Believe it or not, even we desert rats get “spring fever.” Even
when spring brings words like dry, brown, dusty, and WIND (which must be
capitalized...you know why if you’ve ever experienced it). I want to hit the
trails and run. Partly because it’s warmer outside and I like the warmth, but
also because it’s Monday. Monday’s the day I start work on the sermon for the
following Sunday, and I’m preaching through Genesis 1 right now.
I love what our Creator has made, and I love being out in
it. Before dawn this morning I started sermon prep the way I always do when I’m
preaching from the Old Testament – I make sure I’m looking at Jesus, because I
don’t want to miss Him.
Now that I think about it, this is true when reading the Old
Testament or when reading the revelation of nature. I don’t want to miss the
point while staring at the Word right in front of me.
So, before dawn, I re-read the text of Genesis and reminded
myself that Creation is Trinitarian. This is the full depth of its glory.
“...there is but one God, the Father, from Whom are all
things and we exist for Him” (1 Corinthians 8:6). God the Creator is God
the Father. Out my early morning window Ursa Minor slowly crawls the sky...most
mornings of the year I look out over the cup of coffee I hold near my beard and
think, “my Father Who is in heaven put that there...and I’m thankful!”
But it’s not just the Father. God is one, but He is three
Persons. The Son Whose earthly life earned my justification and Whose death
paid my debt is the very Word by which all this beautiful creation has been
made. “...God said...” (10 times in Genesis 1!). This is the only Savior
of lost humanity, the King of kings and Lord of lords Who has all authority in
heaven and on earth. He is the Word of creation. He is the eternal God the Son
Who is one God with the Father but is not the Father. He is the Son.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came
into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has
come into being” (John 1:1-3)
“For [the Father] rescued us from the domain of
darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in Whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn [a statement of authority – see Psalm 89:27] of all creation. For
by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things
have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him
all things hold together” (Colossians 1:13-17).
“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the
prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us
in His Son, Whom He appointed heir of all things, through Whom also He made the
world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His
nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:1-3).
The Creation moves me to praise this Son Who is the Word of
Creation.
God the Holy Spirit is there, too. “...the Spirit of God was
moving over the surface of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). He is the breath of
God Who brings the Word forth to create out of nothing. We see them together in
the song of the Psalmist: “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and
by the breath of His mouth all their host” (33:6).
The Hebrew רוח (and
the Greek πνευμα in the New Testament) is translated “Spirit,” “breath,” and
“wind.” I think of that often in the desert springtime, when the wind
threatens to carry us all off. A lot of folks here grumble about it, but I love
it. I think of Him Who moves as He wills and brings the dead to life. We cannot
see Him, but we certainly know His effects.
“Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one
is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God
Monday morning. Coffee. The beauty of the Creation. The
Trinity. The full revelation of the Word of God.
And my salvation.
“The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out
by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it
was full of bones. He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there
were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. He
said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ And I answered, ‘O Lord GOD,
You know.’ Again He said to me, ‘Prophesy over these bones and say to them, “O
dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.” Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, “Behold,
I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews
on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you
that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.”’ So I
prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and
behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I
looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them;
but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath,
prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Come
from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to
life.’”’ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and
they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army”
(Ezekiel 37:1-10; cf. James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23-25)
By the will of God, His Word fills us with the Spirit and we
live.
Spring fever. I love being outside. Even if “outside” is the
desert in the springtime. As magnificently glorious as the creation is, it
tells of an infinitely deeper and glorious Reality. One I look forward to
enjoying with all my being forever and ever and ever...
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| Dust storm, July 2013 |
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