In this Valentine’s Day message we explore how we are created for relationship – and it is only in relationship that we are able to grow. Pastor Clark looks at three responses to the love of God for us with which every believer must come to terms. You’ll never think about love the same way again!

<p>In this Valentine’s Day message we explore how we are created for relationship – and it is only in relationship that we are able to grow. Pastor Clark looks at three responses to the love of God for us with which every believer must come to terms. You’ll never think about love the same way again!</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Dalton SDA Church

Chester Clark

The School with No Graduation

As many of you know, I love history and have an interest in things that are historical.

So 1 of the questions that I always ask is, where did this come from, right?

We have in history, we have something called historiography.

And historiography simply means we study how reliable stories are, really.

We try to look and see where did these stories come from?

There are oral traditions that come down from many different cultures, right?

And you have to ask yourself the question, how reliable are they?

Of course, the Bible has, I believe, a reliable account of history, amen?

So when I, for example, when I read the story of the flood in the Bible, I believe that it's true, that God did destroy the earth with a flood.

I have to believe that because God is a God of love.

Now, what's interesting is that in cultures all around the world, there are some 500 to 800 other flood legends or flood stories.

Storiography says we look at all of them and we say, how many similarities do they have?

The more similarities, of course, we know 1 that's true, But aside from that, if we didn't have the Bible account of the flood, how many similarities do these stories have?

And the more similarities they have, the more likely those similar details are actually coming from a true story.

Now, I recognize that when we look at the history of what is today known as Valentine's Day, that there are some traditions and some legends and so forth, but there are some things that seem to be accurate.

There are at least 3 stories of a valentine, of a priest or a bishop that had the similar characteristics.

And these come in 3 different cultures, so it seems the most likely is that it came as a result of a story that took place in Rome.

It was during the reign of Claudius, the Emperor Claudius II, and he was faced with a lot of battle and a lot of strife and bloodshed in the empire during this time, Rome.

This was the late 3rd century AD, and he actually said, you know, 1 of the biggest obstacles to me recruiting soldiers to fight the empire's battles is that of people being married and not wanting to leave their families.

And so he attempted a ban on all engagement and marriage.

Now, it's 1 thing to ban engagement and marriage.

This part, of course, is historically factually proven, but It's 1 thing to ban marriage and engagement.

It's another thing to try to ban love, right?

And the emperor soon realized that while he could ban love, engagement and marriage, he actually could not ban love.

Now there was in Rome a bishop and this is where Valentine comes in.

He was a person who believed that marriage was a divine institution And even though the emperor had banned it, Valentine continued to perform marriages in secret.

And Valentine eventually was caught and charged with going against the emperor's orders.

And the story is, and this again, the story is the same in all 3 cultures that we find that in Africa and the Middle East as well as Rome, that he was martyred on February 14.

And so this is where, in history at least, the story of Valentine's Day comes.

Now, I don't believe that even if he was martyred in a godly man that he's a saint in any way as the church came to view him.

I don't believe a lot of the details, but I do believe it's a time that we can remember especially the love that God places in hearts and that He places in homes.

So we're going to look today at a school with no graduation.

And I would invite you to bow your heads with me for an additional word of prayer as we begin.

Father in heaven, we ask that the love that you have given, the love that flows from your heart to your creation, that it might be seen and perceived today that we might be able to share with others.

We turn back to the book of Genesis, we find something very, very important here.

We find in a couple of verses, Genesis chapter 2, we find that God had a specific plan for mankind.

It says in verse 8, Genesis chapter 2 and verse 8, it says, "...the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed." Now this is something that we could go a lot of different directions with.

We could talk about God's plan for where our homes should be, God's plan for the ideal environment or the ideal occupations and so forth, but we're just going to notice here that God is the first originator of a home.

He created man, but He didn't create him without an environment.

He created an environment in which He wanted to place man and his companion as well.

And if we skip down to the next verse of our scripture today, verse 15, it says, Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and to keep it.

So God made an environment for man, and when I say man, I'm talking about mankind, right?

He placed Adam and Eve in the garden, he gave them a work to do, but notice he also placed them in relationship.

We notice a little bit farther, verse 18, it says, the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone.

Now this is, of course, this is talking specifically about love and marriage and the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, of course, being the first husband and wife, the first family unit, but I want us to know that a broader principle here is that God intends us, humanity, to be in relationship.

I recognize that not everyone listening to me this morning is married, and that's fine.

You know, I was for many years a single preacher.

Thankfully, Jane rescued me from that state.

But for many years, I knew what February 14 was for singles.

You know, they call it Singles Awareness Day.

And so I understand that, but what I want to see is the broader principle here.

The broader principle is that God made us for relationship.

It's not always, We're not our whole life in a marriage relationship.

That's just reality Nobody spends their whole life being married At least they shouldn't I mean There's a period before before you're married when you're single And yet during that time you are still created by God to be in relationship.

Parents for us to be in relationship with, teachers for us to be in relationship with, friends and peers for us to be in relationship with, and yes, even a church family for us to be in relationship with, teachers for us to be in relationship with, friends and peers for us to be in relationship with, and yes, even a church family for us to be in relationship with.

I hope you understand that all growth takes place in relationship.

Some people say, well, it's too much work.

If you're married, you realize that you're not perfect as well.

So we don't deal with perfect people when we're in relationships, except with our relationship with God.

But God still intends in a fallen, broken world with imperfect people for us to be in relationship.

And it's only when we consent to God's plan for our lives, when we allow him to work even in the defective and less than ideal, less than perfect relationships that we find here on earth, it is in those environments that we grow.

Spiritually, we grow emotionally, we grow socially, we grow physically, mentally, in every way.

And so God placed man in the garden environment, and then he said it's not good that man should be alone.

The garden alone and the work alone and all the ideal perfect world that he's in is not enough.

He needs to be in contact with somebody comparable to him.

He needs someone who, as the proverb says, iron sharpens iron.

He needs that ability to be perfected and to be able to be pushed and to grow in even the perfection that he already exists in.

And so God made man a person in his image with the capacity and with the need for relationship.

We all, no matter what stage of our life we're in, we all are meant to be in relationship.

Notice with me, I'm just going to share with you 2 passages here.

It says, the system of education instituted at the beginning of the world was to be a model for man throughout all after time.

As an illustration of its principles, a model school was established in Eden, the home of our first parents.

The Garden of Eden was the schoolroom, the nature was the lesson book, the creator himself was the instructor, and The parents of the human family were the students.

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The School with No Graduation

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