The Appeal of Creation: Genesis 1, Romans 1.

Presented to the Nipawin Corps, 07 June 2009
by Captain Michael Ramsay

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You’ll have to bear with me a little bit this morning. I wasn’t originally intending to preach today and I do like to prepare well in advance so as of Saturday I had ¾ of a sermon on 2 Kings 5 prepared for next week but God and my wife had a different idea and so yesterday after a day of dealing with another vandalized window at the ministry centre, packing boxes and a short walk in God’s creation, I set to work on this sermon on Genesis 1 and Romans 1: The Appeal of God’s Creation.

It is amazing as we were walking around yesterday. We walked around the trees in some of the small forests around here a little bit. It really is a very beautiful part of the country. In many ways it actually does remind me of where and when I grew up on Vancouver Island. We would spend many days exploring trails in the woods, hiking, walking along streams. Even when I was a young adult there was this time in my life when we would go hiking almost every weekend. My friend Dan would pick me up after I finished work Friday nights and we would drive up Island as far as we could get and find new areas to explore. It was a lot of fun. One often really experiences the power of God in these situations.

Stepping out into the wilderness is like peeling a banana. You see much of our life has become peels hiding the beauty of the fruit of the Lord’s creation beneath them. Our cities and towns have added ever so many peels, so many layers atop of God’s creation. We have our warm houses, our fancy cars, pavement, telephone poles and wires obscuring the view and in this area we even have quads (ATVs), sleds (snowmobiles) and some pretty fancy farm machinery that makes life easier but also changes the way we’d otherwise work and play.

Not only this but in our society today we have the imaginary worlds of television, games, the internet, and other entertainment avenues providing a further peel of escape from the realities of God’s creation.

We have social barriers that create peels obscuring God’s creation as well. Our education systems sometimes let us think that we have solved most of the world’s mysteries all on our own. Our political system lets us believe that we have absolute control over our own destiny, that we should actually do as what we see fit in our own eyes (Judges 21:25). We seem to believe that the majority is right the majority of the time. Culturally as we move further and further from God’s creation physically, emotionally, intellectually and practically, we seem to be enticed more and more to believe that old serpent’s lie that as humankind evolves our ‘eyes will be opened, and we will be like God’ (Genesis 3:5). Stepping out into God’s creation is like peeling off the rind, taking off the peel of society and tasting the fruit of the LORD. Without doing this from time to time we can fall into the trap of Romans 1, ignoring and suppressing the obvious truth of God. Romans 1:18-23:[1]

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Acclaimed to be wise, Sigmund Freud – the father of modern psychology and a devout, religious Atheist – believed that society had progressed beyond God and he seemed to hope that civilization would quickly progress even further and move beyond its 'illusion' of religion[2] the same way one should outgrow a 'childhood neurosis' and Freud had faith that eventually humankind would because he thought "nothing can withstand reason and experience and the contradiction that religion offers to both is all too palpable"[3] Moving beyond the 'illusion' of God and religion for Freud "would be an important advance along the road which leads to being reconciled to the burden of civilization."[4] Freud denied God. He was not alone. Our society seems to want to progress beyond God’s creation as if that is possible.

Karl Marx (who, being raised by Jewish parents who converted to Christianity, has no excuse for not knowing better) says of religion, “Man… looked for a superman in the fantastic reality of heaven and found nothing but the reflection of himself”[5] He says religion is the ‘opium of the people’ and “the abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness.”[6]

Marx, Freud, Mark Twain and many others who have had a very profound influence on the world continuing on into this the 21st century have consistently ignored what was abundantly obvious and chose to reject God.[7] Even though God has made it plain to them (and us), as Romans 1:20 states, “for since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that (these) men (and all of us) are without excuse.”

God loves us so much that He made it so obvious through this life and all He created that He is God, so that all we have to do is peel back the artificial barriers that we create in this life and taste the fruit of Jesus Christ and see that He is good.

As important as the peel is [8] and as favourable as many of the developments that we have been blessed with in our world are, I think it is important to take the time to actually taste God’s creation and know how good He is (Ps 34:8).

We read from Genesis 1 earlier and those of you who were here a few months ago when our Area Commander Major Judy Regamey preached were blessed with a wonderful sermon on this, I’m sure. I won’t go into the creation account too much here but I will say that it reminds me of a love letter of sorts akin to the Song of Solomon in the Scriptures. Look at how poetically the creation story is related to us in Genesis Chapter 1.[9]

First, on Day 1, our loving God creates light and the day and the night and then it is recorded, on Day 4, three days later, after having creating this environment, He lovingly creates the sun and the moon and the stars to be placed within that light (Gen. 1:1-3, 14-19).

Next, on Day 2, our loving creator makes the water and the sky and then three days later, on Day 5, He creates sea creatures to be placed in this sea he made for them and He makes birds to soar into these skies (Gen. 1:4-8, 20-23).

Then on Day 3, our Heavenly Father gathers together the waters to create dry land and on Day 6, He creates plants and animals to be placed in this land he made for them. Next God creates men and women in his own image (Gen 1:9-13, 26-7), blesses them and graciously tasks us with the job of filling the earth and taking care of it (Gen 1:28-31). The Lord loves His creation, it is good and the Lord loves us too (cf. Gen. 1:31; Lev. 25:1, 23; 2 Chr. 36:20-21; John 3:16-17).

It is true. It is obvious and God loves us but – too bad – the story of Adam and Eve doesn’t end there with though. As we know, Adam (the first man) disobeys God and he instead of taking responsibility and owning up to his actions, he blames his wife and his God. Adam, when confronted with his sin says, Gen. 3:12, “The woman YOU put here with me – SHE gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it.” And lest we think the woman is any better, her response is, Gen.3: 13, the SERPENT deceived me, and I ate.” This was the fall. With humankind’s sin, we become separated from God’s creation and separate from God.[10]

Now God, of course, has a remedy for this. He really does desire that all the people of the earth be blessed as he blessed Adam and Eve. Genesis 12:3: We are promised that all the nations of the earth will be blessed through Abraham and God is faithful to that promise. God sends his only begotten son to die and rise again on the third day, so that we may live so that we may be reconciled to God and His creation.

As we go from here today, as we walk outside– now that the snow has finally gone – as we walk outside today, let us take in the abundant beauty that is the evidence of God’s love for us. Let us peel back all that might be blocking the view of our hearts, let us notice each other, our family, our friends, our animals, our gardens, plants, our crops, and all His creation. Let us notice the sun and then the stars later tonight. Let us notice all of this around us, then let us bow our heads, and lift our voices in praise of our God because He loved us so much that he sent Jesus Christ, his one and only Son so that all barriers to salvation are now removed and we can now be fully reconciled to Him.

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[1] For a full discussion of this pericope see Michael Ramsay, ‘Paul and the Human Condition as reflected in Romans 1:18-32 and 2:1-16’. Presented to William and Catherine Booth College (Winter 2007). Available on-line: http://www.sheepspeak.com/NT_Michael_Ramsay.htm#Paul%20and%20the%20Human%20Condition
[2] Sigmund Freud, ‘The Future of an Illusion’, p. 31, 37
[3] Sigmund Freud, ‘The Future of an Illusion’, p.54.
[4] Sigmund Freud, ‘The Future of an Illusion’ ,p.41.
[5] Karl Marx. 'Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of the Right'. Marx and Engels on Religion. Ed. Reinhold Neibuhr. (New York: Schocken Books, 1964) 41.
[6] Karl Marx 'Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of the Right'. Marx and Engels on Religion. Ed. Reinhold Neibuhr. (New York: Schocken Books, 1964) 42.
[7] Cf. for a more in-depth discussion: Michael Ramsay, ‘Good News to the Poor: Comparing a Christian Worldview as expressed in Luke’s Gospel to Marx’, Presented to William and Catherine Booth College March 2009. Available on-line: http://www.sheepspeak.com/Michael_Ramsay_History_TSA.htm#Marx
[8] I argue that and in this analogy, for the first century Jewish believer the peel would be the Law in the following sermon: Michael Ramsay,' Galatians 3:19-25: Don't be a McChicken...' Presented to Nipawin Corps on January 20, 2008 and to Tisdale Corps on January 27, 2008. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/01/galatians-319-25-dont-be-mcchicken.html
[9] For a further discussion on this days of creation see the following: Michael Ramsay," Darwin, Charles, 'Recapitulation and Conclusion' [The Origin of the Species, Akron, Ohio: Werner, 1872), ch. 15, pp. 267-306], a Reading Report." Presented to William and Catherine Booth College (February, 2009). Available on-line: http://www.sheepspeak.com/Michael_Ramsay_History_TSA.htm#Darwin
[10] Cf. Alan Hausser, “Genesis 2-3: the Theme and Intimacy and Alienation,” in Art and Meaning: Rhetoric in Biblical Literature, ed. David J.A. Clines, David M. Gunn and Alan Hauser. (Sheffield, England: Department of Biblical Studies The University of Sheffield, 1982).