The Message
We
are preaching on Creation these weeks because of the new
ministry for the summer here at the Crystal Cathedral. The
production of Creation with state of the art talent takes
us back to the beginning of all time.
So
today, I call your attention to the Bible text from Genesis
3:8-9. Adam and Eve have plucked the fruit from the tree:
"And they heard the voice of the
Lord God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day. And
the man and his wife hid themselves from the Presence. Amongst
the trees in the Garden they hid. And the Lord God called
to Adam, 'Where are you? Adam where are you?"
This
great text from the Bible hits the basic questions: Who
are we? Where did we come from? Where is our real home?
What is our destiny? Why are we here?
Before
I answer these questions let me share a cute little story
somebody gave me about Creation and to see why God has made
us.
When
God created the cow God said, "You must go to the field
with a farmer all day long. You must suffer under the sun,
have calves, give milk to support the farmer and I will
give you a lifespan of 60 years." The cow said, "Sounds
tough. You want me to live for 60 years? Let me have 20
and I'll give you back the other 40." And God agreed.
Then
God created the monkey and God said, "Entertain people,
do monkey tricks and make them laugh. I'll give you a 20
year lifespan." The monkey said, "Sounds boring,
monkey tricks for 20 years? I don・t think so. Give
me 10, I'll give you back the other 10." And God agreed.
Then
God created the dog. God said, "Sit all day by the
door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks
past, I'll give you a lifespan of 20 years." The dog
said, "That's too long to be barking. The monkey gave
you back 10; I'll give you back 10." God agreed.
Finally
God created man. God said, "Eat, sleep, play, get married,
enjoy life. I・ll give you 20 years." Man said,
"What? Only 20 years. Eat, sleep, marry and enjoy life,
only 20 years. I'll take my 20 and I'll take the 40 the
cow gave back and the 10 the monkey gave back and the 10
the dog gave back. That makes 80 ... okay?" God said,
"It's a deal."
So
that's why the first 20 years of our live we eat, sleep,
play and enjoy ourselves. For the next 40 years we slave
in the sun to support our family. For the next 10 years
we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. For
the last 10 years we sit on the front porch and bark at
everyone.
Seriously,
where did we come from? What is our destiny? Why were we
put here? Why, when all the kinds of creatures and life
forms that exist on planet earth, was there a creature that
stands out unique? There's not a single human being on planet
earth that can take credit for the design of the species
called Homo sapiens. Where did we come from? Why are we
so different? What is our destiny? Why are we here?
Michael
Guillen who has been our closest scientific advisor for
many, many years and has been working side by side with
us for over ten years in putting our summer production of
Creation together, said the other night to a group here
at the Cathedral. :Man is the only species created to be creative." Yes, we are created to imagine, to dream, to
visualize with ideas in the brain and feelings in the emotional
system. And we get compulsions that come from out of the
blue to motivate us. We are different. You don・t believe
that there was a Divine Intelligence that created the human
being? I cannot believe that we were so lucky just to come
by happenstance.
Created to be Creative
We
are creative. The only species that is by its nature designed
to be creative and is unfulfilled unless and until we experience
that we have been creative. "Look at the pie I've made,"
my mother would say. Oh, the pride of creativity. Or a compulsion
to go and visit someone who's in the hospital and you go
and you hold a hurting hand and you talk to help them laugh.
What a creative idea. Where did it come from? Why are we
here? What is our destiny? Where does that creativity come
from?
The
acousticians tell us that if there's a violin and somebody
plucks it in one room, in the next apartment if there・s
a violin, the same note will vibrate on that violin. We
are the violin in the next room. God is the Creator and
He plucks the string. And we, in our human personalities,
vibrate. We relate to that because we are designed to be
creative people.
We
are designed to be at our best when we are in harmony and
unity with all of creation. And that means not other human
beings alone, but other life forms. All of creation, yes,
all of creation was designed to be one in unity,
heaven and earth and that・s the way it was before Adam
and Eve committed their sin. When the human being is out
of his natural environment, the human being will be lost.
:Adam where are you?;
This
Bible verse tells it so well,
"And they heard the voice of the
Lord God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day. And
the man and his wife hid themselves from the Presence. Amongst
the trees in the Garden they hid. And the Lord God called
to Adam, 'Where are you? Adam where are you?"
The
fellowship of the garden was meant to be the great environment
for fellowship between God and man, and then, human beings
with each other. Fellowship does not evolve spiritually
or in a healthy way when there is tension. Tension breaks
fellowship. Tranquility sets the mental tone for real fellowship.
And the fellowship was not an end in itself, but fellowship
has a purpose, the purpose to be creative together.
But
there are principles. There are boundaries. You know the
story. Eve disobeyed. And what happened? The fellowship
was broken. They were separated from the Presence, the Holy
Divine Presence. Eve split with that Holy Spirit. Then what?
The connection was broken between the Ultimate Creator and
the human who was designed to be in God・s image, creative,
and all creativity was gone. That's not all they lost. They
lost their innocence, yes. They lost their pride as persons,
yes. They lost, most importantly, their connection with
the Ultimate Creator and their creativity was gone. What
did that amount to? It amounted to shame instead of glory
and honor. It made them guilty instead of being proud of
who they were. And it made them hide. They didn't want to
face their Creator again.
Now,
there you have a pretty good perspective of the history
of the human race because the human race has inherited that
guilt, that fear, that shame. By nature we're born disconnected
and we need to get reconnected. Until we are reconnected
to God, the human race continues to pursue other ventures
to take the boredom out of life, or ventures, called egotistic
trips, to try to regain the lost pride. We humans are in
hiding.
We
are in hiding from our Creator. And in hiding we get bored
and fall for any kind of stimuli to the eye, ear, or to
the body. We do that just to live in this terrible state
of hiding out from the real God. That・s the real separation.
Get Connected to the Creator
How
can we reconnect? That's the question. How can we get reconnected?
First, notice there is a God. Pay attention and you will
feel "the Presence of God in the cool of the garden,"
and you will hear God calling you, "John, where are
you? Mary, where are you? Why are you hiding? I know what
you did but I love you anyway." So where do you go?
Materialism will never satisfy. Secularism can never satisfy
your soul. You are a species
designed to be creative with the Creator.
You are created to bring music, bring beauty, bring color,
bring life, and bring love into the world. That's why you・re
here.
Who
are we? Where did we come from? Where is our home? What
is our destiny? Where are we? Now that's a different answer
for every person and I want to say to you there is a sense
of peace and power that only comes when you are in a connection
with the Ultimate Creator. He gives you creative ideas and
that's what we call "possibility thinking." It
is God calling out to you saying, "I love you. I love
you."
It's
hard for us to believe. A father once had a son and he said
to himself, "How do I teach my son about God?"
So he got an idea. There was a piece of the garden where
nothing was planted, so he raked it clean and soft. Then
he went and bought flower seeds, and without his son's sight
nor knowledge, he planted the seeds in the letters of the
name of his son, I'll call him John Smith. The seeds spelled
J - O - H - N and then S-M-I-T-H. The day came when his
son came running into the house and said, "Dad, you
won・t believe it, I can・t believe it. My name
is in the garden." "No, John!" "Yes,
it is dad, it's spelled right too!" His Father said,
"How can that be?" "I don't know. Let me
show you!; So the son brought his dad into the garden
and said, "Look, see, John, my name." "Oh,
who made that name?" "I don・t know."
"Wow. Who made the seeds to sprout? Who made you, John
Smith?" Then the father added, "John, God made
you and God loves you. Don't ever forget that. He knows
your name and He will always love you." Wow.
Connect with God Through Jesus Christ
So
connect with Jesus Christ. That's the only way I know how
to connect with God. It's not enough just to sit and daydream
or visualize, or even to read a few words from the Bible.
The only way I really connect is through Jesus Christ, because
Jesus makes the Bible come alive for me. When I sense Jesus
love for me, then I become creative. And creativity is not
just inventing something new, it・s more than that.
It's not just writing a new piece of music, it's more than
that. Being the creative person you and I were designed
to be is also a matter of rescuing someone, saving a life,
or redeeming somebody who's on a wrong path headed for hell
and saving that poor soul. Then they turn to faith and belief
and say "you saved my life."
Creativity
is rescuing and redeeming. Creativity is creating reconciliation
when there were two people who've been at war with each
other who now experience peace, that's creativity. Creativity
is restoring hope when you・ve been on the edge of despair.
Yes, that's what this ministry is all about. Everything
we teach and preach is about connecting you to God through
Jesus Christ and then you are no longer in hiding. You're
no longer living on a dangerous path. You have escaped from
the boredom. You become a beautiful human being.
Last
week the headline of our Orange County paper in large letters
described twenty-two homes which had fallen in a landslide:
"You・ve lost your house!
Your dreams are shattered!
What do you do now?
A
week later the headlines of the front page of the same paper
in the Show section said,
"The Wonders of Creation Adam and Eve."
Yes,
when you lost it all, go back to the Garden of Eden. Connect
with God and you will be creative. You'll figure out what
and how to do what needs to be done. My dad looked at our
house after the tornado had lifted. We were left with nothing
but broken pieces of wood. We lost every thing, all our
material possessions. I lived through that. I watched my
dad cry out loud. But then we went to the prayer meeting
in the country church. "God moves in mysterious ways.
His wonders to perform ..." And dad went back to the
destroyed farm and home. He looked at what he had left.
He didn't look at what he had lost. He became creative.
He rebuilt better than ever. That's why you are here, not
just to be creative all by yourself, but out of fellowship
with our Creator and with other believers. Then comes creativity.
I don't think I could be creative alone. It's the encouragement,
the support, the help, the prayers of the Christian believers
in this church.
My
message is quite simple. Who are you? Where did you come
from? Who made you? Why are you here and if you're hiding,
why and where are you hiding? In a bottle? Where are you
hiding? In a hotel room with someone other than your wife?
Where are you hiding? God is calling to you. "I have
an idea for you. I have a plan for your life. It's beautiful."
Let
me introduce you to Jesus. And when the two of you get together,
you will see beautiful ideas, opportunities, and possibilities
in your life. And you'll grab hold of them empowered by
your Savior, Jesus Himself. Hallelujah.
"Adam,
where are you? Come home." That is God calling
you today. Thank you God, Amen.
Dear
Lord, It is a beautiful life. You created it; You put me
here to be creative. And God, I thank You for the faith
and for the church which keeps my faith going for Jesus
Christ who lived it, and loves me. Amen.
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