Now, if you'll turn with me to Genesis chapter 1, there's so much in these first few verses. They cover so much span of time. And they cover such a large subject matter in just a matter of two or three verses. And it's kind of like a message that you begin to preach. Henry told us one time that the old colored preacher said, when he preached, he said, I tells them what I'm going to tell them, and then I tells them, and then I tells them what I done told them. And so that's what's going on here in chapter 1 of this book of Genesis. He's about to make a declaration in these first few verses of everything that He intends to do. And by chapter 3, He's already progressed in and began to give promises of the Messiah. But He pictures these things in the whole in these first several verses. And I'm going to show you here after a while how that gospel preachers in the New Testament reached back and got a hold of Genesis chapter 1 and Genesis chapter 2 as a complete and total picture of what they preached in these few verses. But before we get into our study tonight, I want to remind myself and remind you to whom God has given an interest in these things of God, that it's absolutely necessary to a right understanding of everything in this book that we understand what this book is all about. And he declares that over in Revelations chapter 5. I've often quoted that to you, and some of you have turned over there and read through that. But in Revelations chapter 5 and chapter 6, he talks about this revelation of Christ. That's what the book of Revelation is all about. It's that revelation of Christ. from the beginning of time until the end of time. That revelation of Christ and what the believer sees in that revelation. God revealed him to be the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. God revealed him to be the Lamb by promise and by type. And by picture, through the priesthood and through the law, God revealed him to be in the fullness of time to come and to manifest what was promised in eternity and what was declared in eternity. To manifest it, to achieve it, to ascend into glory where he sits. expecting until his enemies be made his footstool. That book of Revelations is all about this. And the book, it says in chapter 5, he saw one sitting upon a throne with a book, and it was sealed with seven seals. These seals are the absolute perfections of God. This is talking about His character, His name. And a book, if you think about it, a book Books are written to communicate. Books are written to pass on knowledge. Books are written to establish laws. Books are written to reveal things. And in his hand was a book. But nobody could take the book. Nobody could open the book. And no man was worthy to even look upon the book. Because nobody could open the book in harmony with those seals. You see what I'm saying? God's going to make some things known. But in order to know these things, these things have to be manifest according to His divine perfections. And if they're not, He's not going to let you look in a book. He's not going to let you look in the book. And John wept because he wasn't worthy, and the elders weren't worthy, and the beast wasn't worthy, whoever they were, and all the angels weren't worthy, and nobody in heaven, earth, or hell was worthy to take this book, let alone look on it, and open those seals. But one was found worthy. He was the Lamb. In the midst of the throne, right in the midst of the elders, in the midst of the throne, in the midst of authority, in the midst of the perfections of God was a lamb as it had been slain. He took the book. Only a slain lamb from the midst of the throne can unveil the glory that God is going to manifest in this book. A lamb slain. A lamb appointed. Whatever God does or says is in perfect harmony with His nature and character. In fact, His character is what constitutes His Godhead. That's what I was just talking to Winston before the service here tonight. If you take away the immutability of God, you've dethroned God. Because God is unchangeable. God is immutable. If whatever you believe and whatever you profess has to do with changing your God, then your God is not the living God. God changes not. He said, I am the same yesterday, today, and forever. I have never changed. Every good gift, every perfect gift, cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. God cannot change. I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed." God is unchangeable and God is holy. God is just. God is righteous. God is merciful. And all of those things to their ultimate perfection. And so to have a right understanding of creation, you have to look at creation through those eyes. Through those eyes, through those eyes of perfection, through those eyes of God's glory, through His name, that's His name. All through the Bible you keep, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. That's what He's talking about. He's talking about those absolute perfections. If you can get in harmony with that name and call on Him, He'll save you. He'll hear you. He'll hear you. A lamb, it takes a lamb. But one who sits in the midst of the throne, it takes a sovereign lamb. It takes a holy lamb. It takes a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world. An eternal substitute, a representative man, one who can take the book and open all the seals and manifest the glory of God. And then in Revelation 6, it opens with a declaration of a man sitting on a white horse, going forth to conquer on this white horse. Conquering and to conquer, it says. Well, what in the world is he talking about? He's talking about this lamb. this righteous, holy Lamb, this sacrifice that God has appointed, riding on the holy will of God to establish a kingdom. That's what he's talking about. They went into Canaan, the picture, and he conquered, didn't he? He went in there and conquered. And he set up a kingdom. And he put his king on the throne and he ruled in peace. That's the picture. And that's the picture set forth here in Revelation chapter 6. This is God's mediatorial king. And that's what we're talking about. There was a beginning before the beginning. That was my first message here in Genesis chapter 1. And the beginning before the beginning is the appointment of this mediator king. And everything he does He's going to do to manifest the glory of God and the glory of His name and the purpose of God. And the purpose of God is to glorify His name through the redemption of a people. Through the redemption of a people. And so why I'm telling you these things is for this reason. If you try to view creation apart from redemption, You've got all kinds of problems. That's what the Armenians do. They view creation apart from redemption. And so then creation, having created in the name of God and the perfections of God, Satan comes along and defeats those things and changes those things, and then God has to come up with another plan. And so he comes up with this other plan and he does all he can do and now it's all up to you. That comes from a bad view of this book from the get-go. God created, I don't want to shock you, but God created this world to be corrupted. Is that too hard? He created this world and made it subject to vanity. That's what it says over in Romans chapter 8 verse 20. Creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly. They had nothing to do with it. They were the created ones. But according to Him who subjected the same in hope, He put them on a conditional footing. Because the footing was designed, this whole thing is a stage on which God is going to manifest His glory. And the way He is going to manifest His glory is through redemption. And you can't redeem something until it's lost. And it's within the sovereign purpose and immutability of God that He created this world and put it on a conditional footing. And here this man is, Adam. Sets him up here and gives him his commandment. Only one commandment. That's all he had to do. Just keep this one commandment. He couldn't do that. Perfect man. Perfect environment, perfect everything. He couldn't handle a job. Couldn't handle a job. And he failed. He failed. Listen to this in Psalm chapter 2. He said, Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and their rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed. saying, Let us break their bands asunder. Let us cast off their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens will have them in derision. He'll laugh. He'll laugh. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and beat them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill in Zion. I will declare the decree, the Lord has said unto me, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee." Now he's not talking about that day in Bethlehem when that boy was born. That's not what he's talking about here in this verse. He's talking about the first begotten of every creature. He's talking about the firstborn of all creation. He's talking about the establishing of that mediatorial king and he set him on his heel. Zion being the church. Set Him on the hill. Zion in Him. And everything and everybody is going to be dependent on that King and His Kingdom. Everything that comes to pass in time is going to come to pass because of that King and that decree. This is God's only begotten Son. And He's the firstborn of every creature. He's before all things, and by Him all things consist. Listen to this over in Colossians chapter 1. I've just been wearing this chapter out with you, and I know it, but we need to look at it over and over and over. You can't look at it too much. But there in verse 15, He said He's the firstborn. He's talking about our Savior. He's talking about the one that translated us from that kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son. He's talking about His power and authority, His faithfulness, His mercy, the purpose of God in Him. He's trying to establish to us the magnificence of His name, the majesty of His name. He's not poor little Jesus boy like we here preach today. This is the one in whom God has purpose to bring about everything from eternity to eternity. Everything. It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. And so Paul begins to declare all these things to them. He said, He's the firstborn of every creature, verse 15. By Him were all things created that are in heaven and are in earth, visible, invisible, thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, all things created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. This is God's mediatorial King. And he rides upon the will of God. In Hebrews 10, verse 7, he said, Then said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book which is written of me to do thy will, O God. First and last. Rides that white horse of God's sovereign will and goes forth to conquer and establish the kingdom. And then again, following Paul's declaration of Christ as the firstborn of every creature, he sounds this clear note down in verse 18. Having established all that, he says this, he's the head of the body. Who is? Him that created the body. He in whom the body was put. He about which the volume of the book is written. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. And His purpose is to establish this kingdom. And creation is the stage upon all which this glory shall be displayed. I would like to have you to look at three things tonight. And the first of these is how these things come to pass. How are these things going to come to pass? They're going to come to pass, it says, and God said. That's how they're going to come to pass. We're all worried about what men say. That fellow, my next door neighbor, I was telling Winston, he questioned me about what I preach and so on and so forth. It's just been driving him bonkers ever since I moved in. And so I had a little chance to talk to him for a few minutes. He was worried about what I was going to say. Here's what to worry about, and God said. There's you something to worry about. What did God say? God said. God said. What I find in here, were that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. So this Mediator King, this God-man, is as much God as if He were not man, and as much man as if He were not God. And He was always the God-man. Now, I know there was a time when He took to Himself the flesh of a man and was born of a woman. I know that. But in the mind and purpose and counsel of God, He was the God-man from all eternity. God is eternal. God doesn't do things in time. If God counsels to do a thing, it's done. In His eyes, it's done. Who's going to thwart His will? Who's going to challenge Him? Who's going to change Him? And so He appoints this Mediator King who is both God and man. And He establishes His Godhood through creation. Without Him was not anything made that was made. Ain't that what it says? I've already read it to you in Colossians chapter 1. Everything that is, principalities, powers, things visible, invisible, thrones, dominions, I don't care what it is, all made by His command, through His voice, through this Mediator King. And he establishes by that, Winston, his Godhead. He's God. This mediator is not a mediator like David or Moses. He took not on him the nature of angels. He's not like an angel. He's God. And if he commands a thing, a thing comes to pass. It comes to pass. The voice of God. And then secondly, I want to talk to you a little bit about what he commands. And then if we had time, the results of what he speaks. All right, let's talk about this for a little bit, this voice and God said. And there's a lot of places we could go with this. It pleased God through the foolishness of preaching. It's always pleased God to use this thing of communication by voice. I don't know why that is. Because He's God and that's the way He purposed it to be. That's pretty much what it says, isn't it, over there in 1 Corinthians 1? It pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. How shall you hear without a preacher? Please God. And so He's going to bring about this creation of all things, this stage on which He's going to manifest this redemption and manifest this preaching and manifest this salvation, and He's going to bring it about the same way. He speaks. He speaks. God speaks. And I tell you, we could just go on and on and on with that. What if God didn't speak? There was 400 years, they tell me, between the Old Testament and the New, and in my Bible, it calls that the 400 silent years. God didn't have anything to say. Think about that. Where would you be, John, if God didn't speak? Huh? Where would you be? Where would you be? The voice of religion didn't change anything, did it? The voice of your parents didn't change anything. The voice of the preacher didn't change anything. What changed? The voice of God. That's what brings about the change. That's what brings things to be, the voice of God. It's the voice of God. Only God can command and the winds and the waves obey His voice. He stood up in that boat and He said, Peace be still. Man, that sea was a perfect calm. It was a storm a few minutes before. They feared for their life. Perfect calm. What did He do? He just spoke. He just spoke. Peace be still. He was still. The psalmist said, He commanded and it was done. It was finished. Think about that. We want things to come about through evolution, don't we? I don't know how many of these old... Something happens when a man goes to seminary. He goes brain dead or something. But they go in there and they come out of there and they start twisting the book of Genesis around somehow to include I've never heard such nonsense in all my life. He spoke and it was done. It was done. But I'll tell you this, it goes past that. Turn with me real quick over to Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 11. If I'm repetitious in some of these scriptures, I apologize, but I can't remember from week to week what I quote and what I don't quote. But on this subject that I'm on, I want you to see this in verse 3. He says, "...through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Now that's what we understand. That's what faith comprehends. I don't know what man comes up with, but that's what faith comprehends. Faith believes God, and God's Word declares that He created by His voice out of nothing. And it was there. It was there. Only God can command, and the elements obey Him. And I keep reminding both you and myself that this is the voice of Christ. This is the voice of the Mediator King. And this is something we need to learn because I don't know what it is. I guess it's my religious upbringing. But in my mind, I'll be thinking all along about voices and dreams like he spoke to his prophets and voices just all kinds of different things that I've heard and read from my childhood, and I think about these things. But I want you to think from now on, and I'll just keep trying to hammer it home, both for myself and for you. The voice of God is a person. God has spoken unto us in these last days, and if you look at that thing in the Scripture, it's in italics there in Hebrews chapter 1, where it says, They don't say that. It says, by, or it says, spoken unto us, let me read it to you. I'm going to misquote it. Hebrews chapter 1. Verse 2, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by, see that word his? It's in italics. What that means when it's in italics is The people who wrote the Bible added that to the original to make it read smooth. That's what that means. And so you can lift it out without doing any damage whatsoever to the verse. So read it this way. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by sun. You see what I'm saying? That's the language of God. It's sun language. That's how He speaks. That's how he speaks. He speaks in Christ. Russell, you can learn everything there is to learn about prophecies and history and genealogies and all these things and not know nothing. Everything worth knowing about God, you learn in Christ. God has made Him to be unto us wisdom. Number one. Wisdom. Would you understand creation? Understand it in Christ. Would you understand the fall of man? Understand it in Christ. Would you understand election? Understand it in Christ. You see what I'm saying? Because this is the language of which God speaks to His people in Christ. In Christ. God, man of spoke. He alone speaks for God. Everything that comes to pass in time must come to pass by His authority. Because it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. And He's not a son or some son or even a special son. He's God over all, Paul said, blessed forever. That's what He is. All them Jews hated that. They were looking for another David. They were just looking for this guy just like our generation looks for that man of sin. They're still looking for an individual who's going to pop up here one of these days and, man, he's going to be incarnate evil. And he's been around there ever since the beginning. He's been around the whole time. He's in religion. He's the Antichrist. He's the Antichrist. And so they looked for the Redeemer, and they looked for Him, and they looked for Him in a man, which He did come as a man, but He was the God-man. And they were looking for one like David to come in and establish earthly kingdoms and all this. And all the while, all the while, this thing is a spiritual kingdom. All the while, God is manifesting His name. All the while, he's doing all these things in creation, doing all these things in promise of this Messiah that would come. God speaks through him. Everything in time, every prophecy ever to him give all the prophets witness. John said in his, I think it's in II John, about midway through 2 John, he warns about many deceivers. He said, many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ has come into the flesh. Confess not that God has appeared on this earth in the person of Jesus Christ. That's what he's talking about. They abide not. They abide not in the doctrine of Christ. And they don't confess the purpose of God in His condescension as a man. They see no purpose in that. They do not confess the glory of God in His manhood. They do not confess the sufficiency of His condescension. And they do not confess the victory or the necessity of it. They abide not in the doctrine of Christ. And that's what I'm laboring to preach to you tonight is this doctrine of Christ. The doctrine of Christ is everything that has to do with Christ from His election and appointment in eternity as the mediator to His fulfillment of it in eternity future. All these things. This is the doctrine of Christ. And so God speaks through him. And to mediate, He must create, and what He creates must be in harmony with the will and purpose of God. And so it brings us to this thing of creation. God speaks. What did He speak? What He purposed to say in eternity. That's what He speaks. What He's always going to speak. He's never going to speak about anything else. Folks talk about, I'm convicted over my cigarettes. You're not convicted of God over them. I don't know who's convicted me. The only thing God has to say to you concerns Christ. And concerning Christ, He'll convict you of your sins. But you know why you're going to be convicted of your sins? Because you believe not on Christ. Isn't that what it says? That's right. That's exactly what it says over in John chapter 16. Alright, here's the second thing. Let me get on to this. God speaks and He says, Let there be light. Let there be light. Now I tell you, if you had the tongues of men and angels, you couldn't comprehend or tell the scope of what that word right there says. Light. Suppose God left everything in darkness. Suppose He didn't command light. Where would the glory be? Where would the purpose be? to manifest the purpose of God, to fulfill the purpose of God, to do the will of God, to do any of these things, necessitates light. Light. Over in John chapter 1, when he talks about the Word and then he talks about all the creation, he said, "...in Him was life, and this life is the light of men." It's the light. He's the light. Let there be light. And apart from this commandment, nobody but God Himself could ever see this glory. It cannot be comprehended in darkness. Man can't comprehend it. That's why Paul wrote that over there in 1 Corinthians 2.14 about the natural man. You can't comprehend God in darkness. If He don't send you light, you're not going to comprehend what He's saying. You're not going to seek Him. You're not going to be led to repentance. You're not going to be led to faith. You're not going to have any of those things happen unless God speaks and gives you light. Because we're in darkness. We're in darkness. And that's the position of the world. That's where it was at. Over in Acts chapter 17, he talks about God and creation over in Acts chapter 17, but he describes man in this creation as him that happily feels after God. He feels after God because he's in darkness. If he knew God and knew how God manifested Hisself and had light, he wouldn't feel after Him. He'd call on Him. He knows who He is. He'd call on His name. But he don't. He feels after God. And I want you to think about that for a little bit because Satan knows that he feels after God in his darkness and everything Satan uses to deceive him has to do with his feelings. I remember a little story Henry used to tell about this fella. These two got into it and they were just going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. And finally the Armenian preacher said, hang on. He said, hang on. He said, I'll tell you what. He said, let me try to tell you this way. He said, salvation is like a large gray elephant. And God's people are blind. And he said, and one of them has a hold of the trunk. And he's feeling the trunk of that elephant. And he's describing what he feels. And the other one has a hold of his tail. And he's trying to describe what he... And the other one has a hold of his leg, the old fat leg of this elephant, and he's trying to describe what he feels. He said, now that's salvation. And the grace preacher told him, he said, well, he said, I've got a couple problems with that. And he said, what's that? He said, first of all, salvation hasn't got anything in common with a large gray elephant. And he said, number two, God's people aren't blind. They're not blind. Religion describes all these varying circumstances and has divisions about what they believe because they're feeling after God in the darkness. They can't see Him. It takes the commandment of God to turn on the light. It takes the voice of God to turn on the light. And I'm going to throw away my notes here and finish this up like this. Twice, In verse 2 of Genesis chapter 1, you're going to see this tiny little word called face. F-A-C-E, face. Darkness was upon the face of the deep. You see it there? And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Whose face is that? What's he talking about? Is that just a figure of speech? The Holy Spirit just using a figure of speech? They're talking about the face of the deep and the face of... He's talking about that face of the mediator that was created in this perfect earth before Satan corrupted it and cast it into chaos. That's what he's talking about. And he can't... He shrouded it in darkness. He shrouded it, whether it be the purpose of God or an actual creation. I don't know. Some folks go one way, some go the other there in Genesis 1. But regardless of what it means, it still means this. That Satan, whatever it was that God had manifest in that beautiful, perfect creation, Satan had shrouded in darkness. That's his business. Why would he shroud it in darkness? Because he thought himself more fitting. to be that mediatorial king than a God-man. That's why. That's why. That's exactly why. He said, I'll ascend and sit in the seat of the congregation. I'll be like the Most High. And God cast him out into the earth And here it is. Here it is. His presence in the earth with His demons and those angels that were cast, it says in one of the books of Peter, reserved in chains of darkness. That's where they're at. They're in darkness. And He shrouds everything in darkness that has to do with this redemptive purpose of God. And yet, in creation is the face of the Redeemer. In creation is the face of the Mediator King. Everything in it reflects His face. And then I want you to notice this. The first mention of the face tells you where the darkness is. Where is it at? On the face of the deep. Paul said, we preach the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God hid before the foundation of the world for your glory. As it is written, I have not seen or heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But he hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit, yea, even the what? Deep things of God. Ain't that what he says? Hidden in this darkness. What's hidden in creation? Paul says in Romans 1, the Godhead is not hidden. He can know from the things that are made, His eternal power and Godhead. The Godhead is not hidden in creation. What did He hide? He hid the purpose of God in redemption. He hid the Redeemer's face. And His face over the deep. Darkness was on that. Darkness was on that face. And the Spirit of God, it said, moved on the face of the waters. What's the waters? That's the Word of God. That's the waters of regeneration. That's the waters of the Gospel, what that is. Waters. And the Spirit of God moved on the waters. And He always does. It's the same thing in the new creation. Same thing in the new creation. Now, turn with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. And I'm going to show you that. 2 Corinthians 4. Everything I just told you about the old creation, listen to what Paul says here in 2 Corinthians 4, up here in verse 3. He said, If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Why? That the excellence of the glory might be of Him, not of us. Can you see the tie-in between creation and redemption? Between creation, between the order in which God is creating and speaking and bringing these things to pass, and the order of the new creation that's in you? The first business of God in the old creation was light. Has to be light. Purpose. And then light on that purpose. What's the first business in the new creation? Light. Light. You're not going to be convicted. You're not going to be interested. You're not going to be afraid. You're not going to be seeking. You're not going to be anything until God turns on the light. And when he turns on the light, he exposes what's there. He exposes what's there. And the power to bring it to pass, the Spirit of God moved on the waters. What part of the water did it move on, John? It says on the face. Whose face? His face. His face. And all from that day to this, He declares and manifests in the Word of God concerning Christ. He's the Rosetta Stone. He's the only way that you can enter into the counsels and purpose of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And He's all in redemption and He's all in creation. And Paul said over there in Colossians, He's all. Christ is all. He's all.