1296. Creation: The God Who Made Everything

Welcome to The Daily Platform, our program features sermons from chapel services at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Every day students are blessed by the preaching and teaching of the Bible from the University Chapel platform today on The Daily Platform were continuing a series called our great God.

Today's message will be preached by school of religion professor Dr. Nathan Crockett the Scripture passage is from Psalm 104 and the title of the sermon is creation. The God who made everything. Please turn to Psalm 104 Psalm 104 and our topic today is creation, the God who made everything creation.

The God who made everything so far we've had Dr. Benson introduced the series on our great God Dr. Goucher, the Trinity, Dr. stakes the exclusivity of God. Dr. McGonigal's incommunicable attributes and Dr. Miller's communicable attributes and today were gonna talk about God as the creator of the God who made everything.

Psalm 104 begins. Bless the Lord, O my soul, oh Lord my God that were very great their clothes with honor and majesty, who covers thyself with light as with the garment stretches out the heavens like a curtain you lay the beams or chambers in the waters you make at the clouds his chariot who walk upon the wings of the wind here in verse five, laid the foundations of the earth just keeps going on and all these amazing things that God is done in creation. Look at verse 25. So is this great and wide C wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beast there go the ships. There is a Leviathan on whom you made to play therein, these weight all upon the that thou may give us in their meat in due season look down at verse 31 the glory of the Lord shall endure forever.

The Lord shall rejoice in his works he look is on the earth in a tremble with he touch with the hills and they smoke. We want to talk today about the God who made everything, and because Scripture is so practical. I want to look today at four specific responses that we should have, to this God who made everything so minute preview them with you now and the rest of the sermon were to work our way through them. The first is that we should enjoy God's creation because it's his gifts to us.

Secondly, working to see that we should study God's creation because it has something to teach us.

Third labor to see that we should steward God's creation because he values it and fourthly were to see that we should worship the creator because he alone is worthy if you could turn to Romans eight we can end up there to Romans eight will be the final passage will look at work and at look at a couple dozen other passages very briefly. On the way there to see what God says about himself as creator for ourselves. Oftentimes there are things that we hide about ourselves, things we don't want people to find out things that we don't want to be revealed to the world, with five young children. I often find myself, that will be at a restaurant and they'll say something without point to someone or and and I'm really hoping that that person didn't overhear it.

It's not that they were trying to be rude but maybe unintentionally they were member several years ago I was teaching one of my sons to swim and we were at a resort in an indoor pool and we were the only ones in there and I was teaching house when he was 2 1/2 years old and I noticed a gentleman, and I found out later he was in his 80s and he came in and was swimming laps on the other side of the pool kind of large gentlemen and to swimming laps to get some exercise and my son didn't really seem to notice him until he got out of the pool we got out of the pool my toddler son looked at me and he said data. What was that they just got out of the pool and I said that was a person and he said oh I thought it was a bear and your voice kind of echoes in the pool and the guys on the other side. I'm hoping you here in a much, it's a person-to-person. He said while it was very hairy and eyes like you have but it it's it's a person and that the man left and went to the locker room and then my son. I think maybe jokingly said daddy it's a bear is gonna come back and eat us. As I now know it's it's fine and I'm in my mind like I really hope that Guidant hero. My son said we need to keep this fact hidden and I forgot all about it.

We swam for a few more minutes and went into the locker room and I held the door for my son and you can probably guess he was the first person he saw when we entered the locker this gentleman and he said hi and I just a good night, my sons being friendly. I didn't realize that for him it was identity test see if this really was a person or forest creature and the man said hello Sonny and my son looks up at me kind of relieved is is that you are right, it's a person, not a bear is right there. I mortify that he was so kind he made a joke about his appearance and we talked about the weather on Hilton Head. There are times that something is revealed that we didn't want to be revealed.

Are we grateful to have a God who is willing to reveal things about himself. If I brought a large picture this morning. Maybe perhaps my family. It was covered with a blanket and right now I pull off the blanket I would be revealing something I would be creating something. It was there all along.

I'm just pulling back the curtain so you can see it in theologians talk about God's general revelation general and its content, tells us broad truths about God. Everybody in the world gets its general in its scope. Everybody gets creation, everybody gets a conscience and they talk about God's special revelation is very specific in its content. It teaches you special things about God and it specific in its audience. Not everybody in the world. Throughout history has gotten special revelation probably 99% of the sermons that we hear about God's special revelation, the incarnation, but today as we talk about the God who made everything I want to look at God's general revelation. So first of all enjoy creation because it's God's good gift to you. Enjoy creation because it's God's good gift to you about this ring and come up one at a time that's final form on their first Timothy 610 tells us the love of money is the root of all evil.

Seven verses later in verse 17 it says charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us all things richly to enjoy first Timothy 44 for every creature of God is good, and nothing to be received to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving. Have you ever notice the wide-eyed wonder of the child. Some of you have younger brothers and sisters. I love going on hikes with my kids. But the heights often take a long time because with five different different kids are all seeing something a little pinecone here, a butterfly that they want to try to catch for 25 minutes. A little you know a little pebble that's a slightly different color than the pebble next to it. A pinecone that becomes their favorite toy for the next three hours when you're with little kids you see this wide-eyed wonder of the world around you that we oftentimes adults walking right by and never even notice you enjoy God's creation. When is the last time you lay flat on your back on the field and you looked up at the clouds and you notice that one looked like a shark in another like a stingray, and another one like a unicorn.

Kids do stuff like that all the time right God gave us his creation to enjoy.

You should stop to savor a sunset or to wonder at the ocean to marvel at the mountains or to enjoy a well-made omelette to take a hike to a waterfall. These are God's incredible pleasures that is given to us to enjoy. When we look at the variety and complexity of God's creation we marvel I think about times with my wife even before we had kids we go kayaking a lot off the coast of Hilton Head in times when cold dolphins just came up right next our kayaks are time we kayaked over school jellyfish or think about seeing Niagara Falls and most of you probably seen her having the chance to hike the Grand Canyon. The incredible beauty and God's creation.

When was the last time that you took a prayer walk you into pairs nonstate Parker Jones gap or Caesar's header table rock and as you hike, you kept your eyes wide open and you just pray and you think God for the things you are seeing around you.

Studies show us that modern parents talk more than any other parents about getting their kids outside and yet, if we look at the time children are actually spending outside. It's the lowest that is been in recorded history. We spend so much time indoors so much time in front of screens that we oftentimes miss out on God's incredible creation. He's given us to enjoy. They've actually proven health benefits from being outside Japan is famous for this. In Japan they talk about forest therapy. They have 48 official forest therapy trails because of that, as a done research. They've seen that God's creation being out in his creation of a people call nature can lower your blood pressure fight off depression and even some people have tried to prove help prevent cancer. Enjoy God's creation. Secondly, we should study God's creation because it has something to teach us your familiar with the sermon on the Mount in Matthew 626. Listen to this, and behold the fowls of the air that word. For behold, is the idea of observed with fixation. A couple verses later consider the lilies of the field that were considered means to learn thoroughly or examine carefully.

Proverbs 66 go to the ant now sluggard consider her ways and be wise. Ecclesiastes 12 one.

Remember now that creator in the days of thy youth, we are told to behold, to observe to consider to learn to examine to remember we should study God's creation. How does that line up with some some people say well I like my creature comfort so much I hate being outside or cities that several decades ago created whole systems of skywalk so you could go to Starbucks and go to your workplace and go back to your apartment. Go to the parking garage and never step foot outside listen to Job's responses so far in Job 12 710 to 10, but ask now the beast, and they shall teach the and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell the or speak to the earth, and it shall teach the and the fish of the sea shall declare under the who know it's not in all these things that the hand of the Lord hath wrought. This, in whose hand is the soul of every living thing in the breath of all mankind. We should enjoy God's creation we should study it. Thirdly, we should steward God's creation because he values it the creation mandate in Genesis 126 to 28 God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea in the file there and every living creature couple verses later.

Verse 28 God blessed them and said, and then be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it and have dominion over it. Genesis 215, we read that God put Adam in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it we seeing this is my father's world and it is this world is God alone. God's alone, but he he's given us a temporary stewardship of the right Job 4111. Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. Psalm 24 one. The earth is the Lord's the fullness thereof the world and they that dwell therein.

I love Psalm 95, 326.

Listen to this. The Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods in his hand are the deep places of the earth.

The strength of the hills. This is also the sea is as he made it his hands formed the dryland outcome.

Let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our maker, we steward a world that does not belong to us. Did you know that God cares even for animals. He chose to save all the animals on the ark. In Exodus 2312 six day shall thou do they work on the seventh day thou shalt rest that your ox and your donkey may rest. Deuteronomy 25 four tells us don't muzzle the ox that treads the get the grain in Luke 12 six we see that God remembers even the smallest spare room in the book of Jonah.

Many of you remember learning that even as a child at the end of the book of Jonah. Yahweh says you had pity on the gourd for which thou was not labor neither made is to grow it came up in the night it perished in the night should not. I spare Nineveh, that great city were and are more than six score thousands of hundred 20,000 people that cannot discern between the right and in their left. Probably infants and also much cattle. The last phrase in the book of Jonah God recognize there is much cattle and then eventually destroy Nineveh with all these innocent people and much cattle know what I'm talking about stewarding creation. I think that has particular relevance to some of you that are artistically inclined maybe her major is in the fine arts. It's music.

It's the visual arts. Maybe you have a gift for engineering don't buy into the world's lies that sometimes talks about, you know, the starving artist and someone finds out you have a major in the fine arts when you get a real job. That type of thing.

Don't buy into that because that creative ability inside of you is a reflection of the image of God. God is the ultimate artist. He is the ultimate creator and you can use those God-given gifts for his glory or for evil, you can use your gift of creativity doing to create an incredible movie that magnifies God's creation, or perhaps even presents the gospel or someone can use that same gift to create a pornographic film that objectifies women and slaves meant you could use that scientific gift you've been given to develop something like penicillin that would save the lives of millions or someone can use a similar gift to develop anthrax for the purpose of destroying that many people you could use a gift for engineering to create artificial limbs of the child who lost his legs in war is now able to walk or one individual used a similar gift for engineering to design you've maybe heard of it. The euthanasia poster, a roller coaster designed to kill everyone he rides on and is trying to find funding for it right now. You can use your God given creativity and stewardship of his creation for remarkably good things or for terribly evil things you should enjoy God's creation should study God's creation, you should steward God's creation. And finally, you should worship the creator because he alone is worthy listen. Revelation 411 thou art worthy of the Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for that was created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Romans 125 tells us about sinful people who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the creator. Creation should have driven them to worship God, but they did the opposite. They started worshiping creation.

We probably have some young ladies in the audience who are engaged in. You likely have a ring on your finger in your diamond ring has a setting, but the purpose of the setting is not that people would look at those small little stones or their sparkles. Whatever and examine and magnify the setting. It's to point out the diamond.

If your family takes a trip to Disney World when you're younger and you 10 miles outside of the zero let's say there's a sign that says 10 miles from Disney and your family jumps out you take a picture by the sign you don't get back in the car and drive back to Michigan. The sign told you that Disney World was coming in creation is not meant to be worshiped in and of itself. It's a signpost. It points us to the creator.

Worship God for he alone is worthy few months after my dad went home to be with the Lord after battle with cancer. I was putting my son shepherd to us to sleep.

He was about three months old are three years old time and are singing with him. I can't carry a tune in a bucket but I was trying to sing our singing. One of my favorite songs give me Jesus was a song with song my dad's funeral. I got to the last verse, and when I come to die.

And when I come to die. Give me Jesus you can have all this world to give me Jesus and shepherd stopped me as he had many different times and he said daddy granddaddy.and I said yes shepherd granddaddy died and he said mama told me that everybody dies.

Is that true and I said yes shepherd apart from the raptor moms exactly right.

Everybody dies, does that mean mommy's gonna die yes shepherd, someday your mom's gonna die, who will make me chocolate chip cookies.

Long pause Denny or you can die Yep shepherd. One day a minute I can teach me how to swim is shepherd can die one day.

Yes shepherd, I hope I never live to see that day and I hope that you come to faith in Christ. As you get older and that spend eternity with you in heaven, but someday you're gonna die.

Who's getting all the candy said daddy so everybody dies and I said yes shepherd. Everybody dies and then perhaps without even realizing what he was saying or maybe in a moment of toddler brilliance. He said, but but daddy can die because then he would save us, and I just pauses it hit me that the world around us points to an undying creator who made us and as we read his special revelation, we find that the artist who shaped us became the Lamb who died for us so that God can do what God does best.

He would save us some eight begins and ends with the same exact wording, oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth in the third verses is when I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars are soused, ordained, what is man that thou are mindful of him. For the Son of Man that the visits to several years ago Time magazine carried an article entitled why there are no atheists at the Grand Canyon. The subtitle was all it takes is a little all to make you feel religious. This is throughout the Bible. Psalm 19 says the heavens declare the sky proclaims the days speak the night to reveal first Chronicles 16 the heavens are glad the earth rejoices, the seas roar. The fields exalt the trees sing for joy. Nehemiah 96, the host of heaven worship God. Psalm 93 the floods lift their voice on 96, the heavens rejoice, the earth is glad to see roars. The fields are joyful all the trees of the forest.

Rejoice on 98.

The rivers clap in the mountains seeing Isaiah 55. The mountains and the hills burst forth in the song and the trees clap their hands and in Luke 19 verse 40 Jesus said at the triumphal entry. If the religious leaders could get all these people to stop praising his name. The very stones would cry out all of creation magnifies its creator.

In fact creation has been called God's first missionary when God chose to reveal something through his creation about his nature is design his goodness, his love, his power, his attention to detail. He took this galaxy and he took this blue planet floating in a black void and he created something remarkable.

He formed a masterpiece when God writes that his creation.

He writes in all capital letters. Remember speaking to a high school student who just got his pilot's license and he told me Nathan if you're a pilot I don't think you could ever be an atheist because the fly is to see God's beauty all around.

I think it's probably no coincidence that in previous generations when the majority of people spent the majority of their waking hours outside interacting with God's creation. Atheists were virtually unheard of. We live in a society that often tries to separate us from God's creation right. We have air-conditioned buildings and we go everywhere in climate controlled vehicles and we fly in airplanes and people sometimes live in urban jungles and contain a lot more concrete than than dirt or grass want to close with an illustration that I remember quite vividly even that was March 2012 are sitting right down here in the yellow section was a Bible conference service, and pastor Dick Marcato senior was preaching he had been preaching bilingually for 68 years at that point this godly elderly gentleman had us turn to Romans eight right had you turn look at verse 18 for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us for the earnest expectation of the creature and Dr. Mercado pointed out correctly that word could just as easily may be better be translated. The creation waited for the manifestation of the sons of God for the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who subjected the same in hope because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation Kronos and travail with and pain together until now.

And it goes on to talk about how even we as believers are waiting for adoption and Dr. Mercado said if the hills are alive with the sound of music there actually singing in a minor key, and he did something that maybe had never been done before. From the FMA Bible conference platform before this godly dignified gentleman stood up here and he said, moving the students kind of chuckled and he said that's my second rate impersonation of our bovine friends.

The cows and he said, but you often don't realize it, but when Bessie is the cow is moving she's actually praising God and again some people chuckled and I was sitting right down there and I remember something clicked for me actually had chills shoot up my spine. It was like for the first time in my life. I realized something that all of the beauty we see around us is still falling creation not yet redeemed this incredible masterpiece is still creation, groaning when you and I hike to a waterfall at the wilds we are seeing the remnants of a masterpiece because God created this beautiful earth on an incredible canvas, but the enemy came and tried to destroy it anymore. It and and guys and girls. What is it can it be like when the master artist picks up his brush again. I remember that day so many years ago I thought about cows mooing in lions roaring and horses neighing and I thought about the time that I stood on the maid of the mist boat and was overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of Niagara Falls.

As I looked up 167 feet and watch the Horseshoe Falls 2200 feet wide.

Pour down 150,000 gallons of water a second and the roar was so deafening I could hardly hear myself think.

I thought about white water rafting through the Grand Canyon or thought about flying past Mount Rainier in route to Seattle and literally having my breath taken away as I saw that snowcapped mountain jutting up through the clouds and I looked out the window.

I thought about the peaceful middle Salida River that meanders through Jones gap to the height to the delight of all the hikers were BBC series like planet Earth and blue planet that numb your mind with beauty.

The men and women. When you think about sunsets and waterfalls in nature trails and starry nights of majestic ocean.

Do you realize that all of this is still unredeemed creation yearning for Redeemer, the exquisite beauty that we see all around us is merely a shadow and we get to the end of the Bible in Revelation 21 tells us about the new heaven and the new earth, because we have a God who makes all things new and I'd like to close by asking you one simple question I want you to go in your minds. I to the most beautiful thing in God's world that you've ever experienced. Maybe it was last week, maybe was last year maybe was a five or six-year-old. Think about your favorite spot on this planet.

Maybe it was watching the sunrise over the ocean. Maybe it was an incredibly starry sky in the middle of the camping trip.

Maybe it was a flaming crimson red leaf reflected in the placid lake where you were kayaking get that image in your mind of this beautiful creation. I want to close with this question. If this is what creation looks like when it's groaning. What will it look like when it shouts. Let's pray father there is none like you and your redemption in your creation. We look at the Bible in front of us in the world around us and we are amazed were amazed at the power they could create something like this at the mercy that would deign to share it with us and is much as we marvel at your work of creation. Father, we marvel even more at your work of redemption at the love that drew salvation's plan and the grace that brought it down the man at the mighty golf that needed Spanish Calvary and so father is read till light and view the great Creator as we seek to enjoy your creation and study your creation and steward your creation.

Ultimately, father help, but to point us back to that we would worship you is the one and only Creator, because you alone are pray these things in Christ's name. You've been listening to a sermon preached by BJ you Bible Prof. Dr. Nathan Crockett titled creation. The God who made everything. I'm Steve Pettit, president of Bob Jones University. If you're looking for college. Please consider BJ you were a Christian liberal arts education will prepare you academically and spiritually to reach your highest potential for God's glory. For more information about our more than 100 accredited undergraduate and graduate programs. Visit the GU.edu or call 800-252-6363. Thanks for listening and join us again tomorrow for the next sermon from the series called our great God here on The Daily Platform