[0:00] As an engineer, I love to find out the root cause of problems, of issues. Because if you can find out the root cause, then you can truly take care of a problem and not manage the problem. And the problem won't come back. I love doing things once and not have to continue to revisit the same problem again and again. That being said, did you know that God is the root cause of every good thing? James 1.17 says that every good gift, every perfect gift comes down from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there's no variableness, neither shadow of turning. God does not change, and He is the root cause of every good thing that we have.

[0:41] Today, we're going to look at the Christian worldview and the one truth in it that is the root cause of every good thing in this world, in that God is the Creator.

[0:53] God is the creator of everything. And you may ask, what does God being the creator have to do with my business? I'm glad you asked. We're going to talk about that. But what the answer to that question? Everything. God being the creator has everything to do with your business. And we're going to find that out here shortly. So first of all, I want you to understand that God created everything. Genesis 1.1 says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. God created everything in six days. Created the sun. Started off day one, he created the world. Then he created light. Then he created the sky. Then he created the earth or the firmament, the land. Then he created the plants. Then he created the sun, moon, and stars to keep track of time. Then he created and put in place the earth.

[1:41] The fish, the birds, the land animals. And on day six, he created man. It's very interesting that God created everything on six days and rested on the seventh day. That's a pattern for you and for me. And if you ever wonder where our seven-day work week came from, this is where it came from. And if you've ever tried to buck the system and go against God, you find out the consequences. You know, you can work hard five days a week, and if you take two days off, you're good. Work six days a week, take one day off for rest, you're good. But if you want to work seven days a week, continually, day after day, week after week, you're going to end up lowering your production and destroying yourself. And you can't get around it because God made the work week for seven days. And also God made man in God's image on day six. And that's a very, very key point, which we'll come back to towards the end.

[2:37] So number one, God created everything. Number two, a really cool thing is that God created everything from nothing. Hebrews 11.3 said, Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that that which was seen was not made by things which do appear. I don't know if you realize this, but God made everything from nothing.

[3:02] And repeat that, God made everything from nothing. You and I, when we create things, we have resources, we have tools, we have raw materials, and we create things. God created everything from nothing, from nothing, and that sets him apart as the creator, and we are just the creatures. He's the creator, not us.

[3:25] Number three, God created by design. God created everything by design. He had to design for doing what he was doing. Look at the uniformity of nature. God was very uniform in all that he did. The ancient, not ancient, but the scientists of old were Christians, were theologians, and they realized that God is a uniform, orderly God. And if he is, then we can actually study and understand God's creation and learn from it.

[3:56] God's laws are not random. If you go back to high school or look at the periodic table, all those elements on there are very orderly. Look at oxygen. Oxygen has an atomic mass of 16. There's eight protons in there. If there's seven protons in there, it would change to nitrogen. If there's nine protons, it changes to fluorine. Every eight proton element, atom, is oxygen. God is very orderly. You can't change that. So if you go down to very small orderliness, there's atoms and elements and subatomic particles. Everything has its place. Everything works together. It's very orderly. Nothing is random. You cruise off into the universe. You look at our solar system, about all the planets, how they revolve around the sun. They don't crash into one another, even when they all line up. Nothing bad happens because God has created all this in order for his purpose and his design.

[5:06] It's interesting when you look at the days of creation. They were not random either. Days one through three established the biomes, you might say, for man's creation, God's creation. Day one, the world was created. Day two, God separated the waters from above the earth and waters from below the earth, created the sky. Day three, he made dry land appear and he created all the bushes and the plants. Basically, God was creating the three main mediums for which everything lives. The sky, the land, and the water. And he created the food for them.

[5:49] Day four, he created the sun, moon, and stars. Basically, all the lights to light the world and give order in time and help us to be able to keep track of time. Day five, he created the birds and fish. Day six, the land animals. He created everything in order. He didn't create all the animals and manna day one and then have to scramble to try to get them fed and get them orderly and things like that. No, everything was in order. When you look at God's created design, it's not that God's created design. There's something unique about that.

[6:27] I categorized everything into four big categories. And I know I'm not being very scientific here, but that's fine. But essentially, we have rocks, plants, animals, and mankind, just for easy understanding. Rocks mean all the inanimate objects that don't grow. You take a rock and you split it in half, it's broken. and it will never grow another half of a rock back. It's just, it's done, it's broke. But when you go to plants, it's very interesting. If you cut a limb off a tree, the tree grows around there and heals itself up and continues to grow. You cut your grass and what happens? Well, it grows again because God made his world, his earth to heal itself, to sustain itself, to grow. Look at animals. Animals, they're alive, they have personality. If you ever had a dog or a cat in a house, you know that animals have personalities. But they're also different from mankind. Because animals, even though they're born or they're hatched and they grow into a mature size, they are different from mankind. Because mankind is made in God's image. God's image is what sets mankind apart.

[7:52] One of the things I want you to get, understand from God's creation is that God's creation heals itself. It sustains itself. If there's a system here in God's creation in this whole world of the solar system, down to the different ecosystems of the earth, God has systems together to sustain life. And by design, God's creation is meant to grow. He blessed it and said, be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. God's creation is meant to grow. It has an innate desire to grow. A baby doesn't stay as small as a baby. They grow and they become as tall and as big as you are. God's system is designed to grow, sustain life. That is God's creative power. That's God's creative design. So God is your creator. God's created everything out of nothing. And God created by design. There's orderliness in God's creation.

[8:55] Number four, we see God created for a purpose. And this is so cool. God created for a purpose. If you look at the scriptures in Revelation chapter 3, 4, verse 11, it says, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. God created everything for his pleasure. God created everything for his pleasure because he wanted to. He didn't need us. He didn't need this world to give him fulfillment. He didn't need us. He did it because he wanted to. God created us for a purpose.

[9:45] It's interesting, we look at the difference between man and animals. Animals have instinct. They know how to live. There's no school that teaches a fish to learn how to swim. They just do it. Birds, when they grow, they grow up so far, there's no lesson teaching school that they go to for a few years to teach them how to fly. They grow up so far, mom kicks them out of the nest, and they fly. No, animals aren't taught how to hunt for food or forage for food or however they get food. God has put that instinct within them. But yet man, creating God's image is different. When we are born, we don't know how to do any of those things. Those are all things we have to learn.

[10:35] And so this learning, growing, creative process that you have within you is part of God's image. Being an image bearer of God that you grow and you create, and that desire to grow and create within you is actually from God, not from any other outside source. It's not a bad thing. It's a very good thing. We see that God created all things on purpose.

[11:04] When we look at that, you can step back and say, so what is my purpose? Good question. And there's lots of verses in the Bible, and that's my main text, the scholarship where I get my knowledge from. Ephesians 2, verse 10 says, We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So first of all, we are created for good works.

[11:33] We may have a lot of other things to do in life, but one of the main things we're to do is we're created here for good works. Are individual people created for specific things? Absolutely. We're going through Exodus at church, and Exodus 9.16 says this, that Moses said unto Pharaoh, For this very purpose have I raised you up, that I might show my power through you. It's interesting. God used Pharaoh and his stubbornness in not allowing to let the children of Israel go out of Egypt so that God could demonstrate his great power, because Pharaoh's being stubborn. And so God uses good people for his purpose. God uses wicked people for his purpose. God uses all these people for his purpose. Proverbs 16.4 says, God has created all things for his own purpose, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

[12:36] They don't like to think about it, but God's going to judge this earth. God's going to judge you. God's going to judge me. God's going to reward you. God's going to reward me. And God has made all these things, all these people for a purpose. And sometimes God raises up evil people for evil purposes, for wicked plans, because he's judging people. These are all part of God's plan. God has a purpose And God is driven by his purpose In this creation And that purpose was to please himself, Yes, God has had to step into humanity And course correct things a few times You have the flood You have the Tower of Babel You have Jesus Christ coming later on To show mankind How they can be reconciled to God God has stepped in to course correct things and has now provided his son Jesus so that we can be reconciled to him.

[13:37] So let's go on to purpose. What is your purpose? What is your purpose for your business? What is your purpose for your life? This is an interesting question, but when we look at God as our creator, this is how we need to look at it. There's a big P and a little P. Big P is God's purpose.

[13:59] God has an overarching purpose for the world. I believe God has an overarching purpose for your life. And then the little p, your purpose, your purpose and what you think your purpose is, that's God's purpose, your purpose. And I believe that the more closely aligned your purpose with God's purpose for your life, the more fulfilled and successful and joyful your life will be. And so that is why it's good to seek God's purpose. God is your creator, and it has a tremendous impact on your life today. So let's get back to that thought. You're created in God's image. What does that mean? You being created in God's image means you do the things that God does. You think like he does. You reason like he does. You create like he does. You plan like he does. You bring things to pass. Think reason create plan bring to pass god does all these things and you and i do those things too, because we're made in god's image so what does being created in god's image have to do with your business that's what that's what we're talking about today look at creativity and all that god is creative let's look at your business now.

[15:20] Number one, we see that business innovation mirrors God's creativity. Business innovation mirrors God's creativity. Do you know that every business only exists to bring some innovation to market? As a business owner, you should be asking yourself, what innovation do I bring to the market? Innovation. Why are you here? You're either there to create a new product, bring a unique product, or bring the same product to market. Maybe it's a better product or service. Maybe it's cheaper. Maybe you can get more of it. Whatever. There's some kind of innovation that you bring to market, and that innovation is why you're in business.

[16:05] It is said that necessity is the mother of invention.

[16:12] When we don't have things and you need something there's there's these inventions and you think of all the inventions that have happened in the past few hundred years and we have going from walking to to a horse oh we can get further if we have a horse oh maybe we'll pull pull a wagon behind us or pull a carriage behind us we can carry something else horse and then somebody's like oh why don't we uh what if we made something that had a mechanical motor inside of it and then we can just drive on that we won't have to depend upon the horses and then they created the automobile and then hey let's go faster let's create a bus to create lots of people let's create a semi to carry lots of cargo let's create a train let's create an airplane all these things are creations they're all inventions they are creations essentially bringing something out of nothing we can't physically bring something out of nothing but But these creations, these inventions are basically taking some thought, some idea that was not there before and now making it come to pass.

[17:17] We've not always had computers. We have not always had telephones. We have not always been able to video chat on our telephone or TV screen. Those are all inventions that have come. Those are all creations that were not in the past but are now. It's creating out of nothing. and that images God's creativity. Inventions is a type of creating out of nothing.

[17:42] And so your business innovation mirrors God's creativity. Secondly, your business growth images God's design to grow. You realize that? Your business growth mirrors God's design to growth. If you talk to most business people, a lot of them say, I want to grow my business. I at least want to sustain my business. I want to create systems to run my business more effectively, more efficiently.

[18:13] All those things can be said of God's creation. God's innate purpose for his creation was to grow, was to sustain itself. There are systems, ecological systems to sustain life. And when we in our business have the desire to grow, that's why every business person wants to grow. Not because they're greedy, but because they're made in the image of God. And God's desire is for things to grow. And so our desire as business owners is to grow our business. And when we desire to grow our business, we are mirroring God's design to grow. It's a good thing, not a bad thing. Systems, sustainability, all that comes from God. So not only does our business mirror God's creativity, it mirrors God's design to growth.

[19:10] And finally, your business purpose, number three, mirrors God's purpose. Your business mirrors God's purpose. Now, here's the thing. You may ask yourself, why are you in business? A lot of people say I'm in business essentially because of my needs. I have to meet my personal needs. People don't say that, but that's basically what they want. They have certain financial goals. Maybe they want to get freedom. But, you know, freedom only comes when you have the means to provide for your food, shelter, and clothing.

[19:42] That's your basic needs. Maybe some people have a purpose to help other people, to help other people by giving them jobs, perhaps to help society by bringing their innovation to market because they know their innovation, their creativity will make people's lives better. Those are all purposes that you have for your business. Similar with God's purpose. The big difference there is that God didn't need this world to fulfill himself, to fulfill a need in him. He did it for his downright good pleasure because he wanted to. You and I, also creators, on a very minute scale compared to God, are doing these to meet our personal needs. But our business purpose mirrors God's purpose. And so this is why God, as the creator, is so important to you and me in our business. Because our creativity, our design, our purpose to grow and our purpose to just exist mirrors God's purpose.

[20:53] And so when we create and run a business, we are creating and walking in the path of our creator God. Did you realize that? That when you create and run a business, you are walking in the path of your creator. You're walking in steps as an image bearer of God. It is the outworking of being made in God's image. This is so cool to understand. This is why I'm excited for you guys to be in the business and want to operate a business to the glory of God, because in doing so, you are bearing the image of God.

[21:34] Now, one more thing here. There are two opposing systems in this world because there's people who operate their business for God's kingdom and there's people who don't, who operate according to the world system. Here's the big difference. And here's the command in life that you need to remember as a business owner. Bottom line, it's real simple. Remember God. Remember God. If you want to read a chapter, memorize a chapter, meditate upon one chapter in the Bible that will help you do this is Deuteronomy 8.

[22:07] Deuteronomy 8. Verse 11, we see it says, Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments or statutes or his judgments as it is this day. Number one, remember God's lost statutes and judgments.

[22:22] No, we're not children of Israel. But for us, remember the word of God. Remember the teachings and scriptures. You need to live by them. Walk by them. So remember God. Remember his law, statutes, and judges. Remember the word of God has given to you and do it. Number two, remember this is everything you have is from God. It's God's empowerment. Deuteronomy 8, 17, 18 says, Beware that thou say in thy heart, My power and my might to my hand has gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that gives thee power to reap wealth. He may establish his covenant with you. See, God has given you the power to create wealth. God has given you the creativity to run your business. God has given you the power to grow your business, create systems, create structures to have your business thrive. You must remember him. And number three, remember to worship God, no one else. Deuteronomy 8.19 says, And it shall be, if thou did at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you that this day you shall surely perish.

[23:38] See, our job as Christian business owners is to not just run a business, but to remember that it is by God's power that he has allowed us to operate this business. We are to worship and serve him only, and we are to keep his commandments, read the scriptures daily, understand them, and live our life by the word of God. Operate our business according to true biblical principles, not according to the world. Part of the problem with this world is that we have grown up right next to the world, part of the world, and some of the things that we do are from the world and not from God. And so we have to constantly evaluate everything we do by the Word of God so that we can discern the difference. And if it's from God, hang on to it. If it's not from God, get rid of it. Change. If God speaks to you, if God speaks something in the Word of God that's different than what you're doing, and you are different than what God says, you need to follow God. Clear and simple, wrapping up today.

[24:48] The challenge for today is remember God is your creator. God is your creator. Your business is a reflection of God's creativity, not only of his design, his creativity, but also his design to grow and of the purpose and live your life accordingly, okay? Knowing God, love God, and fear God. Friends, if you have found this helpful, Please check out the show notes for more details and a way to keep in contact. Please email me at david at redeemingbusinesstoday.com with the word worldview in the subject line because we are currently in the process of building out a course to walk you through the Christian worldview and the Bible and how it impacts how you see and operate your business today. Again, for more information, please email me with the word worldview in the subject line and go ahead and please see the show notes for further details. Friends, that's all for now and I trust you've been inspired to redeem your business, redeem your time, buy it back and walk worthy of God's great name. Bye for now.