and Jesus rose again on the 3rd day for the forgiveness of sin and the hope of eternal life.
Scripture is inviting you to not only know this good news but to assent to this good news. Confess it and do not deny it. And Scripture offers the hope that if you will transfer your trust to Jesus Christ alone you will be saved from your sin and eternal death. Rest in the finished work of Jesus and you will be saved.
If God has gifted you faith, it will be revealed by your repentance. You will confess your sin. You will acknowledge that you are guilty. And then you will turn from your sin. By the power of the Holy Spirit and the means of grace you will practice self-discipline, crucify your pride and flee from your sin. You can never do this of your own power – it is only through the illumination and sanctification of the Spirit, but if the Holy Spirit has made you new, you will repent. Repentance always proves faith, which is received by God’s grace alone.
Church the Temple
And the Bible tells us that everyone who has received the gift of faith, demonstrated by repentance, forms the temple of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the true and final temple and so everyone who is in Christ makes up this temple of the Holy Spirit called the church. 1st Corinthians 3.16 says, Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? The verb here (you are) is 2nd person plural; Paul is saying you all are the temple of the Holy Spirit – the church is the temple of the Holy Spirit. 1st Corinthians 6.19-20 says, Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 2nd Corinthians 6.16 also calls the church the temple of God. 1st Peter 2.5 says you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
The church now is the place where heaven and earth intersect because we are the body of Christ – the temple of the Holy Spirit. The church is where is the power and presence of God is mediated to his people and the world through the Word and sacraments. The church is where the sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins is found because the church has been given the gospel mediated through the preaching of the Word and on display in the sacraments of baptism and the holy Eucharist. Oh, can’t you see how church is so much more than what you do on Sunday morning so long as you have nothing “more important” going on? Don’t you see how eternal important this group of people is?
We mentioned last week how the 3rd and 6th days of creation are the literary and theological climax of the forming and filling of creation for they are the only 2 days where God speaks twice. That’s because the 3rd day reveals the hope of resurrection and the 6th day reveals the image of God – humanity. When we see these 2 together we see the gospel – the resurrection of the true image of God on the 3rd day is the meaning of creation, the hope of humanity, and the identity of the church. Listen to how St. Paul puts it all together for us in Colossians 1.15-20:
[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Jesus is the head of the natural creation and he is the head of the new creation – the church! Jesus is the true image of God who reconciles God and humanity, heaven and earth, through his death and resurrection. Jesus brings us back home to God. The church is the home for sojourners, for citizens of heaven as we live here on earth. Heaven is a place on earth – it’s called the church.
Conclusion
This is the reason why we all long for a place to call our own, a place that reflects who we are, a good place to live because that’s what God did in creation – he built a cosmic temple, a place where heaven and earth meet. But this good home has been invaded by sin, as we’ll see in the coming weeks yet the good news is that Jesus came and He is the true and final temple of God – He is where heaven and earth meet. And Jesus let us know that the story isn’t over yet. Just as God built His cosmic temple in the 1st creation, He is doing so now in the new creation. Listen to the words of the Lord Jesus from John 14:
Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also (John 14.1-3).
What is Jesus describing here? What was the house of God in Jerusalem that had many rooms? It was the temple! Jesus describes eternal life as the temple and a few verses later Thomas asks Jesus the way to this temple and you know what Jesus replied, don’t you? “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Come to the Father through Jesus alone, for in Him you will find the forgiveness of your sins, the hope of eternal life – there you will find home.