The God of Creation

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Well, you turn in your Bibles with me to Mark chapter 6. Mark chapter 6. That's going to be on page 888 of your Pew Bibles. Mark chapter 6. We'll begin at verse 30. Mark chapter 6, I'm going to amend that. We're going to begin at verse 37 for the sake of time. Mark chapter 6, beginning at verse 37. But he said to them, you give them something to eat. And they said to him, shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat? But he said to them, how many loaves do you have?

Go and see. And when they found out, they said, five and two fish. Then he commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in ranks and hundreds and in fifties. And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before them. And the two fish he divided among them all. So they all ate and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.

Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side to Bethsaida, while he sent the multitude away. And when he had sent them away, he departed to the mountain to pray. Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land. Then he saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. And when they saw him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost and cried out, for they saw him and were troubled.

But immediately he talked with them and said to them, Be of good cheer, it is I. Do not be afraid. Then he went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure and marveled, for they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened. When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there.

And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized him, ran through the whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard he was. Wherever he entered into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might just touch the hem of his garment. And as many as touched him were made well.

Prayer for Illumination

The grass withers, the flower fades, but brothers and sisters, the word of our God endures forever. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. And we pray, Father, that as we read your word this morning, that you would be our teacher. Father, we need your Holy Spirit to convince us of these truths, for they are not of man, but surely from you. So, Lord, we pray that your Spirit would attend to the reading and to the preaching. God, fill my mouth with the words of which your people need to hear. Father, please let them be Bereans to test these things, whether they are true against the Scriptures. In Jesus' name, amen.

Sermon

Jack was an existentialist raised up in the 1960s. He fully imbibed the ethos of those days and lived for absolute freedom for himself and for others. But now as he is in his seventh decade of life in his seventies, he realizes after three failed marriages and no retirement and a life that seems like it has lots of experiences, but a lot of grief. What has it all been about? Jack needed to be taught. And he needed God.

Janet was a woman who was plagued with anxiety. Constantly worried about where she would get her next meal. Constantly in fear that she would starve. Though she lived in America, and though she had a job, she never seemed to have any peace about her life. She needed that peace.

And she needed God. James was a construction worker, and as he was on the job one day, the backhoe had dug a trench next to a concrete wall, and he was there to do some type of work, and as he climbed down in a non-Osho approved way, all of a sudden the wall of dirt fell upon him, and he felt the air being squeezed out of his lungs, and he cried out for help. He needed a miracle, and he needed rescue. He needed God's intervention. Nancy was a young mother with a four-month-old baby, born with a liver problem. Every time her boy's fever spiked, she was back in the hospital, desperate for the transplant that her son needed. Her son needed healing. They needed a miracle. They needed God to intervene.

In this passage today, what we find is that Jesus is the one who meets these needs. What we find in the passage today is that Jesus is the God-man who displays both his glory and his care for people. Jesus is the God-man who displays his glory and his care for his people.

First Point

First, look with me at Jesus who is the creator of bread, verses 30 through 44. I'm not going to read this because we've already read the second half and we talked about the first half last week. This is the story in which Jesus goes and he sees the multitude of the 5,000.

He has compassion on them because they're like sheep without a shepherd. He teaches them and then he feeds them. He cares for the people. But see, there's something that happens in Mark. See, Mark has a, the Gospel of Mark, the writer of Mark, he has a prerogative. He wants to show you that Jesus is God. John likes to tell us, the Apostle John likes to tell us in his Gospel that Jesus is God. Mark likes to show it.

See, in John chapter 1, Verses 1-5, John chapter 1, 1-5. You know these words well. When I read them, they'll ring in your ears. John starts his gospel off this way. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." Right? John wants to just come out and say it. Jesus is the eternal God. John wants to show it, or Mark wants to show it to you.

He's going to display His divine glory as He feeds the 5,000 disciples. As He feeds those people who are hungry on the hills, Jesus shows Himself to be exactly what Hebrews chapter 1 says. That by Him and through Him all things were made, and they are upheld. It is by Jesus Christ that all things have their existence. And so Jesus has them all sit there, He does something very normal, he takes the bread, he lifts up his eyes to heaven, he thanks God for the bread, he breaks the bread, he gives it to his disciples, and somehow five bread and two fish feed five thousand people. How does that happen? Because Jesus is God. Because Jesus is God in the flesh.

Now some people aren't going to believe this. Some people, it seems they cannot believe this. For some people, their heart is so hard that this will not sink into their souls. For some people, it's a rational problem. Right? I've never experienced anything like this. This isn't how I normally see the world operate. And even if you go and you pick up some commentaries by people who call themselves theologians, I'll put that in air quotes, will try to explain away this miracle. But the problem is the scriptures don't allow it.

The problem is the Bible says that God is the one who is sovereign over his creation. Yes, the Lord gave us natural laws in which the world seems to operate. Aren't you thankful that gravity doesn't just go wonky all the time on the earth? But there is a way in which you can trust the normal rhythms and patterns of God's life, of God's creation. But that does not mean that the God of creation then binds Himself that He cannot then use His creation for His end.

No, it is God who is the commander over the locusts. It's God who can turn water of the Nile into blood. It is God who makes mountains appear out of the depths. It is God who created the sun and the moon and the stars. It is God who feeds 5,000 people from 5 loaves and 2 fish. So the question is, we're still in chapter six. In your Bibles, you got them right in front of you, I hope. Scan up to the top of chapter six.

Who are you like? Are you like the people of Nazareth who would not believe in Jesus Christ? Or do you truly believe that he is the son of God? Do you rest and receive in Jesus Christ as He reveals Himself in this passage? Do you trust yourself to His care? Do you pray for your daily bread as He has instructed you? Because He is the God of creation. But see, it's not just bread He created, Jesus also created the water. It is Jesus Christ who is the creator of the water. Look with me at verses 45 through 52. Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he sent the multitude away. And when he had sent them away, he departed into the mountain to pray.

Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land. Then he saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. And when they saw him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost and cried out. For they all saw him and were troubled. But immediately he talked with them and said to them, be of good cheer, it is I, do not be afraid. Then he went up into the boat and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure and marveled. For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened."

See, Jesus Christ here shows himself to be God by walking upon the water. Jesus Christ shows himself to be the creator of all things seen and unseen. It is when we see Jesus here as he's in charge of this scene the whole time. Did you notice that at the very beginning? It's Jesus who's in charge of this scene.

I would translate that first part of the story when he says he immediately made his disciples. It's more like he compelled them. He said, guys get in the boat. Come on, get in the boat. You guys go. You go. I'll take care of the crowd. And he sends them across the lake to go to Bethsaida. And there Jesus is in charge of the crowd. He disperses the crowd. He says goodbye to everyone. And there Jesus retreats up into the mountain and He prays. He goes and spends time with His Father.

But then, at somewhere between 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock in the morning, He hasn't forgotten about His disciples. He looks and He sees them as they're straining at night to row across the Sea of Galilee. As He sees them struggling, He has compassion on them, but he does something remarkable. Now, I'm not sure how much time you've spent rowing a boat. I've never rowed a boat as big as this one before, but I remember my friend Jesse in the Navy.

He thought it'd be a great idea to get kayaks. That would keep us out of trouble. Let me just suggest to you, never let two young adult men get kayaks. You can go to all sorts of places you shouldn't go. But I remember we had this grand idea one time to cross the James River in our kayaks. And I thought, oh, this is going to be fun. You know, it's a bright day, the sun is out, it's warm, it's in the summer. And so we started, we launched our boats out and we started going on the kayak.

And after, I don't know, about an hour of rowing, I realized, I don't know when we're ever going to get to the other side. You see, because the wind was pushing against us. It was so bad that as my arms were aching, my back was tired, I was just sweating up a storm. Every time I pulled the oar, I tried to angle the oar in such a way that the wind wouldn't catch the oar and push my kayak back. These guys had been straining all night long.

Jesus put them in the boat, pushed them off the shore, and they started going, and these summer winds that would come during the dry season from the Golan Heights are pushing them, pushing them, pushing them. It's only a couple miles, by the way, if you've ever rowed just a couple miles, that's pretty hard. But they row these couple miles against the wind, and they're being swamped by five to seven foot waves.

Again, I'm a person, I love the water, I get myself in trouble in the water, I like going surfing, I like going kayaking, these are fun things, but I remember going surfing in Southern California in 8 foot waves. And we might not think 8 foot waves are that much, but I remember as I was trying to go out into the surf, trying to break past the break, and as I was going for an hour and a half, paddling and paddling under a wave, diving under, crash on me, sucking in water, wondering, am I ever going to live through this? What can I ever do? How can I get past this? Wondering, was I going to live? Was this really worth it? They're exhausted. These men are tired. Their muscles are sore. It's late at night. They've been working all day, and now they find themselves at the twilight of night by the silvery light of the moon. A figure starts to walk out on the water.

There's an old wives tale, that they would hear a superstition that people who had died and weren't buried, their spirits would just kind of stay in that area in which they had died. And so obviously lots of people had died, fishermen and such on the Sea of Galilee. And so there was old wives telling superstition at the time that at night these spirits would come out.

And what happens in this text, I need to read it to you. because I'm worried that our translation doesn't get it across. And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost and cried out. This is a blood-curdling scream. This is not like, oh, I wonder what that is. No, these are grown men who grew up on the sea, made their living by the Sea of Galilee, were familiar with the lake, And now they've met what they think is death itself. And they cry out, screaming Him. When they saw Him, they were troubled. But Jesus immediately does something. This is remarkable. Verse 50. But He immediately, He talked with them and said to them, Be of good cheer. It is I. Do not be afraid.

Jesus speaks to them, and he tells us in verse 58, that it was that fourth hour of the night when he came to them walking by the sea, and he would have passed them by. Jesus does two things, he would have passed them by, and he speaks. Once again, the translation leaves us a little bit wanting in verse 48 when it says, "...and would have passed them by."

If you go to the Greek, it's not that much better. It's, "...and He desired, or He wanted to pass by them." But if Jesus wanted to pass by them, why wouldn't He just walk further away? Hey, why wouldn't He just walk 500 yards further than that, where they couldn't see Him pass the waves and the wind? Because I don't think that that's what's actually going on here.

When it says that Jesus desired to pass by them, it's getting us to remember that Job 9, verse 8 says it is God who walks upon the waters. And it's Psalm 77, verse 19 that it tells us that the Lord is the one whose steps are upon the depths of the sea.

See, it is Jesus Christ who is displaying His glory. This same phrase here, pass by them, or pass by Him, is the same phrase that we find in Exodus chapter 33. When Moses desires to behold God's glory, when he says, let me see your glory, and the Lord says, no, you can't see it. And he says, but what I'll do is I'll put you in the cleft of the rock, and I'll pass by you, and there I will declare my name. This is the same phrase that's used here for Jesus passing by them. Jesus is going to declare His glory to His disciples. He's going to show His disciples who He really is. And in verse 15, Jesus does something remarkable with His words. So He desired to pass by them, and now He speaks out, Be of good cheer.

Amen. Take heart. Don't worry. Put your screams behind you. It is I. Ego e mi. I am. This is a call back to Exodus chapter 3 verse 14. I am who I am. Jesus is not just announcing, I'm here guys, don't worry. He's announcing, Yahweh in the flesh is with you. Jehovah incarnate is the one walking upon the waters. Do not be afraid. Be of good courage. It is God in the flesh, Jesus Christ himself, who is walking before them.

But again, some people say they won't believe this. Some people, they seem that they can't believe this. Other people, in the hardness of their hearts, will outright reject this. Others, they'll actually say, this goes against everything I know. I've never seen somebody walk upon water. I've studied the surface tension of water, and I know that it can't possibly be that. So it must be that, and they'll come up with naturalistic frameworks. Maybe there was a sandbar, or maybe Jesus was walking along the shoreline or something, and they imagined this. The problem is that the scriptures don't give us that. The Bible doesn't lead you to that. The Bible leads you to open your mouth and stand with a gaping jaw at the awesome glory of Jesus Christ, that He walked upon the water. How? Because He is God in the flesh. God has created things and He is sovereign over His creation. He created the seas and He can tell the waves to stop. He created the waters and He could walk upon the waters He created.

The question is, will we be like those in Nazareth? Too familiar with Jesus to harden our hearts and just... I'm not sure I can accept that. Will we be those who have hard hearts or will we receive and rest in Jesus Christ as He has offered to us in the Gospel? Can we trust Him to care for our lives?

Do you believe that as God, when He makes the promise, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto me? And then He promises you, and lo, I am with you even unto the ends of the age. Do you actually believe that He is eternal? And that He will be with you until the ends of the age? Do you believe Him when He says that He will never leave you nor forsake you?

That He takes notice of your struggles? that He knows your needs. Can you rest in this Jesus Christ as He's presented to us as God in the flesh? But see, He's not just the maker of bread. He's not just the creator of the water, but He is also the creator of your own body. He is the creator of our bodies. Look with me at verses 53 through 56.

When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there. And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized him, ran through that whole surrounding region and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever he was. Wherever he entered into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might just touch the hem of his garment. And as many as touched him were made well. Now Jesus had pushed them off the shore in that boat, sent them to Bethsaida, but now the winds coming out of the north and east have pushed them dramatically further south.

They are miles and miles off course. And they find themselves in the area of Gennesaret. They find themselves on the eastern side of the lake. And there they find a harbor and they drop anchor. And they go on to shore, and Jesus' fame immediately is recognizable.

The crowds know who He is. The people find out, this is Jesus. This is the one who heals. This is the one who saves. This is the one who can care for us. And so they bring their people to Him. And notice the tone. The people are desperate. Wherever He went, They brought their sick to Jesus. It didn't matter if they were in the rural farm country. It didn't matter if they were in the small towns. It didn't matter if they were in the cities nearby. They were going to pick up their friends on their mats, carry them to Jesus, and bring them to Jesus' feet because they knew that it was only Jesus who could somehow heal them of their infirmities.

And it happens. I don't know about you, but this is somewhat surprising, right? What does it say at verse 56? And they begged him that they might just touch the hem of his garment. And as many as touched him were made well. How does that happen? Some of you have struggled with sickness. Some of you have struggled with pain. Some of you know what it's like to suffer in your illnesses. How does it happen that you could just touch the hem of someone's garment and you would be made well?

Because He's God in the flesh. Because He is Jehovah incarnate. The how is because of His ontological reality that He was in the beginning and He was with God and He is God. That He was the one who knit them together in their mother's wombs. That He was the one who created all things and sustains all things.

Now I need to warn you here, this is just a caveat, a side trail, but I need to warn you. That there are people who will take this passage and say, well see, if you believe in Jesus, then you're going to be totally fine. You're going to be healed, you're going to be healthy, it's going to be wonderful. The problem is, once again, that's not biblical. Because these people show faith in Jesus Christ, they don't see Him as just a superstitious miracle worker.

We also know that it is Paul himself who prayed to God three times that a thorn in his flesh might be taken away from him, but the Lord Himself answered and He said, My grace is sufficient for you. Some of you, the Lord is allowing the suffering and the pain and the injuries and the chronic illnesses of this life because He is using it to sanctify you and to bring glory to Himself as other people see you cling on to that faith in your suffering. Because you see, Romans teaches us that your suffering is not in vain. But when God brings us through those hardships, through those trials in our lives, It produces character, perseverance, and hope. And hope does not disappoint. He is teaching you how to cling to Him with the same type of hope that these people are coming to Jesus.

But there are some people who don't want to believe this. They won't believe it. It seems as almost as if they can't believe it. It's like their hearts are hard and their minds are closed, and no matter how much information you bring to them, and you say, look, Jesus Christ Himself is God in the flesh, they'll say, well, hold on, Jesus never said, I am God. How much more proof do you need? If you don't believe in Him, at least believe in the miracles. Jesus is saying the proof is right there, it's right in front of you.

But yes, it's going to go against our experiences. It's going to go against what we naturally know, what we understand about the laws of nature. But it's because He is the Creator. And we can't explain away these miracles like, oh, this was just a psychological effect, or this was just, you know, a placebo type effect.

They touched him and they felt better for a while. The problem is the Bible doesn't allow that. The scriptures don't give us any space for that. It says they touched him and were healed. I don't think it was a psychological effect that a man who cannot walk all of a sudden starts walking after 20 years laying on a mat.

No, it's the God who creates who is sovereign. He has made you in His image. He cares about you, body and soul. He made you with your chromosomes. He created your DNA. He made you a psychosomatic union. He made you with a soul and with a reasonable mind and with a body that bears His image. He heals our diseases and He does care for our souls.

So the question is, are you like the people in Nazareth who won't believe him? Or do you bow before the king of the universe? Do you have a tender heart? Or are you like the disciples who had a hard heart and couldn't understand the bread? Will you rest and receive in Jesus Christ as he is offered in the gospel? Is He just a miracle worker to you, or do you see Him as God in the flesh? Fully God and fully man? Do you see Him, as Matthew tells us, Immanuel, God with us?

Brothers and sisters, trust in His care for your life. Trust that He has prepared a place for you with His Father. Believe that He hears your prayers, even your pleading. He knows the deep recesses of your souls, the things that you are struggling with, and the things that you are scared of. He tells you, be of good courage. Do not fear. It is I. This is the hope that will get you through your darkest of days. This is the hope that will aid you in the pains and trials and tribulations of this life.

He takes notice of you in the dark watches of the night. The question is, do you believe that He is the Theanthropos? That He is the God-Man? Do you rest in Jesus Christ? Do you receive Him as He's offered to you in the Gospel? Will you behold His glory? And will you worship Him? The Lamb who was slain.

Closing Prayer

That is what we are called to do. Because He is truly God in the flesh. Let's pray. Lord, there has been a message today, a simple message. But Lord, the applications and the implications of it can only come about by the powerful working of Your Holy Spirit. So Lord, we plead with you that you would take out hearts of stone and give hearts of flesh. Lord, we pray that you would help us in our times of disbelief and you would turn our eyes to you. Father, we pray that you would grant us the gift of faith that we might bask in the light of your son forever.

In Jesus's name. Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.