"And It Was Good" Sermon: Genesis 1:1-2:4

"And It Was Good"
[Genesis 1:1-2:4]
February 3, 2008 Second Reformed Church

Over the past two weeks, we have seen that the Bible confesses to there being One God Who is Eternal. He existed before time and exists outside of time, as well as in time, and He lives forever into the future. He is the Only Uncreated Being: He Alone forever is and was and will be.

This One God exists in Trinity -- in Three Persons, and all Three Persons took part in the creation of everything that is -- except for Themselves. They created everything that is because it pleased them to do so. They did not have any need that provoked their creating.

God spoke everything that is into existence and now uses the reproductive systems of plants and animals to continue His creation.

This morning, as we look at the creation history one more time, we consider these questions: What was the Holy, Perfect God's evaluation of His creation? And what does that mean for us?

We don't have to guess what God thought of His creation, because He tells us: "And God saw that the light was good" (Genesis 1:4). "God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:10). "The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:12). "And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light to the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:17-18). "So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swim, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:21). "And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:25). "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good" (Genesis 1:31a).

God proclaimed everything He had made in the spiritual and the physical realms was "good," and collectively, "very good."

Paul wrote, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage, and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer" (I Timothy 4:1-5).

And St. Augustine wrote, "And thou, O God, didst see everything that thou hadst made and, behold, it was very good. We also see the whole creation and, behold, it is all very good. In each separate kind of thy work, when thou didst say, 'Let them be made,' and they were made, thou didst see that it was good. I have counted seven times where it is written that thou didst see what thou hadst made was 'good.' And there is the eighth time when thou didst see all things that thou hadst made and, behold, they were not only good but also very good; for they were now seen as a totality. Individually they were only good; but taken as a totality they were both good and very good. Beautiful bodies express this truth; for a body which consists of several parts, each of which is beautiful, is itself far more beautiful than any of its individual parts separately, by whose well-ordered union the whole is completed even though these parts are separately beautiful" (The Confessions, chapter 28, paragraph 43).

God created everything that is because it pleased Him. He called everything that He created, "good." He said that taken together the creation is "very good." And we see in Paul and Augustine that when we receive God's creation with thanksgiving it is good for us -- it gives us pleasure.

Still, we may wonder just what "good" means. What does it mean for God to say that the creation is "good" and "very good"?

Francis Schaeffer says this: "This is not a relative judgment, but a judgment of the holy God who has a character and whose character is the law of the universe. His conclusion: Every step and every sphere of creation, and the whole thing put together -- man himself and his total environment, the heavens and the earth -- conforms to myself" (Genesis in Space and Time, 55). In other words, the creation is good because it conforms to God and what God created it to be. When dogs are being dogs and mud is being mud and cherubim are being cherubim, that, God says, is good.

And some will be thinking, "Wait a minute: how can we call a sinful and fallen world good? Is God saying that sin and evil are good?"

Absolutely not. Sin and evil, which came to earth through our choice through our representative, Adam, are acting contrary to creation. Sin and evil are doing that which is opposed to the way and the purpose of creation. It is doing those things that we ought not to do and not doing those things that we ought to do. Sin and evil are against what it means to be who we were created to be.

We see this is Paul's description: "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we are saved" (Romans 8:19-24a).

Christians understand that sin and evil came into the Garden, into the whole creation, through the sin of our Father, Adam. All of creation -- men, women, animals, plants, inanimate objects -- all of creation was punished and made to suffer for our sin. Why do we die? Our sin. Why are some plants poisonous? Our sin. Why do animals kill each other and humans? Our sin. In the Garden, we were healthy and at peace with all of creation, but sin destroyed that.

And the creation understands that it is not her fault that she suffers and causes suffering. The creation understand that it is suffering because our Father, Adam, chose to bring us into sin. But the creation also understands -- this is what Paul says in the passage I just read -- the creation understands that the day is coming when Jesus returns as Judge, and after the judgement, the elect of God will be perfected and glorified and all of creation will be restored and perfected and set aright -- it will, once again, be good -- in the full meaning of the word.

We share a hope with the creation -- that when Jesus returns, sin will be put away from us, and we will be made into what we were created to be. The living and the dead will stand before the throne, and Jesus will grant everlasting life, perfect holiness, and righteousness, to every human who ever believed in Him and to the whole non-human creation. Carol's dog, Winston, will rise from the dead, and Barbara's dog, Bonnie, will rise from the dead, and they will be made perfect and whole with us, so the whole creation will join in glorifying and praising Jesus.

As will the elect of God be raised from the dead, in their bodies, and their bodies will be healed and perfected to the glory of God.

Now, our bodies will be different -- our bodies will be like Jesus' Resurrected Body. Our bodies will no longer be subject to sickness and disease and death -- like Jesus, we will be in perfect health, unable to sin, and everlasting. But let us not make the mistake and say that we shall not be physical -- Jesus could be touched; Jesus ate food and drank after His Resurrection, and so shall we.

There are modern religions that deny that the physical creation is good. Christian Scientists deny that the physical world exists. For them, one of the greatest sins is to believe that there is any stuff here at all. They say that we can be perfect, holy, and healthy in this life, if we just deny the physical world exists, if we just deny that sickness and disease can bother us.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the physical world exists, but they believe that the physical world is corrupted by sin and evil and Jesus will not restore the creation. They deny the physical resurrection and the release from bondage that Paul wrote about. They say that the future life after Jehovah's return will be entirely spiritual.

If they're right, what do we do with Jesus' being touched and eating and drinking and saying we shall be like Him? What do we do with Job's confession: "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!" (Job 19:25-27). What do we do with the fact that God said the creation is very good?

As it was created, God said that the whole creation is very good. What does that mean for us today, in a fallen and sinful world?

It means that we should be thankful for the creation: even amidst the sin and futility of the world, are we not thankful for our pets, for the wonders of the creation, and for other people? Let us be thankful for the creation that we enjoy, despite its being marred.

It means that we should delight in the creation: God has given us the whole creation to enjoy and to know Him better through. Let us enjoy everything that God has given us in the world. Enjoy food and drink and viewing and interacting with creation, listening to the variety of songs and sounds, seeing all the variety of being and color. Let us enjoy what God has given and put around us.

It also means we are responsible for and should act responsibly towards the creation: not just because our sin has corrupted it, but because God, in the beginning, said, "'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth'" (Genesis 1:26). The word, "dominion," in this text, does not mean that we can do what we want with the creation, it means that God has assigned humans the responsibility to care for the creation in His place. We are God’s viceregents; God’s expects us to care for the creation in the same way that He does.

And, since God created the creation very good, we ought to trust God. We ought to trust His Word, be thankful, enjoy the creation, care for the creation, but also look forward with the hope that Paul says the creation has for the day of Jesus' Return when we and the creation will be restored and perfected. (Cf. James Boice, Genesis, vol. 1, 73).

It is appropriate the we consider this hope on a communion Sunday, because Jesus said, "'I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you that I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.' And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, 'Take this, and divide it amongst yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes'" (Luke 22:15-18).

In the communion liturgy, we say that this is a feat of remembrance, communion, and hope. Remembrance of Jesus' Work on earth, communion with that same Jesus Who is spiritually here with us, giving us His Grace through the elements, and hope -- the hope that Jesus wasn't lying -- that the day is coming when He will come to earth again, and we, in real, very good, glorified bodies, will share real bread and a real cup, with the Real Man, Jesus Christ, when He fulfills the kingdom of God on the last day.

Let us pray in hope:
Almighty God, Creator of every good thing, we thank You for the creation and for the promise and the hope that one day it will be fully restored, and us with it. We thank You that You allow us to enjoy and be thankful for all of Your amazing creation. Help us to take responsibility for caring for it as Your stewards. And keep the communion hope ever before us. May Jesus Christ be praised, Amen.