Remember Your Creator

Ecclesiastes chapter 12 Ecclesiastes chapter 12 It is true that the end of a matter is better than its beginning and the end is monumental The end is magnificent In fact, Solomon begins with a statement that's mesmerizing He begins with a statement that's mind-boggling It's a statement that is not necessarily understood as it should be In fact, it's a statement that will revolutionize the way you look at life He begins with a statement that will transform everything you think about life because it's the foundational element to all joy and satisfaction in your life

If you miss what he says, then you will have missed Ecclesiastes If you miss how he says it, you will miss everything you need to know about life He just simply says these words in Ecclesiastes 12, remember also your creator That's it Remember also your creator in the days of your youth That statement right there transforms everything And yet we read it, and as we read it, we think, well, of course we should But we don't understand the implications of that Remember also your creator in the days of your youth

That statement right there is going to revolutionize the way you look at life from this night forward We're going to ask why, then we're going to ask how Why should I remember my creator, and then how do I remember my creator? First of all, an explanation as to why, and then an illustration. A lengthy illustration, but it will be an illustration nonetheless

But the question is, what is Solomon saying when he says, remember also your creator in the days of your youth? Does that mean that we forget about our creator, and that we need to be reminded of who our creator is? Not necessarily, because don't you remember your creator in the days of your old age, not just in the days of your youth? It goes way beyond just forgetting something and being reminded of it It's a word that demonstrates the fact that we need to understand and comprehend our creator so as to act decisively upon what he has said

When the Bible says, the Lord remembered Noah, it wasn't that the Lord forgot about Noah, and then during the flood said, oh, wow, what about Noah's family? I forgot all about those guys No God acted decisively about what he had said to Noah and his family And so true, we also need to act decisively on what God himself has said Then notice what he says Remember now your creator He didn't say, remember now your Lord in the days of your youth He didn't say, remember now your God in the days of your youth, or your king, or your Messiah

He has chosen his words very carefully, very specifically, very significantly What is it about remembering your creator, acting decisively about who your creator is, so significant Why does it say, remember the Lord in the days of your youth? That's because he chooses his words very wisely You see, your creator has claim to your life because your creator created you, and therefore, he owns you He has claim to who you are Remember your designer in the days of your youth Remember your architect in the days of your youth

Remember your fashioner in the days of your youth because he has claim to who you are Remember him while you are young, because as you get older, there will be scars, there will be wounds, there will be difficulties that transpire Remember him in the days of your youth because when you become older, things change And Solomon will go into great detail describing your old age in the following verses, using words we would never use, but he's going to describe your years of aging

But he says, because there's coming a day where the days will be evil, evil days, tragic days, horrendous days, horrible days, devastating days, days of great difficulty And if you forget about your creator, if you don't remember your creator in those days, you will have a hard time handling the evil day In fact, he has already said in Ecclesiastes 7, verse number 13, these words, consider the work of God, Ecclesiastes 7, 13, for who is able to straighten what he has bent? In the day of prosperity, be happy, but in the day of adversity, consider God has made the one as well as the other

In the day of adversity or the day of prosperity, you've got to remember that God, the creator, the designer, the fashioner, the architect of life, has made the one as well as the other So you need to make sure that you act decisively upon your creator and follow through on your obedience to your creator while you are young, so that when you get older, everything will fall into place because you made that decisive commitment to follow your Lord The why is important as to its explanation But let me give you an illustration of this

Let me show you how it manifests itself in the life of an individual The best way to illustrate Scripture is to use Scripture, right? I can use a personal illustration, but that's just a personal illustration But if I use a biblical illustration, then it has a lot of teeth to it It's got bite to it So turn with me to Job 38, Job chapter 38 If you were with us on our study of Job, you know that Job had gone through such great evil days Everything was good for Job until it wasn't good for Job Life was good Family was good Business was good Money was good The house was good The cattle were good

The servants were good Everything was good until, all of a sudden, it wasn't It was all gone He had nothing His health was good until his health wasn't good any longer So he found himself infested with all kinds of boils from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet Everything for Job was great until, all of a sudden, it wasn't great So he asked for an audience with God If I could just plead my case to God, if I could just have a conversation with God, and I can plead my case Now, remember, the Bible says that Job was the most blameless, God-fearing man on the planet

God says this about Job That's why he offers Job up to Satan because there's no one who fears God like Job, no one who honors me like Job, no one who turns away from evil like Job So have at it You can do anything you want, but you can't touch his life So he takes everything away from Job And they said, you can touch his life, but you can't kill him So that's why he's infected with all these boils And Job has asked for an audience with God So finally, in Job chapter 38, he gets that opportunity God's going to speak to Job out of a whirlwind Job's finally going to get what he has asked for

And what Job hears from God is astoundingly puzzling It's nothing like you think it's going to be Job is going to hear from God God's going to speak to Job And God never once says, Job, I'm really sorry about what's happening in your life The God of compassion, the God of mercy never says, Job, those boils must really, really hurt The God of grace, the God of love, never once says, wow, losing everything must be really hard Your kids, your family, your farm, your business, that's got to be so, so devastating, Job God never says that

God doesn't even come close to saying anything like that to Job But what God does say to Job is so puzzling, so astonishing, so out there, you would think, you know, if it was me, I would say something different to Job But that's why you're not God, see? This is how the creator of the universe speaks to Job Amidst all of his suffering, amidst all of his pain, amidst all of his loss, God speaks to him about creation That's what God does It's quite mesmerizing to say the least God never explains his plan to Job God does not extinguish the pain of Job God exhibits no pity for Job

God only exalts his person to Job That's it All God does is exalt himself Now, if extinguishing the pain of Job exalts the person of God, his pain will be extinguished If it doesn't exalt the person of God, he will remain in his pain See, we forget about that We ask for God to heal us, to make us better But making us better doesn't exalt the person of God Guess what? You're not going to get better because God's into exalting himself, not exalting you God's into putting himself on display and nothing else That's the way God operates That's who God is See, it's all about who God himself is

So what God does is not give him any explanation, but simply give him a revelation of himself That's it Proverbs 29, 18 Without a revelation, the people will perish But happiest of you keeps the law Without a revelation of God, the people are unrestrained What man needs is a true biblical revelation of the living God That is the answer to all your problems It's who is God And so God is going to give him a revelation of himself

And God is going to very clearly and decisively point out to Job several things. I'm not going to read it all to you, but in verses 1 to 28 of chapter 38, he gives a revelation of his powerful control of his creation And then 38, verse number 29, through chapter 39, verse number 30, he gives a revelation of his providential care for his creation And then in chapter 40, verses 6 to 14, he gives a revelation of his preeminent command over all of creation

And then at the end, in chapter 40, verse number 15, through chapter 41, verse number 34, he gives a proficient or gives his proficient creatures, the two proficient creatures of his creation But his answer is in creation So in chapter 38, verse number 1, it says, then the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind Then the Lord The word there is Yahweh, Jehovah That's the Lord First time it's been used is chapter 1 and chapter 2 His friends would refer to God as El Shaddai But now the Lord is going to speak and the Lord uses his memorial name

Although it's not called his memorial name yet because he doesn't do that in Exodus chapter 3 during the life of Moses and Moses is not around yet Job exists before Moses So Job doesn't know that this is God's memorial name It's used 6,823 times in the Old Testament, the memorial name of God But the memorial name of God is always about God's deliverance, his delivering power This is the name of God that's to be remembered from generation to generation And God uses that name when he comes down, either to discipline, to deliver, or to destroy That's why God comes down

He comes down for one of three reasons, to deliver, discipline, or destroy Now, he's going to deliver Job, but Job doesn't know that yet We know it because we've read the story Job does not know this But he's coming down to answer Job And in this answer, it's going to change everything about Job In fact, Job's response is astronomical And God's going to talk about the universe, he's going to talk about the animal kingdom, he's going to mention six animals and five birds

And we're going to read it and we're going to think, wow, really? That's God's answer to Job who's suffering tremendously? That's God's answer So important to realize this And so, God speaks to Job And if you read through it, it says, the Lord, Jehovah, answers Job out of a whirlwind He asks this question, who is this that darkens counsel? Verse 2, by words without knowledge, I like what the living translation says It says, why use ignorance to deny my providence? That's a good way of putting it

Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now, gird up your loins like a man and I will ask you and you instruct me God says to Job, man up, Job How do you talk to somebody who's suffering like Job and tell him to man up? Gird up your loins, Job Are you going to instruct me? Are you going to tell me, Job? No, let me tell you, Job So he begins to instruct Job on the universe and how it was created Then he takes Job through a universal walk through the ultimate zoo And the Lord is the zookeeper of the animals and the birds And then it says this in Job chapter 40

Then the Lord said to Job, will the fault finder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it Job, are you finding fault with me? You don't like your condition, Job? You have a problem with that? Job, you having a problem having lost everything? Are you finding fault with me, Job, because things aren't going your way? Calls Job the fault finder Be careful what you ask for when you talk to the Lord Because when he answers, he doesn't always answer the way you wanted to answer Says, hey, Job, you're the fault finder

He says, are you going to reprove me? How are you going to answer me, Job? And Job answered the Lord and said, chapter 40, verse number 4, behold, I am insignificant What can I reply to you? I lay my hand on my mouth Once I have spoken and I will not answer, even twice, and I will add nothing more This is Job's response to God's revelation Here is the greatest man on the planet who turns away from evil, who fears God, who is upright, right? Saying, all of a sudden, I'm nothing. I'm insignificant. I mean nothing

How does Job get there? How is it when we read Job 38 and 39, we don't get there, but Job somehow gets there? Well, yeah, well, if God came down and spoke out of whirlwind, I'd get there too Listen, these are the words of God, right? So whether he speaks to the whirlwind or speaks to the scriptures, he's still speaking How does Job get there? By understanding God's creative power, and we are so far from being there When we read the exact same thing, Job says, behold That's a word of astonishment. I'm astonished This is beyond me Now, remember, he's still sitting in the ash heap

He's still covered with boils He still has not received anything back from what he's lost He's lost everything He's all alone He has no friends His wife is no support to him He says, behold, I am absolutely flabbergasted. I am astounded Why does he say that? Because when you see God's virtue, you only see your vileness When you see God's brightness, you only see your darkness When you see God's holiness, you only see your sinfulness, and that's where Job is He says, I am an insignificant man. I am a vile man. I have nothing to offer Psalm 119, 130 says, the entrance of your word gives light

It is light When God speaks to us through his word, it lightens everything up That's why God's word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, Psalm 119, 105 It just lights the way, and the more you know God, the better you see yourself So here is Job listening to God, and now he sees himself This is his astonishment And then you move to his assessment. I am vile. I am insignificant. I am nothing Wow Well, you see, we see ourselves as able and adequate, and God sees us as inable and inadequate We see ourselves differently than God sees us We see ourselves better than we actually are

And if anybody could see themselves better than they are, it's Job. I mean, after all, he's the greatest man on the planet But now he sees himself as insignificant, as vile, as worthless, as nothing, simply because God says, have you seen the stars? Have you named the stars? Have you seen the creation, Job? Can you assess the flight of a bird? Can you rationalize how animals are born and live? Can you do anything like that, Job? And Job says, I got nothing to say. I'm silent So he gives an assessment, and then he gives this announcement. I have nothing at all to say

There is no attempt to justify himself, none what so So the question is, what is it that brings Job to this place? And the answer is simple Although you might not see it, it's as clear as day Let me say it to you this way If God wants to reveal himself to man, he wants to make sure man understands who he is, how does God reveal himself primarily? Answer, Genesis 1, verse number one In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth God announces himself to the world by saying, I am the creator of the heavens and the earth God didn't say, in the beginning, God loved man Doesn't say that

In the beginning, God extended grace to man In the beginning, God showed mercy on man In the beginning, God is sovereign over all No, no In the beginning, God created Created God makes sure from the very outset of the Bible, very first book, very first chapter, very first verse, very first words, he is the creator of everything Remember your creator in the days of your youth Solomon is going all the way back to the very beginning to let you know that what is said at the outset in Genesis 1, verse number one, is true all throughout life John 1, it talks about in the beginning was the word

And the word was with God and the word was God The same was in the beginning with God And all things were made through him Without him, there wasn't anything made that was made John does the exact same thing Takes you right back to Genesis chapter one, verse number one Listen to Psalm 19 You know these words Verse number one, the heavens are telling the glory of God The heavens tell us about the splendor and majesty of God The heavens tell us what we need to know about the designer, the fashioner, the architect

The heavens are telling the glory of God and their expense are declaring the work of his hands Day to day pours forth speech and night to night reveals knowledge Solomon says creation shouts Creation shouts there is a creator Creation shouts there is a God But creation does And yet this is exactly why the world hates God They hate him because he's the designer They hate him because he's the creator

Do you want to start a volatile conversation? Go into your university classroom and say let's have a debate between creationism and evolution and you will raise the level of volatility beyond anything you can imagine Why? Because the evolutionist says there is no God Everything just happens The evolutionist hates God Go into the classroom and say let's talk about abortion Want to raise the level of volatility in your classroom? Talk about the giver of life, the creator of life who is God And every abortionist hates God They hate God Why? Because they think they're God

They think they can do with life whatever they want to do with life But they can't because they're not the life giver Or better yet, go into your classroom or go into your school or go into your workplace and say let's talk about transgenderism Transgender hates God Why? Because he wants to be or she wants to be whatever they want to be And they can't be that Why? Because God made them male and female Either XX or XY Without that, you ain't got no alibi That's all there is There's nothing else But they hate God You see, those are all symptoms to the problem

Paul says it this way, Romans chapter 1 verse number 18, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness because that which is known about God is evident within them for God made it evident to them Do you know there's something that God doesn't know? God does not know any agnostics The agnostic says he doesn't know whether or not there's a God But God doesn't know any agnostics Why? Because there's no agnostics There is none What's known about God is evident to them

God doesn't believe in any atheists either Why? There's no such thing as an atheist Because everything about God is known to man about who God is It's very clear The creation screams of the glory of God When the sun rises and the sun sets, it speaks of God When there's day and there's night, it gives you the knowledge of God If there's a creation, there's a creator If there's a design, there's a designer And God is that And so it says in verse 24, since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his eternal power, and divine nature have been clearly seen

Not vaguely seen, but clearly seen By who? Everybody The invisible attributes of God are clearly seen by every person who's ever lived without exception Being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse For even though they knew God, they did not honor God or give thanks But they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened Professed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man, and of birds, and of four-footed animals, and crawling creatures

Verse 28, and just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to depraved minds See, that's the problem Abortion, transgenderism, evolution, that's not the problem The problem is man refuses to acknowledge God any longer He refuses to acknowledge God because then he's accountable to God And man does not want to be accountable to God Man wants to be his own God He wants to take life and give life He wants to determine his sex or his gender He can't do that because God has fearfully and wonderfully made them, and God's in charge of all that stuff

But they refuse to acknowledge God any longer So God gives them over to an unthinking mind That's why when you have an abortion debate or a transgender debate or an evolution debate, you can't get through to anybody because they have non-thinking minds They can't think straight They're irrational God gave them over to stupidity So they can't understand the truth They refuse to because they simply refuse to acknowledge God any longer So Solomon comes along and says, remember your creator in the days of your youth It's all about the creator Listen to Psalm 104, verse number 24

How many are your works, O Lord? In wisdom you made them all All of God's works are made out of wisdom, his wisdom Every child that's born, everything that's been created has all been formed out of the wisdom of God Everything Because God is in charge of all things So Solomon says, remember now your creator in the days of your youth The illustration of Job is profound because you see, Job recognized the one thing that we fail to recognize That amidst all my pain, all my tragedy, all my hardship, all my difficulty, God is still the creator, the designer, the maker of everything

And when Job recognized that, he became silent He soon would become submissive God asks Job 77 questions, 77, all questions dealing around creation Because once you understand God as creator, everything falls into perfect place But when you refuse to acknowledge him as creator, designer, then you have all kinds of questions without answers Because the only answer is wrapped up in the fact that God is the creator So Solomon says, remember now your creator in the days of your youth, because the evil days are going to come

And if you forget about the creator, if you refuse to acknowledge him as creator, then you cannot handle the evil days when they arrive So here's Job Becomes a classic illustration of what to do when you have no answers to the questions surrounding your life And God says, Job, I'm going to give you a series of questions that you can't even begin to answer, just to show you how far short you fall from me And Job says, you're right. I have nothing to say

So how do we get there? How do we get to this place of remembering our creator in the days of our youth? My time is fleeting, so we must go quickly Number one, you need to recognize your creator Israel did not Listen to what the Bible says in the book of Isaiah, the 40th chapter Isaiah chapter 40 God says, do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? God is going to explain to Israel their situation, but take them all the way back to the foundation of the earth

Whenever you go through a difficulty, whenever you go through something that you can't find an answer to, go all the way back to the beginning, to the foundation of the earth That's what God does He takes them back to the beginning It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless Scarcely have they been planted Scarcely have they been sown

Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth But he merely blows on them, and they wither And then he says, and the storm carries them away like stubble To whom then will you liken me, that I would be his equal, says the Holy One? Can you find anybody equal to me? Can you find anybody on the same level as I am, who can do what he wants with rulers, who lays the foundations of the earth? Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created the stars God goes back to the fact that he is the creator when answering Israel's questions

He says, the one who leads forth their hosts by number, he calls them all by name because of the greatness of his might and the strength of his power Not one of them is missing Again, he takes you back to creation He created the stars He's named the stars He holds them all up into place by the word of his power Not one of them is missing Can anybody else do that? The answer is no, nobody can do that So why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, my way is hidden from the Lord, and the just as doomed he escapes to the notice of my God? That's the question everybody asks

God, where are you? What happened? Why is everything falling apart? Why physically am I struggling? Lord, what is happening here? You see, we forget one thing We are concerned about how we feel God is concerned about how you're formed You see, our physicality means more to us than our spirituality But from God's perspective, his spirituality means much more to him than our physicality Why? Because he's going to give you a brand new body anyway He's going to give you a glorified body anyway Your physicality is not nearly as important to him than your spirituality

Listen, God does not want to pamper us physically so much as to perfect us spiritually That's where God is We are enamored with our feelings He is enamored with forming us into his image Big difference Big difference

So God says to Isaiah, to the nation of Israel, why do you say this? Why do you say my way escapes the Lord? Why do you say that my way is hidden from the Lord? Why do you say that God doesn't care? Why do you think that God's in that situation? Why would you put him there? What brought you to this place? Do you not know, verse 28, have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, does not become weary or tired His understanding is inscrutable

See what he does? He talks about God being eternally present, all-powerful, and then the master architect of your situation He is the creator So important You must recognize God as creator This is how he's made himself known to the world from the very beginning This is why the world hates God This is why we love God But this is why the world hates God, because he's the creator Look what it says over in chapter 43, verse number one

But now thus says the Lord, your creator, O Jacob, your creator, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel, do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I've called you by name Look at verse number seven Everyone is called by my name and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made Verse 15, I am the Lord, your holy one, the creator of Israel, your king He keeps going back to one thing. I am your creator. I am your maker. I'm the one who formed you And then over in chapter 45, he says this

Verse number 11, thus says the Lord, the holy one of Israel and his maker, ask me about the things to come concerning my sons, and you should commit to me the works of my hands It is I who made the earth and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with my hand and I ordained all their host Again, God takes them back to creation because he is the creator Verse 18, for thus says the Lord who created the heavens, he is the God who formed the earth and made it He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited Again, he takes them back

You must recognize, Israel, that I am your creator. I am your maker. I'm in charge. I've done this You must understand it Remember your creator in the days of your youth Why? Because the evil days are coming The tragic days are coming And unless you remember your creator, unless you act decisively upon his identity, you will fail in the days of evil Therefore, make sure you remember him Recognize that he is the creator Number two, then you need to rest in your creator You need to rest in your creator First Peter chapter four says this

First Peter chapter four, verse number 19, therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right Those who suffer are to deposit their souls, it's a banking term, into the hands of a faithful creator It doesn't say faithful Lord, faithful God, faithful creator Notice, it was the Lord on the cross who said, Father, into thy hands, I deposit my spirit Same thing that Peter says in first Peter chapter four When you suffer, you deposit your soul into the hands of a faithful creator

The son could do nothing else but give himself into the hands of his father Right? It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God if you live in unbelief, but you can commit your life into the hands of a living God when you remember your creator You rest in your creator You recognize, Lord, you are the creator, as Job did You recognize and realize that what God does is way beyond your comprehension, and you rest in the fact that he is the ultimate creator, and then you revere your creator Listen to Psalm 95 Psalm 95 Oh, come, let us sing for joy to the Lord

Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving Let us shout joyfully to him with psalms, for the Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods, in whose hand are the depths of the earth The peaks of the mountains are his also The sea is his, for it is he who made it In his hands formed the dry land Come, let us worship and bow down Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for he is our God The Lord our maker Kneel down before him Revere him Bow before him Why? Because he is called the Lord our maker

He is called Yahweh Hasuni, which speaks of the Lord your maker, the Lord who forms you, the Lord who molds you It's translated over in Isaiah 64, verse number eight this way, but now, oh Lord, you are our father We are the clay and you are potter, and all of us are the work of your hand God is at work in our lives to make us and to mold us into his image That's why Ephesians 2 says we are his workmanship We are his poema We are his literary masterpiece He's in the process of making us into something greater than we could ever possibly think we are, because he wants to perfect us spiritually

So, once you recognize God as your creator, you can then rest in him as your creator Then you revere him as your creator And then, how about this? Read about your creator Read about your creator This is what Jesus says in Matthew 19, verse number four, Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female? Did you not read that? Did you miss that? You want to remember your creator in the days of your youth? Then you need to read about your creator, because God's word is the truth God's word is the expression of his character

He is the God of truth who only speaks truth He is truth incarnate His word is truth inspired

And so the Lord says, have you not read? Have you not read about your creator? How did you miss that? That's why Isaiah says, have you not heard? Where were you when the rabbis spoke about God's creator? Did you not hear what he said or what they said? Weren't you listening about the creator of the ends of the earth, the maker of all things, the designer, the one who fashions everything? Did you miss that? So if we want to remember the creator in the days of our youth, we remember, first of all, need to understand, need to recognize God as our creator So we can rest in God as our creator

So we can revere God, our creator So we can read about our God, who's a creator And then how about this? Run to your creator and run with your creator Run to your creator That's why back in Isaiah chapter 40, when Isaiah says to Israel about God, he gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might, he increases power And though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength They will mount up with wings like eagles, and they will run and not get tired

When you recognize God as your creator, you can run with your creator You can run to your creator Psalm 119, verse number 32, I shall run the way of thy commandments Do you run the way of God's commandments? That's what it means to remember your creator, to act decisively upon who he is and what he does. I run the way of my creator. I run the way of his commandments. I run with him. I do not grow weary. I do not get tired Why? Because he has strength that's unending He is inscrutable in all of his ways He's a creator He never gets tired He never wears out

So run to your creator and with your creator, and then rejoice in your creator Psalm 148, the psalmist gives us no petition He gives us no plea He offers no prayer He just gives praise He says, praise the Lord Praise the Lord from the heavens Praise him in the heights Praise him all his angels Praise him all his hosts Praise him sun and moon Praise him all stars of light Praise him highest heavens and the waters that are above the heavens Let them praise the name of the Lord for he commanded and they were created Praise him Rejoice in your creator Psalm 100, verse number 3 says the same thing

Psalm 139, Psalm 19, Psalm 8 Rejoice in your creator And lastly, repent and turn to your creator That's what Job did This is what Job says in Job 42 Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted How did he know that? Because God revealed himself as creator. I know that no purpose of yours can be thwarted No plans of yours can change. I know now that you are the creator of everything

He says, who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore, I've declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know Hear now and I will speak. I will ask you and you instruct me. I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you Therefore, I repent or retract and I repent in dust and ashes He says, I have heard of you with the hearing of my ear, but for the very first time I now have seen you How did he see God? As creator And I repent in dust and ashes

Here is the most upright, God fearing man turning away from evil on the planet And he repents because he sees God as creator And God then does great things in the life of Job In fact, the Bible goes on to say that because he saw God as creator, he began to pray for his friends And then the Lord turned the captivity of Job and gave him twice as much as what he had before God never turned the captivity of Job until Job got his eyes off of his own self and his own condition and on to God as creator Then he prayed for those miserable comforters of his

And then God gave him twice as much as what he had before Just a remarkable, remarkable story All true, all in the scriptures That's why it's imperative that we remember our creator in the days of our youth This is the most memorable statement in the book of Ecclesiastes It's the most mind boggling statement It's the most monumental statement It's the most mesmerizing statement It's the most magnificent statement in all the book of Ecclesiastes And Solomon knows it

And I can't help but think that as he writes it, he has his son in mind, Rehoboam, because he wants his son to live in obedience to the creator of the ends of the earth He wants his son to see God as creator, but Rehoboam does not And sadly, he turns from the Lord and the nation is divided It's never been the same since, simply because Rehoboam did not remember his creator in the days of his youth If he would have, maybe things would have been different We don't know that because it never happened But here is us this evening, coming to a conclusion of the book of Ecclesiastes

In this one statement, revolutionizes the way we see life, the way we see our marriage, the way we see our work, the way we see our children, the way we see everything This is how God revealed Himself in the very, very beginning, because He wants the world to see Him as such It's why the world hates Him It's why we love Him, because He is the creator of all things So, know what David said? David said, Create in me a clean heart, O God Only God can do that Only God can create a clean heart The Bible says, if any man be in Christ, he is a new what? Creation

All things have passed away, behold, all things become new He becomes a new creation Why? Because God is forming and making and shaping the character of His people to reflect His glory, His image That's what God's doing in your life, even as we speak If you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, that's what God's doing But you need to recognize your creator You need to rest in Him You need to revere Him, read all you can about Him Why? Because that is what will revolutionize the way you see everything in life God as maker and creator of all things. I know it's time to go

That's never stopped me before So, I must share this with you Isaiah 45, verse number seven Isaiah says that God is the one forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity. I am the Lord who does all these things And then He gives this warning, verse nine, woe to the one who quarrels with his maker

An earthenware vessel among the vessels of the earth, will the clay say to the potter, what are you doing? Will the thing that you are making say, he has no hands? Woe to him who says to a father, what are you begetting? Or to a woman, to what are you giving birth? Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel and His maker Do not quarrel with me Do not argue with me Do not question me You can't do that Why? Because I am the one creating well-being, creating light, creating darkness. I'm the one who creates calamity. I am the creator of everything Just rest in me Trust me Believe in me

Because I'm going to take you and I'm going to make you into the perfect vessel that glorifies my name That's what God did with Job That's what God wants to do with each and every one of us Let's pray Father, we thank You for tonight, a chance to be together We're grateful for Your Word Lord, may we see You as creator of our lives and all that happens, that we might trust You, believe in You, and follow You, and serve You with all of our hearts Thank You for this night In Jesus' name, Amen.