God, the Good Ruler of the World
Two Ways To Live • Sermon • Submitted
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· 11 viewsBig Idea: God is the good ruler and creator of the world who made us to rule his world under him.
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Introduction
Introduction
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The gospel is not complex.
The gospel is simple to understand.
And yet, at times we feel completely inadequate to explain or share it.
Why is this? Why do we struggle to explain or share the gospel with others?
Over the next weeks, as we make a concerted effort to return to the gospel, to focus upon it, I pray that we are able to understand it, deepen our passion for it, and become bold and proficient at sharing it.
I am going to use this simple outline, Two Ways to Live, to lead us through the gospel and to equip us to know and share it.
This video demonstrated the rote/memorized/mechanical way to share it.
However, as we learn it and become comfortable with it, it will adapt to each person’s style as well as the receiver’s personality. The message will not change, but perhaps the presentation of it will become more natural and personable to you and the circumstance you find yourself in.
How do you begin a discussion with an unbeliever about the gospel?
On basis of being a good friend…needing to share the most important message there is to share.
Find common ground, connection
Using sickness/death to prompt thought of eternal things
Tragedy or hardship are often good catalysts for engaging conversation
Asking how you can pray for people
What obstacles often stand in the way of us sharing the gospel?
Fear (Ridicule or rejection)
Guilt (Took too long to work up courage to talk with them, etc)
Insecurity (not knowledgable enough; afraid of being asked something they cannot answer; not confident in their ability to clearly explain
Comfort (not wanting to be uncomfortable or awkward)
Today, I want to begin with this....
Outline
Outline
Big Idea: God is the good ruler and creator of the world who made us to rule his world under him.
Why Begin Here?
Ruler of All - Revelation 4:11
Good Ruler of All - Psalm 145
Made to Rule Under Him - Genesis 1:26-31; Genesis 2:15
Sermon Body
Sermon Body
Big Idea: God is the good ruler and creator of the world who made us to rule his world under him.
Paul and Barnabas, in preaching to the crowds at Lystra in Acts 14 became like gods to some. They named them Zeus and Hermes and were going to offer sacrifices to them.
In their urgent pleas to get these people to turn from their plans, Paul says….
Acts 14:15.
“Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.
In their plea, they return all the way to the foundational truth of God as Creator.
Why?
Why Begin Here?
Why Begin Here?
Why is it important to begin (or include) in the gospel presentation that God is ruler of all?
Unless we establish authority, we have no basis for WHY we should care or answer to God.
Unless we establish authority, we have no basis upon which to base God’s RIGHT to dictate, let alone punish.
Why do you think ministries like Answers in Genesis exist? Why do they spend so much time defending a creator and the creation account?
Because without it, everything crumbles.
Let me show you one place where this point is made.
Romans 9:1-24.
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—
that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.
To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
Paul expresses here, his passion for his own people, his desire for their salvation, and his own willingness to be cut off if it meant that they would be saved.
Israel IS God chosen people. They ARE the people through whom God chose to bless the entire world.
TO THEM belong
The adoption
The glory
The covenants
The giving of the law
The worship
The promises
The patriarchs
Christ.
Paul here is building the Israel’s special and unique position before God. He is building the reality of God’s favor upon this people group and reminding them of how much God has blessed the world through them.
However....
But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,
and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”
This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.
For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”
And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac,
though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—
she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
Though Israel AS A NATION are God’s people....
Despite the immensity of blessing he has bestowed on them
Despite the immensity of honor they have seen
Despite the significance of their standing before God
Not even all of them will be saved.
NOT ALL in Israel will believe, repent, and be saved...
ONLY THE children of promise, of faith will be saved. Being an Israelite in the flesh WILL NOT SAVE in itself.
Only those who repent and believe....being a Jew, an Israelite by nationality does not automatically save you…personal faith and repentance is still necessary.
It was through Isaac that your offspring shall be named…it is through the child promise, the child of faith that God would save and do his work.
SO, verse 11, when it was that Rebekah conceived children by one man, Isaac, THOUGH THEY WERE NOT YET BORN AND HAD DONE NOTHING EITHER GOOD OR BAD - in order that GOD’s PURPOSE might stand...
GOD CHOSE Jacob (the younger) over Esau (the older as was customary)...
Jacob have I loved....Esau have I hated....
Then the question we all ask....
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!
Where is the fairness, the justice, the rightness in this decision?
To which Paul responds....
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means!
For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
God will do as he wills.
He will have compassion on whomever he wants. He will show mercy on whom he wants.
Pharoah is specifically mentioned as an example. God PURPOSEFULLY hardened his heart and used him as an example to the world of God’s rightful place as King, as God, as Ruler of all.
BUT why is this ok, we ask......
So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?”
But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”
Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—
even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
Paul answers the objection with a question...
Who are you, o man to answer back to God?
Will what is molded (us) say to the molder (God), why have you made me like this?
Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another dishonorable use? (Rhetorical)
In other words…does GOD, the creator NOT have a right to decide HOW he uses his creation; the purpose for which he fashioned them?
If God is the maker....HE HAS EVERY RIGHT to decide HOW to use his creation.
AND THIS IS THE POINT.
If we miss this point, we gospel loses its power. It becomes empty.
He is the ruler of all and as we share the gospel, especially in a day when that truth is being rejected, it is all the more important we begin here.
Why is it so necessary to establish the point that God is the ruler and creator before the gospel makes sense?
See sermon notes
Why does God have the right to do with His creation whatever He wants? Why is he never unjust in doing so?
See sermon notes
Ruler of All - Revelation 4:11
Ruler of All - Revelation 4:11
What scriptures would you turn to in order to support that God is the ruler of all?
What is comforting about resting in the truth of a creator versus that of evolution? What is challenging about that?
It establishes we do have a purpose, meaning. We are not just accidents.
There is a powerful, intelligent being in the universe that does have control, to whom all things are subject. There is hope in our time of need.
It means he is an authority and we must answer to him. It makes us accountable.
Revelation 4:11 is our key verse to know and memorize here as we learn this simple outline. Certainly there are more, but this is a great place to turn.
Have someone look up and read Revelation 4:11.
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
A couple other scriptures you could turn to....
Have someone look up and read Colossians 1:15-17
Colossians 1:15-17.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Have someone look up and read 1 Corinthians 8:5-6.
1 Corinthians 8:5-6.
For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—
yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
Besides these, one only has to go back to Genesis 1:1 to the first two chapters of Genesis to confirm these accounts.
There is clear and convicting support for a creator of all.
In fact, Romans 1:18-23 makes that clear and attests that man’s rejection of this truth is purposeful and willful. Notice that following man’s rejection of this truth comes ALL manner of evil and sin. Rejecting God as the rightful, good, loving ruler of all things comes with dire consequences.
THUS, the gospel needs to return to this central truth, even as Paul did with the hearers at Lystra.
Read Romans 1:18-23. Why would man reject the truth of God’s existence?
Wants to be ruler of his own life
Doesn’t want to fall under God’s authority
Want’s to do as he pleases
He IS the creator of all.
Thus he IS ruler of all.
Any presentation of the gospel is dependent on this premise
And this premise is NOT WIDELY accepted as it once used to be.
Why is the reality of God as creator and ruler not as widely accepted as it once used to be?
Moral deterioration in our society
Failure to train and impart biblical truth to the next generation
Presence of an increasing number of philosophical, mystical ideologies
Greater acceptance of immorality
What alternatives exist if one deny’s God as ruler of all?
Materialism or accidentalism - Matter is all that exists. Makes us meaningless. Accidents are meaningless.
Mysticism - This takes various forms but one form is that the nonphysical/spiritual world is the true world (ideas such as ascension, ascending to a higher plan of existence) is the real world and the physical world is evil.
Deism - World is a machine running on its own apart from God’s influence. This is an absent God view.
ONE MORE note on why we begin here, why it is necessary to establish God as creator.
Not only does creation and a divine ruler establish authority, but it establishes relationship.
Sure, part of authority involves relationship but it speaks to the question of...
Who are we in relation to this creator?
What is our purpose?
What is our value?
Establishing God as creator/ruler; as an authority REVEALS our relationship to that creator and has PROFOUND and SIGNIFICANT implication for who we are, how we are to live, what we are to live for, our purpose, value, meaning, and identity.
This is critical and fundamental.
What’s more…we need to understand that not only he is a ruler, he is a GOOD ruler…a loving ruler...
Good Ruler of All - Psalm 145
Good Ruler of All - Psalm 145
Why is it important we acknowledge God as a good ruler?
Because it clarifies and explains his intentions, purposes, laws, expectations etc.
If he is good, his intentions, his actions are viewed as wise, loving, helpful. If he is not good, if he is selfish and arrogant, his demands may well be harmful instead of helpful.
It establishes his purposes are good and loving.
How do you answer objections about how a good God lets bad things happen to good people?
There are no good people
Being good does not mean protection from all harm. Bad things can often produce good products.
Romans 1 - Bad things are the result of man rejecting God and God giving us what we want. The negative fallout is a consequence of our rejection of him and they are intended to draw us back.
How do people view God, in general, today? What are some things you have heard said of him?
Kindly old grandpa who loves and dotes on his grandchildren
Judgmental, angry deity handing out punishment for wrong doing
Distant, aloof, and uninvolved
Uncaring judge
Unfair
Biblical view of holy, just, loving, God.
Look me at Psalm 145. God’s goodness is seen ALL THROUGHOUT scripture, but let me show you just one place.
A Song of Praise. Of David.
I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.
On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness.
They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.
All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you!
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power,
to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.
The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.
The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
Lest we think this goodness is only directed at believers…note verse 15
The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.
The eyes of ALL - no distinguishing between good or evil; Jew or Gentile; saved or unsaved; righteous or pagan....ALL look to God
AND
YOU (God) give them their food in due season
Matthew 5:45 notes something similar...
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
God’s grace and goodness is shown EVEN UPON THOSE WHO DENY AND REFUSE HIM.
God is not JUST good to those who fear him. He is good to all.
This goodness is ALSO seen in his patience and forbearance.
God is not quick to judgement to destruction of evil. His grace lingers giving them opportunity.
Romans 2:1-11.
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.
We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.
Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
He will render to each one according to his works:
to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;
but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.
There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek,
but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.
For God shows no partiality.
God’s patience is meant for repentance.
What does it say about God that he is patient, affording man every opportunity to repent?
He is loving, good, kind
He WANTS reconciliation, not judgment.
He is patient
His JUSTICE, which we will come back to more in the future, will punish evil, but HIS GRACE AND GOODNESS is longsuffering affording man EVERY opportunity to repent.
AND
In the meantime, he blesses them with rain and abundance in the same way that he does his children.
God is GOOD. He wants ALL MEN to know Him; to find the joy of living in joyful, willing surrender and submission to HIS lordship for it is here that men are most satisfied and content.
One final note here....
It is important to understand that WE ARE NOT THE RULER but fall under his authority.
Psalm 8:1-9 (Especially verse 5-8)
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
His glory is set above the heavens....
HIS works are those of heaven and earth....
Who are we next to that?
HE has made US lower than the heavenly beings
HE has crowned us with glory and honor - ours is bestowed, HIS is intrinsic.
HE has given US dominion over creation....Our authority is bestowed…His is intrinsic
The Lord’s name is worthy of OUR worship, which makes Him greater than us.
We fall under HIS glory and authority…NOT the other way around.
To get this wrong is fatal.
SO...
Fundamental and essential to the gospel is the rightful place of God to rule. Essential to the good news of forgiveness, reconciliation, and relationship is the truth of God’s existence and our relationship to him which is true of all man regardless of their faith or lack there of. We are ALL God’s creation and as such DO have A relationship to Him. The gospel shows us the way to a rightful, restored relationship; one that satisfies and completes us for it brings us back to the purpose for which we were created.
THUS, any gospel presentation should begin here or be built upon an understood agreement of this truth.
One final note that is worthy of mention....
As His creation, God’s intention was for us to rule UNDER his authority....a role we rejected striving instead to BE THE ruler in His place.
Made to Rule Under Him - Genesis 1:26-31; Genesis 2:15
Made to Rule Under Him - Genesis 1:26-31; Genesis 2:15
Where do we get this from? Where do we see the truth that we were created to rule UNDER God?
Why is it important to know and include that God’s design for us included ruling His creation?
To see this truth laid out for us, lets turn the very beginning.
Genesis 1:26-31.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.
And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Genesis 2:15.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
God’s intention for us is to rule and reign UNDER his authority, having dominion over that which he created.
We were made to rule under God as a reflection of His glory and image.
I personally tend to believe that this authority over creation was originally intended to extend to complete and total control…such as we see Christ exhibiting while he was on earth....as display even by his ability to still creation, to calm the storm.
Where do I get this from?
Hebrews 2:5-8.
For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.
It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?
You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor,
putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.
In this passage of Hebrews quotes Psalm 8.
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 8 is being applied here to Jesus…and yet, David meant it as well to refer to us a man.
Though it is shown to be a Messianic Psalm here, it has application to us...
Everything that was created was intended to be under man’s subjection and control.
We lost that control when we yield to the adversaries temptation and he became the prince of the power of the air. He took from us what we were supposed to be (I believe)
Jesus, in his earthly ministry, took back or displayed God’s original intent for man to have complete dominion over creation under God’s rule.
Hebrews speaks to the fact that nothing was to be left out of his control, but at present, we do not see this being true.
Jesus, in his humanity displayed what should have been and what may be true in the future.
This is somewhat speculative, I admit…but there is allusion enough to it that it makes me stop and ponder.
Even if I am wrong and God never intended for creation itself to be subject to man’s will, there is no mistaking that we were supposed to have dominion over the earth and we were to rule it under his authority.
Problem is, when we sinned, rebelled against God…when we decided we wanted to do our own thing, be our own god, we placed ourselves at odds with God, breaking the relationship, and losing the right to rule as we were originally intended.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Big Idea: God is the good ruler and creator of the world who made us to rule his world under him.
Why Begin Here?
Ruler of All - Revelation 4:11
Good Ruler of All - Psalm 145
Made to Rule Under Him - Genesis 1:26-31; Genesis 2:15
Foundational to the gospel message is this....
God is the good and loving ruler of the world.
He made the world
He has authority over all there is.
He made us to rule under him.
To truly understand and grasp the import of the rest of the message, these truths need to be affirmed and asserted.
Before we go on and talk further about that rebellion that placed us at odds with God, I want to return next time to talk about ways we can defend the truth of a good ruler and creator to those who question or deny it.