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 Sermon > Genesis Lectures |
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Title |
Lecture on Genesis Ver.2(44) - The Creation - The Seventh Day - Part I |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Genesis 2:1-3 |
Date |
2010-08-13 |
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Scripture
Genesis 2:1-3
[1] Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.
[2] 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.
[3] Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is the 44th Lecture on Genesis.
For 6 days, God the Creator accomplished the works of Creation.
The earth was created before the 6 days of Creation, and then completely covered by the water of life.
And finally the work of God's Creation took place on this earth.
On the 1st day as God said, "Let there be light", the original light of creation surrounded the earth and all around.
Even though the earth was the fleshly space, when it was surround by this original light, it began to ride within the spiritual time flow.
In addition, as it was surrounded by the original light, the natural law, orders and principles were set up in this fleshly space, and a foundation that the power and divine nature of God would be put into all the future creatures was laid.
On the 2nd day of Creation, the water of life that had covered the earth was divided and an expanse in the midst of the waters was created.
The waters below the expanse became sea waters, and the waters above the expanse became the water vapor in the atmosphere.
The waters above the expanse also flowed into the 2nd Heaven, which is a spiritual realm, to become the source of the rivers in the Garden of Eden.
On the 3rd day of Creation, a huge depression was formed near the North Pole, and all the waters gathered there. At the same time dry land appeared in the South Pole.
As God called the waters which gathered in one place 'the seas'. They became salty as they came to contain dissolved salts,.
Likewise, on the 3rd day, the sea was one, and the dry land was one.
On this 3rd day, God made the earth to bring forth all kinds of vegetation; the plants and the trees.
By doing this, without the existence of the sunlight yet, God provided for the plants to survive solely by the power of God.
On the 4th day of Creation, the sun, the moon, and stars were created.
Here, 'stars' refer to the stars that are within our galaxy, but countless other stars were created before 'the beginning' when the space was one.
After the sun, the moon, and stars were created, the earth was set in motion to function according to physical law.
As its result, signs, seasons, days, and years came into being on earth.
Many kinds of atmospheric phenomena appeared, and geological movements also took place.
As result, the land which was originally one, split up and divided into many pieces (or plates).
Before the 5th day, the earth came to have the basic framework which was similar to current structure with the 5 oceans and 6 continents.
This is why in Genesis 'the waters in the seas' is described as it is on the 5th day Creation.
When these environments were set, on the same day, God created fish in the seas, and birds in the air.
Genesis 1:21 says that 'every living thing that moves with which the waters swarmed' was created on the 5th day.
I explained that not only fish but all kinds of creatures that live in the waters were also created together.
This also includes the aquatic plants that cannot survive outside of the water.
One of these examples is phytoplankton.
They are single cell-gonidium that live in the waters.
Through the process of photosynthesis they utilize sunlight to produce oxygen.
Though they are too small to be seen individually, their total population is so huge.
The amount of oxygen that these phytoplankton produce makes up almost 50-70% of oxygen of the entire earth.
Considering that Amazon forest produces 20% of the earth's oxygen, then it is safe to think of phytoplankton as being a huge oxygen generating factory in the seas.
When fish were created in the beginning, it was phytoplankton that these fish ate.
At that time, fish didn't prey on other fish, this phytoplankton was their food.
This phytoplankton is still the food for many fish as their source of energy.
On the 6th day of Creation, land animals and man were created.
Land animals were grouped into three categories from the beginning; wild animals, cattle, and creeping things on the ground.
Of course, among the animals that were created on that day, some have become extinct.
Some others have a different look from their original appearance.
After this earth was cursed, their vicious and toxic attributes became strong, which resulted in changing of their appearances.
Just as a man looks scary when he is angry, when their vicious attributes became stronger, their outward appearance was changed.
However, it doesn't mean that they evolved.
Evolutionism claims that some fish evolved into land animals, and some land animals evolved into birds.
The fact is, however, that God created all fish, birds, and land animals after their kind from the beginning.
The highlight of the work of Creation was that God the Trinity created man in Their own image and likeness.
When we get to Genesis 2:7, I will explain in great detail how God created man.
Dear brothers and sisters.
After finishing the 6 days of the works of Creation, God proclaimed in Genesis 2:1 that 'the heavens and the earth were completed and all their hosts.'
Here, 'the heavens and the earth were completed and all their hosts' refer to those things which belong to the fleshly space of the 1st heaven.
It means, therefore, all the things necessary for human cultivation in the fleshly space had been prepared.
Suppose that the earth was a building, it means the building is finished and completely furnished and ready for occupancy.
The heavens and the earth and all their hosts also includes the sun, the moon, and the stars of our galaxy which have a direct affect the earth.
In other words it means that all the conditions which are necessary for human cultivation were prepared through the works of the 6 days of Creation.
Isaiah 40:26 says, "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 all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing."
It is said that there are about 350,000 kinds of plants, and a million varieties of animals on earth.
God created these various kinds of plants and animals.
The heavens and the earth were completed along with their hosts by the great power and authority of God.
By the way, all the things that God created on earth are the models of the things in the Heavenly Kingdom.
Based on what is in Heaven, God created the things on earth.
Therefore, if you look at the things on earth in spirit, you can find Heaven in them.
It means you can sense the heart and delicate love of God, and His divine nature and power.
After finishing the 6 day's work of Creation, God rested on the 7th day.
For this, Genesis 2:2 says, "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."
How did God rest on this 7th day-
When God saw what He created during the 6 days, He was pleased in His heart, and He was satisfied.
And thus, God the Father laughed with joy, and His laughter was big enough to shake all the heavens and the earth.
Upon seeing Him, the angels praised His holy name and sang to His glory with beautiful songs and playing.
This was the scene as God rested on the 7th day after He finished the 6 days of the works of Creation.
Let me introduce a part of the praise which angels sang to God on that day.
"…the LORD, who is perfect in all things, who is complete and beautiful, so beautiful
Who owns all things, and moves all things, who stood alone as beautiful Light
Let us praise Him for He accomplished all things
Upon His will as He harbored, He presented such mysterious things in great detail, and created all the beautiful things
He took great delight from all the things created, He is inspired in His heart, and He let us praise His beauty as He laughs.
The heart of the Creator is contained in the beautiful flowers and the songs sung by the birds
Even in a particle of dust, and soil of the earth, the will of the Creator is contained.
Let us praise the LORD who accomplished all things in His providence
Truly He shines when alone, who is perfect and beautiful, yet He created us, let us praise the Creator who created us
He imprinted His will in the beautiful petals of flowers, and He put meanings in the beauty of the stars, the sun, and the moon.
He created the beauty in nature and made all the things to follow in accordance with natural law and principles
He put meanings even in the most minute things; let us praise His touch that created all things
Let us praise the LORD who created all things so beautifully to accomplish His will and His providence! Let us praise Him!
Praise Him. Praise He Who stood alone and moved the whole space and resounded in such a huge and vast space with the splendor of His voice
He had His providence and will; Let us praise the Creator who created all things one by one putting His heart into them
He put His beautiful heart into the beauty of the blades of grass, the flowers, and even their individual petals.
The LORD put His heart into the chirpings of a tiny bird and into the countenance of animals
Even into a small rock, He imprinted His will
Let us praise the LORD who did all these things..
Let us praise the name of the Creator
As He planned
He did all these things before the days when He endures so long to complete human cultivation.
Let us praise the LORD who takes delight and rejoices, and becomes touched for all the things He have done
We came to exist as the Creator had will, and thus all things were created; let us praise His name
Let us praise His power for being complete"
God Himself came down to the 1st heaven, and finished all the works of the 6 days of Creation.
But He didn't return to the 4th heaven; He stayed on earth through the 7th day and rested.
Dear brothers and sisters.
There is spiritual meaning contained in God's rejoicing on the 7th day.
When things are done well and the result is good, people take pleasure in it.
And they receive comfort and reward for the things done well.
God has divinity and humanity together. When God saw that all the preparation work to get true children through human cultivation had been finished well, He rejoiced and became delighted in it.
He rested, and received praise and glory in full.
It will be the same when we get to Heaven in the future.
Since it will the time after His goal is achieved, He will accept an even greater emotion and joy than He received on this 7th day.
The souls who have successfully been through human cultivation and received salvation, will finally get true rest.
They will be awarded as they had sown and worked on earth.
2 Peter 3:8 says, "But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day."
God finished the 6 days of creation works, and He rested on the 7th day.
After 6,000 year long human cultivation is over, there will be a period of rest for a thousand years.
The environment of the entire earth will be restored to the state that it was just as it was created in the beginning.
The environment which God saw and became fully satisfied and pleased with will be restored.
All the children of God who receive salvation will spend one thousand years happily on earth.
Once these 1,000 years is up, there will the Great Final Judgment, and you will enter into the Heavenly kingdom, the eternal dwelling place.
Finally, God the Father can stay forever with His true children He has wished.
As God the Father rested on earth on the 7th day, He thought of the days of the Millennium Kingdom.
Imagining of the days when He would be together with the children of faith whom He will get after the long waiting, His heart became full of happiness.
His heart also became filled with joy as He thought of the moment when He would give the houses and rewards that He has prepared for His children as they enter into eternal Heaven.
God the Father has not only divinity, but also humanity.
And so, His heart moves as He sees a thing of beauty.
He also has the heart of a father, and He becomes happy just thinking of His children.
He wishes to give a good house to His children, and He wishes to provide only the best things as they need them.
However, He planned the human cultivation and did the Creation works because He has to accomplish all things in justice.
After the 6 days of Creation work, the ground for human cultivation was ready, and so God the Father was so pleased and rejoiced.
Now, Genesis 2:3 says, "Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."
God blessed the 7th day and sanctified it.
Therefore, those who keep the Sabbath holy can received blessing.
To keep the Sabbath holy doesn't only mean to just go to church on the Sabbath day and to attend a worship service.
Keeping the Sabbath is to feel the heart of God who rested on the 7th day and to worship Him from the depth of our hearts.
It is to believe that God created the heavens and the earth and all things in them, and to praise and worship Him.
Isaiah 56:2 says, "How blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who takes hold of it; who keeps from profaning the Sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil."
As said, God the Father surely gives blessing to those who remember the Sabbath and keep it.
Also, Ezekiel 20:20 says, "Sanctify My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God."
It means that God considers it as the evidence of faith to keep the Sabbath holy.
Therefore, you should understand that to keep the Sabbath is the minimal way to show your faith that you believe God is the Creator of the heavens and the earth and all things in them.
I've explained many times what it is to keep the Sabbath holy in other messages.
The core of keeping the Sabbath holy is to feel the heart of God the Father who rested on the 7th day of Creation and to worship Him from the depth of heart.
You should give glory to God not only in the services but also in the meetings and during the works that take place on the Sabbath.
To those who keep the Sabbath well with perfect heart and holy deeds, the blessing that God promised will be surely given.
Dear brothers and sisters.
The 7th day of Creation, the Sabbath was actually Saturday.
The first day of Creation was Sunday.
If you look at most calendars, the first day of the week is Sunday, and the last, the 7th day, is Saturday.
In the Old Testament days, Saturday was the Sabbath.
Those who are Jewish who don't accept Jesus as their Savior, and the Islamic still keep Saturday as the Sabbath.
Then, from what point has Sunday become the Sabbath, and what is the reason-
On the first day, God said, "Let there be light," and surrounded the earth with the original light of creation.
It was to proclaim the sovereignty of God who is light itself throughout the whole universe.
At the same time, it was to proclaim the sovereignty of the Lord, Jesus Christ.
John 1:9 says, "There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man."
This true light was Jesus Christ, who was in the very nature of God, and the word Himself who came to this earth in flesh.
Then, Matthew 12:8 says, "For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
As said, the Lord who is true light is Lord of the Sabbath.
Just as there was light on the 1st day of Creation, the first of the week, Sunday, is the day when the Lord, who is true light, shines to the whole world.
It was the day when He opened the door to salvation to all mankind by breaking the authority of death and resurrecting,
He became the true light of life to those who lived in the darkness of death and suffering.
From that moment on, we attained the hope of resurrection, and have been able to enjoy the true rest.
This is why we have come to keep Sunday as the Sabbath, and as the Lord's Day.
After the Lord resurrected, we finally came to keep the true Sabbath.
As you can see, Genesis 1:3, which reads, "Let there be light," and Matthew 12:8, which reads, "the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath" go together as a pair.
These verses explain the spiritual reason to keep Sunday as the Sabbath.
Besides, God already made a record in the Old Testament that Sunday would become the Sabbath.
Leviticus 23:10-12 says, "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. Now on the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old without defect for a burnt offering to the LORD.'"
Here, since the Sabbath was Saturday, the day after the Sabbath refers to Sunday, which is the day after Saturday.
Also, "a male lamb one year old without defect" spiritually refers to the Lamb of God, that is the Lord, Jesus Christ.
In addition, "the sheaf of the first fruits" also refers to Jesus Christ, who is the first fruit of resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:20 says, "But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep."
After the resurrection of Jesus, we have been able to enjoy the true rest.
As the Lord broke the authority of death and resurrected, human beings were given the hope of resurrection and eternal life.
As you accept Jesus Christ and receive the Holy Spirit as a gift, the dead spirit in you comes to life, and this is the spiritual resurrection.
You are then called a child of God and enjoy the rest.
However, the rest on this earth is not the perfect rest.
Therefore, God has prepared the eternal and perfect resting place, called the 'Heavenly Kingdom.'
Besides the spiritual resurrection, you come to enjoy an eternal and perfect rest through another resurrection.
As the Lord comes in the air, our body will change into an imperishable body and meet the Lord in the air.
This is the physical resurrection.
After the spiritual and physical resurrection, you will eternally rest.
Since there is a hope for resurrection like this, you can enjoy the true rest of the spirit.
As explained, Sunday is the day when Jesus Christ, the lord of the Sabbath, gives the true rest as He was resurrected.
And you call Sunday 'the Lord's Day.'
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
In this lecture, I explained that God rested on the 7th day after He finished the 6 days of the works of Creation.
I also told you that you should correctly understand the true meaning of Sabbath and keep it holy.
To keep the Sabbath holy, there are some deeds you should not do.
However, there is a more important aspect than whether or not you do something outwardly.
It is, 'with what kind of heart are you keeping the Sabbath'.
The core of keeping the Sabbath holy is to feel the heart of God who rested on that day and to worship God from the depth of heart.
The heart of God who rejoiced and took pleasure after creating the heavens and the earth and everything in them to get true children;
You should feel such a heart of God, and give thanks for all things and give glory to God in all you do.
Romans 12:1 says, "..present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship."
As said, if you truly hope for New Jerusalem, you should present a holy sacrifice, which is a spiritual service of worship not only on Sunday, but also on all the other days.
Keep your body and heart holy, and follow the good, pleasing, and prefect will of God the Father.
In doing so, may you enter into New Jerusalem as you get to heaven so that you may enjoy the best rest and happiness, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
[Amen!!!] |
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