“THE BUILDING BLOCKS” Gen. 1-3
FBCF – 5/1/22
Jon Daniels
INTRO – I’ve never built a house before. Some people love to do that. Build multiple houses over course of their lives. Others say it’s a quick way to mess up a good marriage! Ha!
Even though I’ve never built one & would never try to tell anyone how to build one (probably should have gotten Wade Breazeale to preach this part of the sermon!), I do know that there are stages in the process:
- Make decision you want to build one & the kind you want to build – Look at different design ideas
- Make sure you’ve got the money to do it
- Secure property to build it on
- Do the dirt work
- Lay a good foundation
- Frame it up – get your plumbing, electrical, HVAC in & insulation in
- Inside walls & fixtures; start some exterior stuff
- Keep progressing w/ more detailed interior stuff, personal preference stuff (kinds of flooring, cabinetry, lighting, etc.) & finish it all out inside & do some outside landscaping
- Do final walk-through
- Move in & start living there!
It’s an ongoing process w/ decisions to be made all along the way, inspections done, change-orders issued, etc. Then even after moving in, there’s still always work to be done – repairs, changes, upgrades, additions, etc.
Same is true w/ building your home & family. It’s an ongoing process that goes through different stages all along the way.
- Newlyweds & early years of marriage
- Kids come along: different stages of parenting while still trying to keep marriage strong
- Kids start leaving home: empty nest – Can be a great time for couples to enjoy one another as strong marriage gets stronger. Sometimes find out that marriage isn’t as strong as it should be. Maybe invested so much time in rearing kids & building career that you neglected each other
- At same time, sometimes some folks experience the mid-life crisis w/ its issues about this time
- Later years: end of career, retirement, health issues, still trying to understand how to be involved in your kids’ lives – grandkids come along
Today, we are starting this series entitled, “HOMEwork.” Take the month of May & focus on the home:
- Today, “The Building Blocks”
- Called to Be a Mom
- The Heart of a Father
- Bringing Your Kids to Jesus
- The Media Monster
At same time we are doing this, we will be doing a series on Wednesday nights in REFRESH – “Marriage Matters.” This Wed night, I will be sharing the basis core principles you need to have a strong Christ-honoring marriage. Jeff & Shelia Parker here on May 11. I will teach again on the 18th on what marriage is & isn’t. Then Dr. Ron Mumbower will be speaking on May 25.
Today, let’s start w/ these building blocks.
EXPLANATION – Gen. 1-3 (Read Genesis 1:26-31)
Genesis 1-2 give us the account of the creation of everything: Day 1 – Light; Day 2 – Sky/Atmosphere; Day 3 – Dry land & plants; Day 4 – Sun, moon, & stars; Day 5 – Birds & sea creatures; Day 6 – Land animals & humans; Day 7 – Day of rest/Creation complete. God created it by His hand for for His glory. There’s no way to deny that He is the Creator God when you look at the beauty & intricacies of nature – the human body, the billions upon billions of stars & galaxies, the songs of the birds, the majesty of the mountains & vastness of the oceans. We have to declare w/ the Psalmist: “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:1)
APPLICATION – If we want our home & family to be strong & honor God, we must build them HIS way.
Here are some building blocks for us to remember, no matter what stage of life we are in:
THE HOME & FAMILY:
ARE GOD’S PLAN – Lots of great books written on the home & family. People like James Dobson, Henry Cloud (family/marriage issues), Steve Farrar, John Eldredge, Tony Evans (men), Lysa Terkeurst & Priscilla Shirer (women).
Best book ever is this one: The Bible. Principles from beginning to end that show us that the home & family are God’s plan & have been since the beginning.
Genesis 1:26-27 – Creation of man & woman – “them” – God’s plan from the beginning of time is this:
- First of all, there are only 2 genders – “male & female He created them” – PERIOD! Our archenemy, Satan, has so blinded the minds of the unbelievers & so distorted the truth of God that we have now gone stark raving crazy in our nation. Shared this w/ REFRESH group Wed night:
o Last week, the Biden administration released two documents making policy recommendations concerning the care of children who are experiencing feelings of gender confusion. Perhaps you can guess what the recommendations are. They recommend putting minor children on puberty blockers to keep their bodies from maturing and becoming fully developed. They allow infusion of opposite sex hormones in minor children. They even allow for sex-change surgeries in minor children where it is medically recommended. And to make it worse, it even allows the possibility that children might be taken away from parents in cases where parents refuse to endorse a child’s transgender identity and the barbaric medical treatments that go along with it. It’s an absolute outrage. And it’s not based on science, it’s based on LGBTQ+ propaganda. Children’s bodies being sacrificed for someone’s sick political ideology. (https://www.dennyburk.com/sermon-how-to-correct-false-teaching/?utm_source=The+Southern+Baptist+Theological+Seminary+List&utm_campaign=6afb60d5b7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_11_21_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ee150c7052-6afb60d5b7-310687815&mc_cid=6afb60d5b7&mc_eid=d576986e7b)
This is where it all begins. The enemy’s attacks are directed now at the very foundation of who we are created to be. But GOD’S PLAN from the beginning of time is that there are male human beings & female human beings, & He has not changed! And He will not change!
Genesis 2:18-25 – And along those same lines, it is crystal-clear from the W of G that His plan for marriage is for one MAN to be married to one WOMAN for their entire lives. To approve, sanction, celebrate, & glorify same-sex marriage is absolutely 100% contrary to the unchanging truth of God’s Word.
If we want to build our homes & families according to GOD’S PLAN, then it starts at the very beginning w/ the unalterable truth that there are only 2 genders, & there’s only 1 way to be biblically married. When you start messing w/ those 2 foundational truths, you rip up the very foundation upon which our homes & families are built.
OPERATE ACCORDING TO GOD’S PRINCIPLES – All throughout these 3 chapters, we see life principles that God established for Adam & Eve & for us:
- Genesis 1:28a – Have kids – “Be fruitful & multiply & fill the earth…”
- Genesis 1:28b – “…subdue it…” – Rule over it. Cultivate it. Work it. “Be God’s representative & rule over all things in His name.” (https://www.gotquestions.org/fill-the-earth-and-subdue-it.html)
- Genesis 2:15 – Be a hard worker. Bible has a lot to say about laziness & slothfulness.
- Genesis 2:16-17 – Obey God! If He says to do something, do it. If He says don’t do something, don’t do it. And when you mess one of those up (as we all do), be quick to confess your sins, turn away from them, & get back in fellowship w/ God.
ACCOMPLISH GOD’S PURPOSES – When you think about the purposes of God for the home & family, we’ve already mentioned one: Be fruitful & multiply. Other purposes:
ENJOYMENT: God also just wants to bless us w/ great enjoyment in our homes & families. God’s not some cosmic killjoy who doesn’t want us to have any fun in life or enjoy the blessings that He has so abundantly given to us.
- Genesis 2:24 – “…they shall become one flesh.” – That is the biblical description of sexual intimacy. And God blessed us w/ it & intended for it to be an experience that we enjoy immensely IN OUR MARRIAGE RELATIONSHIP – no other place! Outside of marriage, it’s a sin. But in the marriage relationship, it's a fun, joyful, immensely pleasurable blessing from God.
MARRIAGE IS A PICTURE OF THE GOSPEL: One of the main reasons, if not THE main reason that we need to hold onto the biblical plan for marriage is b/c it is a picture of the Gospel. It’s a picture of His unbreakable union w/ those who belong to Him, just as the husband & wife belong to one another. He used marriage imagery throughout the OT to describe His relationship w/ His people. When His people rebelled against Him, He expressed it as a cheating wife in Jeremiah 3:20. NT picture is that we, the Church, are the Bride of Christ & He is the Bridegroom.
- Ephesians 5:31-32 - “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”
THE FAMILY IS A PICTURE OF THE CHURCH – You know we talk about our Church as a FAMILY all the time. 1 John 3:1 – “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” God’s our Father. We are His children – ONLY those who know Christ! And we are called to:
- Love one another
- Care for one another
- Encourage one another
- Admonish one another
- Bear one another’s burdens
- Rejoice w/ one another & grieve w/ one another
ARE AIDED BY GOD’S POWER – Let’s look at one more passage – Genesis 3 – The Fall. Such a tragic moment in the first family, a moment that has affected every family since then. Sin enters the world. Shame entered the world. Suffering enters the world. Death enters the world.
BUT – Genesis 3:15 – “The Protoevangelium” – The Gospel makes all the difference! Our relationship w/ Christ gives us all the power we need to have God-honoring, Christ-exalting homes & families! You see, the Gospel & our relationship w/ Jesus gives us:
- Power of forgiveness – Every time we forgive someone – our spouse, our kids, whoever – we are preaching the power of the Gospel! True biblical forgiveness:
o You decide to bear the pain
o You never bring it up again
o You live like it never happened (Gene Mims)
- Power of Holy Spirit – Fruit of the Spirit available to you
- Power of the name & authority of Jesus Christ - Prayer
