Restored - Pt. 1

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Opening Illustration:
Girls decorating rocks to hide.
Messages of hope when they are found
John 3:16, Jesus loves you!, Hakuna Matata,
Claira, wanting to stay with the spiritual theme - “Stop Sinning.”
We are prepping for a great week of VBS and you’ll notice that is our weekly focus as a church family. To be praying for a great week ahead in these specific ways. *Look at Bulletin*
Well, a couple of weeks ago we spent a week at Teen Camp with 9 of our boys and we spent the whole week on this theme of restoration - and how we can get back to God’s good design.
As we walked throughout that week we had great discussions about the decisions we were needing to make moving forward in our relationships with Jesus, and I couldn’t help but come back to this 4 part theme as I was praying and planning for this three week break in our Romans Study.
The four main themes within this study is:
Design | Brokenness | Repentance | Restoration
We will unpack the first two today and finish up with the final two next week.
If you would, turn with me to Genesis 2 and John 1.
And as you turn there, I want you think about the word design, and what comes to mind.
For many of the ladies in our group, you imediately think of Joanna Gaines, HGTV and projects you want to get done around your house. And many of the guys in here, immediately begin to squirm because they know what the ladies are thinking...
Often times, we base designs off of what we have previously seen. Whether it was a project someone else did that we will tweak to make our own, or something in Creation that stimulates your creativity and you run with it.
Whatever the case, our designing typically hitches a ride off of something we have touched, smelt, felt, or experienced.
However, as we look at Genesis today and ponder the greatness of our Creator, I want you to know that everything God did in Creation, He did without pinterest or any other thought generator. He is the pre-creation Creator that spoke into nothing and made everything.
In Genesis 1-2 we learn that God’s creative order was:
Day 1 - Day and Night
Day 2 - Sky and Seas
Day 3 - Land and Vegetation
Day 4 - Stars, Sun, and Moon
Day 5 - Sea Creatures and Birds
Day 6 - Land Animals and Mankind
Day 7 - Rest
And His original design was perfect.
1. God Created a Perfect World. (Gen. 2:15-18)
The way we know His creation was so good is that He said it.
Following what He created on a specific day, throughout Gen. 1, the Bible says that God saw that it was good. And following day 6, He looked at all of it and said it was very good.
And following the 6 days of creation and the day of rest God set apart, we find Gen 2:15-18.
Genesis 2:15–18 NKJV
15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” 18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
We find that in this perfect world that God created, He placed Adam in the perfect place and gave him the perfect spouse.
And in all of this perfection, he placed the tree of knowledge of good and evil and said, “Don’t eat it.”
Not only did God Create the perfect World with a perfect purpose. That purpose is found in the image we are created after.
2. God Created Us In His Perfect Image (Gen. 1:27, Gen. 2:25-28, Psalm 139)
Genesis 1:27 NKJV
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
God’s creation reflected the image of God. Both male and female were God’s design.
Then we find in 2:25,
Genesis 2:25 NKJV
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
There was no shame or awkwardness in God’s perfect Creation. There was harmony in Eden.
God’s original design was a reflection of His greatness.
David, who we are going to look at throughout this series understood it well.
Psalm 139 NKJV
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. 1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. 3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. 5 You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; 12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. 13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You. 19 Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God! Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men. 20 For they speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take Your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? 22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
David understood that He was fearfully and wonderfully made. This infinite Creator God designed His creation to reflect His glory. This reflection as His image bearers is our purpose.
ILL: God’s Design is that we would reflect His image. “Mirror” That you would be His image bearer.
And we see this in John 1:1-5
3. God Created Us With a Plan and Purpose (John 1:1-5, Eph. 2:10)
John 1:1–5 NKJV
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
v. 3 - all things were made through Him.
God created all things. He is the original designer and produced every molecule that makes up the stuff we know of today.
And, If you were to say “God created everything” to a junior high young boy - they might respond - “God didn’t make the car, or this cup, or my clothes.”
But in fact He did - the very molecules that make up that car, that cup, and those clothes consist of the original molecules God Created. And He made the mind that put those molecules together.
The same God who created the galaxies, the sunsets, and laughter - created you and me uniquely and with a purpose.
v. 4 - Jesus is the giver of life and light.
And this light and life that Christ provides shines in our darkness.
v. 5 - His light shines in our darkness. and the darkness did not overcome the light.
The original design in the garden and the continual plan of God in your life involves volition - your will to choose.
God’s light today shines bright, and is getting brighter because of the dark brokenness we each experience around and within us.
Which brings us to our second part of this series - Brokenness.
4. We Have Departed from God’s Design By Seeking Our Own Desires (Gen 3:1-6; Rom. 1:25, 3:23)
Genesis 3:1–6 NKJV
1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Satan caused Eve to begin questioning God’s Word and sowed a seed of doubt in her mind.
The image of God in Eve’s mind began to be distorted.
And that’s where sin begins. It begins with believing a lie over God’s truth. When we sin (transgress God’s law) we are believing our way is better than God’s.
So that’s what Adam and Eve did - they believed their own way over God’s way and sought their own desires.
5. Our Sin Left Us Broken, Leading to Death (Gen. 3:7; Rom. 5:12)
Genesis 3:7 NKJV
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
Sin had now entered perfect Creation, and shame and guilt are the result. And the original purpose of reflecting God’s glory was no longer possible.
And sin became inherent in humanity.
Romans 5:12 NKJV
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—
This orginal sin now passed from generation to generation - leaving in it’s wake a ripple effect of brokenness.
No longer are we reflecting God’s Glory in perfection, but now reflect in brokeness. Things are no longer seen through the perfect reflection of who God is, but is skewed.
ILL: Broken Mirror.
It still reflects, but not like it should.
So Sin is present and it produces brokenness in our homes, our work, our communities. This brokenness from God’s perfection permeates our thoughts, our bodies, and our relationships. Nothing is as it should be any longer.
But as we will see next week, God has a plan of rescue from ourselves and His name is Jesus.
6. Jesus Came to Rescue Us from our Sin and Brokenness. (John 3:16, Rom. 6:23)
John 3:16 NKJV
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Even in our brokenness, God’s love is extended. And anyone who places their trust in God’s plan through Jesus will not perish (see the ultimate consequence for their sin) but will be given everlasting life.
Dear friend,
You are created. And there is coming a day when you will stand before your Creator.
And when you stand before your Creator, you will give an account for your sin.
Those who turn to Christ and trust His righteousness will recieve eternal life, and those who don’t will receive eternal death.
Next week, we will dig in a little deeper to what does it mean to turn to Christ and place our faith in Him.
But if God has revealed your brokenness this morning as a result of your sin, don’t wait. Turn from your sin and to Christ today to be forgiven and restored.
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