SERIES: Welcome to the Planet #5
TEXT: Genesis 1:4,10,12,18,21,25,31
TITLE: God Smiling
Author Bob Coy went in to wake his 4-year-old daughter Caitlyn…who peacefully slept.
He spoke softly…sat on her bed…she started to stir…she woke up frustrated. With a bit of anger in her voice Caitlyn said, “Daddy, you took my dream away.”
Bob said, “Caitlyn, what do you mean?”
4-year-old Caitlyn said, “I was having the greatest dream and you woke me up…Daddy, I want my dream back.”
There are many people…who go through the motions of living…who somewhere between childhood and adulthood who have somehow – somewhere…lost their dream.
Once they dared to dream…now they’ve settled. That’s easy.
It’s easy to stop expecting…
…to stop hoping.
…to stop trusting.
…to stop dreaming.
That’s easy…until we open the Bible and consider the 1st two chapters.
Genesis 1 & 2.
Welcome to the Planet has been about getting the dream back. About letting God re-introduce us to His reality.
If we choose to believe the Bible…then we gain all kinds of insights and benefits.
-We get to believe that our planet has been Divinely Designed by an incredible designer.
-We get to believe that we have been Creatively Wired to be like Jesus. Pre-destined to live Christ-like lives.
-We get to believe that we have been Strategically Placed…to complete the work God has given to us in such a time as this.
-We get to believe that we have been Abundantly Blessed with everything we need for life on earth and beyond.
We get our dream back.
I preach this morning with a mix of emotions. I can’t wait to share what God has shared with me this week...but a bit disappointed that this series is coming to an end.
Let’s take 1 more look through Genesis 1 & 2...there’s a truth we’ve just gotta get a hold of…it runs like a thread through a garment…from start through the finish…you’ll see it…it’s easy…God repeats it 7 times.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good.” - Genesis 1:3-4a
“God called the dry ground ‘land,’ and the gathered waters he called ‘seas.’ And God saw that it was good. – Gen. 1:10
“The land produced vegetation…and God saw that it was good.” - Gen. 1:12
“God made two great lights – the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars…and God saw that it was good. – Gen. 1:16-18
“So God created the great creatures of the sea…and God saw that it was good.” - Gen. 1:21
“God made the wild animals, the livestock, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds…and God saw that it was good.” - Gen. 1:25
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” - Gen. 1:31a
Here’s a truth that can rock some people’s religious world. It’s too much for some…
But its true…God can be pleased. God can be happy.
God saw…and said, “that’s good.” “That’s great.” “That’s the way I intended it to be.”
Filled with satisfaction…and joy…and pleasure…God Smiled. “It was good…it was very good.”
Is there room in your theology for a smiling God?
I’m reading from Numbers 6
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell Aaron and his sons, “This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” - Numbers 6:22-26
Is there room in your understanding of God…for a smile on His face?
Zephaniah is a short 3 chapter book in the Old Testament. Old Zeph was a preacher…a prophet…He served the Lord’s interests in real tough times.
Pastor Zeph tucked this into his message:
“The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” - Zeph 3:17
Is there room in your theology for a God who can take “delight in you?”
Who can rejoice and sing over your life?
Some of us believe in a God who knows the number of hairs on our heads as the Bible says. We can believe in a God who understands our struggles. We can believe in a God who asks us for our obedience…
but what about believing that the God of the universe would take the time to write a song…sing it, and rejoice over each one of us.
Is there room for a rejoicing God?
I don’t know much about this song… except that it must have been written from Zeph’s sermon.
And the Father will dance over you in joy!
He will take delight in whom He loves.
Is that a choir I hear singing the praises of God? No, the Lord God Himself is exulting over you in song! And He will joy over you in song! My soul will make its boast in God, For He has answered all my cries. His faithfulness to me is as sure as the dawn of a new day. Awake my soul, and sing! Let my spirit rejoice in God! Sing, O daughter of Zion, with all of your heart! Cast away fear for you have been restored! Put on the garment of praise as on a festival day. Join with the Father in glorious, jubilant song. God rejoices over you in song!
John Piper in his book, The Pleasures of God, described God’s smile like this:
What do you hear when you imagine the voice of God singing? I hear the booming of Niagara Falls mingled with the trickle of a mossy mountain stream. I hear the blast of Mt. St. Helens mingled with a kitten’s purr. I hear the power of an East Coast hurricane and the barely audible puff of a night snow in the woods. And I hear the unimaginable roar of the sun, 865,000 miles thick, 1,300,000 times bigger than the earth, and nothing but fire, 1,000,000 degrees centigrade on the cooler surface of the corona. But I hear this unimaginable roar mingled with the tender, warm crackling of logs in the living room on a cozy winter’s night. I stand dumfounded, staggered, speechless that he is singing over me – one who has dishonored him so many times and in so many ways. It is almost too good to be true. He is rejoicing over my good with all his heart and all his soul. He virtually breaks forth into song when he hits upon a new way to do me good.
Is there room in your thinking…for a God who rejoices over you? Who delights in you? Who smiles?
It was said before the victory over temptation.
Before the sick were healed.
Before the storms were calmed
Before the obedience of the cross.
God said, “This is my Son in whom I am well pleased.”
It wasn’t a smile after a miraculous performance.
It wasn’t a smile after a heroic mission.
It wasn’t a smile after a surrender of the will…it was a smile…just because.
Is there room in your understanding of God…for His smile?
The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119. 176 verses. It’s not only long…it’s good.
In Psalm 119:135 we read a prayer request,
“Make your face shine upon me.”
The Message Bible has it,
“Smile on me.”
Is there room in your life for the God of the Bible? A God who smiles…who takes pleasure in His creation? Who delights in humankind?
The God of the Bible…smiles. And I want to share 5 ways that He smiles over you.
1. God smiles when we put Him first.
When you love Him with all your heart, and mind, and strength…you love Him as He hopes to be loved. Freely…willfully… purposefully.
Putting God first isn’t easy…in fact one of the messages in our next series might be Desperate Priorities…there’s a lot of good sounding – good feeling invitations out there.
We don’t drift into putting God first…we decide He’s first.
We don’t “make room for God”…God comes first...then we’re surprised at the rest.
God smiles when you put Him first.
2. God smiles when we trust Him completely.
This takes us beyond a one time decision…to daily encounters.
Trust isn’t static…it’s living…growing or fading…
Ralph was up to his neck in trouble. A friend said, “Ralph, you have 2 hands – do something.” Ralph said, “I am…I’m wringing both of them.”
I love the stories of the Bible that tell of times that everything was on the line…
Abraham – Isaac
Daniel
The 3 Hebrew children
Esther
David before Goliath
There are 100’s I suppose.
Victory always came to those who trusted God.
3. God smiles when we obey Him totally.
One of the sermons brother Adrian likes to preach is, “It’s not just obedience…but total obedience.”
I’m still chewing on that sermon.
It’s not just…I want to obey Him
Or it would be best to obey Him
It’s…I am obeying Him.
God smiles when you do that.
4. God smiles when we’re thankful.
5. And God smiles when we take what He has done and what He has given…and use it for His glory.
When you find a need and fill it.
If you survived Jr. High School…why not find a Junior High student and tell them they’re going to survive.
If you survived a divorce…why not find someone going through the pain…and tell them they’re going to make it.
If you are a mom…and ever wondered if your child would ever sleep through an entire night…find a new mom – tell her God can give her the strength.
If you remember your 20’s…and how hard all those challenges were…find someone navigating those challenges.
Our stories are endless…aren’t they? One of the reasons God has given us the Church is so we can practice stuff like this before we go out into the world.
God smiles when we take our stories and encourage each other.
Can you imagine what it must have been like to be the gal or the guy to first have the idea of selling bottled water?
Maybe she was shopping with a friend and couldn’t’ find a drinking fountain.
Maybe he was fishing with his buddy by the neighborhood stream.
And he said to his buddy, “I wonder if we could bottle this stuff and sell it?”
The response probably was something like, “You’re crazy…it’s free. Nobody would pay a nickel for this stuff.”
What if the dreamer had listened?
What if the proclaimed “voice of reason” had won out?
Today….the voice of ignorance says….there is no God…no greater purpose…no heavenly order or plan.
The Bible says…there is a God who has
Divinely Designed our planet
Creatively Wired our heart.
Strategically Placed each of us
Abundantly Blessed our lives.
And He smiles when we:
Put Him first
Trust Him completely
Obey Him totally
Are thankful
And when we allow Him to use us to bless others.
Welcome to the Planet.
