Personal Application from Creation

The first part of the Apostles’ Creed says, “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.” Similarly, the first verse of the Bible says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

What is the personal application of this truth for your life, though? Why is what you believe about creation so important? Well, what you believe about creation says a lot about what you believe about the Creator – God, the Father Almighty. If you believe in the God of the Bible, then you believe in God the Creator. This, of course, is incredibly applicable and personal for you because of a few obvious reasons.

1. YOU WERE CREATED.

You did not simply come to be by chance. You were created. Yes, a father and mother were instrumental in that happening, but from where did they (and all those before them) come? The Bible is very clear (in Genesis 1 and 2 and beyond) that you and I come from Adam and Eve, the first people created by God and the pinnacle of God’s creation.

Furthermore, God continues to be the One in control of creation. David knew this well when, inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, he wrote in Psalm 139, “For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well” (verses 13-14). We can and should all pray such a prayer to the Lord Almighty, our Creator.

Because you are a created being by our Creator, creation and the Creator are personally applicable to you, no matter what you think or believe.

On Sunday morning, Lord willing, I will be preaching through John 1:1-18 and Genesis 1:1 on the incredible truth that “God Made Everything from Nothing.” The sermon will hopefully be available online HERE by Sunday evening. This amazing Creator made you, though, and that is personal. In fact, He desires a personal relationship with you.

2. YOU ARE LOVED.

I love how John 1 and Genesis 1 are so similar, and how John 1 really takes the creation account to the next level by applying it to our lives now and what we must do in response. You see, God loves you. He made you for His glory, and because of His love for you, He made a way for you to know Him personally. Do you? If you do not (or are unsure), please call on His name now.

The amazing application of creation for your life and the love God has for you is seen in and through His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. God sent Him to this world because of His love for you. There is no greater example of love than Jesus. Unfortunately (and then fortunately), though, “He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:11-12).

Praise God! He loves you so much that you can be counted as one of His children if you simply trust in His Son. You can have eternal life if you believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for your salvation.

You were created, and you are loved. God proved it through Jesus.

3. YOU HAVE PURPOSE.

Because of God’s incredible love for you in Christ Jesus, you have purpose. Above all else, your purpose is to know your Creator and help others to know the Creator. He is, after all, the One who knows you best and knows best what you need. Apart from knowing and walking with Him, you will never be fulfilled. The better you know and walk with Him, though, the more joy and fulfillment you will have.

God created you and loves you, and you have purpose.

I want to challenge and encourage you, then, to seek Him with all your heart by studying His Word – the Bible – each day, crying out to Him in prayer, and asking for His help to live according to His Word. By His grace and the power of His Spirit, He will enable you to do so, and no one who does ever lives to regret it. To God be the glory!

To understand the amazing love God has for you and how you must respond, check out The Story.

Vacation with Creation

When I go on vacation, I love to enjoy God’s amazing creation. I like to spend a lot of time outside, doing active things with my family. We did a lot of that last month during our annual vacation with Marsha’s family, and we had a blast.

Here are just some of the pictures from our trip to southeast Missouri, although there were a lot of moments we did not get pictures of because of jumping off cliffs and climbing rocks…

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  Elephant Rocks State Park

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  The Pond with Cousins

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  Bumper Boats Beginning

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  No Time for Pics

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  Isaac Serving His Cousins

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  All the Cox Granddaughters

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  The Four Oldest Grandchildren

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  Luke and Levi

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  The Five Musketeers

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  A quick family picture before Sunday morning worship with FBC Ironton

Greatly enjoying God’s creation this weekend!

Windsor Valley (where Marsha’s parents live) is one of my favorite places on the planet. During this overwhelming time, this is a great place to be to “retreat” from some of life’s chaos.

Enjoying the Apostle Paul’s Hometown

We had a great day in Tarsus and Mersin today, spending our last day with Nick’s mom before she heads back to the U.S. on Wednesday morning. Hold your cursor over the pictures to see what they are, and you can click on them for a closer view. Also, check out the photos page for more pictures.

Please pray for Nick’s mom to have a safe and smooth trip back tomorrow. She is feeling a little ill today, so pray that her health will improve and that the flights and layovers will go well. Thank you!

God’s hand on creation and history

Our second trip to Cappadocia proved to be another blessing. We got to go there in July with Marsha’s parents and then went again with Nick’s mom this past weekend. What a blessing it is to experience the beauty of God’s creation and learn about the amazing hand of God in history.

First, we went to an underground city in Derinkuyu. Parts of the underground city date all the way back to the Hittites almost 4,000 years ago. Then, we climbed up the ancient Uçhisar Castle, where one can get an incredible view of the surrounding area. Next, we went to Göreme, the little city in Cappadocia where we stayed in a cave hotel, which was a fascinating experience in itself. The next day we went to the Göreme Open Air museum, a tourist site that has amazing scenery and history with lots of fairy chimneys (cave dwellings) and ancient churches.  We also hiked around through some of the valleys, enjoying the exercise and surrounding views.

Unfortunately, Noah caught Levi’s sick bug the second day we were there, so we spent a little more time in the hotel room than we planned. Still, it was a great trip and fun for all of us. See more new pictures on our photos page.

Hangin’ with Grandma Jo

Grandma Jo arrived for the first time in Turkey last Thursday. What a blast Noah and Levi are having with their grandma. Reading books, playing hide-and-seek, going for walks, playing at parks, building “sky-scrapers” with blocks and eating lots of food are just some of the fun times the boys are sharing with Grandma Jo. Of course, Nick and Marsha are loving their time with her, too, and they certainly do not mind all the help she is around the house and with the boys.

While we have not left Adana for any major site-seeing yet, tomorrow we will take a trip to Cappadocia, which is one of the most incredible spots in the world for Christian history and gorgeous scenery. We were fortunate to get to go there in July with Marsha’s parents, so we are excited to go again with Nick’s mom. Of course, the weather will be much more comfortable now than it was during the summertime. Regardless, what a blessing it is to live so close to such an incredible display of God’s creation and His work in history.