june 4 2023
June 4th 2023, Trinity Sunday
Old Testament: Genesis 1:1-2:4a
Psalm: Psalm 8
Epistle: Acts 2:14a, 22-36
Gospel: Matthew 28:16-20
Sermon Text: Genesis 1
Sermon Title: “In the Beginning, God”
“In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. (Matthew 28:19b) Amen.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”. (Genesis 1:1) “The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters”. (Genesis 1:2b) “Jesus (the Word) was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him”. (John 1:2-3a) “O Lord, our Lord; how majestic is Your name in all the earth”. (Psalm 8:1)
In the Athanasian Creed, we just confessed, “we worship one God in Trinity and the Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance … the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; and yet there are not three gods, but One God … all three persons are in themselves, co-eternal and co-equal”. (Athanasian Creed, par. 3-4, 15-16, 25) The Holy Scriptures teach that God is absolutely one and that He is also three persons, absolutely distinct.
The only true God is the triune God; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; three distinct persons in one divine being. “Therefore, whoever desires to be saved, must think thus about the Trinity”. (Athanasian Creed, par. 26) Again, this is how God has revealed Himself to us in Holy Scripture; so we also “baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. (Matthew 28:19b) Both our invocation at the beginning of the service and the benediction at the end of the service, also reflect the trinitarian form.
Now, regarding the work of each person of the Trinity, “to the Father especially, is ascribed the work of creation; to the Son the work of redemption, and to the Holy Spirit the work of sanctification”. (Small Catechism, question # 95) However, we also believe, teach and confess from Holy Scripture that all three persons, “the entire Holy Trinity … directs all people to Christ”. (Formula, Solid Declaration, Article XI, par. 66)
We see this in many places in Scripture; for example, at Jesus’ baptism where, “the heavens were opened up to Him and He saw the Spirit of God descending in the form of a dove (and the voice of the Father saying) … this is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”. (Matthew 3:16b-17) Christ said, “The Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father will bear witness about Me”. (John 15:26)
In the same way, we know from the Word of God that all three persons of the Trinity were at work in the creation of the world. The Father and the Holy Spirit are mentioned in the creation account from Genesis, “Let us make man in our image”. (Genesis 1:26a) and we know from the New Testament that Jesus was also participating. The Apostle John records “All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made”. (John 1:3) Paul also teaches, “by Him all things were created … all things were created through Him and for Him”. (Colossians 1:16-17)
It is to the revelation of God (in Holy Scripture) as “maker of heaven and earth” that we will focus most of our time on today. Luther thought the emphasis of the First article of the Creed should be on these words. In the explanation of the First article, we confess, “I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears and all my members, my reason and all my senses and still takes care of them”. (First Article, explanation, par. 1)
“God also gives me … all that I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil … all this He does out of fatherly divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me”. (First Article, explanation, par. 2-4a) As Christians, we confess that every good thing in our lives, however small we think it is, is an undeserved gift from our gracious God. The Apostle James wrote, “every good and perfect gift is from above”. (James 1:17) Our very lives are a gift from Him and therefore, we are accountable to Him.
All creation is also His, for He created it and sustains it. Therefore, Luther declared, “because everything we possess and everything else in heaven and earth is daily sustained and protected by God, it inevitably follows that we are duty bound to love, praise, and thank Him without ceasing and to devote all things to His service”. (L. C. First Article, par. 19)
In contrast, we should not boast and brag that we have received any of these things by our own works, as the world does. Neither are we to misuse “all the blessings and gifts of God”, nor forget to thank Him for them. Luther concludes, “For all this it is our duty to thank, praise, serve an obey Him”. (First Article Explanation, par. 4b) As His creatures, it is only right that we daily respond in these ways to the gifts He so freely bestows on us and all creation.
The Psalmist declares, “What shall I render to the Lord, for all His benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people”. (Psalm 116:12-14) Out of gratitude towards our God, we will gladly hear His Word and receive His gifts; and strive to keep His commandments. We will use all these gifts of God within our various walks of life (vocations) for our well-being and that of our neighbor.
In our church, we confess in the Apostle’s Creed, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth”. For Holy Scripture declares, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth … and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters”. (Genesis 1:1-2) He created all things “out of nothing”, simply by His Word; saying “Let there be … and it was so”. (Genesis 1:3a, 9b)
The Psalmist affirms this saying, “By the word of the Lord, the heavens were made and by the breath of His mouth, all their host … let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke and it came to be; He commanded and it stood firm”. (Psalm 33:6, 8-9) The writer of Hebrews also, “By faith, we understand that the universe was created by the Word of God”. (Hebrews 11:3a)
All the rest of God’s Word speaks of the events recorded in Genesis 1-2 (and also 3-11) as literal history. Jesus affirmed this saying, “He who created them in the beginning, made them male and female”. (Matthew 19:4b) (BTW) These words “male and female” in the creation account clearly show the sins of the LGBT movement. They have entirely rejected God’s creation “exchanging the truth about God for a lie … though they know God’s decree that those who di such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but give approval to those who practice them”. (Romans 1:25a, 32)
They reject what Paul wrote, that “God’s invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20) and “Adam was formed first and then Eve”. (1st Timothy 2:13) Many other such texts in the New Testament speak to events recorded in Genesis 1-11 as literal history. Contrary to what some teach, these are not myths or stories designed to teach a lesson. These things happened just as Moses recorded them.
The Bible also clearly teaches that our triune God created the world in six regular days; for after each day of creation the text says, “there was evening and morning”. (Genesis 1:5, 8, etc.) In speaking of the Sabbath Day, the book of Exodus also recorded, “in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and on the seventh day rested”. (Exodus 31:17) This means that those who would try to make the word “day” mean millions/billions of years are reading something into the text that is not there, in order to try and reconcile “so-called” science/evolution and the Bible.
In this way, many professing Christians have placed “Science” above the Word of God; which is without error. For Jesus said, “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35) and “Your Word is truth”. (John 17:17). Belief in evolution, even so-called theistic evolution, is clearly contrary to the testimony of the Word of God. For example, if evolution is correct, then death would have had to occur long before the first human being existed; but Paul wrote that “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin … death reigned from Adam to Moses”. (Romans 5:12a, 14a) Both of these views cannot be true. The two viewpoints are irreconcilable, for death cannot have come before Adam and also through Adam.
Again, since God has revealed Himself to us in His Word, in this way, as the one and only true God, we dare not contradict what He has spoken through the Word of the prophets and Apostles. As Luther put it, “if you do not understand how God could have done this in six days, then (at least) grant the Holy Spirit (who inspired Holy Scripture), the honor of being more learned than you”. (Sermon on Genesis 1)
It would be good to briefly review the first commandment here as well; which speaks of the only true (Triune) God. “You shall have no other gods? What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things”. Here God commands that we have no other gods or idols in our lives, as Jesus rebuked the devil with these words, “You shall worship the Lord, your God and Him only shall you serve”. (Matthew 4:10)
We have other gods when we trust in anything other than the true God to provide for all of our needs of body and soul. The list of things that we often treat as more important than God and His Word are endless. We are warned in Scripture against putting our trust in gods of other religions, money and possessions, sexual and other pleasures, demons, angels, kings and other rulers, worldly wisdom, (which includes doctors, scientists, worldly philosophies, etc) family, even our own works. We need to sincerely and daily repent of this idiolatry and trust in the one true God for every need of both body and soul.
The close of the first commandment and the close of the first article are also closely related. In one, we are asked “what does God require of us in this commandment”? In the other we are asked, “what do we owe our Heavenly Father for all His goodness”? God requires that we fear love and trust in Him above all things as Scripture declares, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; lean not on your own understanding”. (Proverbs 3:5) For all He has done for us, “it is our duty to thank, praise, serve and obey Him”. (S. C. # 112 A) This is most certainly true.
We do this because “He first loved us”. (1st John 4:19b) May we never “boast and brag as if we had … these things of ourselves” (L C 1st Article, par. 21), for this is the way of the world, to take credit for what God alone has done. Rather, let our hearts and minds “be kindled with gratitude to God and a desire to use all these blessings from our creator and redeemer God, to His glory and praise”. (L C 1st Article, par. 24). Amen.
The peace of God …