“Five Favorite Old Testament Stories: Creation”
Hebrews 3:4

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost—August 1, 2021

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Anyone who pays taxes is familiar with the phrase “Head of the Household.”  In our text from today’s Epistle Reading in the third chapter of Hebrews, the writer is emphasizing that Christ is greater than Moses, because Moses was only a servant in God’s spiritual house, but Christ is the head of God’s spiritual household, which is the Christian Church.  To illustrate this point, the writer makes a remark about the creation of the universe: “For every house is built by someone, but God is the Builder of everything.”

You are invited to follow the sermon outline on the last pages of the bulletin as we consider this text under the theme, “Maker of Heaven and Earth.”

When the ancient people of God rejected him and turned to false gods, the prophet Hosea condemned them, proclaiming, “Israel has forgotten its Maker.”  That condemnation is surely much more true of us today, for it seems we have literally forgotten our Maker, because we actually doubt that he even is Maker of heaven and earth.  Putting more faith in the theories of men than the truths of God’s Word, we have forgotten our Maker.

The theory of evolution, which says that our world and its wonders were not created by God, but gradually evolved, is widely accepted in our society.  If we judge by what we watch on television, what we read in books, magazines, and newspapers, what we see in museums, it would seem the whole world has agreed the Bible’s account of creation can’t possibly be true. 

And are we not also tempted with doubts?  The experts seem so certain; how can the Bible be right?  How can we disagree with the rest of the world?  How can we be sure they aren’t right and the Bible wrong?  Worst of all, evolution is often taught to our children as an established fact that they must simply accept, and accepting evolution means rejecting God’s Word.

But, evolution is not a fact, it is a theory.  Facts are things we see, and touch, and taste, and smell and hear; facts are observed with the senses.  Theories, on the other hand, are not observed with the senses; they are constructed in the mind.  Theories are mental attempts to explain the facts we observe, to explain why things are the way they are.

Despite the impression we may get, the whole world does not accept the theory of evolution.  Many respected scientists do not believe it is the best theory to explain the observed facts.   And there are also many facts which simply don’t fit the theory of evolution, facts which evolutionists themselves cannot explain.  Even some evolutionists are beginning to question and modify some aspects of the traditional theory of evolution.

Probably the best argument against evolution is the common-sense statement of our text:  “For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.”  Just as a house must be carefully planned and constructed by someone, it is evident that someone carefully planned and built our universe, our world, and all that is in it.  The wonders of creation are simply too complex to have developed by accident.  As we stand in awe at the wonders of nature, as we marvel at the miracles of life, we must agree with the Book of Ecclesiastes: “[We] cannot comprehend the work of God, the Maker of all things.”

A famous British scientist has said that to believe in evolution is like believing that if a tornado came through our community again, like the one that hit our church a few years ago, it would not leave our homes or our church destroyed, but instead the pieces would be fantastically rearranged by the tornado and put back together into something better than they were before!  Just as that could not come true, our complex world could not have come into being by accident.  Someone must have designed and built it.  And Hebrews tells us who that someone is: “For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.”  Today’s Gradual from later in in the book of Hebrew puts it this way: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”

So, why do we so easily doubt creation and acquiesce to the theory of evolution?  Because we think men are smarter than God.  That was the sin of Adam and Eve.  The Lord said, “Do not eat of the fruit of the Tree in the middle of the Garden,” but they said, “We’re smarter than you, God; we’ll do whatever we want.”  In the same way, the Lord says to us, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” but we say, “We’re smarter than you, God; we’ll believe whatever we want.”

People often ask, “If God created the world and still controls it, why are there natural disasters like floods and earthquakes — even the tornado that hit our church?”  In the beginning the world was perfect, but the sin Adam and Eve brought into our world spoiled the perfection of God’s creation.  Just as it is now normal for our imperfect bodies to sometimes be sick, to grow old, and to eventually die, so it is normal for our imperfect environment to have disasters and calamities.  God permits these to happen, because they are now a normal part of our imperfect world.  Disasters and calamities also serve for us as a warning that our time is short.

But, even though it’s true that sin is the root cause of all natural disasters and calamities because sin spoiled the perfection of creation, it is NOT true that God sends disasters and calamities upon Christians as a punishment for sin.  Bad things which happen to Christians here on earth are never a punishment from God.  Psalm 103 puts it plainly: “He does not punish us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”

Jesus Christ already paid the punishment your sins deserve.  The book of Titus says, “[He] gave himself for us, to redeem us from all iniquity.”  Ephesians says, “[Christ] loved us and gave himself up for us as an offering and sacrifice to God.”  Isaiah proclaims: “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”  All your sins were laid on Jesus Christ, he paid for all your sins on the cross, he paid the price in your place.

God is not angry at our world.  God is not angry with you.  God forgives the sins of the whole world for Jesus’ sake.  St. Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians:  “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not counting men’s sins against them.”  God forgives all your sins because Jesus paid for them.  God does not count your sins against you.  God the Father created you, God the Son redeemed you, God the Holy Spirit gives you faith to trust in Jesus.  Through faith in Him you receive the complete forgiveness of sins earned for you by his life, death, and resurrection.

Today’s Gradual from Hebrews defines faith:  “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and being certain of what we do not see.”  By faith, you are sure that your sins are forgiven.  By faith, you are certain God loves you.  By faith, you trust God is working all things together for your good. By faith, you believe Jesus when he says, “All things are possible with God.”

And Hebrews continues, “By faith we believe that the universe was formed at God’s command.”  We believe in creation because we believe in the Lord, who loves us, who saved us, who tells us in his word, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

We believe that God created all things out of nothing, by his power.  As Psalm 33 says:  “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made.”   We believe that all things were created by God in six regular days, not over an immense period of time.  As Exodus says:  “In six days the Lord made heaven and earth.”  We believe that God is the Maker and Master of everything, as St. Paul says in Colossians, “By Him all things were made, both in heaven and on earth, both visible and invisible.”  In the Creed we confess, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.”  “What does this mean?  I believe that God has made me and all creatures. . .”

But does it matter?  Does it matter in our everyday lives whether or not we believe in God’s creation of the universe?  The philosopher Russell Kirk poses that question:  “To practical men and women in this work-a-day world, do these questions of the origin of the universe, the earth and mankind make any real difference?  Cannot such abstract disputations be resigned to preachers and professors?  No, they cannot.  For upon questions about origins depend the answers to the questions of whether life is worth living—and how life is to be lived. . .”

That is what’s at stake.  Whether life is worth living, and how life is to be lived.  You are no accident.  God created you, a unique individual, whom he loves.  God put you here for a purpose.

Luther writes in the Large Catechism:  “What is meant by these words, ‘I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth’?  Answer: I am a creature of God.”

You are a special, beloved creature of God.  That makes you valuable.  That makes your life precious.  That makes your life worth living.  That shows you how life is to be lived.  A life of worship and service to your Creator.

As the book of Revelation says, “Worship Him, the Maker of heaven and earth.”