Created to Know God
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Every relationship has to start somewhere.
Think about the first time you met your spouse… a best friend. Maybe they made a great first impression, maybe not but a close relationship started.
It’s the same way with our relationship with God… it starts somewhere.
No matter who we are, or where we come from, we each have an idea about God.
I could be that you think He doesn’t exist, or that He just created the world and now sits back and watches it, disinterested.
Maybe for you God is the ultimate 911 service, only to be called upon in an emergency;
Maybe God is a cosmic police officer, waiting and watching to catch you break His laws.
We are often inundated with these images of God early in our lives from our parents, our culture, or even the church.
The problem is none of our images or words can truly capture who God is. We cannot fully capture HIS majesty, glory, and infiniteness.
God is holy, awesome, vast, and eternal. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and HIS ways are higher the our ways.
PRAY
When it comes to our relationship with God, it’s gotta start somewhere. Our limited minds and finite lives simply cannot fathom the height, and the depth, and the greatness of God.
God Reveals HIMSELF to US
God Reveals HIMSELF to US
It is only as God reveals Himself to us that we begin to get an accurate picture of who HE really is.
God reveal HIMSELF to us in three primary ways: through creation, through Jesus Christ, and through the Scriptures.
We only know HIM as HE discloses Himself to us so because of this, we must keep two things constantly in view.
We can know God and have confidence about what HE is like.
At the same time, we must realize that we will never be able to understand HIM completely.
We know enough about God to love, revere, and worship HIM but we must also know that God will remain mysterious and be beyond our comprehension.
One example is the doctrine of the Trinity which is central and unique to our faith as Christians. That the One God has disclosed Himself eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit but at the same time identifies HIMSELF as One God.
Not three gods, or one God in three different modes or functions. But within the one God there are three eternal and distinct persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - who live eternally in loving community.
That is something that is beyond our comprehension but in the very first words of the Bible we see differentiation between God, The Spirit of God, and the Word of God (spoken).
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Here, there is a differentiation between God, The Spirit of God, and the Word of God (spoken)
The beginning of John’s gospel echoes back to the opening words of Genesis but then adds another layer of our understanding.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Word is eternal.
The Word is personal and divine.
The Word is none other then the One we know as Jesus Christ.
Notice the Word is eternal. Before the beginning began, HE already was.
The Word is personal and divine, it is with God and is God.
The Word of Genesis 1 and John 1 is none other then the One we know as Jesus Christ.
I know this is confusing but scholars and theologians have been wrestling with the nature of the Trinity for centuries.
One theologian and preacher known as C H Sprugeon
“Though we may not fully be able to comprehend many aspects of God, as we search for greater knowledge and understanding of HIM, our minds will be expanded, and we will come to know HIM more deeply.” C H Sprugeon
We should always be reminded that we come to receive God on HIS terms, not ours. It’s God who sets the rules and laws even when we don’t understand everything about God. Remember that God is always good, God is always in control and God always has the best in mind for us.
God Reveals HIMSELF to us…
We are Created in the Image of God
We are Created in the Image of God
In Genesis 1 we read that God created everything… the Light, the waters, the atmosphere, the mornings and evenings, the land, the plants, the creatures on land and in the water, the birds in the sky, the livestock… Then finally, God created man.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Man and woman were part of God’s good creation. They were made by HIM for unique relationship and interaction with HIM.
The phrase “image of God” means that there are things true of God that are also true of us. While we are obviously not gods ourselves, we reflect certain characteristics of God’s nature.
From this passage, we learn one characteristic we share with God is that we are made for cooperative participation with God in His work.
God blesses people and tells them to have children and to fill the earth.
God tells them to subdue the earth which means ruling over and taking care of it.
God called man to care for creation and to name the animals that God had created. God invited the man to partner with HIM in HIS creation.
But God invited the man to participate in God’s plan in ways that honor HIM, as an extension of His authority on Earth.
Our work was to reflect HIS - six days he worked so six days we work;
God rested on the seventh day, so we are to rest on the seventh day.
God is the Creator and HE creates us to be creators.
Our stewardship of creation was to reflect HIS care in creating it.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? 5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet.
Another major attribute we share with God is personhood.
God has will, intelligence, and emotion—and so do we.
The most central facet of personhood is the capacity and desire for relationship.
God’s personhood (the Trinity), three co-equal, co-eternal, co-existing persons; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
In other words, God has always existed as a community within Himself.
We are all created in the image of God…
God created humankind for relationship.
God created humankind for relationship.
God didn’t create us because HE was lonely or bored or HE needed our help. God is fully complete without us, yet desires that relationship with us.
When God created everything, HE said that “it was good” but there was only one thing in the whole creation account that HE considered “not good.”
18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
Before Eve, Adam had no other person to relate to so God judged that alone-ness as something that was not good.
Adam was surrounded by the animal kingdom and he even had direct access to God, but God said it was not good because man needed another human being to be his companion.
It’s amazing how the same God who created the universe knows each of us intimately and completely.
HE cares for us and HE loves us.
HE delights over us and desires to be in a relationship with us.
He creates and incredible world to live in, and then gives us the job to care for it.
HE takes the initiative to reveal Himself, and then leaves it to us to respond to HIS loving care.
When we stop to really consider that, our lives can’t ever be the same.
This was God’s original design for us. God’s desire is for us to have a close and deep relationship with HIM.
Jesus is not only our creator but also our redeemer
Jesus is not only our creator but also our redeemer
In Genesis 3, sin entered the world and we see after this point the world becomes increasingly tainted. God’s good world remains, but it has been fundamentally altered because of sin.
Every relationship that we were made for was fractured because of sin.
Instead of intimacy with God, there is fear and hiding.
Instead of intimacy between man and woman, there is shame, hurt, and a struggle for power.
Even creation itself groans under the weight of human disobedience.
Instead of humble obedience to God and joyful delight in His creation, humanity became enslaved to the power of sin. Our inner natures have become bent towards evil. The Bible says that the end result of our sin is death.
Sometimes this death is the by-product of our own sinful choices.
Sometimes it is the result of someone else’s choice, or just living in a marred world.
What is certain, is that we all experience the deadly consequences of sin. And, if that’s not bad enough, the Bible says that unless our sin problem is addressed, we will experience spiritual death, which means being separated from God both now and into eternity.
The good news is, that isn’t the end of the story.
The good news is that our Creator quickly moves to become our Redeemer and implements a plan to deal with our sin, bringing us back into relationship with God Himself.
In spite of our sin and rebellion, God does not remain distant from our world, but enters this world to restore us to Himself, and set the world back to the way He designed it to be.
God’s restoration began in Genesis 12 by calling Abraham, into a special relationship with Him. From Abraham comes a great nation (God’s people, the Jews, Israel). Eventually from that nation comes a Savior (also called the Messiah), who is God’s instrument to bring salvation to the world.
What is so amazing about the Savior is He is much more than a messenger, teacher, or spiritual leader. He is God in human form. God, Himself comes to the world as Jesus Christ and begins to reverse the curses of sin and death that have ravaged humanity since the time of Adam and Eve. He comes to the center of our damaged souls and deals directly with the disease the Bible calls sin. We are redeemed and restored by Jesus, who took sin and its consequences upon Himself.
The Bible tells us the “wages of sin is death”—we have earned it—so Jesus died to take the “wages” of sin upon Himself.
He dies the death we were already dying because of sin, to give us the life we could never attain on our own.
When He died on the cross, our old selves died with Him; and when Jesus rose from the dead, our new selves rose with Him.
He restored our relationship with God by providing a means of forgiveness of the debt we owed.
He broke the power of sin over us, so that we may overcome the evil in ourselves and in our world.
Jesus’ death on the cross was the necessary means by which the root of sin and death could be overcome.
Our sin and rebellion from God actually made us His enemy. This makes Jesus’ sacrifice for us even more incredible.
At just the right time, when we were powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Jesus made it clear that this path back to God was open to everyone regardless of their gender, heritage, religious dedication, guilt, accomplishments, or any other human measurement.
Salvation through Jesus is a gift of grace offered to you by God. But, it is a gift you must individually receive. Being raised by Christian parents, going to church, living in America, or being a good person is no substitute for the faith we must live out each day.
Now the great and epic story of God’s salvation of the world can be your story too.
How do you accept Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf? Just think of your ABC’s.
Admit you’re a sinner.
Believe in Jesus and what He has done.
Commit to follow Jesus.
A. Admit you’re a sinner.
You are separated from God and are not able to bridge the gap between you and God through your own effort.
“Trying harder” is not the answer, but rather acknowledging that you can’t save yourself. Authentically admit this to God and allow Him to build the bridge to a relationship with you.
B. Believe in Jesus and what He has done.
To believe in Jesus is to agree with what the Bible says about Him, and what He says about Himself.
Jesus was 100% human and 100% God.
He died on the cross as a sacrifice to make payment for your sins, and then rose from the dead conquering death for all who believe in Him.
Baptism is our outward response and declaration of the inward decision to believe and follow Jesus.
C. Commit to follow Jesus.
Commitment is more than a sentimental prayer or intellectual assent.
Commitment is being certain that belief in Jesus alone saves you, and then living that truth. It means making Jesus your personal friend, leader, confidant, and object of worship.
It is not enough for Jesus to offer you salvation. It is not enough for you to just understand it.
You must decide to take Jesus up on His offer. The ball is in your court.
Take Away
If God still reveals Himself to us… if we are still created in the image of God even though sin separated us from God… if God still wants to be in relationship with us and … if Jesus is still not only is our creator but HE’s also our redeemer.
Then draw near to God TODAY.
Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
Set aside time to spend time with Jesus everyday.
Getting to know God more and more by reading God’s Word, by praying, by talking and listening to God, and through repentance.
We are also created to be in relationship with one another as HIS church.
Surround yourself with other believers so your faith can be strengthened.
