Sermon at Grace Episcopal on

Genesis 1:1-5

1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

We are so blessed to live here. We can sit outside on any clear night and gaze at the amazing blanket of stars including our own Milky Way galaxy. Looking towards the south, we can even see the Southern Cross.
But in our short history, we had never been able to come close to any of those things we see in the sky until Christmas Eve, 1968. On that date Apollo 8, entered the orbit of the moon. That evening, Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders did a live television broadcast from lunar orbit. The astronauts showed pictures of the Earth and Moon seen from the spacecraft. Commander Lovell said, "The vast loneliness is awe-inspiring and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth." They ended the broadcast with the crew taking turns reading from the book of Genesis.
Here is what they said. "For all the people on Earth the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And it was evening and it was morning the first day."
Here they were, at the pinnacle of the greatest scientific and engineering feat in our history, and they decided to go back to basics. We can wonder about the stars and where they came from, or we can go back to the beginning, open our Bibles and read the first sentence to meet the One, who planned, designed and created us. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…"

Before anything in the whole universe was created was, there was God. When you go back to the first heartbeat of the universe, you will find God.

Today, you may find yourself at the peak of your success in life. If so, it is time to go back to the source. Or you may find yourself flying in circles, going around and around the moon and getting nowhere. If that is you, it is time to go back to the beginning. Or you may find yourself in the beginning, the middle or even at the end of a wonderful journey. And if that describes your situation, it is a great time to look back at the beginning. No matter where you are in your life, looking back to find out how God has made us and interacted with us will help you make sure your bearings are accurate.

When Paul addressed the new church in Rome, he started off his letter in a very significant way. In the 20th verse he wrote, "20 From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God. 21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead." (Romans 1:20-22)

Who here this morning wants to be an utter fool? Well that's what happens we try to become wise in our own minds and leave God out of things. We start to get cute and clever in the way we think and leave God out. Someone once said, "The person who believes that all their success is self-made, really does worship their creator." Paul then goes on to say that God lets them go, He abandons them to their own crazy way of thinking.

Is there anyone here this morning who wants God to abandon them?

Paul continues by explaining that the results of them drifting away is a list of behaviors that hurt themselves and wound others. Things that are neither cute nor clever like evil, greed, envy, gossip, ruthless people who murder. This is what happens when people lose or refuse to look at where they are with the Lord as the main reference point.

But when we focus on the truth of the first verses of the Bible, the world takes on a special beauty. We discover that God created a marvelous place for us to live.

But I am ahead of myself. Because in the second verse it says, "the earth was a formless void, and darkness covered the face of the deep..."

Two things strike me: 1. God did not create the earth to be instantly splendid. No "just add water, and grow earth." No bippity, boppity, boo! 2. And words like "formless, void, darkness and deep." are tough words, words of chaos and hopelessness.

God calls life and order out of chaos. God makes hope where there is darkness. And God can fill empty places with beauty.

All of us have found something about our lives that can be described as empty, void and dark. And every day we come face-to-face with others who feel as if those are the words that describe their lives. They feel as if there is no hope and they live surrounded by a deep darkness.

And the good news is at the beginning. It is exactly at this point that God begins to work. The Spirit of God is moving even when all we can see is emptiness. What an incredible gift - knowing, that God can paint beauty in our lives when all we see is an empty canvass. When we need Him the most, God is right there, ready to create life in our otherwise empty world.

If we are willing to let Him that is exactly what He does. He creates something new in our lives. 2 Corinthians 5 tells us "…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation"

Let's look at how God does it. Let's look at how God takes that which is empty, void and full of darkness, and creates life out of it.

The first thing He does is to give it form. Listen to what God created the first day. "Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good."

OK, so what did God do? On the first day, he gave the earth light; a divine light. I don't know if you have ever seen this before, but God brought light to the earth before He made the sun, the moon and the stars. And, that is the first thing God does when He begins to work in our lives. He fills us with His divine light.

Jesus said, "I am the light of the world."

John 1:4 tells us that "in Him was life, and that life was the light of man." So, when we turn to God we find the light of Jesus Christ. The light of Christ is the beginning of transforming our darkened souls to God's hope and promises.

Only one problem. We tend to embrace the darkness and fear the consequences of the light. We get used to the darkness. Even though it is uncomfortable and terrible, it is all we know. One song says it clearly. We cling to our treasures like a drowning man grabs on to wreckage. It is sad when I see people who fearfully hold on to the darkness so tightly that they won't release and grab on to the light of Jesus.

It is only by letting go of our hold on darkness that we make room for God to come in with His light. And the more light that we allow in, God begins to point out places and behaviors that are empty and void that can trip us up and destroy our lives.

After God created the light. He began to breathe life into His creation on earth. In the book, "The Singer," Calvin Miller has the Lord create life by singing a beautiful song. It is a wonderful illustration - God sings, and life blooms.

Jesus spoke about life. He said; "I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly."

He didn't say "I have come that they may have things, and have them more abundantly."
He didn't say "I have come that they may have years, and have them more abundantly."
He said He would give us life - Abundant life.

We know that life is not measured by the accumulation of things. It's not measured in days or years. So how do we measure abundant living? Is it by our character? Is it by our love? By our joy? By our humility? The answer is yes. But it isn't all that simple an answer.

As we reading in Genesis we'll see that when God created people he did not have a measuring stick, except by a period of time that we call, a day. Since everything was made in harmony with God, He didn't make a measuring stick. All life was abundant life. But later, when sin entered the world all of creation and humanity lost that life.

We can't accurately measure the loss in inches or ounces, but we sure can see its results. In fact, the things that we use to measure what people call "the good life": money, success, popularity, health, big families, friends and a 25' Boston Whaler, are all distorted measuring devices. They are things that we use to try fill the empty places between God's abundant life for us and the reality of how our lives have been wrecked by sin.

When God created us, we were made to walk with Him, talk with Him, hang out with Him, and to have fellowship with Him. That is the source of bountiful living.
And the Bible is clear, if we want to have that richness restored, that gap has to be bridged. And God provided the bridge, through the death of His Son, Jesus.

If you want to know the real love, the true joy and authentic peace that God intended for us- it can only be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. That is the way that God creates a new heart in us.

After form and life, God wasn't finished. God doesn't just give us a new life; He also gives us a purpose. I love the way the message translates Genesis 1:28- "God blessed them: 'Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.'" (The Message)

That's a purpose. God turned over the keys so that we could be the drivers of His creation. Here is the earth. It is yours to take care of. Delight in each other! Have a blast!

That is another thing we lost since the beginning, living with a purpose. One of the most discouraging things in the whole world is a life without purpose.

It is no accident that many people, men especially, find themselves very sick or dead shortly after their retirement. Psychologists tell us that many of these people have no plan after retiring except to go fishing, go Vegas, or just play golf. The people who live long and healthy lives after retirement usually have dedicated themselves to some kind of purpose. It might be something new: art, like Grandma Moses. It might be serving through their church. It could be coaching.

If you don't believe this is important, consider this: what is the #1 selling book of all time? Answer: the Bible. Anyone know the #2 best selling book of all time? The Purpose Driven Life has quickly moved to # 2. It seems that having a purpose for our lives is a good thing. Having a purpose that was set up by God helps contribute to real fulfillment in life. And in a relationship with Jesus Christ we can discover a purpose that can last for eternity.

One purpose God has for us is that He wants us to be fruitful. We probably are familiar with the common translation of Genesis 1:28, "Be fruitful and multiply."

The Son of God taught; "I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing."

If we don't have roots in Jesus, we won't grow and we won't be fruitful. We may accumulate possessions. We might even make some money. But without an eternal purpose, we will wither.

In the Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren writes that we can discover the purpose God made for each of us by our unique SHAPE: our spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experience.

We can plan a small group study if you are interested in discovering the unique shape that God had given you.

I love the way the first chapter of Genesis ends. "God saw everything that He had made, and indeed, it was very good…" You see, whenever God creates, that is the final conclusion. It is very good.

Does that describe you this morning? Do feel that God has made you very good? Or is there a part of your life that seems meaningless or empty? I ask you that question in all sincerity. You may be sitting here this morning, listening to this message, and to the outside world your life may be looking pretty good. But, inside, you know there is a void.

It is time to quit hugging those dark places and grab a hold of God's light. The God who made you is the God who loves you. No matter how desperate you feel, He can take away that darkness and fill it with His light and give you a life that is so rich that it is overflowing. That is God's desire for every one of us.

That is what God does when we come to Him through Jesus;

He gives us form
He gives us life
And He gives us purpose
And then He says, IT IS VERY GOOD.

So here is are our 2 acrostics. We use ABC, and we use CORE.

First we must A - Admit that we need God. Admit that we are lost, that we have messed up our lives without Him and admit that we have sinned and fallen short of what He made us to be.
Next we B -Believe. Believe that God loves us. Believe that God sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins. And believe that through Him, we can have newness of life.
Finally we C - we Confess. We confess that our faith is in Jesus Christ. Confess that He alone is our Savior and our Lord.

Someone once said that you can't let God move you and stay in the same place at the same time. Commit to the ABCs this New Year. And then let Him strengthen your CORE. AMEN

Commit yourself to following God's lead into relationship with
Jesus and your brothers and sisters in Christ
Offer your gifts and talents to Him
Reach out with His love to a broken world
Enjoy the presence of Jesus Christ in your life

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