We are unique in all of creation

(This is the message I gave to Grace Fellowship Community Church on May 29,2016)

We are unique in all of creation…and each of us is unique among the unique…there is no one exactly like us, nor will there ever be.

When God created man he had each and every one of us in mind.  He knew that Adam had an infinite number of variations that could come from the DNA that God had designed him to carry.  God is not surprised by who we are…in fact He is delighted.  Now we may say to ourselves that there is no way God is delighted with me, and then we go on to list the reasons in our mind of why we are displeasing to our Creator.  In Romans 8, Paul gives us an idea of God’s plan when he created man.  Let’s look at the Message Bible…

^29-30 God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.

I want us to stop right now and take a look at what it means to be “created in God’s image”.

Created in God’s image and destined to become like Jesus…

Let’s take a look at the very beginning of our story…

Genesis 1:26-31 and expanded on this in Genesis 2:5-25

From this account of how we were created what do we learn about man?

·       Created in God’s image…male and female…three parts

·       Formed by God’s hands

·       God breathed into Adam’s nostrils to make him alive

·       Eve formed from a part of Adam

·       Given total authority over the earth

·       Told to be fruitful

·       Given a job

·       Brilliant…able to name and distinguish between all of the animals

·       Adam and Eve were perfect for each other

·       They were to help each other and complement

·       Perfect health

·       Could live forever

·       Spirit was alive and able to commune face to face with God

·       Emotions were healthy

·       No fear, anger, hate, unhealthy competition

Adam was created to be in charge of all of creation.  He had the authority over every living thing. So if we were to look at a chart of who was in charge….you would see God at the top…Adam next….the angels…and then all of creation.

What Adam did not realize is that with eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he not only died spiritually and then began to die physically, he gave his authority to the devil.  That is why Satan was able to say to Jesus when he was tempting him in the wilderness that he would give Jesus the world.  He actually was able to make that offer because he was in charge and had been since the fall.

Hebrews tells us in the second chapter that Jesus was made a little lower than the angels for a little while when he came to earth born as a human child.  But that all changed when Jesus went to the cross.  He conquered death and sin and He also put Satan back into his position as being under mankind, at least under redeemed mankind because they/we are in Jesus.

So back to Adam losing his authority.  What are some of the things that happened because he in essence had sold his and our birthright?

·       Hard work

·       Thorns

·       Weeds

·       Sweat of his brow

·       A constant struggle between men and women

·       Pain in childbirth

·       Enmity with animals

·       Not as intelligent

·       Worry, fear, doubt, confusion, hate etc

·       Selfish

·       Sickness

·       Death

·       War

·       Famine

·       Drought

·       Floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis

Let’s try and picture what it was like…one moment everything is perfect and the next you are scared to death…

Why did Adam hide after he had sinned?  Because he knew he was no longer connected to God.

Think back to how Adam was created.  God actually formed him with his own two hands.  Made him absolutely perfect and then instead of speaking him alive as He had done with the rest of his creation, he blew into his nostrils His very own spirit. 

Let’s think what happens when we inhale.  Oxygen comes in, along with some other gases but we are going to concentrate on Oxygen here, and it goes into our lungs.  From the lungs it enters our bloodstream and then is taken to every cell in our body.  Without Oxygen the cell dies, so in order for the cell to continue to live it must be supplied with Oxygen.  Now let’s change our picture to Adam lying there lifeless and God breathes His Spirit into Adam.  The same way that Oxygen travels throughout the body, I believe God’s Spirit flowed and touched absolutely 100% of Adam.  There was no place where the Spirit was not present and alive.

So what happened to Adam when he sinned.  That same spirit that had been breathed in by God instantly died.  And when that spirit died, Adam lost that connection he had previously enjoyed with God.  So, when God comes looking for him, giving him a chance to repent and come before Him, Adam hides because he felt exposed and for the first time he is deathly afraid.  Adam is vulnerable and no longer in charge and he knows it.

When Jesus ascended He gave the disciples the Holy Spirit and told them they had authority.

John 20:22-23 Jesus breathed on His disciples the Holy Spirit.  Here again we get the picture of God’s Spirit entering into man the same way that Oxygen enters and goes into every cell.  Later in the upper room we see Holy Spirit coming in power on everyone gathered there in prayer.  A mighty, rushing wind that fills each one. 

Once again we see a picture of being spiritually made alive.  And with that life of the Spirit comes authority and power.  We are told to go into all the world and tell about Jesus and what He has done. We are also told we are to do the same things that Jesus did, heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, in fact, we are to do it even more than He did.  We are told that we do not go alone, because now we have God’s Spirit dwelling inside of us.  We have changed position with the devil…he no longer is the prince of this world…except in the lives of those that allow him to still have the rule.  Legally he was defeated but in our reality he is still lying and deceiving any who will listen to him.

At Pentecost they received power…they already had the Holy Spirit

When we are born again we are sealed by Holy Spirit.  Our spirit is made alive and that part of us that was dead because of Adam is made alive because of Jesus.

That we need to be living like this is true and not just something we have heard.  Revival is coming to this place.  There have been many words spoken confirming that the indigenous peoples of the western world will be the ones to bring revival to our country.

I was part of a Foursquare church before coming up here and in their newsletter I saw that they are having their annual conference in Hawaii this year.  A local Hawaiian pastor was talking about the words that are being spoken to the first people of the western hemisphere…and about the different outpourings happening among the indigenous people groups….native Americans  ….islanders…Alaskan natives…the indigenous of South America and Central America…all over the Spirit of God is moving in revival and miracles.  We are promised in Revelation that every tribe and nation and tongue/dialect will be there worshiping God and the Lamb.