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 --> 00:00:33,440 Here's John Metter with the teaching on the five questions. 6 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:37,400 Well welcome back to our Origins series and we're in day six today. 7 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:40,840 So take your Bibles and turn to Genesis chapter one. 8 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:44,480 And as you turn, we'll be looking at the last part of the chapter. 9 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:49,040 We've been walking through each day of the creation account beginning in Genesis one, 10 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:51,760 verse one, all the way through verse 23. 11 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:56,360 And now we're in verse 24 through 31 and day six. 12 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:00,200 You know the other day I was reading about a medical doctor named Paul Brand, he's best 13 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:05,920 known for discovering the cause of leprosy and also developing a treatment for it. 14 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:08,740 He was reflecting on creation. 15 00:01:08,740 --> 00:01:12,120 And this well studied doctor made this statement. 16 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:17,240 He said, the more I delve into natural laws, the atom, the universe, the solid elements, 17 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:22,240 the molecules, the sun, and even more, the interplay of all the mechanisms required to 18 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:24,800 sustain life, I am astounded. 19 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:31,400 The whole creation collapsed like a deck of cards if just one of those factors were removed. 20 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:36,000 Some people really believe that all the design and precision in nature came about by chance 21 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:40,960 that if millions of molecules bombard each other long enough, a nerve cell and sensory 22 00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:45,080 ending at the exact right threshold will be bound to turn up. 23 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:50,200 To those people I merely suggest that they try to make one as I did and see what chance 24 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:51,200 is up against. 25 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:52,920 And he concludes with his statement. 26 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:57,200 He says, original design is incredibly perfect. 27 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:02,760 Now when you walk through the Bible, you see the perfection of God's original design and 28 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:06,560 day six is the pinnacle of that creation week. 29 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:16,800 Let's stand together as we read day six, beginning in verse 24 of Genesis chapter one. 30 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:22,000 Then God said, let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle and creeping 31 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,600 things and beast of the earth after their kind. 32 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:29,200 And it was so as it was all the days of creation. 33 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:31,240 God spoke and it was so. 34 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:35,000 Verse 25, God made the beast of the earth after their kind and the cattle after their 35 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:39,400 kind and everything that creeps upon the earth after its kind. 36 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:41,840 And God saw that it was good. 37 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:47,200 Then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. 38 00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:49,760 I'm going to pause for just a moment. 39 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:55,600 Remember last week we looked at the word Elohim, which is the word in Hebrew for God. 40 00:02:55,600 --> 00:03:01,480 Used in a singular sense, it's a plural word and it literally means God in a plural sense. 41 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:05,080 God the father, God the spirit was hovering over the face of the deep. 42 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:07,920 Later on we learn about God the son. 43 00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:12,760 So we have this God, this triune God who's speaking into creation. 44 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:15,280 And that's why we have the word us or we. 45 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:21,000 It says, let us make man in our own image according to our likeness and let them rule 46 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:25,920 over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all 47 00:03:25,920 --> 00:03:29,260 the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 48 00:03:29,260 --> 00:03:35,240 So God created man in his own image and the image of God, he created him male and female. 49 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:37,120 He created them. 50 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:38,120 God bless them. 51 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:42,920 And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and rule 52 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:47,200 over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that 53 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:48,700 moves on the earth. 54 00:03:48,700 --> 00:03:53,480 Then God said, behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface 55 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:57,840 of all the earth and every tree which has fruit yielding seed, it shall be food for 56 00:03:57,840 --> 00:03:58,840 you. 57 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:03,320 And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the sky and to everything that moves 58 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:08,000 on the earth, which has life, I have given every tree or green plant for food. 59 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:14,980 And it was so God saw all that he had made and behold, it was very good. 60 00:04:14,980 --> 00:04:18,720 And there was evening and there was morning the sixth day. 61 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:22,760 Father, in Jesus name, thank you so much for this account of creation. 62 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:27,720 Father, thank you for creating and Lord, thank you for creating us. 63 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:32,240 You've given us life and you've given us so much that we want to look at today. 64 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:39,000 I pray that we might understand why you've made us the way you have so that we can know 65 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:40,000 you. 66 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:41,960 Father, may we know you today. 67 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:43,960 We ask this in Jesus name. 68 00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:44,960 Amen. 69 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:49,480 And you may be seated. 70 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,440 But everything you do when you walk through the Bible teaches you more and more about 71 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:53,440 God. 72 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:58,240 And so I want us to learn some of the lessons that the scripture tells us about God so we 73 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:03,720 can know him fully, so we can understand who he is and what he says and what he does and 74 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:05,200 why he does what he does. 75 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:10,840 And as we dove into the Genesis account, we looked at five questions that were all encompassing 76 00:05:10,840 --> 00:05:13,200 the most important questions in life. 77 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:18,400 And the first question that we looked at was who is God and what is truth. 78 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:22,680 And every day of creation tells us a little bit more about who God is. 79 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:27,080 And once we know who God is, we know the source of truth. 80 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:32,280 You can't have truth apart from the God who creates everything that we have, including 81 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:33,280 truth. 82 00:05:33,280 --> 00:05:35,760 God is the source of all truth. 83 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,320 So we answer that question this way. 84 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:42,960 After learning about the God of creation, God is the almighty, eternal, and all-powerful 85 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:47,320 creator who alone has the authority to define truth. 86 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:49,800 He's the only one. 87 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:54,200 We can have an idea of what we want, an idea of what we like, something we hope for or 88 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,080 wish for, but only God gives us the truth. 89 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:03,420 And he only gives that because he is the creator of God and he alone is able to do that. 90 00:06:03,420 --> 00:06:04,840 So it's really a pretty simple thing. 91 00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:07,480 Once you learn what God says, that's truth. 92 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:12,000 That's a simple way to live, even though it's very clear, very narrow sometimes about what 93 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:13,000 God has said. 94 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,080 But that is what truth is. 95 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:20,280 And then we have another question that we ask, and day six really answers this question 96 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:21,280 well. 97 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:23,720 And here's the question, who was I created to be? 98 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,320 Now there are all kinds of secondary answers to that. 99 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:28,280 We can talk about personality. 100 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:32,560 We can talk about skills and gifts and things we enjoy doing. 101 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:37,600 We have all kinds of secondary answers, but there's one overriding answer to who we were 102 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:44,480 created to be that God gives us in the creation account based on the design that God had when 103 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:48,800 he created man and woman and placed us on the face of the earth. 104 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:53,720 But before we get there, we have the creation of all the other animals, the creation of 105 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:56,680 beast and cattle and creeping things on the earth. 106 00:06:56,680 --> 00:07:02,640 And all through the creation account, God said it was good, it was good, it was good, 107 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:08,360 but not till he gets to day six does he say it was very good. 108 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:13,320 Not till he creates mankind and places us in that garden. 109 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:17,160 And once he creates us in the unique way he does and places us in the garden, that's 110 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:19,920 when God said it is very good. 111 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:24,960 And he says that because we are unique from all the other creatures on the planet. 112 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:25,960 You are unique. 113 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:31,040 And you have a unique place in creation and a unique place in God's plan. 114 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:37,000 So as we look at this day, day six, understand there's some uniquenesses about you and I 115 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:41,640 as members of mankind that no other creature has. 116 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:42,960 We are unique in so many ways. 117 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,880 First of all, let me tell you, we're unique because we're created to relate to God. 118 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:51,580 You are created to relate to your creator. 119 00:07:51,580 --> 00:07:53,320 God made us so that we could know him. 120 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:57,400 And he made us so that we could know him, so we could fellowship with him in a way no 121 00:07:57,400 --> 00:07:59,400 other creature could. 122 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:04,080 For example, look at verse 26, it said, then God said, let us make man in our own image 123 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:06,240 according to our likeness. 124 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:13,280 No one else or no other thing on the planet was given that title in his image. 125 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:16,040 That is given four times in these few verses. 126 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:19,360 When God says something over and over and over in scripture, it's calling attention 127 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:20,440 to it. 128 00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:24,920 And it's calling attention to it because this aspect of creation means that this is 129 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,520 the biggest part of your identity. 130 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:29,520 This is the most important part of you. 131 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:32,080 You are created in God's image. 132 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:36,200 No matter how tall or short you are, no matter how old or young you are, no matter what your 133 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:42,320 interests are, bottom line is God has given you this unique image of God characteristic 134 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:44,280 that nothing else on the planet has. 135 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:49,760 And you and I need to understand what that is, why that's true and what that means. 136 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:53,720 So let me give you three things that this means at least. 137 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:59,880 There are many, many more, but let me tell you three reasons why and how God made us 138 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:04,760 to be in his image and what he gave us that allows us to be in his image. 139 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:10,680 First of all, superior capability, superior capabilities. 140 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:16,440 God created mankind in a way that he did not create the rest of the world with a capacity 141 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:22,840 to do things and think things and plan things and create things that all the other animals 142 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:25,880 and the beasts and the birds of creation did not have. 143 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:30,080 As a matter of fact, one of the authors I read this past week said this. 144 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:33,560 He said, if you think that you're not much different from the animals, then go to the 145 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:39,480 zoo and try to have a conversation with a chimpanzee and see how that works out. 146 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:44,760 It's not going to work out well because we have superior intellect, superior conversation 147 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:46,540 communication skills. 148 00:09:46,540 --> 00:09:52,640 We try to communicate things that are both abstract and solid and animals cannot do that. 149 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:58,360 We have superior capabilities and God placed us on the planet in a way that we're required 150 00:09:58,360 --> 00:09:59,360 to have those things. 151 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:01,680 He said, I want you to subdue creation. 152 00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:03,960 I want you to rule over creation. 153 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:06,240 I want you to manage creation. 154 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:11,640 God never tells us to do something that he doesn't give us the power to do it with. 155 00:10:11,640 --> 00:10:13,760 We are created with superior capabilities. 156 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:19,040 In the book of Psalms, there's this great psalm where the psalmist is talking about 157 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:24,320 creation and man and he's wondering, he's marveling at all that God has done. 158 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:28,440 He makes this statement in Psalm 8, verse 3 and 4 and 5. 159 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:32,840 He says, when I consider the heavens, your heavens, the work of your hands, your fingers, 160 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:38,480 the moon and the stars which you have ordained, what is man that you have taken thought of 161 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,240 him and the son of man that you care for him? 162 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:44,320 Yet you have made him a little lower than God. 163 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:46,560 You crown him with glory and majesty. 164 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:49,440 You make him rule over the works of your hand. 165 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:52,120 You have put all things under his feet. 166 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:56,600 The psalmist said, it's amazing to me that you create all these animals and birds and 167 00:10:56,600 --> 00:11:01,640 fish and the sea and everything else and then you took special attention, special care to 168 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:05,840 create us in such a way where we would be just a little lower than the angels and where 169 00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:09,160 we would be able to rule over everything on the planet. 170 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:13,960 God, this is amazing what you've done for mankind. 171 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:18,800 We have bodies like animals that we use our minds to think, to communicate both concrete 172 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:20,580 abstract principles. 173 00:11:20,580 --> 00:11:21,580 We use reason. 174 00:11:21,580 --> 00:11:23,920 We use logic most of the time. 175 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:24,920 We design. 176 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:26,000 We build. 177 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:27,000 We invent. 178 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:28,000 We write music. 179 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:29,000 We create things. 180 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:34,040 I'm amazed at how gifted and how capable the human species is. 181 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:39,360 If you think about it, you will know just like I do, people who can create amazing artwork, 182 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:45,600 amazing crafts, amazing music, they can calculate incredible amounts of numbers in their mind. 183 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:50,320 They can understand and build complex machines and buildings and systems. 184 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:54,440 They can solve nearly impossible engineering challenges. 185 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:57,240 Animals can do none of those things. 186 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:02,400 We're given superior capabilities and because we're given superior capabilities, we're 187 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:08,140 more like God than any of the other creation that God has made. 188 00:12:08,140 --> 00:12:09,140 We can converse. 189 00:12:09,140 --> 00:12:11,080 We can communicate across creation. 190 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:13,280 We can even communicate with God. 191 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:18,240 We have the intelligence and mental ability to reason, to make choices just like God does 192 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:23,860 and we have a will unlike all the other animals in creation. 193 00:12:23,860 --> 00:12:28,160 We have a personal will just like God does. 194 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:31,720 It just doesn't always line up like God's will is. 195 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:35,780 How many of you have had little children in the house and you know from early on they 196 00:12:35,780 --> 00:12:37,880 have a will of their own? 197 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:41,480 Would you raise your hand? 198 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,880 Every one of our kids had a will of their own. 199 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:50,320 My wife and I read The Strong Will Child by James Dobson many times because they all have 200 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:51,880 strong wills. 201 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:56,240 They all want to do things their way when it would have been better for them to do it 202 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:59,920 our way because we were the parents and they were the children. 203 00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:02,560 That just makes sense to them at the moment. 204 00:13:02,560 --> 00:13:07,680 It's just testimony to the fact that when God created mankind, he gave them a will. 205 00:13:07,680 --> 00:13:14,880 That is remarkably like God because God has a will in all things and a will for us, his 206 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:15,880 creation. 207 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:18,160 First of all, superior capabilities. 208 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:23,040 Secondly, God made man with a sensitive conscience. 209 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:25,880 The ability to know right from wrong. 210 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:31,240 We don't always exercise this, but we have it built into us. 211 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:35,160 The conscience is this inner wiring that lets us know right from wrong. 212 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:37,240 Again, it's unique in creation. 213 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:41,800 The animals don't have this, but it has a resemblance of God. 214 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:45,720 When you think about God, one of the most unique and defining characteristics of God 215 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:48,480 is his holiness and his righteousness. 216 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:49,640 He always does right. 217 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:51,640 He always speaks truth. 218 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:54,760 He always does holy things because he's a holy God. 219 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:56,560 He determines right and wrong. 220 00:13:56,560 --> 00:13:58,880 He defines it. 221 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:03,520 Adam and Eve were originally created to be morally innocent. 222 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:04,520 They were righteous. 223 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:05,520 They were innocent. 224 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:09,040 They were just and they were pure, just as God created them to be like him. 225 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:13,340 That's why God said it was very good after Adam and Eve were created. 226 00:14:13,340 --> 00:14:18,760 These are creatures that I made in my own image and they have the conscience that I 227 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:19,760 have. 228 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:24,360 They know right from wrong, but when sin entered into the garden with Adam and Eve, a story 229 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:28,880 we'll look at later, then everything became marred. 230 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:31,600 You still have the image of God in your life, but it's marred. 231 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:32,600 It's damaged. 232 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,040 It's not in alignment with God. 233 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:36,680 It has to be fixed. 234 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:38,540 It has to be restored. 235 00:14:38,540 --> 00:14:41,920 We learn later through the gospel of Jesus, only he can restore that. 236 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:46,320 God created us with that perfect innocent image. 237 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:50,880 When we sinned in Adam and Eve, it was marred. 238 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:54,480 Years ago, I had a car that I loved a lot. 239 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:59,440 It was a 1976 Firebird Trans Am and man, did I love that car. 240 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:04,240 I was 19 years of age and my parents allowed me to buy that car because I'd gotten a basketball 241 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:08,280 scholarship and they weren't going to pay any money to college, so they said, maybe 242 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:10,200 you can buy a nice car. 243 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:13,720 That 1976 Firebird was my nice car. 244 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:19,320 I felt like at 19 years of age, it was the perfect car for a young man to have. 245 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:20,320 It was fast. 246 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:22,640 It was really, really fast. 247 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:24,120 It handled really, really well. 248 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:26,920 It took the curves in a great, great way. 249 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:32,280 I had no qualms about going all out on the highway as often as I could, but a couple 250 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:37,400 of years later, a truck pulled out in front of me and I ran into the rear end of it and 251 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:39,880 nearly totaled that car. 252 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:43,680 The insurance company said, we almost totaled it out, but we know you like the car, so we're 253 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:45,960 going to go ahead and try to restore it. 254 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:46,960 They rebuilt the car. 255 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:51,000 I got it back and it looked just the same on the outside as it was before. 256 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:57,600 It was that beautiful, deep, rich blue and had a white vinyl interior, which I cleaned 257 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:01,960 with a toothbrush and that spray wash every week. 258 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:02,960 It was clean. 259 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:07,560 After I got the car back, it never was quite the same. 260 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:10,240 The engine didn't run quite the same. 261 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:14,320 The suspension wasn't quite the same and I never had the same kind of confidence in its 262 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:16,360 alignment. 263 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:20,600 It wasn't as accurate as it was before and it was not aligned well. 264 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:25,080 It was not as accurate as it was before because it had been damaged. 265 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:29,560 It had marred the integrity of that particular car. 266 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:31,080 Later on, I sold it. 267 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:32,960 Never was happy with it after we got it back. 268 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:39,920 You know, you and I are born and made in the image of God, but marred, different from Adam 269 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:43,120 and Eve who walked in innocence and purity. 270 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:47,440 We have trouble coming into alignment with the God who created us, even though we have 271 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:51,320 the potential of doing that, even though we have a sensitive conscience to know right 272 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:57,280 from wrong, we sometimes miss the mark over and over because of our sinful nature and 273 00:16:57,280 --> 00:16:59,760 it must be restored. 274 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:04,600 That sin was passed on from Adam even to this day. 275 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:09,960 But, you know, even people that don't follow God have a sensitive conscience. 276 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:11,720 They may just be ignoring it. 277 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:16,000 Paul is writing in the book of Romans chapter 2, he's writing about Gentiles who did not 278 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:17,000 know God. 279 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:18,760 Here's what he says about them. 280 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:23,760 They show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and 281 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:27,960 their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them. 282 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:29,600 Where did they get that conscience? 283 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:31,600 They didn't know God. 284 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:38,520 They got that conscience from the capacity that God gave them in that sensitive conscience. 285 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:42,440 The capacity to be aligned with God, but the inability to actually do it. 286 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:47,600 To be aware that they were out of sync with God or in sync with God according to that 287 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:48,600 verse. 288 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:52,400 So we have this amazing sensitive conscience, but more than that and really above everything 289 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:56,080 else we have a spiritual nature. 290 00:17:56,080 --> 00:18:01,480 You and I are not just body and mind, will and emotions, we also have a spirit that lives 291 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:03,320 inside of us, don't we? 292 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:09,600 The human spirit that God breathed into Adam in Genesis chapter 2 verse 7, the life giving 293 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:12,260 spirit that he breathed into him. 294 00:18:12,260 --> 00:18:17,120 But also today as believers we have the Holy Spirit in our lives, but the whole idea of 295 00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:22,720 having a spirit in the first place is that we connect with God on the spiritual realm. 296 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,680 You and I connect with each other by conversation in a handshake. 297 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,480 We connect with common interests that we have with each other. 298 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:33,200 I enjoy going to football games and yelling myself hoarse with other people that have 299 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:36,680 similar qualities that I have and similar interests that I have. 300 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:41,200 But I connect with God on a spiritual level and you connect with God on a spiritual level. 301 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:46,520 And that spiritual nature is part of the image of God in your life that lets you know God 302 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:51,080 and walk with God and understand God in a greater way. 303 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:56,600 But even more than that, this spiritual nature means that you yearn for God. 304 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:58,440 It means you want to know God. 305 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:02,360 That's why people search for God because they know something is missing in their life if 306 00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:04,240 he is not present. 307 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:08,760 I've said often we all have a God-sized hole in our heart and when we are not filling that 308 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:13,600 with God we try to stuff everything else and they are hoping to fill it, hoping to satisfy 309 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:18,920 that emptiness that is something that is missing in our life, but only God can fill the God-sized 310 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:19,920 hole. 311 00:19:19,920 --> 00:19:25,240 In our bodies and in our being we have a space for the Spirit of God to be and when that's 312 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:29,920 empty nothing else will fill it except the Spirit of the living God. 313 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:35,640 We interact with God because God created us in his image. 314 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:42,780 God is Spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. 315 00:19:42,780 --> 00:19:48,080 When we don't relate well to God we are always, always miserable, but when we walk with him 316 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:51,880 the scripture says that we are one spirit with him. 317 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:57,120 First Corinthians 6 verse 17 says that, but the one who joins himself to the Lord is one 318 00:19:57,120 --> 00:20:01,800 spirit with him and from the very beginning God designed that we would be able to walk 319 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,400 with him and know him and that's how we thrive. 320 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:08,880 If you want to know how to be happy, you want to know how to thrive in life, you want to 321 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:15,440 know how to have the joy that sometimes others seem to have, you'll have that when you connect 322 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:21,160 with God the way you were designed to connect with him, with a spiritual walk through Jesus 323 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:25,000 Christ and through the Holy Spirit living in your life. 324 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:30,800 So I don't know if you knew this before, but you have superior capabilities, you have a 325 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:35,640 sensitive conscience, you have a spiritual nature and that makes you be able to connect 326 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:39,480 with the God you created in his image. 327 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:44,080 Now the sixth day has a great deal more than simply being created in the image of God. 328 00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:47,880 We could spend a lot of time on that one subject. 329 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:52,480 But it also tells us something else about what happened on that sixth day and that is 330 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:56,960 that we were created to reproduce and rule over creation. 331 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:02,760 Look at verse 28, God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and 332 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:09,000 fill the earth and subdue it and rule over and he names all aspects and then says every 333 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,000 living thing that lives on the earth. 334 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:16,960 So just like every other living thing that God created, we have this responsibility to 335 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:24,880 reproduce after our kind and after man began reproducing and multiplying after his kind, 336 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:27,960 then we filled the universe with other human beings. 337 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:29,520 That's why we're here today. 338 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:31,960 Someone gave birth to you. 339 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:36,480 Someone was blessed to follow the Lord in that way and multiplied and the miracle of 340 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:38,640 birth took place. 341 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:43,840 Now we've taken a little bit of time to talk about in creation how each seed of each tree 342 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:49,840 and all the vegetation had all the DNA in each seed to create a new plant just like 343 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:53,320 itself, identical to itself. 344 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:56,600 And of course that's true of the animals as well. 345 00:21:56,600 --> 00:22:01,600 But I want you to pause for a moment and think about the miracle of the conception that takes 346 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,040 place inside of a human being. 347 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:11,200 The miracle of knowing that inside the womb of a mother, a baby human being is conceived 348 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:15,920 and from that moment on has life in the eyes of God and the eyes of those who no conception 349 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:21,240 brings life and from that moment on is a baby human being. 350 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:28,280 And when that mom gives birth, there is that little human being that is made after her 351 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:31,000 kind or after his kind. 352 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:37,040 Now we began having children about the time they let dads go into the birthing room. 353 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:41,920 And I think my father had to wait out in the other room and in my era they said, okay, 354 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:43,560 you all can go in. 355 00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:47,520 And some dads didn't want to go in but I was one of those ones that wanted to go in. 356 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:49,640 And I can remember when our first little girl was born. 357 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,200 I mean I loved the miracle of conception. 358 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,960 I loved watching my wife grow that baby inside of her. 359 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:57,800 I enjoyed so much of that. 360 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:02,360 I enjoyed every time the baby moved talking to the child. 361 00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:04,760 All those things that a dad and mom should love. 362 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:09,040 But man, I was not prepared for the birth of my first child. 363 00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:15,240 And when that baby came out and they put my daughter in my hands, I mean I was both terrified 364 00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:18,280 and exhilarated at the same time. 365 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:19,920 She is a miracle. 366 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:20,920 She is perfect. 367 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:23,800 I mean all those things were going through my mind. 368 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:26,160 I also thought, I've never held a baby in my whole life. 369 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:32,160 I thought I might drop her like I would drop a football or something but I didn't. 370 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:33,160 The miracle of birth. 371 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:39,200 Sometimes we just need to step back and say what an incredible idea God had that he would 372 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:40,560 do that. 373 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:45,520 He calls us to reproduce, to multiply after our kind so that there would be many like 374 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:52,640 us who have the image of God created in their lives to interact with God. 375 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:56,480 And we are to reproduce, we are to populate the earth. 376 00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:58,400 We are also to rule over the earth. 377 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:03,720 The word rule sounds kind of harsh but what it means basically is to be a steward to manage 378 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:06,640 all that God has created. 379 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:07,640 And that's what Adam did. 380 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:08,760 Adam and Eve took care of the garden. 381 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:10,080 They named the animals. 382 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:12,360 They cared for the creation that God had given them. 383 00:24:12,360 --> 00:24:15,000 Can you imagine the beauty of Eden? 384 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:17,620 Can you imagine being placed in the garden? 385 00:24:17,620 --> 00:24:23,200 You were the only man and the only woman on the planet and you were placed in this garden 386 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:28,240 that had everything necessary to sustain you for life and everything that God had created 387 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:34,420 was there and you were told to manage it, to care take it, to take care of it. 388 00:24:34,420 --> 00:24:37,520 I kind of think that we all have that kind of built into our lives anyway. 389 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:43,280 I mean when you get a piece of property, when you buy a home or even when you have an apartment, 390 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,480 first thing you do is maintain it, take care of it. 391 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:48,720 You paint it, you put everything in order. 392 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:50,800 You try to make it as nice as possible. 393 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:52,160 You fix it when it breaks. 394 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:57,520 Just all that's kind of built into our lives and that's what God did for mankind except 395 00:24:57,520 --> 00:24:59,320 with the whole planet. 396 00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:02,120 And we have this concept given to us. 397 00:25:02,120 --> 00:25:08,880 The earth is the Lord's and we're just managers of it and we need to manage it wisely. 398 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:10,680 Psalm 24 is a great Psalm. 399 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:15,500 It says the earth is the Lord's and all that it contains, the world and all who dwells 400 00:25:15,500 --> 00:25:16,500 in it. 401 00:25:16,500 --> 00:25:21,880 So we should use the resources that God has given us on the earth but not abuse the resources. 402 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:25,480 We should live off of them but we should not live for them. 403 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:31,440 There's room for a theology of environmentalism but not for worshiping the creation. 404 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:36,280 We worship the creator and God created the heavens and earth for us so we should take 405 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,080 care of it. 406 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:40,720 Ken Ham made this statement in one of his books. 407 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:45,480 He said much of the modern evolutionary movement places animals in the environment over man. 408 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:47,720 And that's not what God did. 409 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:54,200 The animals and the creation and the plants and all the other aspects of the solar system 410 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:56,200 and the earth were not placed above man. 411 00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:58,520 They were placed to serve man. 412 00:25:58,520 --> 00:25:59,920 So we're placed into this garden. 413 00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:02,000 We're to eat of the fruit of the trees. 414 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:03,400 We're to take care of the animals. 415 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:07,080 We're to do all the things that God said. 416 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:12,400 But sometimes we can get that messed up just a little bit in our culture and we can worship 417 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:15,000 creation instead of the creator. 418 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:20,000 That's why sometimes we have people willing to save whales but not save babies. 419 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:24,040 That's why people want to elevate something else other than a human being. 420 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:29,960 But God says these are all important and you have this idea of taking care of it all and 421 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:31,120 not being out of balance. 422 00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:33,080 But we also have a theology of work here. 423 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:36,720 Does you know that God put Adam and Eve in the garden to tend it and take care of it 424 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:41,520 for his glory, for his honor before sin came in? 425 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:46,520 After sin it got really complicated because of the curse of sin but your work is important 426 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:47,520 to God. 427 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:53,240 God has placed you on the planet to serve him well with all the resources he gives us. 428 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:59,200 So we're created to reproduce and rule just like we were created in God's image to relate 429 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:00,200 to him. 430 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,320 And there's a third thing in this text that's important. 431 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,600 It says we are also created to be male or female. 432 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,280 Look at verse 27. 433 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:15,520 God created man in his own image and the image of God he created him. 434 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:20,000 Male and female he created them. 435 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:21,720 Now at this point it becomes very simple. 436 00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:28,480 Our culture is confused about how many genders there are and what sexuality is all about. 437 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:32,560 But it becomes very simple to those who believe that God is the creator and the one who speaks 438 00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:33,560 truth. 439 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:35,200 How do you find it right here? 440 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:38,960 God made two genders, you're one or the other. 441 00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:46,280 The cells of the male have two XY chromosomes and the female have a pair of X chromosome. 442 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:48,920 That's a biological and scientific fact. 443 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:53,360 A male cannot become a female and a female cannot become a male. 444 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:59,320 Your DNA, your features, your ability or inability to bear children is gender specific. 445 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:03,360 Now remember God is consistent in everything he does and that's true of all the rest of 446 00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:04,360 creation too. 447 00:28:04,360 --> 00:28:09,960 There are birds and fish and animals on the planet and it's true of human beings as well. 448 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:17,400 We're male and female called by our creator to lean into that biologically given role 449 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:19,960 that God has given us. 450 00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:24,960 Now today we have all kinds of questions about sexuality and gender and you might ask, but 451 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:28,400 what about the gender confusion we hear about today? 452 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:31,960 What's the Bible's perspective on gender fluidity? 453 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:34,680 Finding numbers or types of gender or transgenderism? 454 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,720 I have to tell you today the Bible says a great deal about sexuality. 455 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:43,640 It doesn't take long when you get into Genesis to read through it and all the way to Revelation 456 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:48,000 over and over it addresses the different sexual questions of our day. 457 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:52,960 Here's the general answer that you'll find in the Bible and that is any deviation from 458 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:58,620 God's design is the departure from his plan and we'll bring grief and sorrow not peace 459 00:28:58,620 --> 00:29:00,200 and joy. 460 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:05,760 The Bible is clear that any instance of gender confusion or sexual deviation from God's created 461 00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:11,000 order of one male and one female in marriage is sin and it violates God's intention and 462 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,520 God's purpose. 463 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:16,120 There's a statement that will help us see what's going on. 464 00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:21,680 Our sinful nature has a tendency to worship the creature and his desires instead of the 465 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:29,080 creator and his design and that's really where things part and where we begin to depart from 466 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:31,200 all that God has done. 467 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:35,680 I know we live in a world with increasing technology and decreasing theology where we 468 00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:40,600 don't think much about God's design but we think an awful lot about changing it but we 469 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:47,040 do have an incredible number of things hitting the headlines today with sex change operations, 470 00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:51,880 people who really strongly feel like or want to be like the opposite gender in which they 471 00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:53,240 were born. 472 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:58,920 We have increasing cases of children who are caving to what I would call the lies of culture 473 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:05,040 asking their parents for life altering surgery and these are kids that are not old enough 474 00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:10,120 to go to high school to drive to vote, buy alcohol or anything else but is it really 475 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:15,920 wise to let them make decisions about their gender in the future with permanent surgery 476 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:18,560 that will alter them forever as children? 477 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:25,080 It's a strange world we live in but it's strange because we depart from God's design, 478 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:29,800 his logic, his plan and we must come back to that. 479 00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:33,600 Say well what are we supposed to do as Christians when this is happening around us? 480 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:35,920 Should we warn those who consider such things? 481 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:37,760 And the answer is of course. 482 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:41,480 We should warn anybody that's moving away from the direction of God. 483 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:48,080 Like every instance of a person who's committed to sin or anything else we are called by Scripture 484 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:52,440 to pray for them, to love them, to encourage them to come to Christ. 485 00:30:52,440 --> 00:31:00,160 One of the great websites out there is GotQuestions.org and it's a website that's devoted to answering 486 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:05,120 things biblically, any question you might have and it's pretty solid. 487 00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:11,840 And here's what it says on this subject, no matter if the gender distortion has a genetic, 488 00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:18,400 hormonal, physiological or psychological or spiritual cause, it can be overcome and healed 489 00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:23,520 through faith in Christ and continued reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit. 490 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:27,880 Healing can be received, sin can be overcome, lives can be changed through the salvation 491 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:34,400 that Jesus Christ provides even if there are biological or physiological factors. 492 00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:39,040 When you read the letter of Corinthians, 1 Corinthians, it's a great chapter of an example 493 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:40,040 of that. 494 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:43,880 The Corinthians were deviant sexually, their whole culture was. 495 00:31:43,880 --> 00:31:48,720 In fact, in that day and time to Corinthianize was literally a term that was used for people 496 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:51,400 that had lost their moral compass. 497 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:54,760 And so they began coming to Christ when they heard the gospel. 498 00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:59,280 And when they began coming to Christ they had questions about their sexuality and Paul 499 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:03,440 writes to them in the first century, 2000 years ago with the same advice that's true 500 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:04,440 now. 501 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:10,120 He writes to people that have been sexually deviant, moving away from God's plan and their 502 00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:14,320 sexual practices and here's what he says to them after they come to Christ. 503 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:20,680 He said, such were some of you, but you were washed and you were sanctified and you were 504 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:26,080 justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God. 505 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:28,840 In other words, you can change. 506 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:34,220 You can change because of the power of Christ to bring you back to his perfect way and his 507 00:32:34,220 --> 00:32:35,880 perfect will. 508 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:40,320 And there you'll find the peace and there you'll find the encouragement you need. 509 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:44,280 But I will tell you this, once you depart from God's will in any part of your life, 510 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:48,560 sexuality or not, you're always going to find misery and difficulty. 511 00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:53,320 And for all of us in the room, Christ is the only answer for forgiveness and healing and 512 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:54,320 a joy-filled life. 513 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:56,680 I call you to it time and time again. 514 00:32:56,680 --> 00:33:00,400 It's the answer for me, it's the answer for you, it's the answer for everyone. 515 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,320 It's not complicated, it's Jesus. 516 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:07,760 And when you come to him and let him have control of your life, it's amazing. 517 00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:10,680 So say it clearly, but say it in love. 518 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:15,440 Make sure people know we love them. 519 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:19,240 You know there's no room for hatred, there's no room for disgust. 520 00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:22,940 There's only room for the love of God to be exercised for people who struggle in this 521 00:33:22,940 --> 00:33:28,880 or any other way, all the while pointing out that Jesus brings the answer to their lives, 522 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:32,320 to our lives, to my life, to your life. 523 00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:39,360 Love them, grieve them, talk to them, witness to them, point them to Christ. 524 00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:44,000 So God did all this in the sense of creation. 525 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:50,000 And then he said, God saw all that he had made and behold it was very good. 526 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:53,200 Not good, but very good. 527 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:55,600 The phrase means completed. 528 00:33:55,600 --> 00:34:01,100 It means that God completely finished the creation and set it in motion so that the 529 00:34:01,100 --> 00:34:05,960 earth, the stars, and the solar system, so that the plants, so that the fish, the birds 530 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:10,640 and the air, so that human beings on the earth could be sustained and fully function until 531 00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:13,680 the end of God's time and purpose. 532 00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:19,440 God will come back one day and he'll interrupt that, but until that time will function just 533 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:24,240 as he called us to and it will continue to function as he's designed it and it will 534 00:34:24,240 --> 00:34:29,160 always work best the way he designed it originally. 535 00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:32,800 In your life and in the lives of those around you. 536 00:34:32,800 --> 00:34:36,640 I want to pause for a second and just reflect. 537 00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:39,520 Isn't it amazing? 538 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:43,560 Amazing that we can know the God who created all this. 539 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:46,800 Amazing to know that we're loved by that God. 540 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:52,560 Amazing to know that only when we have alignment with him, when we have the joy and the peace 541 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:58,960 and the satisfaction and fulfillment, but that we can have that through Jesus. 542 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:03,320 I can't tell you how many times people have come up to me after walking away from God 543 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:05,440 in one way or another. 544 00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:07,200 Sometimes they've walked away sexually. 545 00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:10,280 Sometimes they've walked away in other parts of their lives. 546 00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:13,800 Sometimes they've walked away from relationships that they should remain in. 547 00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:18,960 Sometimes they've just walked away from obedience and begun to do things their own way. 548 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:22,160 I can't tell you how many times people have come back to me and said, you know, I was 549 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:24,760 miserable and looking for something. 550 00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:25,760 I never did find peace. 551 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:30,600 I never did find fulfillment, satisfaction until I came back to Christ, until I came 552 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:32,880 back to his design, his way. 553 00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:37,240 And I just want you to know that I'm back. 554 00:35:37,240 --> 00:35:40,080 And they always, when they said that, had a smile on their face. 555 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:42,120 I'm so glad to be back in alignment with him. 556 00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:44,520 That's what I call all of us too. 557 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:50,680 That alignment that also brings you the joy and the peace that only God can give you. 558 00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:52,240 You're made in his image. 559 00:35:52,240 --> 00:35:55,880 You won't be satisfied until you walk with the one who created you. 560 00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:57,280 Isn't that important? 561 00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:59,720 That's a powerful thing. 562 00:35:59,720 --> 00:36:03,360 Today I want to ask you to consider some things. 563 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:06,800 First of all, we have decision stations that will be at the back. 564 00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:11,960 I want you to decide to have a conversation with someone today. 565 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:15,560 Just be willing to talk to someone that may answer questions that you have about your 566 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:16,560 specific situation. 567 00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:22,160 Stop by on the way out if you want to know what it means to have Christ in your life. 568 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:26,000 If you want to know what it means to turn from whatever direction you're walking in 569 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:29,640 and go in his way, then we want to talk to you. 570 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:33,680 Because we can bring hope, we can have joy, and we can introduce you to the one that you're 571 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:37,960 created in his image and created to be in alignment with. 572 00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:39,440 We can help you find that alignment. 573 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:41,840 So stop by at the decision station. 574 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:44,400 I also would invite you to come to guest reception. 575 00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:45,640 I'm there at the end of every service. 576 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:48,600 I want to share a few things with you about our church. 577 00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:49,600 Love to invite you back. 578 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:54,960 Finally, I'd also like you to pick up a card, an origins card on the way out today. 579 00:36:54,960 --> 00:36:59,440 Take that origin and invite card and invite someone to come back with you. 580 00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:03,920 Because Genesis 2, if anything, gets more exciting than Genesis 1, and that had to do 581 00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:06,440 with the creation of all of the earth. 582 00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:08,720 Genesis 2 is amazing. 583 00:37:08,720 --> 00:37:11,740 Each week that we walk through this, you'll learn more and more. 584 00:37:11,740 --> 00:37:13,640 Invite someone to come with you. 585 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:18,200 Would you stand with me as we close today? 586 00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:20,960 Would you bow with me in prayer? 587 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:28,280 Father, thank you so much today for every person in this room, for every individual 588 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:33,240 that came in to worship, to see others, to hear this message. 589 00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:38,660 In every person's life, there's a need, a need that only you can meet. 590 00:37:38,660 --> 00:37:42,360 My prayer today is that they will open the door of their heart, allow you to meet that 591 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:43,920 need, whatever it is. 592 00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:49,520 Father, I pray that they would sense your love, that they would sense your desire to 593 00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:56,000 walk with them, to give them all that they need to be right and aligned with you. 594 00:37:56,000 --> 00:38:01,000 Father, I pray today they would have the courage to lay down all the things that hold them 595 00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:06,920 back from following you and choose you over everything else. 596 00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:10,040 Thank you, Father, for your design, your plan for our lives. 597 00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:15,040 Today, let us make the choice to walk in them in Jesus' name, amen.