Introduction : Not just in gymnastics competition, but in all sports performance can end in failure if a competitor loses his or her balance. During the Olympic games in Athens, on TV we saw one of the gymnasts from the United States lose his balance and fall down on the mat during the competition. The same thing could happen in our lives. There is only defeat and despair for the wandering person living without a God-centered life.
1. God is the center of an individual´s life 1) God is the center of an individual´s life - God controls our life and environment when we let Him be the center of our life and serve Him (Ps 100:3) 2) Adam left a God-centered life - When he turned to humanism and egotism, he lost control and was under the control of the devil, sin, secularism, disease, the curse, and death (Ge 3:17, Jer 2:19) 3) Psalm 127:1~2 ¡Ø If a man leaves a God-centered life (1) His labor to build a house for his life will be in vain (Jer 17:13, Pr 15:25, Ps 90:5) (2) Watching over a city of life will be in vain (Ps 39:6, 144:4, 62:9, Jer 45:4) (3) A God-centered life comes with peace, because God takes care of that life (Ps 16:8, 17:8, 128:1-2)
2. God is the center of history God created the history of humankind and controls it because He is the center 1) Arrogance of humankind - Humankind is the center of history and controls it (1Co 1:25) 2) Humankind-centered history ends in failure (1) Tragedy of the Tower of Babel (Ge 11:4, Pr 16:18, Isa 13:11) (2) The Tower of Babel is humankind-centered history - Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, imperialistic Japan (Jer 50:31-32) (3) If a nation deviates from a God-centered position, the government, economy, military, and culture of the nation will lose its balance and fall into disorder ¨ç Korean Christians comprising 30% of the population are the people that are saving our country. They are getting to be the central axis (Ps 37:28, 16:3, Dt 28:12-13) ¨è Psalm 127:1~2 - The nation or people who leave God will perish
3. God is the center of the universe In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. God is the center of the universe and He controls it (Ge 1:1, Ps 103:19) 1) The treason of Satan who attempted to shake the universe (Isa 14:12-15) 2) The devil made humankind fall into depravity (Ge 3:4-5) 3) God´s plan to save humankind - Sent Jesus the creator (Jn 1:14, 3:16, Ro 4:25) 4) Jesus will come again (1Th 4:16-18) 5) The new heaven and the new earth, the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:1-7)
Conclusion : God is the center of the universe, of all things, of history, of nations, and of the individual. Although both Satan and humankind tried to usurp the sovereignty of God, all such human efforts as building a house and watching over a city without God ended in failure. When God becomes the center of our lives, then the universe, history, and the lives of humankind will be stabilized with consolation and peace. Our lives will be blessed under God´s control. |