Transcript
You could argue that the most important doctrine to help us unpack and be delivered from - the sexual and money and sanity around us - is the doctrine of creation. I've argued many times that the four most important words of the Bible are the first four words: "In the beginning, God".
If There Is a Creator, Everything Belongs to Him
You see, if there is a Creator who set this whole universe into motion, who personally designed and created every physical thing, who, with His powerful divine hands and His infinitely wise mind, constructed me, constructed all of my capabilities, constructed all of my emotionality, constructed all of my desires, if He has made all of those things, then catch what I'm about to say. He has a divine purpose, a wise purpose for everything He created.
You know, if I go into my work room, and I've got wood and a saw and other tools, I don't start sawing and hammering and nailing and screwing wood thinking, "I hope this turns into something." No, I go in with a purpose and I design things for that purpose.
So the doctrine of creation preaches purpose. Everything in life has a purpose and so I must know, I must search for, I must realize the purpose for everything. So if there is a Creator, sex has [begun] with a purpose in His mind. If there's a Creator, money has its origin in the purpose in the mind of God.
Living Inside the Boundaries of God's Purpose
So living sexually pure means my sexual life is constructed inside of the boundaries of God's purpose. Living an appropriate money life means I submit my money to God's purpose. It's not about my purpose, not about my plan, not about my will, not about my way. It's all about God's purpose. But there's second thing in the doctrine of creation. It means that if God created something, then He owns it. I'm a painter by avocation. When I'm done with the painting, guess who owns it? I do because I made it.
In the same way, everything that exists exists under the ownership of God. I can't live an ownership lifestyle because I don't actually own anything. And so, purity and sexuality, and living properly in terms of money find their origin in submitting to the purpose and the ownership of the Creator.
Now, I have to say that I have no desire to do that at all. I don't care what His purpose is. I don't care that He owns it because I want what I want, when I want it, where I want it, who I want it with, how I want it. I want to be king of my universe.
Jesus Must Dethrone Me
And so, here's what Jesus has to do. He's got to dethrone me in my heart and enthrone Himself in my heart. And to do that, He walked in my shoes. He faced all the temptations I faced, but He did that perfectly so He could be the perfect lamb going to the cross. He took my punishment so I wouldn't have to take that. He died the death that I should have died and He rose again, conquering sin and death, so that I could be dethroned, no longer live as king and He could reign as King over me.
One of the most beautiful words Jesus ever said was He rose and looked at His followers, and He said, "Fear not little flock, the Heavenly Father has graciously chosen to give you the kingdom." If your sex life and your money life is about your kingdom, you're a grave danger to yourself. God didn't give you His grace to make your kingdom work. He gave you His grace to invite you to a better kingdom, so the Creator King would be enthroned in your heart, and sex and money would live in your life to serve Him.
