Companionship with God -
The Purpose for Your Creation
Matthew 7:13-14
Intro:
1. You were created in the image & likeness of God.
2. You were made enough like Him for Him to enjoy your companionship.
3. He wants to have you & enjoy you in heaven forever.
4. The Bible is the story of divine companionship with mankind & to what degree God will go to have you.
I. Companionship Lost Because of Sin
A. Creation (Gen 1:1-2:9).
1. God created the universe & everything in it!
2. You were created as a free moral agent - free to choose.
B. Man & woman were created to have intimate fellowship with God.
1. They walked with God in the cool of the day (Gen 3:8-9).
2. Everyone seemed to enjoy that arrangement.
C. The Temptation (Gen 3:1-7).
1. Why create the tree & the serpent? To put choice into the free will!
2. What was Adam & Eve’s sin? “Let’s do our own thing!”
D. The Fall (Gen 3:22-24).
1. Sin separates:
a. It separated mankind from God. Adam & Eve had to leave the garden - God’s presence.
b. It separated man from woman. Adam passed the buck - man dominates the family relationship.
c. It separated mankind from his society. Languages were confused at the Tower of Babel.
d. It separated mankind from animals. Gen 9:1-3 - The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
2. Man & woman broke their relationship with God. It was a One Way Street!
II. Companionship was Made Possible Because of the Cross
A. God invaded planet earth to become one of us! Matt 1:22-23 - All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”
1. This is why we celebrate Christmas.
2. This is why we eat the unleavened bread during communion.
3. He demonstrated who God was in human terms we could understand.
4. By successfully becoming human, He could teach us how to live God’s life in person by example.
B. Then - He went to the cross to pay the price to redeem you! Col 2:13-14 - When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
1. Why the cross? To show you how horrible sin is!
2. This is why we drink the cup during communion.
3. Because of the cross - you have been given your choice back.
4. The One Way Street became a Two Way Street at the cross!
III. Companionship Restored Because of Your Response
A. Your response is choosing Jesus as your Lord & Savior - it’s where you switch lanes.
1. Choosing God’s camp instead of Satan’s is called faith. I Pet 1:3-9 - Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
2. You make a decision to change your life - that’s called repentance (Act 3:19).
3. You express your loyalty (pledge your allegiance) to the Lord - that’s the Good Confession.
a. Rom 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
b. I Tim 6:12-13 - Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession.
4. The formal ceremony to celebrate that choice is called baptism (I Pet 3:21).
a. It’s like what a wedding is to a marriage.
b. It’s like the break in the divider where you can switch lanes - the gateway to a new life!
B. Now you can walk with God again in the cool of the day.
1. The promise of God is Act 2:38 - Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
2. Your part in receiving this promise - repentance & baptism.
3. God’s part in fulfilling this promise - promise of forgiveness & indwelling you with His Holy Spirit.
4. How more intimate can you get?
IV. Companionship Enhanced Because of the Church
A. A genuine conversion to the Lord will make you weird! (As the world sees you)
1. Because you look at life from a different perspective.
2. Because your new lifestyle may begin separating you from your former companions.
3. This could get pretty lonely!
B. So - God supplies a support group for you - the church!
1. It’s made up of fellow weirdoes just like you.
2. These weird people encourage one another; build up one another’s faith; support & teach one another a. I Thess 5:11 - Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
b. Heb 10:24-25 - And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
3. These weird people worship & serve God together.
You have just been told the story! You must do something about it! You have to either be part of the story or not be part of the story. You can’t be both! If you decide to become part of the story you have an obligation to pass the story on - to tell others that they can be part of the story. The choice is yours!
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