Investigating The Invisible

“This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart that I might not sin against God.”

Context

I am so excited to preach this message, or even the series of messages that we are in right now. I love what God is doing in my heart. I love how that my eyes are being opened to His Word and His Truth, and my prayer is that God would help me preach through this series so that you might draw closer to Him.

For those who are joining us for the first time, I would urge you to go back and listen to last couple of messages online so that you might have a feel for where we are right now. I wish i could do a detailed recap each week, but there simply isn’t enough time.

To give a brief recap, we are preaching through a series titled “Building TEMPO”. We have coined the word TEMPO as an acronym so that each letter of the word stands for one of the five functions of the Church that stem from Acts 2: 41-47. The first function that we have decided to unpack is actually the last word in the acronym, which is Oneness, or unity.

We started there because unity binds everything else together. Last week, we were able to see how that love is the action of unity. Because of the importance of this topic, we are going to hang out here for a few weeks in hopes that we might all grow in our understanding of the importance of unity.

Today, we are going to continue our thought of unity by looking at creation itself.

Romans 1:16–21 (ESV)

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Content

Intricacy

Proverbs 3:19 NKJV

19 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens;

DNA

Oceans & streams

We breathe out carbon dioxide and plants use a process called photosynthesis to convert it into oxygen so that humans and animals can breathe.

Earth rotates on an axis so that we have day and night. It also rotates around the sun every 365 days to give us one calendar year. During this revolution, the Earth is closer to the sun at some points and then farther away at other points, which provides the 4 seasons we have throughout the year.

Differences between male and female humans and animals.

The moon provides a small amount of light during the night, but also helps control the tides of the ocean and the gravitational pull on the Earth.

The Bibles itself has 66 books and was written by over 40 authors throughout a time span of 1500 years, but yet tells one seamless story of God’s grace.

All of these things speak of the wisdom of our God. We have specialists in all of these categories that have studied each of these topics for generations. Despite their studies, they are still figuring things out every single day. We are still learning how God did all of this.

Yet, in Genesis 1, we read how God spoke and all of these things leapt into existence. It did not take God years, or generations, to figure all of this out. He spoke, and everything simply obeyed.

Interrelation

Psalm 89:11 NKJV

11 The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all its fullness, You have founded them.

Notice how important each of the components we just discussed are important to the next thing on the list. Nothing exists in and of itself outside of God. The intricacies of our creation scream of unity, and they do so because they were created by and for a united God.

Though there are so many different moving parts of our created universe, they all work seamlessly together to make one livable planet that is designed to glorify one living God.

Influence

Psalm 97:5 ESV

5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.

Nahum 1:5 ESV

5 The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it.

The amount of influence that God has had on His own creation is unlimited. Thousands of years after its inception into existence, this world still follows by the same rules and principles that it did way back then. Why? Because that is how God designed it to be.

I read once that out of every single civilization that has ever been discovered by archeologists, every single one of them had one thing in common. All of them had some form of temple to worship their God. Now all of these civilizations may worshipped a different God, but they all worshipped a God. This tells us that since the beginning of time, it has been adamantly clear to all civilizations in all cultures, that there was a God. Maybe they lacked the guidance necessary to know the only true living God, but they were smart enough to realize that there was one.

Still today, we operate off of principles that were established by God many moons ago, even though we don’t recognize Him for it. We say it wrong to steal and to kill. Well why? Because it goes against the law. Ok....Says who? Well God does!!

Most people still agree that people should treat other people with respect and have manners. Why? Well it’s just better to be nice. Well who says? God does!!

How do we know these principles came from God? Because they are written in His Word to start with, but also because they line up with the rest of His creation. He designed the entirety of creation in a way that it would seamlessly work together to glorify His name, and these principles line up with that. Unity comes as we strive together for one another, not against one another. Any act, word, or thought that separates you from God or His children, is against God. Use this as a guide moving forward to tell whether you are in His will or not.

God’s influence on this world since the creation of it, has been to unite it into one interlocking organism that glorifies His name.

Infusion

Romans 1:20 NKJV

20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

This verse tells us that the invisible attributes of God are clearly seen by surveying the world He created. In other words, if we look with intent, we can find God in everything He created. We can learn from God and about God by studying and pondering how and why He did what He did. Mainly, we are able to see His eternal power and Godhead. As one surveys the creation of God, it is not only clear that there is a God, but that that God is Almighty and in control of all things.

Genesis 5:1 ESV

1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.

1 Corinthians 8:6 ESV

6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

Colossians 1:16 ESV

16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

Everything that has been created was created by Him and for Him. He is visible in all things for those who seek Him. Not only is He visible, but His desire is visible as well. The way everything works together and depends on one another, it is clear that God desires unity amongst His creation. Not only does He want us to be unified with one another, but more importantly with Him. As we realize how God created us and everything else, it opens our eyes to the fact that He is in control. We should look to Him for guidance and understanding.

Psalm 119:73 ESV

73 Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.

God created us, but He must also teach us His ways. We need to be unified with God so that we might understand God. We need His help to be more like Him.

Intervention

God, at one point, surveyed the world and was not happy with what had happened to it. He decided to fix the problem. He decided that people had moved so far from Him because they had forgotten how to find Him in His creation. He decided that the best way to fix this was to simply come before them in the flesh and show them once again who He was and desires of His heart. So He sent His Son Jesus, God in the flesh, to be that picture unto man. Jesus lived a perfect life, and then died a death He did not deserve so that might witness the Almighty love of God.

Ephesians 4:24 NKJV

24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Once again we see God in creation mode. Mankind had lost their way, so God created another way, a better way. God decided to sacrifice Himself on the account of man’s sin, so that their sin might be forgiven. The only stipulation God placed on this free gift of grace, is that they must believe in what He did, and how He did it.

One must believe in Jesus as the Son of God, and that He lived a perfect life, died an undeserved death, and rose again three days later to conquer it all. They must believe in God’s love for His creation and see it through all that He has done. They must be willing to take themselves off of the throne of their life and place Jesus in that place. They must be willing to rule and design of God over His creation, which includes them.

It is because of this understanding that Apostle Paul writes in

Romans 1:16–17 NKJV

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

Commitment

God desires unity amongst His creation. He desires unity with them and for them. As we strive together in unity, we overcome worldly obstacles in our lives and show people what it looks like to glorify God. His name is worth so much more than ours. Remember this next time you are at odds with someone and can’t get along. It is not your name that needs to be in focus but the name of God almighty that matters.

As we discussed last week, love is the action of unity. Every act of love stems from a desire to be further united with that individual. You want to be closer to them, so you act upon that desire and perform an act of love.

God desired so deeply to be closer with His creation that He acted on it. He performed the ultimate act of love by sacrificing His son in our place.

Do you want to be closer to God? Do you want to get to know Him on a deeper lever? If so, acts of love will be the response.

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