ASI Southern Union 2024: His Capital Gains

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ASI Southern Union

Kameron DeVasher

Bought at a Price

I'm the director of Sabbath School and Personal Ministries for the Michigan Conference of Seventh Day Adventists and I'm happy to be at my very first ASI Southern Union Convention.

And I absolutely love this area, beautiful mountain views.

We happen to have our family is able to come down all together, my wife and our 3 children, and we're able to visit some family along the way.

Being from Michigan, you know, where it's winter all year round, it's so nice to be in a place that has, well, somehow the winter came also down here as well, but it's good to get a break and see family and see friends and see this beautiful nature that God has provided in this area.

So it's a delight to be here this evening.

And I want to let you know that I was particularly intrigued by the theme selected for this year's conference, His Capital Gains.

When I was given that assignment, I actually started to reflect, what are His capital gains?

What does God want in this great controversy, in this plan of redemption, in his work on our behalf?

And as I processed that, I became more excited, more excited, and started putting together some thoughts that I'm going to share with you over the course of the next few days.

Our first message this evening is entitled, Bought at a Price, of course, lifted directly from Scripture.

And what I want to do is not only explain this evening's message, but this evening's message, while it can stand alone and praise God, I hope it, by all His grace, it will be a good message, but it will be the opening foundation for our following presentation, which in turn will set the stage for a third 1 and then bring us all together as a closed.

So you could pull 1 sermon out and listen to it and say, oh, that had some interesting thoughts, that was powerful, I appreciated that 1 idea.

But by God's grace, the idea that I'm trying to convey is a multifaceted approach, so that each message will build on the other, and by the end of it, again by God's grace alone, we will see what it is that God intends to get from us in His work, bringing this great controversy to a close.

So I'm excited about the theme, I'm excited to be here.

I want you to let you know that I'm also aging, And so I've now become 1 of those people who needs to have my glasses on from time to time.

And I also printed my notes in 11-point font that was a little bit smaller than usual.

So we're going to pray together right now, A, that the thoughts are clear and that the page is clear, that they go on, but that God will bless however we spend time together in his Word that it will be a blessing.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this evening.

Thank you for the opportunity to be at this convention.

And now, Lord, as we open your word, we ask for divine illumination, that the author of scripture, the Holy Spirit, will now interpret and apply that scripture in our lives.

Help us to understand it and understand you because of our time together this evening.

As I mentioned, we live in Michigan, but from time to time we have the opportunity to travel, like here to the southeast and see these beautiful mountains.

I love to go across the Midwest and see the tall grasslands and prairies.

I like to go to the Northwest and see other mountains that are even taller and hike and explore and take pictures and camp.

And as I think about what God did in making this world, it really is an inexhaustible theme.

You could just go on and on and look at all of his wonders of creation and marvel at him all the more.

And if you start thinking about it from a logistics standpoint, all the detail that went into creating this world as we know it, it's astonishing.

I mean, the precision with which our planet is situated is truly incredible.

So exquisite, in fact, that scientists, non-Christian scientists, by the way, just observant skeptics, if you will, but scientifically-minded people have a term for this precision and eloquence, this pattern that they see in the universe.

This idea that our world appears fine-tuned specifically to sustain life.

Earth's distance from the sun and the moon, for example.

The balance of gravitational and electromagnetic forces.

Earth's rotational speed has to be just, if it was any slower, we wouldn't stay on it.

Many other necessary constants just happen to be exactly what we need to survive.

That's, you know what I mean, the air in the air, the oxygen in the air.

It comprises 21 percent of the air that we breathe.

Now, if oxygen were 25%, fires would erupt spontaneously and life could not be sustained.

If it were 15%, human beings would suffocate and life could not be sustained.

All this detailed engineering testifies to the brilliance of our Creator.

Now, like the planet itself, human anatomy and physiology functions with equally astounding precision.

Every time we take a breath, that delicately proportioned air in our atmosphere is drawn into the lungs, where the oxygen is extracted by scores of tiny alveoli and then transferred to the blood, which in turn transports it to all of our oxygen-hungry organs and tissues.

Now, in exchange for that process, of course, we exhale the byproduct of our respiration, carbon dioxide, the very element that every green plant needs for its health and growth.

How lucky we are that such a delicate symbiosis exists between the planet and its inhabitants.

As I mentioned, when our kids, we go to national park sites, we look at geologic columns, we look at petrified forests, we look at all the natural wonders of the world, and then we go hear the explanation of them in the visitor center.

And it's always about the marvels of time.

Just give it enough time and it'll all iron itself out.

You know, if you discovered a stick figure of a man etched on a cliff wall somewhere, you along with every other scientist in the world would instantly and categorically declare that it is unmistakable evidence of intelligent life.

But when those same scientists look at an actual living, breathing, three-dimensional, sentient being, they disregard it as a result of random chance.

But the more we think about creation, the more we're led to marvel at the Creator, is my point.

Haven't even started talking about his work of redemption.

This is before sin, this is apart from sin, this is just his created work to start with.

But beyond these vital, necessary constants that make life possible, the Lord went even farther in our creation.

More than merely providing the conditions of life, he added extravagant extra features to our existence, the heated seats and power steering, if you will, of our humanity.

Things wholly unnecessary from an evolutionary standpoint, but the things that make life really worth living.

What functional need is there for such varieties of taste, texture, and temperature in the food that we enjoy.

If evolutionarily we needed this much of something to eat, why don't we just stop right there?

By the way, I did 1 of those fattish diet things and did a juice fast a while ago, which I'm sure somebody here is going to tell me is the healthiest thing I could do, so I'm not against it.

But it did teach me that it's so good that that's not the only thing that we eat.

That texture and taste and substance is good.

Didn't need to, he just went the extra mile.

Why are we moved by the sight of a sunset?

Why are we soothed by the warmth of the sand, or refreshed by the smell of salt air?

Why are we calmed by the sound of wind blowing through pine branches or invigorated by cold water gurgling in a mountain stream?

Why does that have any impact on us at all?

Why are experiences sweeter when they're shared?

Why do we appreciate architecture, enjoy music, and have a sense of humor at all.

By any measure, God did for us far more than he had to.

In Psalm 19, 1-4, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork.

Day unto day utters speech and night unto night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.

Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world.

Likewise, we read in Steps to Christ, page 10, our Father in heaven is the source of life, of wisdom, and of joy.

Look at the wonderful and beautiful things of nature.

Think of their marvelous adaptation to the needs and happiness, not only of man, but of all living creatures.

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Bought at a Price

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