Pastor Tim Brown, Calvary Chapel Fremont, Sunday July 24, 2011

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    The Big Picture

    Genesis 1:1

We just finished Revelation/saw how it all ends.  Now - how it all began.  From creation to the consummation of all things in Christ.     

Baxter: creation/fall/flood/Babel/Abraham/Isaac/Jacob/Joseph

1

In our study of the Scriptures we don’t begin by asking the question, “What is this saying to me?”  As a pastor, I don’t even begin w/ the question, “God, what are you saying to the church?”  Our beginning point in the study of Scripture is “What was the Holy Spirit saying through Moses to the generation in which he wrote?”  Was Moses writing to refute the atheistic theory of evolution/establish the age of the earth?  Genesis has bearing on these questions, but wasn’t written w/these things in mind.  What did Moses have in mind as he wrote this?

The overwhelming majority of the books of Moses is the story of the people of God.  C1-2 Creation/C3-11 All mankind/C12ff People of God.  The 1st 11 C of Genesis all lead to the reason for Israel/unique role they will play in history.  God wants Israel to see their place in the grand scheme of things – wants them to see the big picture.

The Bible is a big picture book.  The Bible just doesn’t say: “Do this/that.” When it commands/promises/rebukes/encourages it tells us why this is said/Who is saying it.  Israel is to understand who they are in the light not just of history, but of God.   

Purpose of Genesis: never lose the big picture.  Here is the God who made/chose you.  Wherever you go/whatever you do – never forget the God who made/chose you.  He wants them to know the character of God.  What great counsel for us: never lose the big picture.  It is so easy for your frame of reference to become so small that all you can see is what is immediately in front of you.   

Ex. 14:13-15  Red Sea – Go forward!  “Moses, I have given you the big picture.  Why are you stuck in the little picture?”  The Bible is a big picture book because God is a big picture God.  What could be a bigger picture/broader canvas than G1:1?

The Bible begins w/ the big picture of God.  The Bible doesn’t begin w/ the grace/love/mercy of God, but the power of God.  Moses is overwhelmed w/ the power of God.  This God has no rivals/equals/ comparisons.  He does not sit at the head of a council of gods/He is not first among equals/He is not King of the Realm of Light and an equally powerful figure sits as King of the Realm of Darkness.  He is unique/unequalled/unrivaled.  Moses is floored by this God.   

God revealed Himself to Moses in creation.  God reveals Himself to us in Christ.  Surely ours is a much greater revelation as sunlight is to moonlight.  Moses saw God’s power; we see power/love/grace.

Moses had seen the power of God up close – his own call/plagues/ Exodus deliverances/wilderness preservations.  He wrote this during the wilderness wanderings and how encouraging it must have been to the emerging generation to know that this God of power is the same God who was leading/preparing them.  Moses was writing to give them the big picture.

You and I need to keep the big picture in front of us.  And the biggest thing in the big picture is God.  When you lose sight of the big picture/big God, other things begin to be the big picture.  The Psalms are so enduring because they often record the experience of someone who sees the little picture seeing the big picture.  2K6

Science is dedicated to seeing the big picture, but many scientists have erased God from the big picture.  Science is to be commended in that it is dedicated to the big picture.  It is to be approached w/ caution when it removes the biggest thing from the big picture.  Waldo/God

When you remove God, you remove the reason/purpose/power of the universe.  W/o God, we are left w/ a little picture:

    Naturalism - the universe has no rhyme/reason/purpose.  Humankind is the result of blind/purposeless processes.  You are just an accidental chemical combination w/ no inherent value.  You have no immortal soul/divine purpose.  The Bible doesn’t trace history back to a pool of cosmic ooze/dark cave/big bang – but to a Person.   
    Humanism -  we do not live in a God-centered universe, but a man-centered universe.  Man is the measure of all things.
    Relativism - there is no ultimate value system passed on to us from God.  Truth doesn’t exist, all we have are preferences.
    Existentialism - there is no inherent meaning in life except the meaning you impose upon it.  Sheldon Kopp – An End to Innocence: Believing that the world is orderly/harmonious is hazardous/I have been forced 2c that my personal existence lacks significance/We will do almost anything 2 create the illusion that our individual lives count for something/Knowing that there is no inherent meaning in life, nor any right 4 me 2 live, I am free to act as if what I do/say really matters…

When you lose sight of the big picture, the smaller parts of the big picture make no sense.  You are not merely a physical lump of chemical interactions.  You are a body w/ a soul/spirit made in the image of God and of infinite value.  If I told you that this pulpit was a gift to the church by a former member/cost him $50 for the materials/½ day of labor to put it together, you would think, “Yeah, it looks like it.” But if I told you that the church paid $20,000 for this pulpit, you would want to come and take a look at it after service and wonder why it cost so much. A glue factory might pay $100 for your body once it is dead/Jesus have His life for you.  Look at the great value He places upon you.   

God didn’t create the world and leave us to our own.  John 1:1, 14