Nothing to Something || Carl Kuhl

Well hello, Pando family, and welcome to Southeast Christian Church. We're a church out of Louisville, Kentucky, and I'll tell you what, one of our favorite things is that we get to be in the Pando app, and so grateful that you are here to worship with us today. As a matter of fact, we love it so much, we actually have a team of volunteers that love to pray for you, and so when you write in to us, the address is in the description, you know, we read it, and we might even write you back. We'd love to hear from you, and also while you're there, hit subscribe, join the 31,000 other folks inside the app that have hit the subscribe button. That way you can stay connected to all sorts of great content like today's service, and be notified in your feed a little bit more easily. Today is the perfect Sunday, the perfect weekend, the perfect moment, whatever day it is for you to be joining in with Southeast, because we're starting a brand new series. It's called In the Beginning, and actually it starts at the next 20 weeks, where we're gonna be going through the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis, and today you're gonna be hearing from our executive pastor, Carl Kuhl, and he's gonna be talking about those opening statements, the opening part of the Bible in the beginning, and you're gonna learn something, you're gonna be challenged, your eyes are gonna be opened, and it's fascinating to me that the opening phrase of the Bible is fresh as ever, culturally, with whatever situation is going on and that you are facing, today's message will connect with you. So that's what I want you to do. I want you to have your eyes open, be prepared, because I think there may be a fresh word from the Lord, from an old, old book of the Bible in Genesis, that's just for you. So right now let's join in, let's worship together, stick around afterwards, I'll have some ways that you can get connected inside the Pando app, but right now, let's worship. Can you hear it? Can you hear it now? See, when you're quiet enough, that voice, that all-too-familiar voice amplifies. You know the one, that voice, that snake-like speech that slithers into the unlocked safe of your mind. And that voice reminds you of everything that you did last night, everything you did months ago, even the

things that took place years ago. And the salacious siren call of this serpent sings you sweet lullabies that are fake, yet familiar. Sing songs that blur the past and present and paint them as your future. Dear child, this voice says, do you know the reality of who you really are? See, it's as easy as ABC. It starts with abnormal, then broken, clumsy, despicable, eroding, failure, grotesque, hideous, intimidating, invisible, irritating, irregular, immature, insane, icky, irresponsible. I for, I'm better off alone. I for, is anyone even listening? I for, it's just one time, no one's ever gonna find out. I for, it's always gonna be this way. I for, I'm not wanted or valued or seen or cared for or loved. See, I could go on with an I for an I because I is all I see. That's why I scratch that we hide, isn't it? We've fallen for low-hanging fruit in the form of freedom, but it's Satan's very own fable. The utter chaos of living in our own world has left us empty and void. And yet, there is a God who has quite the history with the empty and void. A God who never shied away from the making of something out of nothing. A God who saw what was and from our very beginning created what is. And this God speaks to the darkness and the depressed and the burden and says, let there be light. This God speaks to the grieving and the growing and the weary and says, I've created space for you. This God speaks to the busy and the broken and the orphaned and the widowed and the pained and the confused and the doubtful and the desperate and says, your circumstances may not be good, but I am. There's something about when he speaks that softens hard hearts and strengthens feeble knees. There's something about when he speaks that we just can't help but to respond. God of creation, there at the start, before the beginning of time, there at the start, before the beginning of time. With no point of reverence You spoke to the dark And fleshed out the wonder of life And as You speak A hundred million galaxies are born

In the vapor of Your breath the planets form If the stars are made to worship so will I I can see Your heart in everything You've made Every burning star a signal fire of grace If creation sings Your praises so will I God of Your promise You don't speak in vain Your syllable empty or void For once You have spoken On nature and science follow the sound of Your voice And as You speak A hundred billion creatures catch Your breath Evolving in pursuit of what You said If it all reveals Your nature so will I I can see Your heart in everything You say Every painted sky a canvas of Your grace If creation still obeys You so will I So will I So will I So will I If the stars are made to worship so will I If the mountains bow in reverence so will I If the oceans roar Your greatness so will I For if everything exists to lift You high so will I If the wind blows where You send it so will I If the roads cry out in silence so will I If the sun above rises still far shy Then we'll sing again a hundred billion times Oh God of salvation You chased on my heart through all of my failure and pride

On a hill You created The light of the world abandoned in darkness to die And as You speak Oh a hundred billion failures disappear Where You lost Your life so I could see ♪ Find it here ♪ ♪ If you left the grave behind you so alive ♪ ♪ I can see your heart in everything you've done ♪ ♪ Every part designed in a wonderful and cold love ♪ ♪ If you blindly chose surrender so alive ♪ ♪ I can see your heart in a billion different ways ♪ ♪ Every precious one, a child you've died to save ♪ ♪ If you gave your life to love him so alive ♪ ♪ Like you would again a hundred billion times ♪ ♪ But what measure could amount to your desire? ♪ ♪ You're the one who never leaves the one behind you ♪ Do you hear it now? No, really, do you hear it? Do you hear the reality that all of creation Do you hear it? Do you hear the reality that all of creation has been trying to tell us? See, according to the cosmos, creation was crafted to reflect light though darkness may be present. And that light brings forth life in which the darkness cannot overcome it. And according to the lilies, creation was made to bloom, vibrantly unfolding and parading the beauty that was always in our DNA.

And see, according to the thunder, creation was made to reverberate amongst the earth, roaring like the lion of Judah, a mountainous sound, strong and mighty. And don't even get me started on the mountains without repeating what it's always said, because according to the mountains, creation was made to exude beauty under pressure. That perhaps every collision actually doesn't cause calamity, but it creates a bigger, better, stronger version of what was. According to the fire, creation was made to dance unrestrained, a holy sight, burning but not consumed. According to the dust from which we were made from, creation was made to remember that how we started is actually not how we finish. And according to the wind, creation echoes the very breath of God, sight unseen, yet presence felt. According to the clouds, ever shifting and weighty with living water, creation was made to pour out in abundance. See, according to the plants of the plains, seeds broken to bring forth fruit, creation can rest assured that after every rupture is indeed a resurrection. All of creation sings a song that projects with the perfect pitch of praise.

Do you hear it? See, distraction has left us deaf to the deliver of our souls, and division has left us delusional to the divine. Do you hear it? See, God can take the leper and make them a leader. Can you hear it? God can take the blind and give them sight. Can you hear it? God can take the bleeding and the barren and redeem all that was lost. Can you hear it? God can take the nameless and call them son and call them daughter. Do you hear it? God can take the dead and the drowning and give them life. Can you hear it? Let all of those with ears to hear, hear me and hear me oh so very clearly. Let your hope arise because hope can be found in Jesus. Let your voice resound because hope and joy can be found in Jesus. And let everything, and I mean everything with breath, get up and praise the Lord. Amen, church. We worship our great God today, the creator of all things.

We give him all that we have, amen. We lift our hands to the heavens. We are here for you. We reach for the hem of your garment. We know what it can do. We know what it can do. Yeah, hey. ♪ Devotion, let it build a throne for you ♪ ♪ Let it build a throne for you ♪ ♪ Let everything that has breath praise, praise ♪ ♪ Let everything that has breath praise, praise ♪ ♪ Let everything that has breath sing a new song to the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, let our praises roar, praise, praise ♪ ♪ We praise the Lord, yes we do Lord, yeah, oh ♪ ♪ We've come to pour out oil just to wash our Savior's feet ♪ ♪ Every drop from every bottle can't compare to your glory ♪ ♪ Can't compare to your glory, we refuse to bring it all free ♪ ♪ That doesn't cost us anything, cause you're worth everything ♪ ♪ Let everything that has breath praise, praise ♪ ♪ Let everything that has breath praise, praise, praise ♪ ♪ Let everything that has breath sing a new song to the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, let our praises roar, praise, praise ♪ ♪ We praise the Lord, oh Lord, hey ♪ ♪ We praise the Lord in every season, come on now worship you Lord ♪ ♪ If it's kneeling in reverence, or it's dancing with joy ♪ ♪ We'll sing songs never ending, we love to bring you praise ♪ ♪ If it's face down before you, or a victory shout, shout hey ♪ ♪ With our hands raised to heaven, we love to bring you praise ♪ ♪ You're the God of salvation, you're the great I am ♪ ♪ You're the Alpha Omega, we love to bring you, show you praise, praise, woo ♪

♪ Praise, praise, woo ♪ ♪ Woo, praise, praise ♪ ♪ Let everything that has praise ♪ ♪ Praise, praise, let everything that has praise ♪ ♪ Praise, praise, let everything that has praise ♪ ♪ Sing a new song to the Lord, oh let our praises roar ♪ ♪ Praise, praise, we praise the Lord, hallelujah, Lord ♪ ♪ We praise the Lord, we give you all the glory ♪ ♪ All the honor, God, we praise the Lord ♪ Church, why don't we give a shout of praise to the Lord today, amen. Amen. Let's sing. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

In the darkness we were waiting without hope, without light till from heaven you came running there was mercy in your eyes to fulfill the law and prophets to a virgin came the Word from a throne of endless glory to a cradle in the dirt Come on, sing it out. ♪ Oh praise the Father, praise the Son ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit, three in one ♪ ♪ God of glory, majesty ♪ ♪ Oh praise forever to the King of kings ♪ Hallelujah. Hallelujah. ♪ Oh, creation, you did not despise the cross ♪ ♪ For even in your suffering, you sought to the other side ♪ ♪ Knowing this was our salvation, Jesus for our sake you died ♪ Thank you for the praise. ♪ Oh, praise the Father, praise the Son ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit, three in one ♪ ♪ God of glory, majesty ♪ ♪ Oh, praise forever to the King of kings ♪ ♪ Oh, praise the Father, praise the Son ♪ ♪ And the morning that he rose, all of heaven held its pride ♪ ♪ Till that stone was moved for blood, for the lamb that conquered death ♪ ♪ And the dead rose from their tombs, and the angels stood in awe ♪ ♪ For the souls of all would call to the Father of mercy ♪ ♪ And the church of Christ was born, then the Spirit lit the flame ♪ ♪ Now this gospel truth of old, it shall not need, it shall not fail ♪

♪ By faith alone and in his name, in his freedom I am free ♪ ♪ For the love of Jesus Christ, who has resurrected me ♪ ♪ So we sing, praise the Father, praise the Son ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit of the three in one ♪ ♪ God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King ♪ ♪ Sing it again, praise the Father, praise the Son ♪ ♪ Praise the Spirit, three in one ♪ ♪ God of glory, majesty, praise forever to the King of kings ♪ ♪ Praise forever to the King of kings ♪ God, one of the reasons we gather together is to be reminded that we're not alone in thinking and knowing and believing that you are the King, that you are King of the universe, that you are the King of this country, that you are the King of the universe, that you are the King of the universe, that you are the King of the universe, that you are the King of this country, that you are the King in our homes and in our hearts. And God, we come in here in all kinds of different ways. And so right now, even before we open your word, we just acknowledge to you what we're bringing in. Some of us bring anger and sadness, and we lay that before you. Some of us bring joy, contentment, gratitude, and we lay that before you. And we say, God, be with us in our current circumstance, in our current emotion, and guide us clearly as we open your word today. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

You can be seated. As you have a seat, turn to the person next to you and say, good job. Say, you made it to church on time change weekend. Good job. There's no extra points in heaven, but there's extra points for me, so I appreciate ya. I read a new story just recently that came from Outer Banks in North Carolina. Outer Banks is a barrier island that's kinda out a little ways in the ocean. And on the Outer Banks, if you don't know, there's just these dream multi-million dollar houses. They have wraparound. They have two-story windows. They have million-dollar views of the ocean. But something unique has been happening there. Over about the last six months, about 30 different houses have been swept away into the ocean. That when the tide comes in and the waves beat against the house, it just kinda washes it away. And even the next morning, you'll see furniture from the house in the waves. I did kinda wonder, this guy filming that video, like, isn't he a little too close? I think his house is next, may not wanna be there. But that was an illustration of what Jesus talks about in Matthew chapter seven.

He says, hey, there's one guy, he built a house on a rock, and when winds came and rain beat against it, then it didn't fall because it was built on rock. But there's another builder who built his house on sand, and when the waves came and the wind and everything, it just got swept away. And here's what's true. You're in a storm right now that is our culture attacking the Christian worldview. Every day, our beliefs on marriage, gender, sexuality, work, even truth itself, are under attack. And when you see a Christian begin to crack and lean, it's because they don't have the right foundation. Here's what's interesting to me about those Outer Banks homes, is I thought, when I first saw the clip, that it was gonna be like a hurricane had come in, or a series of hurricanes, and it wasn't. There hadn't been any hurricanes that swept those 30 houses away. They're built on a barrier island, and what's true of any barrier island any way in the world is that it erodes at a pace of about one foot per year. So it wasn't some giant one event, it was the slow erosion of the water over time. And I believe that metaphor is really helpful in understanding how a Christian falls away as well, because very rarely do you see a Christian throw his or her worldview out the window because of one cataclysmic event.

Rather, it's the slow, endless beating down from our culture. What we need is a strong foundation. So I'm really excited today that we're launching a series to go through the book of Genesis in the Bible. The word Genesis means beginnings. Genesis describes the beginning of the world, the beginning of humanity, the beginning of faith, the beginning promises of Jesus. And I love Genesis for many reasons. One of them is because Genesis is wild. Like you have the destruction of the world, there's incest and slavery, there's family betrayal. The most bizarre story, in my opinion, is when a guy falls in love with a woman, the father says, okay, you have my permission to marry her. There's a wedding ceremony, and then in the dark of night, he takes her into his tent to consummate their marriage, but when he wakes up the next morning in the light, he realizes it's not the woman, it's her sister. He runs off in a rage to the dad, he goes, oh yeah, I just wanted to get rid of her first, now you can marry her sister as well. And the guy just says, okay, it's sister wives in Genesis. There's revenge, there's loves, there's bitterness, there's faithfulness, but what you see most of all is God introducing himself, it's his power, it's his grace, it's his providence, it's his faithfulness and redemption. Today, we're gonna study Genesis chapter one.

And I say study because today's gonna be a bit more of a heady sermon. Next week, we're gonna come back to Genesis one, and it's gonna be more of a message for the heart. But Genesis one sets the foundation for so much of the Christian worldview. Genesis one is the reason we believe marriage is between one man and one woman for one lifetime. Genesis one is the reason we believe in the value of work, that if you're capable of working and just refuse to, then you shouldn't eat. Genesis one is the reason we believe in two genders, male and female. We don't agree with James Tallarico that there are six genders. Genesis one is the reason we believe we have a divine responsibility to care for our world. Not because of made up science, not because of a political agenda, but simply because Genesis one says God gave us this world as a gift and said, you take care of it. We have a responsibility to do that. Genesis one is the reason we believe all humans have worth, no matter if they have a disability or not. Genesis one is the reason Christians don't buy into a postmodern worldview that believes my feelings are my truth, or that even the phrase my truth can exist. The reason we believe,

this is the reason we believe there's objective truth that's unchanging and good for us. Genesis one is the reason we don't believe in a Marxist worldview that says the problem is systems of power because Genesis teaches that God creates us as individuals and treats us as such. Our series on Genesis is gonna last about 20 weeks. I kinda wish we had 20 weeks just on Genesis chapter one. We're not gonna do that. In fact, we're not even gonna really get into the nitty gritty of all those applications. I just listed, instead, we're gonna really look at the macro idea of Genesis chapter one, that is the foundation of all those things I just listed, and then come away with kind of one application point for us today. So here's what today is and is not. Today is not an argument over how to interpret Genesis chapter one. Bible-believing Christians believe different things about the timing of the universe. In fact, I didn't know this when I was doing my study for this message, I discovered there are actually 10 different ways Bible-believing Christians interpret Genesis one. We're not gonna argue about that today because they're all gonna be in heaven, and we're gonna ask Jesus one day who's right. Today is an overview of the chapter to see what does Genesis one teach about God.

Now some people dismiss any serious claims of the Bible because of Genesis one, and they'll say that the Bible isn't a science textbook. While it's not a science textbook, I have yet to read anything the scriptures teach that has been proven as untrue by observable science. However, the primary goal of the Bible is to teach us about God and his plan for us. So today we're gonna learn three things about God and one thing for us. It may be helpful, actually, for you to get out your Bible, even if it's on your phone today. I'm gonna skip around a lot in Genesis one, and it may just be helpful for you to follow along and see the broader context. We're gonna start with one of the most important verses in all the scriptures. In fact, I know you just sat down, but at every campus, I'm gonna ask you to stand back up for the reading of God's word. It's been said that if you can believe the first verse of the Bible, you have no problem believing the rest. In many ways, our faith hinges, go ahead and put the verse up, on this one sentence. And so I want us to say this sentence out loud together. One, two, three, go. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Let's pray. Almighty God, who created the heavens and the earth, we need you.

We need the belief of this verse and the implications of this verse to penetrate our hearts, minds, and souls. Father, our country gets in trouble when we don't believe this verse. Families fall apart when we don't live in light of this verse. Our lives become a mess when we don't live out the implications of this verse. So will you encourage us, humble us, convict us, comfort us through your word today. We need all of the grace, all of the truth you have to offer. Open our hearts and minds to you right now. Amen. You can be seated as you do. Grab that booklet you got on the way in today. Turn to week one of this series and we're gonna have some fill in the blanks for you. This verse, theologians have a term they've used over the centuries for what this describes. And it's a Latin phrase, ex nihilo. And it means from nothing. The Hebrew word bara used for create here means that God in power and in his divinity created the universe from nothing. No other so-called holy book makes that claim that God created the universe from nothing. Here's what I want you to write down. God is powerful. About 100 years ago, the prevailing thought

of the cosmos of the time was something called the steady state theory. It stated that the universe had just always been and always will be. That it had no beginning, it existed to eternity past and it has no end, it will exist to eternity future. And you can see why atheists love that idea. If our telescope said the universe always existed, then Genesis one couldn't be true. But then somebody looked through a telescope and noticed something weird. It seemed that the galaxies were moving away from us every direction we looked because they had a red shift in their light towards the red end of the rainbow. Here's what that means. If you think of an ambulance driving by you, as soon as it passes you, the siren sound, although it's the same coming from the truck, sounds different to you. It's because the sound waves get stretched out. When these astronomers looked in their telescopes, they said these galaxies, their light waves are stretched out they're moving away from us. They said it'd be like if you had a balloon and each galaxy was a dot on it and you blew up the balloon, every dot would be moving away from every other dot. So scientists started scratching their heads. If everything's moving away from everything else, that means that once upon a time, everything was together. There must have been a beginning.

Now a bunch of people love that idea, but a bunch of. because the beginning sounds too much like in the beginning. So they said, well, fine, that can't be true, because if there was a beginning, as you say, then there would be this leftover background radiation scattered throughout the universe. We would detect it in many different ways, and we don't see that, so that theory can't be true. The universe didn't have a beginning. But in 1964, two radio guys working at Bell Labs in New Jersey had a giant horn-shaped antenna, and they weren't looking for the beginnings of the universe. They were trying to do something else, but when they pointed it in the sky, there was this big hiss. It was messing up what they were doing. So they pointed it another direction, same hiss. Another direction, same hiss. And they said, well, maybe our equipment's malfunctioning, and they checked their equipment. Their equipment was fine, same hiss. Then they said, well, maybe all that pigeon poop on our antenna is messing up our equipment, so they cleaned that off. They drove away the pigeons, same hiss, and then it hit them. This was exactly the leftover radiation that that theory of a universe with a beginning would have. They won a Nobel Prize for it. They had just stumbled onto the echo

of the very first moment of creation. Then in 1992, the final nail in the coffin happened. Two astrophysicists running the COBE satellite found tiny ripples in that same background radiation. It was the last piece of information that proved the universe has a beginning. It made front page news on the London Times for five straight days. Astrophysicist George Smoot, who was on that project, not a Christian, won a Nobel Prize for the project, said it was, quote, like looking at the face of God. Stephen Hawking called it the discovery of the century, if not of all time. Then he later said, all the evidence seems to indicate that the universe has not existed forever, but that it had a beginning. Think on this. Your atheist college professor believes the universe had a beginning. That physics teacher in high school that talks stuff about religion so much and looks down on it believes the universe had a beginning. Anyone who trusts any field of science or math believes that the universe had a beginning. I believe the greatest scientific evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is the same Bible that tells us Jesus rose from the grave also says the universe was created ex nihilo from nothing by God. It had a beginning point in time

and the biggest scientific discoveries of the last hundred years prove that that is true. There is nothing that has ever been discovered in science that contradicts Genesis one verse one and there's discovery after discovery after discovery from astrophysics that points to Genesis one one as being true. Christians call this the cosmological argument for the existence of God. It simply goes like this. If the universe had a beginning, it had a beginner. By the way, both Hinduism and Buddhism teach as a core doctrine of their religions that the steady state theory that the universe goes on forever but Genesis one one as proven by science proves those religions are false. And here's why that's such a big deal. If you can believe the first verse of the Bible, you can believe anything that follows. If God created the sea and everything in them, he can create a fish that can swallow a man. If God created atoms and the law of chemistry, he can turn water into wine. If God created gravity and vast oceans, he can part the seas to have his people walk through on dry land. If God created DNA and the reproductive system, he can have a virgin give birth.

If God created the laws of biology and thermodynamics, he can have his son walk out of the grave. If you believe the first verse of the Bible, you can believe anything that follows. I know some of you who are young are fascinated by the sciences and I would encourage you, devote yourself to that field for two reasons. One, we need Christian leaders in the sciences and two, when you study, go to school, when you work one day in that field, it will just be going to work an act of worship for you as it increases your all of God. Hebrews 11 three, by faith, and I would add, and telescopes, we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. Skip ahead to verse 11, then God said, let the land sprout with vegetation, every sort of seed-bearing plant, trees that grow seed-bearing fruit, the seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came and this is what happened. Verse 20, then God said, let the water swarm with fish and other life, let the skies be filled with birds of every kind. Verse 24, then God said, let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind,

livestock, small animals that scurry along. in the ground and wild animals. And that's what happened. God creates fish, plants, birds, mammals. Here's what jumps out at me. God's creative. God is creative. Think of the ways that God didn't need to be creative but was. Think of the peacock. God could have created the peacock with plain brown feathers. That would have worked for camouflage and flying around. But instead, he crafted this breathtaking, shimmering fan of brilliant blues, greens, and golds with perfect eye spots arranged in precise symmetry in thin film layers. Think of the butterfly. A butterfly needs wings to fly and escape danger, but God created beauty. The morpho butterfly's electric blue has no dye or pigment. God crafted microscopic scales that would refract the light so that we see a beautiful blue. Think of the snowflake. Each one begins as a simple water vapor freezing in the air. Yet God makes infinite variety with each snowflake having perfect symmetry. No two are identical.

Each, as one person described it, is a delicate masterpiece of branching fractals and lace-like arms. Think of the northern lights. The sky could be dark and empty at night, but God pushes charged particles to collide with our atmosphere in a cosmic light show of green, purple, and pink. Completely unnecessary, yet stunningly beautiful. Think of the bumpy snailfish. Now, I gotta admit, this one's kinda ugly, all right. But here's what's unique about this. Every so often, you'll hear about a new species discovered. Last calendar year, some scientists off the coast of California sent a camera 10,000 feet below sea level, and they found this new species and named it the bumpy snailfish. But think of what this means. It means thousands of years ago, when God was creating the universe ex nihilo, he realized, hey, thousands of years from now, some humans are gonna develop some technology, they're gonna go down to the bottom of the ocean and see what's there. I'm gonna create something now that most of humans won't see and nobody will see for thousands of years, so when they get that camera down there, something new's waiting for them.

God took time to create beauty. God took time to make things different. God is creative. One application of this is I believe you are creative. In his book, Orbiting the Giant Hairball, author Gordon McKenzie talks about what it's like to be an artist in a big corporation. He worked for Hallmark. And he talks about, at one point, going into schools to talk about artistry and creativity. And when he speaks to a kindergarten class and says, how many of you are creative? Everybody raises their hand. They're like bouncing down their chairs to make sure they're seen, they're creative. When he speaks to a class of third graders, how many of you are creative? About half of them raise their hands. When he speaks to a sixth grade group and says, how many of you are creative? A few bold, timid souls will raise their hand because everyone was taught somewhere along the way, you're not creative. But I believe part of what it means to be made in God's image is you are creative. Now, you may say, well, I don't paint with watercolors. I don't craft pottery. I don't draw with charcoal. But I would push back and say, well, it takes creativity to write the right code that makes the website function.

It takes creativity to plan and cook a good meal. It takes creativity to manage finances well. It takes creativity to buy thoughtful presents. It takes creativity to figure out what exercises does this patient coming in for physical therapy need. You're creative. And because God's creative also, that means your story will be unique. If he didn't make two snowflakes the same, he's not gonna make two stories the same. It is so tempting to compare to other people. I want the good things that happen to them to happen to me. I want the way God answered their prayer requests, quick and good, to be the way he answers my prayer requests. I want their calling to be my calling. But God's creative. Ephesians 2.10 says you are God's masterpiece. A master artist never makes two works the same, which means you don't need to get discouraged because their story isn't your story. Just look at the butterfly and be reminded God is creative. He's writing something new for you. Look at how those last verses we just read were fulfilled. Go back to day three in verse 12. The land produced vegetation, all sorts of seed-bearing plants and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind, and God saw it was good. Day five, so God created great sea creatures.

and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird, each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw it was good. Day six, God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind, and God saw it was good. Here's how I'd sum up another character of God we see in Genesis chapter one, write this down. God is kind. God is kind. Think of some of the ways God didn't just create the world but went out of his way to make it enjoyable for you. God didn't just create light, he created seven million colors. So at sunset, you enjoy pink and orange. You see the green of a field of grass, the blue of the deep ocean. God could have made all land the same, but he gives us mighty mountains for adventure, tall waterfalls to bring renewal, rainforests full of mystery. God didn't have to create scent, but he gives you the smell of pine as you hike a mountain trail, the scent of fresh bread being baked, flowers from somebody who loves you. Instead of full-grown dogs and cats, he gives us puppies and kittens. Instead of leaves simply falling,

he turns them red and gold. Instead of a static temperature, he gifted us seasons. Instead of a blank sky, he paints it with stars. Instead of bland food, he gives us his gifts from heaven, skyline chili, Big Red Soda, and Krispy Kreme doughnuts. There's a theological phrase, common grace, and the idea of common grace is that God gives us 1,000 gifts that we don't deserve. It's what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 5 when he says he gives his sunlight to the evil and the good. He sends rain on the just and the unjust. What is that? It's just common grace for everybody, and the point is God is kind. I believe there are times when you encounter God's kindness in creation just for you. A couple weeks ago, I did a short retreat, personal retreat in the Rocky Mountains. I went up to a friend's cabin by myself for a day, and this is remote in the middle of nowhere. You drive over five miles on a dirt road. Once you get off the paved road, there is no cell service. There is no Wi-Fi. It was me, my Bible, and a fire. That's it. And on my drive in, I prayed, God, I would love to see some wildlife today. And I'd seen wildlife at this cabin on a couple other personal retreats. One time I saw a moose when I was there.

One time I was staring out the big two-story windows, and several coyotes just came and stared at me. When I told the owner, he said, I wish you'd shot him. I said, I didn't know I was allowed to. That sounds pretty fun, actually. I was sitting there with the fire, with my Bible, just looking out the window all day, and no wildlife came. Went on a hike, no wildlife. Then it was time to go. So I got in my car, packed my stuff up, started driving down that dirt road. I turned right by this meadow, and right in front of me were probably 200 elk, maybe two dozen horses, just having a snack, minding their own business. And maybe I read too much in this sometimes. That's possible. But in that moment, as I was driving, I felt like God was saying, hey, I see you. It was a reminder of what Jesus says. The birds don't worry, God takes care of them. As a reminder, God's gonna take care of me, and he's gonna take care of you. If you have a worry in your life, that relationship, that financial thing, the unknown future, I believe a reason God created the universe the way he did is to give you gentle reminders that only you'll see that he's got you. It's common grace. Meaning, when you look at the vast ocean,

you can be reminded he's big enough to handle your unknowns. When you taste a mango, you're reminded he gives you blessings even as you suffer. When you enjoy sex the way God intended, you're reminded that even while family is difficult, he wants you to enjoy pleasure. Whatever stirs your soul in creation, let it remind you that God's kind. All this leads to the biggest point of the chapter, verse 26, then God said, let us make human beings in our image to be like us. So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God, he created them. Male and female, he created them. Then God looked over all he had made and saw that it was very good. We are created. created as the hallmark of God's creation. The point is this, I am loved. And when you really let that sink in, it changes everything. See, scientists have this term they use to describe the universe. They say Earth is in the Goldilocks position, meaning it's almost as if there are 100 different dials and any one of them, if tuned a little differently, would make life impossible on this planet, but every one of them is tuned just perfectly. And one of the smartest physicists who ever lived was a guy named Freeman Dyson.

He worked at the Institute for Advanced Study at Pristin. It's where the smartest minds on the planet, people like Albert Einstein, come to solve the biggest questions. And Dyson wasn't a Christian. He liked the ethics of Jesus, did not believe in the resurrection, but after spending his whole life staring into the universe, here's what he finally said. The more I examine the universe and the details of its architecture, the more evidence I find that the universe, in some sense, must have known we were coming. The smartest people on the planet look through their telescopes and say, it seems like everything here is for us. In fact, do you know the biggest argument that atheist astrophysicists have against what we're talking about? The biggest argument they have, you can look this up, is that we live in a multiverse. Like the thing that Spider-Man encounters and you see in the superhero movies where they go in all the different universe, the best argument atheists have is they say, well, this is just one of many universes, and they don't have any science at all to back this up. It's just a philosophical wish because they don't want God to exist. But God seems to have created the entire universe for us.

Why? Because you're loved. And the beautiful thing is Jesus was in on it from the beginning. John 1, in the beginning was the Word, Jesus. The Word was with God and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him. Colossians 1, everything was created through him and for him. Ephesians 1, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ. And Revelation 13 calls him the lamb who is slaughtered before the creation of the world. Here's what this means. God didn't just make a nice world and then say, oh, I better send Jesus. God, in his triune perfection, created a stage called this universe, called planet Earth. And when the right time came, he sent his son born of a woman just for you. And here's what it really means. If you're not a believer, literally everything in the history of the universe was created so you would be faced with the opportunity to accept the grace and truth of Jesus. One writer points out that while every other ancient creation story is full of blood and violence and warring gods, Genesis 1 is calm and peaceful. No one dies, no one gets hurt.

In fact, Christopher Walken studied this and said, it is through grace that the Christian is born again, but it is also through grace that the universe is born in the first place. Look at our lessons again. God is powerful, God is creative, God is kind, I am loved. When I sum all this up, it reminds me of an experience when my kids were really little, when they would just start walking and getting really active all the time. They would get on the first step and they would jump and have me catch them. And they'd giggle a lot and say, do it again, Daddy, do it again, Daddy. And then as they got bigger, they'd get brave and go up to the second step. And then as they got a little bigger, they'd get really brave and go to the third, maybe even the fourth step. And they'd just giggle. Do it again, Daddy, do it again, Daddy. I remember one time when my wife had finished folding some laundry and she said, hey, grab that laundry, take it upstairs to our bedroom. And our staircase kind of turned a lot and I grabbed the laundry. And when I made the last turn to get upstairs, my daughter was standing at the top of the stairs and she says, catch me, Daddy. And I said, no.

So you know what she did? She jumped. So you know what I did? I moved out of the way, let her crash in that wall like she deserved. No, I about fell over, broke my back, caught her. I was in pain and she's just giggling. Think on this. She was so familiar with her father's power that dwarfed her own. She was so confident in her father's love. It never occurred that he'd drop her. Following Jesus takes faith. And I know there's something in your life right now where it is difficult for you to believe. Me too. I believe what God wants to remind you of today through Genesis 1 is He's powerful. He's creative in how He writes your story. He's kind in what He gives you. So you can trust that you are loved. And the next time you worry or doubt or are frustrated, maybe the answer is to get in the part of God's creation that stirs your soul to give you a reset so you can take joy in knowing that He will catch you. I wanna read Genesis 1, 1 together again. I wanna read it two different times. The first time, I want you to think of the thing in your life or the thing in someone's life close to you

where it's gonna demand God's power in this situation. I want you to read this verse this time with that power and authority. Let's read it together. One, two, three, go. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And I wanna read it one more time. And I want you to think of the situation in your life or the life of someone you love that needs the tenderness and gentleness of God. And I want you to read this verse again out loud with that tenderness and gentleness. One, two, three, go. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Arguably the most important verse in the Bible. If you believe this, you can believe anything that follows. And what this ultimately means, because Christ was crucified from the foundation of the world is simply this. It's gonna be okay. Your grief, gonna be okay. The thing in the news that gets you so worked up because you care, gonna be okay. Your pain, gonna be okay. The thing you wanna control that you can't, it's gonna be okay because you worship the God who in the beginning created the heavens and the earth. Let's pray together. Father in heaven, we need your power. We need your creativity because we don't see a way forward.

We need your kindness that leads us to repentance. Father, thank you that in a thousand ways every single day your creation screams to us that I am loved. And God, may we be people who initiate getting around that part of your creation that stirs our soul so that we're reminded of who you are. Thank you that it's gonna be okay. In Jesus name we pray, amen. Right now, you can grab your communion cup and stand. Amen. We believe that Jesus died on the cross in our place. That he suffered and died as our sacrifice for our sin. And that when we take that leap of faith to trust him that that means his perfection goes onto us and our sin goes onto him. So when the father looks at us he sees nothing but perfection. And if you do not believe, we really believe that everything in the history of the universe has been pointing to the moment where you could accept Jesus. And as we sing another couple songs, we want you to go to the next step area on the first floor no matter where you're sitting and talk and pray and open the scriptures with someone who wants to show you what it means to express that faith. For the rest of us, we're gonna celebrate communion right now together to be reminded it's gonna be okay. Whatever you did, whatever you didn't do this week, whatever you said, whatever you thought, however you betrayed, raged or were lazy,

it's still grace. So take out the cracker that represents Jesus' body and let's eat this together, the body of Christ. And let's take the cup that represents his blood that was poured out for you and let's drink this together. we're gonna worship. Lord Jesus, this song is forever yours. A thousand hallelujahs and a thousand more. Who else will die for our redemption? Cause resurrection means our rise. There isn't time enough to sing of all you've done. But I'll have eternity to draw. With a thousand hallelujahs we magnify your name. You alone deserve the glory, the honor and the praise. Lord Jesus, this song is forever yours. A thousand hallelujahs and a thousand more. Yeah, oh. Come on, would you give them your praise this morning? Lift your voice, sing praise. Praise to the Lord, to the Lamb, to the King of Heaven. Praise for our heroes, our heroes. We will sing praise to the Lord, to the Lamb, to the King of Heaven. Praise for our heroes, our heroes. We will sing forever. With a thousand hallelujahs we magnify your name. You alone deserve the glory, the honor and the praise. Lord Jesus, this song is forever yours. A thousand hallelujahs and a thousand more. Give them praise, give them praise. Oh, praise to the Lord, to the Lamb, to the King of Heaven.

Praise for our heroes, our heroes. We will sing forever. With a thousand hallelujahs we magnify your name. You alone deserve the glory, the honor and the praise. Lord Jesus, this song is forever yours. A thousand hallelujahs and a thousand more. ♪ Closing in, yes Lord, yes Lord. ♪ ♪ How great the chasm that laid between us ♪ ♪ How high the mountain I could not climb ♪ ♪ In desperation I turned to heaven ♪ ♪ And spoke your name into the night ♪ ♪ Then through the darkness your loving kindness ♪ ♪ Tore through the shadows of my soul ♪ ♪ The work is finished, the end is written ♪ ♪ Oh Jesus Christ, my living hope ♪ ♪ Who could imagine so great a mercy ♪ ♪ What heart could fight on such violent streets ♪ ♪ The God of ages stepped down from glory ♪ ♪ To wear my sin and bear my shame ♪ ♪ The cross I've spoken, I am forgiven ♪ ♪ The King of kings calls me his own ♪ ♪ Beautiful Savior, I'm yours forever ♪ ♪ Oh Jesus Christ, my living hope ♪ ♪ Oh hallelujah, praise the one who set me free ♪ ♪ Praise the one who set me free, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Death has lost its grip on me ♪ ♪ You are the rope in every chain ♪ ♪ There's salvation in your name ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ, my living hope ♪ ♪ Then came the morning that sealed the promise ♪

♪ Your buried body began to breathe ♪ ♪ Out of the silence the roaring lion ♪ ♪ Declared the grave has no claim on me ♪ ♪ Has no claim on me ♪ ♪ Then came the morning that sealed the promise ♪ ♪ Your buried body began to breathe ♪ ♪ Out of the silence the roaring lion ♪ ♪ Declared the grave has no claim on me ♪ ♪ But Jesus yours is the victory ♪ ♪ Hallelujah there's no one who set me free ♪ ♪ Hallelujah death has lost its grip on me ♪ ♪ You are broken every day with salvation in your name ♪ ♪ Oh Jesus Christ you're my living hope ♪ ♪ Hallelujah there's no one who set me free ♪ ♪ Hallelujah death has lost its grip on me ♪ ♪ You are broken every day with salvation in your name ♪ ♪ Jesus Christ you're my living hope ♪ ♪ Oh Jesus Christ my living hope ♪ Well thank you Pando family for tuning in to Service with Southeast Christian Church. We're a church out of Louisville, Kentucky and we are thrilled wherever you are that you joined in and we're challenged by those phrases, in the beginning. And just to think about what that means and what that means for you and what that means for me. We really hope that today's message connected with you. Wanted to remind you about a couple things that we have just for you inside the Pando app. Number one is we have a podcast,

an exclusive Pando podcast that drops every Thursday, so that's why you need to hit subscribe to Southeast Christian Church. It's just conversations about what we are doing as a church and what you've just heard on the weekend, and it's a way to take today's message and carry it into your everyday week. The other thing I want to let you know is we have a Bible study, it's called Toward Strength. It's from the book of Acts. It's talking about the strength of the church. You're going to want to check that out. It starts this week. It's a Bible study, it's a video, it's a way for you to be engaged in God's word throughout the week, so make sure you check it out. Thanks for being a part of the service. I'm going to close this out with a prayer. It's paraphrased. It comes from the book of Philippians, and we want to be able to pray for you, and it's hopefully something that will bless you and encourage you. So join me in prayer. We pray that our love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment, so that we may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness

that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. Amen. Thanks, y'all. Have a blessed week.