Beautiful Scars - Easter Sunday

Introduction
For Easter, Our choir shared a beautiful Easter Cantata (which you can watch here).  They used music and narration to share the story of Jesus' resurrection so beautifully.  Now I want to share one ramification of that resurrection.  But first, let me read Paul’s words about the resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:19-26
19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.

21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. 22 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.

24 After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power. 25 For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet. 26 And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Incredible Hope
Christians have incredible hope.  We believe our hope transcends what happens in this life.  The fact is, some of the problems in this life aren’t going to be put right in this life.  There is no greater example of this that what happened to Jesus.

Here was an absolutely innocent man–the very best kind of man who ever lived–who was humble and yet full of incredible power to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, and open the ears of the deaf.  Jesus only ever loved and helped people, yet he was arrested on trumped up charges and tortured and executed–the greatest injustice ever wrought on earth.

If that was the end of the story, then it would be the most tragic story ever told.

It wasn’t the end of the story.  Easter is a Sunday that is traditionally the most well attended day of church the whole year, because we celebrate Christ’ resurrection. 
And resurrection means death is not the end.

This life–with all its troubles, many of which are never resolved in this life–is not the end of the story.  Christians believe that what is not resolved in this life, God will make it right in Eternity.

First Fruit
The Bible calls Jesus the “first fruit” of a great harvest.  What this means is His resurrection is the example of what will happen to all His followers.

Many people--including me--started gardening during the pandemic.  Perhaps this is because the pandemic began near the beginning of spring and we couldn't go anywhere or do anything except go outside.  Plus, there were concerns about food shortages.  So we took to our gardens.  And this is the time of year you plant things like tomatoes.  There's nothing like a homegrown tomato.

So you plant a tomato after Easter, after the danger of frost has past.  Then you car for the plant for several months, dreaming of those fresh tomatoes.  And then it happens. you get that first tomato.  It starts out green, and slowly ripens.  So you pick it and take it inside.  It looks great, but how will it taste.  You slice it and taste it.  And you are so pleased when it is delicious!  But the greatest things is knowing that tomato won't be the only one.  It is an example of how all the other tomatoes will taste.  If you've been successful, you will have many more tomatoes just like the first one.

Jesus is the first fruit.  Just like Christ died, we will all die.  But hang on.  It also means that just as He rose to new and eternal life, so will we (if we truly follow Him). So if we want to know what’s in store for us after this life, we just have to look at Jesus.  He shows us what it will be like.

Living with the Scars
One of the unexpected things that strikes me about the resurrected Jesus is this:  He had scars.

One of the ways the early disciples knew they were actually talking to the resurrected Jesus and not some one else pretending to be Jesus, was Jesus’ scars.  Remember, he was nailed to a cross until He died, and a soldier pierced His side with a spear to make sure He was in fact dead.  So one of the ways Jesus authenticated His identity after the resurrection was to point out His scars.  He said, “Look at my hands and feet.  Look at my side.” 

And I want to point out that these scars were not gross or festering wounds.  These scars were fully healed, but they were not erased  And they were also somehow beautiful.  These scars were a badge of honor.

Do any of you have physical scars that you received earlier in your life? Maybe you have a great story that goes along with your scar.  I got a scar once doing something really stupid.  (My friends told, "Don't tell people you got that scar doing that.  Tell them you got it fighting a bear or something.")

I have a friend who likes to tell people he doesn’t have a belly button.  It's true.  Apparently, he had a surgery when he was very young and it somehow erased his belly button.  So he likes to introduce himself saying, "Hi, I'm Dave and I don't have a belly button"  It's quite memoriable! 

Jesus’ scars tell the story of a man who was the absolutely perfect Son of God, worthy of all glory and honor and praise.  And yet, “Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” (Philippian 2:6-8) 

“He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) 

“He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.” (Romans 4:25) 

So, when Christ shows His scars, they are the highest badge of honor that can ever be traced upon human skin. 

And that got me thinking about what scars we have now–scars that we’ve received from our own personal tragedies–whether physical or emotional.  And perhaps they won’t be completely gone when we enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  Maybe they will be like Jesus’ scars.  They will be there to remind us–and remind others–who we are and what we’ve been through.  But they will also not be horrific reminders.  They will be like Jesus’ scars–beautiful badges of honor that God has miraculously transformed so that we will gladly show them to people and say, “Look at my scars!  Touch them.  It’s really me!  But Praise be to God!  My wounds have been healed by the blood of the Lamb!” 

What would that mean for you?  What wounds have you received?  What scars do you bear now?

The Apostle Paul who wrote so brilliantly about the Good News of Christ, shared his own struggles.  In 2 Corinthians 12:7, he said, “...to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.” 

People have speculated as to what was Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”, but we don’t know for sure what it is.  There’s no record left as to specifically identify the "thorn in his flesh ".  Some have said it was a temptation he struggled with throughout his life.  Others have said it was a speech impediment, which for a man whose passion was to preach the Gospel would have been awful (because no matter how brilliant this arguments, there would always be some people who paid more attention to his impediment than the force of his arguments).   Others have said Paul had a crippling ailment like arthritis, a chronic eye problem, malaria, migraines, or epilepsy.  It could also have been a wound that wouldn’t heal, perhaps something he sustained in one of his meaning beatings, imprisonments, or the time he was nearly stoned to death.  Those tribulations had to leave their marks. 

And Paul was just like us when we have a painful and nagging problem.  He wanted to be free of it.  He wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 - “8 Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 10 That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 

Sometimes God brings healing from our physical, spiritual, and emotional wounds in this lifetime.  When He does, it brings glory to His name.

Sometimes, we must bear up under our wounds–with God’s help–until God heals us in eternity.  

When we endure our hardships, it brings Him even more glory.  But I believe there will be a great reward in this too.  For the wounds and scars we’ve carried throughout this life will not be anything for which we will be ashamed in eternity.  Perhaps, they will be like Jesus' scars that He gladly shows.  Perhaps they will be our beautiful badges of honor in the next life.  We will be able to show them to the people we love and say, "Look at my scars!  It really is me!  Remember how I carried that burden all through my life?  But I made it!  I thought I was carrying it alone, but I wasn't.  Christ was there carrying it with me!  Remember when my loved one died and it nearly killed me too?  I didn't know how I could get out of bed and keep going.  But Jesus brought me through!  Remember how I survived that divorce (or devastation, or tragedy, or trauma, etc.)?  Jesus brought me through it and here I am and all my former hurts and wounds and scars are now fully redeemed!  Look at the scars that tell my story and the story of how Jesus set me free!" 

That’s what the power of Christ’s resurrection does.  It has the power to transform death into life.  Look at the cross.  It started out as a symbol of the cruelest, most shameful form of execution known to man.  Easter transformed the cross into the greatest symbol of hope and love we have.

Christ resurrection changed the most evil act humanity could do–murdering the Son of God–into the greatest act of grace and salvation God could offer.

Jesus was the first fruit.  He is the example of what we will experience if we follow him.

We can’t imagine how our resurrection to eternal life will completely transform us–even transforming our scars.  So as you go through this life and face whatever trials and sorrows and burdens you must bear, find hope in the Resurrection.  The Resurrection changes everything! 

And the Resurrection can change you–both now and for eternity.  I pray God will open your eyes today to see things as Jesus sees them.  See your wounds as future glory of God’s triumphant grace.

Invitation
So now, I invite you to repent of your sins, turn to God through Jesus, and follow Him so you can experience the Ressurection to eternal life.  Won't you?

Who Is Your King? (A Palm Sunday Message)

Introduction
All four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—tell the story of Jesus triumphantly entering Jerusalem, riding on the back of a donkey while crowds of people hailed Him as king.  There must be an essential lesson for us if the Bible repeats this story four times.  What could it be?  I would suggest on important purpose is to lead us into honest reflection about who is really our king?

John 12:12-19
¹² The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors ¹³ took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted,

“Praise God!^[a]
Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hail to the King of Israel!”^[b]

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:

¹⁵ “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem.^[c]
Look, your King is coming,
    riding on a donkey’s colt.”^[d]

¹⁶ His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him.

¹⁷ Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, and they were telling others^[e] about it. ¹⁸ That was the reason so many went out to meet him—because they had heard about this miraculous sign. ¹⁹ Then the Pharisees said to each other, “There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone^[f] has gone after him!”

Praise God – Hosanna!
The people cheered Jesus and praised God.  But there is more to this expression than first meets the eye.  The NLT says “Praise God!”  A more traditional translations is “Hosanna” an exclamation of praise adapted from a Hebrew expression that means “save now.”

The people of Jerusalem were cheering Jesus on as the man they believed would save them from their foreign Roman occupiers.  People 2,000 years ago are a lot like people today.  They tend to oversimplify issues.  The Jews believed the Romans were the source of all their problems.  If a savior could just kick the foreign oppressors out of the land, then everything would just be peachy, right? Well, no.  You may know that before Rome occupied Jerusalem in 63 BC, the city enjoyed nearly 100 years of self-rule.  It was terrible.  Jerusalem was filled with coruption, infighting, and miserable suffering.  Even when Israel existed as an independent kingdom in Old Testament times, they never fully lived up to God's plans for them as a faithful kingdom of royal priests who represented God to the world.  So, it's not like the Israelites could make life any better than their Roman occupiers. 

However, the Israelites wanted to be free of their Roman occupiers, so they start chanting the Old Testament prophetic phrase from Psalm 118 and Zephaniah 3 that promise a Messiah from the royal line of David, the Lord Himself, will disperse the armies of their enemies and at last their troubles will be over.  “Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hail to the King of Israel!”  “Hosanna!  Save us now!” they demand.

Well, Jesus did come to save.  But the armies of enemies from whom we need saving are not the Romans.  It’s not a weak president or hyperinflation from which we need to be saved.  It’s not even Mr. Putin that is the real enemy.  These are the symptoms.  If we get rid of these but don’t address the core issues in the perverted human heart, there will always be more corruption and tyranny and death and suffering.  Broken humanity always invents new ways to oppress ourselves.  We’ve been doing it for thousands of years.

Why A Donkey?
¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:
¹⁵ “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem.  Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.”

The conquering hero—the one the crowds in Jerusalem thought came to conquer their enemies—came riding on a donkey.  Why a donkey?

Well, if a king believed a city was in rebellion, they might come on a horse and attack and set things back under their control. But if the king came on a donkey, it meant peace.  And Jesus certainly would have been justified to attack Jerusalem as a rebellious city.  Jerusalem wasn't exactly being very loyal to God.  They were loyal on the surface, but the religious leaders were only using their devotion to God as a cover to maintain their own power.  All you have to do is read many of Jesus' parables and outright criticisms of the religious leaders to know he thought they were rebelling against God (see the Parable of the Evil Farmers Matthew 21:33-46).   

Fortunately, Jesus came riding on a donkey.  This was a symbol that Jesus came to make peace, not war.  It was another fulfillment of prophecy, this time from Zechariah, a prophecy from over 500 years before Jesus was born.

Zechariah 9:9 says, “Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—riding on a donkey’s colt.”

Jesus came to make peace, not war.  He came to offer forgiveness and salvation to the Jews, but also to the Romans.  The Messiah’s came to save all people from ourselves.  It is not the rebellion of one nation or another that is the cause of human misery.  It is the rebellion of all humanity that is the culprit.  It is the seditious determination in each and every one of us that says, “This is my life and I will live it however I please.” 

So, the Lord came to offer mercy and a to plead for us to give up our rebellion and come back to God.  He didn’t ride in on a war horse.  He plodded in on the back of a humble donkey.  Apparently, the people of Jerusalem missed this symbolism.  John 12:16 tells us even Jesus closest disciples missed it at the time.  It says in John 12:16, “His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy.”

Isn't It Ironic?
Palm Sunday is a day of deep irony.  It’s a day of celebration, but it’s a celebration by crowd of people who don’t really know what’s going on.  It’s a day when people hail Jesus as king, but only with the expectation that the “King” will do what they want him to do.  And sadly, when their “king” doesn’t live up to their expectations, they abandon him and shout “Crucify Him!”

In less than one week, Jesus goes from adored Savior King to their despised and executed criminal.  On Palm Sunday, they hail Jesus as King.  On Good Friday, they beat him and mock him and they proclaim in John 19:15, “We have no king but Caesar!”

Man, people are fickle.  We all figuratively say "We have no king but Caesar" whenever we choose our own way instead obeying God's way.

Who is Your King?
And so, in the midst of our Palm Sunday celebrations, as our kids wave our palm branches and we sing “Hosanna! Hosanna!”, I have to ask you, honestly:  “Who is Your King?”

You might assume that Jesus is your king.  Surely, Jesus is our king?  Right?

But is Jesus only your king if He gives you what you want?  I mean, are you like the crowds of people shouting hosannas on the streets of Jerusalem, only because you expect Jesus to solve the problems you want Him to solve (and to leave everything else alone, thank you very much)?  Because, if Jesus is truly a king, The King, He doesn’t work that way.  He is the Sovereign and we are the subjects.

Jesus’ message was consistent.  He said “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” (Matthew 3:2)  And he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)  And he said, “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.” (Mark 8:35)  And he said, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36)

Invitation
So we have to decide.  Who will we welcome as the King of our life?
Will we continue to try and be lord of our own life or will we let Jesus truly be Lord?
Will we put our hopes in the things and people of this world, or will we see Jesus is our only hope?
Will we welcome Jesus as king, just so long as he fixes things the way we think they should be fixed, or will we surrender unconditionally to the One who is Lord of all?

I pray you will truly receive Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords and give yourself to Him with no reservations.  He is worthy and this is the way. 
If you settle for anything less than full surrender, you will just crucify Jesus again and again whenever He challenges your sin and rebellion.

So, this Palm Sunday, I invite you to surrender, repent, and pledge your complete allegiance to the King who came to save you and the whole world.

Creation: Day 7 - Rest

Introduction
The world we live in is breathtaking and complex. The artistic genius of it points to Something/Someone higher, greater, more wonderful than we can even imagine. How did it all come to be? Was it merely an accident or does nature’s harmony point to a Higher Power? The creation story in Genesis is full of deep spiritual truths that help us understand the character of God and our purpose for being. Today, we learn how important it is to take time to rest and reflect and worship the great Creator.

Genesis 2:1-3

1 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

On the Seventh Day, God Rested.

We live in a hectic world that values productivity.  Rise early, work hard all day.  Get off work and go to one or two or even three extra activities before you go to bed too late at night.  Studies show that 60% of Americans don’t get enough sleep.  Lack of sleep increases the risk of being overweight, heart disease, and breast cancer in women. It also leads to more car accidents and medical errors.  Yet we have too much living to do to get more sleep.

It is not just a lack of sleep that plagues us.  There is also a lack of resting—a time when we just refrain from working.  Studies show that 1/3 of Americans don’t take vacation time even when their jobs offer it.  Often this is because they feel pressure not to—either pressure from their bosses or pressure they put on themselves.  When people do take a vacation, they rarely use the time to “rest.”  Instead, they opt to fill the time with numerous activities.  How many of you have gotten home from a vacation and thought, “I need a vacation from my vacation!”?

In our busy world, the idea that God rested and that He made “resting” a Holy commandment may seem alien.  Yet rest is essential to healthy living. 

God did not design us to be machines that work nonstop.  God wants us to take time to “Be still and know that He is God.” (Psalm 46:10).  When we pause from our labors and other distractions, we have time to remember who we are and who God is and to just enjoy life.  When we do not rest, we are less human than God wants us to be.

The very first thing God calls “holy” in the Bible is the Sabbath rest.  A weekly day of rest was so essential that it became one of the most important religious laws in the Bible.  It was a day that God ordered teachers and priests and prophets to defend again and again.  We also see that when God’s people did not keep the Sabbath, they suffered or were punished.

Mark 2:27

In Mark 2:27, Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.”  This is a reminder not to let religious devotion to the Sabbath outweigh common sense or common decency.  However, Jesus’ words also remind us that the Sabbath is an incredible gift God has given us—something we need.  Jesus observed the weekly Sabbath all his life.  The Bible tells us it was his custom to worship God in the synagogue each week.

God created the Sabbath for rest and worship.

Work is important.  But working too much can be a way for us to cover up and hide from things.  People—known as workaholics—use work as an escape the same way alcoholics or drug addicts use substances to escape from reality.  When we rest, we sometimes must confront things we might rather have left uncovered—things that need to be confronted.  So we must rest and worship.

Worship is the adoration of God.  It is when we pause to recognize the wonder of God and His goodness and express our gratitude to Him.  Proper worship humbles us, reminding us of our proper place in Creation.  It also opens us up to the voice of God who reveals where we need to change or grow.  At the same time, worship lifts us up as we recognize we are unconditionally loved by an incredible God.  

We were designed to worship God.  It is such an integral part of our DNA, that we cannot avoid it.  Every society that has existed since the world began has had some notion of God and has sought to worship Him.  This fact testifies to both the reality of God’s existence and the innate desire within humanity to worship God.  How else would so many different kinds of people from so many different backgrounds who never spoke to each other to share ideas, all reach such similar conclusions?

Some people—especially in our modern times when we place more value in science than religious traditions—have chosen not to worship God.  Yet we see that even these people worship some kind of “god.”  Perhaps they worship people they admire or things they can acquire.  They may worship an ideology or even themselves, but they cannot avoid worshiping something.  Because of the way God made us, we must worship just like we must breathe.  The question is not “Will you worship?”  The question is “Who or what will you worship?”

Jesus came to help us worship the One True God.

He shows us what God is really like.  Before Christ, humanity was limited in their understanding of God.   We only knew about God from the religious scriptures or from the stories others told.  God recognized that because of our sin, we were no longer able to recognize His voice and worship Him in His fullness.  So God decided to come to earth to live among us.  God was born as the baby Jesus.  He grew up under the supervision of a mother and father.  He learned how to live, suffered the same temptations and disappointments we face, and was obedient to the very laws He created.  Ultimately, Jesus died on the cross to atone for the sins that keep us from worshiping God.  

And so now, through Jesus Christ, we can turn away from our sins of error and sins of willful disobedience and come to worship God.  Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are weary and carrying heaven burdens, and I will give you rest.”

Conclusion

Are you weary from carrying heavy burdens?  Are you working yourself to death trying to do too much?  Are you weighed down with the burdens of grief, guilt, worry, stress, loneliness, disappointments, shame, or anxiety?  The grace of God through Jesus Christ calls to you: “Come, and I will give you rest.”  Jesus wants to forgive you, to wash away all your sin sickness, and give you a brand new life.  Jesus wants you to use your time reasonably.  He wants you to work, but Jesus also wants you to take time to rest and worship and enjoy the amazing life God created in you and all around you.  So what’s stopping you?

Creation: Day 6 - Land Animals and People

Introduction The glory of creation points to Something/Someone greater than ourselves.  Who is this Creator who made animals in such variety? Why did He make people so much like the animals and yet so very different?  What does the story of creation in Genesis tell us about the Creator’s character?

Genesis was written to help us know the Truth about God.  The creation story reveals the character of God and the life He offers us.  If you want to know God and why we are here, you can find out by studying the story of creation in Genesis.

Genesis 1:24-31

24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. 25 God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings[a] in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

27 So God created human beings in his own image.

    In the image of God he created them;

    male and female he created them.

28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

29 Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. 30 And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened.

31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!

And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.

On the sixth day, God created land animals and people.

Science and religion have been embroiled in an unnecessary argument for at least 150 years.  Science argues that humans evolved from animals.  Religion argues this cannot be because it is not the way the Bible describes it.  Unfortunately, the debate misses the point.  Genesis was given thousands of years before the advent of science.  It was never intended to describe the creation of the world in scientific terms.  Genesis was written to speak to the mysterious longings within our hearts to know the Truth about God.  Science offers us information, but the Bible offers Truth that is far more profound than information.  

Why does it seem so important that the sequence of creation in Genesis does not match what the prevailing scientific theories of our time?  God must have told the story the way He did to reveal a wisdom that is different than that which science reveals.  It is unfortunate that science and religion have spent so much time trying to prove each other wrong.  It is much more fruitful to spend our time and energy pondering what God is really trying to tell us in the Genesis story.

We see in Genesis that God works systematically, day by day, to bring order out of chaos.  Day one is simply light. Day two is the sky.  Day three is land and vegetation.  Each day, God moves to more and more complex systems until He finishes with the most complex of all—humanity.  God is telling us something important here.  Humanity is special in all of God’s creation.

People are different from animals.

Each day when God reviewed what He created, He recognized that it was good.  But on the sixth day, after God made people, He reviewed His handiwork and recognized that it was very good.  What is it that sets people apart from animals?

Biologically, humans and animals are very similar.  We share the same basic structure and biological functions.  However, there is something special about humans.  It is more than intelligence.  There are animals that are smart too.  (One could make an argument that some animals are even smarter than people—depending on how you define intelligence.)  Some have said that being self-aware is the characteristic that sets humans apart from animals.

But we see that many animals are self-aware too.

Genesis tells us the difference between animals and humans in verse 26.  It says, “Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.””  The Hebrew word for image is salem.  Salem is the same word people would use to say that a son is the spitting image of his father.  Salem is also the word used for idols and for idol worship.

God created us to be like Him.

Throughout the Bible, God continually forbids people to make or worship idols.  In the Ten Commandments, the second command is do not make or worship idols of any kind.  Yet this is a perversion that humanity struggles with over and over again—even to this day.  We can find insight in this—not just that we shouldn’t make or worship idols.  We can also learn something about ourselves and God from this prohibition.

We were made to be the image of God—the reflection, the representation of God in visible form. God wanted us to be like Him, as a son is like his father or mother.  No other image of God or representation of God is adequate or permitted.  We are the only authorized “idols” who may represent God.  We were created to represent Him.  

Out of all the extraordinary creations that came from the infinite imagination of God, people were the creatures God designed to represent Him best.

Idolatry is such an affront to God because it fundamentally goes against the very core of who God is, who we are, and our whole purpose for being.  When we make an idol, we attempt to change the whole order of creation.  We try to make God the way we want Him to be.  We make God in our image instead of recognizing we are made in His image.  We switch the roles of our relationship around until we pretend to be the creator while demoting the God of the universe to our underling.  It is a reversal that is an outrage to all of creation, and an abomination to God.

Idols are not just a thing of the past or primitive cultures.  Unfortunately, idol worship is alive and well in our modern world right here in America.  Some idols we worship today are: money, celebrities, power, and possessions.  People may be more actively involved in idol worship today than at any time in our history.  And it is just as abominable to God today as it ever was.

We engage in idol worship anytime we put something or someone (even ourselves) before God.  It is the very definition of Sin—letting something else besides God be the first priority in your life.  This is not what God created us for.  God created us to be a perfect representation of Him and to worship Him as the center of our lives.

Jesus succeeded where we failed.

We have lived as selfish, sinful people who do not fulfill our primary purpose in creation for so long that we can hardly even imagine what it is like.  What are we supposed to do?  What does the perfect human even look like?  Jesus is the one who shows us.

Jesus came to show the way.  He is the perfect, uncorrupted image of God.  If you want to see God, look at Jesus.  He represents God the way humanity was supposed to from the very beginning.  And the most wonderful thing is, Jesus offers a way to restore the image of God in us.

Right now, because of sin, our “God-image” is broken.  But Jesus offers a way to put the pieces back together again.  He says, “Repent of your sins and believe the Good News.” (Mark 1:15)

Invitation

Jesus laid down his life to pay the penalty for your sins.  The blood he shed on the cross washes away all your sins.  If you will accept this gift He wants to give you, you can be forgiven and made whole again.  All the things you have done that you regret—both the mistakes you’ve made and the things you did on purpose—can be forgotten.  All you have to do is believe, repent, and start following Jesus today.

Pray today to get your heart right with God.

Creation: Day 5 - Fish & Birds

Introduction The world we live in is breathtaking and complex.  The glory of it all points to Something/Someone greater than ourselves.  Who is this Creator who swarmed the oceans with fish and sent birds to fill the sky?  What does the story of creation in Genesis tell us about the Creator’s character?

Genesis was written to help us know the Truth about God.  The creation story reveals the character of God and the life He offers us.  If you want to know God and why we are here, you can find out by studying the story of creation in Genesis.

Genesis 1:20-23 20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day.

On the fifth day, God created swarms of living sea animals and birds.

Both birds and fish are animals that swarm together as one unit in large flocks or schools.  On the fifth day, God concentrated on abundance.  

Notice that Genesis 1:20 specifically commanded the waters to “swarm with fish” and the skies to “be filled with birds.”  It was not enough to create a few fish or birds here and there.  No, God intentionally went overboard with an amazing extravagance.  Birds and fish were to fill the world with an overabundance.  And then, as if to make the point even more clear, God instructs the swarms to “Be fruitful and multiply.”

The fifth day of creation is the first time God said, “Be fruitful and multiply.”  It is a statement God will repeat seven times in the Bible.  It is clear that God desires life to be abundant.

There are over 15,000 known species of fish and some 10,000 species of birds.  Scientists believe there are another 2 million species we haven’t even identified yet.  According to wikianswers.com, it is believed there are somewhere around 500 billion fish swimming in the ocean right now.   That’s enough fish to cover all of Whitfield County with a layer of fish six inches deep!  It is estimated that there are 100 billion birds living on the planet right now.  That’s enough birds for every person in the state of Georgia to have 10,000 pet birds!  This is extravagantly amazing, but even more amazing is Jesus’ statement in Matthew 10:29:  “Not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.”

God Makes Life Abundant

From the very beginning, God intended for life to be abundant.  He intended for us to have everything we need and to be satisfied.  God did not plan for death or disease or disappointment to be part of His creation.  We have seen throughout this series that God most assuredly has the ability to accomplish His plans.  Why is it then that so many in our world do not experience the abundant life God wants us to have?

God is not to blame for this.  We are.  We have gotten off track.  Because we choose not to fully cooperate with God’s plan, we do not experience the fullness of the life God wants for us.  Our choice to stray away from God is called sin.  

The Bible tells us that the consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23a) and experience proves this is true.  

It is truly amazing that God didn’t just give up on us.  Instead, He actually still wants us to come back alongside Him and experience life in its full abundance.  That is why Jesus came. 

 Jesus said, “I came that [you] may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10b).  So it is still possible for us to have an abundant life.  

What is Abundance?

It depends on who you ask.  Every person will have a different answer.  Some would say abundance is all about how much stuff you have.  Another person would say abundance is more about quality than quantity.  Abundance means you have more than enough to satisfy.

It is hard for us to comprehend an unlimited God who can provide more than enough to satisfy.  We grow up thinking there is only so much to go around.  We fight with our siblings for the last cookie because we know there are only so many cookies. When we run out, someone must go without.  

God provides more than enough to satisfy all our wants and needs.  Just when we think we will run out, there is more.  You cannot exhaust God’s resources.  In Matthew 14, Jesus miraculously fed over 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish.  After everyone ate and was satisfied, there were twelve baskets of leftovers—more than what they started with.  

God knows what we really need.  God knows what we really want.  He wants to provide an extravagant abundance.  He can and He does.  Unfortunately, we do not partake because we are usually chasing after the wrong things.

The Truth is we often don’t know what we really want or need.  We may have some things in mind, but we don’t really know if they will really satisfy.  We often find they don’t.  Our disappointments leave us hungrier than before for the next “new” thing that we hope will satisfy.

Life in Christ is Abundant.

Only God knows what abundance is.  Only God knows what you really need.  He is the source of life.  When we abide in Him, life is abundant, the way He intended.  Apart from Him, we merely survive (for a time) desperately clinging to a dwindling life that quickly fades away.  We find abundance, moment by moment, as we live in God through Jesus Christ.

People think Christians live boring lives.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  We are following in the footsteps of Christ.  It is a path that leads us to heal the sick, bring sight to the blind, walk on water, and change the world forever.  We are waking up to realize that we are not here to be amused.  We are here to live.  There is a deep yearning within us for real purpose.  We refuse to pacify our hunger with the sweet lies an evil world tells, because we know how we live really does matter.

So many people miss out on the abundance God wants for them.  Even people who come to church regularly settle for less than God’s abundance.  They are like dogs that only catch the crumbs that fall from the table because they are afraid to surrender their lives to God completely.  Don’t be bashful when it comes to abundance.  God set a place at His table for you.  He invites you to His Feast!  Come, taste and see that the Lord is good!

Responsive Reading from Psalm 36:5-9

Pastor:  Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens;

People:  Your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.

Pastor:  Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,

your justice like the ocean depths.

People:  You care for people and animals alike, O Lord.

Pastor:  How precious is your unfailing love, O God!

People:  All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.

Pastor:  You feed them from the abundance of your own house,

letting them drink from your river of delights.

People:  For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.

Creation: Day 4 - Sun, Moon, and Starts

Introduction The world we live in is breathtaking and complex.  The glory of it all points to Something/Someone greater than ourselves.  Who is this Creator who hung the sun, moon, and stars?  What does the story of creation in Genesis tell us about the Creator’s character?

Genesis was written to help us know the Truth about God.  The creation story reveals the character of God and the life He offers us.  If you want to know God and why we are here, you can find out by studying the story of creation in Genesis.

Genesis 1:14-19
14 Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. 15 Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. 16 God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, 18 to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

19 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.

On the fourth day, God created the sun, moon, and stars.

Before we go any further, we need to consider the magnitude of this claim.  The Greeks and Romans and many others civilizations saw the sun, moon and stars and believed they were gods.  It is no wonder.  One cannot help but be in awe of these mysterious heavenly bodies floating across our sky.  However, Genesis claims that even these heavenly bodies are a creation of the One, True, and Living God.

This was an amazing testament to the early readers of Genesis about the power and majesty of God.  The Moon has a mass of approximately 81 Quintillion Tons.  Yet it travels around the earth at the blazing speed of 2,288 miles per hour.  At this speed, it still takes a little under 28 days to go all the way around the earth.  

 

Our Sun is even more impressive.  The sun looks small to us because it is 93 million miles away.  It’s so far away it takes about 8 minutes for sunlight to reach us.  It’s a good thing it is so far away or we would be incinerated.  The surface of the sun is 10,000 degrees F, but that’s nothing.  The core of the sun is believed to reach 27,000,000 degrees F!  The sun is huge!  If the Sun were a hollow ball, it would take 1 million earths to fill it up!

Genesis makes a stunning claim.  The creation of the sun, moon, and stars was no big deal for God.  He simple said, “Let lights appear in the sky…”  Psalm 33:6 puts it this way, “The LORD merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.”  Wow…

The sun is only one of the gazillion stars in space.  There are so many stars in the Milky Way galaxy that if we counted one star every second it would take 2,500 years to count them all! *The Milky Way galaxy is so large, it would take 100,000 years to cross it if we could travel at the speed of light – 186,000 miles per second.

If our whole solar system—the sun with its 9 orbiting planets---was the size of a quarter, the Milky Way Galaxy would be the size of the North American Continent.  Where is the quarter?  All this God breathed into existence, but it gets even more mind boggling.

The Milky Way galaxy is only one among a hundred billion other galaxies—each galaxy filled with hundreds of billions of stars with orbiting planets!  This is a composite picture of the known universe.  Somewhere inside there is a dot that is the Milky Way galaxy.  Somewhere inside that tiny dot is our solar system of the sun and 9 planets…  “The LORD merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born…”  How great is our God!

The sun, moon, and stars point us to God.

Genesis tells us God created these “lights” to be signs for us.  Through them, we know the time of day and the seasons.  But the sun, moon, and stars can guide us to even deeper understanding.  

The Prophet Isaiah said in 40:25-26 – “To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.”

When we see the sun, moon, and stars, it gives us a sense of the magnitude of God’s power.  It reminds us how big God is and how small we are.  This—if anything—should cure us of our selfish misunderstanding that life is all about us.  And yet, the Bible also tells us God knows exactly how many hairs you have on your head (Luke 12:7).  God is infinite enough to create a universe too big for us to comprehend and yet He is personal enough to be interested in every single hair and the DNA inside every cell of your body!

God gives us guides so we can know Him.

All of Creation guides us to know God.  As Romans 1:20 says, “Ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

However, God doesn’t stop with astrological and natural witnesses.  God goes even further.  He gives us people to guide us to Him.  Think about your own life.  There have probably been people who have taught you, inspired you, encouraged you, and helped show you the way.  Do you realize that God put these people in your life to help you?  God wants you to know Him and He often uses special people to help you.  You will probably never know how many prayers have been said on your behalf by people who care about you?  

God also gave us the Bible to guide us to Him.  Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”  The Bible is an amazing tool to help you know God.  Everything you need to know for salvation is written there.  Even more amazing, the Bible is the Living word of God.  That means you can read it as God speaking to you at this very moment.  If you open your heart to hear God’s voice, you can hear Him guiding you in your moment of need.

The greatest guide God gives us so we can know Him is Jesus Christ…

We can look at creation and know that there is a God and that He is incredible and that we are so small.  But God sent Jesus so that we can know for sure that this incredible God is deeply concerned about us.  John 3:16 says, “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Imagine, God made a universe that is 96 billion light years in diameter.  (It would take 96 billion years for a beam of light to get from one side of the universe to the other).  We cannot even comprehend how incredible God is, and yet He is so interested in you that He sent His one and only son to personally guide you to know God.

You might be thinking, “A God like that could never be interested in me.”  YES HE IS!  He would do anything to have a personal relationship with you!  He has done everything to have a personal relationship with you.  The only thing left is for you to choose to have a relationship with God.

Invitation

On behalf of this incredible God, I have the privilege today of inviting you to have a relationship with the One, True, and Living God of the Universe.  The One who made it all, invites you to choose a relationship with Him. Why don't you pray to Him right now? You don't have to use any special words. Simply talk to Him the way you would talk to a loving father. He'll listen and understand.