First Series Intro (Teaser) Two Tracks 1/3/10 Genesis 1:26-18 NKJV A few days ago the door closed on 2009, if you can listen close you still will hear the echo of the slam as the iron door shuts off the corridor of the past. The last twelve months have to all of us different experiences ranging from celebration to challenge. With the sound of the past still echoing this morning we stand in the corridor of the future, a new year. Annually we take this chronological shift in time to announce new beginnings, new days and for many a new you. We set our annual goals for a better life, marriage, family, finances, health, career and on and on we desire for things to be better with the dawn of the new day. The problem we face is our failed resolutions annually leave us living under life rather than above it. We face this because we are seeking for the right things on the wrong track. Sadly the odds of any new years resolution actually being implemented and taking root rest somewhere south of 50%! Some Questions to ponder Why do we give all the power to the new-year and over look the power of a new-day? Why do we believe the January 1 st has more hope than a simple sunrise? 1
Why do we seemingly seek better control of our lives only to give up within a few months? Is it God s will that we live with this mentality of new years resolutions or does God already have a plan for us to walk in power and authority over our own lives? Let me rewind you back to the Garden of Eden and show you what God had in mind for mankind. Genesis 1:26 NKJV Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Genesis 1:27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. In this first chapter of the Bible the Word of God tells us that God had an intentional purpose for our existence on earth, His purpose is revealed in His original declaration of man. 2
What was God s declaration for man? 1. Dominion - the first declaration of man s purpose was to have dominion. Nearly everything we cry out to see different in our lives every New Year is some form of better control over our lives. Ironically, we seek every year that which God gave to us in the first place! 2. Dominion was inclusive - this declaration of dominion included man and all the earthly resources present at that time meaning that everything man could see including himself was to be directed and increased as a result of this God given authority. Psalm 115:14 NKJV May the Lord give you increase more and more, You and your children. Psalm 115:15 May you be blessed by the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. Psalm 115:16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord S; But the earth He has given to the children of men. So what happened, how did we find ourselves on our present track of endless and often illusive search for happiness and fulfillment? Why do we search endlessly and tirelessly only to come up short more often than not? Genesis 3:1 NKJV 3
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Genesis 3:2 And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; Genesis 3:3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. Genesis 3:4 Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. Genesis 3:5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. Genesis 3:8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 4
With the introduction of death because of sin we see the intro into the world the two tracks of life, for the first time in Adam s life he found himself hiding from God. He was hiding because he was now standing on the wrong track. Two tracks of life 1. Dominion Track 2. Deception Track Contrast the two separate tracks Dominion Authority over things Intimacy with God Connected to others Clarity of purpose Control of self Obedience to God Relationship with God Deception Acceptance of things Insecurity with God Challenged by others Confusion of purpose Control of others Obstinate toward God Religious about God Just a few thoughts on the contrast of the two tracks; the Dominion track vs. the Deception track really sums up the scenery of our life. When we run on the deception track the scenery will always be deceptive, very appealing but deceptive. For example; We seek happiness by doing things that kill happiness. We seek love in places that only 5
offer guilt. We seek acceptance from those who do not care about us while we turn our back on those that do. We run from God because of shame, when we should run to God as our only source. We have this whole thing backwards. Jesus broke it down this way in Luke 9: (verse 24 is key verse) Luke 9:23-25 NLT 23Then he said to the crowd, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 25And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? He speaks here of a switch in our thinking about life and our pursuits. It appears that our inherent selfishness is the stumbling block to our eternal pursuits. Our pursuit to gain life by keeping it and gaining more stuff is simply a deception to the real truth; the way we gain life is to give up our life. Our endless search for the original track of Dominion has left us seeking out various forms of religions and the accompanied rituals. The challenge we have is that we consistently go back to the deceptive track seeking dominion only to exhaust ourselves in the hamster wheel of life. We hunger for the place where our lives are best, where we have joy and happiness; Ironically Jesus tells us in Matthew 11 His plan. 6
Matthew 11:28 NLT Then Jesus said, Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light. The rest he promises is a release from the drudgery of sin, not from the service of God, but an obligation to the duty we owe to him. Note, Christ has a yoke for our necks, as well as a crown for our heads, and this yoke he expects we should take upon us and draw in. To call those who are weary and heavy laden, to take a yoke upon them, looks like adding affliction to the afflicted; but the pertinency of it lies in the word my: You are under a yoke which makes you weary: shake that off and try mine, which will make you easy. 2010 Vision Series Starts Next Sunday Over the next few weeks I am going to lay out for you the beauty of the original track of dominion, I am titling the series FIRST! I will show you in the Bible how the answers we seek have already been given, how the joy we long for is already there and what if would be like if we actually began to walk in the beauty of Gods original declaration of dominion 7
for man. Here is our key verse for next week / 2010 Matthew 6:33 NKJV But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. This week I want you to seek out someone to bring with you next Sunday, someone you know is looking for things to be different in their life. What about your life today, is there something in your life that you want to see changed this year? What would you like to see different this year? Take a moment now and write the top five things you want different on the front of your bulletin. Then as a homework assignment, I want you to go home and find the verse to stand on for that area. If you do not know what verse, talk with me, one of the staff or Elders, if you cannot get to any of these, GOOGLE IT! Ministry Time Micah 7:7 NLT As for me, I look to the LORD for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me. Micah 7:8 Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. 8