July 19, 2015
From Creation to Commitment!
Chance Yankie
with Miles Oldengarm, Wesley Fuller, & Clay Cooper

INTRO

Today we are going to be telling a story and we’re going to have different characters coming in and out to help express a scene or a snapshot. This isn’t just any story, this is The Story. This is God’s story, and our story, and how those stories come together. So let us begin, in the beginning.

CREATION

In the beginning was God; the God who is beginningless and endless; the God who has no one beside Him or below Him. If he were to have a bad day who would be His counselor? The answer is no one, because none is His equal and he doesn’t have bad days. He is perfect and all together. He is all powerful, so powerful that when His Word goes out, even nothing hears and obeys Him. So this God speaks things into existence.

This God is alive and active, speaking and creating. He creates light and darkness, day and night, land and sea. He creates fish and plants – the very same plants that we find beauty in and are amazed by. He creates birds and animals – the animals that we love and find companionship with and others that we eat and are sustained by. He made it all. And it was on this stage that He chose to set man and women, created in His image and bear his resemblance. It was a perfect and place of “oneness.”

Oneness as an individual, because man was at peace – he was one with himself. He wasn’t divided by his emotions. He was not conflicted by doing what he didn’t want to do and not doing what he needed to. He was perfect.

Oneness in their relationships, man and women were one. There was no miscommunication, misunderstanding, no drama, no freaking out, no break ups. It was perfect.

Oneness in nature. They was no “too hot” or “too cold” or “grab my shades, it’s too bright” or “I need a coat because the wind if freezing.” There was the beauty of rose, it’s fragrance and wonder, but without the prick of the thorn. Man’s relationship with nature was perfect.

And most importantly, there was oneness with the Creator. Man and women and God were one. They walked together, talked together, and knew each other’s hearts. It was perfect.

So here is the stage that has been set: Creation, with the created walking and talking with the Creator… And it was good.

CHAOS

CROSS

Even though it was bad, the story wasn’t over…

CHAOS had entered into the world and what God had created perfect was now stained with sin and rebellion. Our sin, and our rebellion, created a debt that requires payment because God’s perfection and holiness requires that our sin be punished.

The Old Testament law required that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there was no forgiveness of sin. So, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would offer a sacrifice, so that the sins of the people could be forgiven. The innocent blood of a lamb would cleanse the people of their unrighteousness.

But this sacrifice was incomplete, because sin would creep back into the lives of the people and CHAOS still reigned in the world. The priest’s sacrifice of the lamb was only a temporary fix and had to be offered every year, over and over again.

So God saw man’s dilemma, and the state of CHAOS that separated them from his holiness. He stepped into creation. In the form of a man, yet still being 100% God, Jesus Christ lived a perfect life – a life absent of sin. Because Jesus was perfect, and without sin, He was worthy of being our sacrifice.

Jesus was the Lamb of God, and His innocent blood was shed on the cross so that our sin-debt could be paid in full. This was not a temporary fix, like the sacrifices of the Old Testament. It was a permanent fix that covered and erased our sin once and for all.

Romans 3 says: “righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”

Because of Jesus’ blood, CHAOS and sin are rendered powerless. They are defeated.

And now… it is finished.

COMMITMENT

It started with Creation , and what a creation it was! Out of nothing, GOD created everything. The heavens, the earth, and US. And we experienced Oneness with God. We experienced true relationship with Him. And it was perfect. It was good. But the story didn’t end there…

Then came Chaos. You see, Satan and sin entered the picture. Sin has spread and all mankind deals with the sin. It’s a problem we all have. It ushers in chaos, conflict, problems, & pain. And we feel stuck – stuck in sin, paralyzed by the mess of our lives. Our oneness with God was broken. We were separated from God. And it was bad. It was very bad. But the story didn’t end there…

Enter the Cross. Jesus steps out of heaven and into our world. He comes and lives on our turf, facing temptation and struggle just like us… but he never sinned, he never failed. And he goes to the cross, and with his death he pays the price for our sin. Jesus became our perfect sacrifice, paid the price, so that our sin might be paid for. We couldn’t be made right with God on our own. We couldn’t restore the oneness of our relationship with God. We couldn’t get back to God. So Jesus did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves. And it cost Jesus his life. And it was finished.

And that brings us here…to tonight…in this place, this time, our lives. 2 cor. 5:17 – IF -You see God is the ultimate gentleman…he doesn’t force his will on any of us. Through the forgiveness of Jesus, He offers us his love, he offers us His hope, he offers us a way to be free from the chaos and confusion and problems and pain of sin. But He leaves the choice to us. IF – if you choose to be in Christ, if you choose to turn over control to him, if you choose to accept his payment for your sin, you can be made new. You can be in Christ. In Christ – grafted in, made one with Jesus. We literally have the same standing with God that Jesus does…we are no longer enemies, no longer slaves, we’re not even orphans. In Christ, we are Sons and Daighters of God. God – in his love and goodness – creates us brand new again. He makes us new. And it is good. So very good. But it’s up to you. You have to choose to commit to Jesus. The choice is yours. Tonight, if you’d like to make that commitment….
If anyone is in Christ….you can be made new. Tonight, the choice is yours.