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For the next few weeks we are going to try to delve inside ourselves and see who we are; why we are the way we are, and why we do the things that we do. Hopefully it will be a time for us to get a true sense of what is and isn't working in our lives. To do that we first need to go back to the beginning… we need to see how God created us and intended us to be. In the Book of Genesis there is the story of when God created man. Gen 2:7. And the LORD God formed a man's body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person.
To Adam, the first human, God gave the breath of life. There is a sense of true closeness here.
How many of you have ever taken a CPR course? You got pretty up close and intimate with Annie.
When you've taken this course you learn pretty quickly that to give someone their life back you have to get pretty intimate with them. You have to be face to face, and mouth to mouth, you have to actually give your breath to them because they are not able to do it for themselves.
We can see from the very beginning that when God created man he didn't create him from a distance like He did all the other things; instead He chose to do it up close and personal. I don't think that was any accident, I think that is the way that He wanted it to be then and I think that is the way that God wants us to be with Him today.
So, what is it that keeps us at arm's length from God if not even farther? Sin, we lose our intimacy with God when we sin… and ALL OF US SIN.
So, to get that back, we have to ask for, and be forgiven ……… and then and only then will we long again for that true intimacy (that closeness) with God.
I'm sure for most of you – you have noticed a lack of people in our society today who would be willing to ask God to come closer to them. They walk around not even realizing that the reason they don't want to get closer is because of the intimacy involved – that their sins will be revealed to an all knowing God. This is the same thing that happened in the scripture Genesis 3 after Adam and Eve ate the fruit that was forbidden for them to eat – they felt shame, at that moment all their nakedness was revealed and when they heard God walking about in the garden – they ran to hide from Him! Isn't that the same thing we still do today, we eat forbidden fruit…we take part in those things God would call sin and then because of our shame, we try to hide from God hoping that He doesn't notice us? This is not and NEVER WAS the way that God wanted humans to live. He wanted us close, walking daily with Him just like He did with Adam and Eve in the garden; He wanted us to have a face to face intimate relationship with Him.
God wants and seeks intimacy with us but man is afraid.
He also wants us to have intimacy with those people who matter to us, not just those people who we think are hot but those people that we truly love. Intimacy is much more than romance or sex… it is a sense of belonging – a connection that is real. We were never created to have cold, shallow, unfeeling relationships… we were to have deep meaningful intimate relationships filled with love. Today we can see over and over again, men running from intimacy with their wives and their kids and women becoming too busy to spend the necessary time to become intimately connected to their families. Years ago women began believing the lie that was perpetuated by the media and society that said - quality is much more important than quantity when it came to being home with their families. But what really happens is that out of that lack of quantity instead there becomes much less quality.
For you followers of Christ out there how many of you can argue with that… we see that when we don't do those things daily like spend our time with God praying and reading His word daily – that our relationship (our intimacy) soon loses it's quality. We quickly lose our intimacy – our closeness to Him.
Are you hiding from God?
For the next few weeks I hope to find that out. My hope is that when we get through this study that you will no longer feel shame and run from Him but instead seek the intimacy and closeness and run to Him.
Then you will have MORE PURPOSE in your life.
In Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Life he says that most people struggle with 3 basic issues in life.
Identity; who am I, Importance; do I matter, and impact; what is my place in life?
Who am I? Identity.
I just told you how man was created, up close, face to face. God makes it clear to us who we are – He tells us in
Isaiah 44:2 I am your creator, you were in my care even before you were born.
To understand your true identity you need to start thinking of yourself as the child of God that you are. You are His son or daughter…you are a Kings kid and a king's kid gets treated quite well and they expect better don't they? It's how you see yourself… who you are that will make the difference.
Think about it this way…What happens when you have an old beater car?
How do you treat it?
Where do you park?
Do you clean the interior?
Do you spend the money going through the carwash?
If you have a new car?
How do you treat it?
Where do you park?
Do you clean the interior?
Do you shine it every week?
Know your worth. If you feel you are an old beater that's not worth much that is how you will treat yourself, BUT IF YOU look at yourself as a luxury vehicle , new…THEN you would take the best possible care of yourself.
This will trickle down in all areas of your life.
How you treat yourself emotionally.
Physically.
Do I matter? Ephesians 1:11 - it's in Christ that we find out WHO we are and WHAT we are living for.
Today the average life span is 25,550 days, obviously you've used some of them up already but what are you going to do with what's left? Everyone wants to know that they matter to someone, something, somewhere; they want to see themselves as something that's valuable with a lot to offer? Let me tell you that if you walk this planet, you matter to God. No matter how much you have or haven't done you matter to Him.
What is my place in life? Impact
You personally have a job to do while you are on this earth. How will you serve?
The bible tells us that we were saved to do work for Him, that we are His hands and feet.
Each of us has been given traits by God, use them…if your job is to encourage someone then do it. If it is to serve someone then serve them. If it is to teach – then teach them. Impact the world around you!
The bible says that when you do what you are called to do, it not only meets the needs of God's people but it also produces an outpouring of gratitude to God.
So who are you?
Do you matter?
What is your place?
Look to Acts 13:36 - David served God's purpose in his generation.
You are a child of the Most High God, you matter because He cares and created you, and you have a place to reach those people in your life for Christ in your generation!
