WEBVTT 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:04.080 Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:12.560 We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the spirit of the Great Commandment. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:14.640 Thanks for joining us today. 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:18.239 Let's pray together, Church. 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:23.280 Father, we thank you, Lord. 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:26.719 That God, you are all those things that we just sung. 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:30.000 Lord, you are so worthy of our praise. 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:34.000 God, you are the name above all names. 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:41.920 You're the one who is with us and deserving of the highest exaltation right now, Lord. 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:47.520 And so, God, we praise you that you are all these things, and we sing these words because they're true. 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:56.399 And yet, Lord, we know that our experiences that we so often live worshiping other things and valuing other things more than you, Lord. 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:03.920 God, we are here on the foundation of your gospel, that you have forgiven us all these things. 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:10.079 God, that you call us to a life of worship and make it possible by sending your Holy Spirit. 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:11.359 And so, God, we give you praise. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:12.400 Thank you for the Spirit. 00:01:12.879 --> 00:01:15.840 God, fill us now with your Holy Spirit as we open up your word. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:18.480 God, we just confess this that we need you. 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:19.920 God, we need you. 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:24.959 Would you drive your truth so deep into our hearts this morning, God? 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:25.840 Would you change us? 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:26.959 Would you save among us? 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:28.640 Would you sanctify us? 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:30.799 God, do this work among us. 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:31.200 We pray. 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:32.560 We pray this all in the name of your son. 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:33.680 Amen. 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:35.200 Amen. 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:40.480 You guys can grab your seat and open up your Bibles to Genesis chapter 1. 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:48.799 I want to let you know it's going to be a lot of flipping this morning, or if you're one of those phone Bible users, a lot of poking this morning. 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:50.879 Because I have an ambitious goal this morning. 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:56.000 And when I told someone, actually this very morning, when I told them about this goal, they said, haha, that's a funny joke. 00:01:56.159 --> 00:02:04.879 And my goal this morning is to go with you from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 to talk about gospel-centered worship. 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:10.000 And I know some of you guys are pretty worried right now about how long this message is going to be. 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:20.560 And I want you to know I'm not going to hit every verse, but we're going to try to trace the story, especially the story of worship, from Genesis 1 to the end of God's Word. 00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:22.719 And so you can open up your Bibles to Genesis 1. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:26.800 I want to ask you this question as you are finding the first page of Scripture. 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:27.840 Well, let me ask you this question. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:29.199 What interests you? 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:31.759 What do you find interesting? 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:36.960 This is a question we often ask people when we first meet them, isn't it? 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:40.719 And it's a question that we ask because you can really find a lot of different answers to that question. 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:55.680 If we were to set up a mic here and have everyone go through and name the things that they found of interest to them, maybe their hobbies or things that they found valuable or worthwhile of their time and resources and attention, we would find all these different things. 00:02:55.840 --> 00:03:08.240 And really an undeniable fact of humanity that we all experience, whether you're a Christian or maybe you come here this morning with a different worldview, well, something we can't deny is that as a people we are interested. 00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:09.919 Now I'm not saying interesting. 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:15.599 Some of us are interesting and more interesting than others, but I'm saying that we are interested in things naturally. 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:20.000 It's our human inclination to be interested in things. 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:27.360 Even the most uninterested person, you might think of the teenager who you ask them about their week, and they say, uh, how's your week? 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:28.000 I don't know. 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:28.560 Good. 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:29.840 And they give you nothing. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:38.240 Well, even that person's interested in some things, and the very thing you know when you're talking to a teenager like that is that they're at least not interested in you. 00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:43.439 But have you ever thought about this question? 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:44.000 Why? 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:47.520 Why as human beings are we interested in things? 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:52.560 Why as human beings do each of us find different things valuable? 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:58.400 Do each of us find it worthwhile to spend our time doing different things? 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:00.879 And the Bible gives us an answer. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:14.400 And the answer the Bible gives us is that the reason that we are an interested people, the reason why human beings find things valuable and worthwhile is because at our very core of our being, we're worshipers. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:16.240 This is who we are. 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:19.519 Our identity is to worship. 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:24.800 Now, maybe you're here and you're not a Christian, and your response to this is I am not a worshiper, okay? 00:04:24.959 --> 00:04:28.240 And I'm here at this worship service, but I want you to know I wasn't even singing. 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:29.439 So I'm not a worshiper. 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:31.439 That's just not what I do. 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:36.800 And I'm not using this in the sense of the fact that you're a worshiper of God. 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:44.160 It is true that if you're in Christ, you're called to be a worshiper of God, but even if you're in Christ, you know that we struggle to worship many other things. 00:04:44.319 --> 00:04:51.439 What I am saying is that no matter what, if you are human, to be human is to worship something. 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:55.040 By our very nature, we are worshipers. 00:04:55.199 --> 00:05:06.399 We're always, we have this magnetic attraction to things or to people and to finding value or interest or worth in these things or these people. 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:14.720 When you start to realize this, you come to realize that really your whole life has been a life of worship. 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:19.360 You could tell your life story really by the things that you worship. 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:31.279 From the day you were born, you were driven by the things that you considered worthy of your time, of your attention, of your affection, of your resources. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:37.040 When you were a child, this dictated the things that you played with and found interesting. 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:40.560 It dictated the friends that you have and hung out with. 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:46.319 And as you grew, it impacted the career that you chose and eventually the person that you would marry. 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:52.639 So that really all of your life is a decision that's based on what you worship. 00:05:53.360 --> 00:06:01.279 And you need to know that the story of your life and what you worship is so much bigger than you. 00:06:01.839 --> 00:06:07.360 That the story of worship that has really been your life is really a story of humanity. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:13.439 It's really a story of all of human history, past, present, and future. 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:14.639 It's a story of worship. 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:22.720 And so, what I want to do this morning is I want to show you your place in this book from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:36.000 I want to open up God's word and show you how your story of worship fits into God's greater story of worship and ultimately how God has acted to intervene in your life of worship. 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:40.560 At the end of the day, isn't it true that we want to worship what's worthwhile? 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:46.319 We want to be interested in the things that are valuable, truly valuable, truly worthwhile. 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:49.360 This past week I was reminded of this. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:53.439 It was before bedtime, and as a parent, this is one of the worst sounds you can hear. 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:56.079 I heard the sound of the ice cream truck. 00:06:56.319 --> 00:07:08.000 And if I were to have a hundred, hundred dollar bills up here, and if I were to make it rain in this room, you still would not be as excited as my kids are when they hear the glorious tune of the ice cream truck. 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:12.639 And so we heard it coming down the street, and my kids started going ballistic. 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:16.000 Ice cream, we gotta go get ice cream, let's go to the ice cream truck. 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:19.680 And I promised them every summer, one time we'll go to the ice cream truck. 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:21.839 So I rolled my eyes like any good father. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:24.000 I said, Great, here we go, now's the time. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:25.519 So we went to the ice cream truck. 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:29.360 Their hearts were being filled with anticipation as we were getting their shoes on. 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:32.959 I was thinking of how much they're gonna worship me for this moment. 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:37.680 Um I'm being such a good dad, bringing them to ice cream is gonna be a memory we're never gonna forget. 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:42.160 We're gonna get the ice cream and taste the glory of its sweetness. 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:51.120 We ran down the street, we flagged the ice cream truck, we got the ice cream, and it was very disappointing ice cream. 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:54.800 I was very sad that I'd paid$18 to buy ice cream for my family. 00:07:54.879 --> 00:08:06.240 And if you had told me at that moment that I was just eating melted plastic, I would have believed you by the way that it tasted, by the way that my stomach felt after eating that ice cream, it really was a horrible experience. 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:07.360 It was a letdown. 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:10.399 This thing I thought was going to be worthwhile wasn't. 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:13.680 Well, that's a silly illustration to maybe illustrate for us. 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:22.720 What if you spend your life pursuing things that you think are worthwhile, only to find at the end of it that it wasn't worth it? 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:32.080 What if you spent your life, a life of worshiping, chasing the things you thought were valuable, only to find that they didn't really satisfy? 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:44.960 And we can think about that at the end of our life, but haven't you experienced in your life, as you look back on your life, that the things that you thought would fill you up, satisfy you, that would ultimately be pleasing in the end weren't? 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:55.919 So many of us have lived our life placing our hope for fulfillment, for satisfaction, thinking that the worthwhile things are the things of this world. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:08.960 And so we look to maybe a thing like our wedding day, thinking that our spouse might ultimately satisfy us, only to realize that our spouse is a sinner who will time and time hopefully please us, but at time and time again they'll let us down. 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:11.360 This isn't the right time to nudge your partner. 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:13.120 Not the right time right now. 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:24.159 Maybe we thought that promotion at work would be the thing that would finally give us pleasure, would finally be worth it, would finally be worth all of our time and attention and resources only to realize that it wasn't. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:33.759 See, each of us, each of us, we have something on the horizon that we're tempted to believe will be the thing that's worth our time, attention, and resources. 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:36.639 And yet it hasn't come. 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:45.759 And this morning, what God wants to do in our lives in the story of our worship is show us his greater plan for our worship. 00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:56.799 The great news is that when we see his plan for our worship, we can truly finally experience what our hearts were actually made to experience, the worship of God. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:09:59.039 And so I want you to open a Genesis chapter one. 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:01.840 I want you to work really hard to stay with me this morning, okay? 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:04.159 I thought, should I put the text up on the screen? 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:05.440 And the answer was no. 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:06.399 I'm gonna be cruel. 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:08.960 I'm gonna make people follow along with me. 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:12.080 I'm gonna read a lot of texts, I'll tell you when to turn, okay? 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:15.679 But we're gonna start in Genesis chapter one. 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:17.679 At the beginning. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:21.840 Because you can't really understand your life if you don't start at the beginning, can you? 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:23.759 When all things were created. 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:28.159 You can't really understand your life if you don't know why you're here and what you're to do here. 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:32.799 And I want you to notice specifically the first four words of Genesis chapter one and verse one. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:38.960 I mean these are perhaps the most important words in all of Scripture, and they're these words, in the beginning, God. 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:42.480 In the beginning, God. 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:47.759 These verses tell us real something really important about who we are as human beings. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:50.960 These verses tell us that we aren't God. 00:10:52.879 --> 00:11:03.600 These verses tell us that God is God, and from the beginning, all eternity past, and for all eternity future, this God that the Bible in Genesis 1 speaks about is God. 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:05.840 He was there in the beginning. 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:09.679 That means that all of us who are here are created beings. 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:15.679 God isn't created, he has always existed for all of eternity, and he will always exist. 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:26.240 Those of us who are sitting here have birthdays, we know the days that we were came into existence, we know the day that we came into being. 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:28.000 This wasn't so for God. 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:34.320 He has always been, he has always existed, and this answers for us one of the most important questions of life. 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:36.559 Where how how did we get here? 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:39.679 And why are we here? 00:11:41.120 --> 00:12:02.480 Maybe you're here and you're not a Christian, and you're coming from the or coming here this morning with the prevailing world view of our world, and that's of naturalism, of evolution, that the way that we got here was through evolution, was through the Big Bang, and that things slowly progressed until we came to the existence that we find ourselves in today. 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:09.519 You reject Christianity because you can't understand how you can base your life on something that you can't see. 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:18.480 And your argument is that I value reason, I value science, and so I want to base my life on something that's reasonable and something that's scientific. 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:20.399 And I want you to know that I value that too. 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:39.440 I value reason, I value science, and as I look at all the different worldviews, what I find is that the strongest reasonable, the strongest scientific argument to make sense of this world that we live in, to make sense of this existence that we find ourselves in, is found in the Bible. 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:51.759 And the reason why I can't come to grips with the evolutionary worldview, and I want you to know that I've wrestled with it, and even day to day I'm open to wrestling with it, but I can't come to grips with it is because it really can't answer this question. 00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:54.480 How did we get here and why are we here? 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:00.879 The ultimate question is, where do we come from? 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:07.120 The evolutionary worldview says that, well, well, we evolved from apes, and then so my question is, well, where did those apes come from? 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:14.399 You say, well, they they evolved from fish who grew legs and walked up to land, and I say, okay, well, that maybe that's possible, but where did those fish come from? 00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:21.360 Well, it was pond scum that eventually evolved through macroevolution to fish, and you say, Where did that pond scum come from? 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:29.840 Well, when the big bang happened, this world by chance happened to be created, and the pond was part of it with the scum, the pond scum being part of it as well. 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:31.600 And I say, Well, where did the big bang come from? 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:32.799 Well, you get the picture here. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:37.679 Two particles of dust collided against each other, and I say, Well, where did those particles of dust come from? 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:41.600 And if you keep asking that question, eventually you have to answer this question. 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:45.360 Did we come from nothing or have we existed for all of eternity? 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:51.919 And the Bible breaks in at that point of the question to say this that we have existed for all of eternity. 00:13:52.159 --> 00:13:56.240 God for all of eternity has existed, past, present, and future. 00:13:56.480 --> 00:13:58.000 He is eternal. 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:00.799 Answers the question. 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:03.840 In the beginning, God. 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:12.399 The answer of Genesis 1 is that we were created by God, and God is the one who has always been and will always be. 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:15.360 This is who God is. 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:19.440 And we come into this story because this eternal God chose to create us. 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:22.799 This is what the rest of Genesis 1 is about. 00:14:23.519 --> 00:14:25.039 God creating us. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:27.679 And so this answers the question, how did I come into being? 00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:30.399 But another really important question of our life is why are we here? 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:33.840 And the rest of Genesis 1 really answers this question. 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:38.320 Why did God create this world and why did God put us on it? 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:41.200 And you start to see it in Genesis 1. 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:49.039 You start to see what's guiding God's creative process, why he's creating the things that he's creating. 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:51.919 And so look at Genesis 3 on the first day. 00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:53.840 Sorry, Genesis 1, verse 3. 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:59.440 On the first day, what God creates, he says, Let there be light, and there was light. 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:05.120 God creates this light with his voice, with the power of his word. 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:08.080 And then he stands back, and this happens at the end of each day. 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:10.720 He stands back, and I want to read this together, okay? 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:14.159 Let's do some corporate reading together. 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:18.879 In verse 4, it says, And God saw that the light was. 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:20.159 Can you read that word with me? 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:22.559 And God saw that the light was good. 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:29.200 God steps back, and what's the measure that he's using? 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:35.200 As he steps back and sees creation, the measure that he's using is his own pleasure. 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:39.600 God steps back and he sees the light and he says, This is good. 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:42.080 This is pleasing to me. 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:46.480 This adequately declares my glory and my worth. 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:53.039 This is why the psalmist in Psalm 19, verse 1, he says, the heavens declare the glory of God. 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:55.919 The sky above proclaims his handy work. 00:15:56.480 --> 00:16:02.639 Because when God created this world, he was creating things that would glorify him and proclaim his handy work. 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:16.559 This is why Paul says in Romans 1 that his invisible attributes, God's invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that were made. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:24.639 See, as God was making this world, he was making things that were proclaiming his glory, proclaiming his worth as the creator, as God. 00:16:24.799 --> 00:16:28.559 It was proclaiming his power and ultimately everything in creation. 00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:35.360 I love how one theologian puts it, everything in creation was preaching God's goodness. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:45.039 This is why God was creating the things that he was creating to proclaim his goodness so that he would stand back and look at all that he created and say that it was good. 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:48.879 Well, he continues on day two to make the skies. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:53.279 And he stands back and say it with me, church. 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:56.159 He looks at the skies and he says, It is good. 00:16:57.279 --> 00:17:02.240 Day three, he makes dry land, plants, and trees, and declares in verse 12 that it is good. 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:04.720 Say it with me, we're losing participation. 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:05.680 All right, participation. 00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:06.400 Help me out here. 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:08.720 In verse four, he makes the sun, moon, and stars. 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:11.279 And in verse 18, he says, it is good. 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:19.440 On day five, he makes the creatures that swim and fly and declares about these creatures that swim and fly that it is good. 00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:26.000 On day six, he makes animals that walk on the earth and declares about them that they are good. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:31.599 God creates all these things to a standard of his pleasure. 00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:39.920 And once these things are adequately displaying his glory and his power and his divine nature, he's able to stand back and say that it is good. 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:47.440 Something significant happens in verse 26, though, on the sixth day after he says it's good, he's not done creating. 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:49.599 Look what happens in verse 26. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:18:03.359 It says, Then God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:10.240 So God created man in his own image, and in the image of God he created him, male and female, he created them. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:18.400 And in verse 28 down to the end of 31, it continues to talk about the creation of man and God's word to them. 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:20.880 Now, this is especially significant. 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:24.799 There's a few reasons why this particular creation is significant. 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:28.640 The first reason I want you to notice is that look how long it is. 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:38.480 All the other days have maybe two or three verses to explain them, but when it comes to the creation of man, this is the longest portion of the creation account. 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:46.240 So as to point our attention to the fact that the crown of creation is Adam and Eve. 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:52.079 We would love if maybe there is like a little excursus in parts of Genesis 1, wouldn't we? 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:55.039 We have a lot of questions about the things that God created. 00:18:55.200 --> 00:19:01.119 Some of us would love if there were like a few verses to maybe explain why God would create something like cats. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:03.279 And yet it's not there. 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:15.440 God spends time talking about the creation of man and woman, the creation of Adam and Eve, because there's something especially significant about the creation of human beings. 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:24.880 Not only don't notice not only that it's the largest portion of Genesis 1, but notice the amount of pleasure that God takes in man. 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:26.640 Look at verse 31. 00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:37.200 When God steps back and looks at his creation in Adam and Eve, says, And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, this is interesting, it was very good. 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:38.960 Very good. 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:44.079 Six times as God created in Genesis 1, he stands back and says, This is good. 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:47.680 But when he comes to Adam and Eve, he says, This is very good. 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:52.079 It's like you ever you ever have that friend or that person in your family, they're just never pleased with anything. 00:19:52.559 --> 00:19:52.960 How is the movie? 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:54.720 How's the food? 00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:55.599 That was alright. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:56.480 How is this? 00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:57.200 That was all right. 00:19:57.279 --> 00:19:59.920 And then you see some of you guys looking at the person beside you, that's you. 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:05.039 Well, here God has sh finally found something he's ultimately pleased with. 00:20:05.200 --> 00:20:08.400 When he makes Adam and Eve, it they are very good. 00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:12.480 And lastly, I want you to see why they're significant. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:19.039 It's because in verse 26, God chose to make Adam and Eve in his image. 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:23.279 Now we could spend a lot of time talking about what this means and really talking about the implications. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:24.720 We could probably spend a sermon on this. 00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:27.680 We could probably spend a whole sermon series on what this means. 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:35.119 But suffice to say, it means ultimately that Adam and Eve were created to display God's worth. 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:36.480 This is what they were created for. 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:39.119 What does it mean to be made in the image of God? 00:20:39.279 --> 00:20:41.519 Well, it's kind of like the way that a coin is made. 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:45.839 When you stamp that coin with the original, it kind of creates a copycat of that version. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:50.880 Or when a painting is painting, there's the original, and then you create copies of that painting. 00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:56.640 And when you look at a copy, what it points to is the awesomeness, the worth of the original. 00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:13.440 To be created in the image of God is to be like a mirror so that when people look at the creation of God, Adam and Eve, humanity that's made in the image of God, what's meant to happen is that they reflect the goodness of who God is, being made in their image. 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:21.359 And in verse 28, God not only creates Adam and Eve in his image, he gives them this command. 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:24.319 I think this is probably every husband's favorite command in all of Scripture. 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:29.759 He says, This, be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it. 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:54.480 And the command is for Adam and Eve to multiply and have children, and for their children to have children, until one day there are hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of people on the earth, each made in the image of God, each existing for this purpose, that when you look at their life, they're displaying the glory, the goodness, the divine power, the divine nature of God. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:04.480 This means that your life is created to display something beyond yourself. 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:12.079 You are created for worship, the purpose of your life, independent of what you think your purpose is. 00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:21.599 Is that you were created to display the infinite value, the infinite worth, the infinite glory of the God who created you. 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:23.599 You were created for worship. 00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:26.240 And so we see this throughout the rest of Genesis. 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:30.799 That in Genesis 2, Adam and Eve are placed in the garden to work for God. 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:37.599 They're co-regents placed under the authority of God to work for God and work under him. 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:45.039 So in verse 15 of Genesis chapter 2, moving on to the next chapter now, says the Lord God took man and put him in the garden. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:47.599 And who gives Adam and Eve purpose in the garden? 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:48.720 He said it's God. 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:53.440 He says that Adam's place in the garden to work it and to keep it. 00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:05.759 Adam and Eve would live in the garden, fulfilling the mission that God had given them, the purpose that God had given them, to display his worth by listening to his command to work and keep the garden. 00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:12.400 And in chapter 3.8, we're told that God would be with them in the garden, walking with them. 00:23:13.200 --> 00:23:14.640 His divine presence would be there. 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:22.960 Adam and Eve would be like priests in the garden, working and keeping in the midst of God's presence, living to serve God. 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:30.160 Everything they would do would be to build God's kingdom, to display the worth of God's character. 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:36.799 So that as they were in the garden, working and keeping the garden, expanding the boundaries of the garden until one day it would fill the whole earth. 00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:44.160 As Adam and Eve were successful in their mission, people would look to the success and see the glory and goodness of God. 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:47.039 They were made for worship. 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:50.319 They were made to worship God in relationship to Him. 00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:51.839 And so God gives them their purpose. 00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:55.759 But notice in verse 16 and 17, He also gives them a negative command. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:24:00.400 In verse 16 and 17, God puts a tree of knowledge of good and evil and commands them not to eat it. 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:04.000 You ever wonder why God puts this tree right in the middle of the garden? 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:06.160 Is this like irresponsible parenting? 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:10.720 I remember one time I was feeding my kids and I was cutting them up some fruit and I put the knife down. 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:14.640 I turned around, and I think every parent kind of has a story like this. 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:16.720 Hopefully you'll make me feel a little more comfortable with this. 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:23.279 Turned around, and my kid was waving this knife above their head like it was a machete, and they were starting ready to start chopping things down. 00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:27.440 And I freaked out, it was probably the most irresponsible moment of my parenting. 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:30.559 You don't give your children dangerous things. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:38.319 Well, God puts this tree of knowledge of good and evil right in the middle of the garden and says, Hey, Adam and Eve, do not eat of this tree. 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:40.559 If you eat of it, you will die. 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:49.039 And one of the responses you can have to that is like, if God really loved Adam and Eve, why wouldn't he put that tree up on like a mountain that they couldn't get to? 00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:52.240 And yet God puts it right in the middle of the garden. 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:54.000 Why does he do that? 00:24:54.480 --> 00:25:03.359 Well, it's because every day Adam and Eve would see this tree that they were commanded not to eat and be reminded that they don't live for their own glory. 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:05.359 They don't live as their own master. 00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:06.960 They live to serve God. 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:19.119 They live to obey God's command, that their greatest worth, their greatest value is found in serving and living for God and carrying out his command and carrying out his commission. 00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:23.599 This is what we need to understand about our lives. 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:29.119 We're created, we're designed, we're intended to worship God. 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:37.759 This answers the question why we never really feel satisfied in the worship of other things. 00:25:38.880 --> 00:25:40.799 Because we weren't created to worship other things. 00:25:41.359 --> 00:25:45.599 The things of this world were not created to ultimately satisfy you. 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:46.640 They cannot. 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:48.960 Because they weren't created to. 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:51.680 You were created to be in a relationship with God. 00:25:51.920 --> 00:26:02.079 And until you find that relationship and live and abide in Jesus Christ, you will always feel like you're running on a treadmill, never arriving at your destination. 00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:06.319 You're created to be satisfied in a relationship with the one who created all things. 00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:09.920 This is why Augustine says, You have made us for yourself, O Lord. 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:14.079 And our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:20.880 Worshiping anything other than God is like trying to fit a square shape into a round hole. 00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:21.839 You just can't do it. 00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:33.039 I don't know if God has you here for a specific purpose this morning to show you this reality that you've been living this life of worship, worshiping the things of earth, but that you weren't created for that. 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:38.400 You're created for so much more to live in relationship with Him, to worship Him. 00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:42.240 Alright, we're done Genesis chapter 1 and chapter 2. 00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:44.720 Are you worried about how long this message is gonna be? 00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:47.359 I promise that we're gonna start moving faster. 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:48.559 You can turn your Bible. 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:52.079 Actually, stay in Genesis 3, because we're gonna go to Genesis 3 now, okay? 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:58.880 Second thing I want you to see is that not only were you created for worship, you were redeemed for worship. 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:05.759 The issue after Adam and Eve choose to disobey is that their hearts are no longer attracted to the things that they should be attracted to. 00:27:05.920 --> 00:27:13.359 They no longer find valuable the things that they were created to find valuable, they no longer find worthwhile the things that they were created to find worthwhile. 00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:22.480 And so at one point where when they relished in the presence of God and they loved to obey his command, now they are ashamed in the presence of God. 00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:24.559 In chapter 3. 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:28.319 See, the problem of sin, this is instructive for us. 00:27:28.480 --> 00:27:31.920 The problem of sin really is a problem of worship. 00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:41.279 Adam and Eve were created to find their worth in being image bearers and carrying out God's command to work and keep the garden. 00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:52.240 But now instead of delighting in the things that they were created to do, now instead of finding worth in their relationship with God, now they're ashamed of the things that they should be worshiping God. 00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:54.079 They're ashamed in the presence of God. 00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:55.359 It's really a question of worship. 00:27:55.519 --> 00:28:01.920 Will they worship the one who created them, or will they ultimately exchange the worship of God for the worship of the things he created? 00:28:02.079 --> 00:28:12.240 And the moment they chose to eat of the forbidden fruit was the moment that they chose to tear God off the altar that he deserves and uh deserves to be on. 00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:23.279 And they tear God off that altar and place this fruit on it, saying that eating this forbidden fruit is more valuable to me than living and serving God. 00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:27.359 This is how Paul explains our sin in Romans 1. 00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:29.599 As he's talking about those who don't live for God. 00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:38.079 He says, For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, because they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened. 00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:48.400 Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:50.160 See, this is the problem with our sin. 00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:51.839 It's really a problem of worship. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:59.839 What happens when we sin against God is we take God out of his rightful place, the place of worship, the place of honor, the place of service. 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:08.880 We take him off the altar and we put something else there, as though this thing could really live up to God's worth. 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:16.640 This is what we do every time we sin, and it really is foolish. 00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:23.200 Because as we think about it, we know that nothing could live up to the worth of God. 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:28.559 And yet in our sin, what we do is we take this created thing and we say, This is way more worthy than God. 00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:31.599 And think about even Adam and Eve's sin for a moment. 00:29:31.839 --> 00:29:34.000 They were created in the garden to live for God. 00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:37.119 God told them they can eat of every tree, any tree they want. 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:43.680 They were finding satisfaction and delight in their life of obedience, but then they chose to eat the forbidden fruit. 00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:45.599 And what did God tell them about the forbidden fruit? 00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:47.839 Did God say, hey, this fruit's gonna taste really good. 00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:48.880 You're gonna love it. 00:29:49.119 --> 00:29:53.119 Did God say, hey, once you eat this fruit, it's gonna completely change and revolutionize your life. 00:29:53.200 --> 00:29:54.160 It's gonna be a good thing. 00:29:54.319 --> 00:29:55.839 Almost comparable to living for me. 00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:59.920 The only thing that God promised about the fruit was if they ate it, they would die. 00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:01.599 That's the only promise. 00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:03.519 There's nothing positive. 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:08.880 And yet Adam and Eve, in the foolishness of their sin, choose to take the fruit and eat of it. 00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:13.279 And the only thing promised of that fruit was delivered to them. 00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:14.160 Death. 00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:19.759 They exchanged the worship of the living God for the worship of the forbidden fruit. 00:30:20.240 --> 00:30:23.440 And it's the same exchange we make every time we sin. 00:30:23.920 --> 00:30:32.079 We exchange a relationship with God that provides life and satisfaction for a relationship with sin that only ever leads to death. 00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:36.240 It never truly satisfies us because it cannot. 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:48.160 Every sin we struggle with is a battle of worship, where we constantly rip God off his rightful throne to place something else on it. 00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:53.279 And the ultimate sentence for worshiping something that is not God is death. 00:30:53.359 --> 00:30:57.599 This is why Adam and Eve, they're taken from the garden, which bears the tree of life. 00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:02.559 The garden where God walks and dwells, and they're cast outside. 00:31:05.759 --> 00:31:11.599 But the amazing, beautiful truth is that once they're cast outside, God isn't finished with them. 00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:18.160 And in Genesis 3.15, when God speaks to the serpent, he gives us great hope. 00:31:18.319 --> 00:31:21.279 Look at these words, these words of hope in Genesis 3.15. 00:31:21.359 --> 00:31:26.880 He says this to the serpent, I'll put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring. 00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:30.400 He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. 00:31:30.559 --> 00:31:32.240 You see that promise there, church? 00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:33.759 He shall bruise your head. 00:31:33.920 --> 00:31:39.920 Someone is coming who is going to bruise the head of the serpent, and the serpent will bruise the head of this person's heel. 00:31:40.079 --> 00:31:43.359 Now you don't need to know much about like martial arts to know who's going to win that fight. 00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:49.839 If you get into a fight and you walk out with a bruised heel, and the other person walks out with a bruised head, then you've won that fight. 00:31:50.079 --> 00:31:53.359 And what God is saying is that there's going to be now this cosmic battle. 00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:58.640 It's really the rest of the story of scripture, this cosmic battle between God and Satan. 00:31:58.799 --> 00:32:02.480 And at the end of it, God is going to win. 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:19.200 It's this promise that God is going to carry humanity through their sin to deliverance, that He is going to redeem Adam and Eve from their foolishness of worshiping the wrong thing. 00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:23.440 And so all of Scripture really launches into this cosmic battle. 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:28.160 So that you pick up the story in bits and pieces all through Scripture. 00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:35.440 And even through Genesis, you see this battle between the line of the woman and the line of the serpent taking place. 00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:46.400 And it seems like the line of the woman is growing and growing and growing, so that in Exodus chapter 1, and you can turn there now, in Exodus chapter 1, verse 7, things are going very well for God's people. 00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:53.440 And in Exodus chapter 1, verse 7, it says, But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly. 00:32:53.680 --> 00:32:57.839 They multiplied and grew exceedingly strong so that the land was filled with them. 00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:01.359 See, what was happening was God's command was winning. 00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:10.000 God had commanded the people to be fruitful and multiply, and now in Exodus 1, they are being fruitful, and they're growing in strength, and the land is filled with God's people. 00:33:10.160 --> 00:33:16.720 And it seems like the serpent is win is losing, like the victory is being delivered to God's people. 00:33:16.880 --> 00:33:21.200 But then in verse 8, something happens. 00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:31.519 There arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph, and he said to his people, Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us, and this king subjects Israel to slavery. 00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:39.119 And now the people of God find themselves under a new master, serving a new king. 00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:42.319 No longer serving the God that they were created to worship and serve. 00:33:42.400 --> 00:33:44.079 Now they're serving Pharaoh. 00:33:44.799 --> 00:33:48.480 They're subject to his slavery, his cruel slavery. 00:33:50.079 --> 00:34:04.720 So much so that in verse 23 of chapter 2, it says, During those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. 00:34:05.839 --> 00:34:07.920 The people of God are groaning. 00:34:08.559 --> 00:34:10.320 Life's not the way it's supposed to be. 00:34:10.719 --> 00:34:13.280