The Gospel... the good news about a God who CREATES
What are we giving our lives to?
The Gospel... the good news about a God who CREATES.
Isaiah 45:18-25
Here we go! The start of a new adventure!
When you start something, it is good to get back to basics and go through a check list of everything you need.
Our check list:
Do we have the same GOALS? Love people and love God!
Are we playing by the same RULES? To be like Jesus!
Are we trying to score the same type of POINTS? Fruit (Character, Love, and More)
Do we have the same strategy? Five purposes of life: Worship, Discipleship, Evangelism, Serving, Friendship)
But even more basic as a Church? DO WE HAVE THE SAME GOSPEL?
The Creator God sent His Son Jesus to save people from the effects of sin, even though we rebelled against Him. Jesus died as payment for our sins and rose from the dead to give us new life. When we trust Him, He saves us and fills us with His Holy Spirit. He then sends us to make the world a better place through the power of this good news!
Let me break that down into four words:
CREATE - REJECT - SAVE - SEND
This is worth giving your whole life to!
God today wants to produce in you this Gospel. Let’s turn to the Word - Isaiah 45:18.
In Isaiah 45, we find that God’s people were in bondage. They needed to be set free! So where does Isaiah start? He tells them and he tells us:
1. HEAR THE PROCLAMATION - RECOGNIZE YOUR CREATOR - Read vs. 18-19
Isaiah establishes right away that God is Creator. Why?
Because a life without a Creator God leads to depression and nihilism.
Richard Dawkins – Maybe the logic is deeply pessimistic, the universe is bleak, cold and empty. But so what?
Now, I don’t get aggravated very often, but it irks me to be treated as a complete idiot simply because I refuse to believe in naturalistic evolution.
“You’d have to be stupid to believe what the Bible says.”
“Any thinking person would obviously believe the evidence of evolution.”
“If only those Christians would use their brains occasionally.”
Use your brain?
Psalm 19:1 (KJV) - The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Use your brain even with the Bible.
“The Holy Ghost intended to teach us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go.” Cardinal Baronius (1538-1607)
The Bible is not a book of science, but where it speaks of science it is always correct. There is no conflict between Christianity and science. BUT there is GREAT conflict between Christianity and Naturalism.
Naturalism says:
There is no God, instead Chaos created everything.
There is no spiritual world, because it cannot be measured.
Creation is not a gift from God, but it is here by mere chance.
The world is an epic accident where randomness produced fine-tuning
Macro-evolution is a fact, and cannot be questioned.
Dr. Robert Jastrow – “The universe exploded out of nothing.”
Evolution actually has two sub-divisions: micro-evolution and macro-evolution
“Micro-evolution” is true to many extents. For instance:
there are more than 200 breeds of dogs.
Dairy cattle can be bred for improved milk production.
Bacteria can adapt and develop immunity to antibiotics.
Micro-evolution consists of changes within the specific species
But to say that species change into completely different species is FALSE! This is the basis for leaving God out of science. There is no proof for this and it cannot be reproduced in a laboratory. You simply have to ask: where is the transitional material?
Sir Arthur Keith, a British evolutionist: "Evolution is unproved and unprovable. We believe it only because the only alternative is special creation which is unthinkable."
Yet, Crossroads we believe that each person was involved in Creation:
Acts 17:28 - In God the Father, we live and move and have our being.
John 1:3 - All things were made through Jesus, and without Him nothing was made.
Job 26:13 - God’s Spirit made the heavens beautiful!
We must be people who recognize that we are not dealing with a made up deity, but the CREATOR God. This is the basis of the Gospel itself.
Isaiah goes on. After proclaiming that God is creator, he calls on the Israelites to pull out their idols. Consult with them and find out if they are true.
2. FIND OUT IF YOUR IDOLS ARE WORTHY & REASON WITH YOUR CREATOR! Read vs. 20-21
Isaiah had to tell the people to stop trusting idols. Why? Wouldn’t it be obvious…
Because peer pressure is powerful.
Idols are anything that stop you from trusting GOD.
Love of Money
Pursuit of Power & Influence
False Religion
Family
Success
Acceptance
Or maybe you are struggling with doubts because of what you’ve taught in school, or that you work with some intelligent people.
Bob Russel: “Evolution has been repeated so often that to challenge it is the equivalent to believing in a flat earth or a moon made of cheese.”
The doctrine of Creation is a vaccine! It is your shot against:
Horoscope - astronomy worship
New Age thought - Sun and Moon worship
Postmodernism - All gods lead to truth
Racism – God is not tribal - He created all
Those in despair - God said the universe was good
How do I know, I come from a family who dealt deep in all of this!
What does it mean that God created? He does what He wants!
Psalm 115:3 (ESV) - Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.
The alternative to God being sovereign, is that you are in control. This is why naturalism is so popular…
Once I was a tadpole beginning to begin,
Then I was a frog with my tail tucked in
Then I was an ape in a banana tree,
And now I am a professor with a Ph.D. (Author Unknown)
We set ourselves up as idols!
What does it mean that God created?
IF YOU ARE CREATOR, THEN YOU ARE OWNER.
IF YOU ARE OWNER, THEN YOU ARE IN CHARGE!
Idols are things that once fed, will do what you want.
God, however, created and therefore has the right to speak into your life.
Since God is SO INTELLIGENT to create all things, that when He speaks - you can be sure to trust Him. He must have the right perspective, the right truth, the right power, the right timing, the right kind of love.
God is saying put away your idols and I will be there for you! Reason this out with me! Show me how these other things you are trusting actually work!
We need God to speak! We cannot answer big questions without God:
Who am I?
Is what we see, it? What do I do with these spiritual feelings?
How should I live?
Is there life after death?
The universe seems cold… is there an answer?
I’ve made a mess of my life, is there a way to fix it?
This is why Isaiah is pulling no punches! He says God is creator. Idols are fake, and you must turn your life around!
3. EMBRACE GOD’S PROMISES AND REPENT!
Repent is a good ol’ fashion church word that means “turn around!”
God does not leave it ambivalent what these promises are. READ vs. 22-23
Every knee shall bow? Every tongue confess? Where have we hard that before?
Philippians 2:9–11 (NASB) — For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
If we turn to Jesus Christ, then we can say the very same thing that Isaiah said in the next verses: READ vs. 24-25
Look in these verses, What does God offer?
Righteousness
Strength
Retribution
Justification - To be justified? “Just as If I’d” not sinned
THIS IS THE GOSPEL THAT WE ARE DEDICATING OUR LIVES TO! We must recognize God when He speaks, Reason that He is in charge, and REPENT, turn our lives around for the sake of His love for us!
GOD IS CREATOR!
Hebrews 11:3 (NIV) - By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
How many of you have tried to put together some Ikea furniture? How many of you have just ripped open the boxes and tried to figure it out without the instructions? How many have had to go and find those instructions after several hours of frustration.
You gotta go to the Creator’s instructions!
DO YOU HEAR THE LIES SHOUTING?
You are not good enough!
You are losing your kids!
You cannot stop your vices!
You can’t shake your past failures
You don’t have a bright future!
Your life is a mistake!
Instructions to Receive His justification: Turn your TRUST to Him!
A - Admit your need
B - Believe on Jesus
C - Call upon Him to save you!