INTRODUCTION
A couple had two little boys, ages 8 and 10, who were excessively mischievous. They were always getting into trouble and their parents knew that, if any mischief occurred in their town, their sons were probably involved. The boys’ mother heard that a clergyman in town had been successful in disciplining children, so she asked if he would speak with her boys. The clergyman agreed, but asked to see them individually. So the mother sent her 8-year-old first, in the morning, with the older boy to see the clergyman in the afternoon. The clergyman, a huge man with a booming voice, sat the younger boy down and asked him sternly, "Where is God?" The boy’s mouth dropped open, but he made no response, sitting there with his mouth hanging open, wide-eyed. So the clergyman repeated the question in an even sterner tone, "Where is God!" Again the boy made no attempt to answer. So the clergyman raised his voice even more and shook his finger in the boy’s face and bellowed, "WHERE IS GOD!" The boy screamed and bolted from the room, ran directly home and dove into his closet, slamming the door behind him. When his older brother found him in the closet, he asked, "What happened?" The younger brother, gasping for breath, replied "We are in BIG trouble this time, dude. God is missing - and they think WE did it!"
We are in a time where people are wondering where God is.
Did we lose God somewhere along the line?
Our society seems to be in chaos. I will not make the false statement that it is the worst society ever, but nevertheless, our society seems to be busting out at the seams.
We are seeing more and more school violence. We are seeing more drug and alcohol abuse. Society is becoming increasingly violent. The family structure is under attack by those who are trying to redefine what God calls a marriage.
Those who do stand for righteousness are called intolerant.
We have churches on every corner, but that does not seem to make much of a difference.
We have churches that are in chaos, they are dying, and some not having reached lost people with the gospel for years. In some of the churches there is infighting and turmoil.
Personal morality among Christians is not much different than that of the world.
It is not God’s will that the world, church and our personal lives are in a state of confusion and chaos.
Wherever God is not present, there is chaos and confusion. Just imagine what would happen to the universe if God were to remove His hand from it. Think about how society would be without God being a part of it. Think about what would happen to the church when God is not at the center of it. How would you life be without God being a part of it?
Today we are going to look at another attribute of our awesome God. Our God is a God of Order, Not Confusion.
SERMON
I. GOD BROUGHT ORDER TO THE UNIVERSE GENESIS 1:2
A. Genesis 1:1-2 (READ)
In the passage in Genesis we find that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Verse 2 tells us that the earth was formless and void. In the original text, the terms formless and void were meant to convey the idea of confusion and disorder. God created the earth to be inhabited, but for a brief time before he created plants, animals, man, light and so forth, the earth was void of anything.
If God had just left things the way they were in Genesis 1:2, there would be no life.
The Psalmist in Psalm 8:3-4 said, When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?
God set the universe in order. Many people think that the universe happened by accident. Think about a couple of things with me.
B. Some Facts to consider
(Notes for this point come from the book “Christianity Stands True, by Lynn Gardner Published by College Press 1994)
The universe is set up in an orderly manner. When was the last time that one of our plants ran into another one? There are billions of stars and plants in the universe, yet they are all in orderly orbits. What are the odds?
The movement of the planets of our solar system is so precise, scientists can calculate exactly where a planet will be hundreds of years in advance.
The Naval Observatory, United States’ timekeeper makes continual observation of the stars and adjusts its master clock accordingly.
We know when the comets are going to pass by us again.
The Earth rotates on its axis at a tilt of 23 degrees, which allows for a greater surface of the earth to be tilled and makes possible the seasons.
The Earth rotates at 1000 miles per hour. If it rotated at only 100 miles per hour, the days and nights would be ten times longer. The summer sun would burn all vegetation and the winter’s night would be incredibly cold.
The earth is the right distance from the right-sized sun for life as experienced on earth.
If the earth were farther away from the sun, the climate would be too cold. If it were closer, it would be too hot. If the sun were smaller of larger we would either freeze or roast.
Did you know that the on the moon, in one lunar day (which is 15 earth days) the temperature varies from a high of 214 degrees above zero to 243 degrees below zero.
The earth is the right distance from the right-sized moon for life as we know it.
The ratio of the size of the moon to the earth is 10 times greater than for any other planet’s satellite in the solar system.
If the moon were 100 times smaller, an average moon size, its brightness would be reduced by 20 times and its influence on earth would be greatly changed.
The moon is on average, 240,000 miles from earth. The gravitational pull from the moon causes the ocean tides that cleanse our shorelines and clean out the shipping channels. If the moon were only 50,000 from earth the gravitational pull from the moon would be so great that the ocean tides would completely submerge the surface of the earth twice per day. A smaller or larger moon would greatly increase of decrease the tides.
The layer of gases that surround the earth also shows a designer and a sense of order. The atmosphere contains 21% oxygen. If it had 50% or more, any flash of lightening would ignite a forest into fire. If we had less than 10% oxygen, we would not have enough for fire.
The fact that water expands when it freezes is also by design. Water expands by 9% when it freezes. Most other things contract and get heavier when they freeze. Water freezes and ice floats. This puts a protective layer on the tops ponds and lakes. If the ice sank to the bottom, all of the life on the pond of lake would freeze and die. He fact that we have water is important also.
I could go on and on. In Romans 1:20 says, For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
Paul says that God has made Himself visible to all through the design and order of creation.
PSALM 19:1 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
READ JOB 9:5-10
God brought order to the universe, without God; there would be no order.
II. GOD WANTS TO BRING ORDER TO SOCIETY JEREMIAH 4:23
In the book of Jeremiah, God had instructed the prophet to preach to the people about what would happen to them unless they repented and returned the Lord to first place in their lives and in their society.
The nation of Israel divided in 931 BC into the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah). The Northern Kingdom was so wicked that the Lord allowed the Assyians to come in 722 BC to destroy the nation.
Judah saw this happen, but they continued to rebel against God.
Jeremiah warned them in JEREMIAH 4:23 I looked on the earth, and behold, it was formless and void; And to the heavens, and they had no light.
This is the same phrase that was used in Genesis 1:2. The prophet was telling them that the land and their nation would be destroyed and would end up in utter chaos unless they repented.
The nation was pushing God out of the picture and Jeremiah was trying to warn them of the consequences of doing that.
In chapter five of the book, Jeremiah lists six reasons why God was going to judge them. Listen to these with me and see if any of them sound familiar
1) Moral corruption (5:1-6)
2) Sexual impurity (5:7-9) God provided for them, yet they flocked to the temple harlot to participate in the fertility rites of Baal. Their worship spilled over in to all areas of their life.
3) Unbelief (5:10-18) They did not believe that God would do what He said He would.
4) Religious apostasy (5:19-24) God said they would be destroyed because of their worship of false gods.
5) Social injustice (5:25-29) The rich were cheating the poor. Their houses were full of ill-gotten gain.
6) Corrupt leaders (5:30-31) The leaders of the nation, Kings, prophets, priest were leading the people down the wrong path.
In our nation, starting in the early 1960’s, there has been an effort to remove God from our society. Since 1963 listen to just a couple of these social indicators
1- There has been increase in unwed pregnancy for girls 15-19 every year from 1963 until 1993.
2- For girls 10-14 the rate has increased by 553% since 1963
3- Unmarried couples living together are up 536%. The numbers were stable until 1963.
4- Violent crimes have surpassed population growth by 794% causing the USA to become the worlds leader in violent crime
What happened in 1963 to change things? The Supreme Court accepted a case Stone vs. Graham from Kentucky. A copy of the 10 Commandments was hanging on the hallways of the school. The court said this was a passive display, but they added- “If the posted copies of the 10 Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce the schoolchildren to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey, the commandments..[This] is not…a permissible….objective..
What they are saying is that you can’t let kids see the Ten Commandments because if they do, they might obey them- things like “don’t steal”, don’t kill- and that would be unconstitutional.
The founders of this country built it upon the foundation of Jesus. James Madison who was the Chief Architect of the Constitution said that we have staked the whole future of American civilization on the capacity of the people to follow the 10 Commandments.
Our whole system of laws and government are based on the principles of God’s word. Whenever we try to toss God out of society, our laws do not even make sense. Why is it that if you hit a pregnant woman and kill her unborn baby, that in many states, you will be charged with murder. Didn’t the government say that you could kill unborn children since they are not people yet? How can you be charged with killing a non-person? Why can a doctor suck the brains out of an unborn child without consequence? Why are Eagle eggs protected? How do we know that they contain Eagles? Shouldn’t they be fair game until they are born? The baby Eagles are not alive until they break the shell!
Our country is paying a price for trying to rid itself of God.
God does not want our society break into chaos God wants to bring order to it.
III. GOD WANTS TO BRING ORDER TO THE CHURCH 1 CORINTHIANS 14:33, 40
In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul is talking to the church about how they were misusing the spiritual gifts that they had received. In verse 33 Paul says, for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. And in verse 40, But let all things be done properly and in an orderly manner.
When God is the center of the church, there is peace and order within the church.
When our personal agendas overtake God’s agenda, the church will be in turmoil.
If our focus in not on God and His mission we will fight of silly things like carpet color or wall color. We will fight over where to hang a picture while people are dying and going to hell and we will not care as long as we get to put the picture where we want it.
When we put God in the center of the church, God will bring order and peace to the church and He will reap His blessings upon it.
IV. GOD WANTS TO BRING ORDER TO YOUR LIFE
ROMANS 5:1 tells us, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Peace is the absence of chaos and disorder. When we give our lives over to Jesus, we are then at peace with God. As we turn over areas of our lives to God, we will experience order, peace and blessings from God.
Think of how many people are living in chaos because they have ignored God and His calling. Think about how many people are living in chaos because we have not taken the Gospel message to them in love.
God sent His Son to die for us, He does not want us to live in chaos. Jesus will bring peace in our lives.
Our lives will have an ultimate purpose and direction.
Paul joyful writes in ROMANS 16:19-20 For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
Paul is telling the people that because of their love and obedience to the Lord that God was not going to let Satan wreak havoc in their lives.
God wants to bring order and peace into your life.
CONCLUSION
In JOHN 10:9-10 Jesus said, "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
Just think what would happen if God were to remove His hand from the universe? Look at what is happening in a society that is trying to distance itself from God. As things get worse, we wait to go to God after the shooting happen, we wait to get God involved with our kids until they go to prison.
God loves you, you need to know that. God wants to come into your life, He wants to give you eternal life. You will only find that through Jesus.
