God: He Created us to Be With Him

Sermon Introduction: As we head into the season of celebration regarding the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we are going to begin a new series entitled:

Life in Six Words

Full disclosure this series is not original with me. It’s based on an outline provided by an Evangelistic Outreach called Dare to Share. These 6 words form an acrostic that spells out the word GOSPEL. I want to give you the 6 words today and then each week, including today, we will look at one of the those words...

The first word that we will look at today is:

GOD—God created us to be with Him (Genesis 1-2)

OUR—Our sins separate us from God (Genesis 3)

SINS—Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Genesis 4-Malachi 4)

PAYING—Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again (Matthew-Luke)

EVERYONE—Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life (John)

LIFE—Life starts with Jesus now and lasts forever (Acts-Revelation)

Today we being with the message

“God Created us to be With Him.”

It’s important to recognize

God Created

When we break this phrase down we come face to face with the reality that God is the Creator. This is one of the FOUNDATIONAL truths of Scripture.

Scripture does not teach that the universe is the result of random chance. Scripture does not teach that nothing produced everything. Scripture teaches...

Genesis 1:1 NKJV

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The universe is God’s CREATION! The creation took place “in the beginning.” God had no beginning, because God is eternal…this is a reference to the beginning of the universe.

Moses, as he is writing these words, introduces us to God as the FOUNDER and CREATOR of all LIFE!

Warren Wiersbe notes the following:

Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament Chapter 1

No scientist or historian can improve upon, “In the beginning God …” This simple statement refutes the atheist, who says there is no God; the agnostic, who claims we cannot know God; the polytheist who worships many gods; the pantheist, who says that “all nature is God”; the materialist, who claims that matter is eternal and not created; and the fatalist, who teaches that there is no divine plan behind creation and history

Not only does Moses affirm this truth but so did many other Biblical writers including John in John 1:3

John 1:3 NKJV

All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

and the author of Hebrews in

Hebrews 11:3 NKJV

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

It is important that we understand and trust this vital truth that all of Scripture begins with. For if we cannot trust Genesis 1:1 then how can we trust John 3:16?

God is the Creator and the Sustainer of the Universe. God exists and we are not Him. God spoke the world into existence and He upholds this same world with the word of His power!

Note Hebrews 1:1-3

Hebrews 1:1–3 NKJV

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Not only do we find in Genesis that God created the universe but in the next chapter we find that...

God Created Us in His Image

If you still have your Bibles open look down to verse 26...

Genesis 1:26 NKJV

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

This happened on Day 6 of creation. God had created everything prior to this day, and prior to the creation of mankind to prepare a place for ones who would be created in His image.

Notice also God does not create man from earlier life forms, but rather was formed by God Himself from the dust of the earth.

Everything else we see was SPOKEN into existence. However, mankind was “made.” While God could have spoken us into existence as well, God chose to be very deliberate in our creation!

Then He breathed into the man’s nostrils the breath of life!

Note Genesis 2:7

Genesis 2:7 NKJV

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

It’s also important to note that there is NOTHING else in all of creation that was made in God’s image…NOTHING!

One commentary explains it this way:

Genesis & Exodus Commentary

Being the image of God means that humans share, although imperfectly, in the nature of God—that is, they were given the communicable attributes of intelligence, knowledge, spiritual understanding, creativity, wisdom, love, compassion, holiness, justice, and the like.

Mankind was to serve as God’s representatives on earth and practice dominion and good stewardship over the planet that He gave us to inhabit.

It’s very important for you to understand that God created YOU.

First of all YOU are not an accident and YOU are not a coincidence. If you deny God you are just left with “naturalism.” If there is no higher authority that created us, then we also must assume we have no purpose in life.

But because God created you, you do have PURPOSE!

As we close out this section consider these Scriptures that remind you of this truth:

Psalm 100:3 NKJV

Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Psalm 139:13 NKJV

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.

Jeremiah 1:5 NKJV

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

Isaiah 44:2 NKJV

Thus says the Lord who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you: ‘Fear not, O Jacob My servant; And you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.

Job 31:15 NKJV

Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?

Not only were we created in God’s image but we also see that...

God Created Us!

If you still have your Bible open to Genesis 1, turn the page to Genesis and notice Genesis 2:21-22

Genesis 2:21–22 NKJV

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

God did not just create man, but He also created woman. Without woman the man was incomplete. Without woman the man could not fulfill the Creation Mandate…He could not produce life alone. Without woman man would be lonely BECAUSE GOD CREATED US FOR RELATIONSHIP!

Notice what God said in Genesis 2:18

Genesis 2:18 NKJV

And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

Do not think “helper” is in any way a demeaning term. In Scripture the word “help” or “helper” often refers to God. For instance...

Psalm 33:20 NKJV

Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.

The helper that is SUITABLE for him suggests something that Walter Elwell says “completes a polarity.” The north pole is “suitable” to the south pole…One without the other is incomplete.

God created Adam to be a SOCIAL BEING and at this point He was ALONE. But God created a “suitable helper” for Adam. She supplied what he lacked.

Notice what happens in Genesis 2:24

Genesis 2:24 NKJV

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

They are to become “one flesh.” In other words the two were “united into one.” Together there was UNITY…they were to be united physically, spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally. One commentary said:

Genesis & Exodus Commentary

They came together in body and spirit, sharing everything in common as they enjoyed God’s world together and sought to obey him as one.

Let me just reiterate the truth that marriage can only be between a man and a woman. This is clear from Scripture in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Two women cannot fulfill the Creation Mandate and two men cannot fulfill the Creation Mandate to be fruitful and multiply. For the REPRODUCTIVE system to work as God intended it takes a male and a female!

God created TWO SEXES and only two and He blessed them with the gift of a sexual relationship within the confines of marriage to strengthen their “one flesh” relationship and to be “fruitful and multiply.”

While Scripture does speak of some having a special gift of singleness, that tends to be the exception, rather than the rule in Scripture.

If God has blessed you with the gift of singleness then use that gift for His glory! But if not, don’t try to become someone God never intended you to be.

Finally, we look at the most important truth of today...

God Made Us to be in Relationship With Him

So let’s review: God the Creator Made Us in His image as male and female to be in relationship with Him!

Sadly something came in the way of that relationship. As you may know Adam and Eve rebelled against God and took the fruit from the tree that God had told them not to eat and as a result they suffered SEPARATION from God and their bodies began to deteriorate physically that day.

We see a glimpse of this separation as we turn over to Genesis 3…take a look at verse 8...

Genesis 3:8 NKJV

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Even though Adam and Eve had plummeted mankind into a horrific scenario, God had a plan to redeem us and reconcile us back to Himself!

Just as Adam had his side opened so that a BRIDE could be created, the Last Adam (Jesus Christ) had His side opened while on the cross so His BRIDE (the Church) could also be created!

Paul puts it this way in...

Romans 5:8 NKJV

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Yes it is true we are SINNERS. We have rebelled against God. We deserve His wrath and His judgment. We deserve to be condemned and separated from Him forever.

He saw VALUE in you. Not because of what you’ve done, but in spite of what you’ve done.

When He created you, when He knit you together in your mother’s womb, He created you in His image and there is nothing you have done, or nothing you could do, to diminish your value.

SHOW VIDEO!

The value of the $20 was determined the day it was printed.

The value of your soul was determined the day you were conceived and God stamped His image on you.

Today will you realize His value? Today will you realize He is the “pearl of great price.” He is worthy of turning your back on all you’ve ever done and all you’ve ever known and embrace Him as Your Lord and Savior?!

Let me say to the Christians in the room. The people we are tempted to mock, and ridicule, and call names, and write off as hopeless and helpless causes...

They have value too...

The same God who knit you together in your mother’s womb is the same God who knit them together in their mother’s womb.

The same God who left Heaven and took upon Himself human flesh and laid down His life for you, is the same God who laid down His life for them.

The same blood that was shed to forgive you of your sins is the same blood that is needed to forgive them of their sins.

So instead of throwing stones, let outstretch our arms of kindness and point them to the arms of grace that embraced us and can embrace them as well!

Salvation

Re-dedication

Baptism

Church Membership