Observing Creation -- The 5Ws of Genesis Chapter 1

I have a question for everybody here. What I'd like to know is... who here knows what the “Five W's are?” Does anybody know what the five W's are?

Very good. Brutus got it. Very good. They are who, what, where, when and why. Now what letter comes after the letter “W” in most cases? “H,” who said “H?” In all those five words the letter “H” comes after the “W.” Who – What - Where – When – Why – the letter “H” comes after “W.” And there is a sixth word, which is “how.” So this makes six very important questions we need to ask.

I worked as a deejay. I was a country DJ on the radio for quite a long time. But I also did news, I'd do the radio news. And those are the six questions we'd ask in order to get a news story. This is what we needed to know in order to report the news story. Historians ask the same questions to understand a historical event. They ask these same six questions. Detectives, solving a mystery, they want the answers to these same six questions.

So what we are going to do today is ask these questions about everything. I mean all of creation. Where did everything come from? We see this wonderful, and vast and huge, and beautiful creation all around us... so let's ask the five W's. In fact, in the previous two messages on Genesis, which were back in March when Chris was gone... when Chris is not here, I preach about Genesis. So in those two previous messages all we covered was Genesis chapter one, verse one. And it is amazing how many of the W's are answered in that one verse. For example:

Who? “In the beginning God” – there's the who. God.

What? What did God do? “In the beginning God created.” That's what He did. Notice that God does not waste time proving that He exists – as Romans 1 states, we all know God exists. How do we know that? Romans 1:20 says:

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” Everyone, even atheists, know that God exists. So, the next W...

Where? “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.” That's the where. Heavens and earth. That's everything. We talked about that before. “Heavens and earth.” That includes everything.

When did He do this? “In the beginning”

Why did He do this? “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.” I don't think we've got a why in there. There's no why. It doesn't tell us why. So we need to I think we need to look into this morning. Why did He do it?

And How? How did He do it. As we'll see today, the how is going to be explained... except for the creation of man. God said... and it was so. That's the how. Right now we've got the answers to four of the five W's, we'll get the answer to why and how in this morning's message.

In the past I've mentioned Bible some study tools such as doing a word study. Today we are going to use an Bible study tool called observation. What observation involves is reading a section of scripture, usually over and over...sometimes as many as 15 or 20 times... and each time you read that section of scripture, you observe, and you write your observations... you make note of it.

We're not going to go into that depth, of reading Genesis chapter one 15 or 20 times this morning . We'll just read through it once, that will be Genesis 1:1 through Genesis chapter 2 verse 3 – that covers the first seven days. And we'll list some of the things we can observe in this scripture. And as I read the creation account, I would like you to observe, make notes of what stands out to you in this part of scripture. You can use the back of the bulletin to write them down – and, if you'd like, share them with me after the service. I'd like to see what you've come up with. For those watching on YouTube, write your observations in the comments. Put it in the comments of the live stream. And we'll take a look at what you see.

So here we go... We're going to read all of Genesis chapter 1... and as I read make a note of the things you observe in this scripture.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.

God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.”

God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food;” and it was so.

God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Continuing in Chapter 2... Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

That's the story of the very first week that ever happen, including the six days of creation. The rest of chapter two focuses on the details of what happened on day six of creation.

What are some of the things I noticed about the creation week?

Well, one that pops right out, I'm sure we all noticed it: “Then God said...” It appears nine times. Eight of those are related to when something physical was created. The ninth, that's verse 29, has to do with God's explaining how He provided food for the land-based life that He created...

That's really significant. What we have here is God speaking and as a result something coming into existence. Does this allow for anything to exist... anything at all... something that has come from a cause other than God? No. What God speaks into existence, it covers every category of things. He doesn't list every type of living thing, or everything that He created, but He lists categories. And those categories include everything.

I'm going to take a step into the scientific realm here... there is a claim that evolution is able to create new kinds of life. Here's how it works...

We're going to look at this in a simplistic form... let's say... we have a weed. And when that weed gets sprayed with Roundup. What happens to the weed? It dies. But then... a virus comes along, clips a piece of DNA from a plant that is resistant to Roundup, and it inserts that DNA into this type of the weed. And so, now we have a weed that is resistant to Roundup.

This realistically does happen. That's actually how they do gene editing. They use viruses to clip out and move pieces of DNA. So you can get pieces of DNA that are cut out of one thing and it gets put into another thing.

So now we have a weed that is resistant to Roundup. Is this something new? Has something new been created? No. It hasn't.

No... nothing new has been created. All we have here is a rearrangement of what God had already created. The weed is still the same weed. It is resistant to Roundup. But the information, the DNA that accomplishes that already existed. We have nothing new. It's just a rearrangement.

All that has been observed scientifically is this rearrangement. Evolution has never been observed to have created a new kind of life. It is one of the reasons that many secular scientists have known, since the 1960's, that Darwinian evolution is impossible. It can't happen.

So that's our first observation here. “Then God said...” He created. He created everything. Fully formed. Fully functional.

How long did it take? What did we observe about the time? Well, you need to ask... what do I mean by that? There are a several “how longs” that IK need to look at.

We observe that as God creates He counts the days. Day one... day two... day three... day four... day six... and so on.

So it is very straight forward... God, He counted the days, created everything in six days. That's how long it took God in total. God counted the days. That's easy to see.

But notice there is a different question related to time:

the

Genesis 1:3 – Then God said “Let there be light;” and there was light.

Genesis 1:9 – Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so.

Genesis 1:11 - Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so.

Are you seeing a pattern? God said... and then it was so. Immediately. The same day. God did not put a project out to bid; do an environmental impact study; hire contractors; order materials, have delays because of union problems... God said... and it was so. It happened. These are not days separated by long periods of time.

But there is something else we should notice... there are instances in which scripture... again we are observing things... where scripture says “God made...” Does that indicate God did something different? More than just speaking? What is it talking about here? God made.

Let's read Genesis 1:3 again and continue into verse 4: Then God said, “Let there be light;” and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.

So God said... and it was so... but then God did more... He separated the light from the darkness... was this something He did in addition to speaking? He spoke the light into existence, then He had to do some with His hands to separate the light from the darkness?

Another example, verse 6: Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” Now verse 7 – God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. After He did these things.

In this case, scripture says “it was so” after something else happens. The description of Day Two starts with “Then God said...” and then it says that God made... verse 7... He made the expanse. Are we talking about a two-part creation? God said... and then He gets out His tools and He makes something?

No... what we have here is repetition. It is easier to see that on the fourth day... let's take a look at the fourth day... that's verse:

14 -Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years;

15 - and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth;” and it was so. All these lights came into existence. God said it and it was so. But then scripture goes on to say... verse:

16 - God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,

So we see that in verse 14 God said... and then talking about the exact same things in verse 17 that God made... So which is it? Did God speak things into existence or did God make them? Possibly taking millions of years to make them.

The answer is... verse 14 God said... verse 15... and it was so. It is very clear. God said it and it was so. Verse 16 is just a reiteration of what God created, giving more details about what He spoke into existence... and His reasons for creating these things.

In verse 16... God made... and we could add... by speaking them into existence... that's the how. God made the two great lights. He already said He has spoken all of the “lights in the expanse of the heavens” into existence. And these lights are to separate day from night... that's the sun and moon... He spoke them into existence.

The first part of verse 16 is talking about making the sun and moon... it is a reiteration that gives more details... we see that a lot in Hebrew. Reiteration.

But notice something. This is very important. Notice that verse 26 is different... this is an important observation. It says... “Then God said, 'Let us make...'” This is a very important difference. This is a major shift in the language. In particular notice the word “us.” For everything else it is “God said... and it was so.” He spoke, and it was so. When it comes to man the language uses “us.” It indicates the entire Trinity was involved... “Let US make...” All three persons of the Trinity were involved.

This is not the impersonal terminology used for everything else.. “Then God said... and it was so...” This is now personal... “Let US make...” God is in communion with Himself for the creation of the most important of all creatures. Mankind.

It’s not “Let there be” in some impersonal way. God gets very personal here because now he’s creating those who are eternal. He is creating those who will eternally bring him glory either in heaven or in hell. This is the pinnacle... the peak... this is the apex of everything. “Let us make man in Our image.” Our image. That is amazing. Think about this. God gets very, very personal. This is very unique. This personal connection with God. It's very important. We need to keep this in mind as we continue our study of Genesis. It defines who we are... and why sin is so deadly. We're not just an object... people are not just something that, as a result of random chance, evolved from a primordial slim. And we're not just an intelligent animal. God personally, the entire Trinity was involved, making us... humanity... in His image.

And notice that this is not “And God said... and it was so.” We were made, personally by the Trinity... If we jump ahead into chapter two God gives more details... God personally made humanity from the dust of the ground. And God personally gives us life...chapter 2 verse 7 -- He “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” He didn't give life like this to any other thing He created.

We have a very personal and close relationship with God. A relationship that is broken by sin. We're not animals. We are God's image bearers, personally created by, and given life by the Trinity.

So what else did I observe as I read about this first week? There is more to observe about time. God said, and what He created immediately came into existence. There's no time delay there. But, what about people who want to accommodate evolution, and want to stretch things out? Stretch out creation over millions of, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of years?

We noted that God counted the days. And notice how they are counted... One day... a second day... a third day... a fourth day … and so on.

If I'm telling you about a big project I was working on... for example cleaning up my yard. And I said...

“I got the bark spread in the front yard.” One day.

“Then I fixed the stone walkway.” On the second day.”

“Eileen pulled up all the weeds in the back yard.” A third day.

How long did it take us to do the three tasks I just mentioned? Three days... it's very obvious and straightforward. Even if I set up flood lights so Eileen could work well into the night pulling weeds, because we do have a lot of weeds... she was working after dark... still it's three days.... three 24 hour days. That doesn't mean we worked all day, every day. It only took me an hour to spread the bark. That's still day one.

That's exactly what scripture is saying. Just in the way the days are numbered, the plain reading of scripture is that these are six, ordinary, 24-hour days.

When I think about the fact that God knows everything... has known everything since the beginning. In my opinion, God knew there would be a controversy... He knew people would deny that these were ordinary 24-hour days. In fact... it was part of His plan that they would do that. He not only knew it. It was part of His plan. Nothing happens outside of God's plan.

So he gave us additional proof... there was evening and there was morning, one day.

And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. The same thing... for all six days...

So, in addition to being counted, each day is further identified as having an evening and morning. We were talking about in Sunday School, defining words is important. The words “evening and morning,” what do they mean?

What is evening? Do we typically think of evening as the start of something? No. Evening is the last part of daylight. We talk about the sun setting. Evening is the end... it is the end of the daylight portion of the day.

What is morning? We say morning has broken. Being an old DJ I remember the Cat Steven's song, “Morning Has Broken.” That's a common way of saying things. Broken what? Darkness. Morning is the end of darkness. Night is now ending... it's time to stop sleeping... to get up... at least for some of us. The coming of morning is the end of the night-time portion of a 24-hour day.

So when scripture says evening and morning it is designating the end of the two parts of a 24-hour day.. and that defines a complete day.

It doesn't matter when we define a day as starting... at sunset, or sunrise, or as we do today the day starts at midnight. Evening is the end of the daylight portion, and morning is the end of the nighttime portion, and that defines a complete 24-hour day.

So God has provided several ways so that we could understand this... there is no room any other interpretation... God created in six, ordinary 24-hour days.

So what else can we observe in this big overview picture of creation?

There is a specific order to creation, and it is not the same order as claimed by evolution. I put a comparison on the back of your bulletin. They are so different that we really can't even make a direct comparison between the two. m. The creation order is... what comes first? We start with: darkness. Yeah, darkness. Then the earth described as a water... formless and void... and we're going to get into that next week. And then what happens? There is light. There's no sun yet. There is light.

Then an expanse created... and we'll talk about that next week.

Then God separates the water and the land, making dry land. So first we have water and then dry land. And then plants are created. And we have a globe... imagine this... a globe with just plants. Plants on it.

Then the sun, moon and stars.

Next fish and other marine life. And flying things, including mammals such as bats. God categorizes life differently than humans do. We have our own categories such as mammals, fish and birds. Those are all man-made categories. They are not God's categories. God places bats... which we consider a mammal, different than a bird... and birds in the same category... he categorizes them as flying things.

Next God created land animals and then mankind. And finally, the last thing to come into God's creation, God didn't create this one, was death.

So what is the order of creation based on evolution? If you say you are a Christian, and you believe in evolution, this is what you are saying you believe...

First there was a singularity that apparently did the impossible and formed without a cause. Then that singularity exploded... the Big Bang... and the debris of the explosion was... two gases... helium and hydrogen.

Next the stars formed from those gases, which according to Boyles' gas laws is impossible... gases don't clump together. They spread apart. But we know it happened because, well we can see the stars.... that's the evidence. They had to have formed from the hydrogen and helium gas, because there is nothing else they could have come from, ... even though we know that is impossible... BTW, I'm just trying to follow evolutionary logic here... even though it is not logical or rational.

Then the earth formed and was completely of dry land. So we have a barren rock, is what we start with in evolution. And then somehow, nobody knows how... water was added... and then the oceans formed. This is just the opposite of what God describes.

Next, life, single cell organisms somehow came into existence in the oceans. BTW, that's something that's been determined is scientifically impossible... but it supposedly happened anyway. And at the same time death came into the world. Because the single cell organisms started to die.

Then fish... then trees (no grass yet)... then land animals – and then birds – and then apes --- and then humanity. Totally different from what God says He did.

So if you are a Christian believing in evolution, you have to deny the truth of Genesis. The order of creation is completely different. And in addition, God said that everything... everything was created good... there was no death when He finished creating. Every kind of life existed, and there was no death.

Evolution says just the opposite. There was death before fish, before plant life, before birds... before animal life... before human life. When that first single cell organism came alive, it died. Death came onto the planet as soon as life did. That means Adam's sin... if there was such a person as Adam, did not bring death into the universe. The Bible is wrong about that. And Adam came rather late in the evolutionary story.

You can not claim evolution is true, and honestly also claim the Bible is true. People who do that, I think, are doing it in ignorance... they just don't understand how contradictory they are. Creation and evolution are exclusive. If you know your Bible... and if you understand what evolution claims... they do not go together. They are very different. So that's another observation.

What else have you observed? ... What about the declaration God makes, at the end of each day, that everything He created was good. Six times He calls what He has created “good.” And then in summary, in verse 31, after He creates mankind, He calls everything very good.

So we observe that God creates... everything He creates is good... and it is all very good. What does that tell us?

God is perfect. God gets it right the first time. This is not trial and error. Jim was telling us in Sunday School about having to rewrite a computer program four times. It doesn't work. Start it over. God doesn't do any do-overs. He gets it right the first time. No trial and error. There are no surprises that result in God having to make corrections. God creates... He speaks... and it is so... and it is good... with no adjustments required.

What was it that was good? We tend to think on a large scale. The universe was good. But there is Adam... a full grown man standing there, and he is very good.

Now think about what a human is... just on the physical side of things. We are so incredibly complex that it is beyond your imagination. We are made from cells that are too small for you to see.

The average a person has 37.2 million, million cells. That's 37.2 trillion cells. And all of those cells have a specific job to do... we have those cells because they are doing something specific. And they each do what they are supposed to do in coordination with the other 37.2 trillion cells in your body. Just look at your fingertip here. The cells in your fingertip they need oxygen, they need food to get their energy, so you have a whole system of your blood supply, your digestive system, your lungs are all bringing and delivering just to your fingertip... just what those cells need.

So all the cells in your body are all working together. There's 37.2 trillion cells and they are all very good.

But even more. Going even smaller. Cells contain within them, proteins. Proteins are like miniature machines inside your cells. There are protein trucks, and motors, and pumps, and weaving machines. There are more of these microscopic machines... I started by talking about a finger tip... you have more microscopic machines in just your fingertip, then there are human made machines in all the world. You are incredibly complex. Detailed. And they are all working together.

That is incredible complexity. And God created it all... all of the proteins... all of the cells that make up a human body... he created this all... I mean think about this. What it would a human to design something as complex as a human. It would take a huge team, decades and decades even to program the information in our DNA. How long did it take God to create Adam? Less than a day. He did a lot of other things on that day. He did a lot of things. And did He get it right? Or did He have to make some adjustments?

He got it exactly right. Perfect. God is incredible. If you think about what He has done. And all of this is answering the why question. Why? When we look at and see creation, we know there is a God because we see His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature.

Yes, people can deny there is a God. People can imagine a god usually made in their own image... but what you are doing is suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. That's what Romans 1:18 says. Suppressing the truth means people intentionally reject what they know is truth. Suppressing requires action... intentional action.

And you know what else I observe in these verses? What is missing? What's missing in the creation account? What is not there? We can observe things that are not there. And usually some of those are the more important things. So what is not there?

Death. In the evolutionary story death comes into the world as soon as the first single cell organism forms. But that is not what scripture says... God created everything perfect... no errors... no death.

I'm going to run down a little rabbit trail here. Have you heard of Juan Ponce de Leon? What is he famous for? The fountain of youth. He didn't find it. He was searching for the fountain of youth in Florida.

He came to the New World with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage in 1493. He was made governor of Hispaniola in 1503... and he was famous for his search for the fountain of youth, which he had heard was in Florida.

Does that sound strange to you? Humanity has this desire to find a way to live forever... when the truth is we will live forever. We don't need a fountain of youth. We don't need to search for some water or chemical that will give us eternal life. We already are eternal beings. God personally created us in His image and that includes our being eternal beings. Yes, these bodies will die... we'll loose these bodies, but we continue to exist. That's a fact.

We don't need to search for a fountain of youth... what we need to be concerned about is what happens after our bodies die. We are eternal beings. We need to be concerned about... where will we spend that eternity?

Ponce de Leon was wasting his time. We need to be seeking Jesus, not a fountain of youth that does nor exist. Just as we can look at creation and know there is a God... we can look in ourselves and know there is sin. God has put His law in our hearts... our conscience tells us that we have disobeyed God... lied... taken things that don't belong to us... lusted... coveted... not honored our parents... and none of us has put God first in our lives above all else. These are all sin.

And so we are condemned to eternal hell. Yes, we are eternal... people in hell are given new bodies to be tortured forever.

You know you are a lawbreaker deserving of punishment in hell... and you know that Jesus died on the cross and paid the penalty you've earned for disobeying God... He paid it in full. Nothing else is needed. But, do you believe this is true? Do you fully trust Jesus Christ as having paid your penalty in full?

He gave you all the evidence that you need. He was dead... there was no doubt about that. He was buried. And on the third day He rose from the dead, proving there truly is life after death... life meaning not just a continued existence... those who are in hell have a continued existence. But abundant life, joy, peace... true life with God who provides all that is good.

You will exist for eternity... the question is... where will you spend that eternity? Repent. Believe. Jesus is the answer. He died in your place, paying the penalty you've earned for disobeying God.

It's getting to be time to wrap up. What do we have? What have we observed?

We saw that God created just by speaking... Then God said... and it was so. So He spoke and it came into existence... no delay.

And we also noticed that scripture says “God made,” or something similar at times. But we could see that this is a reiteration, providing more detail about what God spoke into existence... except for day six and mankind. We'll talk about that in the future.

But... we also notice that it was the Trinity that made man. Let US make man... it's personal...

Scripture answers the question: how long? It took God six ordinary days to create everything – and God made sure that we understand it was six literal 24-hour days. First by numbering the days, and second by describing each day using the terminology “there was evening and there was morning.” The end of the daylight portion and the end of the nighttime portion. A full 24 hour day.

We also saw that evolution is very different from creation... what Genesis says. What the Bible describes is very different from what evolution describes. So different that it is impossible for them to be compatible. The idea of theistic evolution... that God created everything using the process of evolution... just is not possible.

And we saw that everything God created was good. God does not make mistakes. He gets it right the first time and it is good.

But there is still one question left... WHY? Why does God tell us all this?

The first five days of creation, plus part of day six... from the beginning to the creation of the beasts of the earth on day six... God was creating stage on which His plan was to unfold. This creation... this complex, vast, beautiful creation... speaks about God and who he was. It tells mankind about God's greatness and His glory and His power.

The heavens declare what? The glory of God. Yes. The firmament shows his handiwork. Romans 1 says, you look at the creation and you can see that God exists so that his invisible nature is manifest by his visible creation and we’re without excuse. One of the major purposes of creation, one of the major purposes of God giving us these details about what He did in creating the world, is to reveal who He is.

And when you look at the creation, you see His power, and you see His intelligence, and you see His wisdom, and you see His love of beauty, His incredible mind, His staggering wisdom... and you see His softness and gentleness and tenderness in the petal of a flower. You see His power in the lightning, in the thunder and in the massive bodies – the stars and galaxies... the billions of galaxies that exist out there, and He created them all... just like that. Speaking them into existence. You see so much about God there. All of creation puts God on display in a way that we can see Him.

And He created mankind... in His image... the Trinity fully involved... personally involved... created mankind to glorify Himself. In all that we do, we glorify Him. Our purpose is not be lead a fulfilled life... whatever that means... our purpose is not to be happy. Our purpose is to glorify God.

And God will be glorified through an atheist... His righteousness and justice will be put on display, and He will be glorified.

And God will be glorified through those whom He has chosen... His mercy, and grace will be put on display, and He will be glorified.

That is the purpose. That is the why? It's all for God's glory. Let us pray.