Real Joy in the Presence of God

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Today's Old Testament lesson is from the book of Genesis.

Please follow along in your liturgy.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

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.

And God said, Let there be light.

And there was light.

Then God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky,

over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.

So God created mankind in his own image.

In the image of God, he created them.

Male and female, he created them.

God blessed them and said to them,

Be fruitful and increase in number.

Fill the earth and subdue it.

Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Thus, the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

By the seventh day, God had finished the work he had been doing.

So on the seventh day, he rested from all his work.

Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.

And the man became a living being.

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there he put the man he had formed.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

The Lord God said,

It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.

So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and then closed up the place with flesh.

Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

The man said,

This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

She shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

The grass withers and the flowers fade.

Forever.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

we wonder to ourselves, you know, what kind of power could produce something so achingly beautiful

that it reduces you to sheer wordless wonder?

Did all this beauty really happen by chance?

And how did life begin without life to create it in the first place?

Why is there anything here at all?

Why is there something and not nothing?

Did you know that there are 300 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy alone?

And that there are 2 trillion galaxies, which means that there are more stars in the universe

than there are grains of sand on all the beaches on planet Earth.

Did you know that our star, our sun's energy, its energy output every second is equivalent

to the explosion of 91 billion hydrogen bombs every second?

And that if one out of six, out of the six physical constants that holds our fine-tuned universe together,

if even one of those is off by even the smallest amount,

our universe as it exists would cease to even be.

You know, and it's not just these larger things that are truly remarkable,

it's the smaller things in life as well.

You know, the most extraordinary thing in the universe is actually inside your head.

This marvelous, complex brain that can process in 30 seconds more information

than the Hubble Space Telescope has processed in the last 30 years.

In 30 seconds.

That your eye can distinguish 7 to 10 million colors,

and that that eye sends 100 billion signals to your brain every second.

Did you know that there are 75,000 miles of blood vessels crammed inside of you?

And there are at least 50 trillion cells.

And that if you were to take all the DNA contained in your cells,

and you were to stretch them out,

they would reach 10 billion miles away,

all the way past Pluto,

which actually means that there's enough of you here today

to go outside of our solar system,

if you could find a way to do it.

You are amazing.

You are a work of art.

And if you saw something of that,

that's that stunning in a portrait gallery.

If you heard something that beautiful in a concert hall,

you would instinctively ask yourself,

where did it come from?

Who created it?

And if someone were to tell you that this incredible painting,

this amazing symphony,

that it just came together by itself,

without any author to create it,

would you believe them?

You know, the opening line of our book tells us

who the artist is,

who created the massive universe that we live in,

the marvelous bodies that we inhabit.

And what I'm about to attempt to do is so crazy,

it's so stupid,

to try to preach one sermon on the whole text that we just read.

But I'm going to do that.

And what we are going to ask ourselves

is three simple questions.

Who is the one true God?

Who are God's one special people?

And what is the one future that God has for his world?

Who is the one true God?

Who are his one special people?

And what is the one future that God has for his world?

So first of all,

who's the one true God?

Verse one says that,

in the beginning,

God created the heavens and the earth.

And we should say that,

right off the bat,

science and theology

are neither strangers nor enemies,

but they are friends and they are partners.

Right?

Science deals with the what and the how.

Theology deals with the who and the why.

And what Moses is giving us

is not science but theology.

What Moses is giving us is not deductive reasoning.

He's giving us divine revelation.

And what Moses tells us is that

the central subject of all reality

in the first line of the Bible

is God himself.

Forty-six times God is mentioned

in these first two chapters.

God created, it says in verse one.

God's spirit is moving, it says in verse two.

God said in verse three.

It's all about God.

From the very opening sentence,

the Bible reveals this God

who is both absolute and personal.

If we could bring up this slide

and just keep this slide up here

until this point is over.

I want you to consider this.

What does it mean in verse one

that God is just inexplicably there?

He just is.

He just was.

He just will be.

And that he's creating everything out of nothing.

It means that he's an absolute God

who is infinitely and eternally great.

He's overwhelmingly majestic and almighty.

That's the deep theology

that's crammed into the very first line of the Bible.

And what does it mean in verse two

where it says God's spirit is moving

and that without strain, without fatigue,

he brings formlessness to form.

He brings emptiness to fullness.

It means that he's self-existent,

that he's all-powerful,

that he does not need anything or anyone,

that nothing's difficult for him,

nothing's impossible for him,

that he's an absolute God.

What does it mean in verse three

when God's first words are,

let there be light?

It means that God himself is light

and in him is no darkness at all.

It means that he exercises his authority

and his control

to accomplish his will through his word.

And that out of the fullness

and the abundance

of God's life-giving

and life-creating presence,

he makes and sustains

every square inch of space,

every nanosecond of time,

every molecule of matter,

and he says over it all,

it's mine.

The God that's being presented to us

is an absolute God,

a transcendent God.

But he's not just that.

He's also a personal God.

He's an imminent God.

What does it mean in verse 31

where it says God saw all that he made

and it was very good?

It means that God himself is very good.

And that as a personal God,

he wants to share the abundant overflow,

the infinite goodness of himself

with his creatures.

Or what does it mean in Genesis 2, 2,

where it says that God blessed one day in seven

and he set it apart as a time of holy rest

for each and every one of us?

Or when it says in chapter 2, verse 8,

that he planted a garden called Eden.

Eden means pleasure.

Eden means delight.

And he put us in that place

to make that our home

and to provide food for us in that place.

Or what does it mean in Genesis 2, 18,

where it says that he made a family for us?

He put us in a community.

You know, if you study the origin stories

of the Babylonians,

the epic of Gilgamesh,

the Enuma Elish,

you'll find these gods in these stories

that are actually quite needy.

They're fickle.

They are deeply conflicted and violent

and at war with one another.

They actually depend on the humans that they make

to give them food and to give them rest.

And very often they're either indifferent

to the humans they've made

or they're hostile to the humans they've made.

And from the very first sentences of our Bible

and throughout the Bible,

repeatedly it says that the one true God

is emphatically not like that.

That every experience you've ever had of light,

every experience you've ever had of beauty

or of goodness

or of pleasure

or of rest

or of feeling at home,

it all comes from the one true God.

And every single one of those experiences

is an invitation

from the heart of reality,

from this sublime

and exalted

and unfathomable

and absolute God

who wants to be in a personal

and intimate relationship

with you

as his beloved creature.

He wants you to experience

his covenant presence

as a source of all blessing

and life

and joy

and peace.

And he knows

that your heart

is going to be restless

until it finds his rest

right there with him.

So how might we apply

this to our lives

this week?

Well, first of all,

what story

will you wake up

telling yourself tomorrow?

What story

will you wake up

living in all day,

Monday through Saturday

this week?

Who will be the central subject

of that story?

Is the opening line

of that story

all about you

or is it about God?

If your story

is all about you,

then your story

is way too small.

Right?

If your story

is all about you

and your family,

your ethnicity,

your class,

your gender,

your vocational field,

your political tribe,

your nation,

any of that,

your story is way too narrow

and way too cramped.

If your story

is not about

this absolute

yet personal God

who created everything

in the beginning

and who sustains

everything day by day

and who's directing

all of nature

and all of history

to his own purposes

and goals,

then the invitation

of Genesis 1 and 2

is to get

your little story

connected up

with his larger story

and to give yourself

to the one

who's actually been

authoring your story

all along

and to say

to this God,

you know,

you do not exist for me,

I exist for you

and you are my highest

good that could

possibly be imagined

and I want you

from today

going forward

to be the object

of my worship

and the theme

of my song

and the strength

of my life

because I realize today

that from you

and through you

and to you

are all things.

See,

Genesis 1

is an invitation

for you to have

your story re-narrated

starting today.

Second application

is

how will you engage

with the power

of God's word

when you start

your days this week?

You know,

UC Berkeley's motto

since 1883

has been

Fiat Lux

from Genesis 1-3

and God said

let there be light

and there was light.

God

sovereignly

and majestically

created the universe

by his powerful

and authoritative word

and when Israel

would later receive

the word of the Lord

they knew

that it was

that same

powerful

and authoritative

Fiat Lux

of the creator God

who calls things

into existence

that are not.

It is the word of God

that formed

the chaos

into a cosmos.

It's the word of God

that turned the darkness

into light.

It's the word of God

that called into existence

an ordered

and harmonious

and fruitful creation.

And isn't that

what you want

your life to be?

Ordered,

harmonious

and fruitful.

That's what God's word does.

How could I possibly

if God's

creative

and redemptive work

is accomplished

through his powerful word

how could I possibly

ignore

or neglect

or even resist

the word of God

as he's given it to us

in the scriptures?

Friends,

if you give yourself

on a daily basis

to your creator's word

and you submit

yourself to his will

and you attune

your way

to his way

and you order your life

according to his

divine ordering

you can rest assured

that your story

is going to continue

in the fiat lux

in the light

of God

all of your days.

Psalm says

your word

is a lamp

for my feet

and it's a light

on my path.

Third application

is this.

Many people

in the Bay Area

say,

you know,

I don't believe

in God

and if somebody

trusts you enough

to say that

you need to be prepared

to say,

well tell me about

this God

you do not believe in

because I probably

do not believe

in him either.

Is your God

absolute

but not personal?

Is your God

personal

but not absolute?

Is your God

holy

but not loving?

Is your God

kind

but not powerful?

See,

I don't believe

in any of those

gods either.

So what we can do

right now

is connect

over our mutual

disbelief

in these false

gods.

Fourth point

of application

is every student

here from middle

school

to PhD

candidate

I want you

to remember

that the

absoluteness

of God

is the basis

of all science

and mathematics

and I want

you to remember

that the

personalness

of God

is the basis

of all

the arts

and the

humanities

and that it's

this God

who gives

legitimacy

and credibility

to all

rational inquiry

and your job

as a student

this week

is to go

study your

rear end

off to the

glory of God.

Amen?

All right.

That's point one.

Who's the one

true God?

See,

I told you

this was the

dumbest idea

to try to do

all this

in one sermon.

All right.

Who are God's

one special people?

Who are God's

one special people?

The secular

vision

of humanity

is a

disenchanted

vision.

It's a

materialist

and naturalist

vision.

And what it

tells us

is that we

are lucky mud.

That you

are a random

collocation

of atoms.

A brain

with legs.

You're a

meat suit

walking around.

You came

from insignificance.

You're going

to insignificance.

And that your

final destiny

is to become

food for worms

and fertilizer

for flowers.

And the

question is

what if

there's more

to you

than that?

What if

there's more

to life

than that?

I want to

point out

this strange

detail in the

text and

invite you to

notice it

in verse 26.

It says,

then God

said,

let us

make mankind.

And that

let us

we call

the royal

we.

It's a

plural of

majesty.

It's God

speaking to

his royal

heavenly

court of

angels.

But in

hindsight,

it's also

a little

hint for

us of

the unity

and diversity

in the

supreme

being of

God

himself.

If we

could bring

up another

slide.

Psalm 33

6 says,

by the word

of the Lord

the heavens

were made,

their starry

host by the

breath of

his mouth.

That sounds

just like the

first three

verses of the

Bible where it

says,

God created

and the

spirit was

moving and

God said

with his

word.

It's

through these

means of

his word

and his

breath that

the Lord

makes the

universe.

And the

New Testament

says that

Jesus is the

word of God

made flesh.

And that the

Holy Spirit is

the breath of

God breathed

out.

So what

does it

mean if

the Trinity,

if this

one God

and three

persons,

the Father,

Son,

and Holy

Spirit,

the Lord,

the word,

and the

breath,

what if

he's the

one who

created

you?

Verse 26

says,

6 says,

then God

said,

let us make

human beings

in our

image,

in our

likeness,

so that

they may

rule over

everything.

And verse

27 says,

so God

created human

beings in

his own

image,

in the image

of God,

he created

them male and

female,

he created

them.

What you

need to know

is that in

the ancient

Near East,

only the

king was

the image

of God.

Only the

king was

the image

of God.

But the

very first

page of

our book

says that

all of you

have been

stamped with

the royal

image of

the one

who from

eternity

past has

been pouring

glory and

love,

from the

father to

the son

and to

the holy

spirit,

each into

the other

in this

delightful

dance of

mutual

self-giving.

You were

made from

love and

for love.

You were

not made

by someone

who needed

to have

you.

You were

made by

somebody who

wanted you.

Think about

that.

What does it

mean?

You were

not made

from a

unipersonal

God of

raw power

who needs

you in order

for himself

to be

complete.

But rather

you were

made from

this

tri-personal

God of

pure love

who wants

you to

enjoy the

fullness of

his being

and presence,

the trinity

of these

persons in

relationship.

What does that

mean?

It means that

you cannot

know who

you are.

If you want

to know

who you

are, you

cannot know

who you

are apart

from this

triune love.

But that if

you do enter

into that

triune mystery

then it will

change how

you relate to

yourself and

everybody else.

So how can

we apply this

practically?

Well first of

all, you

have an

objective,

intrinsic,

irreducible,

inestimable glory

about yourself.

That you

are significant,

that you

are valuable,

that you

are worthy

and that you

matter.

Genesis 2

7 says this,

then the

Lord God

formed a man

from the dust

of the ground

and he

breathed into

his nostrils

the breath

of life and

the man

became a

living being.

You see as

a potter

forms a

lump of

clay,

this humble

creature of

the dust is

crafted by

God into

a work of

art and

then he's

given the

divine breath,

the divine

life,

through this

moment of

face-to-face

intimacy,

this divine

kiss,

this amazing

act of

self-giving

love.

And what

does that

mean?

Well it

means first

of all that

you are the

image of

God,

that you're

not God,

you're dust.

So don't

think of

yourself more

highly than

you ought.

But it

also means

that you're

the image

of God,

that you

share in the

divine

likeness,

so do

not think

of yourself

less than

you ought.

That's

point number

one.

Application

number one.

Application

number two

is that

basic human

rights and

equality,

which we're

kind of

starting to

lose our

grip on

in the

western world.

Basic human

rights and

equality,

the sanctity

of life,

none of this

is predicated

on age or

status or

achievements or

class or

race.

No, the

imago

Dei that's

imprinted on

you and on

everyone else

requires us to

take all

people absolutely

seriously.

And it

requires something

even more than

that.

It requires us

to protect the

poor and the

sick and the

old and the

disabled and the

newborn and the

unborn.

Secular people

want to talk

about human

rights but they

actually have

cut themselves

off from,

they've cut the

limb off of the

tree for which

they used to make

that argument.

You cannot make

an argument for

transcendent universal

human rights without

the transcendent

universal God from

whom they come.

Secular people have

to say, you know,

the ground of rights

is in our

capacities.

And what we can

do.

But can you imagine

Martin Luther King

showing up in

Atlanta or

Birmingham or

Montgomery and

saying, you know,

the basis of our

human rights is our

ability to reason and

our self-consciousness.

No.

He showed up

quoting Moses.

He showed up

quoting Jesus.

He wasn't

quoting Buddha.

He wasn't

quoting Aristotle.

He said in a

sermon on July 4th,

1965, he said,

there are no

gradations in the

image of God.

Every man from a

treble white

to a bass black

is significant on

God's keyboard

precisely because

every man is made

in the image of

God.

And one day we

will all learn

that.

third point of

application is

that as the

image of God,

you are called to

reflect and

represent the glory

of God into the

world.

Like a mirror with

the sunshine.

You are meant to

capture the

sunshine of God's

character and his

goodness and his

light and his life

and his love and

reflect it out into

the world.

And that is an

awesome privilege and

an awesome

responsibility.

It's a high honor

that implies a

code of living.

It implies an

expectation to

imitate God in your

daily life.

It says that you're

designed for dignity

and therefore God

designed you to act

dignified.

And that means that

we have to ask

ourselves as the

image of God,

should I be thinking

this or saying

that?

As the image of

God, should I be

watching this or

wearing that?

As the image of

God, should I be

doing this thing or

acting that way?

You're made to

reflect and represent

the image of the

triune God's own

self-giving and

mutual respect that

he has within

himself.

But of course the

image of God is

broken in me and

it's broken in you,

isn't it?

Sin has twisted

and tarnished the

image of God in

us.

Self-centeredness has

come and shattered

and soiled the

image of God in us.

And next Sunday

we'll explore how

Adam and Eve failed

to be the covenant

partners that they

were meant to be.

And really what we're

going to see is that

the whole drama of

Genesis, the whole

drama of the whole

Bible is that the

family of Abraham

and the nation of

Israel were called

to be a new

humanity within the

old humanity.

humanity.

That God so loved

the world that he

gave Abraham.

God so loved the

world he gave

Israel.

But they failed in

the same way.

They failed to be the

image of God reflecting

the light of God to

the nations of God.

And finally after long

years of waiting,

Jesus, the Son of

God, stepped out of

heaven and onto the

earth as the true

human being.

And that's why the

New Testament calls

Jesus the second

Adam, the last Adam.

He's the ultimate and

greater Adam.

He's the genuine

Israelite.

All that the sons of

Abraham were meant to

be.

All that the sons of

David were meant to

be.

Jesus is the true

image bearer of God.

The only perfect image

of God.

Who's come to rescue

and restore us to our

intended identity and

dignity.

He came to fulfill

God's design for us

to be all that we

were meant to be but

could not be.

And he himself became

broken.

He had his image broken

on the cross in order

that the image of God

might be made whole

again.

And this is why the

Apostle Paul says things

like this.

He says the Son is the

image of the invisible

God.

And God predestined us to

be conformed to the

image of his Son.

And therefore you're to

put on the new self in

Jesus Christ.

Which is being renewed in

the knowledge and the

image of its creator to

be like God in true

righteousness and true

holiness.

See that's why Jesus

came.

That is what Jesus,

God's one special person,

made it possible for you to

be and to become.

So who's the one true God?

Who are God's one special

people?

And last thing is what is

God's one future for his

world?

What is God's one future for

his world?

I'll be quick.

The secular vision of the

future says that this life

is all there is.

And that everything is

eventually going to burn

up in the death of the sun

and the solar system.

And that no one after that

is going to be around to

remember anything that

happened and that everyone

will be forgotten.

And that nothing we do will

make a difference and that

all of our endeavors, even

the best, will come to

naught.

And therefore, on the

basis of that, we should

fight poverty.

Therefore, on the basis of

that, we should seek for

nuclear disarmament so we

don't destroy ourselves.

Maybe that's part of the

reason why there's such a

rise in anxiety and

depression.

Because people don't know

why they're here.

They don't know what the

future of the world is all

about.

And Genesis 1 and 2 says

actually, no, God exists and

he has a plan, he has a

purpose, he has a pattern

for the image of God.

And what is that?

He says, well, it's to put

men and women together.

It's to put us together in

families and extended

communities in order to

help each other serve God

as his representatives in

the world.

And what is the work that

God's calling us to do in

these extended families?

Well, it says in 128,

God blessed them and said

to them, be fruitful and

increase in number, fill the

earth and subdue it and rule

over everything.

And then in chapter 2, verse

15, it says the Lord God

took the man and put him in

the garden of Eden to work

it and take care of it.

So I want you to underline

some words.

Underline the word increase

and fill.

Underline the word subdue and

rule and underline the words

work and take care.

What is the image of God?

What is the human family

meant to do with this garden

he's put us in?

Well, the essence of

gardening is just to

rearrange and reorder raw

materials to bring forth

new products for human

flourishing and well-being.

And so that means that you

are to participate with God

as a steward and a sub

creator to cultivate all the

soil and all the seeds that

are inherent potentialities

in that garden of law and

medicine, of family and

education, of the arts and

sciences, of finance and

technology, of trade and

commerce, of the market and

the state.

We're to take all that there

is in that garden and all of

its potentiality and to

unfold it and to cultivate it

according to the way that God

subdues and God rules his

creation so that more and

more of it will reflect the

beauty of who God is.

And you want to know what

fascinates me about verse 15?

Verse 15, those words work it

and take care of it are mostly

used in the priestly texts.

They're especially used to

describe the responsibilities

that the Levites, the priests

have in the tabernacle in the

temple of God.

And if you go on and you study

the Torah, you study the first

five books of the Bible,

Genesis to Deuteronomy, you'll

realize that a good deal of it is

about what we're supposed to do in

the tabernacle of God, in the

temple of God.

It's this place where heaven and

earth, the twin halves of God's

good creation come together, they

intersect and they overlap and

it's where God's presence and his

power dwells.

It's where his Shekinah glory

resides.

And the point is that that holy

temple is meant to be a

microcosm of the whole creation.

And that's why when it is

constructed, it's constructed with

the images of angels and the

heavenly lights.

It's constructed with palm trees

and open flowers, with lilies,

and pomegranates.

And that when God takes his

image-bearing human beings and he

puts them in this garden temple as

royal priests, and he uses this

priestly language of take care of

it and work it, what he's telling

them is I want you to go out and I

want you to turn all of creation into

a holy temple.

Did you know that's why you exist?

You exist to turn all of creation into

a holy temple.

Your home, your classroom, your

office, your neighborhood, every

place where you live and work and

play, God wants you to make those into

holy places that are filled with his

presence and his power.

Strangely enough, Jesus comes along

and he says, destroy this temple and

now we'll raise it up again in three

days.

Why is he talking about the temple?

Because he's read his Bible.

Because he's saying that the whole

creation is summed up right here in me.

And that all of humanity has to find

its new starting place right here in me,

in this temple that's standing before you.

And everything that God intended for

human identity and for human work is

being fulfilled in me.

In my destroyed yet raised up body, I'm

going to make this whole world into a

temple of the living God.

And Jesus intends to make your body

into a temple.

He intends to make your marriage into a

temple.

He intends to make your family and your

community, your workplace, into a

temple.

So that all of it's a place where heaven

and earth can come and meet together in

the presence and the power of God can be

known and can dwell among us.

And now you know why the last two

chapters of the Bible are written to

mirror the first two chapters of the

Bible.

And I'll just close by quoting it.

Revelation 21 says, I did not see a

temple in the city because the Lord

God Almighty and the Lamb are its

temple.

The city does not need the sun or the

moon to shine in it for the glory of

God gives it light and the Lamb is its

lamp.

The nations will walk by its light and

the kings of the earth will bring their

splendor into it.

The glory and honor of the nations be

brought into it and only those whose

names are written in the Lamb's book of

life will enter in to it.

So friends, let's join Jesus.

Let's join the ultimate Adam in all that

he's doing to turn the whole of created

reality into a temple, into a place where

we can finally worship and serve God as he

made us to do.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy

Spirit, amen.

Amen.

Thank you.