Intro:

INTRODUCTION:           (Props Needed: DOG — PENCIL — FLOWER)

What do these three items have in common?

EVERYTHING HAS A BEGINNING

Answer: THEY ALL HAVE A BEGINNING — A time when they did not exist, and a creation point. a moment in time when raw materials came together and this THING came into existence.

In order for this dog to exist — the genetic material and cells of a daddy dog had to combine with the genetic material and cells of a mommy dog, and if you were able to see it all happen with a microscope and watch those cells combining, you could pinpoint the exact moment those cells came together. October 16, 2017 at 4:58 am — this dog came into existence.

Pencil — The same could be said about this Pencil… If you had been there at the Pencil factory, watching the wooden sticks flying around the pencil machine, you could’ve seen the moment the lead was combined with the wood, the metal ring and finally eraser were capped on top and boom you’d have your creation moment — a precise point in time when this pencil came into being.

In fact, everything we see in our world had a beginning — Every person, every animal, and plant, every stone and particle of dust. The mountains that seem so eternal and the streams that never run dry. They all had a beginning BECAUSE everything we’ve ever seen or known can be traced back to a beginning — and this is important because, the truth that everything has a beginning proves that an eternal God exists. Why?

A BEGINNING PROVES THAT AN ETERNAL GOD EXISTS

Because not only did everything have a beginning, but everything came from something that was there before it. The pencil, the dog, the flower, and everything you see didn’t just pop into existence from nothing. As greek philosopher Parmenides of Elea said around 500 BC: “NOTHING comes from nothing”^[1]

You can’t get a chair from air!  Put another way “Everything that has a beginning came from Something that existed before it”

Illustration: — Dogs are not eternal beings, right? every dog had a beginning. And because it had a beginning, and because we know how dogs are made there had to be parent dogs that existed before it— No parents, no Puppies. The existence of a little dog today, proves the existence of parent dogs before it. But here’s the dilemma, the parent dogs also had a beginning, which means those parent dogs also had parents that existed before them. And as you keep going back in time to the parents, parents, parents, parents, parents and on and on you eventually come to the FIRST DOG, which also had a beginning…

Now if that first Dog had a beginning, then there was something that existed before that first dog. Aristotle called this thing that existed before everything else, and from which everything else was created — THE UNMOVED MOVER,^[2] which basically means the primary thing responsible for the motion of everything else, but itself remains unaffected or unmoved.

This Unmoved Mover the BIBLE simply calls Him: GOD our CREATOR!  

And this is exactly where the Bible begins when you open it’s pages, and turn to the first book, the first chapter, and the first verse — it says:

[Gen 1:1 NKJV] 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Mankind has done a lot to try to dumb-down God and make him as much like a human as possible — But God is not created in our image — such as you find in all the religions of the world where gods war, or the gods get drunk, or the gods need to be appeased because of their bloodthirsty wrath… The Bible holds up God as A SINGULARITY — meaning there is nothing else that is exactly like Him.

UNIQUENESS OF GOD

As the UNMOVED MOVER — God is UNIQUE in the entire universe. He is: incomparable, unparalleled matchless, unsurpassable, unequaled, unrivaled.

The Bible elevates God above His Creation, explaining why none other can share His throne:

[Neh 9:6 NKJV] 6 You ALONE [are] the LORD; You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all their host, The earth and everything on it, The seas and all that is in them, And You preserve them all. The host of heaven worships You.

Buddha is not His equal

God is far Above all spirits or angels

His war with Satan is NOT a war of equals

He sits far above all Hindu gods or those gods of other religions

He is called “KING of kings — LORD of lords”

[Isa 46:9 NKJV] 9 … I [am] God, and [there is] NO OTHER; [I am] God, and [there is] NONE LIKE ME,

What is it that distinguishes God from all others?  

–    First, He created all things,  

–    Second all things exist because He sustains them, and  

–    Third, He pre-exists everything from eternity past. He ALONE is ETERNAL with no beginning and no end.

–    Fourth, He knows the end from the beginning.

[Psa 90:2 NKJV] 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You [are] God.

GOD, has no peers and no equals — This sets Him apart as worthy of the highest place, the highest honors, the highest glory. The book of Job describes God’s incomparableness like this:

[Job 38:4-6, 12, 16, 21 NKJV] 4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell

[Me], if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, … 12 “Have you commanded the morning since your days [began], [And] caused the dawn to know its place, … 16 “Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths? …  21 Do you know [it], because you were born then, Or [because] the number of your days [is] great?”

Our culture tells us God is tame, human-like, a passive diety at best — Our world shuns the idea of an unsurpassable, unequaled God. Many in the world would rather see God as irrelevant or a non-existent imaginary force.

But you can’t ignore the existence or matchless majesty and power of the God of the Bible.

[Rom 1:20 NKJV] 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible [attributes] are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] His ETERNAL POWER and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

The picture that the Bible paints of God, especially in the beginning, is of an eternal Being unlike any other being in the Universe. His might and His power, His eternal existence, His benevolent creation of this earth and everything on it should create awe and reverence in the hearts of all humanity for this All-Powerful, All-Knowing, Eternal and Ever-Present God! Even Heavenly beings say that the reason they worship God is because He is the unmoved mover, the Creator of Heaven and earth, with no equals or rivals.  

[Rev 4:10-11 NKJV] 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: 11 “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”

THIS IS WHY — you can not be a creation denying christian, because the very basis for your worship of God is your belief that God literally created all things as Genesis describes! He did what none can do — and that sets Him apart as GOD worthy of the worship and adoration of all beings!  

And yet, evolution is widely taught in the majority of mainline Protestant seminaries. It is the official position of the Catholic church,^[3][4] and is accepted as compatible with the beliefs of nearly 2/3rds of all christian denominations. ^[5]

“When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so,” — Pope Francis, October 28, 2014.^[6]

Can you see why Revelation says at the end of time in a loud voice:  

[Rev 14:7 KJV] 7 “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and WORSHIP him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”

The basis for true worship is creation and the reason the Unmoved Mover is worthy of all our adoration is because He is the Creator.  

GOD IS MORE THAN ONE

In his book, “Metaphysics” right near the end after laying out his case for the Unmoved Mover, 

Aristotle introduces a surprising question, and asks “whether we have to suppose one such [mover] or more than one, and if the latter, how many”.”^[7]

In other words, Aristotle first comes to conclusion that there must be an unmoved mover who created all things — Then he asks the question, “well is it just one?” or are there many/ multiple unmoved movers? Thankfully the Bible gives an answer with this claim:

[1Jo 5:7 NKJV] 7 “…There are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word [JESUS], and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.”

Notice that this truth that God means more than one, is written right into the creation story:

[Gen 1:26 NKJV] 26 Then God said, “Let US make man in Our image…”

This is not the only time in the Bible where God is mentioned in the plural.

[Gen 3:22 NKJV] 22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of US”

[Gen 11:7-8 NKJV] ^[8] “Come, let US go down and there confuse their language… So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth…”

[Isa 6:8 NKJV] 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for US?…”

In fact the two most used names for God in the Old Testament are “Elohim” and “Adonai” and they are always in written in the Hebrew in plural form! The early church fathers as far back as 74AD believed and taught the Trinity. Listen to what Tertullian said in 200AD:7

“200 AD Tertullian: “If the number of the Trinity also offends you, as if it were not connected in the simple Unity, I ask you how it is possible for a Being who is merely and absolutely One and Singular, to speak in plural phrase, saying, “Let us make man in our own image, and after our own likeness; ” whereas He ought to have said, “Let me make man in my own image, and after my own likeness,” … It was because He had already His Son close at His side, as a second Person, His own Word, and a third Person also, the Spirit in the Word, that He purposely adopted the plural phrase, “Let us make; “and, “in our image; “and, “become as one of us.”^[9] The Bible affirms that Jesus & the Spirit shares a place with the Father as the Unmoved Movers from eternity before Creation — and were all involved in the act of Creation.

JESUS IS GOD FROM ETERNITY PAST

Listen to this Old Testament prophecy concerning the coming Messiah of the New Testament:

[Mic 5:2 NKJV] 2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, [Though] you are little among the thousands of Judah, [Yet] out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth [are] from of old, FROM EVERLASTING.”

Hebrew for “Everlasting” is “Olam” which means “Hidden” and is applied to time, so especially means “Hidden Time” — Which is the time period that no one else has ever lived or seen, thus it is hidden from human experience, which is either eternity future (a time frame we have not yet lived) or eternity before Creation (a time period when no one yet existed)!

That is the time frame, the hidden time of eternity that Jesus existed before He came as a babe in Bethlehem.

[Jhn 1:1-3 NKJV] 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was WITH God, and the Word WAS God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Now how can you both be WITH someone, and at the same time BE that someone? The only answer is that Jesus can not be a lesser god created at some time in the past, otherwise, he could ONLY be WITH God… He must at the same time share fully all the qualities of God which include His eternal existence, with no beginning or end, to also BE God.

[Heb 7:3 NKJV] 3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.

Jesus also said:

[Jhn 5:17 NKJV] 17 “…My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”

Meaning Jesus has been working with his father as long as his father has been working from eternity past.  

[Col 1:17 NKJV] 17 And He [JESUS] is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

That my friends is the definition of the Unmoved Mover — Everything depending on Him, and He having no beginning depends on nothing before him.

When we worship the Father as our Creator, we must also worship the SON and the SPIRIT for they share in His uniqueness as the eternal God of Creation.

When we talk about Eternity past, we are grasping at an understanding of God that is mostly beyond our comprehension because it is impossible for someone who has a beginning to understand someone who has no beginning. The only things of eternity that we can grasp, are the things which God reveals to us.

[Deu 29:29 KJV] 29 The secret [things belong] unto the LORD our God: but those [things which are] revealed [belong] unto us and to our children for ever…

There is one final piece of eternity that God has revealed that we should know today. This

Jesus who we worship as equal with the Father, was also chosen in eternity past to be our Savior — to die for our sins, that we through the foreknowledge of God would not perish without hope of an eternal future, because God had made a plan from eternity past. Listen now to what Scripture says:

[1Pe 1:19-20 NIV] 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.

[Tit 1:2-3 NIV] 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time…

[Rev 13:8 NIV] 8 … the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

Appeal: The Unmoved Mover, who has no beginning and is worthy of the worship of all, made a plan for our redemption before we were even created. And what did this plan cost?  

Blood — the life blood of the only Son of God

A Body — the broken body of Jesus — Our Creator hanging on a cross

When you partake of communion friends, you are partaking of a sacrifice made in eternity past, that you might have eternity future.

Does Jesus deserve your worship this morning? Does He deserve your reverence, your awe, your devotion? Even more now, because the one who created us also gave Himself for us — How can we not in return give ourselves to Him this morning?