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Man, Has God Got a Plan For You! - Genesis 1-3

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Alexander Pope once remarked that, "the chief study of man is man himself." That may be true, especially in our culture, but this could also be the reason why mankind is so desperate and spiritually thirsty. Looking only to ourselves rather than beyond ourselves can get pretty lonely! But why are we here? What is the purpose of mankind inhabiting this planet? How can I fulfill the God-given destiny that He originally designed for me?

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3/9/2003
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Man, Has God Got a Plan For You!
Genesis 1-3
Skip Heitzig
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Alexander Pope once remarked that, "the chief study of man is man himself." That may be true, especially in our culture, but this could also be the reason why mankind is so desperate and spiritually thirsty. Looking only to ourselves rather than beyond ourselves can get pretty lonely! But why are we here? What is the purpose of mankind inhabiting this planet? How can I fulfill the God-given destiny that He originally designed for me?
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Rediscovering Our Foundations

Rediscovering Our Foundations

We live in an age where truth has become a relative term. But the Bible leaves no room for doubt when it comes to the absolute nature of truth. Unfortunately, our culture is vastly biblically illiterate. In this series, Pastor Skip Heitzig gets back to the roots of our faith, looking at what the Bible has to say about God, Christ, the Trinity, mankind, the church, heaven, and hell. Learn to stand on a firm foundation in the midst of an unstable culture.

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  1. God's Creation of Man (Genesis 1:1-2; 26-31)
  2. God's Reflection in Man (vv. 26-28)
  3. God's Interaction with Man (Genesis 3:8-9)

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Genesis 1. Man, has God got a plan for you! But about 3,000 years ago, it was King David who asked a question that philosophers have wrestled with for generations. "What is man?" they ask. What is man? The study of man is known as anthropology, and there are as many answers to that as there are people, no doubt.

Some decide to view man through the lens simply of science, others simply through the lens of philosophy. I suppose if you asked the average secular humanist, "What is man?" they would give you the scientific answer—the genus and the species, homosapien, a product of random evolutionary processes.

Mark Twain said, "Man is a machine." Aristotle said, "Man is a political animal." Ben Franklin called him, "The tool making animal." Years before him, philosopher and mathematician, the Frenchman, Blaise Pascal, said, "Man is a reed. He is of all things in creation the most flimsy creature that breathes and crawls upon the earth." And going way, way out on a limb, Shirley McClain said that "man is a reincarnated self with a Christ-consciousness."

The best way to answer the question, "What is man? Who are we?" is not by a speculation or imagination, but by revelation, and here's why. If we begin by imagination, we begin with ourselves, that's our point of reference, build upwardly, outwardly, and eventually we will create God in our image. If we begin by revelation, then we begin with God, and we will see man as created in God's image. Two very different approaches. Two very different results. So, to be truly anthropological we must be truly theological and decide to see man through the eyes of man's creator, God. So, you've turned to Genesis 1, and we're going to look at that tonight.

There's a mistake people make, and I hope none of us make the mistake. It's the mistake that a little eagle made years ago.

Once upon a time, a little boy found an eagle's egg, and he dropped it in the nest of a prairie chicken, and the eaglet hatched along with the baby chicks. But because all this eagle knew was the life of a prairie chicken, it began to think it was a prairie chicken. It started acting like a prairie chicken. It did all the things that prairie chickens do, because it thought, after all, it is one. It was raised with one. It clucked and cackled. It scratched the dirt to find insects and seed. It thrashed its wings just a few feet off the ground, flying in little increments. That's all.

And one day when the eagle was very, very old--the whole life is passed--he looks up in the sky and sees a magnificent bird, spread wings soaring effortlessly, and he says, "What is that?"

And the prairie chicken brother said, "That is an eagle, the king of all birds."

"Wow," said the eagle.

But the prairie chicken said to the eagle, "Don't even give it a second thought. Forget about it." (New York accent) It was a New York chicken. "Forget about it. You could never be one of those."

So the eagle died believing it was a prairie chicken.

Don't you dare go through life thinking you are a prairie chicken when God has made you the crown of all his creation, to soar, to have dominion over all else that God has made.

We're going to look at God's creation of man tonight in brief, just to start, and we'll finish more of it next week. But we'll discover something. That God's creation of man includes God's reflection in man for the purpose of God's interaction with man.

Let's look at the very first verse of the Bible, God's creation of man. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. But if you go down to verse 26, Then God said, "Let us make man in our image according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth, over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

This is the verse of primary reference. This is God's original idea, his original intention. And the Bible says, as we have just read that God made, created man, in his image. That's revelation. But man has strayed from revelation to speculation, imagination, and ask the question, "Well, what really is man? Who really are we? Why are we here?"

There's a temple in Greece, the temple of Apollo and Delphi, with that famous inscription that says, "Know thyself." And people go there every year and go, "Wow. Heavy, man. Know thyself." But how can I know myself? Who am I really? And philosophers have evaluated, and cogitated, and tried to figure all that out.

You know, philosophers, it's been said, are people who don't know what they're talking about. Then they blame it on you, make it sound like it's your fault.

What is man? Who are we? Well, we just read it, but that doesn't agree with what's going on around us. There is speculation as to who we are. Philosophically, even in this country, in this generation, we have to look back to sort of the roots of it all, the classic view of man, the Greco-Roman view. And the classic Greco-Roman view is that man was set apart from everything else because he was a reasoning animal. He had the capacity to reason, to think, and that was his primary attribute that set him apart from everything else. And that is still a philosophy very prevalent today, except it's taken to an incredibly ridiculous extreme to the point that we have made our reasoning supreme, and we are anthropocentric. It's all about us. It's all about anthropos, man, me.

You know, sometimes we will sing the song "I'm getting back to the heart of worship, 'cause it's all about you, Lord. It's all about you." The humanist would have to say, "I'm getting back to the heart of selfishness, 'cause it's all about me. It's all about me." The capacity to reason.

There are assumptions that these group of philosophers, ancient and modern, have made that are wrong. The first assumption is that man is basically good. They deny there was a fall. We'll see the fall next time we gather. Number two is the false assumption that man is progressing. We're getting better and better with each other. Now, you would think that after two world wars and all the international unrest that we see constantly, that we would quickly get over that way of thinking, but we haven't. Then along with that classic viewpoint of man, the reasoning animal, there was also part of the ancient Greek thought that came from the mystery religions of Greece that saw man as purely mechanical, a machine. Of course, that is still with us, too, via that theory of evolution. "We're a highly evolved species, but we're evolved, and still evolving."

A man went to the zoo, and he knew the zoo keeper, and the zookeeper said, "Man, you got to check out an orangutan we have. He's unbelievable. He reads."

And so the guy went over to the orangutan exhibit, and sure enough, there was that ape standing there with a Bible in one hand looking at it. And in the other hand Darwin's Origin of the Species looking at it. And he looked at one, and he looked at the other, and the guy, the visitor, said, "Excuse me, but are you actually reading those books?"

The orangutan turned and said, "Well, of course, I am."

"Oh, well, do you understand what you're reading?"

And the orangutan got a frown on his face. He goes, "Well, now, there is a problem, because this book says that I'm my brother's keeper. This book says I'm my keeper's brother, and so I'm confused."

I think a lot of people are confused, because that way of thinking, both ancient and modern, both classical Greek way of thinking that has spilled over into modern way of thinking, or the mystery religion way of thinking that says we're purely mechanical led back then, and I believe leads today, to a fatalism. You finally come, if you follow that true, to a "What's the point then of it all? What's the whole point of it all?"

For instance, the writer of the Iliad, Homer, had Zeus saying, "There is nothing, me thinks, more piteous than a man of all things that creep and breathe upon the earth. Aristotle said, "Not to be born is the best thing, and death is better than life."

So, classical Greek philosophy spilled over into modern philosophy, basically looked at history and existence with a Solomon type of an outlook. A "vanity, vanity, all is vanity." There's really no point to our existence, to history. But we saw it in verse 26. That's imagination. That's speculation.

Here's revelation. God said, God said, Ah, let us make man, let us make, let us create man, in our image, and so God formed man.

Now right here we diverge. Right here we are not anthropocentric. It's not all about us. It's theocentric. It's God. It was his idea. It was his brain child. And when we see life, mankind, through the lens of God, it's like we go, "Ahh. I see a purpose. I see a reason for existence—a divine reason."

Like the little boy who wanted to have a little alone time with Dad, and Dad wanted to read the paper and just sort of diffuse after a long, hard day. So he tore out, out of the newspaper, a photograph, a black and white picture of the earth taken from outer space. It was a picture of the world. He tore it up, gave a handful of the bits of paper to the boy and said, "Put the puzzle together, and then come and see me."

Well, the boy tried, and the boy tried, and couldn't figure it out, brought it back to Dad in a handful. Dad had it together in about 45 seconds, taped.

The boy said, "Dad, how'd you do it? It was so confusing to me."

He said, "Well, son, on the back is the picture of a face, and when I put the face together, especially the eyes, and the mouth, and the nose, the world came together.

And so it is here. When we dare see our existence through the eyes of God, it all makes sense. It all comes together. We see purpose, and we see reason.

The popular belief today is that you are here as a result of an accident. Doesn't that make you feel really good? Spontaneous biogenesis, or it's been sort of reworked, punctuated equilibrium. It's amazing. You are just an accident. But you're a cool accident, but you're an accident none the less. You have no real meaning or purpose. Just by chance amino acids formed, and from them proteins formed. And that's why every now and then somebody will dare even ask this question: "Is it possible that by random chance over x amount of years, you choose the amount of years, life could come into being?" That's been asked.

One of the foremost studies done at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia assembled during one summer, 50 biologists, mathematicians, thinkers, and they asked that question. Dr. Eden of MIT said, "Based on our understanding of the laws of chemistry, and physics, and what we know about randomness we see no way that the tremendous complexity in life could even come about." Interesting, penetrating statement.

Why? Because man cannot be explained simply philosophically. Mankind cannot be explained simply biologically, mechanistically. We must see ourselves Biblically. And here it is: God said, "Let us create" us being the trinity obviously. This inner Trinitarian communication. It's, like, I've got an idea. Let's make man in our image, after our likeness. Give him dominion over all creation. That's where it began.

There were kids who were in a class and the teacher let them form their own worldview, and the kids said that the hope of all civilization lay in the pursuit and the application of scientific knowledge. Did you hear that? "The hope of civilization lay in the pursuit of and the application of scientific knowledge." They said in the class, the kids, "There's no room for religion. This life is all there is. After this there's nothingness." And at the end of the class each of the students wanted from the teacher a reference for yet another college in their future or a job placement.

Listen to one of the teacher's, the teacher's response to one of the students. This is how he phrased it: "John, student. Biological description: John is a living organism. Group: vertebrata. Class: mammalia. Order: primates. Genus: homo. Species: sapiens. Body structure: organs, tissues, cells, protoplasm. Five organs of sight, taste, touch, sound, and smell. Chemical description: a large quantity of carbon, some gallons of water, various amounts of iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, sulfur, lime, nitrogen, some mineral salts. Psychological description: mind, conscious, unconscious, intellectual, emotional, volitional powers, various instincts. IQ: 130." He continues, "I hope John will fit as an admirable unit into the various machines--industrial, commercial, and so on—that make up our scientifically planned society, but," he continues, "but regrettably, I have some serious misgivings about this. For there is something in John that refuses to be cribbed, cabined and confined, and reaches out to a fulfillment beyond the capacity of a machine-like destiny to supply. In his eager pursuit of scientific knowledge and passionate love of music, as well as in the deep discontent to which he once confessed at his inability to live up to his own ideals, it seems to me that John is on a quest that existence, even in a four-dimensional space/time continuum can never satisfy. So, okay, I grant you that you are a scientific machine, but I also recognize," said the teacher, "that there is a yearning, a longing, a reaching out that accurate scientific descriptions can never fully account for. There's more to you than just that. So to define what it is to be human, you cannot just stop philosophically, or scientifically, but you must look, to get down to the root of the matter, as we have done and are doing, biblically."

Why? Because the creation of man by God includes God's reflection in man. Look at it. Verse 26, God said, "Let us make man, notice, in our image, according to our likeness." Verse 27, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God, it's mentioned three times, he created him, male and female. He created them, and God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, over every living thing that moves on the earth." And God said, "See, I have giving you every herb that yield seed which is on the face of the earth, every tree whose fruit yield seed. To you it shall be for food. Also to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, to every thing that creeps on the earth in which there is life." God said, "I have given every green herb for food." And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

In other words, God said, "I am going to make man unlike, unlike any other creature I have ever made before on the earth, absolutely unique he shall be."

Look down in chapter 2, at verse 7. The Lord formed man out of the dust of the ground. It's a bit humbling, isn't it? "Oh, we are so great, mankind. Look what we've done." Yep. Pretty good for dirt clods. This is humbling. We are at the same time from the lowest stuff and the highest stuff. From dust and dirt, and yet fashioned in the image of God, breathed into by the breath of God. Through, God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and out of the ground—oh, verse 7 again—and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put man whom he had formed. Man in the image of God.

You know, physically speaking, you're not all that impressive, in terms of what you're worth. They say that the chemicals in your body are worth, with inflation, about 2 bucks. But you're more than that. You're a multi-dimensional being. There's more to you than just that, as the professor even pointed out to his class.

What does it mean to be in the image of God exactly? Well, certainly, it means I'm different than a dog, a cat, an elephant, a whale, a dolphin, or a spotted owl. There's something more unique and higher in mankind than that.

Keep a finger here, a marker, and go to Psalm 8 for just a moment. Psalm 8. You want to know what it is to be in the image of God? The Psalmist begins, Oh, Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth. Who has set your glory above the heavens. Verse 3, When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon, the stars which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him, and of the son of man that you would visit him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet, all sheep, oxen, beasts, blah, blah, blah, etc., etc.

So what is it to be in the image of God? The image of God means we have part of his attributes, his communicable attributes. We are lower than the angels. Here's the order of creation: God, angelic spirit beings, man, animals, and plants. We're lower than the angels above us. We're higher than the animals which are below us. Angels have a spiritual but no body. Animals have a body but no spirit. Mankind has both spirit and body. We're right there in-between in the created order, but a little lower than the angels.

So what attributes do we have that would make us in the image of God? Well, number one, you have something called a rational mind. You are rational, for the most part. I know sometimes we get nuts, hysterical, but you can think. You can formulate thoughts. You can originate thoughts. Animals don't do that unless it's on television, of course. Mr. Ed, of course, he can, "Wilbur," or Donald Duck, or imaginary animals can think, and formulate, and communicate; but, of course, it's a man or woman behind them doing their voices. But we're different, you see. We can create like God the Creator. We can think. We can formulate thoughts. We can make choices, and we can choose in a relationship to have love.

Oh, that's different from the animal kingdom. They live by instinct. They can mate, but we can have a lifetime relationship of love, because human love created in the image of God is this reciprocal love that is more than instinct. Our love is more than an endocrine system reaction. We're rational beings.

There was an article sometime back in Sunshine Magazine that compared man's brain to a computer, and they asked a group of scientists, "If you were to build a computer that would give out all of the functions of a single brain, a single mind, over a lifetime, a man using his brain in a lifetime, or a woman using her brain in a lifetime, what would you need to build in terms of power, electricity, in terms of size, cooling system, etc.?" The scientist in this article said that if all of the parts were transistorized and built on a minute scale, the following would be needed: a machine the size of the United Nations building in New York, a cooling system with an output equal to the Niagara Falls, and a power source that produce as much electricity as is used in homes and industry in the entire state of California." We're rational beings, thoughtful, formulating thoughts.

Number two, we are immortal. This sets us apart from every other creation, every other plant, animal. We're immortal, and you might add to that spiritual. Solomon was right, wasn't he? He said, God, you have set eternity in their hearts. There's something that makes us think there's got to be more to life than just this. There's something beyond time, beyond my immediate existence. It's only man that has those probings, that dissatisfaction. My dogs don't.

I have two dogs. You know what? If you feed them, and you pet them, a little bit of attention, they go to sleep. They're happy. They're satisfied. They don't think beyond their own existence. I've never seen one of my dogs, just like, contemplating, pensive.

"What's up, Winston? What's going on?"

"Well, I'm trying to discover the meaning of my life, Master. I mean, is this all there is? Chasing cats, digging up the yard? Certainly there's more."

No, they don't do that, do they? But people strangely do. We have this restlessness inside of us.

You know, the term man in Greek, anthropos, comes from two words that basically means{sic} "one who looks up". Isn't that interesting? What is man? One who instinctively, by creation, looks up to the Creator, and asks, "Who am I? Where am I going? Why am I here?"

So we're rational. We're immortal. We are spiritual. This explains why young children ask you the kind of questions that you can't answer. Those deep probing questions, "Daddy why?"

"Well, that's a tough one."

They're probing. They're looking up. Augustine was right. He said, "God, you have made us for yourself, and we are restless until we find our resting in Thee."

Fourth, we are responsible. If you look back to Genesis, we see that God said something about his creation. In chapter 1, he gave us a task. Verse 28, God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth," notice, "subdue it." Kaybosh is the Hebrew word. It means "tread upon. Subdue it. Make it yours. Let it serve you." Why? Because this is the highest order of creation, mankind. "You subdue it. You tread upon it, and have dominion over it." Rule over, subjugate it.

Remember what we read in Psalm 8. David said, You have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands. You've put all things under his feet. So, we're not on a par with a spotted owl, or an elephant, or a dolphin. We are ruling over them. We are the highest in all of creation.

It's sad, and we ought to be ashamed of ourself anytime a human being acts like an animal. And we see it all the time. And it's funny to hear educators marvel at this. "I can't believe these people in that crowd they acted like animals." Well, what have educators been telling them for the last four decades? "You are an animal. A highly evolved animal, but that's all you are is a biological animal." So when they act like animals, why should you gripe? But we should react not because we're animals, because we're made in the image of God with the ability to make choices. The truth is sometimes we don't make the right choices.

So, to be in God's image is to embody some of God's communicable attributes. To be in the image of God means that we are a creature that can do what no other creature can do. We can reason. We can think. We have rational life, will, emotion, not just instinct. It means that we have a mind to know God, a heart to love God, a will to obey God or disobey God, and a destiny to be with God. We are responsible.

That's the image of God, but the image has been marred. Something has been lost. Something beautiful and wonderful in God's original intention has been scuffed and marred. It's not the same anymore.

Next week, we'll see more about that, but go with me to chapter 3 for just a moment, and we'll close with this.

And this is what we discover: God's creation of man included God's reflection in man, the image of God, for the purpose of God's interaction with man. He didn't just want to put man on the earth as an experiment. He had a purpose. And we're going to skip ahead, because some of this we're going to cover next time. But look down at verse 8 with me of chapter 3. And they heard, that is Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called to Adam and said, "Where are you?"

It's an amazing phrase to me. It suggests that God appeared, or manifested himself somehow audibly or visibly. In the cool of the day, it's like the evening time, the best part of the day. In fact, one translation says, walking to and fro in the garden in the breeze of the day. The way the wording is it suggests that this was just sort of a daily occurrence. God went out to look for Adam and Eve to take a walk, to fellowship, to hang out, to spend time with each other. In fact, the word walking here means "to move among, to be at ease, to be conversant with." In other words, man was created by God with a purpose of fellowship, walking with, being conversant with, hanging out with, reciprocating love with.

So God said, chapter 1, verse 26, Let us make man in our image. Can you picture it? Can you see it? Can you hear it? It's this inner Trinitarian communication in heaven before God created mankind. There was such love, and such fellowship, and such intimacy, and such warmth that God wanted that expanded outwardly. Let's make man like us, in our image—rational, immortal, spiritual, responsible for this creation. "And let's walk with this creation. Let's have fellowship with, so that this creature, if he or she chooses to, can reciprocate our love, can love us back." So the creation of man, that included the reflection of God in man, was so that God and man might have a fellowship, an interaction. Puny man in comparison to the whole universe. David said, What is man that you are mindful of him? But man is the pinnacle of it all. Lower only than the angels. Having dominion over everything.

Did you notice something as we close, that God called to Adam and said, "Where are you?" This was a personal calling. "Adam, where are you?" "Adam, I've been looking for you. Adam, what have you done?" God knew him by name. You say, "Well there was only one, two. It wasn't hard to do." But I notice this throughout the Bible, God doesn't call us by numbers. "Well, Adam, you shall be number one." He doesn't say to you, "Hey, number 43,600,243,005." He knows you by name. So that of all of God's creation, all that exists in the biosphere man is the pinnacle. And even with the billions that exist on the earth, God loves you, knows you, and would call you by name. Do you feel that kind of love?

One author put it this way, "When I see a flock of sheep, that's what I see—a flock a rabble of wool, a herd of hooves. I don't see a sheep. I see sheep all alike, none different. That's what I see. But not so with the shepherd. To him every sheep is different. Every face is special. Every face has a story, and every sheep has a name. The one with the sad eyes, that's Droopy. The fellow with one ear up and the other down, I call him Oscar. And the small one with the black patch on his leg, he's an orphan with no brothers. I call him Joseph. The shepherd knows his sheep. He calls them by name. When we see a crowd, that's what we see, a crowd filling a stadium, flooding a mall. When we see a crowd, we see people, not persons, just people, a herd of humans, a flock of faces. That's what we see. But not so with the shepherd. To him every face is different. Every face has a story. Every face is a child. Every child has a name. The one with sad eyes, that's Sally. The old fellow with one eyebrow up and the other down, Harry is his name. The young one with the limp, he's an orphan with no brothers, I call him Joey. The shepherd knows his sheep. He knows each one by name. The shepherd knows you. He knows your name, and he will never forget it. In fact, you know what God said? "I've inscribed them on the palms of my hands." Remember doing that in school? Girls did that more than guys did. They were too cool. They'd do it, like, on the bottom of their tennis shoes if they liked a girl. The girl would, like, write it right on the hand. She liked that boy across the class. God writes your name, so to speak on his hand. "Oh, I love him. I love her. I know them."

You are God's crowning of creation. You are the eagle, so to speak. That's his intention. Not the prairie chicken. We fall into that level, which makes you special because of all the creatures on the earth you're the only one that God ever came to redeem. Not angels. God never redeemed angels. Not prairie chickens. Not even eagles. But you he did.

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called children of God. And so, Father, we close bowing before you, knowing that even more than just seeing us in your image, we see that the image has been marred. And you needed to send your son to restore the image that had been lost. What love. How incredibly special that makes each of us feel. Your creation of us that includes your reflection in us is so that you might interact with us. You want our fellowship. You want to walk with us. You love it when we lift the head or the eye and speak to you, when we turn something over and say, "Lord, I include you in this. I make you part of my day, part of this moment. I worship you here. I turn my marriage over to you, my children over to you, my future over to you. What is your will? I want to love you." You love that kind of spontaneous, sweet fellowship. And, Lord, I pray that you would build out of this flock of people that kind of fellowship. Not one who would relegate our walking with you to a single day, but to a daily lifestyle. That when we walk out of here tonight and go to the car, church would continue. When we head home, have a meal, sit down to watch the news, you would be included; and because we are redeemed, we would fulfill your intention in creation. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

Additional Messages in this Series

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9/15/2002
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Does the Truth Really Matter?
2 Timothy 4
Skip Heitzig
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Today I begin a new series I am calling Rediscovering Our Foundations. I am concerned about the vast biblical illiteracy that exists in our country in general and in our churches in particular. Truth is commonly seen by our culture as relative and not fixed. Often sentiments such as, "Well, that is your truth, but it's not my truth," are expressed by many. But if truth is absolute, then why not stand up for it? Why be embarrassed about it? What do you really believe about God, the Trinity, Christ, mankind, the church, heaven, and hell?
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9/22/2002
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Is Anybody Up There?
Hebrews 11:1-40;Romans 2:1-29
Skip Heitzig
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We all remember the scene in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy and her three friends come to approach the Great Oz. Out of the corner of their eye they notice a man pulling levers behind a curtain, working the mechanical, smoke-breathing Oz. The man then reacts by announcing, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" But how can they not? The man is the explanation for everything to them. They discovered that Oz didn't really exist! So how do we know that God exists and isn't a fabrication or projection of our own imaginations?
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9/29/2002
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The Bible - From God or From Men? - Part 1
2 Timothy 3:15-17
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In this series, Rediscovering Our Foundations, it's time to consider your own personal foundation. What is the final resting place for your cares, concerns, griefs, surprises and sorrows? Where do you turn for answers to life's deepest questions? What is your authority? How sure are you that the Bible is the inerrant and inspired Word of God? Can you articulate to others the difference between the Bible and other "sacred" religious works?
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10/6/2002
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The Bible - From God or From Men? - Part 2
2 Timothy 3:15-17
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Last week, we discovered exactly what the designation "Scripture" referred to and how books of the Bible were considered as part of the inspired text. We also learned what inspiration means and how God used humans in His process of having exactly what He wanted written down. But anyone can claim inspiration for their work. Yet how do we know that the Bible is the authentic Word of God? Moreover, how can we share with others its uniqueness so they, too, may listen to its message and apply it?
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10/13/2002
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The God Who Knows It All!
Psalm 139:1-6
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A little boy climbed his neighbor's apple tree when he saw their car leave. He didn't realize that while he was stuffing his pockets full of apples, another neighbor was watching through a pair of binoculars and saw the whole thing! God isn't spying on people, trying to catch them doing something wrong; but God is aware of everything. Such a truth has a profound effect on us: it can either be very comforting or else extremely unsettling.
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10/20/2002
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Are You a Big-Godder or a Little Godder?
Psalm 139:7-24
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11/10/2002
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Wholly Holy!
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In this current series, Rediscovering Our Foundations, we've considered some key attributes of the God we know and love. He is omniscient (knows everything); He is omnipresent (everywhere present); He is omnipotent (operates at full power). But there is another key attribute that is seldom considered, yet is fundamentally key in understanding the Bible—God's holiness. Let's observe one man's encounter with this holy God and what it means to us.
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11/17/2002
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Good Man, Mad Man, Con Man, or God-Man?
Matthew 16:13-17
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No other person from history has generated so much controversy and speculation, as well as written literature, as Jesus Christ. Theologians, philosophers, poets and pundits have all weighed in concerning who Jesus is. What is often forgotten is that Jesus can never be overestimated! John said that the, "world itself could not contain the books that should be written" (John 21:25) about His accomplishments.
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12/1/2002
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A King Among the Critters
Luke 2:1-7
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In our current series, Rediscovering Our Foundations, we've come to the person of Christ. Last time, we considered His identity; today, we contemplate His nativity. For the next few weeks, we'll look closely at Jesus' birth, His early years, ministry, and death on the cross, which was the very purpose of His birth. It's my hope that we'll all emerge with a fuller understanding of Jesus and a deeper desire to worship and serve Him. Today, let's look at the strange circumstances of His birth.
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12/8/2002
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Jesus - The Boy With a Purpose - Part 1
Luke 2:1-52; Matthew 2:1-23
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Jesus' upbringing and boyhood has been the subject of much speculation and endless controversy throughout the centuries. Myths have developed about Jesus based (interestingly enough) on what isn't written. The Bible gives us five cameo glimpses of Jesus from early boyhood to age 30. We'll look at three of these today and then two more next week. We discover that Jesus' whole life was marked with purpose.
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12/15/2002
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Jesus - The Boy With a Purpose - Part 2
Luke 2-3
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We don't give much thought to Jesus growing up, developing into adolescence and then into manhood. But of course He did. Luke is really the only New Testament author who gives us information about these early years. He speaks generally about Jesus' growth as well as specifically about Jesus' capacity as a young boy of 12. At each stage of His life, Jesus demonstrated He knew His purpose for His life on earth.
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12/22/2002
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A Lamb at the River
Matthew 3:1-17; John 1:1-51
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When Jesus turned 30, He presented Himself to the nation of Israel in public ministry. His first appearance, however, seemed so out of character for the kind of Messiah that people were anticipating. What was He doing getting baptized in a river with everyone else? John was about to find out—and so was everyone else.
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1/12/2003
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The Holy Spirit: Invisible, Personal, Powerful
John 14-16
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Today in our series Rediscovering Our Foundations, we consider the Holy Spirit. Most of us have heard of Him, but who is He exactly? What does He do? How important is the Holy Spirit to your personal life, your family life, your work or your leisure time? Perhaps A.W. Tozer was right when he said, "For multitudes of Christians profess today the Holy Spirit is not a necessity. They have learned to cheer their hearts and warm their hands at other fires." It is my sincere prayer that will change for us in the few weeks ahead.
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1/19/2003
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The Gracious and Holy Hound of Heaven
John 16:5-11
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Having understood Who the Holy Spirit is (Person, not just power; Deity, not just dignitary), we now find out what He does, specifically what He does in the world of unbelievers. Since the greatest gift God ever gave to the world was His only Son (John 3:16), it stands to reason that the greatest sin one can commit is to reject the Son (John 16:9). How does the Holy Spirit both sentence the world as prosecutor and yet lead people away from judgment? And what role do we play in all of this?
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1/26/2003
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I Need Somebody, Help! Not Just Anybody
John 14-16
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To live one's life for God in an ungodly world sounds like mission impossible, right? It would be as if we had to do it without help. But be strengthened by this thought: God never intended for us to do it alone! That's why He has provided His people a Helper, the Holy Spirit. This ever-present divine Person is very busy helping God's people become all He wants them to be.
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2/2/2003
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Brand-Spankin' New Apostles!
Acts 1:1-8
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The legendary missionary to India, William Carey, didn't see obstacles; he saw opportunities. He was the "Let's go for it!" kind of guy. In fact, one of his most famous sayings was, "Attempt great things for God; expect great things from God." Carey did both and saw results! The Holy Spirit can take ordinary men and women and do extraordinary things with them. He is the God who "makes all things new" (Revelation 21:5). Such a truth can only create a sense of wonder and excitement in the heart of a child of God. After all, what new thing could God do through you?
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2/9/2003
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Unholy Responses to the Holy Spirit
Ephesians 4:30
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You might say that we live in the "Age of the Holy Spirit." Jesus promised Him to us after He was done with His own earthly ministry. We have seen that He is very active both in the world among the unconverted and in the church among God's own people. But He has one overriding goal-to bring glory to Jesus Christ in every life. What does that mean to us? It means a total surrendering to Him. As Oswald Chambers said, "The Holy Spirit cannot be located as a guest in a house. He invades everything." But what happens when people don't respond to Him rightly? Then what?
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2/16/2003
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How Can Three Be One?
Matthew 28:16-20
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1+1+1=1. Is this new math? No, it's the doctrine of the Trinity. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. At the very heart of the Judeo-Christian faith is the belief that there is only One God. Yet the Bible clearly teaches the plurality within the Godhead—three persons who are distinct from one another yet perfectly One in essence. What are we to make of all this? Why is it important? And more fundamentally, how should it affect us personally?
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2/23/2003
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The Exceedingly Un-Holy Spirit
1 John 5:19
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Satan, the prince of darkness, has been around a long time. He has studied mankind for thousands of years, marking his strategies according to what he sees in us and what God's plan for the world is. He hates what God loves; he fights what God establishes. And let's remember, he's got help! Other spirit beings have joined his rebellion and control the system known in Scripture as the world. John even said, "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19). What should we know about this arch-nemesis of God in order to stand against him?
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3/2/2003
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Touched by an Angel
Luke 1-2
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As even the title suggests, angels have become popular in modern culture. But whether we know it or not, we've all been "touched an angel." Martin Luther helped us to understand their role by remarking, "An angel is a spiritual creature created by God without a body, for the service of Christendom and of the church." He was partially correct, but angels serve an even greater role than being strictly for the church. Their ministry goes beyond us and is principally concerned with the glory and majesty of God.
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3/16/2003
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From Creation to Corruption
Genesis 2-3
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How did we, as the human race, get into the colossal mess we find ourselves in? Was it always this way? And what do Adam's actions, acted out so long ago, have to do with us in this modern technologically advanced age? Am I at all responsible? Can the effects ever be undone? Let's look at these issues in the opening chapters of Genesis.
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4/27/2003
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Church-Building 101
Matthew 16:13-20
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The church was God's idea; it was never man's notion. Jesus Christ is the founder, director, architect, owner and builder of the church. But there is an awful lot of confusion about what a church is supposed to look and function like. Today, we look at the first New Testament mention of the church and look at our spiritual origins. As we are Rediscovering Our Foundations, let's also rediscover our spiritual roots as the people of God.
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5/4/2003
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What Jesus Wants His Church to Be - Part 1
John 17
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The church is not a place, but a people (a called-out assembly of people who gather together and whose heartfelt conviction is that Jesus is Lord). Jesus laid claim on the church—it belongs to Him ("I will build My church"). So then, what does He want His church to be like? What should mark us overall? In Jesus' longest recorded prayer before His crucifixion, He prays for four characteristics that are to mark the people of God. Today we look at the first two.
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5/25/2003
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What Jesus Wants His Church to Be - Part 2
John 17
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Church shopping and church hopping have become one of American Christians’ favorite pastimes. We want a church that suits us, helps us, and pleases us. But since Jesus paid for it, it’s His church (Acts 20:28). So what does He want from us? What should the people of God be like? What ingredients and activities ought to be part of our makeup? In this series, Rediscovering our Foundations, we must rediscover the foundational purpose for our existence as His church.
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6/1/2003
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How to Build a Beautiful Body
1 Corinthians 12:3-22
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6/22/2003
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The Last Days
2 Peter 1-3
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On October 30, 1938, the day before Halloween, the novel War of the Worlds was made into a radio broadcast featuring Orson Welles. As millions of Americans were listening, the play was performed so it would sound like a news broadcast about an invasion from Mars. Many thought they were hearing an actual news account of an invasion from Mars and concluded this was the end. Some even committed suicide as their final fatal act! In Rediscovering Our Foundations, what can we know about the last days of this world and what can we do to prepare?
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6/29/2003
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I'll Be Back
John 13:31-14:6
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A little boy was trying desperately to tell his friends about what Jesus' return would be like. He described Jesus' coming in glory as being "greater than Superman, Batman, and the Power Rangers put together!" Of course even that would be an understatement. Jesus came here 2000 years ago and then left; but He promised to return. What will it be like? What difference should it make to us right here, right now?
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7/6/2003
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The Burning Question
Revelation 20:11-15
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Hell is an eternal and biblical reality that has been relegated to the junk pile of modern myths. Woody Allen once said that hell is the abode of all people who annoy him. The word hell is used on a daily basis in people's dicey language patterns—usually as a fill-in expletive. Of all the Christian doctrines unfolded in Scripture, hell is the toughest one to handle. Most love the notion of a blissful heaven awaiting them; few cling to the idea of a literal hell to punish the lost.
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7/13/2003
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Heaven: Our Final Frontier
Revelation 21:1-27
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Captain Kirk and his starship Enterprise weekly traversed the galaxies on the famed Star Trek episodes. That was fiction! But one day you will inhabit the recreated millennial earth in a glorified body and then explore the vast kingdoms of heaven in the eternal state. That is reality! It will be so different than what you're used to that it's linguistically impossible to convey its vastness. But there's enough here to whet the appetite for heaven!
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There are 29 additional messages in this series.
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