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Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Going to have you turn this morning to the book of Genesis. I'm going to begin a new series out of this book.
[00:00:06] This is maybe the most challenging book I've ever spoke from. I know Patty, years ago when I spoke from Revelation, thought that was the most challenging. But I think this one has even more interesting elements to it. So we're going to look at it together.
[00:00:22] How many realize that the birth of a child, the development of a life is so exciting, especially when parents are anticipating it, they're desirous of it, and their family and friends are there and they're supporting them. And then, you know, at the pregnancy level, there's always that reveal. You know, it's a boy, is it a girl? And as they grow, the wonderment of seeing them develop their interests, their abilities, their gifts, as they materialize, we start to wonder, what does God have in mind for this life? What are they going to actually do with their lives?
[00:00:54] So not only do we live in the present, but we also look to the future and we also look back. And I think that's important. You know, we wonder who were our predecessors?
[00:01:05] Some people have a real interest in genealogies, I think. Why do we do that? We want a sense of stability and understanding of where we came from.
[00:01:13] Where did these people originate from? What were their stories?
[00:01:17] Inquisitive children often wonder where and how all this incredible world and universe came from. I think a lot of people get caught up with the day to day grind. They don't ask those questions. But when you're younger, you're reflecting on those things, things maybe some of you are still asking, I don't know. But we'll look at this. Maybe the bigger question is why am I here and what is my purpose?
[00:01:38] Secular humanism states that the answer is found in personal meaning. But when we make our lives the center of our world, it shrivels and often diminishes us in the process.
[00:01:48] When it becomes simply what makes me happy, then this quest, I think becomes quite elusive. A lot of people right now are just not happy campers on the planet. And I think that's. We can see that.
[00:02:00] We chase after being loved, noticed and valued. We seek it in activities, relationships and experiences. We see it kind of a cycle of life. Birth, growth, oh, I hate to say the next one, deterioration and then death.
[00:02:15] I mean, these are stark realities, are they not? What's the true meaning and purpose of life? How did our universe come into being? Where are we headed? And are there answers to these questions? Well, the Bible begins Right at the beginning. That's where we're turning. I've never done this before. I don't recall preaching from one verse. And that's what I'm going to do this morning. Genesis, chapter one, verse one.
[00:02:40] Wow. One verse, and I'm not even going to get through the verse.
[00:02:45] That's how scary this is.
[00:02:48] Why is Genesis such a critical book to understand, especially in the hour in which we're living? That's a great question. Why do we go back to a book way back then and talk about beginnings when we're maybe moving towards the end? Well, I want to tell you why. You know, Winston Churchill once said, the longer you can look back, the further you can look forward.
[00:03:15] I think sometimes we have no idea where we're headed because we don't understand where we came from. And I think that's very powerful. It's critical to understand the foundations we're building our lives upon.
[00:03:27] How many know when foundations deteriorate? It's only a matter of time when the entire structure collapses.
[00:03:34] Foundations are absolutely critical.
[00:03:37] Many people have never discovered the foundation they're building their lives upon.
[00:03:42] It is a sure foundation that with the uncertainties and difficulties come our way, we're able to stand in those hours because we have a sure foundation.
[00:03:53] What we believe about the beginning of our universe and its meaning actually is going to shape the direction of our future.
[00:04:00] When God's covenant people, Israel, turned their backs upon God, God sent prophets to warn them of their impending doom.
[00:04:07] These warnings are just as valid today as they were hundreds of years ago.
[00:04:12] And one of those warnings came from the prophet Isaiah. And he appeals to the past, who God is, God's creative purposes, which God will fulfill in the end. This is not a random, you know, it's all determined upon by us.
[00:04:31] You know, sometimes we think in our world, if we don't step up to the plate, all these bad things are going to happen. Listen, I'm going to say right now, God started this thing. God's going to finish it.
[00:04:40] God had a purpose in mind. This is, I think, a great hope and a great consolation to us. Listen to what Isaiah said. He's warning these guys. He says, remember this. Keep it in mind. Take it to heart, you rebels. These guys were not doing the right stuff.
[00:04:54] Remember the former things.
[00:04:56] How many think it's kind of interesting when a state of rebellion, God is calling us to remember the past. How many think that's kind of fascinating? I was kind of surprised by this.
[00:05:05] Why would God, if we're living in a Rebellious time. Why would God call us to look at the past?
[00:05:12] Well, I think we have to. Because if we don't understand what happened back there, we're just going to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over and over again. And I could show you through history. History is a series of people making the same stupid decisions over and over again.
[00:05:26] And how many here in this room, you can honestly admit that for some of us, we probably made the same mistake more than once.
[00:05:33] And I pray that, you know, first of all, we'll nullify how many mistakes we make by trying to be obedient to God. And secondly, that we'll stop making the same mistakes and start making better decisions. And I think we have to learn from our past experiences here. He goes on to say, there he says, remember the former things, those of long ago. I am God.
[00:05:55] Point number one.
[00:05:57] Remember God.
[00:05:58] Remember God. Remember who he is.
[00:06:01] He says, there is no other. I am God, and there's none like me.
[00:06:07] Okay, we're going to look at that.
[00:06:11] God is unlike anyone.
[00:06:14] I think a lot of times we try to make God like us.
[00:06:18] A lot of times we build our lives and our decision making, thinking that God's just like us. And if I want this, God has to want it.
[00:06:26] I think that's backwards.
[00:06:28] He goes, I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. So somehow God is linking the past, present to the future. He's linking the beginning to the end.
[00:06:43] And if we somehow chop off the beginning, we're not going to understand the end.
[00:06:48] That's why this book is so critical to look at, leaving a sure foundation as a culture. We're now adrift.
[00:06:57] If we don't have our bearings set correctly by understanding the past, we're moving towards an unwanted and chaotic future.
[00:07:07] God.
[00:07:11] One lesson from the past is how God is constantly bringing order from chaos and life from death. How many like that?
[00:07:19] You know what?
[00:07:20] Nobody really likes chaos. That's what they're experiencing in France right now, total chaos.
[00:07:26] It's frightening. Anarchy is a very scary experience.
[00:07:31] When everything goes, no order, no stability.
[00:07:37] We discover from verse two of Genesis, when the creation was described as without form and empty. God did something with that. We're going to look at that. Not today.
[00:07:48] Rather than rewriting and dismissing the past as our generation seeks to promote, what we ought to ask is, what foundation are we standing on? Is it from it is from this that we gain insight into where we're going?
[00:08:00] And what can we learn from the biblical foundation that will help guide Us faithfully to the end.
[00:08:06] So I'm going to just say this right off the bat. Genesis is an apologetic.
[00:08:12] What do you mean by apologetic? It's a defense. It's an understanding of our faith.
[00:08:17] So we need to know something that it's not just, you know, God's just telling us something. No, there was a lot of false ideas when God revealed this information to his covenant people. Okay?
[00:08:31] And you know, there's a lot of false ideas today about origins that we need to understand. And if you have the wrong understanding of origins, it affects the way you're going to live your life. That's why this is so critical.
[00:08:44] As a matter of fact, it's an answer and an explanation of man's origins, the universe's origins distinct from the myths of other groups. And let me tell you, there's a lot of mythology out there, a lot of false ideas about how the world began, how the universe began.
[00:08:58] And you know something, our society today has drank the Kool Aid.
[00:09:04] We have a false understanding of origins and it's distorting our understanding of where we're going because we have abandoned God. We've become self autonomous and we think we're actually going to drive our society to a new utopia.
[00:09:22] Can I tell you, as human beings, we'll never get there because all of us are fallen, all of us are imperfect. We cannot create perfection out of imperfection.
[00:09:32] God is the one that's going to bring us to a utopia because he's perfect and we're going to see that.
[00:09:40] Andrew Reed says the Genesis 1 account is simple and solemn in so many ways. Quite the reverse of the creation stories being told at the in the world at that time, he says.
[00:09:51] Were the people who were used to these other creation stories to read Genesis chapter one, they could not help but notice striking differences.
[00:10:01] In fact, there are some indications that the writer of Genesis is taking on and speaking against these other accounts. For example, in Genesis chapter one, God does not come into existence.
[00:10:12] He simply is.
[00:10:14] How many have ever had somebody say to you, where did God come from?
[00:10:18] You know, I've been a pastor, I've shared a lot with people and I have this question come up to me once in a while. Where did God originate from? We're going to look at that, okay?
[00:10:26] Rather than matter pre existing God, God pre exists matter. Matter means the things you see, the material world. God preexisted that three the sun, moon and stars and sea monsters, all of which were really powerful deities of according to the creation myths of the surrounding nations. They're just merely creatures or entities to display God's power and skill.
[00:10:55] And number four, human beings are not an afterthought of the gods. This is in all their mythologies. Nor are they created by the whim of the gods for their pleasure and service. I've read a lot of the origins of many of these ancient societies. That's what they teach.
[00:11:10] But rather, humans are central in God's world and. And the world is provided for them and their use.
[00:11:20] This world is for us.
[00:11:21] This is a gift from God.
[00:11:24] Isn't that a beautiful thought that God gave us this amazingly beautiful world and we should celebrate and enjoy it, but not worship it?
[00:11:32] Big difference.
[00:11:34] Okay.
[00:11:36] In Genesis chapter 1:1, the Hebrew wording there has profound implications regarding the creation.
[00:11:43] The Hebrew word translated beginning as Bereshoth.
[00:11:48] And Kenneth Matthews explains what's being communicated by this term. He says in the beginning marks inauguration origin start.
[00:11:58] But it also anticipates the end of the universe in human history as God is going to reveal it through his Word.
[00:12:07] Let's take a look at the text.
[00:12:09] In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
[00:12:13] The Hebrew word for create, as pointed out by James McGowan, says it is never used with human beings as the subject.
[00:12:20] This highlights the very special nature of the events of this chapter. And it emphasizes the power and transcendence of God. I'll explain that word, transcendence. So it's a very good word, and I think we need to understand it. These creative events are not repeatable by anyone else. Furthermore, God is not one of a number of deities competing with each other. He alone creates, and he has neither equal or rival.
[00:12:47] It's true. And God says that.
[00:12:50] So the first four words is actually two words in Hebrew.
[00:12:56] Fascinating beginning. God, really, if we were to translate it literally, God created the beginning.
[00:13:10] These words are actually, there's. I think there's four.
[00:13:15] No, sorry. We'll find both negative and positive statements that are really come out of these words. And we're going to examine two underlying realities in which Genesis 1 speaks to us of who God is in relationship to ourselves and our world. Okay, so let's take a look at it. First of all, we're going to look at certain denials of truth about life. And what I mean by denials is denials are these things are not true. These are falsehoods. These are wrong understandings. And people develop wrong understandings. Now, James Boice mentions three such denials, of which the clearest of them is the denial of atheism.
[00:13:59] The Bible denies Atheism, think of the Greek language for a minute. You know, Theo is God in Greek, and you put the A in front of Theo, and what you're saying is no God or negation of God.
[00:14:14] And so atheists believe there's no God.
[00:14:18] And yet the scriptures teach very clearly in the beginning, God.
[00:14:23] So God is now debunking the idea that he does not exist.
[00:14:29] He is, we're confronted immediately from our text that God is a personal, intelligent being involved in developing and creating our universe.
[00:14:41] If God was in the beginning, then there was and is a God.
[00:14:47] But even here, we must see that these words already take us beyond the furthest point that can be viewed by science.
[00:14:55] You see, science can take us back to maybe the Big Bang. Let's just look at the way we think. This is a 21st century, 20th century, 21st century.
[00:15:07] People think this way.
[00:15:09] It's about science. It's about understanding where everything started from, trying to understand it logically and rationally, and nothing wrong with that. But science can only take you so far.
[00:15:23] There's the limitation there.
[00:15:25] Science can take us back to maybe a Big Bang.
[00:15:29] They can maybe take us back to the moment of creation, but they don't understand how it came about.
[00:15:36] No one was there. Okay, now let's even go further back. It says, but if that original Colossus explosion obliterated anything that came before it, as science today would suggest, then nothing before that point can be made known scientifically. So science, I'm trying to make an argument here, it has a limitation. How many can see that it can only teach us so much, only could take us so far. Okay, well, you know, so the Bible comes forward at this point to tell us simply, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now we've come a long ways from Charles Darwin.
[00:16:18] Isn't that true? The Origin of the Species?
[00:16:21] As a matter of fact, most scientists today, if they were really honest, most of what he said, they can't even be supported.
[00:16:29] They can't be supported. I'm going to tell you why the premises are untenable and unsustainable in the light of continuous studies of scientists.
[00:16:38] The complexity, for example, of the human body and our universe screams design.
[00:16:46] And not just random, you know, somehow created over time, these things, you know, the survival of the strongest kind of stuff, the fittest, all that kind of stuff. Let me explain just one example of why this isn't going to work. You know, first of all, I'll give you one example. You know, just the very distance between the Earth and the sun is so significant because apart from having it just perfectly, life could not be sustained on this planet. How many know that?
[00:17:20] Isn't that an amazing thing?
[00:17:22] Here? I'll give you another thing. And this is one of the things that Darwin was talking about when he was talking about species and their little evolving developments. But let's just take one part of the human anatomy for a moment. God says the body is wonderfully.
[00:17:39] Our bodies are wonderfully designed by God.
[00:17:41] We'll pick on the eye.
[00:17:43] So I looked this up. This is so amazing to me. The human eye actually functions as a highly advanced biological camera, capturing light from the environment and converting it into electrical signals that the brain reconstructs into the visual world. Consisting of over 2 million working parts.
[00:18:03] This is what your eye is doing. There's over 2 million working parts to your eye.
[00:18:09] And its complex sensory organ handles about 36,000 pieces of information every hour and can differentiate approximately 10 million colors.
[00:18:24] The shading, the variation, depth perception, all these things. It's absolutely amazing.
[00:18:30] You know, what am I basically saying to you? This just evolved.
[00:18:37] You see, God created us, and there's a tremendous degree of complexity to a human body.
[00:18:43] And the more scientists are studying the human body, the more they're realizing how complex we are. I mean, you know, the genome studies alone talk about how complex we are. You know, just the whole development and how our body is being created and maintained and all the rest of it. We're walking miracles.
[00:19:02] You're a supercomputer. Everybody walks around talking about how great AI is. Can I tell you, you are way beyond AI, Way beyond it. Your human body is unbelievable.
[00:19:13] God made you.
[00:19:15] God made you. We're going to talk about that later in his image. I think we need to admit that it's human folly to denounce the existence of God by appealing to science.
[00:19:25] That's crazy. Warner Heisenberg received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1932 for the creation of quantum mechanics. And he is attributed as saying this. I don't know. Every time you get these quotes, you have to kind of look back and sometimes they get changed a little bit. But this is what he's attributed to saying. He said the first gulp from the glass of natural science will make you an atheist. But at the bottom of the glass, God is waiting.
[00:19:51] What's he trying to say there? He's basically. He was a lifelong Christian. He saw no incompatibility between science and faith. Our created world is constantly communicating the presence of a creator who intelligently designed this world. With great care, he created a balanced ecosystem. I mean, I remember years ago, I watched this documentary. They took the.
[00:20:15] They took wolves out of Yellowstone park and it totally destroyed the ecosystem. They had to bring them back.
[00:20:23] There's a tremendous study. Look it up. It's unbelievable. I mean, it was because there was too many deers. They were doing damage to the ecosystem. Everything was out of balance. So they had to bring the wolves back into the park so they could have a balanced ecosystem. Listen, God is brilliant, you know, so when people make all these snap comments, it's just a lack of intelligence on their part to make these kind of comments.
[00:20:49] Listen to the declaration of David as he's telling us. He said, the heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech. Night after night, they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words. No sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth. Their words to the ends of the world. What's he saying? Just study astronomy and you're going to find out what they're learning now because they have these great telescopes, they're learning all kinds of information. You know, our universe is continually expanding. That's how they know there was a beginning, because years before that they believed that the Earth, you know, had a. Had it was.
[00:21:32] Had no starting point. Now they know that's not true.
[00:21:35] They found that out through the telescope and the study of the universe. This is powerful stuff, folks. The more we learn, the more it screams that there's an intelligent designer. It's powerful.
[00:21:48] Paul uses this very truth to convey the folly of atheism and attributes their unbelief as a moral issue in which they refuse to look at the facts in an unbiased manner in order to sustain an autonomy from God.
[00:22:05] How many know sin has a way of blinding us to the truth.
[00:22:09] Matter of fact, Romans says this. Paul is saying, he says, for since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen being understood from what has been made. So that people are without excuse.
[00:22:25] People have no excuse for not believing that there's a creator. That's what he's telling us. Says the world is screaming this information at us, but we don't want to hear it.
[00:22:34] Another denial of truth is deny the spiritual world.
[00:22:38] We adopt a position that the only reality is what we see. That's materialism.
[00:22:44] James Boyce says, when the text says that God was in the beginning, before creation, it sets him apart from Creation, and therefore apart from matter of which all else is made, ours is not an entirely a materialistic universe. Moreover, since God created matter, matter did not always exist, which is what a true philosophy of materialism teaches.
[00:23:05] They're trying to tell you that this always existed. And the Bible's telling you no, it didn't.
[00:23:10] More people today seem more spiritually attuned. They recognize there's a spiritual component to life.
[00:23:17] Yet even embracing this concept, we find rival spiritual views. Ancient people believed in many deities or spiritual entities. And Genesis introduces us to the Creator, redeemer of all of humanity. And finally, the opening statements of Genesis deny pantheism.
[00:23:35] Pantheism is a philosophy that God is in matter and or is matter. It underlines most pagan animalistic religions. But if God created matter, then he is separate from it and is superior to it. And any religion that worships matter is idolatrous.
[00:23:57] Do you understand what I'm basically saying here?
[00:24:00] I'm just basically saying that God created the things you see.
[00:24:05] And when we worship things we see, that's idolatry.
[00:24:09] Because you see, human beings were designed to worship. We're going to worship something.
[00:24:14] You know, a lot of people when I'm in different cultures actually worship images.
[00:24:19] But in North America, we may not necessarily worship images, but I think we actually do. Because anytime you put, you make your life self autonomous to God and you begin to live for the things that the world materially has to offer us. That's idolatry. And Paul says that in the book of Colossians, chapter three and verse five.
[00:24:38] So let me move on to the second reality which addresses certain realities of truth about life from this text. Because there's positive statements, not just negative ones.
[00:24:48] Genesis declares God's presence in creation.
[00:24:53] There are a number of underlying elements regarding the nature of God from this declaration. First of all, God is self existence. I had somebody ask me the other day, where did God come from?
[00:25:04] I get that asked once in a while. But you know, self existence means God's always existed. He's eternal. He's an eternal being.
[00:25:13] You and I can have eternal life, but we were not eternal beings. There was a point in which we were created.
[00:25:20] We have never, we've not all been here. You know, some, some systems teach that you and I have always been here and that we just keep reincarnating in different forms. You know, Bible doesn't teach that there's a moment we're created, God is eternal.
[00:25:35] That means God has always existed.
[00:25:39] Everything that has been made has been made by God. And Actually requires God to be sustained in life.
[00:25:49] Even the people don't believe in God are being sustained by God. How's that? Isn't that God kind of good?
[00:25:55] He's even taking care of the people who don't believe in him, even though they think they're self focused person. I think one of the implications of God's existence is that we're accountable to God.
[00:26:08] If God made you, then in a sense there was a purpose for him to make you. And there was a purpose for God to create this world.
[00:26:18] And for most of us that should be the most important thing in our life. What is my purpose in this life? Why did God create me and how is he and the way he created me with the gifts that he gave me. And that's why knowing God's purpose and will for our lives is so critical. Because when we do what God's asking us to do, our life begins to unfold and begins to fulfill the purposes of God.
[00:26:44] And I believe it brings meaning and significance into our life.
[00:26:48] That's probably where we get our highest value as creatures of time. We may struggle with the idea that God is outside of the realm of time, space and material.
[00:27:00] God is a spirit. He's intelligent and he's eternal in nature. From him flows all that we see in our created world.
[00:27:08] Walter Brueggemann says the Creator has a purpose and will for creation. The creation exists only because of that will.
[00:27:14] The Creator continues to address the creation, calling it to faithful response and glad obedience to his will. The creation has not been turned loose on its own. In other words, it's not been abandoned, nor has it been given free reign for its own inclinations. But the purpose of the Creator are not implemented in a coerced way, nor imposed as a tyrant might. In other words, even though God has done all of this, he doesn't make you do it.
[00:27:43] He made you in his image. He gave you a will. He doesn't make you do what he wants you to do. He allows you to choose to do what he would like you to do. How's that? The freedom of the creation is taken seriously by the Creator. Therefore his sovereign rule is expressed in terms of his faithfulness. How many know God's faithful?
[00:28:01] Every day I get out, oh, the sun came up. Oh, the sun goes down. You know, we get winter, we get summer. You know, all of this stuff that's going on, that's God's faithfulness.
[00:28:11] God is faithful, his patience. How many know God's patient?
[00:28:16] Some of us took a while to get Straightened out. God was patient with us, you know, some of us. He's still straightening out God's patient with us and his anguish. How many know God is, we're going to see this. God has an anguished heart. How many know when you love somebody and they do the wrong thing and it's self destructive, your heart breaks for them. Does anybody have that?
[00:28:37] Of course. That's how God feels, you know, he really does love us.
[00:28:43] So God is patient while experiences anguish when we choose self determination, which God knows will lead to our own frustration and deterioration. Yet as we'll discover later in this first chapter, God created human beings in his own image and gave them an amazing capacity to think. Think and have the capacity of emotion and a volition, a will, an ability to do, the capacity to act, the capacity to choose.
[00:29:13] How many know? Without that capacity to know, feel and act, we would never be able to express love. Because love is a choice.
[00:29:22] God desires a mutuality of loving relationship with his creation.
[00:29:28] James Boice also explains the significance of God's self existence in that he is not answerable to us if we do, and you know, we don't like that.
[00:29:39] We want God to give an account of himself and defend his actions. How many know it? People are always saying, you know, if God is so good, why is he letting this happen? You know how many catch that? That's people trying to hold God accountable.
[00:29:51] But while he sometimes explains things to us, he does not have to and often does not explain things to us because God does not have to explain himself to anyone. How about that?
[00:30:02] You say, why not? Because God's perfect, God's holy, sinless.
[00:30:09] A biblical example of this is found in the Book of Job. Remember Job? Poor Job, he went through so much. But Job got a little irate. I've read the book, I've preached through it. I get it. Here's job 13. He says, Only grant me these two things, God and I'll not hide from you. Withdraw your hand far from me and stop frightening me with your terrors. Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak and you reply to me. In other words, you need to give an account to me.
[00:30:36] God, come. How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offense and my sin. Why do you hide your face and consider me your enemy? See, Job felt God was against him.
[00:30:46] Get to the end of the book. The Lord said to Job, will the one who contends with the Almighty correct the Almighty?
[00:30:53] Let him who accuses God answer him. Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm, he says, brace yourself like a man. I will question you and you shall answer me.
[00:31:02] Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
[00:31:09] How many people today are condemning God to justify themselves?
[00:31:15] Well, God did not respond to Job's questions. How many know God never did give Job an answer? Read the book carefully.
[00:31:24] The point is that God's presence in the end satisfied Job.
[00:31:29] We don't need all the answers. What we need is the presence of God.
[00:31:33] That's why God says, you know, trust me and don't lean to your own understanding. How many times growing up as a parent, you had to say to your kid, listen, just don't worry about this.
[00:31:44] Trust me, you don't need an answer to this. This is beyond their pay grade right now. They don't need an answer to this situation.
[00:31:52] It's all going to work out.
[00:31:55] God teaches us that way sometimes. This is beyond you right now. I know what I'm doing here. I know God knows what he's doing. Also, God is eternal, which means God has no origins. His nature is something significant as it relates to our relationship with Him.
[00:32:11] So we do not fear, for example, that although he has shown us his love towards us once in Christ, he may nevertheless somehow change his mind and cease to love us in the future. Because God is always love. How many are thankful that God doesn't change?
[00:32:25] Well, I'll tell you what. We're going to close here. I'm running out of time, but I'll just say this.
[00:32:31] When God makes a promise because of who he is, and God says, I honor my word, my word is actually a revelation of who I am. God says, I will never go against what I say.
[00:32:42] God can make promises that he can keep for all generations.
[00:32:47] So the promises he made way in the past, he can continue to keep them to today. So I'm going to have a stand as we close and I could say a little bit more. There'll be notes, you can always find them.
[00:32:59] But what we're going to discover in Genesis is that we must come to God on His terms.
[00:33:09] I would even argue today that if we are living an autonomous life, which we're living a life of self determination, we're making the decisions, we're in charge. We're deciding.
[00:33:21] I'm going to say to you, you're not going to do as well in life.
[00:33:25] I'm not saying this to be mean. I'm saying you've got the wrong foundation.
[00:33:30] If you're building your life on your own strengths and Abilities and what humanity can do. I'm going to tell you right now. A time will come in your life, a great trial.
[00:33:38] The winds will rain down on you and it'll take you down.
[00:33:43] You'll have nothing. You'll be shredded.
[00:33:46] Jesus warned us in that parable. He said, the winds and the waves came and the house that was born on sand, built on sand. It just.
[00:33:55] It just got lost.
[00:33:58] Can I tell you when you and I build our lives on who God is?
[00:34:04] This eternal, loving, holy, transcendent, all powerful, all wise God. And you say, okay, God, I believe you created me.
[00:34:15] I believe you created me for this time in human history. That you have a purpose in my life. And I may not know it fully, but you know what? I don't need to know the beginning from the end. I just need to trust you every single day and walk with you in obedience. And I know you're a faithful God. I want to respond in faithfulness back to you.
[00:34:32] I know that you're going to carry me through whatever I'm experiencing right now. You're a rock. And I can build the foundation of my entire life on this rock.
[00:34:42] I will make this declaration. After walking with Christ for over five decades, I could have never dreamed of having a better life.
[00:34:51] I could have never dreamed of all the things that God allowed, beautiful things in my life that I know I do not deserve.
[00:35:00] Just because I said, lord, I want to do your will.
[00:35:03] And I surrendered myself fully to him. And when you do that and you just say, God, I want to serve you every single day of my life and I want to get to know you more. I'm going to make a guarantee. You're building your house on a rock. You're building your house on a foundation that at the end of the day, when you look back, because you know it'll come, it comes very fast, you'll start looking back and you're going to, wow. Was God ever faithful.
[00:35:27] See, I know there's a day coming when I will be dying.
[00:35:31] I've been with people when they're dying.
[00:35:33] And at that moment, what's going to really matter?
[00:35:37] What's going to really matter? Is my soul ready to meet my maker?
[00:35:42] Have I really done what my Father in heaven designed me to be? I want to be very much like Jesus. Listen to what it says in the book of Hebrews. He prepared a body for me and I delight to do your will. You see, I believe that the body that God gave you, he prepared for you and you. And I need to say, lord, I Delight to do your will. I want to do your will.
[00:36:06] And just with every head bowed right now, you know, I'm just saying to you, don't put your hope in humanity's understandings that is distinctly separate from God.
[00:36:24] The more we study science, folks, listen to me.
[00:36:28] The more it's bringing us back to God, the more it's bringing us back to God.
[00:36:34] That's what's happening and some people just don't want to admit it.
[00:36:40] There's a lot of pressure today for people to not embrace the truth.
[00:36:46] Some of it is job security, some of it is, you know, they're afraid to be mocked by their peers, whatever the reasons.
[00:36:55] I'm telling you right now, to deny God is not an intellectual problem.
[00:37:01] It's a moral issue.
[00:37:04] Some of us in this room, we struggle with this.
[00:37:07] We're living a self autonomous life.
[00:37:11] You could say, well, I believe in God. Yeah, but who's in charge?
[00:37:15] Is God in charge or you in charge?
[00:37:18] And so today my prayer was for you that you'd shift. You say, okay, God, I get it.
[00:37:23] You're my maker.
[00:37:25] I'm accountable to you. You're not accountable to me.
[00:37:28] You don't need to tell me and give me answers for what's going on. I need to be obedient to you and to recognize who you really are.
[00:37:39] My creator, the one who formed me in my mother's womb, the one who put the gifts in my life that you gave, the one who's given me opportunities that I have, and the one who loved me so much, you died for me.
[00:37:54] The one who wants a relationship with me every day. How powerful is that?
[00:38:01] And so I'm gonna just pray for us right now. I'm not even gonna ask you to respond with hands. I'm just going to say this, that you in the deep recesses of your soul say, lord, I give myself to you.
[00:38:14] I surrender to you, my maker. I yield my life to you. I pray your will be done today and every day going forward. I want to walk in your purposes because I know that because you created a beginning, you have an end in mind.
[00:38:31] You can bring it to pass. You have an end in mind for all of humanity, but you have an end in mind for me as an individual.
[00:38:38] And I'm delighting and rejoicing in your plan and purpose for myself.
[00:38:43] We thank you for that, Father.
[00:38:46] I yield my self autonomy. I yield it to you. I say, Lord, your will be done.
[00:38:51] My prayer, Lord, is that your kingdom would come in and through my life, that you would be glorified in Jesus name. Amen. God bless you as you leave, Sam.
