Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 9
Q&A 26 Sermons Vander Kam on HC Lord's Day 9
Q&A 2626 Q. What do you believe when you say: I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth?
A. That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who of nothing made heaven and earth with all that is in them, who likewise upholds and governs the same by His eternal counsel and providence, is for the sake of Christ His Son my God and my Father; in whom I so trust as to have no doubt that He will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul; and further, that whatever evil He sends upon me in this vale of tears, He will turn to my good; for He is able to do it, being Almighty God, and willing also, being a faithful Father.
Beloved in the Lord, we begin with Lord's Day 9 this morning and we are dealing with those things that belong to our salvation; that is, the second part of the Catechism. And this is the part of the Catechism that runs through Lord's Day 22, and all of these deal with this, namely the Apostles' Creed. So that the Apostles' Creed is going to be taken under consideration now for several Lord's days, and that is also the lion's share of the part of the Catechism dealing with our salvation. Because we are dealing here with a creed beloved, that has been accepted by all people, by all Christendom. A creed that has been accepted by Catholic and Protestant alike, that is accepted by all branches of Protestantism, this is the creed that is for everybody. If they do not believe in this creed then they are not Christian. If they do not believe in the Trinity then they are none of His. Those who do not believe in the Apostles' Creed are far removed. And therefore it is also of course, that there are already some ecumenical bodies who have come to the conclusion that we ought to meet on the basis of the Apostles' Creed. But for ever so many that is even too broad today, that they are not even able to go into that because now and again it is going to make a lot of difference. What you mean by this, that Jesus is resurrected from the dead, for example. Or what do you mean by this when you say, "I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth?" What do you believe by all these various things. And it was brought up again very recently, and what do you believe in this, "that he descended into hell."
Now all of these things of course, are going to come before us in due time as we follow the Catechism as it is dealing with this; this symbol of the Christian church; this creed for all christendom, this Apostles' Creed, this which has been recited by the people of God for 1600 years. This creed which has stood the test of time, this is now going to be looked upon very carefully as dealing with the matter of our salvation.
So that it is not something whereby we are going to be led in various directions, but we are going to be led only in this direction, that we are going to be able to see what it is that Christ has done in regard to our salvation.
That, first of all, I am to know how great my sin and misery is; secondly, I am to know how I am going to be delivered from that sin and misery; and those are the things which the Apostles' Creed show us. So that we will see beloved, that here we are dealing with something that indeed speaks to the heart, speaks to the soul, is not something that is far removed from us, but must also be looked upon very carefully in order that we may also be able to see all of that which is given to us in this beautiful creed.
We speak to you this morning on, "The Creator, our Father." Then we notice in the first place the amazing truth; secondly, its sure basis; and finally, its glorious comfort; those three things.
So that the truth that is here confessed is immediately this, that we believe in God the Father, Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth. That we believe in this, that Genesis 1 and 2 are correct. That we believe in this, that Genesis 1 and 2 are Gospel. That we believe in this, that you are not able to do without Genesis 1 and 2, and if you do without Genesis 1 and 2 then you can scrap the rest of the Scriptures too. And it was only a short time ago, really, as far as the history of the church is concerned, about 25 years, that in Reformed circles they began to say that it was no longer necessary to believe in the historicity of Genesis 1 and 2. Or they said it is not necessary to believe in the historicity of the first 3 chapters. And of course, it was only a very short time later that they concluded that you didn't have to believe in the first 11. So that, now you go to this extent, that the Bible really begins with Abraham, see. The first 11 chapters are out, so then you begin with Abraham, and then you don't know where you are anymore. Because of the fact that you have already turned your back upon this, that "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth."
This book, this Bible, has come to us to show us the way of salvation, and that book comes to us in order to show us that way of salvation by means of this; that He is going to show us who God is. And who is He? We were welcomed again this morning, "our help is in the name of Jehovah, maker of heaven and earth." Oh...Why in most places they begin with the second person of the Trinity, nevertheless the Bible does not begin there. Nor does the true church of Christ, but always begins with the Godhead; that is, all three. And then there is still this order of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Now here in Genesis 1 and 2 beloved, He has shown us that He, of nothing has made heaven and earth and all that they contain. Now that is not sufficient for man of the present day. Modern man comes to the conclusion you may not say that, because there is no scientific proof; you cannot prove it. That there is someone who has made all things; there is far more proof for this, than that it just happened, that it just evolved. And that the more, oh, what shall I say, those things that are so difficult to understand have evolved are the more simple. That is the way in which all things have come into being, and there is no comfort in this; pardon me, but there is no comfort in this. I believe in the Big Bang! that has made heaven and earth.
And we begin the Catechism with this you know, "What is your only comfort?" Nah, that is not something that is found only in the first Lord's Day, but that is found in every Lord's Day of the Catechism. Because that is found throughout, throughout the Scriptures; that is the purpose. "What is your only comfort?" And my only comfort in this life is this, that He has made it, He made it, not somebody else. It did not just evolve, and we must recognize beloved, because these are things that are dangerous. That when they say that they believe in Jesus Christ, but they do not believe in the historicity of the first chapters of Genesis, that's a lie, and you may quote me. That's a lie. They believe, they say, in the Lord of the Scriptures, but not in the Scriptures of the Lord. And this is an impossibility.
And I have been in those places in recent years where they have spoken of this, and where they have spoken at length of this. And that we were taught time and again that it is not so important that we believe in the historicity of these things. That whether it was this way or whether it was some other way, but if we will only believe in this, that Jesus loves me. That's the only thing that finally counts, and consequently God's people have often been put in a very strange and very uncomfortable place. Because that's what the Bible says too, you know.
What must I do? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Nobody says to anybody, believe in the first two chapters of Genesis and thou shalt be saved. No... But this is part and parcel of it, and you are not able to understand the rest of the Scriptures apart from this, that God is the Maker of heaven and earth and all that it contains.
And then the next Lord's Day is going to speak of that marvelous thing, that He upholds all things by His providence. And providence is out, you know, if you do not believe in a Creator. Then there is no providence. If you do not believe that God the Father made heaven and earth, then forget about it because then there is nobody that is upholding it. And this has driven ever so many thinkers into a blind alley, that they were not able to find their way out anymore, that they were not able to understand what they were dealing with -- because, what are you going to do with this life, this life that you live from day to day; or does it just happen! Nothing controlling it, so intricate is everything, which is seen more clearly than in any other age, the age in which we are living. Where you see that they are able to send up a shuttle, they are able to send up a missile, they are able to send someone to the moon, and they are able to calculate exactly, exactly how much thrust there has to be in order to get him there.
As one said, that to believe in something just happening like this would be, such as a bomb hitting a print shop, and the lead flies through that whole building, and falls on paper and prints Webster's Unabridged Dictionary without a mistake. That is about as much chance there would be that everything is working the way it does, if nobody made it.
But nevertheless, this is a confession, and it is a confession that we make with the heart. And that we also make with the mind, but nevertheless it is essentially of the heart. I confess that God is the Creator of heaven and earth and that that Creator is my Father. That is the one who has made all things and has done so for a purpose. And He is not the one who has forgotten all about that which He has made, but still upholds it. That is the God whom I trust.
Now this belief in the Bible beloved, is something that you and I must at all times hold to, that we must hold to at all costs. It isn't a minor matter when they say for example, that those first days, their historicity is not so important. It is, it is of vital importance because, otherwise you would not be able to maintain the history of Luke 2 either. And then you would not be able to maintain the history of any part of the Scriptures. And those are the things that you and I must realize. The truth is amazing. That truth, that I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. Oh, in one short sentence, there is so much given to us. There is so much given to us so that we will see therein that it is indeed this, that we are kept in the hollow of His hand; He is the one who has made us, and not we ourselves. And He is the one who is going to lead us and guide us unto the perfect day.
Now those are the things that we must keep clearly in mind, keep clearly before us. That this is a part of this confession, and that is a part of the confession of the church of Jesus Christ of all ages. And that when they deny the historicity of the first chapters of Genesis they are going directly contrary to the confession. Which they have promised not to do; they have promised to uphold, and they go contrary to these things and think nothing of it. And those things are dangerous, and whenever that is allowed then we know that we are already on that kind of a slippery slope that we are going to land far away from the truth of God. He is the one who has made all things, He called them into being, called them out of nothing, "He spoke and it was," says the Psalmist. Unimaginable... That there was nothing and He spoke and it was. Did that take long? Six days; aw, there must be epochs, there must be tremendous eras. Naw; it wouldn't have taken Him six days, He could have done it six seconds too. Remember that.
Because these are the things beloved, wherein we are dealing with the revelation of God. I had not known what these things would be like unless the Scriptures had taught me. I had not known that this world was there for this purpose unless the Scriptures had taught me. I did not know that all the intricacies of this life is all wound about this that He is the one who is in control. Our God Creator, Almighty Creator of heaven and earth. So He has made us and not we ourselves, and He has made us for a purpose, and in that urpose, that purpose is going to be realized.
Secondly, notice also its firm or sure basis.
Here I want to do something a little bit different than usual because of the fact that it is so important and that you will also see that the language is something that enters into it very much. Because the things that I have been speaking of so far beloved, are secondary. They are indeed secondary. That is not the most important thing that is found in Lord's Day 9. What is really the import of Lord's Day 9? What do you believe when you say, "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth?" That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who of nothing made heaven and earth with all that is in them, who likewise upholds and governs the same by His eternal council and providence." Those are dependent clauses; you remember that from English in the past; they are dependent - that is not the main sentence - the main sentence would read this; that the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is, for the sake of Christ His Son, my God and my Father. That's it. That's what it is all about, and those other things are secondary. Those other things, that He is the Creator and Upholder of heaven and earth are secondary. Those are the things that come as dependent clauses, that's not the main sentence. The main sentence is this, that God who is the Father of Jesus Christ is also my Father. That's it. That is the content of Lord's Day 9 in a nutshell. And that, we must see.
Because these are the things beloved, that are skipped so many a time and that they lose themselves in this, that they are going to speak at length about this, whether they were six days or whether they were six epochs. Whether there was that tree of the knowledge of good and evil or whether there was not. Whether there was a speaking snake or whether there was not. And they lose themselves in all of these things, and that's not what it is about. Or they lose themselves on the other hand in this, that they are going to speak of the eternal generation of the Son. And I've heard it, and I've heard sermons on that; on Lord's Day 9, that they spoke about the creation alone, or about the generation of the Son from all eternity. And they missed it, they missed the point of it entirely. Because it is this, that the Father of Jesus Christ is my Father. That's what it is all about. And that is the One who has made heaven and earth and all that it contains. And that is the One who upholds everything that exists. But it is essentially this, that's my Father; that's who it is.
So that, here you see the firm basis, the sure basis for this, that the Creator is my Father. Then you see, that that is the most important thing in the world. As little children we often spoke of that, and I suppose they still do to the present day, that we would rag about our fathers. The strongest, the wisest, even the richest, of anybody. And later on we found out that wasn't so, that wasn't so. That was a traumatic experience for every child. That's not true here. That the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth is my Father; that the One who has made everything is my Father; that the One who upholds everything is my Father; you can't say enough about Him. You cannot say great enough things about Him; that's the point, that's Lord's Day 9.
That speaks of these things beloved, that our Father, that is, the Father of Jesus Christ, the One who has brought Christ into the world, the One who has sent Jesus Christ, the One who has that Son from all eternity. He did not become Father, He always was. That is my Father. That is our Father, and that is our confession, that is the confession of the church, that that is the Father. The God who is Creator, so that He is not someone who is a tremendous power out there. But no, that's my Father. That's the One with whom I have communion. That is the One whom I speak to, that is the One whom I pray to, that is the One who upholds me, that is the One whom I love, and who loves me. That's Lord's Day 9.
Now we must never lose sight of that and thereby lose ourselves in all of these secondary things. And these secondary things are even very important but the primary is always more important. That's the point of it, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. God's Son was sent, and that is the Son who has now given to us that grace so that we may come to the Father in Him. That is the beauty of it, so that it has happened time and again in life and perhaps with you too, that someone would come and say, yah, I have to go to such a place, but I don't know how I can get in there, and then I would say to him, use my card. Tell them I sent you. To give them the insight, to give them the entrance, to give them the introduction; and Jesus says, "and when you come, you say 'Our Father' in Christ's name. You come in my name. I give you the blank check, but I've signed it, and now whatsoever you will ask, the Father will give it." See... That's my Father. That is the One who made heaven and earth. That is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the Father of mercies. That is the Father who has made and upholds all things. That's my Father.
Now thereby beloved, is there given to us the basis in this life, and the basis for salvation, the like of which we have never seen. Then there is that kind of a sure basis that is never going to be threatened. There is that kind of a basis that is never going to be overthrown. No, that is the basis that is going to able to stand regardless of all the onslaughts. "The gates of hell," says Christ, "shall not, shall not triumph over it." Gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. That though all hell loose itself against that church; all hell loose itself against the believer. Now this is my Father, and therefore I sing, "This is my Father's world," but it is especially this, this is my Father, and that He has made this world too. But He has redeemed me too, and that's all part and parcel of the same thing. Because He is the Father of Jesus Christ, and that is the One who has made the trees and the grass, and that is the One who has made the angels. That is the One who has made all things, and that's my Father.
And not enough can be said about Him. So that our worship is always to be there. We never worship sufficiently, we never worship enough. We are to bring honor to that name constantly. There is no one who is going to be able to do enough. There are those who wonder about the ways of God; we're going to get into that yet for a moment pretty soon but, they cannot wonder at that. The wonder of it is this, that He who made heaven and earth has given me the adoption to be His child. Can you imagine!
We are really of the highest ancestry. He has adopted us, and then with that adoption; as we will get into some other time, and other connections perhaps; that adoption goes so much farther than among men, so that we are born again, in Zion. One who is adopted isn't born again in that house, and therefore does not have the characteristics of those adoptive parents. But we are born there of this one and that one, says the Psalmist in Psalm 87 it shall be said, "This One was born in her, born of God." And consequently, we are partakers, says the apostle, of the divine nature. Ah... We have His characteristics, though adopted.
But that Maker of heaven and earth, who upholds all things, who has the seas in His hand, says the Psalmist, that's my Father. Did you know that! That's my Father, and that's your Father. And that is the Father in whom we have perfect confidence, perfect trust. What in the world can happen to us when His mighty arms surround us.
Finally, notice also, the glorious comfort.
Because in the very closing part of this question and answer, these things are alluded to, I do not go into that matter of the providence because the next Lord's Day is going to go into that and hopefully two weeks from today we will deal with that.
"In whom I so trust as to have no doubt that He will provide me with all things necessary for body and soul and further, that whatever evil He sends upon me in this vale of tears He will turn to my good, for He is able to do it being Almighty God, and willing also, being a faithful Father."
This is the thing that is now given to us for our comfort. That you may know that whatever happens in this vale of tears, as the Catechism calls it, in this life which has so often become a vale of tears; there isn't a family that goes through this life without them, there is a cross on every house; but nevertheless, no longer as it was with Him. No, says the apostle, we have the mark of the Lord Jesus, I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. That means already, marks of the Lord Jesus, that those are the wounds that have already been healed. Yah, they're not as bad as His. But this is because He is my Father for Christ's sake. He is the One who has generated the Christ; and that God is my Father. And then whatever comes in this life, in this vale of tears, whether it be good or bad. No, there we are to recognize of course, that we see ever so many bad things and then we begin to wonder at the goodness of God. There are so many that have written about that and speak about that, and sometimes in pastoral work one even comes across it and one begins to wonder whether or not God is good. Is He really good. When all of this comes upon me, when all these things come, and Jacob says when Simeon is in prison in Egypt and Joseph is dead, he thinks, "and now they want to take Benjamin along; all these things are against me." No, he is mistaken. All these things were for him. All those things worked for his profit; he didn't realize it.
No, and that is as shortsighted as you and I are too. So that we see these things that happen in our life from day to day and we begin to wonder, now why is it that these things come. Why is it that these things befall me and not to someone else. The writer wrote of it in the book of Ecclesiastes, and there you read of it time and again. Why is that these things come on the good and the evil and sometimes on the good more than on the evil it seems. And then we begin to wonder and we begin to question; is there any question about it. When the Father of Jesus Christ is my Father, "when the Father who has not withheld even His only Son, but has given Him up for us all, will he not," says the apostle, "freely with Him, freely give us all things." Of course He will.
So that, whatever He sends, is for our profit. Now here you hear the same tone beloved, that you hear also in the form for baptism. That there we read, "that when we are baptized into the name of the Father, that also assures us of this, that He will avert all evil or turn it to our profit." Now exactly the words here. That's confession. He will avert all evil; He can do that; He's Almighty God. He can see to it that all the evils bypass us; and most of them have, haven't they, most of them have. He is able to see to it that all things go smoothly, and they usually have, haven't they. But on the other hand, as Amos, "is there an evil in the city and the Lord does not done it?" Are the evils of life, that is, those things which you and I consider to be things that are not profitable; the unprofitable things; we have also received of the Lord's hand. And that is for our profit. He will avert all evil, He will turn it aside; or, turn it to our profit. You know, it is something like this. Nah, all illustrations fall short of course, but something like this; that you mothers have given to your children medicine at times that was bitter, didn't taste good but the child had to have it. Why? Didn't want it, but you knew he had to have it, that was good for him. Because the illness that he had was worse than the taste of the medicine. And consequently, take it my child, take it.
There are so many of these evils that come that we wonder at. Some years ago, in another church, one of my elder's son was killed and he was dying, he had been hit by a car; died two days later, we were standing at the bedside, he never came to again, he was in a coma, the father said, "If only I could have it for him, if I could only lay there instead of him." Yah, gladly. I said to him, "There's only one that could do that, only one." And He did it. He gave Himself as a substitute for us, and otherwise we would have gone through all of this terror, through all of this difficulty, all of the evils, the true evils of life. But He can avert all evil, or turn it to our profit, because He is able to do it, says this Lord's Day so beautiful, able to do it, being Almighty God. Ah, there are so many things that I would like to have done for our children, so it was also with this father, he would like to have done that, but he couldn't. There are boundaries, we can't step beyond that, that's as far as we can go. He doesn't have any of those. He is able to do it being Almighty God, and willing also, being a faithful Father, loving Father. So He wants to do it too.
So you got both sides. He is able, and he is willing. And there are no restrictions, and that is the God in whose hands we are. That is the Creator; our Father. That's what we confess every Sunday anew when we say, "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth." That is my Father, for Jesus' sake. That is my Father in whom I so trust, that nothing can ever separate me from His love. That I will always be safe. That is the abiding comfort, the glorious comfort that we have, that we shall never be separated from that love. That is what I read to you this morning in Romans 8; "There is therefore now no condemnation for those are in Christ Jesus." There isn't anymore; none... We are safe, we are in His hand. That is the glorious comfort of this Lord's Day, that we are His, body and soul; both important. And that we are the children of the God who is maker of heaven and earth. Amen.....
We thank Thee heavenly Father, for Thy grace bestowed on us. For the Word, that Word of grace which Thou hast spoken to us. We thank Thee O God, for its beauty. We thank Thee for its comfort. We thank Thee for its instruction. And we pray that Thou by Thy Spirit wilt also apply it unto our every heart. That we may thus grow in Thy grace and in Thy mercy. Bless us further on this day, keep us near to Thee. Bring us together in Thy house in this evening, that we may also learn to pray, for we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen....
Information What's New Our Beliefs Sermons Literature U.R. Churches Classis Michigan Links Search Feedback Home