The Message

We are preaching on Creation these weeks because of the new ministry for the summer here at the Crystal Cathedral. The production of Creation with state of the art talent takes us back to the beginning of all time.

So today, I call your attention to the Bible text from Genesis 3:8-9. Adam and Eve have plucked the fruit from the tree:

"And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the Presence. Amongst the trees in the Garden they hid. And the Lord God called to Adam, 'Where are you? Adam where are you?"

This great text from the Bible hits the basic questions: Who are we? Where did we come from? Where is our real home? What is our destiny? Why are we here?

Before I answer these questions let me share a cute little story somebody gave me about Creation and to see why God has made us.

When God created the cow God said, "You must go to the field with a farmer all day long. You must suffer under the sun, have calves, give milk to support the farmer and I will give you a lifespan of 60 years." The cow said, "Sounds tough. You want me to live for 60 years? Let me have 20 and I'll give you back the other 40." And God agreed.

Then God created the monkey and God said, "Entertain people, do monkey tricks and make them laugh. I'll give you a 20 year lifespan." The monkey said, "Sounds boring, monkey tricks for 20 years? I don¡¦t think so. Give me 10, I'll give you back the other 10." And God agreed.

Then God created the dog. God said, "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past, I'll give you a lifespan of 20 years." The dog said, "That's too long to be barking. The monkey gave you back 10; I'll give you back 10." God agreed.

Finally God created man. God said, "Eat, sleep, play, get married, enjoy life. I¡¦ll give you 20 years." Man said, "What? Only 20 years. Eat, sleep, marry and enjoy life, only 20 years. I'll take my 20 and I'll take the 40 the cow gave back and the 10 the monkey gave back and the 10 the dog gave back. That makes 80 ... okay?" God said, "It's a deal."

So that's why the first 20 years of our live we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next 40 years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next 10 years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. For the last 10 years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Seriously, where did we come from? What is our destiny? Why were we put here? Why, when all the kinds of creatures and life forms that exist on planet earth, was there a creature that stands out unique? There's not a single human being on planet earth that can take credit for the design of the species called Homo sapiens. Where did we come from? Why are we so different? What is our destiny? Why are we here?

Michael Guillen who has been our closest scientific advisor for many, many years and has been working side by side with us for over ten years in putting our summer production of Creation together, said the other night to a group here at the Cathedral. ¡§Man is the only species created to be creative." Yes, we are created to imagine, to dream, to visualize with ideas in the brain and feelings in the emotional system. And we get compulsions that come from out of the blue to motivate us. We are different. You don¡¦t believe that there was a Divine Intelligence that created the human being? I cannot believe that we were so lucky just to come by happenstance.

Created to be Creative

We are creative. The only species that is by its nature designed to be creative and is unfulfilled unless and until we experience that we have been creative. "Look at the pie I've made," my mother would say. Oh, the pride of creativity. Or a compulsion to go and visit someone who's in the hospital and you go and you hold a hurting hand and you talk to help them laugh. What a creative idea. Where did it come from? Why are we here? What is our destiny? Where does that creativity come from?

The acousticians tell us that if there's a violin and somebody plucks it in one room, in the next apartment if there¡¦s a violin, the same note will vibrate on that violin. We are the violin in the next room. God is the Creator and He plucks the string. And we, in our human personalities, vibrate. We relate to that because we are designed to be creative people.

We are designed to be at our best when we are in harmony and unity with all of creation. And that means not other human beings alone, but other life forms. All of creation, yes, all of creation was designed to be one in unity, heaven and earth and that¡¦s the way it was before Adam and Eve committed their sin. When the human being is out of his natural environment, the human being will be lost. ¡§Adam where are you?¡¨

This Bible verse tells it so well,

"And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the Presence. Amongst the trees in the Garden they hid. And the Lord God called to Adam, 'Where are you? Adam where are you?"

The fellowship of the garden was meant to be the great environment for fellowship between God and man, and then, human beings with each other. Fellowship does not evolve spiritually or in a healthy way when there is tension. Tension breaks fellowship. Tranquility sets the mental tone for real fellowship. And the fellowship was not an end in itself, but fellowship has a purpose, the purpose to be creative together.

But there are principles. There are boundaries. You know the story. Eve disobeyed. And what happened? The fellowship was broken. They were separated from the Presence, the Holy Divine Presence. Eve split with that Holy Spirit. Then what? The connection was broken between the Ultimate Creator and the human who was designed to be in God¡¦s image, creative, and all creativity was gone. That's not all they lost. They lost their innocence, yes. They lost their pride as persons, yes. They lost, most importantly, their connection with the Ultimate Creator and their creativity was gone. What did that amount to? It amounted to shame instead of glory and honor. It made them guilty instead of being proud of who they were. And it made them hide. They didn't want to face their Creator again.

Now, there you have a pretty good perspective of the history of the human race because the human race has inherited that guilt, that fear, that shame. By nature we're born disconnected and we need to get reconnected. Until we are reconnected to God, the human race continues to pursue other ventures to take the boredom out of life, or ventures, called egotistic trips, to try to regain the lost pride. We humans are in hiding.

We are in hiding from our Creator. And in hiding we get bored and fall for any kind of stimuli to the eye, ear, or to the body. We do that just to live in this terrible state of hiding out from the real God. That¡¦s the real separation.

Get Connected to the Creator

How can we reconnect? That's the question. How can we get reconnected? First, notice there is a God. Pay attention and you will feel "the Presence of God in the cool of the garden," and you will hear God calling you, "John, where are you? Mary, where are you? Why are you hiding? I know what you did but I love you anyway." So where do you go? Materialism will never satisfy. Secularism can never satisfy your soul. You are a species designed to be creative with the Creator. You are created to bring music, bring beauty, bring color, bring life, and bring love into the world. That's why you¡¦re here.

Who are we? Where did we come from? Where is our home? What is our destiny? Where are we? Now that's a different answer for every person and I want to say to you there is a sense of peace and power that only comes when you are in a connection with the Ultimate Creator. He gives you creative ideas and that's what we call "possibility thinking." It is God calling out to you saying, "I love you. I love you."

It's hard for us to believe. A father once had a son and he said to himself, "How do I teach my son about God?" So he got an idea. There was a piece of the garden where nothing was planted, so he raked it clean and soft. Then he went and bought flower seeds, and without his son's sight nor knowledge, he planted the seeds in the letters of the name of his son, I'll call him John Smith. The seeds spelled J - O - H - N and then S-M-I-T-H. The day came when his son came running into the house and said, "Dad, you won¡¦t believe it, I can¡¦t believe it. My name is in the garden." "No, John!" "Yes, it is dad, it's spelled right too!" His Father said, "How can that be?" "I don't know. Let me show you!¡¨ So the son brought his dad into the garden and said, "Look, see, John, my name." "Oh, who made that name?" "I don¡¦t know." "Wow. Who made the seeds to sprout? Who made you, John Smith?" Then the father added, "John, God made you and God loves you. Don't ever forget that. He knows your name and He will always love you." Wow.

Connect with God Through Jesus Christ

So connect with Jesus Christ. That's the only way I know how to connect with God. It's not enough just to sit and daydream or visualize, or even to read a few words from the Bible. The only way I really connect is through Jesus Christ, because Jesus makes the Bible come alive for me. When I sense Jesus love for me, then I become creative. And creativity is not just inventing something new, it¡¦s more than that. It's not just writing a new piece of music, it's more than that. Being the creative person you and I were designed to be is also a matter of rescuing someone, saving a life, or redeeming somebody who's on a wrong path headed for hell and saving that poor soul. Then they turn to faith and belief and say "you saved my life."

Creativity is rescuing and redeeming. Creativity is creating reconciliation when there were two people who've been at war with each other who now experience peace, that's creativity. Creativity is restoring hope when you¡¦ve been on the edge of despair. Yes, that's what this ministry is all about. Everything we teach and preach is about connecting you to God through Jesus Christ and then you are no longer in hiding. You're no longer living on a dangerous path. You have escaped from the boredom. You become a beautiful human being.

Last week the headline of our Orange County paper in large letters described twenty-two homes which had fallen in a landslide:

"You¡¦ve lost your house!
Your dreams are shattered!
What do you do now?

A week later the headlines of the front page of the same paper in the Show section said,

"The Wonders of Creation Adam and Eve."

Yes, when you lost it all, go back to the Garden of Eden. Connect with God and you will be creative. You'll figure out what and how to do what needs to be done. My dad looked at our house after the tornado had lifted. We were left with nothing but broken pieces of wood. We lost every thing, all our material possessions. I lived through that. I watched my dad cry out loud. But then we went to the prayer meeting in the country church. "God moves in mysterious ways. His wonders to perform ..." And dad went back to the destroyed farm and home. He looked at what he had left. He didn't look at what he had lost. He became creative. He rebuilt better than ever. That's why you are here, not just to be creative all by yourself, but out of fellowship with our Creator and with other believers. Then comes creativity. I don't think I could be creative alone. It's the encouragement, the support, the help, the prayers of the Christian believers in this church.

My message is quite simple. Who are you? Where did you come from? Who made you? Why are you here and if you're hiding, why and where are you hiding? In a bottle? Where are you hiding? In a hotel room with someone other than your wife? Where are you hiding? God is calling to you. "I have an idea for you. I have a plan for your life. It's beautiful."

Let me introduce you to Jesus. And when the two of you get together, you will see beautiful ideas, opportunities, and possibilities in your life. And you'll grab hold of them empowered by your Savior, Jesus Himself. Hallelujah.

"Adam, where are you? Come home." That is God calling you today. Thank you God, Amen.

Dear Lord, It is a beautiful life. You created it; You put me here to be creative. And God, I thank You for the faith and for the church which keeps my faith going for Jesus Christ who lived it, and loves me. Amen.