In his sermon 'Of Creation, 1689 SLBC, Chap. 4, Par. 1,' Eric Bechler outlines the biblical account of creation, emphasizing the roles of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the creation of the world. He explains that God created all things, visible and invisible, in six literal 24-hour days, as supported by scripture like Genesis 1:1 and Exodus 20:11. The sermon highlights God's pleasure in creation and its purpose for His glory, power, wisdom, and goodness. Bechler references various scriptures such as Psalms, John, Hebrews, and Colossians to support these points. He also contrasts biblical creation with modern theories like evolution and the Big Bang, affirming the truth and certainty of God’s word.

In the beginning it pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for the manifestation of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom, and goodness to create or make the world and all things therein, whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days, and all very good. John one, two, and three. The same was in the beginning with God, and all things were made by him, And without him was not anything made that was made." Hebrews 1 verse 2, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, Whom he hath appointed heir of all things, By whom also he made the worlds. Our chapter this morning focuses on the creation. It's pretty straightforward, so our discussion will be relatively short this morning.

We'll briefly look at the when, who, what, and why related to the creation. As the Holy Scriptures begin, our confession also begins in the beginning. When does this happen? When does the creation take place? In the beginning, the starting point of time and space, the universe, the world, everything.

Who is involved in the creation? What pleased God? The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Genesis begins with, in the beginning, God. God here in Hebrew is El Chim, which grammatically is in the plural form, but Scripture makes clear that our God is one God.

We refer to Deuteronomy 6-4, here, oh Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. So why the plural form here? Perhaps this is an indication of the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It pleased God. We can turn to the Psalms to read about God's pleasure.

In Psalms 115 verse 3, But our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. In Revelation 411, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Why did God create all things? The confession answers this for us, for his glory, for the manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness.

When we turn to scripture, to Psalm 19, 1, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. We also can turn to the catechism. What is the chief aim of man? Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. From 1st Corinthians 1031, so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Romans 1136, for from him and through him and to him are all things to him be glory forever amen the confession expands this further here for the manifestation of the glory of his eternal power wisdom and goodness and we see in Jeremiah 10 12 He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and he has stretched out the heavens by his discretion. And in Psalm 33, five and six, He loveth righteousness and judgment. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. So what did God create?

It pleased God to create or make the world and all things therein, whether visible or invisible. Why do we include the word create and make here in the confession? I'm not exactly sure what they were coming out, but we see that both are actually used in Scripture from Genesis 1 1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And in John 1 2 and 3, the same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by him. Without him was not anything made that was made. So, what did God create? The world and all things in it, both visible and invisible, things we can see and things we cannot see. Paul tells us in his letter to the Colossians, Colossians 1.16, for by him were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.

All things were created by him and for him and how long did it take for God to make all things says here in the space of six days in our times there's disagreement with respect to the days of creation. Some put a long gap between the days. Some speculate that a day is not actually 24 hours, but can be longer. This is an important point for us here. If you can't believe what scripture says here at the beginning of the Bible, how can you believe anything else that's written in the Bible?

In Hebrew, the word for days is tov. Throughout all of scripture, every time the word tov is used, it represents 24 hours, only 24 hours. So we can conclude here that when we talk about six days in the creation account in Genesis, it's six 24-hour periods. In Exodus 20 verse 11, for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Also in Genesis 2, 1 and 3 as the creation is finished Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. Thus in six days God created all things. And then how did all that turn out? The confession says then all very good.

This also comes straight from scripture. We turn to Genesis 1.31, and God saw everything that He had made. And behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Today's paragraph is pretty straightforward.

Just a question, Do you really believe what it says? In our society today, people have trouble with this relatively basic phrase. Do you really believe that God created all things out of nothing in six days? Do you really believe God has that kind of power? In our culture today, great efforts are made to convince us of evolution, the Big Bang theory, and countless other ideas that come out.

God's word is clear on this point. His word is true, and it is certain. In contrast, our world today is filled with lies. Amen.