God is the First and Best of Beings

God is the First and Best of Beings

March 1, 2006

Pastor Matt Black

Midweek Service

Psalm 8:1-9

Discipleship: Let’s review our discipleship questions… (For our purposes you do not need to memorize the references.)

Q. What is the first commandment of God’s moral Law?

A. Thou shalt have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3).

Q. What is the second commandment?

A. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image (Exodus 20:4).

Q. What is the third commandment?

A. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain (Exodus 20:7).

Q. What is the fourth commandment?

A. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8).

Q. What is the fifth commandment?

A. Honor thy father and thy mother (Exodus 20:12).

Q. What is the sixth commandment?

A. Thou shatl not kill (Exodus 20:13).

Q. What is the seventh commandment?

A. Thou shalt not commit adultery (Exodus 20:14).

And now this week’s questions …

Q. What is the eighth commandment?

A. Thou shalt not steal (Exodus 20:15).

Catechism Question #1.

Q. Who is the first and best of beings?

A. God is the first and best of beings.

Introduction: Open your Bibles tonight to Psalm 8:1. The Title of our message tonight is: “God is the First and Best of Beings.” We are taking a break from our evangelism series for now. I am not done with the series, as I have several other very important messages I need to preach regarding evangelism, but I would like to save them for the Spring when we begin evangelism training. Tonight we begin a series through Benjamin Keach’s old Baptist Catechism.

History of the Catechism

A Catechism is simply a discipleship manual. To catechize means “to teach.” So a catechism is:

A book giving a brief summary of the basic principles of Christianity in question-and-answer form.[1]

Today we have a famine of the knowledge of God in our families. As the old prophet Amos predicted:

Amos 8:11

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.

Long ago, the children of Israel made a covenant with the LORD, and God gave them the ten commandments in Deuteronomy 5. In Deuteronomy 6, the Lord gives a covenant to His people. He tells them:

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

And these words [the Decalogue, i.e. the Ten Commandments], which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

If we want to fulfill these vitally important commands of Scripture, we must teach our children. The way the people of God of old fulfilled these commands was through a diligent study of the Word of God. Today we have what we call “systematic theologies” or a systematic study of God. That is what the catechism is. It is a systematic study of theology for children.

Why Benjamin Keach’s Catechism?

You may wonder why I have chosen Benjamin Keach’s catechism. I mean, the people of God through the ages have had many discipleship manuals for their children. Why Keach? Well, first, Keach was a Baptist. Keach was the pastor of what eventually came to be known as the New Park Street Church, which was later pastored by John Gill and then Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Keach went as a representative to the 1689 Assembly in London and is one of the original signers of the Baptist Confession of Faith that came out of that Assembly. Interestingly, Keach also was one of the first Baptists to introduce congregational hymn singing to the church. Until that time they sang only the Psalter, and that without instruments.

Keach’s catechism mirrors the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, and it was actually written to go along with it. Some of the language in the catechism is an older way of speaking, but I have chosen to use it so that we do not dumb down our children. If you read the King James Bible, you will have no problem understanding the catechism.

My Two Year Preaching Plan

My plan is to take the next two or so years and go through one question per week on Wednesday nights. Once we are through with this series, I’ll put it in print with the catechism to be distributed among our families. Each week we will memorize one question with the answer. Each week we will have seven different Scripture proofs to meditate on—one for each day of the week. My suggestion is to use it in the way Deuteronomy 6:7 prescribes. As your children the question for that week throughout the day—when they get up, when they eat, before they go to bed… and give them the Scripture for that day to prove the answer. For instance, our first question is:

Catechism Question #1.

Q. Who is the first and best of beings?

A. God is the first and best of beings.

The verse for tomorrow is:

Isaiah 44:6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

So tomorrow at your meal times, you should meditate on this. If you have children, you should speak of these things to your children. If you are unmarried, you should take a few minutes during these times to go over this truth. This should NOT replace your normal devotions time. This should be a supplement to your walk with God.

But Why a Catechism?

Finally, you may be asking, but “why a catechism.” Are there other methods of spiritual growth? Yes, certainly, but there is none so proven as a memorizing and meditating on Scripture. Memorizing doctrine was commanded by God in Deuteronomy 6:8-9, “And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. 9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.” It is not that we should just post the Word of God as some legalistic sign. No, that has nothing to do with spirituality. We need to hide God’s Word in our heart!

Psalm 8:1

O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

I. God is the First of Beings.

It goes without saying that God is a Living Being. In our text David is addressing God as a Person. We are called human beings. Being means to exist. God is a being—He is the First Being. David addresses him right here in the Psalm as “LORD.” That is, Jehovah, the “I AM,” the Self-existent one.

A. So we see, first of all that God is Self-existent. He is the LORD, the “I AM.” David addresses him as “O LORD.” God is the Self-existent One—the FIRST of all beings. He has no beginning and no end.

Christ (God the Son) says in Revelation 1:8, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”

God the Father said the same thing in the Old Testament in Isaiah 44:6, “Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.”

When Moses asks God, who is speaking from the burning bush on Mount Sinai, … God says to Moses in Exodus 3:14 “I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” God is the I AM. He never had a beginning or an end. He is the “Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8).

Psalm 90:2 tells us, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”

From eternity past to eternity future, the Triune Creator of all things is God!! That brings us to our next point.

1. God’s existence is Assumed by the Faithful testimony of Scripture.

The Bible gives no defense for God’s existence. It is assumed.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God…

2. God’s existence is Assailed only by Fools.

Psalms 53:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. (See also Psalm 14:1).

Every person in this world is born in a natural state of corruption, in foolishness, denying the existence of God once guilt comes because no man wants to be brought to an account. Whether this is assailed by fools or not, it matters not. God exists whether fools acknowledge Him or not. To try to establish God’s existence would be as Anselm who lived in Great Britain in 1033 said, like a man who took stakes and ropes who runs to Mount Olympus trying to strengthen it from falling over or being overturned by some man’s force. God’s existence is so established that to try to further strengthen it, is as “laughable” for a little man to try and stabilize a great mountain!

So God is the First of beings. He has no beginning and no end. And since God is the First of beings, He by necessity is the Creator of all things. He is the source of all the universes. Everything that was made, came from Him.

B. So then, God is the Source of all Things. What I am saying is that when David says in this Psalm (8:1), “O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens," he is agreeing with the literalness of the Genesis account. King David was a Fundamentalist when it came to Biblical doctrine. He believed in a literal 24 hour day creation. He knew nothing of the fairy tale of evolution. He believed that God was the source of all things, the Creator.

John 8:58

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

John 1:1-3

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Hebrews 11:3

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

God is creator. No man can make create himself.

Isaiah 45:6-7

That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. 7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

C. He is our Sovereign over all. “Our Lord”

The word here “Lord” is a synonym to the Hebrew word Adonai. It means “Master.” So since God is the First Being, that is He is our Creator. Before Him no one existed, and so He has the authority to tell us what to do.

Psalm 22:8

For the kingdom is the LORD’S: and

he is the governor among the nations.

Daniel 4:35

And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

Philippians 2:10-11

At the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and…every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

1. He decides how we worship Him. (Regulative principle)

Deuteronomy 12:32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

God tells us:

Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.

God is Sovereign—He is the First and therefore He can tell us how to worship Him.

2. He also decides how we live. (The Bible is our rule for Faith [what we BELIEVE] and practice [how we LIVE].

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Leviticus 18:5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.

Ezekiel 18:21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Christ is “God over all,” for He is the First of beings. He is the Creator, the Source of all.

Romans 9:5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.

So God can do whatever He wants. He is the Self-existent One, He is the Source of all things, and He is the Sovereign over all. He is the First of beings. He is before all.

Then we also see…

II. God is the Best of Beings. “how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens” (Psalm 8:1).

God is the BEST of beings. He is good, and there is none like Him.

1 Samuel 2:2 There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.

Psalm 96:4 For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.

So God is not only Great, He is Good! There is none like Him!

Psalm 8:1 How excellent is thy name in all the earth!

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

A. God’s Excellency is seen in His Name.

Psalm 8:1 How excellent is thy name in all the earth!

B. His Excellency is seen in His Works. “in all the earth” (also see vs. 3-8).

Psalm 8:3-9 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: 7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; 8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. 9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

C. His Excellency is seen in His Praise.

Psalm 8:2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

So secure is the honor of the name of the Lord He has let the defense of His honor be committed to babes. The excellency of the Lord’s name is seen in the childlike faith of those that follow Him!

Mark 10:15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

D. His Excellency is seen in His Exaltation. “who hast set thy glory above the heavens”

1 Chronicles 29:11 Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

Remember the first commandment!

Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Conclusion: Do you recognize in all you do that God is above all else? Do you have other gods before Him? So let me ask you in closing:

Q. Who is the first and best of beings?

A. God is the first and best of beings.

Closing Hymn: 44 To God be the Glory