Creation & De-creation

The following is a sermon that I wrote for a youth group I was speaking at a few weekends ago. They are in the middle of a difficult transition. It is a little bit of a turn from the normal blog posts I write, but similar enough. And its my blog. I can do what I want… It reads different, thoughts may not be complete, in those times I would riff a bit. I hope this is a blessing to you if you ever find yourself in a de-creation era of your life.

 

My life has been a series of beginnings – creation & endings – de-creation

• College
• Moving away
• Military
• Babies lost
• Out of the military
• Belize
• Modesto
• OC

I’m not much of a crier but do you want to know the last day I cried? Super Bowl Sunday – I really wanted the Patriots to win. Nah – I cried because all of my friends live hours away from me and I couldn’t hang out with them.

I have discovered that I am currently living in my de-creation era… one of many…

We all have de-creation eras…

• Friend moves away
• Team breaks up
• Leader leaves

We all ask:

• “Why did this happen?”
• “What now?”

Change sucks for 2 reasons

1. We miss what we lost
2. We are afraid of what’s ahead

Can I share with you all something that I have learned in the few decades that I have been around on this earth…

For every de-creation event of my life there has been a re-creation  

GOD 

When we think of creation and the bible there is one, very obvious story… but the bible is full of stories of creation and de-creation.

1. CREATION — God Builds Order

Read:

• Genesis 1:1–3
• Genesis 1:26–28

Emphasis:

• God creates order out of chaos
• Life has purpose and design
• Everything begins the way it’s supposed to be

God creates what is good, ordered, and full of life.

2. THE FLOOD — The Pattern

A. Things Fall Apart

Read:

• Genesis 6:5–7
• Genesis 7:11–12

Emphasis:

• The world unravels back into chaos
• What God created is breaking down

B. God Steps In

Read:

• Genesis 8:1

Emphasis:

• This is the turning point
• God remembers → God acts
• God is still present in the middle of the chaos

God doesn’t leave when things fall apart.

C. God Rebuilds

Read:

• Genesis 8:20–22
• Genesis 9:12–13

Emphasis:

• Order is restored
• God brings stability back
• God makes a promise for the future

God rebuilds what was broken.

This pattern continues…

3. EXODUS — The Pattern Repeats

A. Slavery (Brokenness)

Read:

• Exodus 1:8–14

Emphasis:

• God’s people are oppressed
• Life is not the way it’s supposed to be

B. God Sees

Read:

• Exodus 3:7–8

Emphasis:

• God sees, hears, and cares
• He is not distant from their pain

God sees you in what you’re going through.

C. New Beginning

Read:

• Exodus 14:21–22

Emphasis:

• God makes a way through the waters
• Just like creation, dry ground appears again
• This is a fresh start

God makes a way when there is no way.

KEY PATTERN 

• Things fall apart
• God steps in
• God makes something new

And this pattern does stop here in the bible…

Exile – jerusalem is destroyed and then rebuilt

Jesus is killed and then raised from the dead

You and I are dead in our sin but 1 Cor 5:17 anyone in Christ is a new creation.
God often works like this:

1. Things fall apart
2. Everything feels chaotic
3. God builds something new

And this isn’t just about salvation…
Revelation 21:5 — “I am making everything new.”

Jesus, in your life, right now. Is actively working and moving and doing a new thing in your story…

God is doing something you can’t see.

And I get it, when you are in the thick of it, it is easy to get discouraged by it.

• Don’t disengage
• Don’t check out
• Stay present
• Ask God: “What are You building?”

And this new thing God is building is not just something that you and I get to observe from a distance… God is building a new thing and giving you an opportunity to participate in it…

 

WE:

When you find yourself in a de-creation moment of your life, you can be in the grief of this for as long as you need to be. The Well youth is in a state of de-creation right now, and it’s ok if you’re not ready to step into the new yet…

Regardless of what has changed…

God has not. He is still here. He is still on the throne. He still loves you. And He still died for you.

Your natural draw in de-creation moments is going to be to withdraw… the enemy wants nothing more than that for you…

God works in a pattern….

• Things fall apart

• God Steps in 

• God Rebuilds

And he is doing this in your life too.