I'm sure you've been watching the news and probably heard what's been going on in the world, very tragic. Seems like there's a lot of chaos going on with what's happened over in France and the unsettledness there with what's going on in the Middle East and how it's driving people from those countries there just because of the violence and the great suffering of those people that are trying to escape. And I'm sure you probably have heard in recent years, it seems to become more well known, all the human trafficking that's going on, the great crisis there with that as well. And when we hear about all these things, when we see the evil and the sin in this world, it really saddens us and it can It's sorrowful to hear about all that's going on, and in a way we can forget that there's something else happening in this world. It's not just that there's evil that's growing and it seems like sin is becoming more and more prominent, but there's something else going on in the world around us. God is doing something. You see, God has worked, He is working, and He will continue to work. And so as Pastor read about in Psalm 145, tonight we're thinking about God's mighty deeds. What He's done, what He's doing, and what He will continue to do. In a way, there's a lot we could cover tonight, and I'm just hitting the high points. It's like we are going on a cruise, and cruises don't stop at every single island along the way. They hit some of the main points depending on what cruise you go on. But in a way, we're just hitting some high points. We don't have time to hit all the high points, but we're looking at a few features in the word of God that describes God's great plan of what he's been doing. And so our goal is to look at this, that we would have this renewed vision of what God has been doing in the world. And that we would look at ourselves and see, how are we involved with that? Are we involved with what God has been doing through the ages? So let's pray again and again commit this time to the Lord. Father, we thank you for this opportunity that we have this evening to think on your truth. And Father, I pray that this would be more than just a time of meditation, but Father, may it be a time in which we take in your word and we act on it. Father, enable me to speak what is true. Enable those that are listening to hear the truth. Father, we pray that this evening it would be Christ that's glorified, Christ that's exalted. Father, meet me this evening for your glory, for your namesake. Amen. You see, it's a story. It's a true story of what, again, God has been doing. And it begins long ago, actually before time even began. It begins back when it was just God. You see, God existed through all eternity. Even before time, even before this world, God has existed. And at some point in time, he decided to create the universe. We find that in Genesis. He created it in six days. And do you remember how he spoke things came into being? And at the very end, do you remember what he termed or what he said about how he evaluated it? He said it was very good. It was a wonderful place to live. He created Adam and Eve. He placed them in a garden. He said, tend it. He said, have dominion over everything that I've created. But then something happened. And I think we all know what happened. We live with the results of what happened. Adam and Eve disobeyed God. And death and sin entered into the world. And that separation between God and man occurred. And so though we were made to fellowship with God, that fellowship with God was broken. But even in that moment of great crisis, we start to see a message of hope. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 3. This is the account of the fall, how we as humans disobeyed God. We were tempted by the serpent, which we know from other scriptures is the devil. And so looking at verses 14 through 15, here, the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field. On your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Now you might be wondering, okay, Tim, where's the hope? Where's the message of hope? And it comes at the end of verse 15, where the Lord says, there's going to be a seed that comes along who will bruise the head of the serpent. and he'll bruise his heel. There's a seed that's coming that's gonna crush the head of the serpent, defeat the head of the serpent, and the serpent will bruise his heel. So here we begin to see this message of hope in this moment of great crisis. There's a glimmer of hope. And we're going to see this continue on. If you were to read the account in Genesis of what goes on after this, we see sin and the effects of sin. We read about Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve's children, how they're destroyed with sin. And Cain kills his brother Abel. We see how there's great wickedness in the world. And so God sends along the flood and he saves Noah and his family, but he judges this wickedness. And then as you continue on reading about this history of humanity, we read about the Tower of Babel or Babel. And the essence of it was they wanted to build this city, this tower, to glorify themselves, to glorify man. And so God came and gave languages there, and they stopped building. But then there's a shift. As you read along in Genesis, you come to Genesis chapter 12, and there's a different focus. In Genesis 4 through 11, you could say that for the most part, there's kind of this universal humanity focus. But then at Genesis 12, it comes to a point, because it starts talking about a man named Abram. And from this point on, God's word focuses on this one man's family, Abraham's family. What happens is you see in Genesis 11 in particular, you see man trying to make a name for himself by building this tower or wanting to build this tower. But then in Genesis 12, you see God promising to make a name for a man named Abram. So turn with me to Genesis chapter 12. And let's read about this interaction between God and man. Genesis chapter 12. And we're going to look at verses 1 through 3. Now the Lord said to Abram, go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse. and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Here we see God coming to man and God saying, look, Abram, I'm going to bless you. He promises several things. He says, I'm going to make you a great nation. I'm going to bless you and make your name great. Those who dishonor you, those who curse you, I will dishonor, I will curse. But then he makes this statement at the very end here in verse three, and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. What a weird thing to say, that in you, all the nations, all families will be blessed. How's that gonna happen? Well, the answer to that question is seen throughout the rest of scripture, how this comes true. And so Abram responds. He's told to go, and he does. He leaves his comfort zone. He leaves his family. His nephew comes with him, but he leaves the rest of his family, and he travels to the place that God tells him, to the land of Canaan. Now we see other things in Abram's life. His name gets changed to Abraham. We see God makes a covenant with him. And there are other stories about Abraham's life and other things we could look at, but we're going to keep going on in our journey. As we know, Abraham is promised a son, and his son eventually is born. His name's Isaac. And Isaac has two sons, Esau and Jacob. And of course, Jacob has 12 sons. And the story continues, and the family just keeps growing. Just as God said, I'm going to make you a great nation. God's word is true. His promises are true. And that's what happens to Abraham and his family. Well, eventually, they end up going down to Egypt. And as they're down there in Egypt, they become enslaved. And they're down in Egypt for 400 years. And so where is God in that? What's he doing? We don't know why he waited 400 years, but God hasn't forgotten. And he talks about that in Exodus, saying, look, I've seen my people. I've heard their affliction. And I'm going to do something about it. And so what does God do? God sends a leader, Moses, to go and lead his people. And he's going to prove to his people, to the Egyptians through the various miracles that he does, that he alone is God. Not Pharaoh, none of the Egyptian gods, but he alone is God. And he proves that to them. And so God brings them out of this captivity. He delivers them. We call it the exodus, right? We all know this. He pulls them out of the land of Egypt and frees them. And as he goes on the way to the promised land, now he's leading them on to the promised land. Remember what God does with them out in the wilderness. He makes a covenant with the people of Israel. We see that in Exodus. So turn with me to Exodus 19. Here we see how God viewed his people, the children of Israel, in Exodus 19, verses 5 through 6. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine. and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel." So here you have the almighty God, the creator of God, coming to man, coming to these people, and saying, you're going to be my treasured possession. You're going to be as a kingdom of priests. Think about what priests were. They were mediators between God and man. And you're going to be like a kingdom of priests. You're a holy nation, a nation that's been set aside. And they were called upon, we see in other scriptures, to be a light to the nations, to the Gentiles. And so God makes this covenant with the people of Israel. And what's even more incredible is as you continue to read on in Exodus, we see it in Exodus 25, God comes to them and says, build me a place where I might come and dwell among you. God telling people, I'm going to come and dwell among you. And so that's what they do. They build this tent. It's a tabernacle. And God comes and dwells with man. Incredible, truly incredible. And so we know how the story continues going on, how God continues to work in the world. He goes with his people, and they eventually, after wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, they eventually go and conquer the Canaanites and those people that lived in that region. And God gives them victory. And eventually, they settle down. And as they settle down, they continue to wander away from the Lord. And it's like this cycle that keeps going on. They wander away from the Lord, so God brings judgment. They cry out to God. God brings a leader, which we call the judge. It's the time of the judges, and God would bring deliverance. But they just kept going through this cycle, going through this cycle. Well, eventually, they ask God for a human king. They want to be like the nations around them. And so God says, all right, we'll give you a king. And we know that that first king was Saul. We know how he disobeyed the Lord. And so the Lord said, enough is enough. You're going to not listen to me. Then that's it. And he brings along another man, a man after God's own heart, to be king of the people. His name, of course, is David. And God gives David a very unique promise. It's found in 2 Samuel, chapter 7. So turn with me there. 2 Samuel, chapter 7. Here in this chapter, David says, he's talking to Nathan, the prophet. And he says, look, I'm dwelling in a house, but God's ark dwells in a tent. I want to build a house for the Lord. And Nathan says, go, do it. But then the Lord comes to David. And looking in verse 5, the Lord came to Nathan and said, go and tell my servant David, thus says the Lord, would you build me a house to dwell in? I've not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day. But I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, why have you not built me a house of cedar? Now therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place, and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more as formerly. From the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel, and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men. But my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. Do you see this promise that the Lord makes to David? Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. So here we see this new addition to what God's been promising all along. He said to old Eve, I'm going to give you a seed that's going to crush the head of this serpent. To Abram, I'm going to make you, and through you, all the nations of the world will be blessed. Now through David, you're going to have a king that's going to reign forever, one of your descendants. And so God is giving this message of hope to fallen humanity. Now as we read on, we see how God's people wandered away from Him. We see how the kingdom eventually splits into two. There's the northern kingdom called Israel. There's a southern kingdom called Judah. And as time goes on, God's people do not live according to his word. They disobey the Lord. They fall away from him. And so God sends spokespeople to warn them that judgment is coming, and they don't listen, and they don't listen. There were some good kings, some good leaders, but for the most part they just kept wandering away, living according to their own life, their own standards, wandering from the Lord. And so finally the Lord said, enough is enough. And so the Northern Kingdom is taken away. In 722 BC, the Assyrians come along and they deport that Northern Kingdom and they're eventually assimilated into the peoples The southern kingdom continues on, and God sends prophets to them as well, saying, repent, repent, repent. But they don't turn away. They continue disobeying the Lord. And so eventually, again, the Lord says, enough is enough. And so he sends judgment. And in 586, the Babylonians come, and Jerusalem is taken over, and the temple is destroyed. And so God's people go into exile. But even in then, even in that moment, God doesn't give up on his people. God continues to look on them and is merciful to them. And as time goes on, God restores his people back to the land. It's not easy. They have to rebuild and reestablish themselves. But God brings them back to the land of Israel. Now, after this time is a period where we normally call the period of silence, the silence of 400 or so years. And that term is very misleading, because in that time, you can tend to think, well, then God must have been silent. But that's not true. It's true that God's inspired word stopped for 400 years, but God didn't stop working. God was still ruling and acting as sovereign king overall, and he was actually working to prepare for something even more incredible than what we've already seen. In these 400 years, there's this empire that grows. It's called the Roman Empire. And they established this kingdom where there's relative peace, and there's a good network of roads so that people can easily travel around. It's during this time that there's a language that's developed that's common among a large group of people in that region. And so God didn't stop working. God was still working a plan for something even more amazing. And when that time came, God sent angels to announce something incredible. We're about to celebrate it in about a month. God sent angels to these shepherds to say, look, the Savior's come. God sent an angel to Mary, to Joseph, saying something incredible is about to happen in your life. God is coming. Emmanuel, God with us. And so God himself comes and takes on the form of a man, the God-man, Jesus Christ. We don't understand how all this works, but God comes in human flesh, and he dwells among us. It's incredible when you think about the creator becoming a creature, a man. And so Jesus comes, and he lives on this earth, and he looks like a normal person. He works under his earthly father, Joseph, as a construction worker, a carpenter. He traveled around building things. But then a time came when the ministry was to begin. And he knew who he was. We see that in accounts of his boyhood. He knew who he was. But then there was a time for the ministry to begin. And then he started going out and proclaiming that the kingdom of God is at hand. He started doing amazing miracles. People were being healed. We read it or heard about it this morning, one of those stories of what Jesus did. And God in flesh, Jesus Christ came, and he worked primarily with 12 men. He worked with others. There were more than just that, but it was primarily these 12 men. And he poured himself into these men for about three years of ministry. But Jesus didn't just come to live on the earth. No, he had a specific purpose in mind, a specific reason for why he came. We can look at a number of passages, but turn with me to John chapter 12. Here is a passage in which Jesus describes the reason for coming. John chapter 12, in verse 23, and Jesus answered them. So to give you a little context, there's some Greeks that have come. They want to see Jesus. So they come to the disciples, and the disciples now come to Jesus. And so in verse 23, and Jesus answered them, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it. And whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose I have come to this hour. Christ came to go to the cross, and to not pay for his sins, he was the perfect Lamb of God. Christ came for humanity's sins, for my sins, for your sins. Christ came and so he went to the cross and he died. He took the wrath of God that we deserved, the punishment that we deserved on himself. He bore that punishment for us. Here's that seed that was promised long ago. Here's the blessing to all the nations. Here's the king. who has eternal rule. We know after three days, he was raised again, showing that God had accepted the sacrifice, showing that he had conquered death, and that we who trust in him are placed in him, and we have new life now with him. And so Christ came for all of that. He came to make atonement for our sins. But God's plan didn't just end at that moment. God's plan has continued. It's true, Christ has ascended, he's with the Father now, but he's given his body, his church, a mission. He's given us something to do. Our God and our King has told us this, go and make disciples of all nations. We read about that in Matthew. You see, God now desires that we too be involved with his plan, his plan for the nations. And we could stop and take a long time looking at how God has continued to work. Sure, maybe we don't have any new inspired scripture, but God isn't silent. He's still working. We could trace how he's continued to work through the ages. We could look at the Reformation. We could look at revivals. We could look at movements in the missions and see how God has continued to work his plan out for his glory. God has continued to build his church. He promised that he would build his church. He has not gone away. He has not stopped working among his people and the nations. And so that's what God has done. That's what God is doing. We're in this time. But there's something that has yet to happen, something that God will do. And we looked at it last week when Robert shared from Revelation. Let's look at that passage again. I was really blessed by his message last week, speaking about what's yet to come. Sure, the details maybe are a little fuzzy. We don't know everything, and so there's a lot of debate among various people as to what's going to happen and what's it going to look like. There are a lot of unknowns, but there are a lot of certainties as to what lies ahead for us. In Revelation 22, this is the passage that Robert shared, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healings of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads, and night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light. and they will reign forever and ever. Incredible. We also see in Revelation another certainty is judgment is going to come. And for those that have chosen not to trust in Christ as their Lord and Savior, who've chosen their own way to live a life of sin, they're going to be judged and placed in eternal judgment. But for those of us that have trusted in Christ as our Lord and Savior, this describes what's going to happen one day. This is true. This is really going to happen. We're going to observe all this ourselves. And it's incredible to think we'll see God's face. No man has seen God's face and lived, but we will see God's face. And what's incredible is that we will reign with Him. And so even though there are certain things we don't understand at this point, we do have certain certainties ahead of us. So this is, again, what God has done, what God is doing, and what God will do one day. God is seeking to save the lost. He's bringing people to himself. He's giving hope to those that have no hope. He's restoring the brokenness. And so this is God's plan of redemption that he's been working from the time of the fall and working it out through the ages, through the years, through the centuries. And God has called each one of us to enter into his plan for the nations. In a sense, it's like God's on a path. And he's working towards something. He's saying, join me on my path. Get involved with what I'm doing among the nations. It's not just that there's chaos and violence going on. God's still in control. And he's working it towards a certain point. And he wants us to join in with him on that path and in that plan. He wants us to join him. And so we have the privilege to serve with and for the living God, to work with him. And yet, so often what ends up happening is we end up living for ourselves, wasting our lives on our plan, our desires, our kingdom, our own way. Now, let me illustrate it to you in this way. Imagine your life is like a raindrop, your time, your resources, everything about you. It's like a raindrop. Imagine that this raindrop had two options. It could fall out in Utah near the Great Salt Lake. And you could end up running into one of those three rivers that are tributaries to the Salt Lake, and it flows into the Salt Lake. And you could be a part of the fourth largest terminal lake in the world. Terminal lake means it doesn't go anywhere. It just ends there, and it's evaporated, and the whole water cycle happens. But it's just there. It doesn't happen. Anything else doesn't happen. Or imagine you're a raindrop that's given the option of falling somewhere in the water basin of the Mississippi River. And you fall and you get into the tributary and then you go into the Mississippi River and eventually you go out to the ocean. What does that have to do with what we've been talking about? The raindrop that's falling in the water basin of the Mississippi River, it's contributing to something that's so much greater than the Great Salt Lake City Lake in Utah. That's nothing compared to the ocean. We have an opportunity to give our lives to something that really matters, something so much greater than a lake, so much greater than ourselves. And God's inviting us to get involved. with our time, with our resources, to get involved with his great plan of redemption that he's working out. He says, join me. He tells us, He commands us, go and make disciples. And so what are you giving your life to? Are you giving your life to what really matters? Like that raindrop that's falling and being a part of the magnificent Mississippi River and ending up in the ocean? Are you wasting your life on yourself? And it's like one of those rivers that's just flowing into this lake that just is a lake, a small little lake when compared to the ocean. What about your life? How are you involved? How can you get involved? Well, there are a lot of different ways. You can be a witness to the people around you. You can be praying for those that don't know the Lord. You can give to missions. You can go, either on a short-term or a long-term basis. But there's innumerable amount of ways that we can be involved with what God is doing and what God has done, is doing, what he's continuing to do. And the call is for all of us to be involved. Don't allow yourself to fall into the temptation to think, well, I'm too young to do anything to really contribute. Or maybe I'm too old. It's too late. Don't fall into those temptations. It's not. You're not too young. You're not too old. God wants you to be involved with what he's doing. If you are a follower of Christ, follow your master and do what he wants you to do. Be involved in his plan, not your own, but what he's been working towards and will continue to work towards. Follow Christ. Make him your goal. Follow your master. Let's close in prayer. Father, it's truly incredible to think about what you've done, how you've sent your son, that you might redeem us. Father, I thank you for how patient you are with us. Father, I pray that you would work in our hearts this evening for each one here. Father, it's our desire to join you in your plan, this incredible plan that you've been working out. Thank you, Father, for inviting us to be involved. And Father, I pray that your spirit would be at work even now, showing each one here how they can be involved, what they can do, what you are calling them to do. Father, enable us to be obedient to your leading, to your prompting, that we might live for you and not for ourselves, that we would give ourselves to what is on your heart, Father, we worship you as our God and King. Meet us even this week to be a light and a witness to those around us, to show people your love, to be instruments used for your glory. It's in your name we pray, amen.