Let’s see your bibles today, let’s see your bibles, say word. Let’s see your pens, lesson plan. Let’s turn to, everyone say lesson plan. Very good. Let’s see em, let’s see em. Raise em up here, wave em like you just don’t care. There you go. Ok very good.
Turn to Psalm 139, Psalm 139. Wilbur. Psalm 139 and if you don’t know where Psalms is there’s Psalm 139 is almost the exact middle of the bible. I think the middle of the bible is Psalm 117 or 118. So there you go. Psalm 139, 1-3-9.
Lord thank you so much for your faithfulness and your goodness to us. Thank you that you love us. Thank you that you know us. Thank you that um you created and designed us marvelously, that we are your prized possession out of all your creation. You made us in your image like nothing else and we thank you for the opportunity to know you and have a relationship with you. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
A few years after we bought the house we are currently in she said she wanted to paint the walls and um I said – They’re already painted. She said – Well I want to paint them a color. I said – They’re painted white, that’s a color. White is a color so why do you want to paint them again? Fellas you know what I’m talking about? I mean am I not the only one right? They’re already painted. She said – Well you know this one green to match the couch and this one red to match this, and you know I want to do the white border about the little wanes coating thing. I want to put that up too. And I’m like – what’s that? You know wane, what’s wane? And you got to put that up then all this stuff. And, and, and I was like- why? Well you know I ended up giving in cuz you know your wife is the head of the household right? Actually the man is the head of the household but your wife is the neck and she can turn you any way she wants you to go. So…so ah we painted the house. You never heard that one huh? Yeah, you’re the neck yeah ok but don’t go crazy with it ok? So we painted the house and it looks all beautiful, got all the colors you know it works.
Um we all have a need and a desire and interest to be creative to some level, to design things to some level, even if it’s just the way we dress. As we continue our series called Who is God, everyone say who is God? Today we’re gonna talk about God the designer. Now if you look behind me you see a living room, a simulated living room and last time we talked about God being an uncaused cause. Matter of fact I asked you a question that how many of you believed that there was a living room behind me. Matter of fact let’s start it again. How many of you believe there’s a living room behind me? Ok very good. It’s not a trick question. How many of you believe there’s actually a simulated living room behind me? Just raise your hand. Very good and we asked the question ah last time – How many of you believe that someone put the living room here? Just raise your hand if you..ok. Does anybody by the way, does anybody here believe that the living room came here by itself, that nothing put it here? I didn’t think so.
So there were two pieces of furniture we pointed out last week. One was the cross on the wall and the cross on the wall represents God cuz we’re gonna prove to you and propose to you that this living room is gonna help us understand that there is a God, there’s enough existent proof in the world to prove there’s a God, and it’s also gonna tell us what kind of God He is and how to have a relationship with Him just through this living room.
We also looked at this nothing jar. It’s a jar I call it the nothing jar. It looks like a vase but the nothing jar and the nothing jar has nothing in it. Do you see that? N-O-T-H-I-N-G nothing and that represents the people who don’t believe there’s a God. There’s some people who don’t believe there’s a God, people watching online, people watching on television you don’t believe there’s a God. Ok and so you believe that nothing created everything or nothing caused it.
So I think by unanimous vote we all believe that something caused the living room. Can I get an amen? Ok is anybody in here just for clarification, is anybody in here believe that nothing the contents of this jar, nothing caused this living room to be here? Does anybody? Just want to raise your hand. Last week there was one guy ok but then I think he changed his mind by the end but that’s ok.
So the question today is about design, everyone say design. If someone caused the living room to be here is it possible that nothing designed the living room? In other words how many of you believe that the living room has design to it? There’s some order? No some of you all are – Hey that ain’t design? In other words it has color. It has a picture. The, the furniture is arranged a certain way and the TV’s there so we can see it.
And matter of fact in your own house you put your TV in a very strategic location. Your, your, your chair fellas, our chair is right in front of the TV, the remote tied to the chair. Ok? Can I get an amen? So, so it’s some design. So how many of you believe that this living room was designed by someone? Very good. Does anybody in here believe that the living room was designed by nothing? All by itself, just put it all, not only did it put itself there but it arranged itself by itself. It gave itself its own color coordination. The couch put the cushions under where your legs go all by itself. The table had the 4 legs to hold it up. They did it by itself. This clock right here, do you see the clock? It has a design. It has little, little gears inside that you, those gears just happened to be there by themselves and they turn the key time by itself. Does anybody believe that? We all believe somebody had to design it.
Now the first cause for all these things, the designer is man. Man did it. Ok man designed that. Man designed your shirt. Your shirt had to be designed. Your shoes had to be designed. Your stupid jacket, your car, your house, ah the building, the sound system, light system, the video system, man is the one who organized and arranged all that.
The question today is who designed the things that man didn’t design? There’s a lot of stuff we didn’t design. We didn’t design the heavens. We didn’t design animals. We didn’t design the ocean. We didn’t design our own bodies.
So if the living room was caused by someone, never nothing, if the living room was designed by someone, never nothing well then someone had to cause you. Someone had to design you because you are a design.
So let’s look at our notes, a couple facts we’re gonna look at our notes. In our notes um the first fact there it says – Limited objects cannot design themselves but require a designer. It says right there at the top. A limited object is an object that has to be caused by something and it has to be designed by something. You and I are a limited object. This building is a limited object. Everything you own is a limited object. Someone had to cause it and someone had to design it.
So the #1 thing we’re gonna learn about our designer #1 in your notes is that our design requires an intelligent designer. You and I, whoever designed you had to have intelligence. It’s a fact that you are designed and whoever designed you had to have intelligence.
Look what it says in verse 13 because I want to propose to you that God is your designer. God is your designer. Look what it says in verse 13. It says – You formed my inward parts. You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, marvelous are your works.
Everyone look up here. Everyone just imagine you go to Harvard and you’re like you know a very wealthy family, 5 generations at Harvard. Say Harvard, Harvard. Ok you are marvelously made, marvelous. Say, say, say, say I am marvelous. Let me see your hands. Let me see your hands. Say, say I am marvelous. Very good you are marvelous.
So the bible says marvelous are your works God that you, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed. You knew me before I was even formed. And in your book they were all written, the days fashioned for me when as yet they were none. How precious are your thoughts towards me O God and how great is the sum of them. If I should count then they would be more than the numbers of the sand of the sea and when I awake I am still with you.
If you go to the beach and you try to count the sand which you cannot God has more thoughts towards you that are good than the sand. You couldn’t even think that many good things about you. So you are marvelous. God is intelligent beyond our capacity to understand. Let’s start with the brain. Oh I’m sorry the brain nervous system. Your nervous system, you have a central nervous system which starts at your brain and goes down your spine right down the middle of your body. The brain is encased in a skull to protect it. It is a very delicate instrument, very delicate computer. Your brain is a 3 pound computer, thee most advanced computer in the world. If you took all thee ah nerve endings and nervous system, neurons it would be more, longer than all the computers in all the wiring in all the computers in the world. All thee connections in your nervous system that they call synapse, a connection between 2 nerve endings are more than all the stars in 1500 milky way galaxies. That’s how many connections you have in your nervous system. So you have your brain that goes, and then your spinal chord goes down the middle of your body. That’s your central nervous system.
Then from there you have your peripheral nervous system that goes all the way out to your body, all every part of your body. You can touch anywhere in your body and this message goes all the way up to your brain and comes right back down the instant you feel it.
And so you have your central nervous system and then you have your peripheral nervous system and then you have 2 types of information. You have information that comes from without and goes to your brain. It’s called athere information or senses. And then you have the information that comes from your brain which is called etheren like exit. So if something happens, you hear a sound, the sound goes out from outward to your ear and goes into your brain and then you, your brain says – Now I’m gonna send a message back out to tell you what to do according to that sound. If someone touches you on your leg you feel heat, you feel cold, that’s afferent information. It comes in your body. It goes all the way up to your brain and then your brain sends etheren response back and tells you what to do because of it. Ok?
Then you also have different nerve endings that go up. They are called the ascending track. All they do is take information up. This is all wiring in your body like fiber optics. Your fiver optics only take information up and then you have a whole set of fiber optics that only take information down.
You ever, matter of fact when I, what I forget to get before was this my little celery. You all have celery? Do you all know what celery looks like? See the little stringy things at the bottom? Can we get the camera to zoom in on that? See the little stringy things right there? That’s weak but you know how you get them in your teeth? Say amen if you know what I’m talking about. These are called xylem. Xylem are implants and they’re like little straws. They take water from the ground up to the leaves, up to the, to the fruit, vegetables, or whatever it is you’re eating. They’re little straws in the plant. And so I want you to imagine you have xylem or these little straws that go up but they’re taking electrical impulse and some of these what we call nerves they, nervous system that goes up, ascending track. Information comes in and it goes up and these certain fiber optics only take information up and it is a separate track that takes it down. Ok?
So here you have your central nervous system. You have your central nervous system, your peripheral, you have information that goes up and information that goes out to all your parts of your body.
Then you have your autonomic nervous system, your autonomic response is where your brain is telling your body to do stuff without asking your permission. You don’t even know it’s going on. I mean some of it you know, some of it you don’t. For example you breathing. You don’t tell yourself to breathe. You just breathe. You have to tell yourself to stop breathing and because God knows that we’re thick He doesn’t let us not breathe as long as we really want to. Whenever you hold your breath He makes you breathe at some point. Go to the bathroom, the bible, the bible? Your brain tells you to go to the bathroom. The brain makes you blink because if you, if you, if you didn’t blink, if you, if you wanted to blink on your own and stop blinking your eyes would dry out. So your, there’s an autonomic response or your brain telling you stuff, regulating CO2 in your blood, regulating blood pressure, regulating sugar levels. All that stuff is going on in your brain all the time without you even knowing it. So that’s your autonomic response.
Then you have your somatic response which is your willingness to voluntarily do something. I could just do like that with my hands. Ok? Automatically and while I’m doing this my brain is saying – there’s other things we need to do to make sure he can’t do that all day so we’re gonna make these other decisions for him cuz he doesn’t know what he’s doing right now.
So here’s what happens. When you get scared and someone scares you guess what happens? Your brain, your autonomic response as the etheren information comes without you realizing it. Your body goes – You’re scared. So your body says, your brain tells you before you can think about it, your brain tells your adrenal gland which is on top of your kidney – release adrenalin. And the adrenalin goes throughout your body and makes your heart beat fast. It makes you breathe fast because you’re getting ready to jump. It sends sugar into your blood vessel, into your blood so you can have energy. It sends supernatural power to your muscles just in case you have to pick up a car to save somebody. You ever hear about that happening? And all that happens and you get scared you go – Argh! And after you go argh and after all that happens in a split second before you can even think about it. Then you have a somatic response which means I’m scared. I’m being chased by a bear. And you make a decision – I think I need to run. Then you make a conscious decision to run and as you’re running now your, your, your body’s working while all these decisions are being made. Your body’s saying –You need more blood. Pump the heart faster. He needs more oxygen. Breathe harder.
Your propioceptors in all your muscles are telling your body where is it in space so you don’t have to look at the ground and know when to put your foot down and how to balance your body. All this stuff is going on. Then as you heat up your body, your brain tells your body – He’s getting hot. Take, make him sweat so he can get cool. So you start sweating and the more you sweat the more water you lose. He’s getting dehydrated. Make his mouth dry. Oh by the way this dude is fat and out of shape. Make him stop running cuz he’s gonna die. So you’re chugging along like this argh and, and because you think you’re gonna die because the bear is chasing you, your brain starts to say – You’re gonna die, and you start crying out for your mother because it starts showing you all these images of when you were a little kid and all these images coming back and you’re running for your life, running and then you get a cramp because you don’t run and your body says – He ain’t gonna stop so stop him. And because he can’t lean back because his stomach muscle would be, make him put his hands back to catch himself.
Now you’re on the ground and, and, and then your parasympathetic nervous, part of your nervous system calms you down. He says – ok let him breathe, calm him down, calm down. He got to keep sweating though cuz he’s hot. He’s overheated and the heart’s saying – No we need to keep beating cuz he’s got to, we got to give blood to this brother. He’s gonna die. And all the sudden your’ dehydrated cuz you sweat so your homeostatic receptors are telling your brain you’re dehydrated. So your homeostatic receptors you’re dehydrated and your brain says – Ok we got to get him to water. Ok so get him up, walk, get him up. Turn his head to the right. There’s water. And you start walking up to the water and then you start drinking and because you’re real greedy you drink 5 gallons of water. Then your stretch receptors on your bladder tell you you’re full. You got to go to the bathroom.
All this is happening without asking your permission and you’re going, you’re running around trying to, and your brain’s making all these decisions you don’t even know what’s gonna happen. You don’t know you’re gonna die and you’re brain’s going – He’s gonna die. We got to help him. Balance this brother’s equilibrium cuz he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
And all this stuff is happening and here’s my question to you. Where did that all come from? That was, how was it that you can touch your hand and the, the second you see it touch you feel it? How is that? You know what happens? An electrical impulse goes from that point all the way up to your brain and back that quick. And you have certain receptors for light touch and you have other receptors for hard touch. You have some for pain, some for, for heat, some fro pressure.
Where did all that come from? You are marvelously, everyone say marvelous. You are marvelously designed by someone who’s masterful intelligence. Now we know nothing could do that. It’s impossible! Nothing, it’s scientifically proven that nothing can produce anything. Some of you say – well it was no God. Well somebody did it. Certainly you didn’t do it. I didn’t do it. Someone had to do it because we call it….think about it, think about it. :Look at your I phone or whatever smart phone you got, all those functions you know someone did that and you and I are more complicated than that.
Let me, let me read a definition of intelligent design. Intelligent design says it is the evidence in created things or things that were caused by something else that they are designed to perform a function. They did not have the intelligence to design themselves. Your shirt, very simple has buttons, a zipper, or hole at least at the top if it’s a sweater to get your head through and your arms through. It was obviously designed to go on your body. Your shoes, your clothes, your belt, your glasses, simple things. What about you? You have an intelligence designer that is infinitely intelligent to have created you.
#2 in your notes, #2-Your design requires a spiritual designer, a spiritual. Turn to John, New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John 4, John 4. I’ve had thousands of discussions with people about God and usually they say 1 of 2 things usually. I would say 98% it’s one of these two things, 2% say they don’t believe in God at all. But even those people will say – Well….either people say I believe in God or a god or they’ll say – Well I’m not into formalized religion but I’m spiritual. Everyone say spiritual. And you know what I tell em? You are exactly right. You are spiritual. God made you spiritual. God created every single one of us to be the temple of His Holy Spirit. God wants the Holy Spirit to come live in us. God/Jesus said He’s gonna send the Holy Spirit to teach us truth. The Holy Spirit’s gonna convict of us sin. The Holy Spirit’s gonna give us supernatural gifts, spiritual gifts to exercise in the kingdom of God here on earth by the way when I say spiritual gifts I mean now. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
And look what it says in verse, verse 4 ah 24. Verse 24 says – God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. We worship God, by the way singing is one form of worship. It is a spiritual exercise. You are acknowledging on a spiritual level that there is a God and you are acknowledging that He’s worthy of your praise. When you serve God that is a act of worship. It is a response of respect to God. When you give money it’s a response of respect, When you use your gifts and do ministry it’s a response of respect, that God created you for His purpose. Spirit, God is spirit.
Matter of face we all have a innate God given desire to have relationship with invisible people or spirit. Now when I say people or person a person is not necessarily a human. There’s a difference between a person and a human. A human is what we are because our personhood, our spirit is covered in a body like this. The Holy Spirit’s a person. A person is a personality, an individual personality that is created that can think, that can love, that can encourage. There’s 3 persons in the God head: the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. They are persons. In other words they have personality. They are individuals. They can create. They can love. Matter of fact they understand it. The bible says we were made in God’s image. We were made in God’s image. If you think of a glove you make a glove in the image of a hand so the hand can fit in the glove. God said – I made you in my image so my Spirit can fit in you. You’re spiritual. Of course you are spiritual. By the way you are, we’ll get to this in a minute but you are a spiritual being because God wants to have a spiritual relationship with you. God is Spirit. You are made in the image of God.
So let’s ask a question. Is it possible and the answer we all know that nothing could have created you spiritual. No. Nothing can do nothing. You didn’t create yourself spiritual. Somebody designed you spiritual, a spiritual God and He’s designed you spiritual in His image.
Now before we get to the 3rd point let me say this. There are good spirits and bad spirits. How do you know bad spirits? Anything that disagrees with the good spirit which is God. God is the Holy Spirit. Anything that disagrees with God, anything that denies Jesus Christ as Lord the bible says is the antichrist spirit. You don’t want to just be spiritual to be spiritual because if you call on the wrong spirit the wrong spirit will answer you. And there’s people who call on the devil, call on demons or whatever. You don’t want to do that because they are real and they will jack you up. By the way the devil’s never gonna show up and say – I’m the devil and I’m gonna ruin your life. What he’s gonna say is – Hey girl what’s your name? I got something for you. And he’s gonna lure you and I’m not only talking guys to girls. I’m only talking ah the demons talk to women to guys as well. He’s gonna lure you and promise all the stuff he cannot give you and then he’s gonna trap you and destroy your life. And how do you know the evil spirit’s been talking to you? Well 1-Are you being led to live contrary to this word of God right here? Because the spirit of God would never contradict the bible. The spirit of God is the bible, He wrote the bible. And how do you also know when the evil spirits are guiding you? When you start doing what they say and you find stuff is dying in your life. Opportunities are dying, hope, vision is dying, your health is dying. Your optimism about living is dying. The devil and his demons kill. Sin kills. God gives life. His Spirit gives life.
So #1-Our design requires an intelligent designer. Our design requires a spiritual design because you and I are spiritual and the temple of the Holy Spirit like a hand in a glove and #3-Oour design requires an eternal design, designer, eternal.
Turn to Isaiah 40, Isaiah 40. If I ever do a funeral I always ask if the person who died believed in God. Does the family believe in God? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But I can tell you what’s 100% true, pretty much 100% true is that they believe they’re in a better place right now. We’re gonna see em again. It’s like – why do you say that? Where do you get that information? You don’t believe in God, why do you believe that there is eternal life? And why do you believe that person is in a good place? Cuz God made us that way. God made you and I, originally Adam and Eve was to live forever. They sinned and now we die because of sin but we still were intended to have an eternal relationship with God. God made you a spiritual being to have an eternal, spiritual relationship with God. When your body dies your person will not. Who you are will never cease to exist. You will either exist with God in heaven or away from God in hell. And by the way hell was created not for people. Satan. You think of the originator of murder, lies, rapes, molestation, all the evil things we see, the devil created that and hell was created for him. People who go there are the people who reject the life God wants to give them, thee eternal life God wants to give them. He sais – I don’t want God’s eternal life. Ok well then you have to have that because you have to go someplace and there’s only 2 places to go. You’re either in heaven or hell. There’s no in between and by the way there is never in between. When you die you’re in 1 of those 2 places. You’re either wit the Lord or you’re not.
And so you and I are spiritual and we are eternal. The good news is that even though we are sinners and even though our sin deserves death. Jesus Christ said – I’m gonna come and die and pay the price with my life that your sin deserves. Your sin deserves death. So Jesus said – I’m gonna come and I’m gonna die and pay the price for your sin but then I’m gonna rise from the dead and overcome sin and overcome death. And if you surrender your life tome, give your life to me I will give you an eternal holy spirit, a spirit as a deposit that when your body dies you will spend eternity in heaven. God wants to have an eternal spiritual relationship with you and He made provision to have that relationship through His Son Jesus.
What you and I need to do is say – Lord, I want to have that relationship and I want to start it now. I realize I can’t produce that relationship on my own. I realize that you are the creator of the relationship and you are the creator of the means for me to have that relationship. You sent your Son Christ to die for my sin and rise from the dead. I want to give my life to Jesus and I want to receive eternal life today. And by the way when you receive eternal life today guess what also you receive? A relationship with Christ through which you can have abundant life. What does that mean? Is that when Christ, when the Holy Spirit comes to live inside you like a hand in glove all the sudden you got the power of God in your life, the wisdom of God, the vision of God for you. God shows you why He made you. God gives you purpose. He gives you vision. He gives you encouragement. If you’re oppressed He can deliver you to be encouraged. If you have no vision He gives you vision. If you have no purpose He gives you purpose. He shows you the spiritual gifts He’s given you. He shows you the type of people He wants to use you to encourage through that relationship and when you look in the mirror and before where you say I am marvelous because I’m so beautiful you realize you’re marvelous just because God made you.
You can wake up in the morning, your breath is kicking like Jackie Chan, your hair is all messed up, you know you got all, you’re just nasty and God says – I love you. It has nothing to do with what you look like. It has nothing to do with how you smell. It has nothing to do what you did. I love you because. When the Holy Spirit comes inside your heart all the sudden God gives you clear vision for who you are and why you are. Your life’s purpose takes a whole different turn. None of you were created to do the job you do. You were created to worship God, that you can do it in the job you do but that’s not why you.
I was not created, I was not created necessarily to preach to you I was created to worship God. Preaching is a way of doing that but it’s worshiping God. I worship God all different kinds of ways. I glorify God all different kinds of ways.
And so in a minute we’re gonna pray and here’s the opportunity you have today is to acknowledge 1-That you are spiritual, that you were created and designed spiritual. #2-Is acknowledge that you are eternal. You are going to, after you live on this earth you are going to exist somewhere forever and then say – Jesus Christ I believe all that and I believe you died for me. I want to give my life to you and I want to have a spiritual relationship with a living God that designed the universe, that designed everything there is, a living God that designed me in His image to have a relationship with Him and I’m not gonna make this thing up of my own concept of what God is. I believe this God is very specific and if someone can design a car with specificity, if someone can design a phone with specificity, if someone can design a house with specificity, this God designed me with specificity and i have a relationship with that God, and I want to have that God talk to me, and I want that God to encourage me, and I want to talk to Him, and I want to be led by Him.
So let’s all bow our heads and pray.
Lord we ah thank you that you love us. We thank you that you have an incredible plan for our life and we thank you God that you created us in such a way that we would yearn to know you and that we would have the ability to know you.
If you’re listening online, if you’re watching on television, if you’re listening at north county site and you realize that you are a spiritual being and that you are an eternal being and you would like to establish an eternal relationship with the God of the universe it doesn’t matter who you are, where you are, what you do, what you know, what you’ve accomplished or how much you’ve failed God loves you today and He wants to have a relationship, a spiritual one on His terms. The bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, that the penalty of sin is death but Jesus died for our sin and rose from the dead. If you would like to give your life to Jesus and establish a spiritual relationship with your creator pray this prayer with me in the privacy of your heart. Pray:
Dear God, I believe that I am a sinner and I know my sin is wrong. I believe Jesus loves me and that He died for me on the cross. Jesus I surrender my life to you. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Forgive me of all my sin. Be my Savior. Thank you God.
As our eyes are closed and our heads are bowed if you prayed that prayer in a minute I’m gonna ask you to stand and by standing you are making a public confession of your relationship with God. Jesus said – If you’re ashamed of me before man I will be ashamed of you before my Father. Jesus died in public. He was beaten in public. He was betrayed in public, spit on in public, crucified in public. He requires us to live for Him in public. So right now eyes closed, heads bowed if you prayed that prayer just stand to your feet and acknowledge your confession right now. God bless you. Stay standing. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless all of you. Stand to your feet.
