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 --> 00:00:33,480 Here's John Metter with the teaching on the five questions. 6 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:38,360 We are so glad to be with you this morning as we continue through our walk through the 7 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:39,360 book of Genesis. 8 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:43,120 We're back in chapter one and we'll be there for a few weeks and we're on day five. 9 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:44,880 So take your Bibles if you would. 10 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:50,240 Turn to Genesis chapter one and beginning in verse 20 we'll read the text in just a 11 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:52,720 few moments on day five. 12 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:56,640 I've been labeling these messages each week. 13 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:01,240 Very simply day one, day two, day three, day four, day five. 14 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,760 Next week, day six as you might predict. 15 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:08,520 We're looking at how God created man and woman. 16 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:10,040 It's going to be an exciting week next week. 17 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:14,680 It really is that climactic week before the seventh day where God rested. 18 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:18,040 So many things in Genesis chapter one. 19 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,200 So turn to Genesis chapter one beginning in verse 20. 20 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:27,160 You know one of the most amazing gifts in life for me has to do with knowing people. 21 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:33,200 I don't know if you feel the same way but I love getting to know people and being able 22 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:35,200 to know them well. 23 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:39,840 My wife Kim and I have been married 44 years and it's just been a joy to get to know her 24 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:45,520 and incredible character in her life and I've come to know her voice and her ways and the 25 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:49,440 things she likes to do, the things she doesn't like to do and I'm sure that's true of any 26 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:50,440 married couple. 27 00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:55,240 And then our children when they were born getting a chance to get to see them and get 28 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:59,640 to know their personalities and get to know what they liked and disliked and today all 29 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:04,120 of our kids are adults and we still get to interact with them a lot on a regular basis. 30 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:08,560 But getting to know someone well is a joy. 31 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:13,120 Whether it's a co-worker or family member or a friend from many years in the past, whatever 32 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,520 it might be, knowing people is a really, really big deal. 33 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:20,960 And if you can think about those greatest times of knowing someone in your life and 34 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:25,000 knowing them well and knowing them so well that their character and what you know about 35 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:31,640 them defines your relationship, magnify that about a thousand times or more and talk about 36 00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:38,200 what it means to know God and to know the power of what it means to know who he is, 37 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:44,160 to know his personality, to know his character, to know you can count on him when you cannot 38 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:45,920 count on anyone else. 39 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:51,160 Jesus said this in John chapter 17 verse 3, he was defining eternal life and he said, 40 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:57,680 this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you 41 00:02:57,680 --> 00:02:58,680 have sent. 42 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:04,640 So, it's a big deal to know God, not just to know about him, but to know God and experience 43 00:03:04,640 --> 00:03:09,440 him and I still think about Paul's statement in the book of Philippians where he says, 44 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:14,440 oh, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering. 45 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:19,520 In other words, there's nothing more valuable on all of the planet more so than knowing 46 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:25,040 God and the creation account helps us know God. 47 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:29,120 The Stand Together as we read these three verses today that I'll be focusing on, Genesis 48 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:37,000 chapter 1 and in addition to all the things that God creates in these six days of creation 49 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:42,400 before we get to the day of rest, there is something revealed to us about who God is 50 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,160 and that's what I want you to catch today. 51 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:51,160 Verse 20, then God said, let the waters team with the swarms of living creatures, let the 52 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:55,640 birds fly above the earth and the open expanse of the heaven. 53 00:03:55,640 --> 00:04:00,880 God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves with which the 54 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:06,680 water swarmed after their kind and every winged bird after its kind and God saw that it was 55 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:08,440 good. 56 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:09,440 God blessed them. 57 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:11,700 Now, this is God actually interacting with his creation. 58 00:04:11,700 --> 00:04:17,480 God blessed them saying, be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters and the seas and let the 59 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:20,120 birds multiply on the earth. 60 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:23,960 Then the summary of that day, there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. 61 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:29,400 Father, in Jesus' name, just allow this text to speak to us, allow the whole creation account 62 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:34,800 to do that so that we can know you, not just know the earth and not just know your creation 63 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,200 but to know you, God. 64 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:39,920 That's our highest quest today. 65 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:41,600 We ask this in Jesus' name. 66 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:43,880 All God's people said, amen. 67 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:48,960 Please be seated if you would. 68 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:55,600 Reading the creation account helps you get to know God without assumptions, without guessing, 69 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:56,960 without somebody else's opinion. 70 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:59,720 You can actually just read the Bible. 71 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:04,920 As you read the Bible, be attentive to what the Bible says about God. 72 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:09,800 When you read through the first few verses of Genesis chapter one, what grips us right 73 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:16,440 off the beginning is that we learn some things about what God did, what God created. 74 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:19,600 As we walk through that, again, in a few moments, you'll see all those different things that 75 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:20,600 we saw. 76 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:25,120 We actually put some things on the screen that had to do, in a sense, with some scientific 77 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:30,760 reproductions of things that we believe look very similar to what God did when he created. 78 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:34,080 Someone said a few weeks ago, I feel like I've been in a science class. 79 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:39,840 Of course, the point all along is not being in a science class, but looking at the creation 80 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:44,760 from a biblical perspective instead of simply a scientific perspective. 81 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:47,040 Most of us are a little bit brainwashed in that way. 82 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:52,360 We look at it through a textbook instead of through the eyes of the creator. 83 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:56,920 What I want you to do is look at creation through the eyes of the creator. 84 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:03,640 I want you to see the big picture today of what's happening as God reveals himself so 85 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:06,800 that you can know him through creation. 86 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:12,000 As this text unfolds, there are some things that I'm going to bring out of the first few 87 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:18,200 verses of chapter one and on into verse 20 and 22 and 23. 88 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:21,240 It shows us some characteristics of God that I want you to remember. 89 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:25,760 First of all, I want you to see God's consistency in creation, his consistency. 90 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:31,120 I have to tell you that nothing much in life is consistent. 91 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:32,120 Would you agree with that? 92 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:36,360 I mean, if anything is inevitable, it's change. 93 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:38,360 We have a saying like that. 94 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:40,200 The only thing you can cat on is change. 95 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:43,720 The only thing certain is death and taxes, something like that. 96 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:44,880 That's what we say a lot. 97 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:46,600 That's pretty true. 98 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:52,200 But there is a constancy, there is a consistency that you can see in God's character as he 99 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:55,920 creates the heavens and the earth, and you see it every day. 100 00:06:55,920 --> 00:07:01,280 When I read the creation account, I can't help but notice the consistency and the dependability 101 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:06,120 and the reliability and the order and the planning of God. 102 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:10,920 And quite frankly, I love it because nothing else, it seems, in life is consistent. 103 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:17,600 But every new thing that is done is built upon what God has previously done. 104 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:21,520 For example, as we look in the creation on the fifth day and then again on the sixth 105 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:27,760 day next week, everything God does on day five and day six is a foundation thing that 106 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:31,560 has been created for it in day one, two, three, four. 107 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,040 God doesn't create something without going before that. 108 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:39,040 For example, day one, he creates the elements and the watery sphere that we know as that 109 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:40,040 original earth. 110 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:44,520 Then day two, he created the sky and the open expanse of the heavens. 111 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:48,320 On day three, he separated the waters from the dry lands. 112 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:53,760 He placed the vegetation on the dry land, the trees in the ground, and he made the seas 113 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:56,760 and the skies and he prepared for what he does next. 114 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:00,320 In fact, the trees were bearing fruit and he commanded them to multiply after their 115 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:03,520 kind, the same with all the vegetation. 116 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:05,920 But nobody was there to eat it yet. 117 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:11,280 But on day four, God places the sun, moon, stars, and so forth, the light, the way. 118 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:15,720 And all the way through creation, everything is planned, everything is created, everything 119 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:19,260 is prepared for what he does next. 120 00:08:19,260 --> 00:08:25,800 And then on day five, he puts living creatures in those spaces that he created on day four 121 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:26,800 and day three. 122 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:32,280 There's just an evenness, there's stability, and a dependability in what God does. 123 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:36,000 It's part of the good that God declares at the end of every one of those days. 124 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:37,520 God saw that it was good. 125 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:42,640 Now when we look at that phrase, God said that it was good, we tend to think, okay, 126 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,120 God looked at what he just created and said, well, that's good. 127 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:47,760 What I did was good. 128 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:51,920 But in God's view, according to the scripture, it wasn't just good in and of itself. 129 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:53,520 It's good for what's next. 130 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:54,840 It's good for the next day. 131 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:59,840 It's good for who he's going to place there and what he's going to place on his earth. 132 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:04,640 It's good in a bigger way than we tend to understand. 133 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:10,720 Even the birds and the sea creatures that God creates are enjoying God's goodness and 134 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:11,720 his blessing. 135 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:17,600 He blesses them and he tells them, I want you to go be fruitful and multiply. 136 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:22,000 So everything I've just said about the constancy and the consistency of God really plays out 137 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:24,920 in your life today, even though you don't think about it much. 138 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:28,920 Let me just give you some principles that I've known to be life principles based on 139 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:31,280 the scripture found in Genesis 1. 140 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:36,320 First of all, God goes before us to prepare the way. 141 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:39,120 God goes before us to prepare the way. 142 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:44,720 It happens at creation, but it happens over and over again in the Bible. 143 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:50,120 God's people never go to a place where God has not first been and prepared them and that 144 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:52,320 place for them. 145 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:53,920 God goes before us. 146 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:58,000 I'm walking with a friend right now who's approaching death. 147 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:03,600 He won't live much longer unless something changes. 148 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:09,240 But God has gone before him so that he doesn't have to face that death without God preparing 149 00:10:09,240 --> 00:10:10,240 the way. 150 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:12,960 You say, what do you mean? 151 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:18,040 But God prepared the way by providing salvation for my friend through Jesus Christ. 152 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:22,880 And Jesus went before him to prepare a place for him in heaven. 153 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:26,960 We have the teachings of scripture that tell us and help reassure us that God's got a plan 154 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:30,520 for our lives and to be absent from body is to be present with Christ. 155 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:32,080 God has gone before us. 156 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:35,880 Everywhere we go, God has gone before us before we get there. 157 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:37,560 God did that in creation. 158 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:39,400 He's doing that in our lives today. 159 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:45,160 And actually there is no uncharted territory that you will ever go into that God has not 160 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:47,320 first been there. 161 00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:49,560 He goes before you. 162 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:50,560 You know what that does? 163 00:10:50,560 --> 00:10:54,920 That removes an incredible amount of stress and incredible amount of fear and panic out 164 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:59,040 of our life if we believe that, if we would just believe that. 165 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:01,840 The second principle is we're God guides, God provides. 166 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:06,440 We've said this over the years in so many different ways, but we're God guides, God 167 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:08,680 provides. 168 00:11:08,680 --> 00:11:14,400 Notice that he creates that which will sustain his creatures first and then he puts them 169 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:16,400 there. 170 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:20,480 Last week we were looking at how God has already prepared a garden and he places man and woman 171 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:24,560 in that garden to take care of it, to tell it, but also to eat of the fruits of the trees 172 00:11:24,560 --> 00:11:27,360 that he's already put there where God guides, God provides. 173 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:31,560 He even cares for the birds and the sea creatures. 174 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:35,160 Remember Jesus talking in Matthew chapter 6 to a group of people that were kind of worried 175 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:38,960 about their provision and he said, look at the birds of the air. 176 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:43,960 They don't sow, they don't reap, they don't gather into barns and yet your heavenly father 177 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:45,440 feeds them. 178 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:50,240 Are you not of more worth than they? 179 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:55,440 So he has this principle here that God, where he guides us, he provides for us. 180 00:11:55,440 --> 00:11:58,720 Before he even says he's love, he demonstrates that he's love. 181 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:02,800 Before he even says that he cares for us, he demonstrates that care. 182 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:07,200 Before we're even aware that God is there, he's already provided for us. 183 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:13,520 Constancy, consistency, all those things God does for us. 184 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:17,800 Thirdly, when God places us, he has a purpose for us. 185 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:22,640 Everything God places in the sky, in the sea or on the earth has a place, has a purpose. 186 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:24,160 Nothing is placed without purpose. 187 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:28,960 Now that's reassuring to me, but think about the animals, think about the birds. 188 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:34,000 Remember when we get to Genesis chapter 6 and we have this big old boat called the Ark 189 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:40,480 and when the water subsides, he sends a dove out to find verification that the dry land 190 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:41,880 is beginning to appear again. 191 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:44,400 He had a purpose for the dove. 192 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:48,600 Remember when he sent ravens to feed the prophet Elijah? 193 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:53,360 Maybe you recall Jonah's life and the uber whale that God sent to Jonah, not just uber 194 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:58,280 in the sense of big, but uber in the sense of I'll pick you up here and take you there. 195 00:12:58,280 --> 00:12:59,960 The uber whale. 196 00:12:59,960 --> 00:13:03,360 Remember the donkey that spoke to the prophet? 197 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:08,680 All these animals, all these mammals, all these birds, they all have purpose and God's 198 00:13:08,680 --> 00:13:13,720 placed them there for a purpose and we see it sometimes, but God always has purpose for 199 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:15,240 every one of them. 200 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:20,840 God is consistent, he's reliable, he's trustworthy, he's dependable and what that should do to 201 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:27,000 us is should stimulate us to trust him, to believe him, to count on him even though we 202 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:29,400 don't understand what the future holds. 203 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:33,440 He has been in the future, he is in the future and if he does this kind of thing for the 204 00:13:33,440 --> 00:13:39,080 sea creatures, why would he not do those same kinds of things for us? 205 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:45,040 Who hasn't stood at a moment of crossroads in their lives and filled with doubt may be 206 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:51,480 wondering what the future held and who hasn't cried out, God, what's ahead of me? 207 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:53,280 What do you have for me? 208 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:55,520 What will you do with my life? 209 00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:58,280 He is the right one to ask by the way about that. 210 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:01,840 He's the only one that goes before you, he's the only one that knows the answer to that 211 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:07,000 question, but it's really important for us to come to the place of saying the God who 212 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:12,280 goes before me, the God who provides as he guides, the God who promises that everything 213 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:16,600 is consistent and reliable with his truth, with his word, that's the one I need to be 214 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:19,400 looking to for my wisdom. 215 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:21,240 So God is consistent. 216 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:27,200 Secondly, the creation account helps us be reminded that God is also full of creativity. 217 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:32,200 God's creativity is coming to the forefront, God's creativity. 218 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:40,480 Look at verse 21, it says that God created the great sea monsters and every living creature. 219 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:45,200 Now, according to my reading, when I'm reading through Genesis 1, we're at vegetation and 220 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:49,720 we're at plants, but nothing really weird and exotic takes place until I see the word 221 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:50,720 sea monsters. 222 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:56,160 All of a sudden, this gets a little bit more exciting, a little bit more interesting. 223 00:14:56,160 --> 00:15:00,600 Sea monsters are being created, sea monsters specifically. 224 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:04,520 The water's swarming after the kind and every wing bird after its kind and God saw that 225 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:05,520 was good. 226 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:09,840 I just think this account gets more and more interesting as we go through. 227 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:16,560 For the first time, you see the word life, the word life, living creatures that God is 228 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:17,560 creating. 229 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:22,800 It's a unique Hebrew word, the word nephesh, and it means soul. 230 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:27,480 It's not a reference to eternal life, but it does say that these living creatures have 231 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:29,920 a mind, they have a will, and they have an emotion. 232 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:31,400 They have emotions. 233 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:36,160 That's not what plants have and that's what vegetation has, but now birds and now the 234 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:40,520 sea monsters and all that's in the sea and later on the animals and the mammals that 235 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:46,400 wander on the earth and of course later on, male and female, mankind, they all have a 236 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:47,400 soul. 237 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:51,640 So, we see all this beginning to take place from this moment forward. 238 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:59,000 He's creating living beings and we see great diversity and great creativity. 239 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:05,600 Can you imagine how God went about determining how all these creatures in the sea and all 240 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:08,640 these birds in the air would be designed? 241 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:13,280 There's an order about it, but there's also an incredible diversity. 242 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:17,800 I want us to look at some pictures today, pictures that you have seen before, so let's 243 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:21,280 just let those pictures begin to roll through. 244 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:26,360 These are pictures that you might be able to find on the internet, pictures of different 245 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:29,600 sea creatures, pictures of different birds. 246 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:33,360 Let's look at the variety and the diversity of them all. 247 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:39,040 Can you imagine God creating all of these birds and all these fish and just saying, 248 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:41,360 you know, I think I'm going to make this a little cuter than that one. 249 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:43,560 I think I'm going to make this bigger than that one. 250 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:45,400 I think I'm going to give this some color. 251 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:51,560 I think I'm going to make this more unusual than anything that I've created otherwise. 252 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:56,000 Have you ever looked at some of these pictures and just noticed how strange some of them 253 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,640 look and how weird they actually look? 254 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:03,280 I wonder if God paused and said, you know, I'm going to throw a curve ball on this one. 255 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:09,040 Nobody will ever know what to think about this particular thing in the sea or thing 256 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:10,360 in the air. 257 00:17:10,360 --> 00:17:11,640 Look at that guy right there. 258 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:14,520 I mean, you don't want to encounter him anywhere, right? 259 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:16,840 And certainly not the next one. 260 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:19,080 God, what are you up to? 261 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:20,080 I really believe this. 262 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:24,160 I really believe that, and I've said this to you many times and I hope that you will 263 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:28,080 believe with me, that Jesus does smile from time to time. 264 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:33,640 I mean, a lot of us have this view of God and Jesus is always perpetually frowning. 265 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:34,640 I think Jesus smiled. 266 00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:36,960 I think Jesus laughed at his disciples quite a bit. 267 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:39,640 There's a lot of laughable material there, by the way. 268 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:41,960 I think Jesus laughs at us sometimes. 269 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:42,960 Not in derision. 270 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:43,960 I think he laughs in humor. 271 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:46,360 I think he is amused by us sometimes. 272 00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:49,440 I think God smiled at creation. 273 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:52,400 All this diversity, all this creativity. 274 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,520 I think God enjoys the variety and the diversity. 275 00:17:55,520 --> 00:18:00,520 Otherwise, why would he place this on the planet? 276 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:04,680 And here we have in this account life's most perplexing question. 277 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:08,360 We've dealt with some pretty tough questions, but this one I haven't really brought up, 278 00:18:08,360 --> 00:18:12,000 but I think you need to get the answer for this question today. 279 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,600 Of course, came first the chicken or the egg? 280 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,520 And of course, the chicken came first. 281 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,240 Biblically speaking, God didn't create an egg. 282 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:27,120 He created those animals, those birds, fully mature and then blessed them and told them 283 00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:30,880 to multiply after their kind. 284 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:35,680 God created creatures that you and I have never seen and will never see. 285 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:42,120 It's kind of interesting that the word used in the Hebrew is a word that makes room for 286 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:48,760 any creature on record, even some of those that are called prehistoric creatures in history 287 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:51,280 books or in biology books. 288 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:55,200 Those categories of creation that we have here would also include flying mammals like 289 00:18:55,200 --> 00:19:01,860 bats and flying reptiles and pterodactyls and some of those other words that you know 290 00:19:01,860 --> 00:19:06,720 and associate as dinosaurs and we'll cover that subject a little later. 291 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:12,640 One marine biologist stated this, that there could be 700,000 different types of marine 292 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:20,920 life and according to the National Ocean Service, scientists estimate that 91% of all the species 293 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:25,920 in the ocean have yet to be classified and many of them have never been seen before. 294 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:30,680 80% of our ocean is unmapped and inaccessible to us today. 295 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:33,360 God's creation is so big you can't explain it. 296 00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:35,960 A science textbook can't explain it. 297 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:40,800 You can't come up with common sense enough for God's creativity, God's diversity is 298 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:44,520 way beyond anything you and I can fathom. 299 00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:45,800 He loves creativity. 300 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:48,880 He loves diversity. 301 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:51,600 That's why we're not all the same. 302 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:54,160 Aren't you glad we're not all the same? 303 00:19:54,160 --> 00:20:00,760 I'm glad everybody's not like you and you're glad everybody's not like me. 304 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:05,200 I'm glad we have all kinds of people from all kinds of colors and all kinds of personalities 305 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:07,160 and all kinds of sizes and shapes. 306 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:12,520 I love the diversity that God has placed on the planet and somehow he brings it all together. 307 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:14,120 Somehow he makes it all work. 308 00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:18,580 Somehow he makes the sun, the moon, the stars all operate in perfect orbit just like they 309 00:20:18,580 --> 00:20:23,640 need to to give just enough light to the earth to function in the way he created that. 310 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:27,560 The same with the sea, the same with the birds and everything else he created. 311 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:33,800 It really leaves me grateful with the size and immensity of this that I am not the general 312 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:38,200 manager of the universe but that God is the general manager of the universe. 313 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:44,280 One of my favorite stories is a guy that I knew years ago who when he came to Christ 314 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:45,800 made this statement about his life. 315 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:47,800 He said, you know I'm a controller. 316 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:48,880 I like to control my life. 317 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,760 I like to control other people's lives. 318 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:54,560 He said when I came to faith in Jesus I had to give that up. 319 00:20:54,560 --> 00:21:02,400 He said the day I came to faith in Jesus Christ I resigned as general manager of the universe. 320 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,480 I've never heard anybody call themselves the general manager of the universe. 321 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:09,440 I know some people who think they're the general manager of the universe. 322 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:12,640 He said I resigned as general manager of the universe. 323 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:17,160 He said I was able to do that because I knew that the God I was trusting, the Christ I 324 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:23,160 was putting my life in the hands of was capable of managing the universe and I could not manage 325 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:25,160 my universe or my world. 326 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:32,000 So here's God in this diversity and his creativity bringing the world so massive that it really 327 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:37,560 stuns us that it all works well together and it does work well together. 328 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:41,360 But more than all that the creation account helps me know God in this way. 329 00:21:41,360 --> 00:21:45,640 It helps me know God's character. 330 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:51,000 But I want you to walk away from this mess today and this day of creation with this mindset. 331 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:57,440 When I read Genesis chapter 1 I'm walking away knowing who God is and knowing what I 332 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:00,600 can count on him for. 333 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:01,600 God's character. 334 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:07,120 In verse 22 God blessed them saying be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters and the sea 335 00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:09,440 and let the birds multiply on the earth. 336 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:13,600 And God does the same thing every day with all these creatures that he does with plants. 337 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:19,800 He places them with the capability to multiply to reproduce future generations of themselves. 338 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:25,280 He creates that DNA in just such a certain way where it absolutely makes a replicate 339 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:27,880 of themselves and something we can't even fathom. 340 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:32,800 Every seed has the ability to reproduce itself perfectly. 341 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:36,200 And that word seed is also the word in the Hebrew for sperm. 342 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:38,880 So every animal reproduces in the same way. 343 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:41,200 Every human reproduces in the same way. 344 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:46,880 And it's why again we value the unborn because we know they are life and they are living 345 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:50,880 creatures and you can't just put them in a corner and say they have no life. 346 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:57,920 From the very conception of everything there is life and that life was created by God. 347 00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:01,320 It's true. 348 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:05,960 But Genesis 1 also begins to answer the most important question on the planet and it's 349 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:09,200 not about chickens and eggs. 350 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:11,040 Here it is. 351 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:15,440 Who is God and what is truth? 352 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,480 Who is God and what is truth? 353 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:21,880 Let me tell you, you're being bombarded today. 354 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:27,240 You're being blasted today to believe wrong answers about that question. 355 00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:29,240 Who is God and what is truth? 356 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:31,640 People are redefining truth right and left today. 357 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:35,680 They're redefining truth based on something other than God. 358 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:37,920 And some of these people say I believe in God. 359 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:42,240 I just don't believe in God's truth. 360 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:44,160 Who is God and what is truth? 361 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:49,320 Did you know that from the very beginning God gave answers to who he is and who he is 362 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:52,840 for us today as well and what truth is? 363 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:56,520 Let me give you three phrases that describe who God is today. 364 00:23:56,520 --> 00:24:00,680 First of all, God is almighty. 365 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:03,960 God is almighty. 366 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:11,120 And the very first usage of the word God in the Hebrew language in Genesis chapter 1, 367 00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:13,800 Elohim is the word that's used. 368 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:21,080 Now Elohim is one of multiple names for God but this is unique in that it's a Hebrew name 369 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:28,760 for God and it's based on the name El which is chief God in multiple civilizations. 370 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:35,720 That's the unique development in the Hebrew language in that it's used to represent plurality. 371 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:41,080 Meaning that every time you see the word Elohim it's plural in form but it's used in a singular 372 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:42,080 form in a sentence. 373 00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:50,520 In other words, thy God, the great God, the mighty God who has more than one expression, 374 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:54,040 more than one persons in that God. 375 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:59,520 The plural doesn't mean there's more than one God but it does leave room for the three 376 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:04,880 persons in which God expresses himself and that understanding unfolds as we walk through 377 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:05,880 the scripture. 378 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:11,680 For example, if you go to Genesis chapter 1 verse 2 it says the spirit of God was hovering 379 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:15,720 over the face of the deep and the logical question is where did he come from? 380 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:20,520 Who is the spirit of God that's hovering over the face of the deep? 381 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:25,360 If Elohim is used in verse 1 who is that spirit in verse 2? 382 00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:31,280 The answer is Elohim is not only God the creator but also the spirit hovering over the face 383 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:32,560 of the deep. 384 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:39,320 If you get to Genesis chapter 1 verse 26 where he creates male and female mankind it says 385 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:44,440 let us make man in our own image and you have to ask the question who is us? 386 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:45,440 Who is us? 387 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:50,120 If there's more than one and yet no man has been created yet who is us? 388 00:25:50,120 --> 00:25:57,440 The obvious answer is Elohim the creator God the spirit and later on we learn Jesus the 389 00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:58,440 son. 390 00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:03,760 You jump ahead to John chapter 1 which is John's genealogy of Jesus and the beginning 391 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:04,760 was the word. 392 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:10,400 The word was with God the word was God and the word became flesh it says in verse 14. 393 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:15,720 So every time you see Elohim you have a mature understanding having the whole Bible now of 394 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:21,320 knowing that it is the father it is the son it is the Holy Spirit. 395 00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:26,560 By the way if you go to Romans chapter 1 verse 20 there is a word used once in the Greek 396 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:30,360 there that describes the father son and the Holy Spirit. 397 00:26:30,360 --> 00:26:33,760 Let me read Romans 1 verse 20 for you. 398 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:37,620 It's where we get our understanding of the word Trinity which is the Latin word later 399 00:26:37,620 --> 00:26:44,000 given to it but here is a Greek word translated in English that describes this well. 400 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:49,200 It says for since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen 401 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,400 being understood by the things which are made. 402 00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:57,840 Please note Paul writing in Romans 1 is talking about creation. 403 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:00,640 Look around you at the world God has created. 404 00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:06,960 His attributes are clearly seen by creation and then he says even his eternal power and 405 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:07,960 Godhead. 406 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:15,280 The word Godhead in the New King James Version is a clear word and his Godhead to the faith 407 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:17,480 are without excuse. 408 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:24,120 So that idea there the Godhead can be translated divine nature or divinity or Godhead but that 409 00:27:24,120 --> 00:27:27,400 describes the Elohim in Genesis chapter 1. 410 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:29,420 Pastor why are you telling us all this? 411 00:27:29,420 --> 00:27:34,140 Because this God is like no other God ever described in any point of civilization or 412 00:27:34,140 --> 00:27:35,640 any time period. 413 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:36,640 He is Elohim. 414 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:39,960 He is almighty God the great one. 415 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:41,720 Father Son and the Holy Spirit. 416 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:45,320 This is the one that created the heavens and the earth. 417 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:48,060 He's not simply a God of history. 418 00:27:48,060 --> 00:27:51,160 You can go read a history book about other civilizations God. 419 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:53,360 This is not what that is. 420 00:27:53,360 --> 00:28:01,400 He is almighty God and he uniquely reveals himself as Father Son and Spirit and he's 421 00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:05,520 active and speaking and overseeing the world in which we live. 422 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:10,480 I absolutely love it and he's the only God that deserves our worship and our praise and 423 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,760 our adoration and our devotion. 424 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:13,960 He is the only one. 425 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:16,720 There is no other but this almighty God. 426 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:22,200 It describes him with just that one name Elohim. 427 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:23,200 So God is almighty. 428 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:25,920 Somebody say the word almighty. 429 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:27,480 God is almighty. 430 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:28,480 God is also eternal. 431 00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:34,320 That's the second part of God's character that we'll look at. 432 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:36,520 He is eternal. 433 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:42,760 Now again, remember I'm taking the big picture here of creation and I'm going back to verse 434 00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:43,760 one. 435 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:47,360 It says in the beginning God created. 436 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:52,200 Now the word eternal means without beginning or end. 437 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:56,800 It's very clear in the creation account that before anything was created God was. 438 00:28:56,800 --> 00:29:00,240 In the beginning God was there. 439 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:04,880 So the creation account places God before time began. 440 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:10,520 Now time is something that's built upon time and space and matter and events unfolding. 441 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:15,080 You know evening and morning were the first days so the rotational orbit of the earth 442 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:21,440 around the sun began to create those days that God called day and night. 443 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:23,000 So he actually created time. 444 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:27,040 It's a time created by God but God was before all that. 445 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:28,920 He precedes all that. 446 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:33,520 He'll be on the other side of all that but it gives him some unique characteristics. 447 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:37,800 If somebody is eternal they don't operate the same way we do. 448 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:40,200 You are finite. 449 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:44,600 For example, he declares the end from the beginning. 450 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:48,400 Isn't that amazing that somebody can declare the end from the beginning? 451 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:50,240 We're not talking about predicting something. 452 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:55,480 We're talking about declaring what will happen before anything ever happens. 453 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:57,580 We're talking about the sovereignty of God. 454 00:29:57,580 --> 00:30:00,040 We're talking about the idea that God is all knowing. 455 00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:02,600 His omniscient is another word for that. 456 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:04,600 It's really, really important that we see that. 457 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:05,600 That's the God we worship. 458 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:12,800 One of my favorite verses is in Isaiah 46 verse 9 and 10 where God is reminding the 459 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:17,520 Israelites what they need to be reminded of that he is God and there is no other. 460 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:20,080 He said, for I am God, there is no other. 461 00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:25,600 I am God and there is no one like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient 462 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:28,520 times things which have not been done. 463 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:30,520 He declares the end from the beginning. 464 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:33,520 That's pretty impressive. 465 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:38,720 But also you need to see that eternal and being an eternal God means that he always 466 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:41,540 has been and always will be. 467 00:30:41,540 --> 00:30:44,520 There will never be a time when God is not God. 468 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:46,960 There has never been a time when God was not God. 469 00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:50,160 There will never be a time where he's not God, where he's not on the throne, where he's 470 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:52,320 not almighty, where he's not all powerful. 471 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:55,320 There is no competition for God. 472 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:56,840 He is it. 473 00:30:56,840 --> 00:31:01,880 In Revelation chapter 1 verse 8, Jesus says, I'm the Alpha and the Omega says the Lord 474 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:09,060 God who was and who is and who is to come, the Almighty. 475 00:31:09,060 --> 00:31:10,980 God is almighty. 476 00:31:10,980 --> 00:31:11,980 God is eternal. 477 00:31:11,980 --> 00:31:17,960 Now this kind of sounds a little theological, but it's actually very simple what I'm about 478 00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:19,960 to say. 479 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:24,320 The fact that God is eternal means that he's self-existent. 480 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:29,840 He's dependent upon no act of nature, no other power, no other presence. 481 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:30,840 He alone is God. 482 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:31,840 He is self-existent. 483 00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:34,280 You and I are not self-existent. 484 00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:37,160 We're dependent upon a God who created us. 485 00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:39,160 We're dependent upon a lot of things. 486 00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:40,480 But God is not. 487 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:42,120 He's self-existent. 488 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:44,120 He alone is God. 489 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:45,120 Here's what this means. 490 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:51,800 It means his actions do not depend on another deity, another circumstance, other forces 491 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:58,000 of nature, anything that is unforeseen because nothing is unforeseen. 492 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:01,000 He doesn't need us to give permission or freedom. 493 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:07,000 He cannot be held back by laws, by rules, by regulation, by angels, by demons, by armies 494 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:08,000 or movement. 495 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:09,000 He is God. 496 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:10,560 No one holds him back. 497 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:12,200 Nothing thwarts his ways. 498 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:13,640 He alone is God. 499 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:15,800 There is no other. 500 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:19,840 That's just who God is. 501 00:32:19,840 --> 00:32:21,920 God is almighty. 502 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:22,920 God is eternal. 503 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:25,560 And then thirdly, God is all-powerful. 504 00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:30,880 Now, these sound somewhat similar, but they're very different in features. 505 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:31,880 He's all-powerful. 506 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:37,160 Now, when I talk about the fact that God is almighty, then I'm comparing him with all 507 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:38,160 others. 508 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:39,160 There is none like him. 509 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:45,780 When I talk about the fact that God is eternal, I'm speaking of his duration and his self-existence. 510 00:32:45,780 --> 00:32:56,280 But to be all-powerful means that what God determines and what God says will happen. 511 00:32:56,280 --> 00:33:03,800 To be all-powerful means that what God determines and what God says will happen. 512 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:07,480 Now, let's just think here for a moment. 513 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:09,600 Go through creation. 514 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:10,600 God said, let there be light. 515 00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:13,520 And there was light. 516 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:17,440 And in other places, let the earth bring forth vegetation. 517 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:20,920 And it was so. 518 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:25,440 Everything God says and determines will happen. 519 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:31,880 Now, this is incredibly important for us because of how it impacts us. 520 00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:37,420 It may be the most important thing that I say today for you about your life. 521 00:33:37,420 --> 00:33:38,420 Think about this. 522 00:33:38,420 --> 00:33:40,680 This means his word is authority. 523 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,000 He spoke, and it was so. 524 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:44,440 The elements obey him. 525 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:45,800 The creatures obey him. 526 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:47,000 The birds obey him. 527 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:49,720 The winds and waves obey him. 528 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:52,920 They understand that the creature is all-powerful. 529 00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:57,920 And by the time you get to Genesis chapter 3, we see the first evidences of God speaking 530 00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:00,720 specific truth and laws to his creation. 531 00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:05,520 He's telling them to do certain things beyond multiply and replenish the earth. 532 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:09,080 He's talking about what to do and what not to do. 533 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:15,080 Now, many of you remember this really important scene called the garden scene. 534 00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:17,080 About that, I mean the Garden of Eden. 535 00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:19,080 Remember the Garden of Eden? 536 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:20,080 Perfect. 537 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:25,040 God had placed this garden there for mankind, for Adam and Eve, and placed them in there 538 00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:29,560 to take care of it, and gave them one command, just one. 539 00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:34,400 He says, of all the trees of the garden, you can eat freely, but not this one. 540 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:37,920 This one you should not touch. 541 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:43,640 And in this garden scene, we find the woman interacting with the serpent, who we know 542 00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:45,640 as the devil. 543 00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:49,560 And let me just read this in Genesis chapter 3, verses 2 and 3. 544 00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:53,680 The woman said to the serpent, from the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, but 545 00:34:53,680 --> 00:34:57,200 from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, you shall 546 00:34:57,200 --> 00:35:01,800 not eat from it, or touch it, or you will die. 547 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:03,600 That's a command. 548 00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:06,640 Does God have the authority to speak commands into existence? 549 00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:09,840 Does He have authority to enforce those commands? 550 00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:10,840 Apparently so. 551 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:11,840 Absolutely so. 552 00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:12,840 He's God. 553 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:13,840 He's almighty. 554 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:14,840 He's eternal. 555 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:15,840 He's all-powerful. 556 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:20,840 So the serpent questioned what God said. 557 00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:26,080 Adam and Eve disregarded the command, and death entered into the life God had made. 558 00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:27,600 Death did come. 559 00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:31,680 The huge question and the decision then was, does God have the authority to say, this is 560 00:35:31,680 --> 00:35:33,800 right and this is wrong? 561 00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:39,520 Adam and Eve disobeyed, they fell from innocence, they lost fellowship with God, they were cursed 562 00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:44,440 as a people, they caused a curse to come about the ground, and God's declaration of death 563 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:46,960 was immediately enacted upon man's innocence. 564 00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:53,000 And from that moment forward, we were all born in a sinful image, even though we were 565 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:54,340 created in God's image. 566 00:35:54,340 --> 00:35:59,840 From that moment forward, the consequences of sin and disobedience took place. 567 00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:08,640 And all posterity, including us, was cursed because Adam and Eve disobeyed God. 568 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:12,520 You know, it's a really important question to ask today, what is truth? 569 00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:16,880 We all kind of have our forms of truth, apparently, if you can believe what the world is saying, 570 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:19,080 what the culture is saying, you need your truth. 571 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:23,200 Well, do you think your truth compares with God's truth? 572 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:27,240 And the answer is, you'd be pretty arrogant to think that. 573 00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:28,240 God has a truth. 574 00:36:28,240 --> 00:36:29,240 He's a creator. 575 00:36:29,240 --> 00:36:32,640 Truth is not what the serpent said it was or was not. 576 00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:34,400 It was not what Adam and Eve thought it was. 577 00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:36,360 It wasn't what they felt about it. 578 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:37,360 It was not what we desire. 579 00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:39,040 That's not what truth is. 580 00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:41,160 Like Eve desired the fruit. 581 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:45,000 It's not what it seems to be, but truth is what God says it is. 582 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:48,280 He alone has the authority to define truth. 583 00:36:48,280 --> 00:36:51,560 Now stay with me here. 584 00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:56,680 Words have weight because of who speaks them, not because of how good they sound. 585 00:36:56,680 --> 00:37:01,840 Words have weight because of who they align with, not what they are in and of themselves 586 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:03,200 or by themselves. 587 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:07,440 Therefore, opinions mean nothing if God has spoken differently. 588 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:10,320 Now what does that mean for us? 589 00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:14,640 It means that we have a God who's almighty, who's eternal, who's all-powerful, who has 590 00:37:14,640 --> 00:37:21,280 spoken into our lives, and it means we cannot change how God created us or wired us and 591 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:24,520 expect anything but chaos. 592 00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:29,280 In every circumstance where I have disobeyed what God's calling is on my life, it's been 593 00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:34,880 utter confusion, utter chaos, and I end up running back to God's plan as fast as I can 594 00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:39,600 possibly run because it's clear that only God's truth is real. 595 00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:46,600 Now we live in a culture that wants to ignore all that, but to call God's truth a social 596 00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:54,240 construct, and to deconstruct from eternal truth will bring about ultimate destruction 597 00:37:54,240 --> 00:38:04,400 of the individual, and it's proving to be culturally catastrophic for our society, any 598 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:05,680 society. 599 00:38:05,680 --> 00:38:12,000 Know instead the important thing is to yield to God's truth. 600 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:15,360 Resign as general manager of the universe. 601 00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:21,760 Acknowledge he can speak truth and has the authority to say right and wrong. 602 00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:26,080 Resign to the one who knows all and who created all. 603 00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:30,840 You know, it's amazing today that you can walk through the book of Genesis and you can 604 00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:38,560 know a great deal about God, but what's even more amazing to me is I can know not only 605 00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:44,640 about God, but I can experientially know God. 606 00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:47,320 I can have a relationship with God. 607 00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:56,200 I can be close to God, and even though he's so big, so majestic, eternal, all powerful, 608 00:38:56,200 --> 00:39:04,200 almighty, God lets me know him, lets you know him through his son, Jesus Christ. 609 00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:09,320 Now if that wasn't so real for us today, that would sound absolutely ridiculous. 610 00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:12,440 Most of the world looks at Christianity and says there's no way you can know God, but 611 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:17,920 you can know God because Jesus Christ came to reveal God to us and to allow us to have 612 00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:22,680 a relationship with this living God and the truth that he gives us. 613 00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:25,080 Oh, day five was a big deal. 614 00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:30,520 All of creation was a big deal because what we have today is based on all that God has 615 00:39:30,520 --> 00:39:38,160 done, and from this point God moves quickly to the point of him wanting you to know him 616 00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:43,840 and trust him and follow him and follow his ways. 617 00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:49,200 I am so glad we have a God that's so big and so personal, and there's nothing that you're 618 00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:52,920 going to go through that he has not first prepared the way, even though you don't know 619 00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:57,600 that, even though you might not even believe that until you get there. 620 00:39:57,600 --> 00:40:05,840 He's there, he's able, he'll help you, he'll lead you, he'll be with you. 621 00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:10,240 I want you today to take him at his word for that. 622 00:40:10,240 --> 00:40:12,800 Just a few moments, we're going to close the service with prayer. 623 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:16,120 There's three things I want to encourage you to do. 624 00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:20,920 First of all, I want to encourage you to stop by our decision station and talk to somebody, 625 00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:26,320 especially if today you feel far from God and you want to know what it takes to get 626 00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:30,720 near to God, the God who invites you to have a relationship with him. 627 00:40:30,720 --> 00:40:34,440 And those at decision stations that are either placed in the back of our room are ready to 628 00:40:34,440 --> 00:40:36,200 talk to you, pray with you. 629 00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:40,760 It may be today you want to resign as general manager of the universe and allow him to lead 630 00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:41,760 your life. 631 00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:46,760 It may be today you want to invite Christ into your life as Lord and Savior and begin 632 00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:49,360 to walk with him and know him like never before. 633 00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:51,320 Let's stop at a decision station, that's number one. 634 00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:55,320 Number two, I want to invite you, if you're a guest, to come to our guest reception area 635 00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:58,600 right outside the center exit door across the hallway. 636 00:40:58,600 --> 00:41:02,120 We'll talk about these things and a number of other things, answer any questions you 637 00:41:02,120 --> 00:41:03,120 may have. 638 00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:06,440 Number three, as you leave today, I want you to pick up a card that we've prepared for 639 00:41:06,440 --> 00:41:10,040 you and this is what we would call an invite card. 640 00:41:10,040 --> 00:41:14,360 And I would encourage you to invite someone to come back with you next week and just make 641 00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:17,080 a practice of that every day. 642 00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:20,360 Think about who you might invite every week, take a few cards and invite someone to go 643 00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:26,600 with you to come and find out about this God who created heaven and earth and he works 644 00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:33,000 in such powerful and personal ways with his creation and bring them with you. 645 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:34,600 Would you stand with me as we pray? 646 00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:40,600 Father, today I am so thankful for every person in this room and the opportunity we have to 647 00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:47,840 pause in a very, very busy lives and to spend time with you in your word and worship. 648 00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:54,920 And Father, my prayer today is that every person in the room will be honest with themselves, 649 00:41:54,920 --> 00:42:01,160 open and willing to allow you to change them for whatever needs changing in their lives. 650 00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:05,760 And Father, I pray today that you'll allow each of us to come to trust you and have confidence 651 00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:06,760 in you. 652 00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:12,580 If you can be trusted to build the heavens and the earth the way you have, to keep everything 653 00:42:12,580 --> 00:42:18,240 moving as it should be the way you are, then you can be trusted with our lives. 654 00:42:18,240 --> 00:42:23,600 And I pray Father for many to take that step of faith and trust you. 655 00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:29,360 Father, thank you that you love us, that you're so incredibly magnificent and yet at the same 656 00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:32,440 time so personal to each of us. 657 00:42:32,440 --> 00:42:34,600 Lead us, guide us. 658 00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:35,600 Thank you in Jesus' name. 659 00:42:35,600 --> 00:43:00,680 Amen.