We are thinking during these weeks about connecting with God, about knowing Him intimately, about having that kind of relationship with God that strengthens and enlivens every aspect of our lives.

And this morning as we examine Genesis 1, I want us to be asking ourselves, is my concept of God too small? Do I truly know the Sovereign God who was and is and is to come? Do I know the God who simply spoke – and all came into being. Do I know the Creator of the heavens and the earth or am I still relating and worshipping a small God, for whom the riddles of life are too big, and the challenges of life are too large and the difficulties of life to overwhelming? Is my God the God revealed in Scripture who can do all things or is He too small?

Genesis one is a wonderful place to address this question because from the very start we are ushered into the presence of God and kept there throughout. God is mentioned no less than 32 times by name, 11 times by use of personal pronoun, 43 times in 31 verses. God. That’s the wonderful thing about Scripture it brings us into God’s presence and keeps us there.

Now what does the text tell us about God?

The text tells us first, that God is the sole Creator of the universe, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” For centuries humanity has been fascinated with the beginning of the universe. Theory after theory has been purposed as to how it all began. The most famous of course is the theory of evolution. We must understand that the theory of evolution is not a science it is a belief. Evolution is has as much to do with real science as the WWF wrestling has to do with real sport. I say this because the theory of evolution cannot be proven through the scientific method, through verifiable, repeatable experiment.

There are other theories, the Big Bang theory, the Quantum theory and many others. Glen will be reviewing some of these in more detail in his Sunday School class. Just let me say here that Science knows nothing about origins. Dr. Esau Grey once called the greatest botanist in the history of American Science once said, “A beginning is wholly beyond the kin and scope of science, which is concerned about how things go on and has nothing to say about how they begin.” 1

And it’s true - science knows nothing about origins. A scientist when speaking of origins can never say, “This is what we know”. He can only say, “This is what we think”. The Christian can say this is what we know, for we hear in Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

It is quite simple to demonstrate why a scientist can never speak with authority on the question of the origin of the universe. John Phillips pictures it for us and says, suppose a scientist stumbles across a clock with a pendulum and for the sake of the illustration, suppose the scientist has never seen a clock with a pendulum. He is intrigued. He observes the clock and sees that the pendulum is connected to the movement of the hand. He takes some measurements, and as he watches the pendulum he observes that the pendulum is gradually slowing down. With his equation he can actually tell you the exact moment when that pendulum will stop swinging. Now having tested his equation and found it accurate he changes some factors and begins to inquire into the past. He wants to know what happened before he came on the scene. And for a while the answers make sense. The further back in the past he goes the greater the swing of the pendulum, but if he goes back too far, he comes to a point where the pendulum according to his calculations will seem to swing in two directions at the same time, which is an absolute impossibility.

So he comes to the conclusion that while he can measure the laws that now govern the swing of that pendulum, those laws do not explain how it all started. On the contrary something quite different from what is now happening must have happened in the beginning in order to get it started in the first place. But what it was he doesn’t know.

He can come up with a theory. He can say, “I think this is how it started and I think it must have started about this time.” But he really doesn’t know. In fact the only way he could speak with any authority at all as to how that pendulum started in the first place would be if someone who was there when it happened were to tell him. In other words that kind of information is not derived by a process of reasoning but by a process of revelation.

It is exactly the same with the universe in which we live. Scientists can measure the laws that now govern the material universe. But those laws do not explain how it happened. Science knows nothing of origins. In fact the only way they could know for sure how it started would be if someone who was there when it happened were to tell them.

Well, somebody was there when it happened - the Holy Spirit and He tells us in God’s Word that God created the heavens and the earth. So we have to decide whether we are going to take the word of some man who doesn’t know any way and can only guess and usually guesses wrong and is the first to admit if he is honest that what he is thinking today is not what he was thinking ten years ago, and what he is thinking today probably will not be what he will be thinking ten years from now. Just read yesterday’s Toronto Star about bright young Canadian astronomer Roberto Abraham who has discovered that the universe began much earlier than anyone suspected, and that the universe matured more quickly than believed. We can either take the word of some man as to how it happened, whose theories change with each new power added to a telescope, or we can accept the word of God as to how it happened.

Either way it has to be taken by faith. Strange how some people would rather take the word of some man than the word of the living God.

There are some who say that the text does not tell us HOW God created the heavens and the earth. When in fact it tells us very clearly. “And God said…. And God said… And God said” Psalm 33:6 reads, “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”

Genesis 1 teaches us that God is the sole creator of the heavens and the earth - He spoke and all came to be.

Let me ask you, is your God too small? Is your faith in the great God who created all things or is your God subservient to science. Can you see that He is the one who has set the order of the universe in place that He is the one who gave the world its design and balance? Is your faith firmly based on the Creator who simply spoke a word and all came into being?

Think about the power of His word - Is there a promise in Scripture that you have read and you’ve said to yourself, “That’s not for me. God may have said that, but he was saying that to someone else."

Perhaps it is James 4:8 “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” and you say, "Surely God was not meaning me. He can’t draw near to me."

Or maybe you read Malachi 3:10 and it says “bring the whole tithe into the storehouse … and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” And we say, "That isn’t what God really meant. That’s not for me."

Or we read in Mark 1:17, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." And we say, "That’s not really for me. He can’t make me to be an influence and persuader of people."

Or I was reminded on Friday night of Proverbs 3:4 – “Trust in the Lord will all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”

My friends sometimes our God is too small. He is the sole Creator of the universe who simply spoke and all came into being. And when He makes a promise to you in Scripture you can know it is for you. You can trust Him for He is big enough and strong enough to deliver on His promises.

But not only is He the sole Creator. Genesis 1 teaches us that He is sovereign over His creation. In the beginning God – the Hebrew word used there is Elohim which denotes majesty. You see God is king, He is the sovereign over all creation.

There are those who insist on worshipping creation. There are those who bow down to the sun, others worship trees or the animals of the woods or beasts of the field or the birds of the air. But over against this Genesis 1 rises up and declares God and God alone is sovereign. He alone is king of the cosmos. He has established order, everything exists because of His expressed will, purposes and word - so He is the one to be worshipped.

There are some who suggest that Genesis 1 is a shadow, a faint copy of ancient near-eastern myths. And really it's wrong thinking, for Genesis 1 is so far beyond these myths. That’s the way it is with truth, it far outshines myth and falsehood.

But think – have you ever wondered why the sun and the moon are not called by name in verse 16? They are only called the great light and the lesser light. It has been suggested that neighbouring cultures worshipped the sun and moon as gods. Genesis 1 makes it clear that they are not gods but simply lights made by the one true living, creator God.

Or consider verse 21, there the word “created” is used in relation to the great creatures of the sea. It’s a special word reserved for the creation of the heavens and the earth and humanity, everything else in this text is “made”. Why use this special word in connection with the great creatures of the sea? It seems that in other creation stories the creator had to conquer sea monsters in order to create. Genesis 1 says – God is the sovereign so He doesn’t need to conquer them because He created them – they owe their life to Him.

He spoke and they came into being. Do you hear the constant refrain? Not only, And God said, but “It was so”, “It was so”. God is sovereign, His word is legislative and executive.

Have you seen the new reality show staring Donald Trump called 'The Apprentice"? I’ve tuned in a couple of times to see these young men and woman wanna-be executives win the privilege of running one of Donald Trump’s companies. And at the close of each show they come in before Donald Trump – the king of business world – and these young wanna-bes are maneuvering, jockeying for approval of the one who holds power over their futures.

I ask you in light of Genesis 1, who is Donald Trump? Nothing. Who am I? Nothing next to the sovereign God who created the world and rules over it with power, might and majesty.

Is your God too small? Is He the King and ruler of your life? Do you serve Him? OR does He serve you and your wishes? Do you tell Him when you will serve and worship and how you will serve? Do you tell Him how much you will give? Do you say to Him when you will worship? Or do you serve Him; do you take your lead from Him? Is God the one in command of your life, does He have the rightful place of sovereign of your life, even as He is sovereign over creation? Is your God too small?

It follows from this that Genesis not only teaches us that God is sole creator, not only that God is sovereign but that God is separate from creation. Hear the other phrase that is repeated throughout this chapter, not only, God said. Not only “it was so” but the phrase, “So God made”. God is one who omnipotent, transcendent, in the world but not of the world. He is completely separate.

The question that arises is, Who made God? If God is the sole creator, and sovereign and separate from creation, who made God? Several answers suggest themselves.

We could say that X made God. But that would mean that X was God and we would have to ask who made X? Then we could say that B made X who in turn made God – well who made B? So the question simply goes on and on and on.

The second answer is a bit more helpful. And that is to suggest that the question is invalid. By asking who made God we imply that He can be “made”. I would suggest that they are two words – one an adjective and the other a noun that really don’t belong together. It’s like speaking of green sound or a square taste. A made God is nothing at all. Wood made from plastic is not really wood, and a made God is not really God.

Thirdly, I would suggest it is not a question that we can ask about God because He is separate from creation. Think of something that you have made, say a piece of art, or a piece of furniture, or a something that you have created, say a table centre for the Ladies' Advent Tea. Now I ask myself as I think of the table centre I made with the tractors and the little people and the houses there – I ask myself several questions about my creation –

Am I part of the table centre? No, I am separate from it.

Am I reflected in it? Yes, the John Deere tractors reflect my hobby and my personality.

Did I exist before the table centre? Yes.

Does the table centre depend on me or do I depend on it? Surely the table centre depends on me for its creation and sustenance. I do not depend on it; I was able to walk away from it. So as creator I was independent of it, of its space, of its matter and of its time.

So God is outside of His creation. He does not depend on it. He is not part of our time, or space or matter. He is involved in it and He is reflected in creation but He is not part of it. So when we try to think of God being created we have to say it’s not a question we can ask of God. For He is separate from creation.

Psalm 90:2 says, “From everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

And in Revelation we read God described as the one “who was and is and is to come.” (4:8)

Can you see God as totally separate from Creation? OR is your God one is constantly surprised by wars, and terrorism and famine and disease and unable to cope with all that this world faces and what we face as individuals? Or do you understand that God is not a part of this world and is able to over come all that is evil and destructive in this world?

So the question for us this morning – “Is my God, is your God too small?” Sometimes He is – my narrow and weak faith sometimes makes God out to be one who is - unable to do that which He says He will do, less than the great creator of the universe, less than a king and more of servant of our whims and desires, less than being totally separate from the universe but dependent on it; less than the great God of the universe who created everything. Is your God too small?

One more thing – as I think about the men and women of faith - the churches - who have made the greatest impact in this world, whether it be building hospitals, sharing the gospel, feeding the hungry, housing the orphaned, reaching a high school with the gospel of Jesus Christ, helping seniors know that they are loved and part of a caring community, or planting a church in another community.

People who have made the greatest impact in this world for the kingdom are people who have had a vision of the greatness of God, for whom nothing is impossible, who is able – who is able – who is able do abundantly more than we ask or imagine – who is the creator God who with a word of His creates, who is sovereign, who is able to do all things because He is not hindered or surprised by this world.

It is my prayer that as you seek to know God, as you seek to live for him, that we as a church seek to minister in this community that you would know the truth that it is not a great faith that is needed but faith in a great God that is needed.

1. Quoted by Dr. John Phillips in his sermon on Colossians 1 preached at the Stephen Olford Institute for Biblical Preaching May 21, 1996. I am also indebted to Dr. Phillips for the illustration of the pendulum. It was given in that same sermon.