Sunday, January 11, 2009

Christmas 3 (Christ's baptism)

Today's readings: Genesis 1:1-5 (sermon text), Psalm 29, Romans 6:1-11, and Mark 1:4-11.

In both the Old Testament and Gospel readings, the Trinity is present (although less obviously in the OT reading). Let's examine both.

Genesis 1:1 - God the Father is the creator of everything, including time. We tend to forget the big picture in the day-to-day, but God doesn't forget us. Pagans can never be at peace, conversely, because they don't know the true God. First He created matter.

But the Theory of Evolution (note large E) doesn't account for this origin of matter - it has to assume that matter is eternal (what did you know, it's an article of faith!). Yet we're the ones accused of hanging everything on faith... Evolution posits that all life is the result of mistakes and a huge amount of time. Creation, meanwhile, posits that all life is the result of a loving Creator and therefore less time.

The Trinity is present in Genesis 1:3 - the Father created all things along with the Son (John 1:1), while the Spirit hovered over the waters. Verse 26 speaks of "Us" (the Trinity talking among the Persons) creating man. Day 1 - light was created because Jesus is the Light of the world. The Father was well pleased with both light and Light. This Light guides us to walk by the right path, seeing God as the source of all things, of the meaning of life. Turn to the Word. Remember that light is separate from darkness.

Side note to old-earth creationists: Why would the text of Genesis have "evening and morning" for each day if the days were thousand-year periods?

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