Faith From the Beginning Until the End (Hebrews 11:3) - Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

So as I have said, we're looking at creation

tonight. And so this is a continuation, if you

will, on us looking at key doctrine that we believe

to be true. So this year on these fourth Sunday

evening worship services, we have looked at things

that the Bible teaches that we believe are so

very important. And I would say creation is one

of them. It's kind of how the Bible begins, right?

So I really think we need to look at this. And

at the same time, if I can, some of you were

in the Covenant Sunday School class this morning

as we looked at Hebrews chapter 11. And guess

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

what we're looking at tonight? Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

11. That's called Providence. But you might say,

well, this is an interesting starting place to

look at creation from the book of Hebrews, and

you're correct. But we will get into the Genesis

account shortly. But what we have in Hebrews

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11 is called the Hall of Faith. And it

asks, it begins the chapter with a very important

question, really an answer to a question. What

is faith? So I'm going to read verses one. I'm

going to combine them together. Verses one through

three this evening. So give attention to God's

holy word. Now faith is the assurance of things

hoped for, for the conviction of things not seen.

For by it the people of old receive their commendation.

By faith we understand that the universe was

created by the word of God so that what is seen

was not made out of things that are visible.

Yes, we're starting in Hebrews 11 here, but I

think especially verse three is very central

to our discussion on creation. Creation, as the

Bible presents it, has kind of been on the hot

seat of late. a recent history where people are

examining scripture and they've got some different

ideas about how God began all the things that

he began. Even within our own denomination, we

have those who are trying to come up with different

methods for how to understand creation. I'm not

going to go through all of those methods, all

of those theories. I don't think it would be

helpful in this setting. But still we might look

at this and we might ask, are we supposed to

take creation literally as Genesis 1 and 2 seems

to show us? I played my hand. Are we supposed

to see it as kind of poetic? Are we supposed

to ascertain the length of the days in creation?

Is there a possibility the days are really long?

Is there a possibility that there are episodes

and millions of years between all the days? There's

a lot of discussion going on. about creation.

But you know what isn't really being said enough?

We need to take the Bible's teaching on creation

on faith. That's what needs to be said. You can

do all the research that you want to do. You

can watch all the documentaries on Netflix or

YouTube. There are a bunch of them out there.

You can go to the Answers in Genesis website,

which is a fine website. You can study Hebrew,

the language of. You can go to the Grand Canon

and you can study the layers of sediment. But

if you don't take creation on faith, you have

entirely missed the point. Why is there something

rather than nothing? Because of God and God tells

us in his word to take this on faith I've mentioned

that Hebrews chapter 11 is the hall of faith

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

And so you've got different individuals in here

their faith and what they did in faith. You've

got Enoch You've got you know David's in here

Noah's in here, but when I look at these individuals

I Don't see people questioning them or questioning

the way that Scripture puts it for them. Maybe

they just don't care that much about Enoch, but

I don't hear anybody saying, well, you know,

Enoch, it says he was taken up into heaven, but

I don't believe that. I don't hear anybody talking

about Enoch. As far as Moses in the Red Sea goes,

I hear non -believers and I hear liberal scholars

questioning whether or not they really passed

through the sea. But I don't see Christians having

a problem with this and I don't see Christians

having a problem with Rahab or David or the prophets

and I definitely don't see Christians having

a problem with what continues into chapter 12

that Jesus is the author and the perfecter of

our faith Because we know what is the condition

for salvation. It's faith. You got to believe

in Jesus So why is it then? that people have

such a hard time believing in creation as presented

by the Bible. Why is it that creation and faith

just goes out the window? Also, at the same time

as I say this, I'm not encouraging blind faith

either. We have evidence here. Ours is not a

blind faith, but a faith that sees by the light

of God's sure Revelation. So what do we need

to do? We need to uphold the biblical narrative

while understanding God's teaching on creation.

Douglas Kelley says this, to understand Genesis

1 through 3 and to make sense of life itself,

we must seek with the help of divine revelation

to interpret time through God rather than God

through time. Did you catch that? Interpret time

through God rather than God through time. And

this is very important because if we get off

the rails with creation, the way the Bible begins,

if we get off the rails here, what will we do

with the rest of Scripture? What will we do with

the fall? What will we do with the flood? What

will we do with the virgin birth? What will we

do with Jesus' miracles? What will we do with

the resurrection? What will we do with the second

coming? We need to get off on the right foot

with the Bible and that begins with creation.

And so what is the classic doctrine of creation?

It's called ex nihilo, which means out of nothing.

Meaning at one time there was nothing and then

God spoke and then there was something. It's

a way of saying that the visible reality we perceive

does not originally come from other things that

we can see. We got to take it back to the beginning

and we realize in the beginning God created the

heavens and the earth. But you weren't there,

were you? And I wasn't there either. So what

do we need to do? Hebrews 11 3 tells us we need

to take it in faith. God did not fashion the

world out of some other world. It didn't speak

itself into existence. God created by His Word.

Now some people have a really hard time believing

this, that God spoke and things came into being.

But does anybody bat an eye when Jesus is on

the boat and the storm's going on and then Jesus

speaks and the storm is done? I don't hear anybody

have a problem with that. Or what about when

Lazarus is dead in the tomb and Jesus says, come

out of there. Does anybody have a problem with

that? Or when Jesus tells a lame man to get up

and walk. So we can definitely affirm that God,

and specifically here his son, has the power

with his speech. And so this is the way that

it's presented, that God speaks and there's something.

There's two things that I think you all will

affirm. Everybody who is in this sanctuary, I

think you'll affirm this. Is God the source of

life? Yes. Heads going up and down, right? Is

the Bible God's Word? Yes. Because we believe

this, why not derive our information from the

Word about creation? It seems to me that when

it comes to creation, Christians tend to be a

little bit like Peter. Do you remember when Jesus

commands Peter to get out of the boat and he's

walking on the water and he's doing good? When

is he not doing good? When he takes his eyes

off of Jesus. And when we take our eyes off of

Jesus, this is when our faith falters. And when

we come up with excuses for Scripture, but we

ought not make excuses for Scripture, we ought

to believe it. Again from Douglas Kelly, nothing

could be more logical or more intelligent than

to accept the information from the one who made

it, from the one who was the eyewitness, and

from the one who is truth itself. Friends, as

it pertains to creation, we have to go to the

source. Do you remember being in school and having

to write a research paper? Maybe some of you

are still in school, right? You can have all

the secondary sources that you want, but if you

don't have the primary source, you don't have

a source, right? So with creation, what do we

need to do? We need to go to the primary source.

But what he might say, well, That makes a lot

of sense, but what if I don't understand the

source? What if I don't understand Genesis 1

and 2? Or what if I don't understand Hebrews

11, 3? Well, we rightly should look elsewhere

in the Bible. So let's go to Psalm 33. Psalm

33, 6 through 9. And I think you'll see that

this very much pertains to our discussion this

evening. Psalm 33, 6 through 9. By the word of

the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath

of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters

of the sea as a heap. He puts the deep in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the

inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him,

for He spoke and it came to be. He commanded

and it stood firm. So yet again we have here

the Bible telling us that God spoke things into

existence and so the question that we really

need to ask is do you believe this word? Do you

believe that God created all things by the power

of his word? And what I would encourage you to

do is to take some time with the creation account.

really try and understand it but do so from a

straightforward reading of the passage. In order

to do anything else you almost have to do literary

gymnastics to get it to work but the straightforward

reading of the text tells us what we need to

know. And this has been the teaching of historic

reformed Presbyterianism and I don't want to

be out of accords with our standards and I believe

that our standards are faithful to the text.

And so consider this from Westminster Confession

of Faith the beginning of chapter 4. It pleased

God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost for the manifestation

of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom, and

goodness in the beginning to create or to make

out of nothing the world and all things therein,

whether visible or invisible in the space of

six days and all very good. That has been the

Reformed position for a very long time and so

we want to keep that position as it accords with

Scripture. So what I want to do now is go to

Genesis and you could turn there if you like.

Let's see these days. Let's see what God does

with each one of them. Genesis 1 verse 3. already

Genesis 1:3

three and four to begin and God said let there

be light and there was light and God saw that

the light was good and God separated the light

from the darkness God called the light day and

the darkness he called night and there was evening

and there was morning the first day so you see

light and dark separated here The creation of

light, you've got day and night. The text says

there was evening and there was morning the first

day, meaning that the days have distinct boundaries

around them. And that pattern is going to continue

throughout these six days of creation. Look at

day number two in verses six through eight. And

God said, let there be an expanse in the midst

of the waters. Let it separate the waters from

the waters and God made the expanse and separated

the waters that were under the expanse from the

waters that were above the expanse and it was

so and God called the expanse heaven and There

was evening and there was morning the second

day. So what do we have in day two? Well, once

again, we have this same kind of pattern going

on here there was evening and there's morning

the creation of the sea and sky at day three

verses nine through 13. God said let the waters

under the heavens be gathered together into one

place and let the dry land appear and it was

so. God called the dry land earth and the waters

that were gathered together he called seas and

God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the

earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed,

and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their

seed, each according to its kind on the earth.

And it was so. 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, and there was evening, and there

was morning the third day. And so on the third

day, we have the creation of dry land with vegetation.

How about that outside? It's springtime going

into summer. It's very green. OK, God has created

this day for verses 14 through 19. And God said,

Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens

to separate the day from the night and let them

be for signs and for seasons and for days and

years. and let them be lights in the expanse

of the heavens to give light upon the earth.

And it was so. And God made the two great lights,

the greater light to rule the day and the lesser

light to rule the night and the stars. And God

set them in the expanse of the heavens to give

light on 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. And there

was evening and there was morning, the fourth

day. So you have the creation. The stars and

of the Sun and of the moon these things they

also give light and then day five verses 20 through

23 and God said that the water Swarm with swarms

of living creatures and let birds fly above the

earth across the expanse of the heavens So God

created the great sea creatures and every living

creature that moves with which the water Swarm

according to their kinds and every winged bird

accord to its kind and God saw that it was good.

And God blessed them saying, Be fruitful and

multiply and fill the waters in the seas and

let birds multiply on the earth. And there was

evening and there was morning the fifth day.

So you have these waters that are now filled

with the fish and you have the skies that have

the birds flying through them. And then we get

to perhaps our favorite part, day six. look in

verses 24 through 27 and God said let the earth

bring forth living creatures according to their

kinds livestock and creeping things and beasts

of the earth according to their kinds and it

was so and God made the beasts of the earth according

to their kinds and the livestock according to

their kinds and everything that creeps on the

ground according to its kind and God saw that

it was good. Then God 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. So God created man

in his own image. In the image of God he created

him. Male and female he created them. God creates

what we might say is the crown jewel of creation.

He creates people. He creates people who are

made in his image. And then what does God do

after all of this? He rests, right? He rests.

And I think this is very interesting to see that

on the seventh day, God rested because we might

say, well, we know the scriptures tell us that

God doesn't slumber or sleep and he doesn't grow

tired. So what sort of resting is God doing?

God is delighting in his creation God blesses

the seventh day and makes it holy and this is

very important because you'll remember that later

on the Israelites they're given the Ten Commandments

right and they are given this command that they

are to remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy

Listen to this from Exodus 2011 for in six days

the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all

that is in them and rested on the seventh day.

That's from Exodus. Their rest was grounded in

His rest, and as far as I know, we still have

a seven -day week, do we not? We don't have an

eight -day week. We don't have a nine -day week.

We don't have a six and a half day week. We have

a seven day week and we are to continue this

rest. But thanks be to God that Jesus was raised

on Sunday, the first day of the week. And so

that Sabbath rest has been moved to the first

day of the week. But we still enjoy a day like

today of worship and of rest and of service to

others, right? This is good news for us. This

is good news for us that God creates as He did,

that He gives us rest as He did, but I also want

to point out one more thing to you, and this

time we can go back into Hebrews, but don't go

to chapter 11. Go to chapter 1. Hebrews chapter

Hebrews 1:3

1 verse 3. This is speaking of your Savior. Hebrews

1 3 he is the radiance of the glory of God and

the exact imprint of his nature and he upholds

the universe by the word of his power Colossians

1 17 says something similar that Christ holds

it all together what we are to understand from

these texts is that God preserves his creation

Some view God is nothing more than a creator

But that's unbiblical. God is intimately involved

in every single moment of your lives. It's not

like God created and then took some time off.

He rested from this created order, but he continued

to uphold. This is good news for us because this

means that we are upheld and that God will not

let us go. Now all of this probably sounds slightly

good to you, but you're wondering, How does this

impact me tomorrow? When I'm celebrating Memorial

Day or when I go back to work on Tuesday or when

I got the grandkids, how does all of this help

me? A few points of application. Let's not get

too far away from Hebrews 11 .3, remembering

faith. We have in scripture God's special revelation.

As great as creation is, creation General revelation

does not tell me how to be saved. General revelation

doesn't tell me how Jesus died to atone for sin.

And trust me, I love being outside. I love going

for a hike, right? But we need God's special

revelation in order to know about Jesus. And

we need to believe it. But this also applies

to creation too. So this week, today, this evening,

why not give thought? to the biblical narrative

of God's creation. Why is it that Christians

are so entranced with eternity ahead of us but

not eternity past? We should give thought to

this because this is given to us for our good.

This is within the Bible. Consider what God has

done in creation and do as Hebrews 11 .3 says.

Take it in faith. But secondly, Enjoy creation.

I hope you enjoy creation. I hope that you go

for walks and I hope you go for a hike or I hope

that you just sit on your front porch and marvel

at what God has made because it's beautiful,

isn't it? Do you agree with that? There you go,

head's nodding. Yeah, Psalm 19. The heavens declare

the glory of God and the sky above proclaims

his handiwork. God's creation screams that he

is a good God. and that He has created all that's

before us and we can enjoy it and we should take

care of it. I know. Third point. Reference creation

in your evangelism efforts. Francis Schaefer

once said that if he had an hour next to someone,

maybe he was talking about being on a plane.

If he's sitting next to somebody on a plane and

he knew they were not a believer, He said he

would spend the first 55 minutes of the hour

talking about the creation of God, how man is

made in the image of God. And then he would spend

the remainder of the time talking about the gospel.

And the reason he said that is because he realized

how important it is that we understand who God

is. But where we have come from, where we went

wrong, why we are the way we are, and who is

in charge. So reference creation as you share

the gospel. Last, very last thing. John chapter

John 1:1–3

1, verses 1 through 3. Listen to this, especially

the first verse, and tell me, what does it sound

like? John 1, 1 through 3. In the beginning was

the Word, and the Word was with God, and the

Word was God. He was in the beginning with God

all things were made through him and without

him was not anything made that was made. I would

submit to you that John's gospel gets started

remembering Genesis 1 1 in the beginning. This

also tells us that Jesus was in the beginning.

Jesus is not created. Jesus Equal in power and

glory with the Father and the Spirit. He's actually

a part of the creation efforts listen to verse

9 and 14 the true light which gives light to

everyone was coming into the world in verse 14

and the word became flesh and dwelt among us

and we have seen his glory Glory as of the only

son from the Father full of grace and truth as

God kicked off creation with light so Jesus is

the light that we need. He came to conquer the

darkness of sin and to all of those who would

believe in his name, he gives the right to become

children of God. You Christian, you belong to

the maker of the heavens and the earth. Isn't

that amazing? And secondly though, know this,

that as God upholds creation, he also upholds

you. Let's pray.