1 - A God’s Eye View

SLIDE: Scripture

Scripture Genesis 1:1

Genesis 1:1 (NLT)

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

VIDEO: Bumper

SLIDE: Title

Introduction

Welcome! Today we begin a new 4-week series called Cadence. Now, how many of you have an idea of what the word cadence means? I only ask because the general definition of cadence is an interesting one that helps set the tone for the next 4 weeks.

Defined: Cadence - a modulation in reading aloud as implied by the structure and ordering of words and phrases in written text.

Most often, the word cadence is used to describe someone’s voice when speaking or reading… As a side note, I hope you don’t spend the rest of the sermon thinking about the cadence of my voice… And specifically, when reading a book out loud for instance, a good narrator understands that keeping a healthy rhythm is incredibly important. There are sections that need to be read louder, some softer, sometimes long pauses are necessary and sometimes you need to speed through a section to match the heightened drama of the story. I think we can all agree that listening to a book with a horrible narrator is just really awful.

And for those of you in the room who aren’t really into audio books, the same principle is true in music. Just for a moment, think about a song you recently listened to and how the rhythm either adds to or takes away from the overall feel.

Illustration: Find a creative way to demonstrate rhythm. Maybe this looks like pulling out an instrument or having the worship team play a melodic rhythm. Then, let your congregation hear a rhythm played by them that is clearly off beat.

You see, whether our rhythm is orderly, or chaotic, there’s still a rhythm. And just like music, reading, or public speaking; there’s a right rhythm, as well as a wrong one. In other words, there’s a healthy cadence and an unhealthy one. One of the first places we see Godly cadence is in the rhythm of creation. When God created the cosmos, He was clearly in “the groove,” to steal a phrase from the musicians in the room, and all that He created He said was....good.

And if it was good enough for God then it’s good enough for us. Let’s begin our series by opening together to the book of Genesis, the very beginning.

Main Teaching

I’m sure that many of you have already heard these verses, or even memorized some of them in Bible studies or Sunday school. But for those of you who’ve never heard this before, the Bible begins like this; “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) As God proceeded to create, He entered into a beautiful cadence of creation and rest.

“And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” (Genesis 1:3-5)

It’s interesting that at the beginning of creation, God created a day by taking the light and separating it from the darkness. By creating the light and constructing a day, God was able to enter into His groove of creation; “And there was evening, and there was morning…”

He gave us the sunrise and sunset - two of the most beautiful events in all of creation - and it’s right where God started. In the rhythm and cadence of a day.

Admittedly there’s a lot that can happen in a single 24 hour period. In fact, if you’ve ever watched the popular TV show 24 you know just how much can be crammed into a single day. Some days seem to zoom past us, and some seem to drag on and on. Every one of them are different, even if we work diligently to have the same “routine,” there are always going to be events that remain outside of our control.

But I bet there are few of us in the room that think too much about the cadence of a day… The rhythms, grooves, and habits that we so easily step into and out of throughout the course of a day. And to be fair, it’s often difficult when you’re in the middle of something to be able to step back and see the bigger picture. For many of us it takes some kind of interruption or disturbance to get us to stop and reconsider the cadence of our lives.

So, what if we could see things from a different perspective? What if we could see things from a God’s eye view? What can we learn from the creation account in Genesis about how God stays in rhythm?

God’s Design

The first point, which we’ve already identified is that God broke up His creative process into separate days of creation. Using this process, He created the skies, the oceans, the land, and then in Genesis 1:14 God created the sun, moon, and stars as, “signs to further help mark seasons, days, and years.”

Think about what I just said for a moment. God created the sun, moon, and stars to serve as signs which mark out for us the different seasons, days, and years. God built rhythm into the creation. The sunrise and sunset are not only beautiful, majestic, and inspiring, but they are signal flares which help us stay in the groove that God gifted us. To further emphasize this last point, it was only after this that God created all the living creatures… Land and sea, air and water… all of them. And then of course in Genesis 1:26-27 God created humans as well;

“Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So, God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

Humans were created after the cadence of creation had been established and after the “signal flares” were made to light up the morning and evening skies. These things weren’t after thoughts, they were intentional and meaningful. The seasons, days, and years are integral parts of human life and flourishing.

In short, if you’re seeing things from God’s perspective, you’ll see & understand the beauty in these boundaries.

Light and dark.

Morning and evening.

Sunrise and sunset.

SLIDE: God’s Design

The daily cadence that God created dates back to the literal beginning of time. One could argue that it is the earliest gift our heavenly Father ever gave to us.

So, what happens when you try to bend the boundary or ignore the signal flares that God so graciously gave?

The Chaos of Life

I think we can all agree that life is an absolute chaotic mess sometimes. Not only can it be out of rhythm, it’s not even on the same sheet music some days. There are things that happen to us that are so outside and beyond our control that it makes it impossible to plan ahead.

I would argue that this is precisely the reason to humbly submit yourself to the cadence that God has created. When you try, night after night to stretch the hours and week after week to finish the project or meet the goal, you burn yourself out. We’ll talk about this more next week, but your body itself is biologically tuned to rhythm. And when you try to push that boundary or move past that natural barrier bad things eventually happen.

Illustration: Preparing for finals at Taylor after being ill for weeks during the semester.

You can handle it for a little while, and some people can sustain a superhuman pace for longer than others, but sooner or later you’ll find that you simply cannot kick the can any further down the road. Eventually God’s limits and designs for creation will catch up to you and you’ll have a dilemma.

Remember the definition of cadence that I shared with you earlier. It is a modulation in reading aloud as implied by the structure and ordering of words and phrases in written text. Cadence is rhythm that rises and falls… There are peaks and valleys…. Highs and lows. Life is best lived in a similar fashion… Sometimes you have to push and move faster and other times you can slow down, rest, and recharge. That’s the way God designed it and that’s the way we flourish as created beings.

You can’t live at 100 mph all the time and I don’t know who needs to hear this today, but chaos is not God’s best for you.

SLIDE: The Chaos of Life

Cadence is.

Healthy, day in day out cadence is God’s best for you.

Our Daily Bread

So, I’m sure that some of you are thinking, “if cadence is God’s best, then what does that look like for me? How do I stay in the boundaries that God created? How do I live a life of flourishing and health?”

Those are great questions. And I believe the Bible has a lot of good answers, but let’s just look at 2 of them.

First, turn with me to Psalm 1;

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.” Psalm 1:1-3

In just a few verses, the Psalmist gives us some incredible advice for healthy living. I’m sure you’ve heard people talk about distancing themselves from or cutting off toxic relationships in their lives. Well, the psalmist identifies the wicked, the mocker, and the sinner as people to avoid.

SLIDE: Harsh Truth

The harsh truth is that people who don’t love God also won’t care one way or another about the boundaries and gifts that He has given.

And they definitely won’t see the value in, “meditating on the law day and night.”

But there it is again for us, day and night. Morning and evening. Daily rhythm. The law is a reference to scripture, and so another way of saying this is to say that your daily routine and cadence should include a regular time in the Bible. And if you do the things Psalm 1 says, then you will be,

“like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.”

That’s a picture of flourishing.

SLIDE: The Healthy Path

And that’s not to say that life will be easy or that you won’t have any problems… But to say that this is the path to health and flourishing; Distance yourself from toxic relationships and build in time with the Word of God.

Secondly,

Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6:11 to ask God for our “Daily Bread.” Jesus’ advice, and what He understood all too well is that, “each day has enough trouble of its own,” (Matthew 6:34) and that we are to go boldly to our heavenly Father seeking our needs every day.

Obviously, you can still pray and ask God for future things, but the point is that both Psalm 1 and Jesus, via the Lord’s prayer, reinforce the power of daily living.

If the creation of the day was God’s first act, His first gift to us, then can I ask what you are doing with the gift? How are you staying focused and present within that divine boundary? The Psalmist says in Psalm 118:24 that, “Today is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Are you finding reasons to rejoice today?

Are you accepting of and open to the natural cadence of life?

SLIDE: Ebbs & Flows

The ebbs and flows, the highs and lows, these are the days the Lord has made for you?

Conclusion

Every day is truly a gift. It doesn’t always feel that way, and sometimes the beauty truly lies in the eyes of the beholder… But a healthy cadence is a way of life. And in the next few weeks we are going to continue our journey together by exploring personhood, performance, and passion. Each of these specific subjects has a cadence - a rhythm - a groove to it. Each of these subjects has a healthy and an unhealthy cadence that can lead to or distract from living a flourishing life.

This coming week I want to challenge you to go back and reread Genesis chapter 1.

SLIDE: Truths for Your Life

Watch for the rhythm and beauty that happens throughout the process of creation.

Take some time to watch a sunrise, sunset, or gaze at the stars.

I pray that after doing those things you will be able to say, just like the psalmist did in Psalm 8:3-4;

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”

I pray that you will have a deeper understanding and appreciation of God’s love and care for you, your life, and your health. As I said before, chaos is not God’s best for you. Cadence is. And a healthy cadence, rhythm, or groove - - - whatever you want to call it - - - leads to a life of flourishing.

Let’s pray together.

Prayer: “God, help us to recognize and appreciate the rhythm you have built into your creation. Help us to humble ourselves to the divine boundaries you’ve given and lead us to a fulfilling life of flourishing.”

Amen!