1 00:00:05,110 --> 00:00:06,190 Anyway, it's good to see you guys. 2 00:00:06,190 --> 00:00:08,990 If you have your Bible, you can open the Genesis Chapter One. 3 00:00:11,270 --> 00:00:14,110 I suspect you're familiar where with where it is, but if you're 4 00:00:14,110 --> 00:00:17,950 not, it's the very beginning and all right, the very beginning of 5 00:00:17,950 --> 00:00:20,910 your Bible. Genesis chapter one is where 6 00:00:20,910 --> 00:00:24,950 we'll we'll get started today and we'll actually hang out in 7 00:00:24,950 --> 00:00:29,670 Genesis 1-2 and three for the next several weeks as we begin 8 00:00:29,670 --> 00:00:33,880 this new series. Sorry, I forgot to introduce 9 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:34,760 myself. I'm Kyle. 10 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:37,120 So if you're visiting with us, thank you for visiting serve as 11 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:39,320 lead pastor. Here want to welcome you Today 12 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:42,800 we are beginning a new series that we're calling Happy the 13 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:47,720 Home God's Design for Family. So Happy the Home God's Design 14 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:51,880 for Families. This series title I stole from a 15 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:57,520 song and old hymn. The hymn is is titled Happy the 16 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:01,160 home when God is there. Happy the Home when God is 17 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,900 there. And so didn't completely rob it, 18 00:01:03,900 --> 00:01:05,900 but certainly rob the most of it. 19 00:01:06,780 --> 00:01:08,180 Happy the home when God is there. 20 00:01:08,180 --> 00:01:10,780 And that's that's really the essence of the series. 21 00:01:10,780 --> 00:01:12,980 I mean that's the essence of what we're trying to do is we 22 00:01:12,980 --> 00:01:15,900 think about God's design for families. 23 00:01:16,340 --> 00:01:19,580 There's a lot we have to confess on the front end of this about 24 00:01:19,580 --> 00:01:23,780 who God is, who we are and who we are not. 25 00:01:24,220 --> 00:01:26,740 And and what God has said goes right. 26 00:01:26,740 --> 00:01:30,380 And so we have to dive into those things before we can ever 27 00:01:30,380 --> 00:01:34,660 really begin to answer the questions that come to us about 28 00:01:34,660 --> 00:01:38,940 what is what is a man and what are his responsibilities, what 29 00:01:38,940 --> 00:01:41,980 are what is a woman, what are her responsibilities, How do 30 00:01:41,980 --> 00:01:44,780 these things come together? How do these two come together 31 00:01:44,780 --> 00:01:48,540 to build homes and societies and that sort of thing? 32 00:01:50,660 --> 00:01:52,940 But we want to get into those questions. 33 00:01:52,940 --> 00:01:54,940 We want to be able to answer those things. 34 00:01:54,940 --> 00:01:58,060 We want to be able to figure those things out from God's 35 00:01:58,060 --> 00:02:01,740 work. And so I just sat down during 36 00:02:01,740 --> 00:02:04,860 the Sunday school hour with a group of families and a young 37 00:02:04,860 --> 00:02:07,940 lady who are joining, looking to join the church. 38 00:02:07,940 --> 00:02:11,620 They're they're exploring that. And one of the things we say at 39 00:02:11,740 --> 00:02:16,620 in the very first week of what we call membership Matters is we 40 00:02:16,620 --> 00:02:20,620 say that we are committed to God's word. 41 00:02:21,860 --> 00:02:25,540 Now that sounds like something every church says, right? 42 00:02:26,060 --> 00:02:29,980 And in theory, every church probably says something to that 43 00:02:29,980 --> 00:02:32,660 effect. But what commitment to God's 44 00:02:32,660 --> 00:02:35,460 Word looks like varies from place to place. 45 00:02:36,060 --> 00:02:39,020 It it varies from person to person, or from Christian to 46 00:02:39,020 --> 00:02:43,180 Christian. But here we are, deeply 47 00:02:43,180 --> 00:02:48,260 convinced, deeply convicted, that it does not matter what man 48 00:02:48,260 --> 00:02:50,860 says. It does not matter what man says 49 00:02:50,860 --> 00:02:53,940 about the home, or what man says about the family, or what man 50 00:02:53,940 --> 00:02:57,640 says about society, or what man says even about God's Word. 51 00:02:57,640 --> 00:03:02,720 God dictates in that he has spoken already, in that he has 52 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:05,880 revealed Himself through nature one. 53 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:11,080 But through his Word 2nd and more fully, we can know who God 54 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:13,520 is, we can know what he commands, we can know what he 55 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:17,000 desires, we can know all that we need to know for life. 56 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:21,760 And Godless God's Word is sufficient for everything 57 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:25,350 pertaining to life. And Godless God's Word is 58 00:03:25,350 --> 00:03:27,990 infallible. It is without error. 59 00:03:28,870 --> 00:03:32,590 God's word is complete. We don't need new revelation 60 00:03:32,590 --> 00:03:35,310 from the Lord. We don't get new revelation from 61 00:03:35,310 --> 00:03:36,910 God. That is extra biblical. 62 00:03:36,910 --> 00:03:41,750 Any revelation that comes to us from God by His Spirit now must 63 00:03:41,750 --> 00:03:47,950 line up with His word. And so we are deeply convicted 64 00:03:47,950 --> 00:03:53,070 that God's Word gives us our marching orders. 65 00:03:53,070 --> 00:03:56,470 So to. But the Creator has told 66 00:03:56,470 --> 00:04:01,910 creation how it works. Not only has he said this is how 67 00:04:01,910 --> 00:04:05,310 it works, He has set it into motion so that it works that 68 00:04:05,310 --> 00:04:09,430 way. It's not just that Creation has 69 00:04:09,430 --> 00:04:14,270 to figure it out after God has spoken, it's that God makes it 70 00:04:14,270 --> 00:04:18,350 work that way also. So we know and then we live it 71 00:04:18,350 --> 00:04:23,830 out and things are blessed. Happy is the home when God is 72 00:04:23,830 --> 00:04:25,650 there. Amen. 73 00:04:26,810 --> 00:04:28,850 Amen. So if you would, would you stand 74 00:04:28,850 --> 00:04:30,650 to your feet? We're going to read Genesis 1. 75 00:04:31,810 --> 00:04:34,890 Admittedly, I'm going to read a lengthy passage today, so if 76 00:04:34,890 --> 00:04:36,530 you're unable to stand right now, that's fine. 77 00:04:36,650 --> 00:04:42,170 I recognize we stood for several minutes singing Genesis One. 78 00:04:42,170 --> 00:04:47,570 I'm going to go through 2/3 just so we get all seven days of 79 00:04:47,570 --> 00:04:49,130 creation. You were attending a church 80 00:04:49,130 --> 00:04:51,810 today that believes in a literal 7 day creation. 81 00:04:51,970 --> 00:04:54,010 All right. And so we want to read that 82 00:04:54,770 --> 00:04:58,850 Genesis chapter one. In the beginning, God created 83 00:04:58,850 --> 00:05:02,010 the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and 84 00:05:02,010 --> 00:05:04,730 void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. 85 00:05:05,130 --> 00:05:08,130 And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the 86 00:05:08,130 --> 00:05:10,890 waters. And God said, let there be 87 00:05:11,010 --> 00:05:12,770 light. And there was light. 88 00:05:13,370 --> 00:05:15,330 And God saw that the light was good. 89 00:05:15,330 --> 00:05:17,690 And God separated the light from the darkness. 90 00:05:18,130 --> 00:05:21,690 God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. 91 00:05:22,370 --> 00:05:25,290 And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day. 92 00:05:26,050 --> 00:05:29,090 And God said, Let there be an expanse in the midst of the 93 00:05:29,090 --> 00:05:32,170 waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters. 94 00:05:32,170 --> 00:05:35,410 And God made the expanse, and separated the waters that were 95 00:05:35,410 --> 00:05:38,250 under the expanse from the waters that were above the 96 00:05:38,250 --> 00:05:40,210 expanse. And it was so. 97 00:05:40,570 --> 00:05:42,450 And God called the expanse heaven. 98 00:05:42,770 --> 00:05:45,570 And there was evening, and there was morning, the second day. 99 00:05:46,250 --> 00:05:49,730 And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered 100 00:05:49,730 --> 00:05:53,010 together into one place, and let the dry land appear. 101 00:05:53,250 --> 00:05:57,690 And it was so God called the dry land earth, And the waters that 102 00:05:57,690 --> 00:05:59,730 were gathered together he called sees. 103 00:06:00,050 --> 00:06:03,330 And God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth 104 00:06:03,330 --> 00:06:06,810 sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit, trees 105 00:06:06,810 --> 00:06:10,250 bearing fruit, And which is it? And which is their seed? 106 00:06:10,610 --> 00:06:12,970 Each according to its kind on the earth. 107 00:06:13,290 --> 00:06:17,490 And it was so the earth brought forth vegetation, plants 108 00:06:17,490 --> 00:06:21,070 yielding seed according to their own ties, and trees bearing 109 00:06:21,070 --> 00:06:24,350 fruit, and which is their seed, each according to its kind. 110 00:06:24,630 --> 00:06:27,270 And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there 111 00:06:27,270 --> 00:06:30,550 was morning, the third day. And God said, Let there be 112 00:06:30,550 --> 00:06:33,470 lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from 113 00:06:33,470 --> 00:06:36,750 the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for 114 00:06:36,750 --> 00:06:39,910 days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the 115 00:06:39,910 --> 00:06:41,910 heavens, to give light upon the earth. 116 00:06:42,270 --> 00:06:44,910 And it was so. And God made the two great 117 00:06:44,910 --> 00:06:47,910 lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser 118 00:06:47,910 --> 00:06:50,270 light to rule the night and the stars. 119 00:06:50,750 --> 00:06:54,230 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on 120 00:06:54,230 --> 00:06:57,190 the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to 121 00:06:57,190 --> 00:06:58,870 separate the light from the darkness. 122 00:06:59,030 --> 00:07:01,710 And God saw that it was good. And there was the evening, and 123 00:07:01,710 --> 00:07:06,310 there was morning, the 4th day. And God said, let the waters 124 00:07:06,310 --> 00:07:10,950 swarm, let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures, and 125 00:07:10,950 --> 00:07:13,590 let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the 126 00:07:13,590 --> 00:07:15,990 heavens. So God created the great sea 127 00:07:15,990 --> 00:07:19,190 creatures, and every living creature that moves with which 128 00:07:19,190 --> 00:07:22,290 the water swarm according to their kinds, and every winged 129 00:07:22,290 --> 00:07:26,010 bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 130 00:07:26,010 --> 00:07:29,090 And God bless them, saying, be fruitful and multiply, and fill 131 00:07:29,090 --> 00:07:32,530 the waters and the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. 132 00:07:33,050 --> 00:07:35,650 And there was evening, and there was morning the 5th day. 133 00:07:36,170 --> 00:07:39,690 And God said, let the earth bring forth living creatures 134 00:07:39,690 --> 00:07:43,330 according to their kinds, livestock and creeping things, 135 00:07:43,330 --> 00:07:45,490 and beast of the earth according to their kinds. 136 00:07:45,730 --> 00:07:48,250 And it was so. And God made the beast of the 137 00:07:48,250 --> 00:07:50,930 earth according to their kinds, and the livestock according to 138 00:07:50,930 --> 00:07:54,090 their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according 139 00:07:54,090 --> 00:07:56,450 to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 140 00:07:57,330 --> 00:08:01,490 Then God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness, 141 00:08:01,490 --> 00:08:04,650 and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the 142 00:08:04,650 --> 00:08:07,290 birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the 143 00:08:07,290 --> 00:08:10,810 earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 144 00:08:11,290 --> 00:08:14,410 So God created man in his own image, and the image of God he 145 00:08:14,410 --> 00:08:17,420 created him male and female. He created them. 146 00:08:18,220 --> 00:08:20,140 And God bless them. And God said to them, be 147 00:08:20,140 --> 00:08:23,140 fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and 148 00:08:23,140 --> 00:08:25,580 have the minion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of 149 00:08:25,580 --> 00:08:28,300 the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the 150 00:08:28,300 --> 00:08:30,940 earth. And God said, Behold, I have 151 00:08:30,940 --> 00:08:34,580 given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all 152 00:08:34,580 --> 00:08:39,179 the earth, and every tree with with sorry, with seed and its 153 00:08:39,179 --> 00:08:41,840 fruits you shall have them for food. 154 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:44,560 And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the heavens, 155 00:08:44,560 --> 00:08:47,440 that everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has 156 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:50,440 the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food. 157 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:53,000 And it was so. And God saw everything that he 158 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:55,920 had made, and behold, it was very good. 159 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:59,320 And there was this evening, and there was morning the 6th day. 160 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,520 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host 161 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:04,680 of them. And on the 7th day God finished 162 00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:05,960 his work that he had done and he. 163 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:09,360 Rested on the 7th day from all his work that he had done. 164 00:09:09,820 --> 00:09:13,220 So God bless the 7th day and made it holy, because on it God 165 00:09:13,220 --> 00:09:17,380 rested from all his work that he had done in creation. 166 00:09:17,820 --> 00:09:21,660 This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God, you may be 167 00:09:21,660 --> 00:09:23,900 seated as I pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you 168 00:09:23,900 --> 00:09:26,860 for today. We thank you, Lord, for your 169 00:09:26,860 --> 00:09:29,900 word and for your kindness and giving it, or may it be 170 00:09:29,900 --> 00:09:32,300 instructive, to our hearts and minds today. 171 00:09:32,900 --> 00:09:36,700 May it call us out of darkness and into marvelous light as it 172 00:09:36,700 --> 00:09:41,330 pertains to. Especially our salvation, but 173 00:09:41,330 --> 00:09:44,490 also Lord, as it pertains to our understanding of who you are and 174 00:09:44,490 --> 00:09:48,010 what you have designed us for. The Lord, we love you. 175 00:09:48,090 --> 00:09:50,410 We ask for your help. Now We pray, Lord, that your 176 00:09:50,410 --> 00:09:54,050 spirits would speak to us, that He would reveal your words to 177 00:09:54,050 --> 00:09:56,690 us, that we might understand it and live it. 178 00:09:57,250 --> 00:09:58,730 It's in the name of Christ, I pray. 179 00:09:59,010 --> 00:10:00,570 Amen. Amen. 180 00:10:01,410 --> 00:10:04,570 So from this passage there, there's a few things I think 181 00:10:04,570 --> 00:10:08,330 that we must take special notice of, all right? 182 00:10:08,330 --> 00:10:13,650 The first of which is that God is our creator, God our creator. 183 00:10:14,170 --> 00:10:16,930 If you're taking notes, you can write these things down, but you 184 00:10:16,930 --> 00:10:20,490 have to start here. You have to start with who is 185 00:10:20,490 --> 00:10:23,890 doing the creating, who, who is at work here? 186 00:10:23,890 --> 00:10:26,650 Who is doing the speaking, Who is doing the molding? 187 00:10:26,650 --> 00:10:30,530 Who's who's doing the shaping? Who's doing the calling out of 188 00:10:30,530 --> 00:10:32,690 nothing? That which is now something 189 00:10:32,690 --> 00:10:35,810 right there. There's one who is active here, 190 00:10:35,810 --> 00:10:37,530 and there are many who are passive here. 191 00:10:38,070 --> 00:10:41,710 There are many who are being acted upon by God. 192 00:10:42,750 --> 00:10:46,070 God is the Creator. And so God's Word opens with 193 00:10:46,070 --> 00:10:50,910 this book, Genesis. Genesis is as the Word explains 194 00:10:50,910 --> 00:10:53,550 it's it's describes the beginning of something. 195 00:10:53,550 --> 00:10:55,950 It describes here the beginning of all things. 196 00:10:56,550 --> 00:11:01,750 It's a magnificent of count of all that God has done in 197 00:11:01,750 --> 00:11:04,560 creation. It's a magnificent account of of 198 00:11:04,560 --> 00:11:07,640 how God first created the heavens, how He created the 199 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:11,520 heavens and the earth, and then how He ordered all of it so that 200 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:13,760 it would become His dwelling place. 201 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:18,400 And the opening chapter of this great book, right. 202 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:22,800 This is the God breathes word. All right, This this is, these 203 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:26,800 are His holy scriptures. These are what he means for us 204 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:30,360 to read and to understand so that we might know him and 205 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:34,270 worship him. And in the very first book and 206 00:11:34,270 --> 00:11:37,790 the very first line of the very first book, we read that in the 207 00:11:37,790 --> 00:11:40,750 beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 208 00:11:41,910 --> 00:11:45,430 We learn who God is in the very beginning as we open this book 209 00:11:45,430 --> 00:11:46,830 up. All right. 210 00:11:46,830 --> 00:11:49,350 And so if your practice is to just kind of flip open your 211 00:11:49,350 --> 00:11:52,950 Bible and to read something and then to say the Lord has spoken 212 00:11:52,950 --> 00:11:56,950 today, like, it's not a terrible practice, but it's not the best 213 00:11:56,950 --> 00:11:59,390 practice. The best practice is to open up. 214 00:12:00,210 --> 00:12:02,010 And if you've never read the beginning, it's to read the 215 00:12:02,010 --> 00:12:05,530 beginning of a book. Or how many of you have read Tom 216 00:12:05,530 --> 00:12:07,570 Sawyer. Would it have been beneficial to 217 00:12:07,570 --> 00:12:11,290 you to open up Tom Sawyer to the middle and begin reading there? 218 00:12:11,370 --> 00:12:14,450 No, you don't start any other books that way. 219 00:12:14,450 --> 00:12:18,490 So start God's book with what he says first about him. 220 00:12:18,490 --> 00:12:21,330 It's ordered in a specific way. It's not ordered in a way that 221 00:12:21,330 --> 00:12:23,890 you just flip around. It's ordered in a way that you 222 00:12:23,890 --> 00:12:27,130 read it from beginning to end so that you might know who God is 223 00:12:27,370 --> 00:12:31,040 and worship Him. So God first created the heavens 224 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:32,440 and the earth. We read this here and in this 225 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:39,080 opening chapter we meet the all powerful, the all knowing, 226 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:45,680 transcendent God who sets everything in place by His own 227 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:49,760 wise, wonderful design. He sets it in place according to 228 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:52,760 his own will. It's it's for his own purpose. 229 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:58,560 And so rightly, the emphasis of this chapter as we were reading, 230 00:12:59,510 --> 00:13:04,670 is that everything, the emphasis for everything, is on God 231 00:13:04,670 --> 00:13:09,030 himself. Now we might read it as 232 00:13:09,030 --> 00:13:12,510 creation, right? And we might say, well, he here 233 00:13:12,510 --> 00:13:16,830 in verse 26 and 27 and 28, and look how he created me. 234 00:13:17,190 --> 00:13:20,710 He created us and get really excited about that. 235 00:13:20,710 --> 00:13:22,630 And it's good and right to do so. 236 00:13:23,030 --> 00:13:25,230 But you can't start there. Who created you? 237 00:13:27,650 --> 00:13:30,490 You have to decide. You have to know who has 238 00:13:30,490 --> 00:13:35,690 designed you in order to know what your design even is, what 239 00:13:35,690 --> 00:13:38,890 its purpose is, how you might fulfill it, How you might live a 240 00:13:38,890 --> 00:13:41,850 life that is truly blessed. Because not only did He create, 241 00:13:41,850 --> 00:13:44,930 but He blessed the the first man and woman and gave them a 242 00:13:44,930 --> 00:13:48,210 command to to be fruitful and multiply, right? 243 00:13:49,050 --> 00:13:52,290 And so to know how to do that, we must know who God is. 244 00:13:52,570 --> 00:13:53,850 That's the point I'm trying to make. 245 00:13:54,650 --> 00:13:57,290 We will must know who. He is. 246 00:13:57,560 --> 00:14:01,920 The emphasis here is on how God orders and structures 247 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:04,760 everything. He's behind it all. 248 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:10,120 Even today, even post fall, God orders and structures and things 249 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:13,520 are still designed in such a way that they must operate according 250 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:17,760 to His plan in order for them to best operate. 251 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:23,000 And so how he speaks, how things come into being, all of that 252 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:25,630 matters. If we're to understand the 253 00:14:25,630 --> 00:14:28,430 purpose of man, of the man and the woman who were created. 254 00:14:28,430 --> 00:14:30,950 If we're to understand the purpose of the the man and the 255 00:14:30,950 --> 00:14:34,510 woman, the boys and the girls who are sitting here today for 256 00:14:34,510 --> 00:14:37,030 to understand the purpose of the household, for to understand the 257 00:14:37,030 --> 00:14:40,510 purpose of the church, for to understand the purpose of all 258 00:14:40,510 --> 00:14:44,790 things, then we must see that at its beginning is God. 259 00:14:45,550 --> 00:14:49,110 At its genesis, we find a father. 260 00:14:49,190 --> 00:14:51,950 Who speaks? We find God. 261 00:14:53,250 --> 00:14:56,290 He is our creator. He created everything, and he 262 00:14:56,290 --> 00:14:59,890 structured his creation in such a way that it's ordered 263 00:14:59,890 --> 00:15:06,450 according to his design. And on day six, after reading 264 00:15:06,450 --> 00:15:12,890 all that we had read up to verse 26, we read that God finally 265 00:15:12,890 --> 00:15:16,450 creates humans. He creates the first man and the 266 00:15:16,450 --> 00:15:19,810 first woman. He gives them authority to be 267 00:15:19,810 --> 00:15:24,210 his vice Regents, if you will, right to to carry out the things 268 00:15:24,210 --> 00:15:28,170 that he's ordered and designed under his rule. 269 00:15:28,410 --> 00:15:31,090 They are not rulers. In and of themselves they are. 270 00:15:31,890 --> 00:15:34,130 Rulers. Lights, if you will There. 271 00:15:34,130 --> 00:15:36,090 It's a rule. According to his rule. 272 00:15:37,210 --> 00:15:39,290 They only reign because he reigns. 273 00:15:41,330 --> 00:15:44,370 They're there to govern all these living things that God has 274 00:15:44,370 --> 00:15:47,310 created. And so this opening chapter not 275 00:15:47,310 --> 00:15:51,830 only establishes who God is, it establishes A hierarchy there. 276 00:15:51,870 --> 00:15:54,550 There's a hierarchy of authority that takes place. 277 00:15:54,790 --> 00:15:57,710 Here God commissions the man and the woman to govern. 278 00:15:58,430 --> 00:16:01,150 You see, the man and the woman do not dictate to God what he is 279 00:16:01,150 --> 00:16:03,390 to govern. They do not tell him what he is 280 00:16:03,390 --> 00:16:06,470 to do, how he is to March on or to March forward. 281 00:16:06,750 --> 00:16:11,270 God tells them be fruitful, multiply, subdue the earth, 282 00:16:11,270 --> 00:16:15,350 exercise dominion. God gives them their orders. 283 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:18,960 And we'll see in the coming weeks that in the way that a man 284 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:23,120 is designed and the way that a woman is designed, he can carry 285 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:25,000 out, by the redemption of Christ. 286 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:28,400 We can carry out the work that God has given us. 287 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:33,240 We can do the things that the Lord has laid before us. 288 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:37,840 And so this opening chapter establishes these things for us. 289 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:44,740 God has made man and woman. I'll use the word vice Regents 290 00:16:44,740 --> 00:16:48,060 again. But He's done this so that the 291 00:16:48,060 --> 00:16:52,260 whole earth should become the temple of God, so that the the 292 00:16:52,260 --> 00:16:54,660 place in which He dealt dwells with His people. 293 00:16:54,660 --> 00:16:57,460 That He intends to dwell eternity and eternally with his 294 00:16:57,460 --> 00:17:02,020 people should display His glory, but the whole earth might be 295 00:17:02,020 --> 00:17:04,420 full of His. Glory, as one prophet wrote. 296 00:17:06,420 --> 00:17:09,859 So God, I'd like for you to write this down. 297 00:17:09,859 --> 00:17:13,910 God created man and woman in his own image to glorify himself. 298 00:17:15,310 --> 00:17:17,790 That's kind of the bottom line of what we're reading here in 299 00:17:17,790 --> 00:17:19,630 Genesis. Chapter one is that God created 300 00:17:19,630 --> 00:17:22,630 man and woman in his own image to glorify himself. 301 00:17:22,630 --> 00:17:28,870 Now, this is not the working of a madman. 302 00:17:28,870 --> 00:17:32,350 This is not the workings of an egotistical dictator. 303 00:17:34,270 --> 00:17:39,910 All right, it if the Creator and I've made this point before, but 304 00:17:39,910 --> 00:17:44,830 it's worth making again. If the Creator did not create in 305 00:17:44,830 --> 00:17:49,590 such a way that He receives the glory, whatever He creates to 306 00:17:49,590 --> 00:17:52,310 receive glory is worthy of our worship. 307 00:17:52,310 --> 00:17:56,670 And He is not right, because He would be saying that those 308 00:17:56,670 --> 00:18:00,630 things are worthy of worship. Well, what He has done is He has 309 00:18:00,630 --> 00:18:04,280 revealed His glory to us in His creation. 310 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:06,720 This is what Psalm 19 and Romans chapter one. 311 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:10,440 These are the points they're making that God has set into 312 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:14,680 motion, if you will, the praise of His glorious grace in the 313 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:18,800 things that He's created, just in the fact that He's laid out 314 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,040 for us. A sun and a moon and stars and 315 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:26,760 days and weeks and months and years, seasons. 316 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:32,660 All of this points. To a creator, This is why you 317 00:18:32,660 --> 00:18:35,300 end up with so many gods around the world as people look at 318 00:18:35,300 --> 00:18:39,300 those things and their worship falls short of the Creator and 319 00:18:39,300 --> 00:18:42,620 lands on the creation. They worship the sun because the 320 00:18:42,620 --> 00:18:45,940 sun can be harsh sometimes, and if we don't pay the sun His 321 00:18:45,940 --> 00:18:49,060 proper due, then the sun may cause a drought. 322 00:18:49,060 --> 00:18:51,740 We may not receive any rain, right? 323 00:18:51,740 --> 00:18:54,660 Our crops won't grow, or people won't flourish. 324 00:18:55,740 --> 00:18:58,460 Or you worship a river by which you live. 325 00:18:59,060 --> 00:19:05,420 Or you might worship birds. But all of this is misplaced 326 00:19:05,420 --> 00:19:08,860 worship, according to Romans one they are worshiping the creation 327 00:19:09,060 --> 00:19:12,260 rather than the Creator. Claiming themselves to be wise. 328 00:19:12,260 --> 00:19:18,420 They became fools, Paul writes. And so we must understand that 329 00:19:18,420 --> 00:19:22,380 you and I exist as men and women, boys and girls, to 330 00:19:22,380 --> 00:19:27,350 worship the Creator. We exist for the glory of the 331 00:19:27,350 --> 00:19:29,830 Lord alone. We do not exist for our own 332 00:19:29,830 --> 00:19:34,430 glory. We are not as redeemed people to 333 00:19:34,430 --> 00:19:39,750 be glory seekers. We are to seek the glory of. 334 00:19:39,750 --> 00:19:47,390 Christ alone let's him alone. But naturally, as we'll come to 335 00:19:47,390 --> 00:19:51,750 see in the coming weeks, we are bent towards seeking our own 336 00:19:51,750 --> 00:19:55,340 glory. Sin has broken us. 337 00:19:55,700 --> 00:19:58,580 Sin makes us desire the establishing of our own 338 00:19:58,580 --> 00:20:03,060 kingdoms, of our own places, of carrying out our own will for 339 00:20:03,060 --> 00:20:06,140 our own glory. And this is a problem, and it's 340 00:20:06,140 --> 00:20:10,340 a major problem in households. It's a problem in the way people 341 00:20:10,340 --> 00:20:14,420 attack households because people are convinced that the household 342 00:20:14,420 --> 00:20:19,820 is an old thing that is to be pushed aside for new and better 343 00:20:19,820 --> 00:20:25,750 things like. Longterm singleness, like the 344 00:20:25,750 --> 00:20:27,870 lack of marriage, the lack of children. 345 00:20:27,870 --> 00:20:30,670 We should abort more babies, not save them. 346 00:20:32,150 --> 00:20:34,790 We should have less homes, not more homes. 347 00:20:36,510 --> 00:20:41,150 We should have later and later marriages, not marriage early in 348 00:20:41,150 --> 00:20:44,390 life where you can produce a home together, right? 349 00:20:44,390 --> 00:20:46,070 I mean, these things are out there. 350 00:20:46,070 --> 00:20:49,430 We'll get into a more specifically, I'm not 351 00:20:49,430 --> 00:20:52,830 intentionally being vague, but just for time's sake. 352 00:20:54,390 --> 00:20:57,550 So God created man and woman in this only image to glorify 353 00:20:57,550 --> 00:20:59,910 himself. This is the the bottom line of 354 00:20:59,910 --> 00:21:03,070 what we're looking at today. We have to establish this before 355 00:21:03,070 --> 00:21:05,230 we can deal with these other things in the coming weeks. 356 00:21:08,310 --> 00:21:11,350 The second thing we need to observe here, one is that God is 357 00:21:11,350 --> 00:21:13,910 the creator, right? The second thing is that mankind 358 00:21:14,190 --> 00:21:16,670 is the crown, not the cause of creation. 359 00:21:18,070 --> 00:21:19,990 We are not the cause of creation. 360 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:23,160 We are not even the purpose of creation. 361 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:32,960 But we are a crown of creation, and I'll explain in verse 26. 362 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:36,360 And God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness, 363 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:39,000 and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the 364 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,080 birds of the heavens and over the livestock, and over all the 365 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:44,880 earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 366 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:48,760 So God created man in his own image and the image of God He 367 00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:51,940 created him, male and female. He created them. 368 00:21:52,580 --> 00:21:54,380 And God bless them. And God said to them, be 369 00:21:54,380 --> 00:21:57,220 fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and 370 00:21:57,220 --> 00:22:00,060 have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of 371 00:22:00,060 --> 00:22:03,020 the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the 372 00:22:03,020 --> 00:22:06,260 earth. So mankind is the crown, not the 373 00:22:06,260 --> 00:22:11,860 cause of creation. Let me deal with this. 374 00:22:11,860 --> 00:22:17,620 Mankind not being the cause of creation, one mankind was 375 00:22:17,620 --> 00:22:21,430 created. Last, so it's an easy one to 376 00:22:21,430 --> 00:22:24,190 figure out pretty quickly. Mankind is not the cause of 377 00:22:24,190 --> 00:22:27,990 creation. Mankind has sought in many ways 378 00:22:27,990 --> 00:22:31,310 to become the cause of creation through all of our theorizing 379 00:22:31,310 --> 00:22:35,270 and all of our scientific studies and and what have yous 380 00:22:36,150 --> 00:22:40,670 to try to figure out what caused things to come into being other 381 00:22:40,670 --> 00:22:44,150 than a creator. But we have selled miserably. 382 00:22:45,110 --> 00:22:46,630 None of those are viable theories. 383 00:22:46,630 --> 00:22:49,510 God is the Creator. Mankind is not the cause of 384 00:22:49,510 --> 00:22:53,230 creation, nor with the cause of some theory about creation that 385 00:22:53,230 --> 00:22:55,910 would be more right than what scripture says. 386 00:22:57,390 --> 00:23:02,070 So mankind was created last. I suspect one of the reasons 387 00:23:02,070 --> 00:23:05,790 mankind was created last is so that it might not be thought 388 00:23:05,790 --> 00:23:08,990 about him in any way that he was a helper to God in the creation 389 00:23:08,990 --> 00:23:12,230 of the world. It has a way of humbling you, 390 00:23:13,120 --> 00:23:16,000 right? We are his design, He is our 391 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:17,560 creator. He is the Potter. 392 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:20,840 We are the clay. And we must not malign that holy 393 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:25,240 truth in any kind of way. I didn't mean to rhyme. 394 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:28,880 There, I pulled. This, but to believe that, to 395 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:32,160 believe that he's the Potter you're the clay, breeds 396 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:36,080 humility. You understand, as Paul writes 397 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,920 about the gospel, we hold this treasure that we've received in 398 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:45,430 Christ in jars of clay. I mean the the treasure is 399 00:23:45,630 --> 00:23:52,590 unfathomably great and grand and huge, and it's transforming. 400 00:23:52,630 --> 00:23:55,470 I mean, he literally writes there a few verses later that we 401 00:23:55,470 --> 00:23:58,270 have become new creations in Christ Jesus. 402 00:23:58,270 --> 00:24:01,390 And so there is all these things that are new about us, but we 403 00:24:01,390 --> 00:24:05,750 hold them in a jar of clay. We've been molded together by 404 00:24:05,750 --> 00:24:10,620 the Potter, and so we cannot malign that truth there. 405 00:24:10,620 --> 00:24:14,020 There's humility here. We are prideful people. 406 00:24:14,020 --> 00:24:15,820 Naturally. This is, again, this is the 407 00:24:15,820 --> 00:24:19,260 temptation that Satan brings to Eve, of which Adam and Eve 408 00:24:19,260 --> 00:24:22,820 succumb to, is that they would become their own God. 409 00:24:22,820 --> 00:24:27,900 That is the essence of pride. But when we understand that God 410 00:24:27,900 --> 00:24:33,180 created all things and that we are a part of his creation, that 411 00:24:33,340 --> 00:24:36,740 breeds humility and it breeds reverence. 412 00:24:38,010 --> 00:24:41,210 If you think about God's conversation with Job as he 413 00:24:41,210 --> 00:24:45,290 answers his accusations, Job in the beginning had not sinned 414 00:24:45,290 --> 00:24:46,530 against God. In the beginning. 415 00:24:46,530 --> 00:24:50,090 He he confesses that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, 416 00:24:50,090 --> 00:24:53,050 blessed be the name of the Lord. He tells his wife who was 417 00:24:53,050 --> 00:24:56,690 saying, just curse God and die. He tells her no. 418 00:24:56,690 --> 00:25:01,930 Shall we only receive good from God and not bad also, right? 419 00:25:02,010 --> 00:25:05,450 So he in the beginning is up. He's an upright man. 420 00:25:06,220 --> 00:25:09,220 But as he sits in his boils and he sits in his loss and he sits 421 00:25:09,220 --> 00:25:11,940 with his friends who are bringing these accusations 422 00:25:11,940 --> 00:25:17,060 against him, he begins to become an embittered man and he begins 423 00:25:17,060 --> 00:25:21,620 to question God. And God finally comes to him in 424 00:25:21,620 --> 00:25:23,620 his questions and he says job dress for. 425 00:25:23,620 --> 00:25:32,100 Action like a man, the brothers. It's not a conversation we are 426 00:25:32,100 --> 00:25:41,340 ready for, but one of his opening questions to Job is a 427 00:25:41,340 --> 00:25:42,860 genesis. One question. 428 00:25:44,460 --> 00:25:48,260 He takes him all the way back to the creation and he says, Where 429 00:25:48,260 --> 00:25:51,140 were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? 430 00:25:54,020 --> 00:25:56,260 Tell me if you have understanding. 431 00:25:58,060 --> 00:25:59,660 That's what it means to dress for action. 432 00:25:59,660 --> 00:26:01,780 Like a man. And we're not ready for it. 433 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:05,800 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? 434 00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:10,040 This has a way of humbling a man who is ready to pridefully 435 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:12,720 assault the Lord with his accusations. 436 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,480 And then you come to see that you do not even understand the 437 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:19,920 foundations of the earth, let alone the plans of Providence. 438 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:26,640 And so it is also an honor, though it's humbling, to be made 439 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:28,480 last. But here we see that it's an 440 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:32,490 honor that we are made. Last, by God, the creation order 441 00:26:32,490 --> 00:26:36,330 advances from that which was less perfect to that which is 442 00:26:36,330 --> 00:26:40,570 more so. God got prepared the home. 443 00:26:40,810 --> 00:26:43,490 First. He prepared the earth 1st, and 444 00:26:43,490 --> 00:26:46,130 then He creates man out of the dust of the ground, the same 445 00:26:46,130 --> 00:26:50,090 dust that he creates the beast from, and the same dust to which 446 00:26:50,090 --> 00:26:53,970 will go. But he creates a man from the 447 00:26:53,970 --> 00:26:55,970 dust of the ground. He creates the woman from his 448 00:26:55,970 --> 00:26:58,730 side, and he he's giving them a home. 449 00:27:00,910 --> 00:27:04,590 When he first breathed life into him, and Adam opens his eyes to 450 00:27:04,590 --> 00:27:06,750 see, he doesn't see a nothingness. 451 00:27:08,870 --> 00:27:13,670 He he sees a world perfect. He sees a world complete, a 452 00:27:13,670 --> 00:27:16,830 world that lacks nothing in many ways. 453 00:27:19,710 --> 00:27:23,590 When Adam opened his eyes to see the world that he saw, it's the 454 00:27:23,590 --> 00:27:26,190 same experience you and I'll have when we pass from death 455 00:27:26,190 --> 00:27:29,870 into eternal life. We'll open our eyes and see 456 00:27:29,870 --> 00:27:33,580 perfection. A world that lacks nothing. 457 00:27:34,220 --> 00:27:37,740 A world where there's no sin and no pain and no hurt and no 458 00:27:37,740 --> 00:27:40,940 tears. Amen. 459 00:27:43,380 --> 00:27:45,620 As soon as the man opened his eyes, he had the whole of 460 00:27:45,620 --> 00:27:50,180 creation before him, and it was for him to see and to savor. 461 00:27:50,820 --> 00:27:54,780 It was for her, for him to admire and to praise God for it 462 00:27:54,780 --> 00:27:58,020 was for him to look at his creator and to think, wow, 463 00:28:00,350 --> 00:28:05,470 amazing. And much the same way your heart 464 00:28:05,470 --> 00:28:09,950 can be enraptured these days by a sunrise or a sunset that hits 465 00:28:09,950 --> 00:28:15,870 the sky just right, it's it's more than the best painter. 466 00:28:17,230 --> 00:28:19,710 I'm not saying that's a bad thing to say, but it's more than 467 00:28:19,710 --> 00:28:23,710 God being the best painter. It's that God is the creator of 468 00:28:23,710 --> 00:28:29,150 all things, and it is perfect. It's worthy of admiration and 469 00:28:29,150 --> 00:28:34,250 praise, but it wasn't just for Adam to look at and take, to see 470 00:28:34,250 --> 00:28:35,930 and to savor and to praise the Lord. 471 00:28:35,930 --> 00:28:37,930 That's part of it. But the other part of it is that 472 00:28:37,930 --> 00:28:42,650 it's built for his comfort. It's it's built for him to to to 473 00:28:42,650 --> 00:28:46,530 build a home in. God creates and gives the man 474 00:28:46,530 --> 00:28:50,330 all that he needs. So mankind is not the cause of 475 00:28:50,330 --> 00:28:53,050 creation, but he's certainly a benefactor. 476 00:28:53,050 --> 00:28:58,690 Of it he he he has much to gain. From all that God has given, 477 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:02,360 mankind is the crown of creation. 478 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:04,560 And we see this and that. The text is different as it 479 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:06,440 describes the creation of the man and the woman. 480 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:09,400 You may have noticed it as we were reading all that long 481 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:14,320 portion right here we have a more clear act of divine wisdom 482 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:17,960 and power than we did with the other creatures in the previous 483 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:20,400 sections. We just read Let there be and 484 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:21,320 there was. Right. 485 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:23,200 Let there be. God said let there be lied And 486 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:24,920 there was lie. Let there be ground. 487 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:26,760 And there was ground. And He called the ground earth, 488 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,080 Right. There's a lot of commanding 489 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:31,200 going on. Let there be this out of 490 00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:33,640 nothing, and it comes to be out of nothing. 491 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:42,800 But then when he says let us make man well, it goes from 492 00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:47,720 commanding to consultation. He begins to speak inwardly. 493 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:51,360 Matthew Henry notes this. He says, formerly God speaks as 494 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:54,280 one having authority. Now he speaks as one having 495 00:29:54,280 --> 00:30:02,580 affection. I love that there there's a love 496 00:30:02,580 --> 00:30:06,060 for man. When God creates man, there's 497 00:30:06,060 --> 00:30:10,380 affection for him. And so we read similar thought 498 00:30:10,380 --> 00:30:13,660 and Proverbs 831 The Wisdom chapter. 499 00:30:13,660 --> 00:30:17,780 There we read this. It says, rejoicing in his 500 00:30:17,780 --> 00:30:21,300 inhabited world and delighting in the children of man. 501 00:30:22,460 --> 00:30:26,680 God delights in His children. The creation of mankind is the 502 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:31,720 crown of His creation, and in a sense He settled all the 503 00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:35,960 preliminary creatures, and now He applies Himself to the 504 00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:39,360 business of making a creature who is altogether different from 505 00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:43,640 the rest, and who will act as His vice Regents. 506 00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:49,160 In the world and mankind. There is flesh and spirits. 507 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:51,950 There is heaven and earth. Those things must be put 508 00:30:51,950 --> 00:30:55,270 together in him. He must be allied to both 509 00:30:55,270 --> 00:30:58,350 worlds. And so God is pleased to make 510 00:30:58,510 --> 00:31:02,470 the man. But the Trinity, our triune God 511 00:31:02,470 --> 00:31:05,350 the Father, the Son, and the Spirit confer together because 512 00:31:06,630 --> 00:31:11,350 because man, when he was made, was to be dedicated and devoted 513 00:31:11,710 --> 00:31:13,790 to the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. 514 00:31:13,790 --> 00:31:16,430 And that is why when we are baptized even today, we are 515 00:31:16,430 --> 00:31:21,470 baptized into that great name, the Father, Son, and Holy 516 00:31:21,470 --> 00:31:24,390 Spirit. Because to this triune God we 517 00:31:24,390 --> 00:31:29,590 owe all of our being, especially in our new creation. 518 00:31:30,910 --> 00:31:36,070 We owe it all to God, Matthew Henry said. 519 00:31:36,070 --> 00:31:40,710 Let him rule man. Who said, let us make man? 520 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:45,080 He rules us. It's good and right for God to 521 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:50,040 rule creation and it's good and right for us as His subjects to 522 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:53,920 submit ourselves to Him. God created man and woman in His 523 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:56,680 own image to glorify himself. The third observation we need to 524 00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:59,960 make here is that mankind is made in the image and likeness 525 00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:02,800 of God. Mankind is made in the image and 526 00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:05,120 likeness of God. God said, Let us make man in our 527 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:10,900 image after our likeness. So God created man in his own 528 00:32:10,900 --> 00:32:13,700 image and the image of God He created him male and female, He 529 00:32:13,700 --> 00:32:16,740 created them. Mankind made in the image and. 530 00:32:16,740 --> 00:32:21,860 Likeness of God. These two words, image and 531 00:32:21,940 --> 00:32:25,540 likeness express the same thing. We don't need to get this 532 00:32:25,540 --> 00:32:28,500 twisted, but what it's doing is compiling one on top of the 533 00:32:28,500 --> 00:32:31,920 other so that it becomes a more expressive phrase. 534 00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:34,360 We get greater understanding when we read that something is 535 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:37,360 made in the image and likeness versus if we just said it's made 536 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:39,080 in the image or it's made in the likeness. 537 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:43,160 It's compiling the two. And in essence, what he's saying 538 00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:48,480 is that let's make man in the likest image of ourselves. 539 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:55,600 Let's make man in the likest image of God, meaning we bear 540 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:58,960 the nearest resemblance out of all of those visible creatures. 541 00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:02,570 At creation we have the nearest resemblance to God. 542 00:33:03,410 --> 00:33:07,250 We were not made in the image of beast, though Progressives want 543 00:33:07,250 --> 00:33:11,330 to reduce humanity to such. We are made in the image of God, 544 00:33:11,330 --> 00:33:16,810 our Creator. There is an integral value to 545 00:33:16,810 --> 00:33:22,130 humanity because of this. Yet it is highly important to 546 00:33:22,130 --> 00:33:26,690 note that between man and God there is still an infinite 547 00:33:26,970 --> 00:33:31,390 distance. We are nothing like him and yet 548 00:33:31,390 --> 00:33:39,470 we are like him all the same. We will never be God. 549 00:33:41,470 --> 00:33:46,150 Jesus Christ however is the only express image of God's person as 550 00:33:46,150 --> 00:33:48,750 the Son of the Father having the same nature. 551 00:33:48,910 --> 00:33:53,710 And Hebrews chapter one, verse three, we read He is the 552 00:33:53,710 --> 00:33:56,030 radiance talking about Christ Jesus. 553 00:33:56,030 --> 00:33:59,810 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of 554 00:33:59,810 --> 00:34:04,250 his nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His 555 00:34:04,250 --> 00:34:08,170 power. You see, we only bear some of 556 00:34:08,170 --> 00:34:11,850 God's. Honor, not the entire thing we 557 00:34:11,850 --> 00:34:14,650 are made in. God's image as a King's impress 558 00:34:14,650 --> 00:34:18,810 is upon a coin. It might look like him, but it 559 00:34:18,810 --> 00:34:25,489 is not the key. His image upon us consists of 560 00:34:25,489 --> 00:34:29,330 three things. One is that his nature and 561 00:34:29,330 --> 00:34:35,250 constitution, not those of a body, because God does not have 562 00:34:35,290 --> 00:34:41,449 a body, but those of his soul. The body does receive honor from 563 00:34:41,449 --> 00:34:47,210 God in this way, though, and that the Word made flesh became 564 00:34:47,210 --> 00:34:50,449 like us. The Son of God was clothed in a 565 00:34:50,449 --> 00:34:54,090 body like ours, and he will shortly clothe ours with a glory 566 00:34:54,090 --> 00:34:57,370 like his. So he designed the body as a 567 00:34:57,370 --> 00:35:00,810 place for himself to dwell in the fullness of time. 568 00:35:02,570 --> 00:35:05,610 But it is the soul of man that does especially bear the image 569 00:35:05,610 --> 00:35:08,170 of God. It's the soul is a spirit. 570 00:35:08,170 --> 00:35:10,930 It's an intelligent, immortal spirit. 571 00:35:10,930 --> 00:35:13,570 It never and neither it does not die right. 572 00:35:13,570 --> 00:35:17,490 It lives on an influencing act of spirit, and so therefore it 573 00:35:17,490 --> 00:35:24,910 resembles God, who is the Father of spirits, the soul of man, and 574 00:35:24,910 --> 00:35:32,430 its three faculties, or perhaps the clearest, brightest looking 575 00:35:32,430 --> 00:35:36,470 glass in nature, in which we see God Almighty, the Creator. 576 00:35:39,310 --> 00:35:43,310 You can look at the human body and the soul and the way that a 577 00:35:43,310 --> 00:35:50,350 man is designed and say there was well. 578 00:35:51,850 --> 00:35:54,930 The scientists who do not deny what's call it intelligent 579 00:35:54,930 --> 00:35:59,730 design, but you can look. At it and say there is a creator 580 00:35:59,730 --> 00:36:03,730 behind that we're we're not, we're not like some 581 00:36:04,050 --> 00:36:08,770 supercomputer, as again, people want to reduce the brain to. 582 00:36:08,770 --> 00:36:13,850 It's not some supercomputer. It's intelligently, infinitely 583 00:36:13,850 --> 00:36:19,210 intelligently designed by God, and it may never be fully 584 00:36:19,210 --> 00:36:23,960 understood. Second, we see that we have His 585 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:27,800 place and authority. We we are God's representatives 586 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:31,560 in the government of creation. We are meant to subdue and to 587 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:36,440 exercise dominion over creation. Creation is not capable because 588 00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:40,920 it has not a soul, is not made like man, so it is not capable 589 00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:44,920 of serving and fearing God. So God appointed man to serve, 590 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:50,430 so God appoints creation those. To serve and fear man. 591 00:36:53,270 --> 00:36:56,350 Third thing we see here is in the way that we bear God's 592 00:36:56,350 --> 00:37:00,230 images through impurity and integrity, or through through 593 00:37:00,270 --> 00:37:08,110 purity and morality. God's image upon man consists of 594 00:37:08,110 --> 00:37:10,790 knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness. 595 00:37:11,630 --> 00:37:14,510 Now all of this gets affected by the fall, but in the new 596 00:37:14,510 --> 00:37:17,670 creation, these are some of the things that are restored to 597 00:37:17,670 --> 00:37:24,110 mankind. And so we we can say that our 598 00:37:24,110 --> 00:37:29,270 first parents, Adam and Eve, were happy, holy creatures. 599 00:37:31,630 --> 00:37:35,630 They were happy and holy. They had the image of God upon 600 00:37:35,630 --> 00:37:42,110 them perfectly and we can also say, looking at their state. 601 00:37:42,470 --> 00:37:46,750 How fallen are we? How fallen are we? 602 00:37:49,950 --> 00:37:54,510 You and I have defaced, just as Adam and Eve did, the image of 603 00:37:54,510 --> 00:38:03,150 God in our sinfulness. Though the remains are a remnant 604 00:38:03,750 --> 00:38:07,190 of his image, the ruins of it are great. 605 00:38:09,550 --> 00:38:13,430 May the Lord then renew his image upon us by his sanctifying 606 00:38:13,430 --> 00:38:14,550 grace. Amen. 607 00:38:16,690 --> 00:38:19,770 This is part of what we understand 2nd Corinthians 3 to 608 00:38:19,770 --> 00:38:24,010 be talking about it as it says that we behold that we've had a 609 00:38:24,010 --> 00:38:27,890 veil removed from our face so that we might behold the glory 610 00:38:27,890 --> 00:38:31,970 of God and be transformed from 1 degree of glory into the next. 611 00:38:35,170 --> 00:38:38,610 You, you can now behold as an image bear the glory of God. 612 00:38:38,930 --> 00:38:42,090 You can now reflect as an image bear the glory of God as a 613 00:38:42,090 --> 00:38:46,870 Christian, as one who has been saved, one who submitted himself 614 00:38:46,870 --> 00:38:51,550 or herself to Christ with repentance and faith. 615 00:38:52,950 --> 00:38:58,150 God is then, as He has saved you and justified you freely by His 616 00:38:58,150 --> 00:39:00,630 grace. He is sanctifying you freely by 617 00:39:00,630 --> 00:39:05,510 His grace. He's working in you by His 618 00:39:05,510 --> 00:39:11,190 spirits to produce the things of God within you and without you, 619 00:39:11,190 --> 00:39:17,650 right outside of you as well. You are a new creation in Christ 620 00:39:17,650 --> 00:39:20,210 Jesus. You are saved by grace through 621 00:39:20,210 --> 00:39:23,730 faith in Christ alone, and this is not of yourselves. 622 00:39:23,730 --> 00:39:27,210 It's the gift of God so that no one may boast. 623 00:39:28,090 --> 00:39:31,410 And you are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus. 624 00:39:31,570 --> 00:39:34,090 For good works which God prepared beforehand. 625 00:39:34,090 --> 00:39:37,570 God is himself working these things in you. 626 00:39:38,050 --> 00:39:41,080 Paul confesses to the Philippians that he who began a 627 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:43,800 good work in you is faithful to bring it to completion. 628 00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:48,360 You can trust that though I'm not where I want to be as a man 629 00:39:48,360 --> 00:39:51,920 or a woman of the Lord of I'm not where I need to be, right as 630 00:39:51,920 --> 00:39:54,080 we often say. I know I don't pray as much as I 631 00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:56,200 need to, and I don't read as much as I need to. 632 00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:59,880 Though you are not yet where you ought to be. 633 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:02,520 Praise God you're not. Yet you're not. 634 00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:05,560 Where you once were, either he saved you. 635 00:40:06,210 --> 00:40:09,610 He's working his spirit in you. He's growing you up, maturing 636 00:40:09,610 --> 00:40:12,570 you so that you might love him more faithfully. 637 00:40:14,450 --> 00:40:17,010 God created the man and the woman in his own image to 638 00:40:17,010 --> 00:40:22,530 glorify himself. The fourth thing we read here 639 00:40:22,890 --> 00:40:26,370 that we must observe is that mankind was blessed by God to be 640 00:40:26,370 --> 00:40:32,010 fruitful and multiply after God created the man and the woman, 641 00:40:32,650 --> 00:40:36,770 he says. To them it says we read, God 642 00:40:36,770 --> 00:40:38,850 bless them. God said to them be fruitful and 643 00:40:38,850 --> 00:40:42,050 multiply and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion 644 00:40:42,050 --> 00:40:44,370 over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, 645 00:40:44,570 --> 00:40:46,890 and over every living thing that moves on the earth. 646 00:40:46,890 --> 00:40:50,410 So mankind, blessed by God, is to be fruitful and multiply. 647 00:40:51,930 --> 00:40:55,290 This is why God created the man and the woman is to be fruitful 648 00:40:55,530 --> 00:40:58,290 and multiply. God created the first man and 649 00:40:58,290 --> 00:41:00,890 the woman. He created Adam first out of the 650 00:41:00,890 --> 00:41:02,290 ground. He created the woman second out 651 00:41:02,330 --> 00:41:04,650 of man's side. He created them to be fruitful, 652 00:41:04,650 --> 00:41:08,130 multiply, to carry out his glory on the earth. 653 00:41:11,290 --> 00:41:14,570 Angels were not even made male and female, for they are not to 654 00:41:14,570 --> 00:41:17,650 procreate. But man was made so that his 655 00:41:17,650 --> 00:41:22,970 nature may be spread and his race continued out of 1 male and 656 00:41:22,970 --> 00:41:26,250 out of one female. All the nations of man are made 657 00:41:26,250 --> 00:41:28,290 of 1 blood. Amen. 658 00:41:29,590 --> 00:41:31,990 So God blesses them. Be fruitful multiple. 659 00:41:32,030 --> 00:41:37,230 I feel the earth, but that fruitfulness and that increase 660 00:41:37,230 --> 00:41:39,790 depends upon the blessing of God. 661 00:41:40,870 --> 00:41:45,630 We are, as men and women, submitted to the Lord because of 662 00:41:45,630 --> 00:41:48,990 God's blessing. Mankind then continues to exist 663 00:41:49,230 --> 00:41:52,950 on the earth. It's not accidental that there 664 00:41:52,950 --> 00:41:55,470 are 8 billion people on the earth. 665 00:41:55,470 --> 00:42:01,000 This was God's good design. Mankind has been being fruitful 666 00:42:01,280 --> 00:42:05,640 and multiply. Now there's a common grace and 667 00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:07,200 fruitful and multiplication, right? 668 00:42:07,200 --> 00:42:10,440 And that all people can be fruitful and multiply. 669 00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:13,400 They can procreate and were created to do so. 670 00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:17,600 That's common grace. But there's a good there's a 671 00:42:17,600 --> 00:42:21,080 special grace, There's a good godly nature to being fruitful 672 00:42:21,080 --> 00:42:24,920 and multiplying that Christians must commit themselves to, and 673 00:42:25,560 --> 00:42:27,880 that's to be fruitful and multiplying the ways that God 674 00:42:27,880 --> 00:42:30,600 has. Commanded us to, which is not 675 00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:36,000 merely procreation, but doesn't. It doesn't get rid of it, It 676 00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:39,360 just means that we fruit we are. Fruitful And we multiply, 677 00:42:39,720 --> 00:42:44,000 especially so spiritually. And that we proclaim the gospel 678 00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:46,560 of Christ. We make disciples. 679 00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:49,000 We baptize them. We teach them to follow the 680 00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:54,400 things that God has commanded, just as Christ has said to do. 681 00:42:57,410 --> 00:43:04,010 So with God's honor put on us in creation, created in the image 682 00:43:04,010 --> 00:43:07,130 and likeness of God, he's put His honor on us. 683 00:43:07,210 --> 00:43:11,570 All of that honors so that we would give more honor to God. 684 00:43:12,490 --> 00:43:15,770 It enables us to bring honor to the Lord, our Creator. 685 00:43:16,410 --> 00:43:21,410 And though we forfeited much of this and sin, God has given a 686 00:43:21,410 --> 00:43:27,030 new and better title to us than that which we had before. 687 00:43:27,030 --> 00:43:31,110 And that is that everything is ours. 688 00:43:31,150 --> 00:43:36,310 In Christ Jesus and 1st Corinthians 3/23/22 through 23 689 00:43:37,230 --> 00:43:40,830 Paul right series says whether Paul or Apollo's or Cephas or 690 00:43:41,230 --> 00:43:44,950 the word or life or death or the present or the future. 691 00:43:45,230 --> 00:43:51,430 All are yours, and you are Christ, and Christ is God's. 692 00:43:52,750 --> 00:43:59,070 And so in Christ we have all things because Christ is Lord of 693 00:43:59,070 --> 00:44:02,070 all things. God created man and woman in his 694 00:44:02,070 --> 00:44:07,350 own image to glorify himself. Much of that is to be fruitful 695 00:44:07,390 --> 00:44:16,850 and multiplied. Circling back to the household 696 00:44:16,850 --> 00:44:21,370 for just a moment, kind of pre helping us get. 697 00:44:21,370 --> 00:44:26,450 Into where we're headed. One of the things, if we're 698 00:44:26,450 --> 00:44:28,930 going to say happy, is the home when God is there. 699 00:44:30,290 --> 00:44:35,490 We have to recognize, we have to be honest, that there are homes 700 00:44:35,490 --> 00:44:40,850 where God is not there are home. Not that God is not everywhere. 701 00:44:40,850 --> 00:44:43,010 I don't mean that there are homes where God is not 702 00:44:43,250 --> 00:44:48,930 worshiped, their homes where we are not submitting ourselves to 703 00:44:48,930 --> 00:44:53,330 the lordship of Christ and the way that we live as men and 704 00:44:53,330 --> 00:44:59,750 women, as boys and girls. And so next week we'll get into 705 00:45:00,710 --> 00:45:07,990 God's prefall creation of man and what he told him to do the 706 00:45:07,990 --> 00:45:09,870 week after. We'll get into God's prefall 707 00:45:09,870 --> 00:45:13,550 creation of woman and what he told her to do and how these two 708 00:45:13,550 --> 00:45:17,270 things work together. We'll look at the prefall 709 00:45:17,270 --> 00:45:21,470 purpose of marriage the week after that and then we'll begin 710 00:45:21,470 --> 00:45:24,310 to examine the things that have taken place in the fall. 711 00:45:24,900 --> 00:45:28,580 So those things are coming. But what we can't do when we 712 00:45:28,580 --> 00:45:31,460 read a text like this and we understand that God is the 713 00:45:31,460 --> 00:45:35,620 Creator and we are creation and our hearts are prone to worship 714 00:45:35,620 --> 00:45:38,620 things that are not God. We are prone to break the first 715 00:45:38,620 --> 00:45:40,980 commandment and we're prone to break the 2nd commandment, 716 00:45:40,980 --> 00:45:42,460 right? We're prone to worship things 717 00:45:42,740 --> 00:45:46,700 that are not God, and we're prone to create other things to 718 00:45:46,700 --> 00:45:50,860 worship. When we understand that, we need 719 00:45:50,860 --> 00:45:54,220 to recognize that our home. Often becomes a place where 720 00:45:54,220 --> 00:46:01,820 idolatry exists the most, and you can feel the tugs on it in 721 00:46:01,820 --> 00:46:03,540 your own heart and your own mind. 722 00:46:03,540 --> 00:46:07,020 Whether it's your work, whether it's sports for your children, 723 00:46:07,020 --> 00:46:09,660 whether it's activities that you're involved in, whether it's 724 00:46:09,660 --> 00:46:12,260 your ideal of marriage or your wife's ideal of marriage, 725 00:46:12,260 --> 00:46:15,180 whether it's whatever, all these things can begin to pull in 726 00:46:15,180 --> 00:46:22,660 different directions. And then the way we course 727 00:46:22,660 --> 00:46:28,380 correct typically is by trying to get the other person or the 728 00:46:28,380 --> 00:46:31,780 other people to pull towards our idol instead. 729 00:46:31,780 --> 00:46:38,060 Does that make sense? So if I have a view of marriage 730 00:46:38,700 --> 00:46:41,180 and I want to go this direction, but that view of marriage really 731 00:46:41,180 --> 00:46:46,780 is selfseeking, right? It just helps Kyle pray Scott. 732 00:46:48,460 --> 00:46:50,700 But Patricia has a view of marriage, and she's like, no, we 733 00:46:50,700 --> 00:46:53,030 need to. We need to go this way and that 734 00:46:53,030 --> 00:46:54,910 view is self seeking For Patricia. 735 00:46:55,310 --> 00:46:59,350 It helps her only. And then our children naturally 736 00:46:59,910 --> 00:47:02,870 have views of how we should order our marriage around them, 737 00:47:02,910 --> 00:47:04,830 right? Like they should be the center 738 00:47:04,830 --> 00:47:06,910 of attention. And they don't do this on 739 00:47:06,910 --> 00:47:08,590 purpose. Often time they're discipled to 740 00:47:08,590 --> 00:47:13,310 think this way because it's how parents live, but they'll pull 741 00:47:13,310 --> 00:47:15,190 in this direction. So everybody's pulling in 742 00:47:15,190 --> 00:47:18,310 different directions and the way we course correct is by thinking 743 00:47:18,310 --> 00:47:21,140 that there's some. Neutral place we can all rest 744 00:47:21,140 --> 00:47:24,420 where everybody kind of gets their way and that's typically 745 00:47:24,420 --> 00:47:28,700 what we try to naturally work towards in our home is like 746 00:47:28,700 --> 00:47:33,780 what's what's the compromise that gets us on the same page, 747 00:47:34,420 --> 00:47:36,940 brothers and sisters, that is more idolatry. 748 00:47:36,940 --> 00:47:40,380 That's what I'm trying to show you that you're creating. 749 00:47:40,380 --> 00:47:42,820 Now what's the new idol? That we're all going to run 750 00:47:42,820 --> 00:47:45,740 towards that thing. And typically it's just comfort. 751 00:47:47,590 --> 00:47:50,030 It's peace of foe. Peace, but peace. 752 00:47:51,670 --> 00:47:52,750 And so here's what I'm showing you. 753 00:47:54,710 --> 00:47:58,910 I need to repent of my idol seeking and my false worship. 754 00:47:59,350 --> 00:48:02,230 Patricia needs to repent of her idol seeking and her false 755 00:48:02,230 --> 00:48:04,390 worship. And our sons need to repent of 756 00:48:04,390 --> 00:48:06,230 their idol seeking and their false worship. 757 00:48:06,510 --> 00:48:09,350 And we all need to surrender ourselves to Christ our Lord. 758 00:48:09,350 --> 00:48:13,630 Does that make sense? And so now, under the lordship 759 00:48:13,630 --> 00:48:18,520 of Christ, we're all running towards what he says is good and 760 00:48:18,520 --> 00:48:21,480 right and holy. Well, the way he has designed a 761 00:48:21,480 --> 00:48:27,480 home to work, which means we all have to give up false worship. 762 00:48:28,680 --> 00:48:31,480 We all have to acknowledge that God has created, and therefore 763 00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:35,880 God the designer gets to dictate what creation must be doing. 764 00:48:36,800 --> 00:48:38,720 And creation must not be selfseeking. 765 00:48:38,840 --> 00:48:40,760 Ever. Ever. 766 00:48:43,500 --> 00:48:48,300 I can ask all of you, probably when's a moment in your life 767 00:48:48,300 --> 00:48:51,220 that you were selfseeking and how did that go for you? 768 00:48:52,860 --> 00:48:54,940 And all of you would be able to give some answer, right? 769 00:48:54,940 --> 00:48:56,980 Maybe it's in your marriage, maybe it's in your home, maybe 770 00:48:56,980 --> 00:48:59,980 it's at work. Wherever she'd be able to say I 771 00:48:59,980 --> 00:49:03,180 made an absolute train wreck of my life when I was selfseeking. 772 00:49:05,220 --> 00:49:07,020 And So what I'm laying before you today. 773 00:49:08,140 --> 00:49:11,180 God has created you and He created you, male and female, 774 00:49:11,180 --> 00:49:13,960 and He has blessed you and said be fruitful and multiply. 775 00:49:13,960 --> 00:49:17,520 There is a real purpose to what God has called you to do, but 776 00:49:17,520 --> 00:49:21,680 you will never find that purpose until you submit yourself to the 777 00:49:21,680 --> 00:49:25,160 Lordship of Christ Jesus. Because we're falling. 778 00:49:26,280 --> 00:49:28,800 Man and woman didn't obey God. Man and woman sinned against 779 00:49:28,800 --> 00:49:30,160 God. They disobeyed him. 780 00:49:30,160 --> 00:49:31,240 They're kicked out of the garden. 781 00:49:31,240 --> 00:49:36,240 We'll get into it. And so Christ comes. 782 00:49:36,720 --> 00:49:39,840 Christ takes on flesh. Christ lives a perfect life. 783 00:49:39,840 --> 00:49:43,580 Christ dies. The only death that's ever truly 784 00:49:43,580 --> 00:49:49,660 innocent. He takes on the sins of his 785 00:49:49,660 --> 00:49:54,700 people so that they might be saved, and in salvation they 786 00:49:54,700 --> 00:49:58,420 receive the Spirit of God to dwell inside of them, to make 787 00:49:58,420 --> 00:50:02,100 them become Christlike, to sanctify them. 788 00:50:04,180 --> 00:50:08,120 Jesus said the the presence of the Spirit is so much greater 789 00:50:08,120 --> 00:50:09,680 than him being physically present. 790 00:50:09,680 --> 00:50:11,800 He told physically present with his disciples. 791 00:50:11,800 --> 00:50:14,840 He told his disciples, It's good that I go from you, so that the 792 00:50:14,840 --> 00:50:23,360 helper might come. And yet even we will quench the 793 00:50:23,360 --> 00:50:27,800 Spirit by thinking that what we have is not even as good as what 794 00:50:27,800 --> 00:50:33,800 the disciples. But may we surrender. 795 00:50:33,880 --> 00:50:42,730 May you and I surrender ourselves to our one true God, 796 00:50:42,730 --> 00:50:45,850 the God who created the heavens and the earth, the God who calls 797 00:50:45,850 --> 00:50:52,050 us into fellowship with him. Finish by reading this, and 798 00:50:53,250 --> 00:50:56,050 maybe I can coerce the worship team into singing it at some 799 00:50:56,050 --> 00:50:57,170 point. It might be worth doing it. 800 00:50:57,170 --> 00:50:58,850 I don't know. We'll have to actually hear it. 801 00:50:59,290 --> 00:51:02,410 But these are the words to the the hymn happy the whole when 802 00:51:02,410 --> 00:51:05,890 God is there. Happy the home when God is 803 00:51:05,890 --> 00:51:09,490 there. And love fills every breast When 804 00:51:09,490 --> 00:51:13,170 one their wish and one their prayer and one their heavenly 805 00:51:13,170 --> 00:51:15,730 rest. Happy the home where Jesus's 806 00:51:15,730 --> 00:51:20,050 name is sweet to every ear. Where children early speak his 807 00:51:20,050 --> 00:51:24,330 fame and parents hold him dear Happy The home where prayer is 808 00:51:24,330 --> 00:51:29,010 heard and praise is won't arise. Where parents love the sacred 809 00:51:29,010 --> 00:51:34,380 word and all its wisdom prize. Lord, let us and our homes agree 810 00:51:34,620 --> 00:51:38,180 this blessed peace to gain. Unite our hearts and love to 811 00:51:38,180 --> 00:51:41,020 thee. And love to all will ride. 812 00:51:41,460 --> 00:51:43,780 Amen. Would you bow your head? 813 00:51:44,980 --> 00:51:46,860 Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. 814 00:51:48,580 --> 00:51:52,700 Thank you for your word, Lord. It's it's it's an exposing word. 815 00:51:52,700 --> 00:51:57,340 It it exposes, Lord today so much about the home and there's 816 00:51:57,340 --> 00:52:00,820 so much to get into. And it's hard to, it's hard 817 00:52:00,820 --> 00:52:05,180 honestly to stay focused on on what we need because we're so 818 00:52:05,180 --> 00:52:07,140 bad. I'm so bad especially about 819 00:52:07,140 --> 00:52:13,700 wanting to deal with symptoms, symptoms of the cancer of sin 820 00:52:13,700 --> 00:52:15,700 and not the cancer of sin itself. 821 00:52:18,620 --> 00:52:22,220 And so, Lord, today we must first deal with Lordship. 822 00:52:24,580 --> 00:52:27,100 Have we submitted ourselves to God? 823 00:52:28,020 --> 00:52:29,820 That's our question today, Father. 824 00:52:31,040 --> 00:52:38,160 Lord, we know that the answer to that question cannot be rightly 825 00:52:38,160 --> 00:52:42,000 stated, cannot be fully comprehended. 826 00:52:42,040 --> 00:52:46,160 Unless your spirit move upon our hearts and minds, Lord, we will 827 00:52:46,160 --> 00:52:50,800 continue to deceive ourselves. Jeremiah, your prophet rights at 828 00:52:50,800 --> 00:52:53,120 the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all 829 00:52:53,120 --> 00:52:54,480 things. Who can know it? 830 00:52:55,080 --> 00:52:57,960 And so, Lord, if we just look introspectively and we think, Oh 831 00:52:58,080 --> 00:53:06,400 yeah, of course the Lord is my Lord, we may miss what's truly 832 00:53:06,400 --> 00:53:08,720 going on in our hearts. And so, Lord, I pray for your 833 00:53:08,720 --> 00:53:16,560 help Today in Romans 12. You encourage us to be honest in 834 00:53:16,560 --> 00:53:24,000 our evaluation of ourselves, to be forthright, Lord and Proverbs 835 00:53:24,000 --> 00:53:26,480 5. And in other places we read that 836 00:53:26,480 --> 00:53:30,540 there are no sins hidden from your sight, that there is no 837 00:53:30,540 --> 00:53:34,020 heart that is aligned to something else that you do not 838 00:53:34,020 --> 00:53:40,020 see. And so, Lord, we stand here 839 00:53:40,020 --> 00:53:45,860 bear, we stand naked, and our sins naked, and our and 840 00:53:45,860 --> 00:53:50,420 ourselves before you. And we ask Lord for you to 841 00:53:50,420 --> 00:53:52,380 evaluate every area of our hearts. 842 00:53:53,420 --> 00:53:57,540 Is Christ our Lord? Is he Lord of our home? 843 00:53:58,680 --> 00:54:01,120 Is he Lord of my heart? Is he Lord of my mind? 844 00:54:01,120 --> 00:54:06,760 Is he Lord of my soul? Is he Lord of my efforts? 845 00:54:07,520 --> 00:54:10,680 Is he Lord of my mouth? The things that I say? 846 00:54:10,680 --> 00:54:16,240 Is he Lord of my thoughts? Is Christ Lord. 847 00:54:19,560 --> 00:54:22,240 So, Lord, we pray that you would help us answer that truthfully 848 00:54:22,240 --> 00:54:27,510 today. We thank you, Father, that we 849 00:54:27,510 --> 00:54:32,630 don't rest in bad news, which is the outright sinfulness of 850 00:54:32,630 --> 00:54:34,470 mankind. But we have the good news of 851 00:54:34,470 --> 00:54:40,070 Christ the Savior, your Son, whom you sent to Donna Cross 852 00:54:40,910 --> 00:54:45,390 because you so love the world, and you saw fit to do it, so 853 00:54:45,390 --> 00:54:49,470 that all who would believe in Him might not perish into 854 00:54:49,470 --> 00:54:54,190 everlasting hell, but would have eternal life with you. 855 00:54:56,310 --> 00:55:01,750 And so, Lord, I pray for you to save hearts and souls today. 856 00:55:03,590 --> 00:55:10,390 Grant new creation, Enable people to live by the Spirit of 857 00:55:10,390 --> 00:55:15,350 God, not by the Spirit of the flesh and Lord. 858 00:55:15,350 --> 00:55:18,150 For those of us who have called on your name and truthfulness 859 00:55:18,150 --> 00:55:20,430 and uprightness, who have surrendered ourselves to your 860 00:55:20,430 --> 00:55:23,990 Lordship, would you expose our sinfulness today that we might 861 00:55:23,990 --> 00:55:27,120 walk safefully and upright before you today? 862 00:55:29,920 --> 00:55:33,560 We praise you for it, Lord. It's in the name of Christ, I 863 00:55:33,560 --> 00:55:34,720 pray. Amen.