Strategically Placed Series

SERIES: Welcome to the Planet #3

TEXT: Genesis 2:15

TITLE: Strategically Placed

This is Week 3 of our series, Welcome to the Planet.

Week 1 was Divinely Designed.

We shared the 7 Wonders of the Created World from Genesis 1.

We shared the 3 “so what’s” of the message.

1. God bringing light to our darkness.

2. God bringing order to our chaos.

3. God fills whatever is empty.

God did that “in the beginning”…some 6,000 years ago…He’s still doing that today.

Week 2 was Creatively Wired.

God formed the man…breathed into him the breath of life…and wired him to live in the image and likeness of Himself.

Sin tarnished that likeness…but it never altered God’s purpose…He predetermined …from the beginning…that you and I who love and follow Jesus be conformed into the image and likeness of Jesus. Our partnership with God makes that possible.

Now here we are in Week 3…each message from Genesis 1 and 2…this morning we find that we are Strategically Placed for a divinely designed purpose.

Genesis 2:15 (READ)

Verse 15 is the key… (Read Again)

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”

Let’s jump ahead in history…we’ll come back.

About 1,000 years before Jesus was born…there lived a man God called, “A man after my own heart.”

His name was David.

Many of the great O.T. stories include David…

· David’s victory over revenge regarding Saul.

· David’s friendship with Jonathan.

· David’s victory over the giant Goliath.

· David’s rebounding after his sin.

David was a shepherd boy turned king…a great story.

In Acts 13 we are given something of an epitaph of David’s life.

“David…served God’s purpose in his own generation.” - Acts 13:36

Esther lived 400-500 years before Jesus. The king of her day threw a lavish party. A royal beauty pageant broke out. Esther won.

As a Jewish queen serving in a Gentile Court…Esther was found to be in a unique position.

A rift broke out between her Jewish Uncle Mordecai and the powerful man Haman.

Haman authored and was granted permission a law that stated all Jews would be put to death.

Mordecai wrote to Esther these words:

“Who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” - Esther 4:14

Jesus prayed…His prayer is recorded in John 17. The cross looms…it gets personal between Jesus the Son and God the Father.

Jesus prays,

“Father, I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” - John 17:4

Let the truth seep in this morning…

- Completing the work you gave me to do.

- For such a time as this.

- Served God’s purposes in his generation.

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”

Every man…every woman…every young and old person on the planet…has been Strategically Placed on the planet and we have been placed for a God purpose.

There’s overwhelming evidence…an abundance of proof…we’ve been strategically placed.

We’ve been:

- Strategically placed in our family.

- Strategically placed in our neighborhoods.

- Strategically placed in our classroom or career.

- Strategically placed in our church.

For such a time as this…to complete the work God has given to us…in this/our generation.

Do you know why Jesus never married?

Jesus never married because He already had a bride. His Bride is the Church.

It’s an experience that I will personally have at least 6 times over the next 8-9 months.

I’ll be the first in the room to see the Bride.

That’s the way that it is.

The groom is up front.

The wedding attendants take their place.

Then the sound of Wagner’s Wedding March. Everyone stands.

She steps out. Makes her way down the aisle.

- Heads snap

- People gasp

- They cry

- They rejoice.

It’s the bride. She’s the center attraction. That’s why Jesus called the Church…His Bride.

Jesus didn’t marry…He already had His bride. She’s the Church. A many membered Body. His eternal companion.

She’s destined to be presented to Jesus pure and holy. Without spot. Without blemish.

Jesus said, “I will build my Church.”

Ahh…that’s beautiful…and that’s true… and so is this…you and I have been strategically placed.

Let Romans 12:5 in The Message Bible get a hold of your heart this morning…

“Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of His (Jesus’) Body.” - Romans 12:5

Let’s not come to this encounter with God’s Word without an inventory…is Romans 12:5 true of you?

Do you find your meaning…as part of Jesus’ Body?

Earlier in Romans 12…Paul pleads,

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world…” - Romans 12:2