Recalling Our Purpose

Coming up next on Renewing Your Mind for us to understand the significance of the creation of man. We can't stop. On the sixth day, we have to go to the seventh day and see that the goal of creation is Sabbath holiness is our purpose in life we created pretty good questions during these uncertain and challenging times more more people are asking the good news is that the Bible gives us real answers and to address the question of our goal in life we have to go all the way back to the beginning. Dr. RC Sproul in theology, we frequently make a distinction between two dimensions of God's work. First of all there is. God's work of creation by which he is the creator of all that is.

But then we speak of God's work of redemption adjuster. Couple of chapters and all of the Scripture that focus attention chiefly on the work of creation and then in the third chapter of Genesis we read of the fall of the human race and everything thereafter is an unfolding and unveiling of God's work of redemption. It's the same God who creates who later then redeems now, there are certain things that we can glean from God's work in creation that can give us some understanding and some insight into the goal of redemption because keep in mind that God's activity in redemption is not an afterthought. He had a plan of redemption before there were several were from all eternity. God knew that he was going to create that there would be a fall and that he would redeem this creation and that all of creation moves towards the glory of the creator and that glory is seen most wonderfully in his work of redemption. Let's review a little bit of the narratives that we find in Genesis with respect to creation and see what we can learn from in the very first chapter of Genesis we read in verse 26 these words then God said, let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. And so God created man in his own image in the image of God he created them male and female he created them. And then God blessed them, and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air and every living thing that moves and then in verse 31 at the end of chapter 1 we read these words.

Then God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day melt so much controversy has emerged in our day over how old the earth is is the universe 15 to 18 billion years old is the earth itself. Millions or billions of years old, or is the earth six or 8000 years old, was the creation accomplished in six 24-hour days or is the Hebrew word you home. That's the word for day possible of being interpreted each day referring to eons and eons. That debate rages and I'm not going to get into that debate here just simply noted in passing that one of the interesting theories that has been put forth in this century of the literary structure of the opening chapters of Genesis is a theory held by people who believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God and so on, but it is called the framework hypothesis of the framework hypothesis simply says this, that the reference today's in the creation narrative of Genesis is a literary device to simply describe various stages of the divine work of creation. There's kind of a refrain after each dimension there. The description of the elements are created and then when that description is finished and we will rate and that was morning and evening the first day and then you read about later on about the fish being created in the animals being created in the plant light being created and then the refrain will and was morning and evening. The second day on the third day, the fourth and fifth that and so some say that this is not was never intended by the author of Genesis to suggest that these things were 24 hour periods, but they are like seven acts in a play or seven stages and that this is simply a literary device in which the stages of creation can be introduced. Well I don't know how valid that hypothesis is in the final analysis as I mentioned, I find it interesting, but one of the things we have to see for sure. Here is that there is a kind of hierarchical movement in this structure from the lesser to the greater from the inanimate objects of nature to the plant life to the animal life to the creation of the human race and it's as if things are on a rising crescendo and the understanding that I encounter frequently in the church is that creation reaches its zenith, it's back to me it's pinnacle. That is its highest point on the six day when the image bearer of God is created mankind is created and then man is given dominion over all the rest of the earth, and certainly in that ordering structure of Genesis, we do see that rising crescendo that reaches a high point on the sixth day.

But there is a grave danger. In looking at the six day as the pinnacle of creation because the creation account does not stop at day six. There are not six days in creation. There are seven and if we are moving in a rising crescendo.

We must see that the pinnacle the Acme point is not. Day six but it's day seven. It is the seventh day, that is the highest point of creation know what happens in the seventh day, chiefly two things are said about the seventh day. Let's read the account of it in Genesis. In Genesis chapter 2 we read thus the heavens and the earth and all of the host of them were finished and on the seventh day God ended his work which he had done and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he rested from his work which God had created and made. So the two things that we notice here about what happens on day seven.

Are these in the first instance, we read that on the seventh day God rested and the second thing we learn is that God sanctified, or how load the seventh day. What does that mean to the Hebrew. He took one day and set it apart from every other day, and that this day became a day that was more as holy and then the life of the human race, and of creation was then ordered from there after to follow a pattern of a seven day cycle which every seven days.

There is Memorial and a recapitulation of these moments or steps of creation and when we celebrate the seventh day, the Sabbath, why do we do it.

What's the purpose of the wall on the one hand there is the utilitarian purpose the functional purpose for us and for the land and for the livestock, namely that people can have an opportunity to rest from their toil and from their labor, that the land may rest that the animals may rest, that there may be a period of renewal and refreshment affect the chief accent of the Sabbath day. We might say in Israel was found in this idea of rest and the major prohibition for the Sabbath day was engaging in commerce or in normal labor but also the seventh day was set apart not simply to rest from labor, but also as a time of special consecration for the people to assemble together for the purpose of honoring God and of praising God in his majesty and in his holiness now again when we go through that same seven day cycle as Christians today. One of the things we do is look back to the work of creation and celebrate God's wonderful work of creating all that is.

But in addition to that, the Sabbath always looks to the future because this seven day cycle of creation foreshadows or models in a way the final goal of redemption that we on the Sabbath. They look forward to that time when the kingdom of God is fully consummated and we join the assembly of saints in heaven, and Christ's kingdom is established and his people, then enter in to their rest and when we enter into our rest. We also enter into a state of glorification by which all vestigial remnants of sin are removed from us and we are made completely holy so that the work of creation is fulfilled in its final dimension in heaven where we enter into our rest and we enter into our perfect sanctification. So I'm trying to say to you is this, that the cycle of creation and the narrative work of creation points ahead to redemption and that the theme or the motifs that I find here in the opening chapters of Genesis is the thing that I call Sabbath holiness were sometimes fascinated by the whole subject of Hebrew numerology. I don't know any scholar who is completely certain that he or she has broken the code of Hebrew numerology. We know that there are certain numbers that appear with the frequency that's quite high in Scripture, and that obviously these numbers take on symbolic significance numbers like 4040 days 40 years 40 nights and that sort of thing. We also have the importance of the number 10 the 10 Commandments, and so on, and the number seven is understood to the Jewish people as the complete number and the number six is the imperfect or incomplete number the number three is of great importance with respect to the Trinity, and so on, and some have speculated that the reason that seven has become so important, and multiples of it 7×770×7, 49 years before the sabbatical comes and so on and also this number seven is made up of the addition of three and four and some have speculated that the three comes from the very basic nature of God, the Trinitarian character of God added together with the four elements that make up the cosmos, earth, air, fire and water so you had the four of the created realm, together with the three of the divine realm and you get the number seven. If you add four and three. You get seven. What happens if you multiply four and three. What number do you get 12 how important is that in biblical numerology and you multiply 12×12 and what you get hundred 44. You multiply that to the nth degree to get 144,000 men.

These numbers are eggs. I say fascinating and I don't pretend to have the last word on the significance of these numbers. But when we see evil race to the 3rd°, what number do we get 666. The thrice six. The three times on holy. This is the try saggy on of the angels in Isaiah 6 as holy, holy, holy.

The three times holy, the supreme market-based of evil is 666 now having said that, I want us to understand that in the days or stages of creation. You would not expect the high point to be reached on day six, that's just not the way Hebrew numbers work. The ancient Greek philosopher Protagoras is often identified as the original founder of humanism because of his famous slogan Homo men sewer man the measure were Protagoras said that man is the measure of all things is Alexander Pope. I believe who said the proper study of mankind is may. There is nothing higher in the universe than man.

That's the viewpoint of all varieties of humanism that the highest being that we are aware of and all of reality is may in the Scriptures we see that the creation of man, though it is on this ascending order is not the ultimate point of creation, but it is the ultimate moment. It's not the final step is the next to the final step and that for us to understand the significance of the creation of man. We can't stop. On the sixth day, we have to go to the seventh day and see that the goal of creation is Sabbath holiness and that should trigger in our minds and understanding that the same goal is the goal of redemption. And even if we look at chapter 1 and look at day six. There are hints of this because when we read in the sixth day of creation than it was on that day that God created man male and female, and so on, that the descriptive language there is that man is created uniquely in the image of God and in the likeness of God.

What does that mean that God has a body that he has two legs and two arms and two eyes, and so on. Not all were not the physical image of God. Some have said what that means is that there are certain characteristics of our humanity, from which we are distinguished from the animals and the earth and properties or attributes with which we share with God, such as having intelligence in a will and affections and all that the course, the problem becomes exacerbated when we realize we really don't know what's going on inside the brains in the minds of animals and we see them do certain things we say that's instinct, they're not thinking they don't have any powers of reason talk to my dog.

If my dog doesn't think I don't know what guys think how he outsmarted me from time to time. There's no question about the but again, certainly we do have aspects to our human existence that we share in common with God. God does have a will and he does have a mind and we do, but the real point of being made in the image of God is this what is the purpose of an image but to mirror and reflect something other than itself, and if we look carefully at the pages of the Old Testament we see that the goal of human life is to mirror and to reflect the very character of God. God is holy and we are to reflect that holiness so that this whole work of growing in sanctification is a growing and holiness is a growing within us, not only of redemption but a movement towards the fulfillment and consummation of the very purpose of our creation.

We are here to glorify God to bear witness to the whole cosmos of what God's character is so that he says to the home for I am in that goal that we have, to glorify God in him reflect his character is is true even in the midst of hard times. Just heard Dr. RC Sproul from his series keeping in step with the Spirit and you're listening to Renewing Your Mind on this Monday. Thank you for joining us I'm Lee Webb were listening to portions of the series this week but we would be happy to send you the full 20 part series for your gift of any amount in addition that we put together several resources that we believe will help your study: get the fruit of the spirit USB drive and it contains the audio files of five teaching series, including five things every Christian needs to grow and pleasing God, along with the series that were featuring this week. Plus, you'll find five digital issues of table talk magazine and to e-books. We believe these resources can be of great encouragement and help to believers of all ages as we seek to grow in maturity and in glorify God with our lives. So for your gift of any amount requested is fruit of the spirit USB drive becomes an attractive gift box in the you can reach us when you go to Renewing Your Mind.org or you can call us with your gift at 800-435-4343 if you have any questions from today's lesson we invite you to ask Lincoln a year. Maybe you're leading a Bible study this week. Or perhaps there's a passage of Scripture that you never quite understood we have a well trained team of ask Lincoln your agent standing by 24 hours a day six days a week to answer all of your biblical and theological questions, simply go to ask.legionnaire.org before we go today. Here's RC with a final thought, God has given us a transcendent sign of the goal of redemption in the very institution creation of the Sabbath day. I know we live in a time and in a culture that more and more tends to treat Sunday like every other day of the week businesses stay open seven days instead of six, and we know also that this is perhaps the most rest less generation in American history is not simply because we have no time really to rest from commercial enterprises or for the labor of our lives.

We have no time really to contemplate the very purpose of our existence and I suggest to you that you make it a practice every Sabbath day to think about why there is a Sabbath and what is this rest toward which your heart, your remember Augustine's famous prayer at the beginning of the confessions of the Lord that has created us for thyself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in the, the Sabbath day points to the future where all restlessness will be removed from our lives and we will enter into the rest of our God. In Matthew 520. Jesus tells us that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees.

We will never enter the kingdom of heaven. What did Jesus mean by that. We hope you'll join us tomorrow as we continued on Crystal series here on Renewing Your Mind