09.07.11 - Design From God

1. I. In The Beginnging . . . 

1. a.  . . .God!

1. i. In the beginning God . . .anything that starts with God and ends with God, simply put is good! Anything that God created, was His idea, that He endorses, and everything about Him is good.  

1. ii. God looked at all that He had done and it was good.  So what happened?  Man. Temptation. Sin. The Fall.  The mistake was not with God, it was with man.

1. 1. How did things change after sin entered into the world by Adam?

1. a. How was Adam's walk affected?

1. b. How was the animal kingdom affected by the sin of mankind?

1. c. How was mankind's relationships with each other affected?

1. II. It Was Very Good

1. a. God makes good things.

1. i.   1 Tim 4:4 For everything God created is good NIV

1. ii. Deut 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect KJV

1. b. Mankind corrupts the good things that God has created in sin.  In the beginning we can see that all that God created was good.  It was not that anything that God created was bad, but that God was not obeyed and the things He had created were not used properly.  The Tree of Life was not to be eaten of by man, but man ate of it.  Words were not created to be used to deceive and lie, but they were. 

1. i. What are some things that God created for good, but that has been corrupted by sin?

1. a. Marriage - God created marriage for a man and a woman.  The World has corrupted marriage to mean things that God never intended.  Same sex marriage, plural marriages, open marriages etc.  

1. b. Sex - God created sex.  (believe it or not!!) and meant for sex to be a good thing. The world has corrupted sex to mean a slang bad interpretation for love.  Sex in this generation has become little more than a bodily function and that was never God's design

1. c. Church - God created the Church to be a living thing to spread His Gospel.  Some churches have become little more than social gatherings and country clubs to hang out.

1. III. Good From Bad

1. a. Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. KJV

1. b. The Body of Christ sometimes allows bad things to reign when we fail to adequately address the relevant issues that our members and the world as a whole are facing.  Sometimes we fail in because we choose only certain issues to address both publicly and privately.  It is difficult to face someone who is having marriage issues and in love speak biblical truth.  Sex has been so marred by the media and our secular society that many, even within the Church, don't know what their Bible has to say about the wonderful gift that God Himself gave us. And no one wants to touch the issue of stale, dead churches that simply transfer members in from across town instead of birthing and raising up disciples of Christ. And so Truth goes unsaid.  Sin goes on unchecked and the spiritual barometer of the saints goes from good to bad.  

1. c. But it can be turned around - one Truth at a time.  Choose to say what is right.  Choose to address and discuss, in love, those issues around us and honor what is Biblically correct more than what is politically correct.

1. i. Jer 1:10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out , and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. KJV

1. 1.  . . .to plant.  All of the other things we are to do, but to plant is the most important.  To plant the Truth.  To share the Good News.

1. a. What are some areas that you might find uncomfortable if confronted about? (questions that you might be asked from someone who does not, or does, go to Church.)

1. b. Have you ever had a question that you were embarrassed to ask a person from the Church for fear of what they might say or because of subject matter?  Did you ever get your answer?

1. c. Are there "sensitive"  subjects that you would