Gen 1:1, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 
We continue this morning with the very first statement of the work of God recorded in scripture. Everything else in all of the history of mankind rests on this truth. We have looked at it in some detail with regard to the primary aspect of the work of the Son of God, the Living Word made flesh. All things were made by Him, in Him, and unto Him. We thus proceed forward in this reality.
The Writer to the Hebrews states the following in Heb 1:10-12, And, "Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the works of Thy hands; They will perish, but Thou remainest; And they all will become old as a garment, And as a mantle Thou wilt roll them up; As a garment they will also be changed. But Thou art the same, And Thy years will not come to an end." There is a certainty in the establishment of the vital authenticity of God’s Hand in operation. The entire future of humanity rests in the working and saving power of God’s creative process and action. Everything else will pass away, but not God. He is the surety, the conviction, and the assurance of our foundation in Jesus Christ. 
The Psalmist first voiced this assurance as he relates in Ps 102:25-28, "Of old Thou didst found the earth; And the heavens are the work of Thy hands. "Even they will perish, but Thou dost endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing Thou wilt change them, and they will be changed. "But Thou art the same, And Thy years will not come to an end. "The children of Thy servants will continue, And their descendants will be established before Thee." By the design of the Creator, we are now made His descendents in Jesus Christ. As a direct result and in accordance with this promised assurance, we will always be established in His Holy presence in Him. 
	In light of this truth, we must take to heart several aspects of the manner in which we are to be governed in our behavior on this earth. I am not trying to set up a ritualistic dogma that must be observed in order to show that we are saved. That is far from the heart of the matter at hand. However, there are certain manners in which we may conduct ourselves with utmost regard to pleasing God in the way in which we honor Him. This is a matter of our heart’s focus ingiving Him homage and respect and admiration as the Creator. It comes back to the reality of our hearts in terms of whether or not we truly believe that He created the heavens and the earth. If we do, then we will place ourselves and our desires into complete submission to that which shows forth that solid conviction as complete reality.
	For example, the whole contemplation and observance of the Lord’s Day becomes inherent in the manner in which we construe the validity of our belief in Him. Ex 20:10, For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. 
	There are various religious orders who demand that believers do nothing on the Sabbath. I remember the stories from my parent’s youth in which all the work and preparation for the Sabbath was done the day before, that there was no physical labor allowed that day. I also remember those early days of my youth when stores were not open on Sunday and many of the entertainment parlors and establishments did not function because there would be no business. That seems like so long ago, yet it is only a fairly recent change in terms of the two thousand years since Christ walked on this earth. In our country, this rapid disregard for the Lord’s Day has escalated viciously in just the past 40 years.
Today’s world sees no reason to consider any difference in the day. It is business as usual for most. The fact that some businesses are closed is more out of custom than respect for the truth of God having rested on the seventh day of creation. 
We cannot and neither do we want to regulate the behavior of this world, which has no use for Christ neither for God as Creator. That is a battle that will never be won in terms of societal pressure and influence. Churches have tried to fight it with regulations and with organized boycotts to no avail, because convenience and selfish motivations will always direct the hearts and rationales of this age.
	The battle for the recognition of the Lord’s Day is truly fought in the individual heart of each believer. I cannot tell you what you can and can’t do on the Lord’s Day. I can encourage all of us, as I am, that we are to do those things and only those things which honor and please the Lord. He is the One Who set the example for us in making His Day Holy. He is the One unto Whom we owe our allegiance and our active obedience and reverence. If we give Him every consideration, in prayerfully setting Him at the forefront of what would please Him in our lives, we will have no problem in the manner in which we deal with each Sabbath. We will soon find ourselves, not restricted and fenced in by regulations and stipulations, but rejoicing and finding satisfaction and rest in honoring Him as we fully enjoy the day that He has given us for His rest.
	Ex 31:17, "It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed." God was refreshed on the seventh day. That is what He desires for us. As we follow His guidance and give Him complete direction of the Sabbath day, He will refresh us with Himself. We will find that our time spent in the respite of Him, will bear the mark of His hand in fruitfulness and sustenance and heartiness throughout the other six days of the week. Our every course of life will be transformed from the mindlessness of this society into the wonder and the amazement of just how rich and full our lives are in Him. This is but one key truth in the genuineness of God’s hand creating the heavens and the earth.
	Another aspect set in the reality that God is The Creator, is that God is to be considered with praise and worship for all that He has done by His creative hand. 1 Chron 16:25+26, For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; He also is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens. This is vitally interlinked with the every facet of the Lord’s Day. This is what the day entails as those who are redeemed in Jesus Christ gather together in His name. It will absolutely affect the manner in which we are united in worship as we join our hearts together to praise the Creator of the heavens and the earth. It will make all the difference in the very reasons that we are incorporated together as His Church on this earth.
	When we know that He is the Creator, when we come to worship and to glorify Him in that capacity, we are offering Him the praise and the tribute that He is due for all that He has done. We revel in His greatness and in His Sovereign plan and purpose. We see His great Love in the giving of His Only Begotten Son to bring us into a personal relationship, Creator with creation. We rejoice in all the splendor of His works as He continues to show Himself mighty and glorious in every aspect. We allow ourselves to become fully enamored with Him in utmost esteem, and even join with the angelic hosts in full adulation and veneration of Our Lord God Almighty, the Creator of all things. 
	The Prophet Nehemiah understood this truth as he was inspired to write in Neh 9:6, "Thou alone art the Lord. Thou hast made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. Thou dost give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before Thee. There is the recognition that all life comes from God. This is not a happenstance of molecular and random acts that just happened to come together in a billion to one coincidence or accident of nature. God created each one of us, just as He created all things from the beginning. For that single fact alone, He deserves all adoration and worship.  
	Next, we hear the words of the Psalmist in reflection of the mighty and wondrous working of God. Ps 33:6-9, By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. How much richer would our time of corporate worship be if we truly believed this in the depths of our hearts? …Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. 
	This needs to be the settled position of our hearts in Christ Jesus. It is the very core of why God is to be praised in every expression of our lives on this earth. We are to stand in awe of Him, and not take Him for granted, as is too often the case. 
Sadly, the members of the societal church gather together, not to truly worship, but to socialize and to fulfill some sense of ritualistic code of conduct. In this world there is a tolerance for any appearance of religiosity because it shows some kind of higher sense of order and community status. It is something that is done because it has been the traditional spending of an hour or so on Sunday mornings. There is no real fervor for the Lord. There is no true awe in coming into His presence. It is just what we do each week in order to show that we are working on a higher level of conscious awareness than others in our lives. 
	But that is not why we gather together, not if we truly know God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as Creator, and Savior, and Comforter. When we know Him in the fullness of this first verse of His Word, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, we become absolutely amazed that He would work so magnificently to bring us into His very presence in Jesus Christ. Rather than take it for granted, we never cease to marvel at the great love with which He loves us. We earnestly come together in every effort to offer unto Him all the glory that can be expressed from the singleness of our united heart and spirit as the Redeemed Body of Christ.  
	The articulated love of Christ’s Church echoes Ps 89:11+12 with all joy in what He has done and continues to do. The heavens are Thine, the earth also is Thine; The world and all it contains, Thou hast founded them. The north and the south, Thou hast created them; Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Thy name. There is the recognition of the ownership of the Lord God Almighty over all creation. None of it is outside of His hands and His thoughts. He works and He maintains and He continues to put into place every course of action in this created realm.
This world, in its treachery, teaches that it might be possible that some extraterrestrial being worked to bring into place what we know as our universe. That being, however, long ago forsook this earth. Everything is now just random chaotic forces of energy and time with no known purpose or future. This manipulated theory is this realm’s response to the continued discovery that there is design and order in every facet of nature. 
The Church, however, the true Church of the redeemed of God, continually sings forth, in unqualified admiration, the choruses echoed in Ps 136:5-9, To Him who made the heavens with skill, For His lovingkindness is everlasting; To Him who spread out the earth above the waters, For His lovingkindness is everlasting; To Him who made the great lights, For His lovingkindness is everlasting: The sun to rule by day, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, The moon and stars to rule by night, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. We rejoice in His lovingkindness forever and forever. We salute Him with hearts that rightly appraise the awesome recognition of God’s handiwork.
	We proclaim the earnest refrain of Ps 104:30-32, Thou dost send forth Thy Spirit, they are created; And Thou dost renew the face of the ground. Let the glory of the Lord endure forever; Let the Lord be glad in His works; He looks at the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
We acknowledge and proclaim that God is to find complete satisfaction and joy in all that He has done, especially in our lives through the redeeming work of His Son. It always comes back to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Everything is bound up in the manner in which God ordained, from before the creation of anything that was made, that the Son would receive all glory and honor from the entirety of His creation. For God to be glad and find satisfaction in His work requires that the Son will be honored and adored and lifted high above all else. That is the reason that we, His people, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus come together in our adoration of all that God has done.
	Ps 148:4-13, Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord, For He commanded and they were created. He has also established them forever and ever; He has made a decree which will not pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, Sea monsters and all deeps; Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word; Mountains and all hills; Fruit trees and all cedars; Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and winged fowl; Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth; Both young men and virgins; Old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven. He alone is to be praised, both individually and corporately, as we live the life that He has given us on this earth. 
Let our hearts and voices become as one in the declaration of the goodness of all that God has created. Let us be molded and fit together into the living house of God from whence the Word of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is broadcast throughout all of His creation. This is not done by the mode of the media, nor by the very best methods of the human dissemination of information. It is done by the manner in which our lives are anchored in and honoring to the Lord God Almighty, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. To His glory Alone, so be it!
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Amen. 

	This morning’s benediction is Ps 134. Behold, bless the Lord, all servants of the Lord, Who serve by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the sanctuary, And bless the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion, He who made heaven and earth. Amen.