1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,440 Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. 2 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:18,800 Today John Metter, lead pastor of Cross City Church, brings a message in the Origins series 3 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:22,400 that helps answer the five most important questions in life. 4 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:26,080 How you live today depends on how you answer these questions. 5 00:00:26,080 --> 00:00:30,240 Here's John Metter with the teaching on the five questions. 6 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:37,040 I have to tell you I'm loving our Origins series, love the book of Genesis. 7 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:42,080 If you have your Bibles go ahead and open them up to the very first book of the Bible, 8 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:45,040 Genesis, the very first chapter of the Bible, chapter one. 9 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,520 We're going to be looking at verses nine through 13 today. 10 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,880 The title of the message is very simply Day Three. 11 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:55,840 We've been walking through the book of Genesis one day at a time. 12 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:59,360 We began with an overview in Genesis chapter one verses one and two. 13 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:02,040 We looked at the first day after that. 14 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:03,720 We looked last week at the second day. 15 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,480 Today is Day Three. 16 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:11,880 I absolutely love the fact that God goes before us to lay foundations and answer questions 17 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:16,840 that are the most important questions in life long before we ever get to the place of asking 18 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:17,840 the questions. 19 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:18,840 He goes before us. 20 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:19,840 He prepares the world. 21 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,960 He provides for us in every way. 22 00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:27,280 If I read the book of Genesis and look at it from the perspective of God laying down 23 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:32,560 the foundations of the world and God laying down the foundations for life for you and 24 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,920 I, I find all kinds of principles. 25 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:37,480 We all need foundations, don't we? 26 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:40,880 We all know the importance of foundation. 27 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:45,600 Maybe one of the most famous structures ever built as it pertains to foundations is the 28 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:47,120 Leaning Tower of Pisa. 29 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:49,480 How many of you know about the Leaning Tower of Pisa? 30 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,680 You should have heard about that long, long ago. 31 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,840 It was built in the 1100 era in the middle of Italy. 32 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:02,680 The Tuscany region is a building that began leaning shortly after it was built. 33 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:08,920 Now it leans 17 feet from where it should be at the top from where it is today. 34 00:02:08,920 --> 00:02:11,240 It's leaning 17 feet over. 35 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:15,320 Over the years, different people have tried to identify why is it leaning and why is it 36 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:16,960 such a problem. 37 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:22,040 One particular answer to that might be that the name Pisa is actually named for the soil 38 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:28,280 that is beneath this building and Pisa in the Italian language means marshy ground. 39 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:33,400 Doesn't sound like a promising place to build a structure like that, but they built it on 40 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:34,400 marshy ground. 41 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:39,120 Since that time, many builders and construction experts have come back and counterbalanced 42 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:42,880 the building and they've poured different kinds of foundation around it, tried to hold 43 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:47,720 it up to keep it from falling, but it stands as an illustration that if you build a building 44 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:51,800 on a faulty foundation, it will not stand true. 45 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:53,840 That's true of life. 46 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:57,600 Today people are building on foundations that won't hold up. 47 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:03,080 Foundations that are not the original foundations, man-made foundations, man-made truths that 48 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:06,960 are not holding up in their lives and they're confused and they're angry and they don't 49 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:12,360 know where to turn, but God has always given us the foundations we need for life. 50 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:17,160 Please stand with me as we read this text today, Genesis chapter 1 verse 9, as we look 51 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:24,520 at the foundations that God has given us and the important question that he's asking us, 52 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:27,200 questions such as who is God and what is truth? 53 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:28,840 What was I created to be? 54 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,800 Who are my people? 55 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:35,080 Do I pursue healthy relationships or what is my purpose? 56 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:36,200 What's the meaning of life? 57 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:40,480 All these questions are answered in the Bible and today people are looking everywhere for 58 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:43,120 these answers when they're all right here. 59 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:51,240 Genesis chapter 1 beginning in verse 9 all the way through verse 13 has God creating 60 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:53,400 on this third day. 61 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:57,720 Verse 9 says, then God said, let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place 62 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:01,440 and let the dry land appear and it was so. 63 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:06,360 God called the dry land earth and the gathering of the waters he called seas and God saw that 64 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:07,840 it was good. 65 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:13,720 Then God said, let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed and fruit trees on the 66 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:18,400 earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them and it was so. 67 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:22,600 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind and trees bearing 68 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:28,680 fruit with seed in them after their kind and God saw that it was good. 69 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:31,800 There was evening and there was morning, a third day. 70 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:36,280 Father, I pray today that you'll use this text in our lives. 71 00:04:36,280 --> 00:04:41,320 All to mind the things that we need to be reminded of to live life, to build on the 72 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:45,960 foundations you've given us and we thank you for giving us your truth and we ask this in 73 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:46,960 Jesus name. 74 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:47,960 Amen. 75 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:49,160 Please be seated if you would. 76 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:57,200 Well, one reason I've loved this series is because as we walk through the first few verses 77 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:01,680 of Genesis, we learn so much about God, so much. 78 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:04,780 For example, we can answer the question, who is God? 79 00:05:04,780 --> 00:05:11,200 In Genesis 1, 1, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 80 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:15,640 Now that verse is a verse we all know by memory, but what we sometimes don't think about is 81 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:17,320 the theology behind that. 82 00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:19,320 It answers the question, who is God? 83 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:25,260 God is eternal because in the beginning, God was already there. 84 00:05:25,260 --> 00:05:30,840 We learned that God is one, the word Elohim in the Hebrew language describes one God and 85 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:33,920 three persons, God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. 86 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:38,740 That's why later on in Genesis 1, when the Spirit is hovering over the face of the water, 87 00:05:38,740 --> 00:05:41,640 we know who that is, that's God. 88 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:45,000 But it also says that God is all-powerful. 89 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:49,800 If God can speak and all creation comes into existence, what does that say about the power 90 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:50,800 of God? 91 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:51,960 Can you do that? 92 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:52,960 Can I do that? 93 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:54,400 Can anyone do that on the planet? 94 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:57,080 And the answer is no, only God can do that. 95 00:05:57,080 --> 00:05:58,080 He is all-powerful. 96 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:03,120 I don't know about you, but that brings me great reassurance. 97 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:06,920 So on day one, he created the elements of our world and gave it the first form, the 98 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:13,040 first word that God has given us recorded in scripture is in these first few verses. 99 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:17,320 And we know from all the Bible, all the scripture that the earth was first formed with a watery 100 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:20,240 sphere as a watery sphere. 101 00:06:20,240 --> 00:06:24,880 And we found a YouTube video that showed us this watery sphere created in a scientific 102 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:30,080 lab and I want to show it to you again because I want you to see the likeness of it and what 103 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:31,960 we see today is the earth. 104 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:37,960 This is a watery sphere created in microgravity and as it spins, you'll notice that it has 105 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:43,080 a core of bubbles in the middle of light with two poles on either side. 106 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:47,760 If you look at a modern picture of the planet earth taken from space, it looks very similar. 107 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:53,360 A watery planet that is rotating, it has poles and also has land that has appeared. 108 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:58,140 Of course, we read about that in just a few moments, but it looks very similar to what 109 00:06:58,140 --> 00:07:03,080 the Bible describes God's creation as being in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1. 110 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:06,200 It sounds similar because it is the same. 111 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:11,360 The earth we look at now is the same earth that God created all these thousands of years 112 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:12,360 ago. 113 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:16,600 It's helpful for us to be reminded of what that might have looked like. 114 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:21,200 Now you've seen that earth from a distance a million times, but every time you see it, 115 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:26,840 you ought to be reminded of the similarities from Genesis chapter 1 to what it is today. 116 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,520 Earth on day 1 when God created the heavens and the earth on day 2, God separated the 117 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:35,240 waters from above and from the waters below and he demonstrated through that that he is 118 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:38,240 the God of power and the God of order. 119 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:44,560 He speaks and everything happens the way he says it happens. 120 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:50,400 Now as you look at that first diagram, you also need to remember there's a second diagram 121 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:55,680 that I told you about in the past and that diagram, that video shows a watery sphere 122 00:07:55,680 --> 00:08:02,920 again that is rotating, but it not only shows that watery sphere, but it shows what happens 123 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:06,760 to that watery sphere when the land masses are beginning to be created. 124 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:09,120 I'll show you that in just a moment. 125 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:13,680 The day 2 God created the waters separated from the heavens above and the waters below 126 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:18,720 and on day 3 God introduces us to some principles that help us see his design and his plan and 127 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:19,720 his focus. 128 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:23,720 Really when you walk away today, I want you to know something about God's design, God's 129 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:25,360 focus. 130 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,280 I want you to know something about his plan for your life. 131 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:34,400 So first of all we dive into this with the plan or the principle of separation. 132 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:38,840 Verse 9 says, God said let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place and 133 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:41,880 let the dry land appear. 134 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:46,080 That's a pretty simple description there because what's happened with God speaking that is 135 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:51,280 he collected and bound together the waters and separated them from the land that he made 136 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:52,900 to appear. 137 00:08:52,900 --> 00:08:57,440 Remember in Genesis 1, 1 it says, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and 138 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:01,160 the earth was formless and void and darkness hovered over the face of the deep. 139 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:06,240 So this watery sphere took place, but here in verse 9 it says that God allowed the rest 140 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:12,000 of this to appear and the water began separated from the land. 141 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:18,400 Now I love when I read later in my Bible additional commentary on the creation event itself. 142 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:20,720 One of those would be Solomon. 143 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:25,040 You think about Solomon, you think about the wisest man in all the world, right? 144 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:29,120 And yet Solomon didn't get knowledge from his schooling or his education. 145 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:30,760 God gave him that wisdom. 146 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:33,000 God gave him that knowledge. 147 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:39,920 When Solomon writes about the creation event in Proverbs chapter 8 he says some remarkable 148 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:40,920 things. 149 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:42,360 I want you to look at this text with me. 150 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:46,120 Proverbs chapter 8 beginning in verse 22. 151 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:51,480 When he's personifying wisdom and describing how God's wisdom worked to create the heavens 152 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:52,480 and the earth. 153 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:57,720 It says this, the Lord possessed me, that is wisdom, at the beginning of his way before 154 00:09:57,720 --> 00:09:58,720 his works of old. 155 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:02,400 From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, from the earliest times of the 156 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:03,720 earth. 157 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:07,600 Where there were no depths I was brought forth, where there was no springs abounding with 158 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:12,560 water before the mountains were settled, before the hills I was brought forth. 159 00:10:12,560 --> 00:10:17,400 While he had not yet made the earth and the fields, nor the first dust of the world, when 160 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:19,480 he established the heavens I was there. 161 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:25,080 Notice the next line, when he inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, when he made 162 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:27,120 firm the skies above. 163 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:30,800 That's Genesis chapter 1 verse 5 and 6 and 7. 164 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:35,040 And when the springs of the deep became fixed, when he set for the sea its boundary, that's 165 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:39,080 our text today, so that the water would not transgress his command. 166 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:43,640 When he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him as a master workman 167 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:49,520 and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in the world, his earth, 168 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:53,840 and having my delight in the sons of men. 169 00:10:53,840 --> 00:11:00,760 Solomon is giving a very strong specific description of the wisdom that God possesses. 170 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:06,840 It's descriptive to help us be able to trust how God's wisdom brought the earth into existence. 171 00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:11,760 The wisest man in all the world helps us have that creation story in more detail. 172 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:16,880 And then on this third day, as we look at Genesis chapter 1, the land begins to appear. 173 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:20,520 I'm going to put that other video on the screen now. 174 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:25,480 The same watery sphere that's operating in microgravity was injected with tea leaves, 175 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:29,920 and as soon as it was, not only did the bubbly core in the middle remain intact, but the 176 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:34,680 tea leaves moved to the outer circumference of that watery sphere. 177 00:11:34,680 --> 00:11:39,520 Very similar to what we read about in Genesis chapter 1 in the passage we read today, God 178 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:41,560 made the dry land appear. 179 00:11:41,560 --> 00:11:48,360 Now when God made the dry land appear, he separated the waters from the dry land, and 180 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:54,520 that's significant because the key to this particular principle is separation and distinction. 181 00:11:54,520 --> 00:12:00,840 By bringing orders and boundaries to the earth, God brought distinctions and protections to 182 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:01,840 the earth. 183 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:04,840 Day one, he separated the evening and the morning. 184 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:05,840 You remember reading about that? 185 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:09,800 Day two, he separated the waters above from the waters below. 186 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:13,600 On day three, he separates the waters from the land, and everything we have today in 187 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:16,800 the way of water is built upon this command. 188 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:18,960 We have seas and rivers and lakes. 189 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:20,880 Everything is separated. 190 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:27,520 Everything has a distinct purpose and is unique in how it's created to serve the rest of creation 191 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,320 until Christ returns. 192 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:34,960 Everything that God created has incredible messages behind it and incredible insights 193 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:35,960 for us to live by. 194 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:39,680 Let me give you an example of that. 195 00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:44,720 Matthew Mori was a guy who lived in the 19th century. 196 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:47,760 He was a scientific thinker living years ago. 197 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:54,160 He was a Bible believer, and when he read Psalm 8, 8, which was written by King David 198 00:12:54,160 --> 00:13:01,800 more than 3,000 years ago, he saw this line, whatever passes along the path of the seas. 199 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:06,280 So taking scriptural literally, he set out to find the path of the seas. 200 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:10,840 He knew the sea had current, and he began to study how the sea currents, how the river 201 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:14,760 passageways was important to life. 202 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:20,880 Because of his work, modern sciences of hydrography and oceanography would begin. 203 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:27,000 He later on was called the Pathfinders of the Sea, and Psalm 8, and that description, 204 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:29,400 Pathfinder of the Sea, is on his tombstone. 205 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:32,520 Can't am assemble that kind of information. 206 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:38,480 Today modern ships and modern science form theories based on the original path of the 207 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:41,160 seas that God put in place at creation. 208 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:45,640 Let me show you a map of sea currents. 209 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:53,640 That map was written in 1887 based on the studies of this man that I've just described. 210 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:58,320 And for all these centuries now, we've looked back at how these paths that God is shipping 211 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:06,160 and boating, how we maneuver the seas, all because God separated the land from the waters 212 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:10,880 and created these kinds of currents. 213 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:16,920 By the way, the separation of land and water gives us space on which to live and grow things. 214 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:20,080 Currents guide us in shipping and boating and sailing. 215 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:24,240 Separation between the waters below and the expanse above give us the space and sky that 216 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:29,440 God needed to later on create all the constellations in the solar system. 217 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:34,240 And we look at all these things, not only the currents that are in the ocean, but the 218 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,600 laws of gravity that God created. 219 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:42,080 Everything else, and we decide not to change it because it's too massive, it's too powerful, 220 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:43,920 and no one would think of trying to change it. 221 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:44,920 We just go with it. 222 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:48,520 We just cooperate with it. 223 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:49,640 We depend on it. 224 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:51,520 We rely on it. 225 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:56,240 We don't mess with God's design because we don't want to mess with the perfect design 226 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:57,240 that God gave us. 227 00:14:57,240 --> 00:14:59,360 We don't doubt the natural laws He gave us. 228 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:05,000 And in the same way, should we not also take Him at His word when it comes to every other 229 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:06,640 principle He gives us? 230 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:10,520 I mean, if God can be trusted to put the heavens and the earth where they are, if He can be 231 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:14,960 trusted with the currents of the seas to draw the boundaries between the dry land and the 232 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:20,720 ocean, cannot God be trusted with all the commands He gives for your life, all the principles 233 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:24,320 He asks you to abide by and won't by? 234 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:28,120 I look at our earth and how old it is and how long it's been around and how well ordered 235 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:32,160 and how well coordinated the solar system is, and I think if that God's going to advise 236 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:36,480 me about anything in my life, I'm going to take Him for His word. 237 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:38,840 Because who am I to dispute that? 238 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:40,760 And what is my knowledge compared to His? 239 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:45,600 What is anyone's knowledge, even all of our accumulated knowledge, compared to the God 240 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,520 who created this earth in the way that He did? 241 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:54,760 So let me ask you, if God's wisdom is adequate to design and create our planet and universe, 242 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:58,760 is it somehow not adequate for your life? 243 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:05,160 The truth is, we need to take moments and ask ourselves, why would I not seek His wisdom? 244 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:08,440 Why would I want to contradict His commands? 245 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:13,200 Why would I not have His confidence for His future in my life, for relationships, for 246 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:14,920 marriage, for whatever else it is? 247 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:19,840 And I need to ask you today, do you have a solid foundation that you're building on that 248 00:16:19,840 --> 00:16:25,960 God gave us from the very beginning, or are you on a shaky foundation and leaning like 249 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:28,040 that tower we talked about? 250 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:33,120 The principle of separation, but we also see here the principle of multiplication in verse 251 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:39,080 11, it says that God said, let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed and fruit 252 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:46,080 trees on the earth, bearing fruit after their own kind, with seed in them, and it was so. 253 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:50,120 Now you need to pause for just a moment and think about all the vegetation that God has 254 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:52,080 placed on the planet. 255 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:57,680 This principle shows us God's plan for populating the earth, whether it's the vegetation or 256 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:02,440 the fruit that came out of those fruit trees that we read about here, the principle for 257 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:07,920 populating the earth with animals or birds or fish or human beings. 258 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:12,480 For just a moment, can you imagine what the earth looked like at that moment? 259 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:17,120 Because at that moment, the waters were separated from the land and God spoke and vegetation 260 00:17:17,120 --> 00:17:18,960 came into being. 261 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:24,840 Fruit trees and other kinds of trees, all kinds of green grasses. 262 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:31,440 Years ago I was on a trip to northern Brazil where I went into the Amazon basin and saw 263 00:17:31,440 --> 00:17:34,160 my very first rainforest. 264 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:38,200 If you've ever been to that area of the world or if you've ever seen pictures of that area 265 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:39,600 of the world, it's quite remarkable. 266 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:44,840 The Amazon rainforest is amazing. 267 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:50,480 And photo after photo, if you were to Google it, you would see God's creative work in just 268 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:52,760 speaking this word. 269 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:58,760 The immensity of it, the complexity of it, the variety of it is just amazing. 270 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:02,200 So God created this and this was the earth at God's creation. 271 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:07,560 In fact, Genesis chapter 2 verse 9 says, out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow 272 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:11,120 every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food. 273 00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:14,920 And a river flowed out of Eden that watered the garden and from there divided and became 274 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:15,920 four rivers. 275 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:20,160 I read that to you because I want you to be reminded that everything God created was not 276 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:22,440 just general and it was certainly not chaotic. 277 00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:23,720 It was orderly. 278 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:25,460 It was specific. 279 00:18:25,460 --> 00:18:30,920 It had geographical areas with rivers and lakes and oceans just as He designed. 280 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:32,680 It was God's plan. 281 00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:37,720 And God was filling the space He created with an amazing beautiful life. 282 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:39,240 So beautiful and unique. 283 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:44,520 So many plants, so much variety, so much creativity that it should astound us when we see the 284 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,440 plant life on our planet today. 285 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:50,080 It should astound us that God would do that with a word. 286 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:55,520 Years ago my wife and I were in Fort Worth, Texas and we were going through graduate school. 287 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:58,200 For me that was seminary. 288 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,760 And we were pretty poor, meaning that we went on a lot of cheap dates. 289 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:03,560 Does anyone know what a cheap date is? 290 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:06,360 A cheap date is where you don't spend very much money at all. 291 00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:10,800 For us it was a McDonald's Happy Meal and a trip to the Botanical Gardens because it 292 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:11,800 was free. 293 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:15,500 And we would go to the Botanical Gardens, we would spread out a blanket and we would 294 00:19:15,500 --> 00:19:17,760 have our Happy Meals. 295 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:21,960 I might have had more than one, but we had our Happy Meals. 296 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:27,720 And we looked at the beautiful vegetation, the trees, the streams that were in that Botanical 297 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:29,120 Garden. 298 00:19:29,120 --> 00:19:33,800 All of them natural, all of them created by God, all of them had a purpose. 299 00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:37,560 Great variety, great beauty, mesmerizing really. 300 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:42,240 And when you sit in a place like that and think about God's creative power and how He 301 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:49,240 spoke and all those came into being, it brings you to a place of awe where you say, God, 302 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:55,720 you're an amazing God, that you would speak and all the elements would come into being 303 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:56,720 like that. 304 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:01,280 And that's what happened in Genesis chapter 1. 305 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:05,560 And here God is not just creating things like the ground and the water, but He's creating 306 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:06,560 life. 307 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:11,840 All of a sudden we have life, life in the vegetation, life in the plants, living things 308 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:13,800 created in full maturity. 309 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:17,720 He created the seed first, He created the plant first. 310 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:22,680 Just like later on He created Adam and Eve, a fully mature man and woman, He created these 311 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:28,840 plants fully mature and expected to multiply and replenish the earth. 312 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:32,880 Now the principle of multiplication is extremely important to life and extremely important 313 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:35,560 to understanding God and how He works. 314 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:37,000 But it's important to you every day too. 315 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:41,960 You eat because of multiplication, because those trees began to produce fruit, because 316 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:44,960 plants produce vegetables and so forth. 317 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:49,800 You eat because of multiplication, you exist because of multiplication. 318 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:54,960 You're here because a father and a mother conceived and you are here because of multiplication. 319 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:58,520 And for the first time in creation God does something else. 320 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:00,840 He creates something indirectly. 321 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:07,760 In other words, He creates vegetation and plants and trees to have seed and to multiply 322 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:11,640 themselves after their kind. 323 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:16,480 Now the seed contains everything in it to simply be planted and to multiply an exact 324 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:17,480 replica of itself. 325 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:20,560 Think about that with me for just a moment. 326 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:22,320 Ken Ham, again, says this correctly. 327 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:27,380 He said if you were to write out the information that grows into one tree, it would take hundreds 328 00:21:27,380 --> 00:21:33,920 or thousands of books to record the DNA information that's on one seed. 329 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:38,180 Now we know something about building things from the human perspective. 330 00:21:38,180 --> 00:21:40,840 We just recently completed a construction project. 331 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:45,320 Recently I pulled out all those blueprints just to look at how big they were. 332 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:49,480 There was a roll that was about this big around about this long, weighing 30 to 50 pounds, 333 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:50,480 something like that. 334 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:55,320 And when you unroll all those blueprints it describes the architectural renderings that 335 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:59,240 the builders later used to build the buildings that we are in today. 336 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:01,360 It's pretty impressive. 337 00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:05,960 The idea we gave them, the architects took a lot of money and a lot of time to build 338 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:06,960 these blueprints. 339 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:12,320 Then the builders came in, laid the foundation, built the building, millions of dollars spent, 340 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:16,800 untold number of man hours to create the buildings that we're in today. 341 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:18,300 Pretty impressive. 342 00:22:18,300 --> 00:22:24,180 But not in comparison to a seed that's in every flower and in every piece of fruit. 343 00:22:24,180 --> 00:22:29,400 Because in every flower and every piece of fruit is all the DNA, all the information 344 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:33,160 that once it's planted it builds itself. 345 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:34,800 It doesn't need a builder. 346 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:36,360 It doesn't need an architect. 347 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:37,560 It doesn't need anything else. 348 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:38,560 It doesn't need money. 349 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:45,600 Plant the seed and it multiplies itself perfectly because God created the principle of multiplication 350 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:51,960 and in every part of his creation he wrote into it the capacity to multiply. 351 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:57,400 Now just take a moment and say, God, you're awesome. 352 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:03,120 There's a big difference between putting together blueprints at the hand of men and a seed that 353 00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:05,680 God spoke into existence. 354 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:06,960 My wife and I marvel over this. 355 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:09,140 In fact, Kim is kind of a plant whisperer. 356 00:23:09,140 --> 00:23:13,020 She goes and finds plants that seem to be dying in other places. 357 00:23:13,020 --> 00:23:16,680 People throw them out on the curb and she sends me by my truck to pick them up because 358 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:18,080 she's going to rescue them. 359 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:23,680 When I say she's a plant whisperer, I say she sometimes talks to them and they seem 360 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:27,280 to respond really well to what she has to say. 361 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:33,440 She'll take seeds and plant them in dirt and she'll watch the plant come up and she has 362 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:36,560 them all over her house and all over her outside. 363 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:42,000 Avocado seeds make great plants and just a few months they're standing tall and straight. 364 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:43,000 It's really amazing. 365 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:47,000 But every time we see a seed planted and growing, we marvel at God. 366 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,900 We marvel at the fact that he made all this happen. 367 00:23:50,900 --> 00:23:54,200 Every tree you see, every plant you see is a miracle of God. 368 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:55,600 It's not a miracle of nature. 369 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:57,000 It's not because of Mother Nature. 370 00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:58,760 It's because of Almighty God. 371 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:05,240 And it follows the pattern that we read over and over in the Bible, after their kind. 372 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:08,600 Ten times this phrase is used in Genesis chapter one. 373 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:11,000 After their kind, after their kind. 374 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:15,320 And it illustrates the principle of separation and multiplication. 375 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,200 What Mrs. This is so important. 376 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:22,400 All the plants and animals God created were their own separate kind. 377 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:27,560 And there is variation within the various kinds, but the seeds always bear fruit after 378 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:28,560 their kinds. 379 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:32,880 We've never planted an avocado seed and gotten an orange tree. 380 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:35,000 We never have. 381 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:36,860 And we never will. 382 00:24:36,860 --> 00:24:39,560 They all stay within their kind. 383 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:43,220 There's variety within the kinds, but they all stay within their kinds. 384 00:24:43,220 --> 00:24:47,480 And later on, animals and birds and fish after their kind. 385 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:52,320 Variety within the species, but no evolution of the species. 386 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:57,360 Now the word seed in the Old Testament is the same word for sperm in the scripture. 387 00:24:57,360 --> 00:24:59,920 And the same principle applies. 388 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:05,320 God will use the seed to multiply and replenish vegetation, trees, animals, and the human 389 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:07,760 population after its kind. 390 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:08,760 We don't blend. 391 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:09,760 We don't change. 392 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:10,760 We don't morph. 393 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:12,720 We don't evolve. 394 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:16,640 But even saying that conflicts with the secular worldview. 395 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:18,680 And I understand why the world thinks this. 396 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:22,760 If you take God out of the picture, you have to come up with some explanation for how we 397 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:25,040 got to where we are. 398 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:29,320 And the earth is so massive, we tend to think that it's just a mess of life and it has to 399 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:30,320 be random. 400 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:33,920 It has to be wild for all these things to happen in this way. 401 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:35,640 They can't explain the order. 402 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:39,320 They can't explain the ability for reproduction the way we can. 403 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:44,040 But the reality is they think that because it's a huge mess, it has to be out of control. 404 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,760 Nobody's big enough for this. 405 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:51,120 Did you know on the planet there are 7.78 billion people? 406 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:56,560 There are 196,000 square miles of land. 407 00:25:56,560 --> 00:26:00,600 332 million cubic miles of water. 408 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,440 There are three trillion trees. 409 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:05,920 Three hundred billion birds. 410 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,040 Twenty quintillion animals. 411 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:15,040 Thirty-eight thousand McDonald's. 412 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:16,800 Fifteen million coffee shops. 413 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:23,160 I read that the other day. 414 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:26,560 But none of this is a biological accident. 415 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:29,440 Everything came into being with a purpose. 416 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:30,440 It's planned. 417 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:37,160 And that means every one of the 7.78 billion people on the planet are planned by God and 418 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:39,320 not an accident. 419 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:44,880 You're not here because of some random act that took place before you were born. 420 00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:48,880 You're here because the God who spoke the world into existence wanted you here. 421 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:52,160 And He has a purpose for your life and a plan for your life. 422 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:53,320 God is just that powerful. 423 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:56,280 He knows you as well as He knows anyone else on the planet. 424 00:26:56,280 --> 00:26:59,280 He knows you as well as He knows every tree and every bird. 425 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:03,160 He knows whether a sparrow falls from the air and dies or not. 426 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:04,280 He knows all these things. 427 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:09,080 His eye is on the sparrow and His eye is on you. 428 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:11,880 Everything about creation says this is by design. 429 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:17,920 And it's an amazing God who created and made all these things and an amazing God who made 430 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:18,920 you. 431 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:23,320 And I'm kind of a people watcher. 432 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:26,400 Back in the day when malls were a thing, my wife would go shopping and I would sit on 433 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:31,760 the bench that was made for men whose wives liked to shop. 434 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:34,360 And I would watch people walk by. 435 00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:36,160 And I loved watching people walk by. 436 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:42,880 It's amazing to me to see the DNA from generation to generation that's obviously on their face 437 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:44,560 or on their body type. 438 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:49,920 There'll be similarities in size, similarities in how they walk, their gait, or their facial 439 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:50,920 features. 440 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:53,240 I enjoyed watching fathers and sons. 441 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:55,160 And I could almost spot them pretty plainly. 442 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:57,240 Oh, that's definitely a father son. 443 00:27:57,240 --> 00:27:58,240 Or a mother daughter. 444 00:27:58,240 --> 00:27:59,920 That's definitely a mother daughter there. 445 00:27:59,920 --> 00:28:03,920 Recently we had a father and his two sons walk across the lobby of our church. 446 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:08,520 And I watched him walk across the lobby and I said, man, the apple doesn't far fall from 447 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,440 that tree, far fall from that tree. 448 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:12,760 Because those boys walked just like their dads. 449 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:15,720 They had the same long legs and everything else. 450 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:16,720 Wow. 451 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:21,360 You know, God doesn't create random people at all. 452 00:28:21,360 --> 00:28:25,560 Everything He does, He does in a personal way, in a unique way, in a purposeful way, 453 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:27,720 in a meaningful way. 454 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:33,200 But the world we live in would deny all that, all that beauty, all that purpose, all that 455 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:34,640 meaning. 456 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:41,280 Our culture says, there's no God, the earth just happened. 457 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:43,920 The culture would say, we're just random. 458 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:45,360 We're just evolved animals. 459 00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:47,980 We don't have higher meaning or higher purpose. 460 00:28:47,980 --> 00:28:50,920 There's no way to connect with anything other than here. 461 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:54,560 Consequently, your life is not worth much. 462 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:57,560 Culture says, gender and sexuality is a confusing mix. 463 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:00,240 We're really not sure what a man is and what a woman is. 464 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:04,440 We're really not sure what is going on. 465 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:08,600 But the Bible says that we have a powerful creator God. 466 00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:14,180 The Bible says that we are distinctly designed and distinctly created to reflect the image 467 00:29:14,180 --> 00:29:15,620 of that God. 468 00:29:15,620 --> 00:29:21,240 The Bible says that God gives us eternal power and eternal purpose and destiny because of 469 00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:22,360 what He gives us. 470 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:26,360 The Bible says that our gender and our sexuality are God given from birth. 471 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:30,880 Now if I were to make practical application from all those truths, I would say that you 472 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:36,960 are uniquely and intentionally designed by your creator who wants you to know Him and 473 00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:40,120 to follow Him and experience Him in a very real way. 474 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:43,880 And He puts you where He's put you on the planet for a purpose. 475 00:29:43,880 --> 00:29:48,000 And the sooner you find that out, the greater your joy is and the greater your foundation 476 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:49,000 will stand. 477 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:50,720 It's so important. 478 00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:51,840 You're not an accident. 479 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:54,040 You're not a biological mistake. 480 00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:57,000 God wove you in your womb, in the womb of your mother. 481 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:01,280 God designed you with purpose and loved you as an image bearer of Himself. 482 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:07,520 All these kinds of things are true because of this principle of multiplication. 483 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:11,200 And I want you to have a solid foundation for who you are. 484 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:15,160 I know there were many, many people who came before you who gave birth to you all of a 485 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:17,480 sudden, but God was involved in every bit of that. 486 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:22,560 Go search your DNA out as far back as you want to, but it all will be found in God's 487 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:24,020 will and God's plan. 488 00:30:24,020 --> 00:30:27,800 You were here because of God. 489 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:29,120 Never feel alone. 490 00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:30,680 Never feel without purpose. 491 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:35,840 The principle of multiplication, the principle of provision. 492 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:38,320 The Bible says in God saw that it was good in verse 12. 493 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:43,760 In other words, God looked at His handiwork and He did that at various times through creation, 494 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:46,640 period, and He said it's good. 495 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:49,840 We talked about this just a little bit a few weeks ago. 496 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:56,040 But the idea of God saying and declaring it is good is Him saying it is good and perfect 497 00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:57,440 and just what is needed. 498 00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:04,920 In other words, it's designed to fulfill the purpose that I placed it there for. 499 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:09,960 But what is it needed for in respect to this vegetation, these trees, these fruit? 500 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:10,960 What's it needed for? 501 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:13,240 It's an interesting question. 502 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:14,760 Here's the answer. 503 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:17,360 His provision shows His focus. 504 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:21,720 He created this watery globe for something, for someone. 505 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:25,920 God's primary focus is on mankind, on you. 506 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:31,920 Now if you're watching a movie of creation, it might seem like that the food God created 507 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:34,160 has no purpose at that moment. 508 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:40,520 Those fruit trees with all those fruit bearing seeds had no purpose at that particular moment. 509 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:42,720 You might ask why this fruit? 510 00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:44,160 What is all this vegetation? 511 00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:45,600 What are these vegetables for? 512 00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,840 Why would God divide the land from the oceans? 513 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:55,600 And the answer is He created all this earth because He's going to place us on this planet. 514 00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:58,720 He's going to put us in His creation. 515 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:00,840 He always goes before us. 516 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:06,680 He always puts us after He's prepared us for a place. 517 00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:12,920 You know NASA has spent over a trillion dollars trying to find life on other planets or on 518 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:14,680 any other place other than earth. 519 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:17,960 And you know what they've discovered so far? 520 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:19,920 Absolutely nothing, zero. 521 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:24,080 No life on other planets, no beings anywhere else. 522 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:29,720 So God created earth not just to have an earth, but for us. 523 00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:31,480 He focuses on providing for us. 524 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:36,760 He's providing for us by arranging the world around our lives where He would place us. 525 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:39,520 His focus isn't on the earth in and of itself. 526 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:42,480 He didn't create the earth just to be preserved. 527 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:48,400 His focus on the earth is to create it, to glorify Him and for us to be provided for. 528 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:50,600 He puts us on the earth for our work. 529 00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:52,960 He puts us on the earth for our sustenance. 530 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:54,280 It's created for us. 531 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:56,680 He's gone before us in every way. 532 00:32:56,680 --> 00:33:00,080 His focus is what He's going to do in your life on this planet. 533 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:07,520 Not only does He do that, but He speaks it over and over and over in everyday life. 534 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:08,880 God goes before us. 535 00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:10,640 He provides for us. 536 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:17,440 Now I need you to get into your personal challenges in life for just a moment with me. 537 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:23,800 If the God who speaks and creates the earth has a way of providing for us, His image bearers, 538 00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:30,280 later on, then whatever you're about to face, God has already gone before you and is on 539 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:34,920 the other side, having met that need, whether you know it or not. 540 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:40,080 For example, Deuteronomy chapter 31 is a series of verses that God spoke to Israel when they 541 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:41,080 were fearful. 542 00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:45,600 Here's what He said, the Lord is the one who goes ahead of you. 543 00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:47,760 He will be with you. 544 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:50,120 He will not fail you nor forsake you. 545 00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:54,640 Do not fear or be dismayed. 546 00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:57,960 God's not just saying that just so that Israel will do it. 547 00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:02,280 He's saying that to them because that's what He's going to do, because He's going to be 548 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:03,280 there. 549 00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:07,440 If you really grasp what that means, it means that there's no place that you can go where 550 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:09,200 God has not been first. 551 00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:11,480 There's no place that you can go where God is not there. 552 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:15,960 There's no challenge that you can possibly face that God has not already become aware 553 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:21,400 of that by His infinite wisdom and made provision for that in the days ahead so that you'll 554 00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:24,880 meet that challenge with His provision. 555 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:29,560 It ought to encourage you that God will always go with you, that He goes before us and always 556 00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:30,560 has. 557 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:36,200 I told the story years ago about being in a tornado as a little boy and being awakened 558 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:41,560 in the middle of the night and all the roaring of that storm was around our little house. 559 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:45,160 Really what woke me up was my father picking me up out of bed and putting me kind of on 560 00:34:45,160 --> 00:34:49,320 his shoulder and walking out into the rain and into the wind and the storm. 561 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:50,920 He was going to take us to the cellar nearby. 562 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:53,080 A neighbor's house had a cellar. 563 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:54,080 He had been there before. 564 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:58,320 He had an exit plan when the tornadoes came through because we lived in Tornado Alley. 565 00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:00,280 I knew nothing about all that stuff. 566 00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:03,160 I just knew that I was being awakened in the middle of the night. 567 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,400 I was on my father's shoulder and we were heading into the storm. 568 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:09,200 Man, I have to tell you, I remember being afraid. 569 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:10,880 I remember shaking. 570 00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:14,000 I remember not knowing what was going on around me. 571 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:18,200 But then when he got me to that cellar and we went down into that cellar, it was quiet 572 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:23,360 and there was no wind and we weathered the storm and came out just fine later on that 573 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:24,360 night. 574 00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:27,360 And that's a vivid picture of what God does for us. 575 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:28,480 He has a plan for us. 576 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:29,740 He goes before us. 577 00:35:29,740 --> 00:35:30,740 He always has. 578 00:35:30,740 --> 00:35:31,740 He always will. 579 00:35:31,740 --> 00:35:32,740 He showed it in creation. 580 00:35:32,740 --> 00:35:33,960 And he does it today. 581 00:35:33,960 --> 00:35:35,120 You're never alone. 582 00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:37,520 You're always with your heavenly Father. 583 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:42,240 And he promises that no matter what area of life we're in. 584 00:35:42,240 --> 00:35:44,400 God goes before us. 585 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:48,600 You know, the truth is if you walk without God's consciousness, you're going to walk 586 00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:51,280 a life filled with fear. 587 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:54,040 Every change is going to disturb you. 588 00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:57,800 Everything that's different than it was the day before is going to alarm you. 589 00:35:57,800 --> 00:36:01,040 You're going to find panic going in every which direction because if you don't have 590 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:05,280 a sense of God's consciousness, all you've got is you. 591 00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:09,560 And all you've got is this idea that the world is random and out of control when it in fact 592 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:13,400 is not random and it is not out of control. 593 00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:16,000 You are not random and God is not missing. 594 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:17,560 He's God. 595 00:36:17,560 --> 00:36:20,800 And he has you in the palm of his hand. 596 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:21,800 He always has. 597 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:27,440 And he says through the principle of provision, I go before you. 598 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:32,640 I'll take care of that for you. 599 00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:35,000 David wrote Psalm 139. 600 00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:36,440 David has already faced Goliath. 601 00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:40,960 He's faced the armies of Saul who were trying to kill him. 602 00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:43,800 He's faced every battle you can imagine. 603 00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:47,120 And when he gets to Psalm 139, he says this. 604 00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:50,480 He says this in Psalm 23 and 139. 605 00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:51,480 The Lord is my shepherd. 606 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:52,480 I shall not want. 607 00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:54,280 He makes me to lie down in green pastures. 608 00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:57,720 He leads me beside the still waters. 609 00:36:57,720 --> 00:37:02,520 Yea, that I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for thou art 610 00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:03,520 with me. 611 00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:06,080 This is the God who goes before us. 612 00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:10,520 Psalm 139 says, where can I go from your spirit or where can I flee from your presence? 613 00:37:10,520 --> 00:37:11,840 If I ascend to heaven, you're there. 614 00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:15,240 If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there. 615 00:37:15,240 --> 00:37:18,360 David says, God is with me. 616 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:19,780 Wherever I go, he's there. 617 00:37:19,780 --> 00:37:20,780 He's watching me. 618 00:37:20,780 --> 00:37:23,760 He's going before me and it's true of you as well. 619 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:26,800 And no matter what challenge you face, no matter what battle you're in, no matter what 620 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:31,120 war comes to pass, this is what God has always done. 621 00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:33,520 It's what he'll always do, whatever the scenario. 622 00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:39,080 In fact, when Jesus came to earth, he came talking in this very same way. 623 00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:45,080 I love John chapter 14 where he talks about his departure and prepares his disciples. 624 00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:47,800 Here's what he said about his going. 625 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:50,680 He said, in my father's house are many mansions. 626 00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:53,360 If it were not so, I would have told you. 627 00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:55,800 For I go to prepare a place for you. 628 00:37:55,800 --> 00:38:00,680 For if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself 629 00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:03,720 that where I am, there you may be also. 630 00:38:03,720 --> 00:38:05,520 I go before you. 631 00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:10,080 Even in death, I go before you. 632 00:38:10,080 --> 00:38:13,680 Shortly after that, Jesus said those famous words that we had cut into a stone and put 633 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:15,040 it by our front door. 634 00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:17,560 I am the way and the truth and the light. 635 00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:20,600 No one comes to the father but through me. 636 00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:27,840 Jesus said that, that he went to the cross and he faced death and was buried. 637 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:28,960 He rose again the third day. 638 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:33,400 He's gone before us even in death. 639 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:34,400 You can't lose. 640 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:37,120 If you're a God follower, you can't lose. 641 00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:38,920 He's gone before you in life. 642 00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:41,020 He's gone before you in provision. 643 00:38:41,020 --> 00:38:42,840 He's gone before you in death. 644 00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:44,960 He's gone before you in resurrection. 645 00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:49,400 Everything that you can possibly imagine, he has gone before you because he's the God 646 00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:56,000 he provides and he gives us indications of that from the very, very beginning. 647 00:38:56,000 --> 00:39:00,680 Let me bring you back around to that foundation story for just a moment. 648 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:07,240 Are you building your life on the foundation that's solid that we read about from Genesis 649 00:39:07,240 --> 00:39:14,280 one onward or are you building your life on something marshy, shaky that causes you to 650 00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:20,880 lean, lean away from God, lean into your own understanding, lean into science or some modern 651 00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:26,520 thought instead of standing strong on the foundations that God gives us. 652 00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:34,840 Jesus invites you to build your house on the rock which is him and his words. 653 00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:38,080 Just a few moments, I'm going to close in prayer. 654 00:39:38,080 --> 00:39:43,720 Today my hope, my prayer would be that you would see that you need a foundation that 655 00:39:43,720 --> 00:39:48,800 is strong and eternal that was laid down by God himself. 656 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:55,080 As you would see that you need what Jesus Christ offers you in salvation and in wisdom 657 00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:56,080 for life. 658 00:39:56,080 --> 00:40:00,080 I would love to have one of our people talk with you behind the decision stations that 659 00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:01,080 are available right there. 660 00:40:01,080 --> 00:40:04,360 Just stop and just say, I'd like to talk about my faith in this God. 661 00:40:04,360 --> 00:40:06,000 I have some questions I want answered. 662 00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:11,520 I have some things I need to know so I can put my faith in this God and believe in him 663 00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:12,520 and walk with him. 664 00:40:12,520 --> 00:40:16,760 I want to invite you to our guest reception room right outside the center exit doors and 665 00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:17,760 across the hallway. 666 00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:21,360 I'd love to meet you there and tell you a little bit about our church. 667 00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:25,400 More important than all that I want you to have a relationship with the God who speaks 668 00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:28,200 and the world comes into existence. 669 00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:31,720 Would you stand with me as we pray today? 670 00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:36,600 Father, I'm so thankful for the privilege of being able to open your Bible today, the 671 00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:44,360 word and look from creation to today at how everything that you've created, everything 672 00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:49,120 you've done and said come to pass just as you say it will. 673 00:40:49,120 --> 00:40:55,000 Father today, I know there are those that are looking for wisdom and strong foundations. 674 00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:58,000 I know they want to build their lives on something that will hold. 675 00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:03,840 I know around them the world feels like a storm and it is a storm in so many ways. 676 00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:10,320 So many different kinds of messages, so many different kinds of quote truth and quote. 677 00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:14,760 But there is one truth that you give us that we can count on and that is your word. 678 00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:20,760 So father today I pray that every person in this room will test and make sure they're 679 00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:27,600 standing on the solid foundation that's built on Jesus Christ and on your word. 680 00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:30,800 Thank you father for letting us in strong in Jesus name. 681 00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:31,800 Amen. 682 00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:33,800 Amen.