Understanding God's Design

Genesis 1:26–31 (NLT)

26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings 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.

INTRODUCTION:

I- WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT GOD HAS A DESIGN THAT HE ESTABLISHED.

A- God established his design for the world.

1- This design is seen in creation.

a. God established a perfect world in perfect order. (Notice Genesis 1:31)

On the first day, God made the universe, and day and night. (Genesis 1:1-5)

On the second day, God separated the waters in the sky from the water on the earth. (Genesis 1:6-8)

On the third day, God separated the waters from the dry ground and created vegetation. (Genesis 1:9-13)

On the fourth day, God made the heavenly lights, to govern days and night. (Genesis 1:14-19)

On the fifth day, God made all aquadic-life and birds. (Genesis 1:20-23)

On the sixth day, God created all land animals and creatures and mankind. (Genesis 1:24-31)

On the seventh day, God rested. (Genesis 2:1-4)

B- God established the way that mankind was to interact with the world and himself.

1- We see this in creation. (Genesis 2:7-9; 2:15-17)

(Genesis 2:7–9)

7 Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.

8 Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made.

9 The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

(Genesis 2:15–17)

15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.

16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—

17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

2- We see this in God’s law. (Exodus 20:1-17)

You shall have no other gods before Me.

You shall not make idols.

You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Honor your father and your mother.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You shall not covet.

3- In God’s law, the first four relate to our relationship with God and the last six deal with how we relate to our fellow-humans.

Jesus put it this way: (Matthew 22:37-40)

Matthew 22:37–40 (NLT)

37 Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’

38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

4- The bottom line is this: God made you and I for relationships.

With Himself.

From the beginning, God’s desire was for a relationship with mankind. (Genesis 3:8)

Through the years, God had relationships with people who were willing.

Enoch (Genesis 5:21-24)

Genesis 5:21–24 (NLT)

21 When Enoch was 65 years old, he became the father of Methuselah.

22 After the birth of Methuselah, Enoch lived in close fellowship with God for another 300 years, and he had other sons and daughters.

23 Enoch lived 365 years,

24 walking in close fellowship with God. Then one day he disappeared, because God took him.

Noah (Genesis 6:9)

Genesis 6:9 (NLT)

9 This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.

Abraham (James 2:23)

James 2:23 (NLT)

23 And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God.

Moses (Exodus 33:11)

Exodus 33:11 (NLT)

11 Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.

(Deuteronomy 34:10)

Deuteronomy 34:10 (NLT)

10 There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.

With each other.

God established relationships in the garden of Eden. (Genesis 2:17-24)

God continually instructs on relationships between people in the scriptures.

5- Jesus describes God’s desire for people to find God’s fulness in His design.

(John 10:10)

John 10:10 (NLT)

10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

II- WE NEED TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS SO THAT PEOPLE CAN RECOVER GOD’S DESIGN.

Jimmy Scroggins, Lead Pastor of Family Church in Palm Beach, FL (SBC), developed a simple way to share the plan of salvation with the broken people around us … The Three Circles.

A- The first Circle represents God’s Design .

(Genesis 1:31)

Genesis 1:31 (NLT)

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.

1- God has a design for the way we live.

a. The God’s law speaks of that design.

(1) God’s law describes how we are to relate to God.

(2) God’s law describes how we are to relate to each other.

(3) Jesus summarized his law this way:

(Mark 12:29-31)

Mark 12:29–31 (NLT)

29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord.

30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’

31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

2- All of us have departed from God’s design.

a- The Bible word for this departure from God’s design is sin. (arrow #1)

(Romans 3:23)

Romans 3:23 (NLT)

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

B- The second circle represents Brokenness (our spiritual condition).

1- We are dead in our tresspasses and sins, resulting in an inner emptiness. (Ephesians 2:1)

Ephesians 2:1 (NLT)

1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.

a- Like King Solomon, we try all kinds of ways to fix our brokenness.

(Ecclesiastes 1:2)

Ecclesiastes 1:2 (NLT)

2 “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”

We try relationships, activities, education, drugs, alcohol, etc., only to find it all empty and meaningless.

2- God has made a remedy for our problem of brokenness.

C- The third circle represents the Gospel.

1- Gospel means good news.

2- God has given us good news that can address our brokenness.

(1 Corinthians 15:2-4)

1 Corinthians 15:2–4 (NLT)

2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.

3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.

4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.

3- We must repent and believe the Good News of Christ in order to escape our brokenness. (arrow #2) (Mark 1:15)

Mark 1:15 (NLT)

15 “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”

4- When we turn from our sins and believe the Gospel, we begin to recover and pursue God’s design for our lives. (Arrow #3)

(2 Corinthians 5:17)

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT)

17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

CONCLUSION: