SERIES: Welcome to the Planet
TEXT: Genesis 1:1-26a
TITLE: Divinely Designed
Jesus, the great story telling preacher, came to the conclusion of the greatest story ever preached.
He had taught on the great topics of the Christian life.
Attitude
Living a life of influence
Ethics for victory
Prayer – Giving – Serving
In preaching there’s something about a story that grips the imagination and the heart that makes the message memorable…so Jesus told the story of 2 builders. It was so real…so visual…so powerful many of us can still tell it 2,000 years after Jesus told it.
2 Builders:
1 Wise
1 Foolish
2 Foundations:
1 Rock
1 Sand
2 Results:
1 Good
1 Bad
2 Homes
The one built on the rock survived
the storm.
The one built on the sand fell flat.
It’s called the “Sermon on the Mount”… when Jesus finished…the Bible tells us, “The crowds were amazed.”
They left that outdoor sanctuary with a choice…build life on a rock, solid…fact based…tried and proven true foundation…or be blown about by the winds of opinion. It was all about foundations. It still is.
When it comes to the foundations…the non-negotiables…first things…origins… beginnings…there are 2 options…
1 as solid as rock
1 as shifty as the sands.
Genesis 1 is rock solid. It’s been tested… tried…and proven by the greatest minds in history.
Even those that deny God must admit the fallacy of evolution.
Evolutionist Stephen Gould admits…
“We’re not just evolving slowly…we’re not evolving at all.”
A Dr. Loutrup says,
“…One day the Adrwinian myth will be ranked the greatest deceit in the history of science.”
Here’s truth that can be proven from week 1 until today…
Trees have been trees since creation day #3.
Fish have been fish and birds have been birds since creation day #5. And man has been man since creation day #6.
There are 2 parts to the message this morning…the first part revolves around the 7 Wonders of the World. The second part is the “So what?” What difference does it make…can it make in our lives today.
There’s more…and you can probably come up with better…but I want to mention 7 Wonders of our World from Genesis 1.
We’ll move through these pretty quick:
1. There’s the Wonder of the Trinity.
The 3 have always been…yet we still can’t wrap our minds around the fact.
It makes our imaginations throb.
Many try to explain the truth…it’s tough to grasp.
The Apostle Paul gave it his shot in closing out the book of II Corinthians.
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
- II Corinthians 13:14
There’s God the Father
Jesus the Son
And the Holy Spirit.
The Wonder of the Trinity.
2. There’s the Wonder of God’s Voice.
God spoke…and it was.
No voice carries the power…the authority…the commanding attention.
We hear God’s voice and see the power in creation.
We hear Jesus saying, “Quiet” and see the power as others said, “Even the wind and waves obey Him.”
And there is still the “still small voice” of the Holy Spirit speaking continually.
The Wonder of God’s voice.
3. There’s the Wonder of the Creation story.
It’s not by chance…it’s by choice.
There’s the originator
The organizer
The orchestrator.
From desire…to design…to direction.
Not chance…by God’s choice.
4. There’s the Wonder of Divine Order.
Some…who want to deny there’s a God…present the Big Bang option.
I’ve always said…OK – I’ll go along a bit…I can justify some noise in the activity of creation…but if there’s a “bang”…who was the “banger?”
There’s incredible detail in the handiwork of creation. There’s incredible order…to the…
- earth revolving around the sun…consistently.
- The regularity of the seasons.
- The day and night routine.
Explosions never result in order
1. Pop can
2. Balloon
3. Party favor
Explosions result in disorder.
5. There’s the Wonder of an Eternity of Discovery.
Study and research continue to reveal new insights and truth to creation week.
Just weeks ago it was revealed that we discovered a whole new – never before seen planet.
New discoveries are found all the time.
The scripture is true:
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard
no mind has conceived what God has prepared…”
There’s an eternity of discovery.
6. There’s the Wonder of Human Kind.
We’ll be looking into this wonder in detail next week...the wonder of human kind.
God…created man.
Let’s at least go this far this morning…God created what He wanted…we’re included…we’re wanted. That alone is hard to get a hold of…God wanted human kind…
There’s a great old hymn that reads:
“That God should love a sinner such as I…should yearn to change my sorrow into bliss, nor rest till He had planned to bring me nigh, how wonderful is love like this!”
We are not accidents…a result of some cesspool oops…God willed us…God wanted us…the wonder of human kind.
7. The 7th Wonder of the World is...the Wonder of an Impregnated Purpose.
Didn’t know how else to state it…
Everything God created…He created with a purpose inside. Nothing was void of purpose.
The light had the purpose of dividing the darkness.
The expanse had the purpose of separating the waters.
The lights…the sun and moon impregnated with the purpose of separating the day from the night.
God created the waters for the purpose of housing water life.
He created land with the purpose of producing vegetation.
He created man…and woman…and from Adam and Eve to the newborn making their appearance at this very moment… God tucked a purpose inside.
He has purpose
He has a plan…for every person.
He didn’t skip you.
The 7 Wonders of the World…I think that’s pretty good preaching this morning…I was excited to share the Good News with friends this morning…but the best stuff of this message is the “now what” stuff. The “OK…so what? What does it mean...what can it mean to me right now?”
I want to share 3 “so what’s” this morning. They are 3 characteristics of God we see from the very beginning…that have never changed.
These are not “yawn moments.”
They are life changing for some of us.
1. First, God can bring light to our darkness.
It may not be happening in your life right now…that’s wonderful…but for some of us…we’re walking through some of the darkest days of our life – right now.
It’s not a result of sin…It may not be a result of anything we have or have not done.
Where would we start…a study of the Bible reveals the spiritual giants – the heroes of the faith...going through dark times.
David, the man after God’s own heart wrote,
“Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…”
Do you connect with that this morning?
The confusion
The uncertainty
The dread of the day?
The God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever wants to remind you…He’s the God who can bring light to the darkness.
We might not know how.
We might not know when.
But “Farther along…we’ll know more about it. Farther along we’ll understand why.”
If this is God’s Word to you today…know that God can bring light to the darkness.
Here is the 2nd “so what”.
2. God can bring order to our chaos.
There is nothing that brings chaos like sin. From Genesis 3 to today…nothing brings chaos like sin.
Our own sin.
The sin of others.
Sin always brings chaos.
I’m tempted to say “As pastor.” But it doesn’t take being a pastor to see it…but I get sick when I see a person or couple choose to live in sin. I know the consequences. It’s always the same…
- Disappointment
- Dread
- Despair
There’s never an exception. Oh, for a season…it might look appealing. Might feel real good. Might seem like we’re getting away with things…like we’re an exception.
But there are no exceptions.
If you are in the season of experiencing pleasure in your sin – I don’t suppose you are interested in what I’m about to say…but if there is 1 here this morning that knows the reality of sin’s chaos...this is timely…a God thing…
God can bring order to your chaos.
He can.
You might not know how.
You might think it impossible.
But that’s God’s specialty...He’ll meet you more than half way. He gave His Son…proving His seriousness…so we could experience order to our chaos.
If we will ask…God will answer.
If we will confess…God will forgive.
If we will trust and follow…God will bring order to the chaos.
3. Here’s one more “so what” of the message…God can fill what is empty.
- He filled the empty skies with lights.
- He filled the empty waters with creatures.
- He filled the empty fields with produce.
He’s in the filling business…Jesus said,
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst…for they will be filled.”
God can fill what’s empty.
The Wonders of the World…the “so what’s” of this message.
Would you stand…I’d like the Worship Team to come…there’s an older chorus I’d like them to lead…if you know it sing along…if God has spoken and you want to pray…the altars are open.
If this church is home...you know we won’t embarrass you…this is just a wonderful time and place to talk life over with God.
