Valley View Baptist Church Pastor Curt Audet
6N656 Route 25 February 8, 2026
St. Charles, IL 60174 vvbcil.com
“In The Beginning God Created” (Genesis 1:1)
#2 in the message series Harbors For Our Soul
BI: Our existence is stabilized because God spoke and created the heavens and earth.
There is no verse in all of the Bible more stabilizing, more establishing, more solidifying than this one, Genesis 1:1 –
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
This is the first and largest of all Harbors for our Souls. When any man or woman or child seeks and finds God who created the Heaven and the earth, it is no exaggeration to say, they have found the most important harbor of all: The knowledge that God has made us and everything on earth and everywhere else.
We began this message series “Harbors For Our Soul” last week utilizing Lake Michigan and its dubious distinction as the most dangerous of all freshwater lakes in the United States as a parable—or, illustration, of our need for Harbors For Our Soul. Since such records have been made, more than 1500 shipwrecks have occurred within the boundaries of Lake Michigan.
Among the Great Lakes– Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior—Lake Michigan is not the biggest in terms of surface (<Superior) or depth (<Superior). But it is the only one of the Great Lakes entirely within the borders of the United States. And as such, it the largest of all lakes within the United States.
National Geographic produced a 44 minute video feature Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes: Lost Beneath the Waves telling the shipwreck stories. Very interesting. However–of course–the goal is always to not sink the ship.
Three pro-tips to avoiding becoming a shipwreck statistic in Lake Michigan are (1) Know where to find the safest harbors. (2) Get to a safe harbor before storms, winds and visibility conditions deteriorate. (3) Understand on-ship communications so everyone onboard can work together. Let’s see how much we know on this. I tagged the walls in safety orange to help us know.
* Give a shout from the Starboard (aka, ‘steering side’ or right side of the ship).
* Give a shout from the Port (aka, ‘loading side’ or left side of the ship).
* Point to the bow (aka, front) of the ship.
* Point to the stern (aka, back) of the ship.
We are getting ready to protect our ship, our lives and our faith from shipwreck!
The largest harbor in Lake Michigan is associated with the largest city adjacent to Lake Michigan. Chicago’s coastline along Lake Michigan is approximately 26 miles long. Chicago Harbor is the largest and most active of the harbors in the Lake. Its size identifies it as a Harbor System.
The Chicago Harbor System comprises the public rivers, canals, and lakes within the territorial limits of the City of Chicago including all connecting slips, basins, piers, breakwaters, and permanent structures for a distance of three miles from the shore between the north and south lines of the city. The Chicago Harbor System includes portions of the Chicago River, Calumet River, Ogden Canal, Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal, Lake Calumet, and. of course, Lake Michigan.
In the harbor system there are many smaller harbors. Chicago Harbor proper is the man-made harbor located at the mouth of the Chicago River bounded by outer breakwaters to the north and east, Northerly Island to the south, and the Chicago shoreline to the west. The main entrance to this harbor is marked by the Chicago Harbor Lighthouse built in 1893. Included is the Jardine Water Purification Plant, Navy Pier, the Chicago Harbor Lock, the Chicago US Coast Guard Station, the Chicago Yacht Club, and the Columbia Yacht Club.
The Port of Chicago is within the greater Chicago Harbor in and around Calumet Harbor, Calumet River, and Lake Calumet. The Chicago Park District operates a municipal harbor system in the greater Chicago Harbor in Lake Michigan for recreational boaters. With accommodation for 6000 boats, it is the largest system of its kind in the nation. The system comprises of 9 municipal harbors–from north to south–Montrose Harbor, Belmont Harbor, Diversey Harbor, DuSable Harbor, Monroe Harbor, Burnham Harbor, 31st Street Harbor, 59th Street Harbor, and Jackson Park Inner and Outer Harbors. A Harbor System as large as Chicago’s provides refuge, safety and enjoyment to millions of people.
The truth that unfolds in Genesis 1 establishes a Harbor For Our Soul so large, so comprehensive and so satisfying that just knowing, understanding and living in the Harbor of God our Creator is a level of ‘enough’ that nothing else can replace that. Let’s look very closely at this first, highest priority and enormous implications of this as our Harbor.
I. God reveals Himself as the Creator of all things. (Genesis 1:1)
Our existence is stabilized because God spoke and created the heavens and earth. God the Creator creates first of all, meaning, purpose and substance. The world began by the creative, designing, determinative Almighty God of the universe. God came to an clean slate; an empty page a vast —devoid of time, matter, and space. In an instant God brought the newly created time, matter and space to bear upon His will to bring to being a planet and everything upon it, around it and with it.
He began a beginning. He began a start of which you and I have been a part of in a chapter of time in which we now live. The Bible introduces ‘God’ 32 times in this first chapter of Genesis.
God, of His own free will and by His absolute power called the whole universe into meaning. Evoking into existence what was previously nonexistent. As we stand witness to the absolute power of God. We accept His power to create as stated in here. Of course, we will have questions without answers in our finite minds. We simply cannot grasp the breadth of what are being shown. It is here in Genesis 1:1 where we begin to walk, and think and begin in faith. We accept these things by faith. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for; faith is the conviction of things not fully seen. By well-placed faith in God, for centuries people have received their confidence. By faith we gain knowledge and understanding that the universe was created by the spoken Word of God, so that what is seen in front of us all was not made out of things that preexisted or that were visible. Without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. (Hebrews 11:1-3, 6)
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)
When did God Create the earth? Efforts to figure out the Earth’s age go back many centuries. The classical Greek philosopher Aristotle, thought time had no beginning or end, believed that Earth was infinitely old.
According to the Bible, the Earth is significantly younger than what science suggests a shorter timeline for Earth’s history. In this case, genealogical records combined with Genesis 1 of creation are used to guess the Earth’s and Universe’s age of about 4000-6000 years. Scientists with the Creation Museum and the Ark Museum in Kentucky—AnswersInGenesis.org tabulates the dates given in Scripture to say, “Creation is no younger than 4004 years.”
Modern science says Earth originated around 4.5 billion years ago, plus or minus 50 millions years, as suggested by the discovery of microfossils and biomarkers in some of the oldest rocks on the planet.
How Did God Create? He created out of nothing. Nothing precedes God. He created without help. No equipment, no angel, no human. He created without us. The 17th century French philosopher and historian said wryly, “God created man, and then Man returned the favor.” Not so. But God created with His Word. ‘God said’ ten times in Genesis 1. God created perfectly saying ‘It is good.” 7 times. No improvements could be added. Upon completing His creation He is so satisfied declaring it all very good! 7 times, once ‘very good’.
The Creation by the spoken Word of the Creator is so incredible that God who made all things is forever known as the Creator, our Maker. And everything on earth and under the earth and over the earth is forever known as the Creation, formed by God the Creator. So integral is the connection between the Creator and the Creation that they are inseparable. To appreciate God the Creator, and not marvel over Creation which is filled with His intricate fingerprints shows a disconnect of reason. To marvel over the glory of Creation and deny the Creator at the same time is a form of insanity.
II. God reveals one definitive quality of a fool. (Psalm 14, 53)
Two places in the Psalms we are told—and at the same time soberly warned—with these words:
“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”(Ps 14:1; 53:1; Rom 3:10-11)
When an atheist—created by God—stands up on the earth—created by God—and announces to all the world—created by God—that there is no God, the atheist at that point asserts themselves as a fool. God’s determination of the status of the atheist as a ‘fool’ is not one of jeering, making fun of and mocking. God is like Doctor giving His prognosis. He is like the Prosecutor giving His indictment. Many atheists may be educated, intelligent and articulate, and may even be pursuing truth.
But the warning is dire. Psalms 14 and 53 are nearly word for word repeating one another. God hadn’t forgotten what He said. Rather, God repeats like the sign that blinks ‘Caution! Caution! Caution!’ God says the obvious: The atheist is glaringly wrong. Wrong factually. Wrong deductively. Wrong Biblically. Atheism is not an honest position. Why not? Because in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Including the ancestors of the atheist him or herself. Prove it! If the atheist is alive, he is himself, without a word, proof of Genesis 1:1. That is why the atheist is a fool. How can I say this? Well, I’m not the One who says this. God does.
III. God reveals Himself as Everlasting. (Genesis 1:1; Is 40:28-29)
When did God begin? Never. God existed before beginning of the ‘the beginning’ of the earth and heavens. God pre-existed before the time, matter and space—the raw materials of Creation–did. God self-existed eternally. No source. No parent. No maker of God. God calls Himself ‘I am that I am’. Ever existent.
God is the First Cause. Everything that derives, derives from Him. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1) Our February memory verse affirms:
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength.” (Isaiah 40:28-29)
Conclusion: Brothers and sisters, in a world filled with confusion, chaos and crisis, you and I need a harbor to come to that is the beginning, bigger and better than all other sources and helps.
The object of going through this world is that we do not shipwreck. We are not destroyed. Like the ships in Lake Michigan, know the largest and safest harbor of all. Know God our everlasting Creator! Know Him well enough that you can find safety, solace and strength within His everlasting arms.
“Have you not known?” You know now! “Have you not heard?” You heard now! The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to we who have no might He increases strength. The Bible is loaded with Harbors For Our Soul. It all begins with the ‘anchor for our soul’, Jesus Christ.
Prayer
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