WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:04.879 Again, I just want to take those ladies home with me. 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:06.080 Oh my goodness. 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:08.400 Thank you so much for leading us in worship. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:10.880 That was um beautiful. 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:13.199 I love the scripture in between. 00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:18.239 The scripture just reminds us that the words we're about to sing are actually in scripture. 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:20.239 What a novel idea. 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:22.879 I can figure out how to open my laptop. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:23.760 That would help. 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:25.039 Here we go. 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:29.839 But really, ladies, thank you for leading us so well in worship. 00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:31.039 He is worthy. 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:32.240 He is worthy. 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:33.280 Thank you. 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:47.439 Okay, so today we are going to look at what the creation mandate has to do with the Great Commission, how they are connected, and how we are to live in light of it. 00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:50.640 So I know last night we went through a lot of material. 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:56.560 I told you it was going to be a lot from Genesis to Revelation and the big storyline of the Bible. 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:00.320 It's not something that we're going to grasp in one session. 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:00.960 I know that. 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:06.159 I'm hoping that I whet your appetite a little bit to go home and dig into these things like I did. 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:12.879 And I've been studying this for over a year, and I I still read over this lesson and be like, did I actually write that? 00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:15.359 Because it just hits me in a new way every time. 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:21.120 So we're not going to grasp it all this weekend, but I hope that you will gain nuggets from it. 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:25.040 And today we're going to get into a little bit more practical application. 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:28.079 So hopefully it will be fruitful for you all. 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:32.879 So last night we looked at what the creation mandate was and why God gave it to us. 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:42.799 We touched on some application points, but this morning we're going to track this theme to see how and why this mandate is still applicable and to be obeyed today. 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:46.239 So we saw that the mandate, and I forgot my stick. 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:47.920 Sorry, hold on. 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:50.719 I need my slide stick. 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:53.439 Sorry. 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:57.519 Okay. 00:01:57.519 --> 00:01:59.200 Thank you. 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:02.959 Okay, so we saw that the mandate was to be fruitful, help me out. 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:10.719 Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and have dominion. 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:11.439 Good job. 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:12.560 You guys are good. 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:16.000 I love that over here you said the eight words. 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.680 It took us a year to figure out those eight words together as our ladies. 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:21.039 We just couldn't get the eight words. 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:25.120 And you heard it one time and you're like, God's people and God's place under God's rule. 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:25.680 Amazing. 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:26.319 Good job. 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:28.240 Good students here, you have. 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:29.439 Good. 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:31.360 So we see that was the mandate. 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:38.560 We also saw the reason why we are to fulfill this mandate, and that is because we are created in the image and likeness of God. 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:41.759 We are to be Christ's representative to the world. 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:52.639 We are to look like God, to act, to react, to respond like Him, so that when others see us, they will know who and what we worship or who we represent. 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:56.080 We are to image and represent God to the world. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:59.120 Because of Christ, we can now do this. 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:05.599 And I realize we're gonna be a little bit repetitive today because if you're like me, you need repetition. 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:12.080 We're gonna take a look at how the imperatives or the commands of the creation mandate points us to the Great Commission. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:14.879 I know you're all familiar with the Great Commission, right? 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:28.080 So I want to briefly track the theme of culture and dominion throughout the biblical narrative to see that it strongly indicates that the Great Commission is the creation mandate reinstated in Christ. 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:32.719 The implication is that Christians are still called to fulfill the creation mandate. 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:34.560 It just looks a little different. 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:37.120 So let's read these two passages together. 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:42.000 We're gonna read the creation mandate in Genesis 1, 28 again. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:55.039 And God blessed them and 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. 00:03:55.039 --> 00:04:01.039 And now we're gonna read the Great Commission in Matthew 28, 18 through 20. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:08.000 And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:19.360 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:24.000 And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:30.800 We know that the first humans failed at obeying the creation mandate right by rebelling against God's law. 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:34.319 Despite their failure, God never rescinded his commission. 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:37.920 In fact, he reinstated it with several of his Old Testament saints. 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:39.680 We saw that last night. 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:49.439 However, like Adam, they would also fail at the task until the last Adam, which is Christ, would come to succeed on behalf of the human race. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:05:01.439 Jesus, as mankind's redeemer and the one who now possesses ultimate dominion in heaven on earth, he reinstates the creation mandate as the mission of his church. 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:15.040 Only now the multiplication comes in the form of discipleship and baptism in the name of the triune God, and subduing comes by teaching the commandments of Christ, which manifests in culture. 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:20.160 The Great Commission is the creation mandate reinstated. 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:29.120 And I want to clarify that I'm not saying that making disciples replaces the original design to make more image bearers through natural birth. 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:31.040 That is also a way that we do that. 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:36.240 But we can now see that this mandate expands and points to spiritual birth as well. 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:40.879 It's not a replacement, so to speak, but it's another form of multiplying. 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:55.839 Adam was supposed to cultivate and expand Eden's garden throughout the earth as God's priest king to serve and guard God's garden temple, but failed by sinning and letting in an unclean serpent who defiled it. 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:59.279 God's presence resided with Adam and Eve in the garden. 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:02.560 However, neither of them were supposed to stay there. 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:11.279 As the first humans would multiply and fill the earth to subdue it, God's presence would expand along with them to all the earth. 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:18.480 That was the plan, that was the purpose, and we read it many times last night, so that the whole earth would be filled with God's glory. 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:20.720 They were never meant to stay in one place. 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:24.639 Adam's commission is passed down to Noah and his descendants. 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:30.160 However, Noah's descendants fail by refusing to disperse throughout the world. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:40.319 Instead, they were more concerned with building a tower to make a name for themselves than they were with adhering to God's commission to cultivate the earth for his glory. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:50.720 Then God gave the commission of Genesis 1.28 to the patriarchs, first to Abraham, then to Isaac, then to Jacob, and then to Israel as a people. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:07:09.600 Just as God's presence was supposed to expand through Adam's cultivation, Israel's cultural activity was supposed to pave the way for God's dwelling place to encompass Jerusalem first, and then the land of Israel as a whole, and then finally, once again, the entire earth. 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:14.079 Israel was supposed to be a light to the nations, but they were not. 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:24.879 Even though Israel refused to be a light to the nations and instead profaned God's name among them, hope was not lost for God's original creation design. 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:35.199 Ezekiel prophesies about a time when God's people would multiply again, and that his sanctuary presence would reside with them forever. 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:43.120 We see in Ezekiel 37, 26, I will make a covenant of peace with them. 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:53.120 It shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forever. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:59.759 And I hope you're seeing this theme a little bit as we see this covenant that we see that this is an unconditional covenant. 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:03.519 Because God says, I will make a covenant of peace with them. 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:07.839 It's not conditional on anything that they do, and this is the beauty of the gospel. 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:10.319 And this was accomplished through Christ. 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:13.920 Christ forever fulfills the creation mandate. 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:23.360 So far in the redemptive narrative, we have seen that God reiterates the creation mandate time and time again with his people. 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:29.759 The progress report of their attempts at God's calling can be summed up in one word: failure. 00:08:29.759 --> 00:08:38.559 Not one person or peoples that God made a covenant with could fulfill the original calling that was given to Adam in the garden. 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:42.080 Not one except Jesus. 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:47.200 So let's compare the first Adam to the last Adam and see how they did. 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:50.159 Adam, of course, representing all of mankind. 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:53.519 We talked about that last night as Adam being the federal head. 00:08:53.519 --> 00:08:56.320 He was the representative of the people. 00:08:56.320 --> 00:08:58.480 So whatever he did affected the people. 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:02.320 He was the federal head, representing all of mankind. 00:09:02.320 --> 00:09:06.879 Jesus is the priest king that Adam was supposed to be. 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:11.440 It was Adam who was supposed to take dominion as king, but lost it. 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:18.399 It is Jesus, on the other hand, to whom belongs all dominion now and forever. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:26.240 Adam, as priest, should have expelled the serpent from the garden, but instead allowed Eve to be deceived. 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:31.759 By contrast, Jesus crushed the serpent's head and cast him out. 00:09:31.759 --> 00:09:35.440 Adam brought death in the old creation. 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:38.320 Jesus brought life in the new. 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:41.759 Adam was disobedient in the Garden of Eden. 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:45.360 Jesus was obedient in the Garden of Gethsemane. 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:52.960 Jesus is called the final or last Adam for the reason that he will succeed in God's cultural calling. 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:56.720 Jesus would fulfill all that Adam could not. 00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:02.080 Let's look at how the creation mandate is reinstated in the New Covenant. 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:14.320 The final instance in which the creation mandate is reinstated occurs during the end of the gospel narratives, where Jesus himself commissions his followers to go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations. 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:18.720 The same language that we heard in Genesis is seen here as well. 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:30.879 Just as the first commission to Adam was announced in Eden, located on a mountain, we see that in Ezekiel 28, Jesus gave his commission to the disciples also on a mountain. 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:34.399 So we see these parallels from the first Adam to the last Adam. 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:36.399 We see failure to success. 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:40.080 God blessed Adam to carry out his mission. 00:10:40.080 --> 00:10:43.919 Jesus blessed his disciples to carry out theirs. 00:10:43.919 --> 00:10:47.759 The commission in Eden was to be fruitful and multiply. 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:53.279 Jesus commissioned the apostles to multiply their disciples. 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:57.840 Adam was to subdue the earth using God's righteous standards. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:03.039 The apostles were to teach new believers to observe all that Jesus commanded. 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:08.879 So how do we subdue the earth through Christ as New Testament believers? 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:18.879 By being obedient to our King Jesus in all areas of life is how Christians subdue the earth through him in the new covenant. 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:25.200 We live life in every way, living by God's righteous standards without compromise. 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:34.399 Jesus' reinstatement of the creation mandate would be different now for the reason that God's presence would remain with his people. 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:42.960 Jesus solidifies his commission by assuring his disciples that he would be with them always to the end of the age. 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:50.639 Jesus saying he will be with us is saying that we are the sanctuary where God's presence would remain forever. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:52.399 That's a glorious fact, ladies. 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:54.480 I hope that never gets old with us. 00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:56.799 Jesus himself is the temple. 00:11:56.799 --> 00:12:03.120 And because his presence is now with us and in us, we are also God's temple. 00:12:03.120 --> 00:12:07.200 Think about this magnificent truth that we're talking about. 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:15.919 Wherever we go and whatever we touch or cultivate, the world should be experiencing the presence of God through us. 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:30.799 Recognizing the larger goal of this mandate or commission should be a great encouragement that whatever situation God has sovereignly placed you in is opportunity for you to serve and contribute to his kingdom. 00:12:30.799 --> 00:12:35.840 Advancing the kingdom of God is not just a pastoral mission. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:39.600 This is not the leaders of our churches' mission alone. 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:47.519 The pastor and leaders of our churches will never accomplish this aspect of Christian dominion on their own. 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:49.200 It's impossible. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:13:06.240 He said, Your job is to invite them to church. 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:07.840 We'll do the rest. 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:16.639 Of course, it is not wrong to invite your friends to church, but that is not the means of evangelism or making disciples that we are called to do. 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:21.279 It is not the pastor's sermon that will be the greatest tool to someone's salvation. 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:22.320 It is you. 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:29.120 Mainstream Christianity wants us to believe that the church is designed for the unbeliever. 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:35.840 They want us to believe that the church is where we bring our unsaved friends and family to introduce them to Jesus. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:37.840 And that is not wrong to do. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:38.960 We love that. 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:40.159 We want you to do that. 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:41.679 We welcome that. 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:46.480 But sadly, this is how many churches in America function today. 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:50.080 They function for the purpose of bringing the world in. 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:56.399 So now they have to water down the message to get them in, and then they have to entertain them to keep them there. 00:13:56.399 --> 00:13:59.840 However, that is not the biblical model of church. 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:02.720 Church is designed for the believer. 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:12.240 Church is designed for fellowship, for worship, for prayer, for the breaking of bread, for the teaching of the word of God, and for equipping the saints. 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:17.279 One writer said, pastoral roles are much like military cooks. 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:22.399 Their job is to feed those who are fighting on the front lines of battle. 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:23.519 I love that. 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:26.960 The pastor's role is to equip the saints. 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:36.639 If you have a spiritual gift, you are not only supposed to use that gift, but you are called to equip the saints, teaching them how to practice the gift you have. 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:38.960 You are a steward of that gift. 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:48.480 We are all called to serve, we're all called to show hospitality, we're all called to evangelize, and we're all called to give, even if that's not your spiritual gift. 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:51.519 It is not exclusive to the one who has the gift. 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:55.279 We see this in Ephesians 4, 11 through 13. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:15:16.159 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and the teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:22.879 With this in mind, your pastor and elders and leaders are not in the circles that you daily walk in. 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:26.559 You live and work among unbelievers every day. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:29.919 We are in a spiritual battle to win souls. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:36.240 This is the Great Commission to fill the earth with the glory of God by making disciples. 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:47.360 The spiritual war we fight needs you who are in direct contact with the world in the spaces you live in order to counter wicked people and cultures with the kingdom of God. 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:54.399 No job, calling, or situation in life is insignificant or unnecessary for the Great Commission. 00:15:54.399 --> 00:16:12.080 Everything you do in your day, whether you are a parent, whether you own a business, are an employee, whether you do art, enjoy entertainment, whatever your involvement is in civil government, whether you farm, teach, are a doctor, a lawyer, a neighbor, simply a shopper in the grocery store. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:20.399 These are all elements that make up culture and should be pursued with Christ's great commission at the forefront of our intellects and passions. 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:28.399 We're not looking to change culture simply so we can have a more moral, enjoyable place to live, although that would be nice. 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:31.120 We like that, but that's not the goal. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:43.200 We want to change culture for the glory of God, and culture will change as Christ's followers live and subdue using God's righteous standards and telling others about the good news of Jesus. 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:48.480 In the spaces where you live and work, do the people there know who you worship? 00:16:48.480 --> 00:16:50.799 Do they know you are a Christ follower? 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:53.200 Have you shared the gospel with them? 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:57.440 What standards are we looking to when we do life? 00:16:57.440 --> 00:17:07.279 When we go to work, live at home with our families, drive our cars, walk side by side with other believers, or just rub shoulders with the world as we live among them? 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:10.960 Is it a different set of standards for each of those spaces? 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:14.079 Do we uphold Christ in church only? 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:18.240 Or is Christ upheld in our hearts, in his temple? 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:26.000 We are always first, image-bearing, worshipping representatives of Christ before we are anything else. 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:28.400 This is who we are. 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:30.480 This is our identity. 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:33.359 In Christ, we are new. 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:38.480 We are not an employee first and then tack Jesus on when we can. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:43.519 We're not drivers with rights and then tack Jesus on when we want to. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:51.039 We are not parents with authority first who get angry at our children and then tack Jesus on and drag them to church. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:54.640 Anybody else experience those things besides me? 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:56.880 Those are my own examples. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:08.640 We are image-bearing, worshipping representatives of Jesus first, and then in light of that, we go to work, drive in the car, be a parent or a neighbor. 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:12.960 The way you are at work should reflect who you are. 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:17.519 The way you drive in your car should reflect who you are. 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:21.200 The way you parent should reflect who you are. 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:28.079 The way you treat your neighbor should reflect who you are, and who you are is new in Christ. 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:33.119 There are three biblical mandates given in scripture that tie closely together. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:39.200 So we've seen the creation mandate, the great commission, and then also the greatest commandment. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:49.680 Matthew 22, 37 through 39 says, and he said to them, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:56.319 This is the great and first commandment, and the second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 00:18:56.319 --> 00:19:06.000 As Christians, we must keep all three of these mandates at the forefront of our intentions, our work, and our mission without compromise. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:16.880 To understand the Great Commission is to understand that each person alive today has been created in the image of God and participates within God's story. 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:21.839 And right now we are living in that third part of the storyline: redemption. 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:33.440 The Great Commission should compel God's redeemed people to look beyond discipleship as a simple conversion, a passing out of a tract, or the job of your pastor or elders. 00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:36.559 The Great Commission is a calling for everyone. 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:39.839 This is our life's purpose to make disciples. 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:43.200 This is the mandate to be fruitful and multiply. 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:46.559 Making a disciple is not evangelism in and of itself. 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:48.480 It includes that, it must. 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:50.240 But it is life on life. 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:51.519 It is a lifestyle. 00:19:51.519 --> 00:20:01.119 It's living it out every day where you walk and live, preaching the gospel, leading in the spaces you live and work and using God's righteous standards. 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:08.799 And as those around you come to Christ, you walk with them and teach them everything that Jesus has taught you. 00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:18.720 The Great Commission is directly correlated to the creation mandate because God, through Jesus Christ, renews image bearers of God. 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:26.640 In Genesis, God created man, man sinned, and marred his ability to carry out the commission that God has for us. 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:30.960 But we see Christ recreates humanity. 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:38.640 2 Corinthians 5 17 says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:42.559 The old has passed away, behold, the new has come. 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:48.000 Then we see in John 20, 20 that Christ breathes new life. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:54.799 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. 00:20:54.799 --> 00:20:59.279 So when God created Adam, he breathed life into his nostrils. 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:01.119 He gave him life. 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:08.240 But then God recreated man in the new birth when he breathed new life through the Holy Spirit. 00:21:08.240 --> 00:21:09.279 It's a new birth. 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:11.119 That's why we call it born again. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:16.160 You're born the first time, but now you're born again with new life, new breath, Holy Spirit. 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:23.279 The creation mandate and the Great Commission is an evangelistic mandate and an imperative to make disciples. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:26.559 This is the meta-narrative of God in the scriptures. 00:21:26.559 --> 00:21:38.559 God created man in his image and likeness to know him, to love him, to serve him, and to fill the earth, to have dominion over it, all under his protective, loving rule. 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:46.640 The creation mandate mirrors the Great Commission as Christ, who is God in flesh, reigns as cosmic king. 00:21:46.640 --> 00:22:02.480 Jesus, the second and last Adam, lived out the mission of God in perfect obedience, something the first Adam failed to do in the garden. 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:13.759 Our end goal is this: we journey the course in which God in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, leads us and directs us on a sanctifying mission. 00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:20.880 We do this with drive, zeal, and desire to be more holy, more missional, and more like Christ. 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:25.440 Jesus, the ultimate image bearer, was the ultimate disciple maker. 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:36.240 If we are created by him, through him, and for him, then our lives must have intentionality in living out what he said and did in Matthew 28, 19. 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:43.039 John Piper says that missions exist because worship doesn't. 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:46.400 The world around you is worshiping the wrong God. 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:48.640 This is why missions exist. 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:51.680 This is the purpose of the Great Commission. 00:22:51.680 --> 00:23:00.319 So those worshippers can find the object of true and right worship, to worship the creator the way they were designed to. 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:07.519 Last night we talked about how the seed of the woman who is ultimately Christ will crush the head of the serpent. 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:09.680 Has this already happened? 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:10.559 Yes. 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:13.839 When Christ rose from the dead, he defeated Satan. 00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:23.599 Remember when Jesus was being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, and Satan told Jesus that he would give him all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would bow down and worship him? 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:27.359 Satan was given the authority that he had. 00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:31.200 Ultimately, we know it belonged to God, but it was given to Satan. 00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:34.960 That is how Satan was able to bruise Jesus' heel. 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:39.599 He wouldn't have the ability to do that unless God gave him that authority. 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:45.200 But let's read the Great Commission again, Matthew 28, 18 through 20. 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:51.440 And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 00:23:51.440 --> 00:24:05.839 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:10.160 See, Christ defeated Satan, and authority has been given to him. 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:13.279 We knew it always belonged to him, but this was God's pattern. 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:14.559 It had been given to him. 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:20.960 Jesus is saying, all authority has been given to him. 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:30.160 Theologian Abraham Kuyper said, There is not one single square inch of all eternity that Jesus Christ does not say, mine. 00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:43.839 Because of this fact that all authority is Jesus's, he is sending us out saying, Now go make disciples, because I have authority and I am with you. 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:46.079 I am with you. 00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:49.200 We go on his authority, not our own. 00:24:49.200 --> 00:24:52.799 We go in his strength and power, not our own. 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:55.119 He has already paved the way for us. 00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:57.200 So it should be easy, right? 00:24:57.200 --> 00:24:59.759 Do you think it's easy? 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:02.240 I don't think it's easy either. 00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:05.119 Okay, so I'm gonna we're gonna watch this little clip. 00:25:05.119 --> 00:25:06.160 I'm hoping this has worked. 00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:07.359 Maddie, you're gonna help me, right? 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:10.799 I'm gonna go to this slide here, and we're just gonna watch this little clip. 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:14.079 I'm not promoting Disney or anything like that. 00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:15.759 I just thought it was a good clip. 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:18.720 A horrible mistake. 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:22.480 But if you do this, you will start a war with Mufasa. 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:25.920 Hyenas and lions have been at the war since the beginning of time. 00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:12.799 But how encouraging is this to have that visual to remember who you are? 00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:14.240 Whose are you? 00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:15.440 Who do you belong to? 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:16.880 What is your identity in? 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:19.599 And whose power do we go in? 00:27:19.599 --> 00:27:21.200 We're like little Simba. 00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:21.839 We have nothing. 00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:22.799 There's no we have nothing. 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:25.279 If we're going in our own strength, we have nothing. 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:28.400 But our Heavenly Father has given us His Spirit. 00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:30.960 So we go in His power. 00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:41.119 If fear is present, that may be an indicator that we are going in our own power and forgetting who we belong to and whose power we are to rely on. 00:27:41.119 --> 00:27:58.960 With the authority given to Christ and His promise to be with us always through the power of the Holy Spirit, we will see humanity transformed by the gospel and we will see the whole earth filled with God's glory as image bearers take the gospel to all the nations and make disciples. 00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:02.799 This is an incredible calling and a joyful one. 00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:09.839 There is a world of image bearers out there who were designed to live in right relationship with their creator. 00:28:09.839 --> 00:28:18.480 They are seeking all the wrong objects of worship, seeking satisfaction that they will never see outside of a relationship with Him through Christ. 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:31.279 God has placed this high calling on you and on me and on the church to bring the good news to them and make them a disciple of Christ so that the whole earth would be filled with the glory of God. 00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:34.000 Let's read Acts 17. 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:36.799 Back. 00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:40.559 I can't see if that's is that the right one? 00:28:40.559 --> 00:28:41.519 Is that Acts 17? 00:28:41.519 --> 00:28:42.079 Oh, it is. 00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:42.799 Thank you. 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:44.480 Maddie already had me there. 00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:45.519 Good job. 00:28:45.519 --> 00:28:49.200 Acts 17, 22 through 28. 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:53.200 And we'll see how this truth played out for Paul while he was in Athens. 00:28:53.200 --> 00:29:01.680 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said, Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:10.160 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription to the unknown God. 00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:15.599 What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:32.880 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:48.000 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:59.759 Yet he is not actually far from each one of us, for in him we live and move and have our being, and even some of your own poets have said, For we are indeed his offspring. 00:29:59.759 --> 00:30:03.119 Can you see how intentional God is? 00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:07.839 Do you see how Paul was attentive to what was going on in the culture around him? 00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:16.079 Paul saw worship going on in Athens, but he saw their worship was of the wrong God, or at least not including Yahweh. 00:30:16.079 --> 00:30:20.640 He took this opportunity to speak into their need to preach the gospel. 00:30:20.640 --> 00:30:25.440 Paul longed for these people to have the correct object of worship. 00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:34.720 Verses 26 through 28 tell us that God has determined the allotted periods where men would live and the boundaries of their dwelling place. 00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:43.440 Man's purpose is to seek God and that they would find him, because it is in him that we live and move and have our being. 00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:46.240 There is one thing that we can know for sure. 00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:53.680 Every single human being that has ever existed was made by God and for God to worship him. 00:30:53.680 --> 00:31:09.440 Colossians 1 16 says, For by him, meaning Jesus, all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. 00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:13.119 Psalm 103 affirms this. 00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:15.279 Know that the Lord He is God. 00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:18.559 It is He who made us, and we are His. 00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:25.440 God made man for a purpose, to image Him, to glorify Him, to know Him. 00:31:25.440 --> 00:31:30.240 Does it move you to know that the Creator of the world wants to know you? 00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:38.319 Does it move you to know that the Creator of the world humbled himself, became human flesh in the form of a helpless baby? 00:31:38.319 --> 00:31:48.000 Does it move you to think that the creator of the world, the one who created Mary, humbled himself to be completely dependent on her to care for him? 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:49.920 That just blows me away. 00:31:49.920 --> 00:31:55.039 Does it move you to know that Jesus came so you can be made right with God? 00:31:55.039 --> 00:31:59.839 Jesus came and lived the perfect life that we cannot live. 00:31:59.839 --> 00:32:02.640 He died the death that we could not die. 00:32:02.640 --> 00:32:05.359 He paid the price that we could not pay. 00:32:05.359 --> 00:32:08.400 He suffered the wrath of God in our place. 00:32:08.400 --> 00:32:11.680 And then he gave us his righteousness. 00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:18.799 And to think that he desires us to know him, that he desires to give us joy and life evermore. 00:32:18.799 --> 00:32:23.200 And not only that, he gave us his spirit to empower us to do so. 00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:28.079 Understanding this truth should bring us to worship. 00:32:28.079 --> 00:32:34.960 We are designed for this kind of relationship with our Creator, and Christ came to restore what was broken. 00:32:34.960 --> 00:32:39.920 And there is a world out there full of people who do not know their creator. 00:32:39.920 --> 00:32:50.000 Every day we interact with people who are searching for meaning and purpose in life, but they will never find meaning and purpose that truly satisfies outside of Christ. 00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.720 We were designed to function in one way, to image our Creator. 00:32:54.720 --> 00:33:01.039 If we function any other way, other than the way that we are designed to function, we will never be happy. 00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:08.400 The greatest calling and purpose we will ever have is to share this truth with every human being that exists. 00:33:08.400 --> 00:33:13.200 Do you have unbelieving friends, co-workers, neighbors? 00:33:13.200 --> 00:33:21.599 God has determined your allotted periods of time where you live and work, and God has determined the boundaries of your dwelling place. 00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:25.599 The places you walk every single day have been allotted by God. 00:33:25.599 --> 00:33:31.599 He has placed you where you are, at the time and place you are for a specific purpose. 00:33:31.599 --> 00:33:39.359 And you walk among unbelievers who God has also allowed at their period of time and their dwelling place. 00:33:39.359 --> 00:33:44.079 God has intention for when your path crosses with theirs. 00:33:44.079 --> 00:33:48.480 Many of those people are seeking purpose but find it in the wrong place. 00:33:48.480 --> 00:33:51.519 They fall to the wrong object of worship. 00:33:51.519 --> 00:33:55.200 We're probably all familiar with Romans 10 13. 00:33:55.200 --> 00:33:58.480 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:00.559 And we love those verses, don't we? 00:34:00.559 --> 00:34:03.039 But let's read the next two verses. 00:34:03.039 --> 00:34:06.799 Romans 4 10, 14 and 15. 00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:10.079 How then will they call on him whom they have not believed? 00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:13.199 And how are they to believe in him who they have never heard? 00:34:13.199 --> 00:34:15.840 And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:18.400 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? 00:34:18.400 --> 00:34:23.199 As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. 00:34:23.199 --> 00:34:26.000 We carry this good news within us. 00:34:26.000 --> 00:34:27.920 Do we really see it as good? 00:34:27.920 --> 00:34:30.639 Are our feet swift to share it? 00:34:30.639 --> 00:34:40.159 We all know what we are saved from, but this is what we are saved to, to bring the light of the gospel to a dark world. 00:34:40.159 --> 00:34:46.800 We are the light of the world, and we can cling to the promise of Jesus when he said, I am with you. 00:34:46.800 --> 00:35:02.719 First Peter 2 9 tells us, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 00:35:02.719 --> 00:35:08.800 We have been called out of darkness into his marvelous light to proclaim his excellencies. 00:35:08.800 --> 00:35:10.400 This is our purpose. 00:35:10.400 --> 00:35:16.480 Jesus, as he is preaching the Sermon on the Mount, says this in Matthew 5, 14 and 15. 00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:28.320 A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:36.159 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. 00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:47.360 I pray that we live in a way that lives out this commission, that we don't keep our faith to ourselves or hide it under a bushel, like the children's song says, but let our light shine. 00:35:47.360 --> 00:35:54.159 We are in a spiritual war for souls, and this culture war will be waged by preaching the gospel. 00:35:54.159 --> 00:36:04.960 And once we put our faith in Christ, we are called to equip other Christians to go and live in the appointed time and place that God has put them in to the glory of God. 00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:10.559 So for the remainder of our session, I'd like to get super practical. 00:36:10.559 --> 00:36:17.840 We're going to look at five examples of the places that God has determined for you and the spaces that you live in every day. 00:36:17.840 --> 00:36:23.920 And with each example, I'm going to give a testimony or an example of what that could practically look like. 00:36:23.920 --> 00:36:26.400 So number one is your home. 00:36:26.400 --> 00:36:32.239 Your home should not just be a place to eat, watch TV, take care of your yard and sleep. 00:36:32.239 --> 00:36:34.719 It should be a place of productivity. 00:36:34.719 --> 00:36:46.800 This takes the form of family discipleship: loving and serving and witnessing to your neighbors, showing hospitality, have your neighbor over for a cup of coffee or tea if you drink tea. 00:36:46.800 --> 00:36:54.159 A testimony here: when my children were young, I held Bible studies in my home early on Saturday mornings. 00:36:54.159 --> 00:36:56.159 I invited my neighbor who was Catholic. 00:36:56.159 --> 00:36:58.159 I lived in Florida at the time. 00:36:58.159 --> 00:37:04.239 We had lived back in New York for over 10 years when I received a Facebook message from that neighbor. 00:37:04.239 --> 00:37:12.400 She told me she finally understood what I was teaching in those Bible studies so many years earlier and wanted to tell me that she finally got it. 00:37:12.400 --> 00:37:19.760 She wanted to thank me as she explained how she had accepted Christ and was now married to a Christian man and involved in a church. 00:37:19.760 --> 00:37:23.599 In the spaces you live, use it to share the gospel. 00:37:23.599 --> 00:37:28.800 Another example that happens frequently is Jehovah's Witnesses coming to our door. 00:37:28.800 --> 00:37:31.840 Do you shoe them away or do you invite them in? 00:37:31.840 --> 00:37:34.480 This is an opportunity to share Christ with them. 00:37:34.480 --> 00:37:37.440