I have sometimes thought life would be easier if everyone was the same. You can’t hate someone if you are the same. There wouldn’t be war or conflict. There wouldn’t be anything really.
The problem with this thinking is that we think we know better than God when it comes to His unique and incredible design. What does “His design” mean? You might be familiar with the first circle, Design, in Jimmy Scroggins’ evangelism tool called The Three Circles.
I’ve found that my congregation had a common issue when it came to sharing the gospel. They didn’t know how to. After carefully searching and studying the various ways to share the gospel, I was reminded of this method that was supposed to make evangelism easier and effective.
The Three Circles became one of my favorites as I began sharing the gospel, as I built relationships with members of my community, and as I turned conversations into gospel conversations. I wanted to share this method with my congregation through a sermon series that would lead into a Bible Study on Wednesday nights. It was through this study and sermon preparation that I found myself amazed at God and His design for creation.
The uniqueness of God’s design
As a child I remember seeing someone from a different ethnicity. I asked my mother, “Mommy, why is that man’s skin different from mine?”
She told me, “That’s because God made him that way.” From then on I never understood how anyone could hate someone just because of their skin color.
I say this not to show how amazing and righteous I am, but to show how my God-fearing mother wanted to teach me a valuable lesson that has stuck with me even into my ministry. We are different because God made us that way. We come from different backgrounds, nations, families, cultures and languages. And yet, Jesus tells us in John 3:16, “For God loved the world in this way…” (CSB). He is God of the world and He loves us so much He sent Jesus, His only Son, to die for the sins of this world.
David writes in Psalms 139:14, “I have been remarkably and wondrously made…” (CSB). Our uniqueness is all a part of His wonderful plan in creation. His design shows me that I am His creation, that He loves me enough to send His Son to die for me, and that He took the time to make someone like me. If that’s true, then He must have done the same for you too.
The incredible design of God
As I studied and prepared my sermon on the Design circle, I learned about God’s purpose in creating us. God, like an engineer, designs for a purpose. He is not a subtle Creator, nor is He a Creator of collectables. God gives purpose to what He creates.
Genesis 1:31 uses the words “very good” when God looks upon creation at the end of the sixth day. This is not just a term of endearment. God sees what He has made and says it is a very good creation.
So what is our purpose? In His Word we can see that we are made to be in fellowship with Him and worship Him. Again, in Psalm 19:1 David recognizes this purpose. He writes about the expanse of creation and how the heavens glorify the Creator. Jesus entered into Jerusalem and told the Pharisees, after they rebuked the crowds for shouting Jesus’ praises, that even the rocks would shout His praises. When Jesus died on the cross and again when He rose from the dead, the earth shook. Creation glorifies its Creator. I am a creation of God. And if creation glorifies Him, then shouldn’t I do the same? We were made to worship our God.
Our very existence is a testimony to how amazing our God is! What do we do with this information? We allow it to motivate us in how we treat one another. We should look at people with a new lens. This lens is made up from the truth that we are all created by an incredible God who loves us all equally! That means color, gender, nationality, culture and any other characteristic doesn’t amount to anything in relation to what God sees in His creation. He doesn’t just see what’s on the surface. He sees what’s His.
Do you see it?
(EDITOR’S NOTE – Michael Purcell is pastor of Community Baptist Church in Valdese, N.C.)
