Draft 2

EVERYBODY IS SOMEBODY
12/12/04; TSL #2 – Genesis 1-3; Gateway Sermon Notes

NEED

Last time in our introduction to our new series we talked about that memorable passage in the New Testament where Jesus says in John 10:10, “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” And we commented how Christians often lack the abundant life. Many are filled with doubt, confusion, fear, defeat, anxiety, and conflict. They are experiencing anything but the abundant life! They live lives very dissimilar, very contrary to the normal Christian life described in the New Testament. Why is this? So we have embarked on a study to understand and live the normal Christian life, a life of abundance and victory and superperformance.

ORIENTATION

We began last time with the idea of power. God provides power (Ephesians 3:20-21) for this kind of life. We learned four things about this power: (1) It is a power conceived by God; (2) It is a power beyond our dreams; (3) It is a power energized from within; and, (4) It is a power that glorifies God. God’s power is certainly unleashed within us and we will talk more about it in coming days. But this morning I want us to back up a moment and talk about the foundation for this abundant life we are talking about. I want us to lay some important groundwork. In order for us to understand this powerful Christian life we must know our purpose and design.

INTEREST

(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) As little children with our toys one of the first things we learn is how objects fit together. we learn a very basic and fundamental lesson. It is this: square blocks go in square holes, and round blocks go in round spaces. For that matter, whatever the shape of the block it is the corresponding space to which it fits. If you try to put a square block into a round space it doesn’t completely work, and if you take a round block and try to fit it into a square space it doesn’t completely work. This very basic lesson learned early illustrates what we need to remember later on in life when it comes to our purpose. It is only when we understand our purpose and begin down that road that we are able to have the potential for this life we are describing. Knowing our purpose and living it out puts us in the right universe. What is true with children and blocks is true for people and the universe. How do we fit in? Where do we fit? What is our purpose? When we know the answers we will be on our way to living this abundant life that Jesus described.

I. GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE FOR HIS GLORY. 1:1

In eternity past God existed, Father, Son and Holy Spirit in perfect bliss and harmony (John 17:24). God made a decision to create time, space, matter. But why? Eric Sauer in his book “Eternity to Eternity” describes this pre-temporal, pre-historic time (page 13): “While as yet no star traversed its course, no sun threw its flood of light and energy through space, no systems of stars and suns swept through infinity in mighty curves and uniform relations, there God was; He the eternal without beginning, He who is above the whole course of time, He who in harmony beyond explanation possesses unity and life, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the basis of eternity, the living One, the only God.”

Verse 1:1. Look with me at the first verse of the Bible. Most of us know it by heart. It is one of those verses with a ubiquitous presence in western culture. This is an ex-nihilo creation – or out of nothing. Look at these other complimentary verses. When we compare Genesis 1:1 other verses in the Bible there is an unmistakable purpose for which God created the universe.

Ps 19:1-3 … “The heavens are telling of the glory of God.” We see this in other galaxies, binary stars, quasars.
Col 1:16 … “All things were created by Him and for Him.” Paul speaks to the nascent Gnostic heresy.
Ro 11:36 … “For from Him, and through Him, and to Him.” Paul culminates the doctrine section of Romans.
Rev 19:1 … “Glory and power belong to our God.” (makes Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus seem like chopsticks.)

But why create a universe for His glory? Things of perfection and beauty, by their very essence, beg to be admired. God is perfect. The very essence of perfection calls for it to be proclaimed. It would be wrong to have a being so perfect and glorious and not acclaim who He is and what He is able to do. To admire God is to admire all that is good and right and virtuous. It is morally required that we do so because it proclaims to all a standard and model of life and existence. So God created a universe that would further His glory. Since God is perfect this was only to be expected. It was good and right. We live in a doxological, theocentric universe.

Thus, perfection calls for admiration.

(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) Have you ever gone hiking on a nature trail with your family? Most of us have. Once we went up on 290 toward Austin and stopped in Waller County where the wild flowers bloom in the spring. Thanks to Lady Bird Johnson they are all over central Texas. When we went and we walked along the tall grass we saw all types of flowers, the bluebonnet (the state flower of Texas) and the indian paintbrush. And do you know what I heard time and time again: Come Look!! (And we would all run over.) As we found beautiful flowers we were compelled to tell others, to proclaim them. The reason was because something of such beauty and perfection is worthy of our admiration and deserves such accolade. The universe was a tribute to the perfections and beauty of God.

II. MAN WAS FASHIONED TO GLORIFY GOD. 1:27-28

A. Fashioned for fellowship. 1:27

Genesis 1:26-27, 3:8. We hearken back to the opening chapters of Genesis to see God’s intent in creation. We find there that God did indeed make all things but He created man uniquely different than the rest of creation. We see that man is made in the “image of God.’ In Latin it is imago dei (classically pronounce “i-ma-go day-ee” with the long o). This refers to man’s non-physical or immaterial propensities. It speaks of a “resemblance, the correspondence between one thing and another” (Pentecost, Designed to be Like Him, p. 24).

(Illus: Creation, Image of God in) This means that man was made like God in that He was like a coin minted off master die of God. I studied once how coins were made at the United States Treasury. Much care is taken as the initial die is cast. Intricate details are painstakingly worked out until the desired original is finalized. And then it is put into use in making all the coins. The coins made off the die are not exactly like the die, for it is made of much more durable material, but the strike or the image is very much the same. The coin bears the image of the die that pressed it. The die reappears in the coin. One who examines the coin can tell it was engraved in the die because, because the coin bears the image of the die that pressed it. So it is with God and the creation of man. You resemble God! But how? Adam was given personality, capacities that differentiated him from all other creation with mind, will and emotions. He did not do this with plants. He did not do this with rocks. He did not do this with apes or monkeys (Genesis 9:6, James 3:9). “When Adam was made in the likeness and image of God, he was given a mind so that he might know; he was given a heart so that he might love; he was given a will so that he might chose to obey God” (Pentecost, p. 26). Though man denies God, and fights God, he cannot erase the image. Man is intrinsically and irrevocably and indissolubly made in the image of God (defaced but not erased).

“Image” is (selem) in the Hebrew and is used frequently of “statues, models, images and replicas” (NET Bible).And the synonym “likeness” in the Hebrew is (demut) meaning “to be like, to resemble.” The NET Bible goes on to say, “In the Book of Genesis the two terms describe human beings who in some way reflect the form and the function of the creator. The form is more likely stressing the spiritual rather than the physical. The image of God would be the God-given mental and spiritual capacities that enable people to relate to God and to serve him by ruling over the created order as his earthly vice-regents.” The idea of constructing a replica is seen in Exodus 25:9-10.

1. Mind: The capacity to know God.

2. Will: The capacity to choose to obey God.

3. Emotions: The capacity to love and enjoy God.

B. Fashioned for stewardship. Genesis 1:28

Man was also created as the culmination of the week, the crown of creation. And woman was the crown of the crown, the apex. Man would serve as God’s vice regent, as His sub-sovereign.

III. GOD DESIGNED MAN TO GLORIFY GOD THROUGH FELLOWSHIP. 3:8

A. God’s Plan and Intent

God sought to fellowship with man through harmony with man’s mind, will and emotions. Through this fellowship God would be glorified. We find here the elements of both fellowship and stewardship. So we find fellowship with God, but also stewardship with God over His creation – its care and use (Psalm 8:3-8).

(Q: Life, God’s Purpose For) The Westminster catechism reads, “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and to fully enjoy him forever.”

B. Yet man tries to circumnavigate God’s plan …

1. Hedonism: An “anything goes” search for happiness (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11). Deface but not erase.

2. Altruism: Living a life of “good” and selflessness (Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:23).

3. Achievement: Leaving a legacy. (Ecclesiastes 2)

4. Intellectualism and Philosophy: Finding meaning through the mind (Acts 17).

5. Religion: A “works-based” attempt to find God (Pharisees, Essences, and the Ascetics: Mt 23). Take Ravi Zacharias in his home country of India where he grew up and the self-infliction of religion there. Or take Larry Maritinez, a friend of ours from years past, who said that when he was a child his brother became seriously ill and his mother in a an act of penance walk to church praying the whole way on her knees! And what’s more it was over a mile walk and it was along a dirt road with rocks. She came to he church bleeding hoping to earn God’s favor! But someone else bled! Jesus bled at the cross an made Christianity the one religion that is based on grace not works.

6. Openness: Perpetual questioning. Good for preparatory sanctification but not an ongoing position. This is stubborn agnosticism. Hebrews 2:23 and 1 Kings 18:21.

This reminds us that there are competing purposes in life! Many of them are good purposes. But often the good is the enemy of the best. Even the greatest of human enterprises is not as important as the importance of Christ’s place in our lives. Some try hedonism (that is usually the most natural, as the Epicurean restaurant and deli on San Felipe), others try intellectualism (as Solomon in Ecclesiastes), others try altruism (as the Pharisees), and others false religion (the backward sinners of Romans1). All of these to one degree or another has its merits, but all ultimately fail as a valid purpose for life.

(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) C.S. Lewis was an intellectual at Oxford College in England, but God got a hold of him, or as Lewis describes it, “the hound from heaven.” And once he was saved and came to know the Lord he wrote an autobiography that tells it all, “Surprised by Joy.”

(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) Over the years I have worked on a ceiling fan or two in the houses we have owned. I should say that I have “attempted” to work on them. I say “attempt” because a couple of times I did not succeed. I remember a number of years ago of making the young and foolish mistake of taking a fan down in order to paint under it. Was that a mistake! I worked for hours on end trying to get the wiring right and never succeeded. I never got it right. Finally I left the fan as it was. The fan switch turned on the light and the light switch turned on the fan, and the wall switch turned on the light and fan! How I had botched that fan! I remember when we sold that house I mentioned to the new owners that there were some issues with the fan and left it at that. They didn’t seem to care. That is a commentary on how people try to figure life out. At one point I sat there after hours of grueling attempts to put it together and all I did was mess it up more. God has the directions to the fan, and when we become His children He tutors us on how life all fits together. Have you ever wondered why your life is not going right? To the degree we off of our purpose to that degree life doesn’t work correctly.

(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) I like one bumper sticker that I have seen a few times. It reads – LIFE: WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS READ THE DIRECTIONS,” (with a picture of the Bible).

CONCLUSION

CENTRAL IDEA: In God’s infinite love and wisdom He designed us to bring Him glory through an intimate and eternal relationship. Life works best when it is lived God’s way.

(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) I spoke earlier about God being the die upon which we were minted. Do you know what happens when we are created in the image of God on one side of the coin? We automatically get the other side of the coin. On the other side of the coin is life working right. When we are committed to the glory of God, we automatically get the other side of life. Many people think that if they commit themselves to the glory of God that is the worst possible type of life to have. But the truth is that actually the very opposite is true. To commit ourselves to the glory of God is to automatically commit ourselves to God’s design for life and the best way to live life. John 12:23-26 summarizes this concept as Jesus speaks of His death but He also illustrates discipleship: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) A man was sitting in his living room reading the newspaper. He had a small son that kept interrupting and bothering him. Finally the father gave the boy part of the paper, but in order to keep him occupied he found in the paper a big picture of the earth and ripped it up and told his son to put it together. Knowing that his son was too small to know the geography of the world he thought the task would keep him occupied for a long time. But after just a couple of minutes the boy was done and amazingly he got the map exactly right. Incredulously he asked his little son how he did it. The boy said that on the back of the earth was the picture of a man. The boy said that when he got the man right the world came together!

(Illus: Life, God’s Purpose for) Andre Bitov, a well-known Russian novelist, was raised to be an atheist. What a bleak, purposeless life. But God got his attention one dreary day, “In my twenty-seventh year, while riding the metro in Leningrad (now St. Petersberg), I was overcome with a despair so great that life seemed to stop at once, preempting the future entirely, let alone any meaning. Suddenly, all by itself, a phrase appeared: Without God life makes no sense. Repeating it in astonishment, I rode the phrase up like a moving staircase, got out of the metro and walked into God’s light.” (From Warren, Purpose Driven Life, he quotes from David Friend’s ed. “The Meaning of Life.”)