2 Cor 6:18 Apostles Creed 2: The Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth

Transcription

1 1 2 Cor 6:18 Apostles Creed 2: The Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth 18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." (NIV) How do you picture God? When you picture God, how do you do it? Is he a loving, tender, crawl up in his lap, jump into his arms kind of God? A picture of Jesus perhaps: Gentle Jesus meek and mild, look upon a little child from the old Wesley hymn. A God that is so enthralled with us he would stop at nothing to touch the finite.

2 2 Perhaps he is a great God, a strong God, perhaps you sing with Chris, God you are higher than any other, our God is healer, awesome and power, our God, our God. And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us, and if our God is with us, then what can stand against. You picture him as a mighty fortress, a holy holy holy, he rides on the wings of the storm and his canopy is space. Maybe you don t picture this kind of a God, because it s too much for you. Maybe you picture natural occurrences and put them in the hand of God. Your God is transcendent and so Hurricane Sandy is the train of God, what happens when God comes near. Perhaps you think more in terms of a Star wars-esque force, a spiritual entity that has no form and no personality but is certainly a power beyond all imagining. Perhaps you picture a Great White Throne with a faceless brilliance like the Chik tracts when you were growing up.

3 3 Perhaps an animal is the best you can do. Whatever or whoever it is, it resonates power and awe. Perhaps it s a nice mix of power, awe, tenderness, lovingkindness, A God who shows his love and power through his creation 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? (Psa 8:3-4 NIV)

4 4 He obviously created the world, but He was mindful of you in so doing Combining Father, Almighty and Creator I think you will find that all (or most) of these pictures help us grasp a little bit about who God is. None of them do him justice completely; in fact, picturing God is probably not a great move anyway. But the truth is, that the Apostles Creed wants you to grasp each of these larger pictures of God. His relationship to you, his awe. It wants you to see God as a Father and as Almighty and as a creator. In fact, that s how the creed begins. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and earth. I want to draw attention to each of these descriptions separately, but before I do that I want you to see the incredible overlap that exists. It s one picture of God. He is not God, then Father, then Almighty, then creator. He is God the father Almighty, make or heaven and earth. He is father, the source of all, and he has the ability to do anything, even create the world as we know it. His creator-ness, makes evident his fatherliness, that he loves us and cares for us and

5 5 has the ability to reconcile all things to himself. Do you see how important it is that these ideas are the same idea? I want to back up and draw some important things from the individual points but I don t want us to forget that the intention was probably one big idea. If you don t mind, I want to dig in to the creed but I want to go backwards Creator, Almighty, Father In this first part of the creed we find that God is maker of heaven and earth. Creator 1. The problem of the creed: the trinity as creator The problem is that the organization of the creed has some flaws. The way it is set up in Trinitarian fashion actually struggles a bit here. It is as if it will tell us the distinct roles of the Father, the first person of the trinity, but in reality it seems to be summarizing the role of God as a triunity. I say this because the whole of the Trinity can be said to be creator, Almighty and even Father in a sense. Isaiah 44:24 says that God created alone. "Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, "I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself, and spreading out the earth all alone." But according to Col 1:16-17, Jesus is the one who did this. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things have been created by Him and for Him. 17And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Additionally, we can at least assume that the Spirit had a part in this as well even if we don t want to find that in Genesis 1:2 with the spirit hovering over the watery chaos. Now this is not a contradiction, it s just the Trinity at work. 2. What the creed and the Bible don t say But let s go ahead and jump into what it means for God to be creator. Again, let me remind you that the Creed is not exhaustive. Notice what it does not say. It says nothing about the creation process, nothing about 6 literal days, nothing about creating out of nothing, nothing about creation via divine fiat (command).

6 6 I say this to say that if you are one of those who believes that God created in what many scholars are calling a ridiculous view of 6 actual 24 hour days, you are squarely within the pale of orthodoxy. If you are one of those who believes that the creation took thousands or millions or billions of years, rattling every bone in Ken Ham, you are squarely within the realm of orthodoxy. If you don t think that the Bible has much to say about method or even the event of creation, but you still believe that God created, you are well within Christian orthodoxy. I am the guy in the third category. I don t know enough about science to make an argument. I do know that several Church Fathers, such as Clement, Origen and Augustine, believed that the days were figurative representations of a creation that probably took place in a single moment.

7 7 Others, such as Irenaeus and Tertullian, saw them as normal 24-hour days. Later, when science began to suggest that the universe was very old, many theologians began to read the creation account in new ways. Some suggested that the days were normal 24-hour periods, but that large stretches of time intervened between the days on which God created. Others interpreted the days as figures of speech that represented eras or epochs. I let scientists wrestle with the way God created even as I realize that they are biased and want to get published and have agendas and make mistakes. Still I let them wrestle with the things and I don t let it destroy my faith. I read them and listen and consider and then go back to the text to see if my understanding is faulty. See, I don t believe that the Bible is more right than nature. I believe that both of them are telling the same story. The problem isn t with the Bible or nature, the problem is with my faulty understanding of both. So I let them talk to each other as much as possible. 3. Ex nihilo? Some people who talk of God as creator feel the Bible or maybe the nature of God himself, necessitates an ex nihilo creation. That is, out of nothing. That if God creates, he does so with no former substance. For some reason we think this makes God more awesome. You know the joke about the scientists getting rid of God right? One day a group of scientists got together and decided that man had come a long way and no longer needed God. So they picked one scientist to go and tell Him that they were done with Him.

8 8 The scientist walked up to God and said, "God, we've decided that we no longer need you. We're to the point that we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so why don't you just go on and get lost." God listened very patiently and kindly to the man and after the scientist was done talking, God said, "Very well, how about this, let's say we have a man making contest." To which the scientist replied, "OK, great!" But God added, "Now, we're going to do this just like I did back in the old days with Adam." The scientist said, "Sure, no problem" and bent down and grabbed himself a handful of dirt. God just looked at him and said, "No, no, no. You go get your own dirt!" Now that joke assumes that God created the substances that others use to create and I like this idea. I love the idea of a divine fiat command that has nothing prior. That God just spoke and the universe leapt into existence out of nothing. And if you believe that, I am thrilled; go ahead and keep believing it. You are in good company. Athanasius in the fourth century said, But that out of nothing and without its having any previous existence, God made the universe to exist through his word, as he said first through Moses, in the beginning he created the heaven and the earth But I want to assure the few others here that not all Christians think this way and you don t have to think this way to be a Christian.

9 9 The problem with this is that there is nothing in scripture that mandates a creation out of nothing. The only verse that comes close is Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible." So how did the world get created? By the word of God, out of things that did not appear. This may well mean a creatio ex nihilo, but it may also be a creation out of non-visible particles. Out of spiritual substance. Whatever. Scientists say now that there is no such thing as nothing. Of course, I recognize that scientists can be wrong, or even just speaking of life now and not life before creation. All I am saying is there is nothing in Hebrews that mandates a creation out of nothing and plenty of Christian theologians disagree about Hebrews. 4. Molding preexistent material Genesis is even less adamant. In fact, the first verse of Genesis says that he created the heavens and earth, just as the creed does, but it is generally seen to be one of two things, either the sky and the land, or a summary statement for everything. Either way, it doesn t say out of nothing, because the very next verse has the spirit hovering over the face of the deep; that is, the waters. Creation seems to take place out of a primordial chaos. And as Augustine said I see in Tehom (deep, waters) no mere nothing. Chaos isn t nothing, it s unordered something.

10 10 They tell me there were these three professionals sitting around a table talking about what the oldest profession was. The doctor says, "Well, the Bible says that God took a rib out of Adam to make woman. Since that clearly required surgery, then the oldest profession is medicine. The engineer looks at the doctor and says, "No, the Bible also says that God created the whole world out of void and chaos. To do that, God must surely have been an engineer. So engineering is the oldest profession. The politician smiles and leans forward and says, "Ah, but who do you think created the Chaos?" So, chaos of muddy waters seems to be existent when God starts to create. Simply not true, or at least not automatically true. And if you ever hear some pastor tell you that the Hebrew word for create, Bara, alongside of the Divine, automatically means a special creation out of nothing, you have my permission to laugh. And if you think you don t like this God because he isn t as powerful as your creator out of nothing God, please stop for a moment and ask yourself this question I will ask over and over again in this series: do you want a God that you like, or do you want to worship the God the Bible actually presents. with his hand, it s just that he didn t. If the Bible is trying to present a God who causes a rockslide 10 miles north of the river you are about to cross and that is how you miraculously get across, that is not less awesome then if he holds the rivers in a heap with his invisible hand. Or rather, it might be less magnificent, but it s what the Bible says. It s not that he couldn t hold back the water In fact, in the ANE, they wouldn t have even considered a God who created out of nothing. The concept wouldn t make sense, just as it doesn t really for us. All the gods created out of something. They started with spit, or sperm, or clay and they molded it and made the world. Or they fought a dragon and ripped it to pieces and used its body to create the world as we know it.

11 11 But in the ancient world of the Israelites, this was not an active question. In the world, the theology of a chaos-tamer working solo, commanding the elements to line up, was counterintuitive and set Israel apart theologically. Genesis 1 is not in any way a modern scientific statement, but an ancient religious one. It drew on the thought categories available at the time to create a powerful statement within its own context for the uniqueness of Israel s God and his worthiness to be worshipped. (Enns, 45) So when the story of Genesis comes along it has an awesome God who takes this primordial mess and speaks light. Then he speaks separation of waters and waters and he takes man and molds him from the dust. We have a text that speaks of God building a temple, earth, a place for his image to dwell So, I see nothing that says ex nihilo. Nothing that requires you to think that way. Nothing even that makes this God less magnificent. But even if you don t see it in the text specifically, this doesn t mean you can t believe it. The Bible and the creed don t tell you everything. Perhaps that is exactly what happened. Before time began God created substance, out of nothing (whatever that means), and then Genesis begins telling you the story of what he did with that substance. I know John may be intimating exactly that: John 1:3 "All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." That s where I lean, that whatever invisible stuff that was out there, was created by god before the Creation mentioned in Jesus. But, I don t know, and I have to say, a part of me doesn t care. Genesis and Hebrews and a thousand other voices want to get across one idea. God created. 5. About the glory of God Why did God create? Because that is who he is, a creative, imaginative God. He didn t create because he needed us. Scripture doesn t have a lonely God who needs companionship. The trinity takes care of that. But he created because doing what he does glorifies himself. Everything he does is about his own majesty, His beauty, His power, His brightness, His fame, His honor, His radiance. It is who He is. Now, this isn t egotistical for God, because He s not a finite or imperfect creature. Is. 43:7 "I have created for My glory." Is. 48:11 - "For My own sake, for My own sake I will act...my glory I will not give to another." Ephesians 1: We exist "to the praise of His glory." Heb. 2:10 - "for Whom are all things and through Whom are all things." Psalm 19:1 - "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." Psalm in the midst of a great description of creation, it says, "Let the glory of the Lord endure forever." Almighty

12 12 This is a good segue into his might and power. The creed says that he is creator and it says that he is almighty. 1. Can God make a rock so big This is another one of those incommunicable attributes that has very little meaning in the abtract. We all know that God is all powerful but what does that mean. Can he make a rock so big he can t lift it? Can he make a 4 sided triangle or a circular square? Can he sin? Ha, you Christians are all so stupid all powerful, yeesh! So let s admit that Christians aren't always as thoughtful as we could be. And now, lets try to be a bit thoughtful. We don t mean that God can sin. That s against his nature. We don t mean that God could bend the laws of definition. Triangles by definition have three sides. He can t go against logic by making a rock so big he can t lift. Although I don t think logic binds him so much as an outer force putting parameters on God as much as logic is part of God. He does go against natural law all the time in Scripture and we call these miracles. Perhaps the miracles can be explained scientifically and we just aren't smart enough yet, but either way, he intervened in an unusual way to enforce his will. My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please... What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do (Isaiah 46:10-11). What we mean by God being almighty is simply what the catechism replies in answer to the question Can God do all things? Yes, he can do all his holy will. 2. All power and authority reside in God. Rulers, governements, and Christian leaders all derive authority from God (romans 13:1-2) 3. Things that seem impossible to us are possible for God Luke 1:37 has Gabriel state to Mary: Nothing is impossible with God. 4. He is not capricious or whimsical. God is reliable. God stands by what he says. Covenant means exactly that.

13 13 5. What can God do? What can God do? He can create the world by his voice. He can split the water so the Israelites can pass through. He can send hail and fire from heaven. He causes the earth to tremble at his presence. He can blind enemy armies so Israel remains safe. He can make donkeys speak. He can make blind people see. He can raise from the dead. Let me move from that into what I think is the most Glorious thing in the world: What can God do? He can forgive. He can redeem. He can send his son to the cross on our behalf. He can raise him again from the dead. This God who created the world and is almighty maybe even creating out of nothing, was not lonely and did not need us and yet made us and wants a relationship with us. We get to call him father. He adopted us as sons.

14 14 I am going too fast. Father 1. Not a father Now let s be careful. The idea of God as father is a picture, a representation so that we might have a glimpse into God. He is not an actual father in the way your father is. You know what I mean, right? Father is a metaphor. If I tell you that the Lord is my shepherd, you are not supposed to see a young man up in the hills playing songs while watching sheep. It s a picture. But the picture is helpful. It portrays far more than if I just gave you propositional statements like God cares for us, God guides us, God cares for us throughout life. Those are all true, but it grabs you differently when you say he is a shepherd. The same is true for him as father. He is not my father in a literal sense, but he is my father. 2. The Father of Jesus/Israel He is also Jesus father. Remember that Jesus told us to pray like he prayed: Our Father, who art in heaven So it s Jesus father, but our father too. We are permitted to call him father. But our primary thinking on this is that he is the father of Jesus. This should boggle your mind a bit. Jesus is God, how can he be God s son.

15 15 I will wrestle with this a bit more when we get to the next part about Jesus, but for now, don t think of God as the filial father of Jesus. There isn t God and Mary and then a Son Jesus. Jesus doesn t have a grandfather. Son of God has a couple of meanings that I will explore more next week, but it primarily has to do with him as divine the sons of God in the Old Testament were considered deity, but also there is a connection to Israel who was God s son, that is heir to the blessings, special, set apart and Jesus became the new Israel and even more in the New Testament, the son of God is a King that has been elevated above all. Ceasar was called the son of God. So when Jesus is called that, these are revolutionary words. 3. God as Father King Let me just say this bluntly. God is also father in the sense that he is King. David was called the father of Israel. All Kings were the fathers of the places they ruled. So father is not just an emotional term Again, more next week 4. I don t like my father But speaking of emotions, perhaps you have a real problem with praying Our father, who art in heaven. You hated your father. You wanted to love him as all kids do, but you just didn t. He was a horror. He was a drunk, he left when you were young, he treated your mom badly, he never encouraged you.

16 16 So for you, how about this, God is also described as a mother. o He is called a helper, ezer, which is what Eve is called in relation to Adam o God sews in Gen 3:21, a traditionally female job o He gives birth in Jeremiah and Isaah o He calls himself a nursing mother in Isaiah 49:15 and Numbers 11:11-14 o Hosea 11:1-9 says God loves us as a mother lifts an infant to her cheek So we don t need to see him as a father primarily, or only. It s a metaphor. But maybe it would be good to call him an ideal father. He is the father that your father wasn t. That is, one who loves and would give his life for you and will let you jump in his arms and will keep you safe and will encourage you and will make sure you get where you need to go. He is a father, like many of the fathers, perhaps all of them who stood up here this morning dedicating their children. They said that they were committing to call their children to hope and delight in God. To proclaim his name. To find their purpose in him. They committed to love them and be there for them and lead them in the paths of righteousness for his names sake. They took on the role of father to their children. They didn t just make a child, they fathered him or her. They saw their role as one who would love and feed, guard and lead. This is an ideal father who wants you to see in him perfect goodness 1 Timothy 6:17 - God, "richly supplies us with all things to enjoy." James 1:17 - "every good and perfect gift is from above." Acts 14:17 - God s goodness satisfies our hearts with food and gladness." This God is Abba father. Not merely creator, not merely Almighty, but also one who condescends to us and who can be called Father. Abba is a more intimate word for Father. Not a childish word like daddy necessarily, but an intimate word. Fully mature, and fully resting in him at the same time, like a child. I should really wrap up. How ought we to see God? We need to see him as Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. As almighty, he can do as he wishes. He is sovereign as creator and king. But although he is out for his own glory, he is also out for your good. He can be about both. In fact, your good automatically brings him glory. They work together. We are most satisfied when we find our satisfaction in him. He is most glorified when we are satisfied in him. And although he can do anything, he knows as a good father that he shouldn t just give us everything we want. We know this too don t we. Aren't you glad you didn t marry that girl you prayed about when you were 16? It s just like our own father in that sense. Or you as a parent. You know better what your kids need and staying up till 2:00 am every night isn t it. Going out roaming the town at 11:00 pm isn t it. Having a flamethrower when you are seven isn t it.

17 17 Jesus as the image of God How ought we to see God? The most beautiful picture of God is the one found in the image of Jesus. The one who knew that to win the world he must sacrifice all. The one who knew to conquer, he had to lose. The one that knew that to save he had to suffer. This almighty God, creator of heaven and earth, was a father and gave us a son, and let his beloved die so that we might be adopted as heirs, little brothers of Christ (again a metaphor) This God loves us If you are feeling unloved and alone and unreachable and untouchable, remember Jesus. The one who touched the lepers, ate with the sinners, let the children come unto him, and rose again from the dead that you might have real life.