The Created Kingdom

That one takes a little bit of wind, doesn't it? Just a little bit. All right, guys, we are back in Genesis chapter 1 this morning.

This morning, we're going to be talking about the created kingdom. The created kingdom. To give you an outline of the chapter, and it's an alliterated outline, so all Southern Baptist preachers should be happy. We're going to start with, Number one, God forms the created kingdom. Number two, God frames the created kingdom. Number three, God fills the created kingdom. And Number four, God finishes the created kingdom.

I hope, by the Lord's help, we will get through the first two points this morning. Number one, God forms the created kingdom. So let's begin in Genesis chapter 1. Let's look in verses 1 and 2. I know we've already preached two sermons on these, so we will be brief. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.

Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you, God, that it is inspired, that it is true in every word. It is eternally relevant. That it is inerrant and infallible. And Lord, we can build our lives upon this Bible, this word that you have given us, Lord. I pray that the Holy Spirit would speak through the words of Scripture, that you would bring its truth to bear upon our hearts, this morning, Lord. May we see Jesus. May we glorify God. May disciples be made. May we be equipped for service. And may the lost be saved. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Verses 1 and 2 are so important to the book of Genesis and so pivotal for all the doctrines of the Bible. It begins with God forming the created kingdom.

Now, just by way of recap, we discussed the *when* of creation. It was in the very beginning. In fact, it's called Bereshit, the book of beginnings, the book of origins. And we talked about the *who* of creation—that in the very beginning, God was there. That he is eternal, self-sufficient, self-sustaining, the creator of the cosmos. In fact, God's name is mentioned over 30 times in this one chapter alone. It introduces us to the star. The star of the show, the hero of the story of redemption, is God himself. Then we talked about the *word* of creation. How God spoke everything, *ex nihilo*, out of nothing. Everything that exists came about by God's spoken word. And then we talked about the *work* of creation. God created the heavens and the earth. He made time, space, matter, energy, the essential components required for life. And we talked about how we also see the Trinity. We talked about God speaking. The word. And then in John chapter 1, John calls Jesus the Logos. The one who was in the beginning. The word who was with God and was God. And then we see here in verse 2, the Holy Spirit hovering over the face of the deep. Therefore, we see Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at work in creation.

But we're going to pay particular emphasis to verse 2 this morning. It says that the earth was without form and void. Without form. And void.

Now, Moses is painting a picture for us. This imagery suggests a state of disorder. The presence of divine preparation before the beauty and order of creation would be fully revealed.

Now, the Hebrew phrase is *tohu wabohu*. *Tohu wabohu*. It means without form and void. So let's break these words down. Number one, it means that it is formless. It is waste. It is desolate. It conveys a sense of emptiness or chaos and disorder. And then the word *wabahu* means void or empty. It is absent of life. It is an uninhabited state. It is something incomplete. Something that needs to be framed, formed, and filled.

So when we combine these words, they picture the earth in a state of chaos and emptiness—a kind of raw, unformed mass awaiting God's creative work to bring order, structure, purpose, beauty, and life. In these first three verses, we'll reach verse three shortly. We'll explore how God begins to form the created kingdom through His presence and for His purpose.

So what's the application here? The application is this. Without God, our lives are without purpose. They are empty. They are formless and void. They are filled with disorder and chaos. And maybe you look around you this morning and your life seems to be spiraling out of control. And you're like, Lord, where are you? What are you doing? Are you really in control? It seems like our earth has fallen apart and it's marked by chaos and dysfunction and a lack of harmony.

But the good news is God is still in control, friends. His Spirit is still hovering over this earth. In fact, His Spirit has filled believers to be salt and light in this earth. His presence brings order into chaos. It brings light into darkness. It brings life out of deadness.

So friends, he can redeem sinners whose lives are spiraling out of control. He can take those who have lost their way and bring them home. He can take those who are in dysfunction and bring harmony, reconciliation, and peace. Not only with one another, but also with our families and friends, and peace and harmony with God. And we can trust the one who ordered these primordial waters of chaos and brought peace to creation. Friends, he is more than able to bring peace to your chaos this morning. If you will surrender to him. You can rest in his love. Rest in his power. Know that he is in control. He brings dead hearts to life. He brings order to our chaos and he makes our lives a thing of beauty.

Jesus tells us that this same Spirit who hovered over the face of the waters is the agent of our regeneration. Remember, he told Nicodemus, "I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of the water and of the Spirit." Friends, it is the same Spirit of God who brings life and regeneration to our souls. He is the one who brings life into that which was once dead.

So maybe your life is formless and void. Maybe Jesus has not taken residence in your heart. Friends, he desires to fill you with his presence, to fill your heart with his Spirit and his life. And to make you a new creation this morning.

Our second point is found in verse 3. Point two: God frames the created kingdom. So God forms the kingdom—this is the act of framing.

But I want you to know that in this first chapter of Genesis, we have two sets of triads. A triad is simply a group of three. Now this first group of three describes what God frames. And the second group of three describes how God filled what he had made.

For example, on day 1, God forms light. On day 2, he forms the sky. On day 3, he forms dry land and gathers the waters, calling them "sea," and creates vegetation.

Now the second triad, God will fill what He has just framed. Day 4, God fills the sky with the sun and the moon and stars. Day 5, God fills the waters with living creatures and the sky with birds. And day 6, God fills the land that He has created with animals and human beings.

So we see the order and purpose of the creation week. Now let's look here in verse 3. It says, "Then God said." We're going to notice that pattern again and again. God speaks, something happens. God says, "Let there be light." In Hebrew, remember—it's two words: "Light be." And light was. And there was light. Verse 4, "And God saw the light, that it was good." We're going to see that phrase as well. Everything God makes is good—perfect, complete. And God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light day and the darkness he called night. And we're going to notice another phrase. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

So let me introduce here a point concerning the length of the creation week. Now we have old earth creationists who believe in millions of years. And then we have young earth creationists who believe that the earth is no more than 10,000 years old—approximately 6,000 years. You can be on either side of the fence. I really don't care.

What we believe though, and what I teach, and what I believe the Bible teaches, is that creation week was seven literal 24-hour days. Seven literal 24-hour days. And I'm going to give you the reasons for that. Because the six days of creation in Genesis, every day is followed by the phrase, "there was evening and there was morning, the first day." It's a repeated structure for each subsequent day, and the Hebrew word for day is *yom*, y-o-m. And when this word *yom* is qualified by words such as evening and morning, it indicates a literal 24-hour period of time. It's a regular natural cycle of a day.

Now some people believe in what is known as the day-age theory, which suggests that each day of creation represents a long indefinite period of time, which leads to millions of years and evolution of species within those millions of years. But I do not believe the Bible is teaching that at all. I believe it is speaking of six literal 24-hour days in the creation week.

Now I took a whole seminary class on just these first three chapters in Genesis. So I'm trying to teach you a whole seminary's worth of class here in just a few sermons. So bear with me. I'm giving you the view. It's 30,000 feet. So God forms the creation, and he frames it with lights, limits, and lands. God forms his creation, frames it with lights, limits, and lands.

So let's look at this first day of creation. The first day of creation, God makes the light. He says, "Let there be light," and there was light.

Now we know that the evangelist John is speaking of Jesus, the Word made flesh. In John 1, verse 5, he says that this light is Christ—the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. So from the very beginning, light has been a symbol of God's power and of God's creative order. In the creation account, God not only speaks light into being, but we also see God dividing the light from the darkness. The light he calls day, and the darkness he calls night.

But friends, this division between light and darkness is not merely physical—it is also a spiritual division between light and darkness.

Now, put yourself in the Israelites' sandals, if you will. You're reading this creation account by Moses. And in your day, darkness evokes images of danger and uncertainty. You don't know what lurks in the darkness. They didn't live in the time when you could go and flip a switch, and there's light. When it was night, you had better be in bed, because bad things happen at night. It's uncertainty. This absence of light evokes terrifying images.

Anybody ever been in a cave before? I love exploring caves and caverns. And you know, you get the tour guide who likes to scare you, and they turn off the light. That is outer darkness, isn't it? You can't see the hand in front of you. You can't see the hand in front of your face. That's what it was like before God spoke light into existence. It is terrifying. It is darkness that you can literally feel. It is tangible terror. I've often thought, what would happen if the electricity went out, and then we're all here, and somehow the flashlights run out of battery, and we're all stuck here. But that's the kind of emotions that the readers of Moses would have.

But it's from this primordial darkness that God calls forth light. Remember, God calls darkness to fall over the land of Egypt, but He gave the Israelites in Goshen light. In the Psalms, God is depicted as bringing light of deliverance to those in the depths of despair and bound by chains of sin and darkness. And then Jesus says in John 8:12 that He is the light, and whoever follows Him will never walk in darkness, friends. 1 Peter 2:9, Jesus has come to rescue us out of darkness and bring us into His kingdom of light. Friends, when we were lost in sin, we were children of darkness. We were living in the shadow of death, but now we were once darkness, we're now light in the Lord, and Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:8 to live as children of the light.

Thus, there is a clear distinction between day and night, between sinners and saints. Friends, we are no longer slaves to sin. We are no longer to be characterized by the works of darkness. We are to walk in the light, as Jesus is in the light. This light also represents holiness and truth and presence of God. The Bible says in 1 John 1:5, "God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all." So we as believers are called to live in the light, but also to reflect this light, to let our light shine before men that they may give glory to God.

So there is a clear distinction between light and darkness. And I want to ask you, children, loved ones, is there a clear distinction in your life between who you are now and who you used to be? There will be if you are walking with Christ.

Let me point out here, this is good apologetics. Some critics will look at the Genesis creation account and question why God created light on the first day, yet He made the sun, moon, and stars on the fourth day. They ask, where on earth did the light come from?

Now there's several theories about that. Some people say it was a supernatural light, distinct from the light that would later come from the sun, moon, and stars, and I definitely agree with that because they didn't exist until day four. This view suggests that God Himself is the source of light. Revelation 21:23 describes New Jerusalem. It says the city has no need of the light of the sun, for the Lord God and the Lamb have illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. So God is the ultimate source of light. It's inconceivable that God Himself provided light at the beginning of creation week. I believe this light came from God.

Another theory says it simply represents the separation of light from darkness, and I believe there's a spiritual application to that, but I believe it's much deeper than that. Why? Because Moses was writing to the Israelites who lived among pagans, who worshipped the Lord, and who worshipped the sun for giving them light.

So what is Moses doing? Moses is saying that Jehovah God, the God of Israel, does not need the sun in order to create life. He does not need the sun to sustain life, because God Himself is the originator and the sustainer of all life. He's the initiator, the sustainer of all things. He brings light into the darkness. He establishes order. The psalmist says that the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?

So ultimately, this creation of light on the first day and later the creation of the sun, moon, and stars reveals to us God's sovereignty—that God is transcendent above the laws of nature. He alone is in control. My friends, if God so desires to make independent photons of light, He has that prerogative. He may do so. He is not bound by the laws of nature. God does not need the light of the sun to illuminate. God is the ultimate authority over all things, both seen and unseen.

Now, here's a spiritual application of this. Whenever we read of God's glory in the scriptures, God is often depicted as being clothed in light, dazzling, blinding light. For instance, when God revealed Himself to the Israelites on Mount Sinai, He came with thunderings and lightnings, so much so that Moses' face glowed after 40 days of being in the presence of God. Similarly, when Ezekiel gets a vision of the throne room in Isaiah as well, when these prophets see the heavenly throne room, there are flashes of lightning proceeding from the throne. It's the dazzling and awe-inspiring glory of God.

But also, we see Jesus in the New Testament. God incarnate as the light. His birth is referred to as being, like a dayspring. The dawning of a new day of hope—He who is the light that shines in the darkness. He is the true light. Remember at Jesus' transfiguration upon the mountain, what happened? The veil of His flesh was temporarily removed. Not that He stepped out of the flesh, but His glory was revealed. What was inside began to shine outside. And the disciples woke up and they saw it. And He was glowing—dazzling, blinding light. He's the radiance of God's glory. And then when John sees Jesus in His glorified, ascended state, He is seated upon the throne and He is shining like the sun in all of its strength. Friends, in all of these instances, we see that God is light. And we see that Jesus possesses these same characteristics of light. Jesus is our Creator.

Now the Gospel application. Jesus is our warrior Savior who descended into the darkness of this earth that was without form and void. He came into the darkness of our sin and sorrow. He willingly stepped into the pit of darkness and death itself and emerged that Easter morning the victor. He is the light who has come and extinguished the darkness. He is the one who has come and taken upon Himself our pain, our separation from God, and even our death. He tasted death for every man so that through His life, death, and victorious resurrection, Jesus brings in the light of a new day, a day of redemption, a day of forgiveness, and new beginnings.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:6, "It is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Praise God that there is a day when Jesus stepped down to the darkness of this earth, died in my place, rose from the dead, darkness was conquered, and light and love and life now reign. And praise God there is a day when He shone the light of the Gospel into my cold, dead, dark heart. And He said, "You're mine. Walk in newness of life." Friends, has He done that for you this morning? Are you walking in the light?

And now we read the evening and the morning of the first day. God sees what He has made, and it is good. We're actually going to read this phrase seven times. It's good. It's good. It is good. And then on the sixth day, after the creation of mankind, He declares it is very good. That means that this creation contained no mistakes, accidents, or random chance. It was a perfectly ordered creation, intentionally designed by a purposeful creator, and everything is good. Everything is crafted to sustain and support life so that they may thrive in harmony under God's perfect wisdom and goodness.

Let's look at the second day of creation, verses six through eight. And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." Thus God made the firmament and divided the waters below the firmament from the waters above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament "heaven," and the evening and the morning were the second day.

Now, I heard a joke the other day: "This is the only time we don’t read that it’s very good." That’s true—it happens on the second day of creation. Why wouldn’t God declare it "very good"? Because it would have been a Monday. Yeah, that’s right. Just think about that. It’ll click into place in a moment. It was a Monday, so not very good. That’s just a joke. I have no clue why it doesn’t say it was very good, but we know—perhaps—it’s because day three is going to complete and perfect what was begun on day two.

So God creates firstly the heavens. God frames his kingdom on the first day with lights. God frames his kingdom on the second day with limits. It’s kind of hard to understand, especially in our King James or New King James Version, but I’m going to tell you the Hebrew meaning of these words.

So God creates the sky above, known as heaven, and then separates the waters above the atmosphere from the waters below, which are called the seas. In Genesis 1:6–8, the terms used for "expanse" in Hebrew are particularly significant. The word "expanse" comes from the root *rakah*, meaning to spread out. It conveys the idea of something being stretched out or made firm—like a canopy. God is stretching out the heavens, the atmosphere. In the context of Genesis 1, this refers to the firmament—what we might better call the sky or the heavens. It is the space or expanse that separates atmospheric waters—clouds and mist—from the waters below.

Now, what is the purpose of this expanse? It's pretty much self-explanatory with a basic understanding of science. The expanse serves as a dividing space. It separates the chaotic primeval waters and the organizing creation. It establishes the sky as the boundary between the atmospheric waters of clouds and mist and the waters on the earth's surface. Why do we need that? Because we need to survive. We need to thrive. It essentially makes the earth habitable by giving it an atmosphere where clouds can form and rain can fall to nourish the land.

Moses also uses the word "heaven." It refers to the sky, or the celestial realm. In its broadest sense, it can mean outer space or the spiritual realm where God dwells. We know from Scripture that it refers to three heavens: the first heaven, the atmosphere; the second heaven, the cosmos, outer space; the third heaven, where Paul was called up, where God dwells.

Now, what is the purpose of the heavens? Well, it needs a place to contain the water, the clouds, and the rain. And the sky also functions as the place where these weather patterns develop. And God sends the rain. And also, you think about the atmosphere. It's vital for life, isn't it? It contains oxygen. And it provides the necessary conditions for plants and animals to survive. It blocks out harmful UV radiation. It's like a perfect greenhouse. And many people think that was the environment of the entire earth, not just in the Garden of Eden.

So God creates this expanse. And then Moses talks about the water—the waters below. This expanse allows the dry land to appear and prepares the seas to be filled with sea creatures on day five. And the heavens above will be occupied by the sun, moon, and stars.

So we can see God is framing the outlines in the first triad. And then he will fill out what he has framed in days four, five, and six. So we see God is a wise creator. We can see him structuring his creation. There in Jeremiah 10:12, the scripture says that God stretches forth the heavens by his power. I don't know about you, but I love looking at the sunrise and the sunset. And to think that God, by his wisdom and power, is just like he stretched out a canopy. Just like pitching a tent for the earth to dwell under. That's the masterpiece of God. And he paints it new every morning and evening. Isaiah 40:22 says, God rolls out the sky like a scroll. And Revelation 6:14 says that one day these skies will be rolled up like a scroll.

So why don't you think about this application or a Christ connection? This same sky that God created on day two would one day reverberate with the thunderous sound of God's voice as He would speak out of heaven at Christ's baptism. On two other occasions, He would say, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Friends, it's this same sky that would become dark at the crucifixion of Christ as the sun refused to shine. As the light of creation was extinguished. And friends, it is this same sky that will be illuminated at Christ's second coming when He will come like lightning from heaven. Finally, we know that at Christ's second coming these same heavens will be torn apart. Christ will appear in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And these same heavens—which were once rolled out like a scroll—will be rolled up like a scroll when God creates the new heavens and the new earth.

Now let's talk about the waters below the heavens. Aren't you glad we have water? Aren't you glad you can turn the spigot and get cool, refreshing water? Or if you need a hot shower, you can just turn the dial and you got scalding hot water? Not so for the Israelites. They wandered through the arid, dry desert and multiple times they would cry out to God, give us water. So for the readers of this account, they would know that water meant life. Water meant life. And it points us ultimately to Jesus who is the living water. Jesus says in John 7, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink and I will give him water of life and he will never thirst again." Jesus offered this same living water to the woman at the well in John 4. Now she had tried to quench her spiritual thirst with husband. After husband, relationship after relationship, she had tried everything under the sun, still could find no fulfillment or satisfaction. Jesus says that he is the living water. He's the one who can give her water and she will drink of it and she'll never thirst again. Friends, Jesus Christ is the living water. He is the true source of eternal life, fulfillment and satisfaction. You will not find it anywhere else. He is the living water. But it also looks ahead to another river of living water which will flow from the throne of God and the new heavens and the new earth in Revelation 22.

Very quickly, we're here at our last point, the third day of creation. Let's look in verses 9 through 13. And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called seas. And God saw that it was good. And then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself on the earth." And it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And once again we read, "So evening and the morning were the third day of creation."

God frames the kingdom with land. God has established lights. God has established limits. And now God establishes the land. He separates the waters below, gathers them in one place, and calls them seas. And then the dry land appears, and God called that earth.

Now, to understand the significance of this, we need to understand that the Israelites, the original recipients of this letter, were not a seafaring people. They hated being on the open waters. The only exception was the fishermen who fished on the small Sea of Galilee. And even then, they were terrified most of the time. The sea and open oceans were associated with danger, with chaos, with uncertainty. The psalmist in Psalm 74 mentions great sea creatures, such as the Leviathan, which is kind of like a prehistoric dinosaur-type creature that is long extinct. By most scholars' reckoning, prehistoric—I mean what they think was prehistoric—we know that the Bible contains the history of these guys. But nevertheless, the sea invokes symbols of terror, fear, uncertainty.

The Israelites would have been familiar with being trapped by the sea. Remember in the book of Exodus 14, God had delivered them from Egypt, and they thought they were safe—until they faced the Red Sea. Here we are. We need another miracle. We need God to perform an exodus so we may escape. And the Psalms also use watery images of people going out to sea, going to battle against these Leviathans, these great sea creatures.

So the sea, to Moses’ original audience, would have meant fear—something that caused great anxiety. That’s the reason why God in Isaiah 43 says, “I will be with you in the fire, and I will be with you in the flood.” Whether you fear fire or flood, I’m going to be with you.

Now the sea covers 72% of the earth, and it has the power to flood; it has the power to destroy. Yet God, the Almighty, places a boundary on it. Job 38:11, God says to the sea, "This far you may come, but no further." Now being on the cruise ship last week, I just looked out as far as the eye can see, and there's ocean. And it makes me kind of queasy when I go over the edge. I'm like, step back. I mean, what on earth would I do if I fell in here? I'd be absolutely helpless. But the Almighty can look at that water, and it's just a drop in his hand, and he can say, "You can come this far, but the shore's your limit." Not unless God, by his providence, allows hurricanes, tsunamis—that's its limit. That's its limit.

Now friends, word of application, if the mighty seas obey him, should not we obey him as well? The mighty seas obey him without protesting. It is only mankind who foolishly dares to defy him.

Now remember, it wasn't just the ancient Israelites who feared the sea. It was also the disciples. Remember, one day, they were on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus was fast asleep, and they came to him. They said, Master, there's a storm. Waves are crashing into the boat. This wind's about to tip us over. How can you sleep? Don't you care that we are perishing? And what does Jesus do? He wakes up, wipes the sleep out of his eyes, calm, cool, and collected. He commands the waves. He says, "Peace, be still," and immediately the waters become placid. And the disciples marvel, and they say, "What kind of man is this that even the winds and the waves obey him?" The disciples were asking a very deep theological question. Because in rebuking the winds and the waves, Jesus is proving that he is the creator. He has power over his creation, just as he did on day three. In Job chapter 9, verse 8, it says that God walks on the waves of the sea. On another occasion, the disciples, once again, are out on the Sea of Galilee fishing. And who do they see walking on the waves of the sea towards them? Nobody but the Lord Jesus Christ. He is proving to be divine, the Creator, by having authority over the sea. Jesus has ultimate power over all creation, including the terrifying ocean. And just with a word, the winds and the waves obey him.

So we're going to tie this together, guys. Here's our Christ connection. Because when we understand God's role in creating the sea, we understand the significance of Jesus' baptism. Now Jesus spoke of his death as a baptism he would undergo in Luke 12:50. In other words, he would be deluged with a flood, which was God's judgment for sin. Therefore, when believers are baptized into Christ, they are identifying with the one who was plunged into the depths of God's judgment for them and came up victorious. It also symbolizes a new exodus. Just as God parted the waters of the Red Sea, a passage from death into life, from bondage to freedom. So we are celebrating our new exodus, our freedom in Christ. It represents the one who endured the deluge of judgment for sin and emerged triumphant over Satan, sin, fear, and death.

So friends, I want to encourage you this morning. Maybe you look at your life and see a circumstance that feels like a raging sea—it's chaotic, out of control. And you look around, and fear surrounds you. Friends, Jesus is the master of the sea. Jesus commands the winds and the waves, and they obey Him. And Jesus walks on those trials just like He walked on the waves. These things that we fear are simply steps that Jesus uses to reach us with His presence and His grace. He brings us through the chaos. He brings peace. He has conquered all the storms of life.

Now let's look at the land very quickly. The waters recede to their proper boundary. The dry land appears, and on it grow trees, grass, and flowers. The soil will be able to yield crops, providing food for God's creatures that He will create on day five and six.

So on the third day of creation, God also creates plants and trees. And notice He does so in their mature and functioning forms. They are ready to bear fruit and for consumption. They don't have to wait for it to come to pass. They don't have to wait for it to evolve. They're already bearing fruit and they already possess the seeds of their reproduction. This shows that God is intentional in creation. Everything was created with the capacity to function, to reproduce, and to provide sustenance from the very beginning. And notice that God says, "let the earth bring forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit according to their kind."

Now the word "kind" in Hebrew is the word *min*. M-I-N. And it refers to a distinct category or species. In other words, what we do not find is one type of life evolving into another life form. What we do not find is one species evolving into another. What we do find, however, is the species producing more of its own kind. The plants do it, the animals do it, and mankind does it as well. We don't change species. We have adaptations. We have genetic mutations. But we do not change species.

And furthermore, for the evolutionists, there has yet to be one transitional fossil found. They're just not there. Why? Because they don't exist. Everything produces after its own kind according to its own order. And this is true of the fruit trees as well.

So here's a practical application. God designed living things to carry the seed of reproduction. So should not we, as human beings and as disciples, be making more disciples? Should not we, as Christians, be producing more Christians by sowing the seed of the gospel? We reproduce after our kind through gospel proclamation.

Now think also about these fruits. And boy, I ate a lot of it on the cruise. I made a beeline to that pineapple. I love pineapple. Now, out of all the fruit that God made, he could have made it tasteless. He could have made us without taste buds. Yet we have 5,000 to 10,000 taste receptors on our tongues. So think about biting into that pineapple or that crispy apple or drinking fresh squeezed orange juice or drinking our cold coffee, Andrea. Sometimes hot. Either way, we know that creation was designed by a good creator, created for us—to enjoy. So what our bodies need to survive, we can actually thrive on. We can enjoy. Because God is good.

But also, with this vegetation comes the production of wood. And wood is used all throughout Scripture. Noah's ark was made out of wood. Moses' staff would come from a branch. The ark of the covenant, where God met his people in the wilderness, in the tabernacle, and later in the temple, would be made of wood overlaid with gold. But interestingly, Jesus calls himself a root out of dry ground in Isaiah 53. He looks like a common man. He's the root out of Jesse and the branch or shoot from David's lineage. Jesus in John 15 says that he is the true vine. And if we abide in him, we will bear fruit. And it would ultimately be upon a cross of wood that our Savior would die.

Now I think that the reason why God brings about life of vegetation on the third day is significant. I want you to think about this. God knew when he created the land to bring forth the first vegetation, that it would eventually bring forth the very tree from which Jesus' cross would be made. Think about that for a second. God knew that the tree that he made would contain the seeds throughout its subsequent generations, would produce the sapling that he would nourish with rain and sunshine, and that sapling would grow into a tree and one day would be cut down and fashioned into a cross, the very cross that his son would die upon.

So from the very beginning, the plan of redemption was in motion. God had already prepared for mankind's redemption. It is interesting to note that vegetation, the first signs of life, appeared on the third day. Here’s our Christ connection. Some of you are already beginning to see it. Because it was on the third day, after Jesus was plunged into the cold waters of judgment and his lifeless body was laid in the darkness of the tomb, that he burst forth in glorious victory. Death gave way to life. Jesus brought a glorious, bright new day of salvation. It was on the third day that our life truly began. Because we died with him. And when he arose, we arose with him, friends. It is because Jesus rose on the third day that we have life and can produce fruit for the glory of God. It is because of his death, burial, and resurrection that death had been defeated and life would reign. Because of that glorious third day.

We'll pause here for now. We'll continue next week with point three. God fills the created kingdom.

As they come and give us a psalm of invitation, perhaps your life is formless and void. Perhaps you're living in darkness. Perhaps there is no life. There's only darkness and chaos. Friends, Jesus has come for you. The same Spirit that hovered over the waters can take up residence in your heart. He can regenerate you. He can bring life into the deadness. Light into the darkness. You don't have to be formless and void and without purpose. You were created by a God who loves you. A God who sent his son to die for you, to bring you the light of salvation. And upon the cross, that work was finished. He endured the darkness of the cross so that we can enjoy the light of his presence. And on the third day, he emerged victorious, bringing salvation to all who will receive him.

So if you will repent of your sins, place your faith in the Lord Jesus, you will be saved. Whoever calls on his name will be saved. So if you would like to join me at the altar. This altar is open.

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