The church is the pinnacle of all creation, not man. Creation as a whole finds its true purpose for being in the Church. Genesis 1:31 explains that God saw that all He had created was very good. The goodness or usefulness of something is seen in the purpose for which it was designed, created. In this case, all has been designed and created to give us the Church, the Bride of Christ. The Church is the pinnacle of beauty, perfection and all good things that this creation can offer. Love her for she is the purpose of Creation. 

Let's bow our heads in prayer and ask the Lord to guide us in this session. Father, we come before you just to Ask for your grace. Give us the grace to preach and teach your word as it is your word. Give us the grace to understand it and receive it as it is your word. And give us the grace to translate it, put it into practice, that we might be for the glory of Him who died for us.

In whose name we pray. Amen. Well, I've been given this love the church charge, and the title of this conference is a very appropriate one, because truly, when you start to think about life and history, as we have seen before in the previous sessions, you will see that the Church is a centerpiece of it all. Now today I'm going to deal more with the theological aspect of this. You've heard the practices, the history, the different things.

And what I want to deal with at this time is with the theological aspect of who I love the church. And I have put together, and I've put together a book, but four reasons why we are to love the church. The first reason is because the church is the pinnacle of creation. The pinnacle of creation, the nature of the church is to be the highest point in history. Anything that has to do With time, space, matter, it has to do with the church.

That's the first reason. The second reason is because The church has Jesus Christ as king. And as you see him as a king of the church, you will have enough reasons to love the church. The third reason is because it is in the church where Christ pours his grace to give that sanctification, that process by which we become like him in preparation for eternity. It is in the church he does that.

And the last, well, there are more reasons. I only got four. So the fourth reason is because it is through the church that God works his saving work in the world. So we have those four reasons. Today we are going to concentrate on reason number one.

We love the church because the church is the pinnacle of creation. So let us, we're gonna see three things to accomplish this point today. First, the satisfaction of God in creation. That's our first point. The second point is the making of Eve, The making of Eve.

And the third point is the unfolding of all things. So we have three points we're going to have today. First, the satisfaction of God in creation. Now, you probably have heard that man is the pinnacle of creation, That mankind is top dog. Mankind is the highest.

And in a sense, in a little sense, that is true. But really, As we are going to see, the church is the pinnacle of creation. Let us go to Genesis 1, 31. Genesis 1, 31. And verse 31 comes after verse 2 of Genesis, right?

Yeah, I mean 31 comes after 2, right? Good. Genesis 1, 31. Right? Good.

Genesis 1 31. The scripture says, and God said, let, First of all, before I enter into that, let me back out a little bit there. When God created, we saw a display, a show of power unrivaled. And it was great. And God showed his power just speaking.

Genesis 1, 3 says, and God said, let there be light. And there was light. Verse 4, and God saw the light, that it was good. And God divided the light from the darkness. And we see God creating, He speaks, creates, and He declares that that is good.

And if we go through the process of creation, we're going to see that God says every time or expresses, the scripture expresses, it was good, it was good, it was good. He's pleased with what he has done. And in verse 31 is kind of the capping of the whole thing, and God says, and the text says, and God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good, and the evening and the morning were the sixth day. And God was pleased with his creation. He sees creation and says, it is very good.

And we know that. Now, can you imagine God saying, wow, this creation is great. Look at that. Wow. That butterfly.

Wow. Look at that lightning. I couldn't imagine that. Oh, I want a cute little elephant there. You think that God said that?

You think that God is like some of us, well, humans who are artists. I'm not. But that created a piece, and then after They listen to it, they say, wow, this is really good. I didn't think I could do something like this. Or a painter.

And then he goes, wow, did I do that? No, God didn't go that way. God did not say, wow, look at what a great thing I've done. The question we need to ask to the text is this. Why was creation, when done, very good?

Have you ever asked that test? Why does he say that it was very good? We know that God is not awestruck by this, He is God. As a matter of fact, if God saw Himself overwhelmed by His creation, He would not be God. The good of something depends on the purpose of it.

A vehicle is very good if it takes me from Great Falls, Virginia to Asheville, North Carolina for this conference. Without breaking. And this is something very important. Something is good when it does that which, for which it was made. So when we see God saying this was very good, we need to ask ourselves what was God seeing in it?

And the point here is the following. God created all things to accomplish a purpose, And on the sixth day, everything that was needed to accomplish it was completed. Are we together? Good. And by the way, If you want to ask a question, feel free to raise your hand.

I won't pay attention to any of you, but that's okay. No, I'm just kidding. Truly, I will try to finish in such a way that maybe we may have a couple of questions if you have some. So if God said that this was good, and that good reflects a purpose, do we know any thing of that purpose? Do we know of some things that happened before the foundation of the world?

Of course we do. Of course we do. And I'm going to give you two things that happened before the foundation of the world that explains why God said in Genesis 131, He sees it all, and the verdict is this, it is very good. It will serve me for what I have planned. For what I have planned.

Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 to 6. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved." This happened when? Before the foundation of the world. He elected, he chose a group of people.

He predestined them. He chose them to be holy and blameless, verse 4. But he predestined them to be adopted as sons, as children of his. This happened before the foundation of the world. So if God chose a people before the foundation of the world, He created the world in order to make that choosing and that election, that predestination a reality.

Second, so first he promised, he did election and predestination before the foundation of the world, I will give you a people. Let me put it this way. Everything that happens in history is God the Father fulfilling to His Son a promise He made to Him that is eternal. It is an eternal covenant before God the Father and God the Son. So first He chose, second He predestined, And now we see that he also promised his son a people.

And what type of people was going to be? The one people that God would be pleased to give his son. A people like him, like him. Genesis 1 26 says that God created in the image, in His image. Now when sin came, we say that image was marred.

And I know some theologians will fight with me about it, but that's fine. I'm not one of those guys, famous guys, so they probably won't hear what I'm going to say right now. But God Himself did not create man as a whole in His image. Whole in his image. It's okay.

Don't worry. Man was created in his image in one sense. But really, Satan, I mean, Adam in his perfect state was in a worse situation than you and I are in Christ. Have you ever thought of that? Adam and Eve left alone in the perfect state.

We're not going to sustain the attacks of Satan on their own. But we in Christ are secured, Sure of the victory over Satan and everything, because Christ is in us. Sin comes and destroys all possibility for man alone to be able to survive in perfect state. So before the foundation of the world, God had planned every single thing that happened for one purpose. First, to choose a people for Christ.

And second, to predestine them to be like Him. Paul explains the purpose of creations in Romans 829. Who knows Romans 828? For we know that everything works together for good for those who love God, those who are called according to his purpose. And what is his purpose?

For those that he foreknew, he also predestined to become like his son, to become, and the text says, to be, they were predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he, the son, might be the firstborn among many brethren. Think of this. God predestined those that he erected, those that he foreknew to be like his son. And That is before creation. As we said before, what was, What is something good?

Let me, I was going to do the American stuff. I'm not American, as you can tell. I hope you understand my Spanish. But the American, what is this good for? That's bad English.

So let me redo it again. What is the purpose of this creation then? When God said everything was very good, what was the purpose? As we said before, the purpose of something is determined by the usefulness of it. What is it good for?

Bad grammar. You understand the point? So if you have a car, as I said before, it's good if it takes me from point A to point B. Did you know that God planned to burn that butterfly? Did you know that God planned to burn that beautiful elephant?

Did you know that when those nice zebras were grazing and the lions were eating grass with them and they look all beautiful, God already had planned that they would be destroyed. So in order to know what is good about creation, we need to think about what is left. When everything is done, when history ceases, what is going to be left of creation? Second Peter 3 10 says, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with the great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

You know that many of our families, most of the time, most of the time, we get into trouble in our families because of things that are going to be burned up? Think about it. How many times have you heard of a wife nagging her husband because he has not studied scripture today? Honey, come here, honey. Sit down there.

You need to read your Bible today. Have you ever seen anybody really worried because somebody else is not serving God the way he's supposed to? What is the fight about usually? It's about whether we don't have money, the finances are bad, and if you're a pastor, then you know you're spending too much time out there. And or if you're a homeschool mom, you know, honey, we, huh, huh.

And the dinner and this and that and soccer and piano and violin and piano and violin and soccer and soccer and soccer and violin. The World Cup is going to be burned up. Your violin will be burned up. All will be burned up. So what is the important thing?

The important thing. Point number two. The making of Eid. The making of Eid. Now God creates.

Of Eve. Now God creates, He created man, Adam and Eve, and he says, wow, it is good. Chapter 1. It is very good. Why?

Because I have predestined, I have chosen, I have promised My son, therefore, I will burn this thing up once it serves me the purpose that I have created it, for which I have created it. Wow. Created. Wow. In chapter 2 of Genesis, he explains to us how Eve was made.

Why does he take the time to explain to us how Eve was made? Let there be light, boom. Let there be trees, boom. Let there be animals, boom. Let there be water, boom.

Let there be fish, boom. Eat, boom. But then when it comes to man, He does something special, especially for Eve. Now, many theologians, I'm going to ask you a question. Just raise your hand.

Nobody's watching you, And it's not going to be recorded. So how many of you have heard that the proto-gospel, you know when I say proto-gospel, what I mean by it, is the first announcement of the gospel? Have you heard that? It's Genesis 3.15. Have you heard that?

Genesis 3.15 is the first announcement of the Gospel. And my question is this, where is the Gospel in Genesis 3.15? The only thing that says, Genesis 3.15 says is Satan, I will crush you. Of course, we can derive an idea of the Gospel because Satan will be defeated, but really, if we were left with Genesis 3.15 alone, we have no hope. The only thing God says is, I'm going to destroy Satan.

Then the second one is Genesis 3.21. In there, after God curses the serpent and curses the man, curses the woman, then he clothed them with skin. I think that He was clothed with sheepskin. But that's another story. I think he killed a lamb or something.

You can, this is my speculation, nothing biblical about it. Don't worry about it. But he covers them with skin. And in that covering, we see the Gospel. Why do you want to get married?

I tell you this. If your answer is not because I want to announce the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to a world that does not know him, don't come to ask for my daughter's hand. Marriage was created by God before the foundation to announce to Adam and Eve, there is salvation coming. There is a bride that I'm going to bring out. Third point and last point.

Third point and last point. First we saw the what is good about this creation. Second, the creation of Eve, the making of Eve. And now, last, let us see the unfolding of all things. The unfolding of all things.

As we said in the beginning, everything that is created is created with a purpose, and we know what the purpose is when that purpose is fulfilled. How many of you have phones, cell phones? You know, they're sending this machine now that it can send text. Can your phone send text? Can you check the web with your phone?

No? Can you read your email With your phone? And if you add $200, then they will give you something to your phone that you can make phone calls. It is ridiculous. That's your phone.

No. That's an addictive gadget which has, in one of the little functions it has is a phone. And you pay through the notes to have the rest, and you call it you have a phone. So how do you know the purpose of your phone? The purpose of your phone is for you to pay a lot of money.

Same way, in the same way, how do we know the purpose of creation? Well, let us take a look at the unfolding of creation. How do we know that the church is the pinnacle of creation and not man? God saw everything was good when he was finished. And he promised something to his son before the foundation of the world.

And God is not a politician. God, when he makes a deal with somebody, he fulfills it. And he made a deal with his son in eternity. And He will give him a bride, and that's the whole reason for creation. The first relationship established on earth was that of Adam and Eve, as we said.

And what did God see in the relationship between Adam and Eve? He saw the relationship of his son and the bride at the end. We also see that The Lamb was offered before the foundation of the world. Acts 2, 23, after the Holy Spirit comes and everybody is speaking in tongues and all that stuff, we then see this. Peter stands up and he starts preaching and suddenly listen to what he says in verse 23, chapter 2 of Acts.

This Jesus delivered up According to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. The death of Christ was no accident. The death of Christ was not a reaction, a human reaction to Christ. The death of Christ was planned before the foundation of the world. Why?

Because it was the putting down of Jesus to take the church out of his rib cage, if you will. Now knowing all these facts, and I'm almost wrapping up here, let's take a look at the end. The end is where, if you were to find the end in the Bible, where you go. Huh? To Revelation.

Why are you afraid? Am I that? That's another story. Revelation chapter 19 verses 6 through 8 says, Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, Hallelujah, for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready.

It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints." How does this whole world end with a wedding? It's with this marriage. She is fit to marry Him. As Paul Washer said today in the message, it is not true that the Church of Christ is not growing and becoming holy. The problem is that we have called the Church of Christ a lot of institutions and local congregations that are not the Church of Christ.

But the real Church of Christ is becoming more like He is. She will be fit to marry Him for one reason. She corresponds to Him who created Him, who created her. In the same way that Adam so even, she perfectly corresponded to Him because she was made out of Him. In that same way, the church corresponds to Christ because she was taken out of him.

Look at the end. First John chapter 3 verse 2. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be, He has not yet appeared. But we know that when He appears, We shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He is. We will be like Him because we will be made into His image.

Let me put it this way. Remember what I said about being created in the image of God in the beginning. The only human beings who will be at the end in the likeness of Christ, are those who are believers. Who will be there, transformed by his power into the image of his son, who were chosen before the foundation of the world and then predestined before the foundation of the world to be like He is at the end of the world. That is the church, not everyone.

Apparently, Apparently, most people will be in hell when that time comes. And they will not look like Christ. They will not be made into the image of Christ. Notice that not all of the men and women will be there, as I said. Look at Revelation 20, 15.

And if anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown in the lake of fire. What will happen with men who do not believe in Christ? They will be burned up. So what is going to be left of this creation? The church.

Do you belong to the church? Are you part of the church? Are you part of the church? We are to ask ourselves if we are growing into His image. In the same way, Adam and Eve corresponded to each other, the members of the church must correspond to Christ.

No one will enter there that is not transformed into his image. God does not accept anyone who does not look like his son into his heaven. That's why you live today, is to become like Him. God has given you a time in history for you to live. Come to know Him, for Him to save you, transform you, and prepare you for heaven.

If you are one of those elect, if you are one of the chosen ones, if you are one of those who believe. Look at the end. Romans 8-30. And those whom he predestined He also called. And those whom He called, He also justified.

And those whom He justified, He also glorified. The only thing that will be left of this creation is the church. To close, let me call your attention that all marriages are to give an account to God based on how did they or they did reflect Christ and his pride. Your marriage and my marriage, each individual, husband, how did you represent Christ in that marriage? Wife, how did you represent the church in that marriage?

The question is not, is my husband reflecting or is my wife reflecting? The question is, am I reflecting the image of Christ? Whether your wife or your spouse is a saint or a devil is totally irrelevant. Whether your mom, those of you who are not married, or dad, are a devil or a saint, that's totally irrelevant. You see, you are the wedding.

You are the wedding invitation from God to the lost. You are the wedding card God sends to the lost around you. And to Tell the truth, if the wedding card comes to me all marred and dirty and smudged and I cannot even see the information in it, I probably will not go to that wedding. But when the wedding card comes to me the right way, clean, nice, attractive, with a clear information of when the wedding is, who's going to be married, I can go. Are you being good wedding cards?

See, this whole creation is about one thing. God created men and women to invite them to a wedding. Even your little marriage is a temporary arrangement. Your true marriage is with Christ. That's what you are to live for.

In light of this, let us align our lives with the eternal purpose of God to make His church a perfect bride. And that means, my dear ones, that you need to get involved in your local church. You need to really be involved in discipling your children and others. And you need to really get involved in going out and inviting others who have not come yet to receive their wedding invitation. Many of us, especially in our group of homeschool people and everything, we shy away.

We need to protect our children, and believe me, I do. But we need to involve them in the sharing of the Gospel, in the work of the local church, and above all things, we need to engage their hearts to make sure that they are of those who have been invited by Christ to his wedding. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father give us the grace to live in light of the fact that creation has only one purpose, and that is to fulfill your promise to your son Jesus about his bride, his church. Give us the passion to promote, to live for, to die for Him as members of His church, His bride.

And give us a foretaste on a daily basis of that day in which We are going to see Him face to face, for we will be like He is. Thank you for your promise. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. For more messages, articles and videos on the subject of Conforming the Church and the Family to the Word of God, and for more information about the National Center for Family Integrated Churches, where you can search our online network to find family integrated churches in your area, log on to our website ncfic.org.