Jun 7, 2020  SERMON ARCHIVE

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for our meditation this morning is the first two verses of our Old Testament Lesson, Genesis 1:1-2. There we read these words:

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

We begin in the Name of Jesus, AMEN

It’s interesting how the first two verses of Genesis read. God the Father was there, creating everything out of nothing. He wasn’t alone, either: the Spirit was present, too; and we know from John 1 that the Son of God was present, because all things are made through Him. So the account of creation begins with the presence of the Triune God— Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

It’s also worth noting the first created thing that’s specifically mentioned: the earth was there without form and void, and there was water, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

God went on to create, by speaking. “Let there be light,” He said, and there was light. He would soon call for dry lands and seas, and there they would be: .......likewise sun and moon, plants and animals, birds and fish. And then He would take extra care in making man and woman, but still He would speak to create them. It was a phenomenal miracle, the way God created.

Because our words, at best, are simply informative: they can give information, but they can’t cause anything to happen. When God speaks, though, His Word is effective or causative: He causes things to happen simply by speaking. He creates things simply by commanding them into existence.

And what He creates is always good—and good means “holy” and “perfect.” Good as far as God is concerned is not an average score on a scale of “bad” to “excellent.” This isn’t a B+ creation: when God declares something to be good, He means that it couldn’t be better—it is just as He designed it to be.

Before the Old Testament lesson is ended, He created light and separated it from the darkness, then set day apart from night. He created light on the first day, but did not create the sun until the fourth day. Some would say that this is proof that Genesis 1 isn’t a chronological account of creation, but they would be wrong.

God doesn’t need the sun to give light to the day: God is light and can enlighten whatever, wherever He wants. He could just zap the earth with light from Himself every day. But God normally works through means: rather than acting directly, He provides through something He creates.

And then, God created the heavens and the earth. And at this point, God is at His most popular point. You see, if the Bible ended with Genesis 1, then you would find nearly everybody on the same page about God.

What I mean is this. In our world today, there is an outbreak of vocal atheism taking place . More and more, people are vocally denying the existence of God and it seems like they are gaining the upper hand. It’s not true. Even though more people are becoming vocal atheists, most people still acknowledge that there is a God, but they insist that He’s out there somewhere.

That is why I said that in Genesis 1, God is at His most popular: if God remains a distant God out there somewhere, that gives you an awful lot of freedom in your creation. Actually, If God remains a distant, cosmic God out there somewhere, this gives you an awful lot of license to believe whatever you want about God.

If God is the distant Creator who keeps His distance from creation, then the theology of universalism makes perfect sense. Universalism says that all religions lead to heaven, because everybody is trying to find this distant God in his own way. Who are you to say that a religion or its surrounding culture is wrong, if God gives no further instructions?

In reality, the religion that underlies this is the religion of deism—the teaching that there’s a God out there somewhere, who observes but doesn’t intervene. You’re born into this creation, you live, you die and the world goes on.

This was popular at the time of the birth of our nation, among our “founding fathers.” Check out Thomas Jefferson’s rewrite of the Bible sometime: it ends with Jesus, a great teacher, laid in a tomb. There are no miracles, no resurrection and no eternal life.

Studies show today that, while the majority of Americans still identify themselves as Christians, they actually practice a form of deism: in one of the most important studies of the past few years, it’s been labeled “moralistic therapeutic deism.”

Moralistic therapeutic deism says that the goal of Christianity is all about being good, being moral. It’s therapeutic because the practice of Christianity is all about doing things to become better. It’s deistic because most Americans believe that God is out there, but He’s out there for a lifeline when things get tough.

In other words, you don’t need to be bothered with God as long as life is going okay, so you only need to take religion seriously when you’re in big trouble. That’s why it doesn’t seem hypocritical to so many when they say, “I’m a Christian, but I don’t need to go to church.”

Again, if the Bible ended at Genesis 1, all of this would make perfect sense. If God preferred to keep His distance and be the absent Father, if He has to keep His distance because He can’t fit in the room, then it’s left for you to pretty much do what you want and hope it all turns out okay.

Of course, the Bible goes on for a few more chapters after Genesis 1. And, of course, God didn’t stay far away from His creation. He drew so near as to become flesh.

Rather than spend life allowing you to say, “God is out there somewhere,” He gave the world the pleasure of pointing to a manger in Bethlehem and saying, “There is God, born of Mary for you.”

He gave the world the joy of pointing to the cross and saying, “You don’t have to wonder if this distant God will save you, because you see Him dying for your salvation. Praise be to this God who makes Himself known in Christ!”

Of course, the world doesn’t sing the praises of God. Instead, it takes great offense that the Lord would draw so near and save in such a specific time, place and way. Those without faith have no love for a God who draws near on a cross.

That is why you can and should rejoice today. If we look to the Gospel of Mark chapter 1, you can point to that cosmic, omnipotent God of Genesis 1 in the Jordan River. The baptism of Jesus has a lot in common with the creation of the world.

God was present there: the Son stood in the river, baptized. The Spirit of God hovered above the waters as He descended upon Jesus like a dove. The Father spoke: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

The presence of the triune God there was astounding: creation was no longer good, but corrupted by sin and dying. But rather than kicking creation to the curb, God tore the heavens open and entered into creation to save it, to save you.

He saved you by His own sacrifice, and that’s what the baptism of Jesus is about. There was no reason for Jesus to be baptized for Himself: baptism is for sinners, and Jesus wasn’t sinful. But He was baptized with all those sinners because He took their place. He bore all their sins and their infirmities to the cross, and that journey began in earnest at His baptism.

So there’s so much reason to praise God as you hear of the baptism of Jesus, that God would draw so near as to step into the Jordan, have the muck of man’s sin poured on Him, and then haul it to the cross for your salvation. But you have more to rejoice in today, because God drew nearer. He drew near to you.

Your baptism also has a lot in common with Genesis 1. The triune God—who created the heavens and the earth—was present at your baptism for you. You were baptized “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost;” and the Lord Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).

The Lord was there: but rather than just zap you with grace, He worked through means as usual—just like He uses the sun to channel light to you, He used water and His Word to baptize you.

The Spirit of God was present at your baptism to wash away your sins, to give you forgiveness and faith and life (Titus 3:5,6). The Son of God was there, joining you to His death and resurrection, saying, “You don’t have to die for your sin because I’ve already died for your sin” (Romans 6:1-11).

The Father was there, too; and for the sake of His Son who went to the cross in your place, He says, “You are My beloved son, in whom I am well-pleased.” For the sake of Jesus, you’re now a son of God and an heir of eternal life.

In your baptism, you were born again. You are now a new creation in Christ, because the same triune God who created all things in the beginning went to the cross to redeem His creation.

Then He went to the font to create you anew. He drew that close to forgive you, specifically and personally. Nor did He leave to watch from a distance. It is no coincidence that when Jesus instituted baptism in the Gospel for today, Matthew 28, He promised, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Having created you anew, He sustains you with His Word and His Supper until He delivers you from this corrupted world to life everlasting.

God is not watching from a distance and leaving you to chance or your own wits. He redeemed you at the cross and gave that redemption to you by name at your baptism. Thanks be to God that He drew so near with grace and salvation, for by His presence and work you are forgiven for all of your sins

Christ is Risen