Turn with me to Genesis chapter 2. I hope that our time in Genesis has been as much of a blessing to you as it really has been to me to be able to look here at the account of creation. It is a source of joy And it is a source of awe to see what our God has done as He is revealing Himself there in that opening chapter and in those first verses of the next chapter that's going to set up everything that's going to come after that in your Bible. Genesis has introduced us to God. to this God who is the only living and true God, who works all things according to the counsel of His will for His glory. We think of these days that we walk through the creation account as being days that tell us where the mountains came from, and where the sky comes from, and where every creature comes from, and where you come from, and that's true. But these are days that are also telling us who God is, and that there is a God who transcends creation. Day one, if you'll remember the outline, if you're a note taker, is the Lord of the earth, verses two through five. Day two, the Lord of the sky, verses six through eight. Day three, the Lord of the land and the plants, verses nine through 13. Day four, the Lord of the lights, in verses 14 through 19. Day five, The Lord of the creatures both of the sky and water in verse 20 through 23. Then you'll remember day six, the Lord of the creatures of the land and the image bearer, verse 24 through 31. Today we come to day seven. Lord of rest, Lord of the day of rest, there in the opening three verses of chapter two. After this flurry of activity in days one through six, there is a change that is notable there on day seven. Look at chapter two, verses one through three. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts By the seventh day, God completed His work which He had done and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it, He rested from all His work which God had created and made. Verses one through three of Genesis chapter two reveal that the creator God, who is Lord of heaven and earth, completes what he starts, and he offers rest. And this serves us as a preview of what's to come, of the wisdom of his profound design, of his goodness towards his people, and what he's going to offer us through his gospel. I want you to take this away as well. What is clear from verses one through three is that true rest is only found in the Creator God. True rest is only found in the Creator God. Look here now at day seven. Day seven is purposefully set apart by the Creator to direct our attention to what He has done and ultimately what He's going to do. It's having us think about what He has done, what's been accomplished, what's complete, and what He's going to do throughout the rest of the book. Reading those three verses there at the opening of Genesis 2, you noted that day 7 is purposefully different than the previous six days. Just to keep the theme in line here, I'll give you seven ways the seventh day is different. These will be quick. We're not gonna spend much time, because you see these already. Number one, there's no intro formula as there were with the other days. That formula was then God said. That led you into each of the next days. Number two, there is no usual pattern of what we're familiar with by this point. God created, God made, God called. Number three, there's no usual closing on what we just read. There was evening and there was morning. Number four, this is the only day in which we're told the day itself is blessed. That's different. Number five, this is the only instance in the creation account where we're told that God sanctifies something. Number six, the number of the day, did you hear that? The number of the day when we read that day seven, the seventh day, that's repeated three times. It's emphasizing the number. And then number seven, as we considered a few weeks ago as it regarded the triunity of this God, this day stands outside the pairs of creation, the days that are of creation. There's three days and then there's three days. And how those complement in one another. Where the water was made within the first set, the creatures of the water were in the second set. where the sky was created in the first set and the creatures of the sky were in the second set. This day stands apart from that. Day seven is purposefully set apart by the creator. Look at verse one. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed and all their hosts. That word completed is essential here to these verses that describe day seven. It describes the change having taken place. The universe is no longer in the process of being created as the universe was in the process of being created. The God of Genesis 1 has accomplished here all that He determined to accomplish. So that the work of creation that we've been dwelling upon all this time, it's now finished. This pattern that we've become accustomed to, God said, God created, God called, it's come to an end. All that he planned in this massive design that is staggering beyond our wildest imagination where you think about how vast the universe is and all the objects in the universe, and it's intricate in its design that's beyond our ability to fathom how he designed the eye, how he designed you. All of this he's brought to completion. So this is then the bookend of Genesis 1-1 where we started. Heavens and the earth were completed in all their hosts. Host is a military word. And the sense where it's being used here is that instead of having regiments and divisions, that you have all the components here. are part of this being complete. This is the collective of all the various components, the different parts, the sum of them all together here, their hosts. So verse one conveys that creation is complete. Which means, verse one tells us that the God of Genesis one, that we've been considering all this time, that he finishes what he plans and purposes, and all that he plans and purposes, he will accomplish. You see it here in verse one. The vast size of the universe with all of its complexities and intricate design, It's no obstacle for him. He doesn't get to a certain point and go, well, I can't figure it out anymore. I don't know how all this is supposed to come together and work. It is no problem for him. That he can create then in six literal days, in a complete sense here that we get in verse one, tells us as we've already learned from Genesis one, This God is infinitely majestic. He is glorious in His wisdom. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. He is Lord over each one of these days and everything that's created within those days. There is no other being in all of creation like Him. There is nothing here that's left undone. There's no flaw in His design. So this truth that we find here in Genesis 2-1 about God, that he completes what he plans and purposes, friend, that ought to again strengthen your hope. That ought to again remind you of the words that we sung about a moment ago, that he's your rock, and that he can take care of you. All of his promises then, one day they will come to pass, they will be accomplished, they will be complete, they will be finished in this sense. Remember Philippians 1.6, Paul's thinking along this line that this God is able to do this. He who began a good work in you will perfect it. He will complete it. It will be finished. One day your sanctification will fall in line with what he planned and purposed and it will be complete. One day your glorification will be complete. One day you'll join the redeemed in your resurrected body. You will see him face to face. There will be a new heaven and a new earth and the restoration of all things will be finished and complete, he will have accomplished it all, just as he said. But till that day, your hope can be unwavering and your hope can be resolved because you know he completed the work of creation. You can look all around you and it attests to him being a God who finishes what he starts. accomplishes everything He plans and purposes and promises. So verse one presents us with the completed creation in six days. Look at verse two. By the seventh day, God completed His work which He had done. So it's restating there the truth of creation being complete, and then it adds this, verse two, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. With creation being complete, now what comes along? Rest. He rested. The Hebrew word is Shabbath. And it conveys this, to cease or to desist. What did he cease doing? Well, what we've already noted makes day seven unique. He ceased from creating and making and calling as we saw him doing in verses, the whole of chapter one, in those first six days. He rested from it. Why did he rest from it? Verse two, God completed his work. Hebrew has two words for work. One describes work that's raw and unskilled. As somebody that's in here, and I'll leave him unnamed, likes to say, maybe work that involves a strong back and a weak mind. Okay? But the word found here is different. This is malaka. This describes skilled labor. This describes what the sculptor is going to do who knows how to sculpt something. or the wordsmith with words. This describes the artist in the painting. This is a work performed by a craftsman or an artisan. It's the same word that you find in Exodus 35, describing the labor that's performed to create and make the tabernacle. That those men there were filled with the spirit, and because they were filled with the spirit, they had a unique ability to create the objects that would come together to make the tabernacle. The work of God here in day one through six, speaking, creating, making, calling, rendering his verdict with each day, this is the work of a master craftsman. That's what you're to observe and see taking place there. Only he possesses the skill, the wisdom, the ability to do that work. He is the only one that can bring it to completion. So when you read verse 2 that he rested on the seventh day from all this work that the master craftsman completed, don't think of him resting here because he was tired or slothful or that he's lazy, but understand it in light of what Scripture is telling you here. It's not that at all. Rest is related here to the completion of the work by God himself. This is not fatigue. As you might have guessed, that word for rest in Hebrew, Shabbat, is going to come up again and again in the books that follow Genesis where it's translated as Sabbath. And here's the takeaway. That whole idea of Sabbath, of a day of rest, it's as old as creation itself. It's not only part of the tablets coming down from Mount Sinai with Moses and the other nine commandments. In fact, if you'll even remember, after Israel escaped from Egypt, after that rescue was complete, and before the commandments came in Exodus chapter 20, the way that the Lord fed his people in the wilderness in Exodus 16 was described with those words of being a holy Sabbath, Exodus 16, 23, 26, and 29. He was saying to them, don't look for manna on the Sabbath. He's already provided you enough manna the day before the Sabbath so that you can rest this day. Don't look for manna, rest. Find rest on the Sabbath, not manna. So the seventh day expresses completion. And it demonstrates rest. There's two other critical components about the day that come in verse three. Then God blessed the seventh day. Remember on day five, God blessed the creatures that fill the sky and the water, Genesis 1.22. He blessed them in such a way he called them to multiply, to be fruitful. On day six, God blessed the image bearer, Genesis 1.28. And he added to that what? Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, rule. Now on the seventh day is a third blessing. That ought to send up some flags. Third blessing. The other blessings there were an expression of his favor and his will that the creatures themselves would be fruitful and multiply. With man it was also that he'd rule and subdue, but this blessing is different. A day is blessed. This kind of throws a wrench into it being something other than six literal, seven literal days, right? Did he bless an epic of some sense, and are we supposed to recreate that? A whole day blessed. How does he bless a day? The answer comes in what follows, verse three. And sanctified it, because in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made. So, blessed, sanctified, rest. Sanctified is the Hebrew word, kadash, to set apart. It means to consecrate, to make something unique or distinct. And as we've already considered, we see how this day is distinct from the prior six. Activity ceased, this day is set outside the two groups of three, this day doesn't fit the same pattern. And while it doesn't fit the same pattern that we've become accustomed to before, because it's sanctified, it's going to establish a certain new pattern in the days that are going to follow, a pattern that will reflect God's purpose for the seventh. Genesis 8-4, the ark that Noah built comes to rest on the mountain in the seventh month. A people who were set apart will gather food again in Exodus until the seventh day where they will rest. Now people who will be commanded then to observe the seventh day as a Sabbath, and whose basis for doing that when that command comes is going to point them back to creation. After Exodus records the commandment for the Sabbath, Exodus 20, verse 8 through 10, it says this, for six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy, Exodus 20, verse 11. It points back to creation. What the Lord then does on this day by blessing it and sanctifying it, and what he doesn't do on this day by work, will have an impact throughout human history and all eternity. So, look at the big picture of all this. As we're in awe of the glory of God that created the heavens and the earth and every living creature and the intricate nature of their design, so I would urge you to be in awe of the God who rests. The image bearers that were created in day six that serve as representatives of God within creation bearing his image, each one of us ought to take note of what the one we are to represent is doing here on day seven and what he's not doing. The seventh day then responds to completion, demonstrates rest, reflects sanctification, and the whole day here is blessed by the creator. Now each day of creation, If you've been following with us through Genesis, each day has shown that the God of Genesis 1 is unlike the gods of the people, and day 7 is no exception. You might recall that the Babylonian account of creation, the creation of man, revealed that man's role was to serve the needs of the gods. Man was created for a never-ending task to serve whatever the gods needed, and it's only because man was then created that their god could then rest. They had tired gods who needed help. Genesis 1, 29 through 30 told us that the God of Genesis 1 provides for the needs of man. That's a complete contrast to the gods of the people. Genesis 2 then tells us this God rests not because He created someone else to do the work and meet His needs and the needs of others, but because the work is complete and the needs have been met by who? Not you. The needs have been met by Him. That's different. So all creation can enjoy this rest with him. That's profoundly different than you would observe among the idol worshipers where there was never any rest. Day seven here. Day seven is a day of rest. And would you think about the whole account of creation? This is man's first full day. Have you ever considered that? Man's first full day after he was created is the seventh day when God rested from all of his work. Man's beginning here, in a sense, starts with rest. We'll see in a moment it ends with rest. But I wonder if people observed you, and if they watched me, would they see people who knew how to rest? Would they see a people who represented their creator God in such a way as we see Him here at the beginning of Genesis chapter 2? Or would they see people that were as busy as idol worshipers? People consumed by producing more and more so that rest was like a distant acquaintance to you that rarely came for a visit. Idle worshipers can't rest. They couldn't rest back then, they can't rest today. Idle worshipers don't rest. Whatever idol it is that your heart may worship, it's going to demand that you don't stop and rest, but that you keep working and you keep producing so that you can serve that idol. The perfectionist who must be the standard for all others to conform to, can't stop working. They have to produce perfection. They can't rest. They are worshiping the idol of really themselves, that they're as perfect as God is perfect, and they have to exhaust every mean possible to show that they have covered all their bases. I listened to a pastor the other day who's a writer. And he said one of the most helpful things for him was when he finally realized that he wouldn't be able to produce anything where he had the final say on something, whether that's a sermon or whether that's a book. And that lifted a huge burden and a frustration from him because you want to be the one who says the final word. You can't do that. Only God can. The person who craves the praise of man is not going to stop working and trying to get their praise. The person whose idol is their business, or their profile, or their position, or their platform, or their video game that demands their attention, or their golf game that demands their attention, the person whose idol is served by their lust can't stop serving the idol and working. They can never cease from the work. They can't stop to rest. Their idol is demanding to be fed. Their idol is hungry. Here's the good news. The Lord of the day of rest is different than any God a man would fashion for himself. And it's one of the many reasons that he is different, and that's found here in day seven, he rests. Only he's perfect. Only he can create in the way that creation can be complete, because only he possesses the skill of the master craftsman. Only this God can be worshiped by his people. Finding your rest in him. Turn from the idols of your heart. and serve the Lord Jesus Christ and finally find rest. Augustine said, you, being God, move us to delight in praising you, for you have formed us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in you. Friend, your heart is going to be restless until you find rest in the God who rests on day seven. I want you to think about day seven in another way. We have completion, we have rest, we have blessing, we have sanctification. I want you to think about it as it regards a redemptive history. Follow with me here. Throughout each day of creation where God's work has been displayed, we have considered the future implications of what He has done and how He uses what He creates for His good purpose. It's pointed us past Genesis 1 and to the rest of Scripture that showed us this God who governs the darkness is going to use darkness to deliver His people from Egypt. It showed us that the God who reigns over the waters and oversees the deeps will make the waters like a wall to rescue His people by leading them through the deeps. It showed us this God who brings forth iron from the earth and wood there from the trees that grow in the soils of the earth will use them for the redemption of His people through His Son. The same can be said about what we see on day seven when He rests. The word rest shows up again in the book of Exodus. Exodus 2.24, you'll remember the God who rests on day seven. In Exodus 2.24, He hears the groaning of His people. He hears them there in Egypt who Exodus 1.13 says, who labor rigorously and whose lives are made bitter from hard labor, Exodus 1.14. We tend to think of Exodus and think about rest that's found there, oh, in the commandment in the day, but the whole book is describing the Lord saving a people from continuous labor in Egypt to rest and to lead them into a place that's called the land of rest. The day of rest that's prescribed in the law was to serve as a reminder that they were slaves in the land of Egypt, Deuteronomy 515. When you observe the Sabbath, remember you were slaves in the land of Egypt, you were brought out of your rigorous labor by the mighty hand and outstretched arm of the Lord, their God. So not only is he a God who rests, he is a God who delivers his people to rest. And not only is He a God who delivers His people to rest, but He's a God leading His people to rest. Follow me with this. Exodus 33, after Moses' anger burned because Israel fashioned and worshiped a golden calf, The journey through the wilderness resumed, and Moses spoke with the Lord, saying to him this, Exodus 33, 13, 33, 13. Now therefore, I pray you, if I have found favor in your sight, listen, let me know your ways that I may know you. Let me know your ways that I may know you. Do you remember the Lord's response? Verse 14, Exodus 33. My presence shall go with you, and I will give you Rest. You may not have this rest at this very moment, Moses, but rest is coming because he is the God who gives rest. And it's going to be found, we find out, in the land beyond the Jordan, Deuteronomy 3.20. This is going to be rest from your enemies that surround Israel. That's Deuteronomy 12.10 and 25.19. It's going to be rest from what you knew back in Egypt where you had hard labor and you're going to be going into a land flowing with milk and honey. Now, remember that the people of the generation that left Egypt didn't enter that land where rest was promised, and the reason is found in Numbers 13. In Numbers 13, when the spies returned from that land, they reported, certainly that is a land that's flowing with milk and honey, but there's other people there, and the people who live there are strong, and their cities are fortified, and their cities are large, and when I look at myself and compare to the people there, I'm like a grasshopper. The point being, if we go in as the Lord has commanded us to go, we're going to be destroyed. There's not going to be rest there, there's going to be war there, and there's going to be total destruction. We can't believe what the Lord said. And they didn't believe. They didn't believe that the Lord could or would deliver them from their enemies and give them rest in that land. So, unbelief led to disobedience. And the judgment, you'll remember, to their unbelief came in that they were to wander in the wilderness for 40 years until that generation passed and another was raised that would enter the land. So unbelief led to no rest. Wandering in the wilderness, yes, it came with Sabbath observances, but it really wasn't reflective of rest. Wandering is not reflective of rest. Now follow me from Numbers 13 to Psalm 95. You can turn there if you want. Psalm 95 revisits that account, warning at the same time, do not harden your hearts and forsake rest. Psalm 95 verse nine, when your fathers tested me, they tried me, though they had seen my work. They saw a completed work of rescue already from the greatest army on the planet. They had seen that. For 40 years I loathed that generation and said they are a people who err in their heart and they do not know my ways. Therefore I swore in my anger, truly they shall not enter into my rest. This God who rested on day seven is the God who is able to provide rest for his people. But essential to partaking in that rest is what? What do you see in Numbers 13 and Psalm 95? that you would believe, that you would have faith, that you would trust Him, seeing all the works that He's done. Follow me to Hebrews 4. Turn to Hebrews 4. So Psalm 95 revisits Numbers 13. And Hebrews 4 revisits Psalm 95 and Numbers 13. And again, the emphasis is on the God who provides rest for His people. This time, it's a saving rest. This time, it's an eternal rest. Look at Hebrews 4.1. Therefore, let us fear if while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. If you go back to Hebrews 3.16 all the way through 4.11, it looks back at that account of Israel in the desert failing to enter rest in Canaan, even citing Psalm 95.11 there in Hebrews 4.3 to warn you of forfeiting your rest by the same means, unbelief. Look at Hebrews 3.19, so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. Unbelief forfeits rest. Unbelief forsakes rest. Hebrews is making the point that the God who rests on day seven promises eternal rest for his people in a new heaven, in a new earth, a place where you can finally rest from your enemies, you can finally rest from fighting sin, you can rest from Satan, you can rest from death. The way to this rest is through the Lord Jesus Christ. That's clear in Hebrews. He's superior in all ways. He's the superior prophet, priest, and king and sacrificed in the book of Hebrews. He is the God-man who said, Matthew 11, 28, come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Rest is found in the Son of God. You'd say, well, of course rest is found in Him. He accomplished the work of my redemption there on the cross, a work that I could never complete. I could work all my life. I could never be forgiven for my sins because of all that I've done. He's the one that completed the work. That's true. But would you also consider that it makes sense that rest is found in Him because of Colossians 1.16? By Him, all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, all things having been created through Him and for Him. Rest is always and only found in the Creator God, who rested when creation was completed, thereby day seven, blessing and sanctifying the day. The Son of God who was there in the beginning, through whom all things came into being, John 1, 1 through 3, who made the world and everything in it, Hebrews 1, verse 2, is the one who completed and finished the work of your redemption, like he completed the work of creation, doing what you could never do. Why? Because he plans and he purposes and he completes what he finishes. You get that from Genesis 2-1. Isn't it interesting that God then, in Hebrews 10 verse 12, we are told, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down. because it's finished and it's complete. The Son of God, Jesus, accomplishes it in such a way that not only is it finished and complete, as he himself proclaimed from the cross, John 19, verse 30, it is finished, but he did it in such a way that even at this very moment, his people who were gathered here this morning, the redeemed, have been and are being the same thing that you saw there on day seven, sanctified. Set apart, a chosen race, royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, 1 Peter 2.19. A people being sanctified and pursuing holiness like he is holy, 1 Peter 1.14 and 15. And that work from him brings his people rest. A rest that you can enjoy today as you were here this morning, but it's also a preview for a future rest to come. A rest that's ahead. Hebrews 4, if you're still there, the response to this from this group of set-apart people must be belief. Hebrews 4 verse 3, for we who have believed enter that rest. That's a rest now. There's a rest that some had forsaken and unbelief, a rest that would be later. This is, again, where those in the desert failed. Belief. Hebrews 4, 6 says, they heard the good news that God provides rest and they failed to enter that rest in unbelief. The Christian hears the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and enters that rest now and looks to that rest to come. Same way. Belief. By believing. One theologian writes here, rest, as the term is used in Hebrews, is not merely a cessation of activity. Certainly it is that. We've already seen that, but it's more. But the experience of reaching a goal of crucial importance. That sounds like something is complete and finished and accomplished. We see that at the end of creation, but you see that here in Hebrews as it regards heaven. Heaven, he says, then will be the completion of the Christian's pilgrimage, the end of the struggle against the flesh and the world and the devil. There will be work to do, yes, but it will not involve fighting against opposing forces. So, I want you to see what we said from the very beginning, Genesis 1.1. The beginning has the end in mind. The days of creation end with rest. And the end of the whole story, creation, fall, redemption, restoration, ends also with rest. Look in Revelation 21, verse 3. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and he will dwell among them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be among them, and he will, this sounds like a time of rest, wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will no longer be any death, there will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain. The first things have passed away. It's over. And his people have entered that rest. Genesis chapter 2 verses 1 through 3 is showing us from the beginning of creation how the God of Genesis 1 is the Lord of Psalm 23, who makes his sheep to lie down in green pastures and restores their soul, having provided for their every need so much that they can say, what? I shall not want. So as days 1 through 6 are priming us for what was to come in all of Scripture, day 7 is doing the same. Completion, rest, blessing, and the setting apart or a preview of what belongs to the people of God. And it's calling you to believe. Numbers is calling you to believe, and Psalm 95 is calling you to believe, and Hebrews 4 is calling you to believe. Genesis 2 is calling you to believe. So day seven and all it contains here, they're not just a tag on to the days of creation, but day seven is critical. It's essential for image bearers. Day seven is not just a bookend to what was started in Genesis 1.1, it's a preview of what's to come. And as were day one through six, day seven shows us again the majesty and the glory of this God who is the Lord of heaven and earth and who rests. So here are our days of creation. The Lord of the earth, the Lord of the sky, the Lord of the lights, the Lord of the land and plants, the Lord of the creatures of water and sky, the Lord of the creatures of the land and image bearers, the Lord of rest, the day of rest. And that brings us to the end of the seven days. Something I've been setting on. from when I started this, was thinking about not only me telling you, oh, how should you respond to all this, but how does Scripture itself actually respond to creation? And I started with a list of 25, and I've whittled that down to five. Number one, it directs us to humility. All of this, day one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, directs us to humility. I hope you have seen that in our scripture readings on Sundays from the book of Job and our references to the book of Job throughout the sermons. The creation account humbles men when they consider the creator God who is Lord of heaven and earth. It gives you a proper perspective of yourself. It puts you in a proper biblical place. Job 42, verse one through three. Job finally answers the Lord. And he says this, I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand things too wonderful for me which I did not know. God, I thought I understood. And all those counselors around me that were trying to walk me through this situation, they told me they understood too. But the reality is, is you've explained yourself through all that you've created and how great and glorious you are. I can say I don't understand. All I can do is put my hand over my mouth and know you're right in whatever you do. One theologian writing on this says this, Job got the message. The message being this, Job, there are 10 million things about running the world of which you don't know the first thing, but I know perfectly. You are a finite, sinful creature who has no wisdom to run this world and is utterly ignorant of 99.99% of its processes, and that is an understatement. So it is presumptuous to assume you can counsel me about how to run a more just world. You can't begin to know all that has to be taken into account in making decisions about how to run a wise and just and merciful world for my glory and for the joy of my people. That's the message, and it's humbling. Have you learned the message that the righteous man Job had to learn? That God is right in every decision he makes, and that his sovereignty over all of creation attests to him being superior to you, and that he does all of this for his glory. You can look that up in Isaiah 43 verse 7. Creation leads us to be humble. Number two, creation directs us to be in awe of our God. It directs us to fear Him in a righteous fear. Scripture is filled with passages that consider creation as a reason to be in awe of God, in awe of His power and His wisdom and His goodness and His glory. We've already looked at some of those. Psalm 19 verse 1, the heavens are telling of the glory of God and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Psalm 33 verse 5, the earth is full of the loving kindness of the Lord. Psalm 136 verse 4 through 9, to him who alone does great wonders for his loving kindness is everlasting. To him who made the heavens with skill for his loving kindness is everlasting. To him who spread out the earth above the waters for his loving kindness is everlasting. To him who made the great lights for his loving kindness is everlasting. The sun to rule by day, for his loving kindness is everlasting. The moon and the stars to rule by night, for his loving kindness is everlasting. All of it attests to how great he is, and that his loving kindness to you is everlasting. Isaiah 40, verse 26, lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the one who leads forth their host by number. He calls them by name because of the greatness of his might and the strength of his power, not one of them is missing. Creation in its origin account leads us to be in awe of the God of Genesis 1. Number three, it directs us to worship. I'm gonna tag some others on here, okay? That leads us to our joy. The creation account that shows us the greatness of our God then rightly leads us to respond to him. Psalm 148, verse one. The call goes forth there to praise the Lord, and it's a call to creation to praise Him. Sun, moon, stars, the highest heaven, the waters that are above the heavens, verse 5, let them praise the name of the Lord for He commanded and they were created. Then the call to praise the Lord goes forth to sea monsters, fire, hail, snow, clouds, wind, mountains, hills, fruit trees and cedars, beast and cattle, creeping things in the winged fowl. Verse 11, kings of the earth and all the people, let them praise the name of the Lord, because that's the right response. We've already been in Revelation chapter four, verse 11. Worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power. Why? For you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created. Friend, worship then is also directly related to our joy. So the creation account affects your joy, and that's related to where we find satisfaction. I'm trying to add in more points here all in one, but that's all tied in. Number four, it directs us to courage, confidence, and hope. Genesis 1 ought to put steel in your spine. It ought to give you confidence. It ought to give you hope. If He could do that, if He could do that, if He could make you, what is beyond Him? He can take care of whatever's going on in my world. He can meet every need that I could possibly have. Psalm 124 verse eight, our help is in the name of the Lord who made the heaven and the earth. Creation is directing His response to His need. Psalm 146 verse 5 and 6, who made the heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoner free. In regards to each of those, setting the prisoner free, who gives justice, it's all related to their creation, who made the heaven and the earth. If he can create from nothing, then He can deal with your biggest problem, and He can deal with your greatest sorrow, and He can deal with your biggest disappointment, and your uncertainty about the future, and your broken heart, and He can deal with your sinful heart. He can create a new heart in the sinner. He can wash the sinner clean. He can raise the sinner from the dead. He can give the sinner a glorified body. He can give you true rest. Number five. All this directs us to faith. It directs us to believing again. The days of creation that you read about, they're in the opening chapters of your Bible, ought to lead you to faith, a faith in the God of Genesis 1, a faith who's going to further reveal himself in the rest of Scripture, a faith that's going to meet his approval. Remember Hebrews 11, the chapter on faith. It tells you what faith is. If you're in Hebrews, turn there, 11 verse one. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. It tells you what faith does. In the next verse, for by it the men of old gained approval. And then you'll remember that it gives you person after person who demonstrated faith. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and on and on. But before it gives you the list of their names, do you remember what it says? Hebrews 11 three. 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. That whole account of what faith is starts with creation. When you can't see day one, besides what the text is telling you, and you can't see day two or three or four or five or six or seven, You were not there. You certainly cannot recreate it in order to analyze it. You're called to believe Genesis 1 and the God of Genesis 1. Faith in how he created everything, that meets his approval. You will never be able to fully explain every last detail in creation accounts so that you don't have to have faith. How did this happen? Well, there's 10 ways it could have happened. I don't have to believe anymore because I can scientifically analyze that. I think science clearly attests to creation the way the Bible says. It has to in that sort of a sense, but it's never going to be in such a way that you don't have to believe. That's not going to happen. The reason being is this is a supernatural event by a mighty and powerful God. You either believe it or you don't. Hebrews 11.3 shows us that faith believes it. And faith not only believes what he tells us about creation, but go back to what's Genesis 1 about, Elohim. Faith believes the God of creation. Faith looks back and understands how creation came into being by the word of God, Hebrews 11, three. And then if you follow through Hebrews 11, faith is looking ahead to a better country, a heavenly one, 11, 16. Faith considers that God is able to raise people even from the dead, Hebrews 11, 19. Faith considers the riches found in Christ greater than the riches found in Egypt, 11, verse 26. This is a faith that's looking for something better that cannot be found in all of creation. 1139 through 40. There is a reason then that Genesis opens and the name Elohim is found in the opening verse and then it's repeated over 30 times. Moses wants us to know how everything was created. Yes, but he wants you to know the Creator. to have faith in Him and His powerful Word. Because it's only in Him that you find that which transcends creation. And it's only in Him that you find the one who will truly satisfy the soul of the creature that bears His image. None of what you find in all of creation is marvelous and magnificent as it is It's going to bring you lasting joy. None of it's going to bring you lasting peace. None of it's going to bring you the rest that you so desperately crave. Only this God, who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth and the Lord of all the creatures, only by believing what he reveals in his word here about what he has done by creating, do you learn how to live in this world in a way that will finally satisfy your soul. how to view it rightly so as to magnify him, how to live in a right relationship with creation and its creator, how to live in a faithful hope that he is sovereign over all of it. And when our faith and our hope and our fear and our worship then is realized to being, to him alone, the creator there of Genesis 1, and that it's not shared with anything in all of creation that we see, no matter how wonderful it is, then when the heavens and earth pass away, Just as Jesus said, they will pass away, we can be sure that the God of Genesis 1 has prepared a new heaven and a new earth where you will live with Him forever. Father, thank you for your word that tells us about these first seven days. Pray that it would direct us in our response as we see coming from Scripture Let it humble us. Let it lead us to worship you in reverence. Let it correct us as it corrected Job. Let it put confidence in us. Let it steady our hope of what is to come. And let it direct us towards faith. faith that is necessary to be able to enter that rest, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who finished the work of redemption and who offers his people rest. Father, let us see in day seven your greatness and your glory and your might of the God who transcends creation. who is above creation, who upholds creation and governs creation, keeps all things together. Let it cause your people to be satisfied only in you, seeing that you are greater than, distinct from, more majestic, more glorious than all that we find here. Let it direct our faith to be found in you, and let it direct our joy and our satisfaction to be found in You alone. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.