The Joy of Christmas
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Spencer. I'm one of the pastors here with Mill City Church. This is our Christmas gathering. This is the time where we get to, it's the last Sunday of the year we get to meet, so we get to celebrate the coming of Jesus and all the joy that comes with that, all the anticipation and excitement that comes with that. It's the one Sunday I can bust out a bright red sweater, and it's okay.
It's not over the top. So we're going to be in Matthew 2 today, which is on page 471 in your blue Bibles. If you don't have a Bible at home, please take that. That's our gift to you. We want you to have a Bible that you can read at home, but we're going to be in Matthew 2. And today we're going to look at the story of the wise men, and we're going to see something a little bit different.
I think oftentimes we're very familiar with this story, but I want to expand a little bit. I want us to see a little bit how this story fits in the bigger picture of Jesus and how this story points forward. But before we do that, I want to set it up a little bit. I want to walk through a little bit of Jesus' birth story, starting in Matthew 1, verses 18 through 25. It says, Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us.
When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel the Lord commanded him. He took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus. In the first two chapters of Matthew, God gives us the intro story to Jesus. And good introductions that we see here, we see in the Gospels, and they point forward to the rest of the story. It's God tipping his hand a little bit of where the story is going, because good introductions do that. I think it's one of the greatest movies that's ever been made, The Dark Knight, which is Christopher Nolan's, it's his magnum opus, it's his greatest, I think his greatest achievement.
And it's brilliant. In the intro scene, there is stuff in it that points forward to the rest of the story. The first scene's a bank robbery, which is the Joker, it's his M.O., he robs banks, and in this bank robbery, each of the people who are involved in the bank robbery are wearing clown masks. It's pointing forward, this is the Joker who is involved here. And as this is happening, the music that sets the tone for this, it really sets the tone for the rest of the film, is unnerving. It's meant to put you a little bit on edge, which is pointing to the madness that is the Joker.
And as this bank robbery unfolds, each of the characters starts to build up the legend of the Joker, starts to tell more about him, you're starting to see more of who this character is going to be. And in this bank robbery, it's genius, it's a mastermind plot, but it's also chaotic. And that's because the Joker is an agent of chaos, as he is a genius. And finally, the big build-up to when you finally see the Joker, he takes off his mask, and his face is even more insane than the mask. And he says, I believe that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stranger. And that's it, like it hooks you.
This man is a madman, he is insane, and this movie is going to be just like this. And it's genius how it points forward, because that's what good introductions do. They point forward in the story, and that's what we get in the Gospels. That's what we get as we walk through Matthew 1, the birth story. It tells us that Jesus was born of a virgin, which means this baby, this son, is different than every other child that has come into this world. That he has set apart.
There's something unique about him that says he will be called Emmanuel, which means God with us. That this is the God-man. This is the God-child, God in human form, that has come to dwell amongst men. It says that he will save the people from their sins. That this is going somewhere. That he is going to save the people.
It's pointing forward to the cross. And then, and then we get to Matthew 2. When we look at Matthew 2 and this story that we're so familiar with, it's actually pointing forward to a bigger part of the story. So we're going to zoom in on this and catch a glimpse of what God is doing here in this story as the wise men come and visit Jesus. And ultimately, we're going to see this story is hope-filled. This story is joyful for all of us that follow Jesus.
And we'll get to see that in this season as well. So let me pray, and then we'll dive into the story. God, I'm so thankful that you came, that in this season we get to celebrate the joy of your coming. God, I pray that you would help us see that. You would help us feel that as we walk through this story. We ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen. Alright, starting in verse 1 and 2. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying, Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose, and I've come to worship him. Now, there's a lot going on here in these first couple of verses. And a lot of it, honestly, is informed by nativity tradition.
By our understanding of the nativity. The nativity scenes, we're all very familiar with them. That tradition helps inform this. And what I want to do this morning is I want to throw a little bit of a wrench in that tradition. It's going to mess up your nativity scene just a little bit. It's going to be a little bit painful, but it'll be good.
Because it's helpful to know things even if we don't understand them. Recently, this happened to me. For 20 years, I have worn contacts. And then recently, a few weeks ago, I had one of those days that it just wasn't fitting right, and I was messing with it, and I was trying to get it to submit to my eye, and finally, and you know how that, even if you don't wear contacts, you know having something on your eye, it drives you insane. But I was like, I've had days like this.
This happens. I'm going to make it work. Came into the office here, and then Chet goes, hey man, I see that you've been struggling this morning. Maybe, maybe you put it in backwards. To which I said, no Chet, you can put contacts in any way you want. They're reversible.
And he said, no. They're really not. There's only one way to put it in. I was like, no, I've worn contacts for 20 years, Chet. I think I know how to put a contact. He's like, I don't think you really do.
I'm like, says who? He says everyone. Optometrists, the internet. So finally, we went to Google. And I learned a thing. Contacts are not reversible.
That for 20 years, I've been putting, I've been forcing them on my eye. I know that some of you are thinking, man, bless his heart. What an idiot. To which I say, slow your roll, okay? First, I blame, I was 10 when I started. I blame the optometrist for not teaching me.
Secondly, what you should be thinking is, is how amazing are his eyes? I have superhuman eyes. They could force contacts in the submission for 20 years, and I can still see. So, it's impressive, but it's helpful to actually know the truth, to actually know how to do that. And I just want to correct a little bit, the nativity scene for you, starting in the first part, when it says, now after Jesus was born. That is an indefinite period of time.
Directly after this passage, which we won't get into today, King Herod feels threatened by Jesus, and his kingship. So he has all males under the age of two, he orders them to be killed. Which begs the question, why under the age of two? And the reason is, is that he has figured out, that sometime in the last two years, sometime in the last two years, Jesus, this Messiah, was born. Which means, he could have been two, when the Magi, when the wise men visited. He could have been one.
He could have been 18 months. We don't really know, but it's, it's pretty clear from the text, that the wise men, were not at the birth, of Jesus. So, you can do what my son does, every morning, when he comes down to, his little people nativity set. You can come down, it's all nicely put together, you can grab the wise men, and you can throw them under the couch. Just kidding, if you like the wise men, we have another one that's wooden, the kids aren't supposed to touch. Keep them, they're nice.
Just know, what's actually going on here. The second part of the nativity change, that may be helpful for some of us, is the text says, that wise men from the east, came to Jerusalem. They were wise men, not kings. I know we three kings, is special to some of you, but that kind of messes up your brain, a little bit. The word that more accurately, reflects what's happening here, the wise men, is the word magi. That's what the text is getting at.
Magi were priests. They were magicians. They were astrologists. They were dream interpreters. They were alchemists. They dealt in the mysterious.
We see this in the Old Testament, when Pharaoh is going, when Moses is going toe-to-toe with Pharaoh, and Moses does a miracle, and the Pharaoh, his wise men, his magi, come out, and they start doing magic tricks, to answer Moses. We see this in the book of Daniel. In the book of Daniel, in chapter 2, he becomes head of the magi, head of the wise men, and Daniel is a dream interpreter. So, by the time we get to the New Testament, it's still, that is true, and they serve specifically in royal courts. They serve kings. They're a part of royalty.
They use their gifts of looking at the stars, and the planets, and studying all of this, which means, when a star appears in the sky, that was not there, when creation itself, bends to something, that catches, people like the magi's attention. And then, we don't get this from the text, but we can tell, by the time they show up to Jerusalem, that God has come to them, and said, that there is a king of the Jews, that has been born, that this star, is shining upon. Now, I want to pause for a second. I know that some of you, that may like the mysterious, will go, cool, so like tarot cards, and horoscopes, and all that, that's, that's, no.
Let me pause for a second. We can have a separate conversation after this, if you want to. We don't deal in that anymore. We don't deal in the mysterious, because Jesus is the mystery of the universe, that has been revealed. And that in Christ, all of that, is gone and put away. We don't need that.
We have Jesus. If you want to come and talk to me later, we can have a conversation, about that. But these are magi. They are from the east. The, the original hearers of this, of this gospel, would have understood the east, to be Persia, Assyria, Babylon. All people that, that traditionally, the Jews do not mix with.
They've had a bad history with. But they're from the east, and they're not kings. So, we get to, verse 2, and it says, Where is he, who has been born, king of the Jews? This is the magi talking. For we saw his star, when it rose, and have come to worship him. When Herod heard, Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
So after they get, giddy, after they're excited, the star in the sky, has led them, to Jerusalem. We're getting closer, closer and closer, to where this star is. They land in Jerusalem, and they start asking around. And they're going to stand out. These are foreigners, a part of royal courts. Like, they're going to stand out.
And it says that when, where, when they ask this, that, that, that, that, that both Herod, and all of Jerusalem, they were all, uh, troubled. Which means, they weren't just going to Herod, and asking, where is this king? They were talking to anybody, that would listen. Where's this king, who was born? Who, you mean, King Herod? No, no, no, smaller, baby king.
Where is he? Uh, how, how did you know to come here? We followed a star. This starts to get the whole city stirred up. Jerusalem's a, it's a big city, but this is the kind of city, where buzz is going to circulate. And they start to get, uh, stirred up, and Herod is trying to figure out what's going on.
It says, verse three, when Herod, the king heard this, he was troubled. And all Jerusalem with him, and assembling all the chief priests, and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them, where the Christ was to be born. So Herod, he believes this, and he wants to find out what's going on. So he goes to, uh, the scribes, and the chief, and the chief priests, to the religious leaders, who know the Old Testament, to try to figure out, uh, where this Messiah, is coming from. It picks up in verse five, it says, they told him, in Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet, and you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least, among the rulers of Judah.
For from you shall come a ruler, who will shepherd my people, Israel. So they reveal to Herod, yes, the Messiah, from the prophets, uh, Ezekiel, from the prophet Micah, in the Old Testament, the Messiah is going to be born, in Bethlehem, this is true. So then Herod responds, and he says, then, uh, verse seven, then Herod summoned the wise men secretly, and ascertained from them, what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, go, and search diligently for the child, and when you found him, bring me word, that I too may come, and worship him. So Herod, he doesn't have, good intentions.
He wants to find out, where this child was born, where Jesus was born, because he feels threatened. His earthly kingship, is threatened. He has a plot, that he's going to try, to kill Jesus, in order to protect, his earthly kingship. So, he tells him, go, find him. When you come back through here, tell me where he is, so I can come, and worship him too. And we're not going to get into this today, but that plot is full.
God has a plan here. They go back a different way. It picks up in verse 9, it says, after listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star which they had seen, when it rose, went before them, until it came to rest, over the place, where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced, exceedingly, with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child, with Mary his mother, and they fell down, and worshipped him.
Then opening their treasures, they offered him, gifts, gold, and frankincense, and Mary. And being warned in the dream, not to return to Herod, they departed, to their own country, by another way. So, they leave Jerusalem, and they know they're close. Bethlehem, geographically, even today, is not that far from Jerusalem. So they know, they're getting close.
And you have to remember, these are, these are men, that have devoted, their lives, to the study of the stars, and the planet. And God has come to them, told them about the, king of the Jews, and the star, is shining over the city, there, this town, Bethlehem, they're getting closer. And as they come up, over the hill, into Bethlehem, they see, where it is shining. And they're getting closer, to the house. And there's this, anticipation, that is building up. And finally, they knock on the door.
And when the door is open, and Mary and the child, are there, the text tells us, they rejoiced. They rejoiced exceedingly, with great joy. Which is just, they lost it. They were so excited, they had stumbled, they came and found, this child, that God had led them to. This baby king. And they fell down, and they worshipped him.
They said, ma'am, we came all this way. We followed this star, for your son, he is a king. And we didn't come, empty handed. We brought gifts. They bust them out. We brought gifts of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Now, there's been a lot of people, over the years, that have tried to figure out, the meaning of these gifts. There's a lot of different things, that can be a little bit confusing, and trying to pinpoint that. There is something, that is a common thread, in each of these gifts. These gifts, are meant for a king. These are royal gifts. Gold, frankincense, which is an incense, myrrh.
These are expensive gifts, that you would bestow, on a king. And they come, and say, here are the gifts. Here they are. Here, and another thing, with the tippy tradition, we don't know actually, if there were three magi. We do know, that there are three gifts, and I like to think, that it makes sense, each of them, would be bringing, a gift, to the king. So they, bestow these gifts, they lay them at their feet, and they rejoice, and they are, worshipful.
This is a, joyous occasion. They have, they have come, and they have seen, the child that is going to change, the course, of history. And they're doing this, and I want you to picture this. They are, joyous. They are, celebrating. They are, high-fiving.
They are, worshiping. They are, so excited. And Mary, and Joseph, are standing here, and they are watching this, and there's a part of me, that thinks, that in their head, they had to be thinking, this is great. Why are you here? Like we, like they've seen a lot, at this point. They've, they remember when Jesus was born.
They remember, uh, the angels, that were bursting forth, in praise. They remember the shepherds, who came, and, and, and worshipped, Jesus. They remember when they, presented Jesus, at the temple, at the temple, when the prophet, and the prophetess, were prophesying, that he was the Messiah. They remember, all these things. They were treasuring, these things, in their hearts. But all that, was inside the house.
All that, was amongst Jews. So there had to be, a thought, why are you here? Foreigners, magi, from distant lands. Why have you come here? And that, is the part, of the story, that points forward. That's the part, of the story, where God is, tipping his hand.
God calls, magi, wise men, from the east, to show you, who he was coming for. To show that, these were the very, kind of people, that Jesus was coming for. They represented, the very people, that Jesus was going, to reach. This baby king, was not just going, to be king of the Jews. He was going to be, king of the nations. And this story, is tipping its hand.
It's not an accident, that God calls, magi outsiders, to worship the baby king. He's telling us, where the story is going. That Jesus is coming, for the outsiders, for the lost. And that means, me, and you, and everyone, that wasn't a part of, the Jewish people. This is a, hope filled, story, for the world. That the light, that lit up Bethlehem, is going to light up, the world.
It's going to light up, the nations. That's how, I love the gospel of Matthew. It starts with a picture, of God tipping his hand, that God is coming, for everybody. And it ends with, go therefore, make disciples, of all nations. This story, is the first glimmer of hope, for all of us, who are outsiders. This is why, we sing songs, in this season, that are joy, to the world.
Because God is coming, for all of us. It is a, hope filled story, that we get to, pause every year, and remember, and be joyous, and be glad. But I get it. I understand that, for some of you, that is hard to do, in this season. For some of you, this season brings up, really difficult memories. For some of you, this has been, a really difficult year.
And it has been hard, to be joyous, and to remember the gospel, to remember that, glimmer of light, that was shining, in the desert. It's hard. Because some of you, have had a rough year, you've experienced, real loss. And preaching the gospel, to yourself, in this season, has been difficult. It's lost its flavor. Some of you, have gone through, real temptations, you've gone through, real trials, this year.
And it's, you are just tired, and it is hard, for you to be joyous. Some of you, have wrestled with, with sickness, with physical suffering, with mental illness. There's been, all kinds of suffering, that you can feel deep, in your bones, that you can feel deep, in your soul, and the cynic in you, wants to post a meme, that just destroys, the holly jolliness, of everybody around you. Because it's been hard, and it's been rough. And I want to say to you, specifically, I know it is difficult, but I want you to pause, in this season, and join the chorus. I want you to fight through, and I want you to see, the light that lit up, the darkness.
I want you to feel, the hope that came. Because that hope, that came for you, is the hope, that secured a place for you, that one day, you will be in the presence, of Jesus, for eternity. And that day, there will be, no more tears, there will be, no more pain, there will be, no more suffering. That's the joy, that we get to celebrate, that came to this world. And I know, that you felt alone. I want to say very clearly, for those of you in Christ, you were not alone.
Jesus did not abandon you. And I want you to, to fight through, and remember, that he is going to carry you home. He has put you on his back. This is a real, and actualized, and vivid, and joyous hope, that I want us to pause, in this season, and see. I want us to feel, and I want us to remember. That's why this Friday, we get to do a worship night.
Because I want us to pause, as a church family, and remember, the Jesus that came, the humble babe, that came in this world, to rescue each of us. I want us to pause, like the Magi, and celebrate, and be glad, and be joyous, and remember. That's the hope, that we remember at Christmas. So as the band, comes up, and as we celebrate, communion, I want us to remember, this. As we approach the table, I want us to remember, the way that Jesus, came into this world. He came in naked, and humble, in the form of a babe.
Because it helps us, remember the way that He died, naked, and humble, on a cross.
Come and Die
Transcript
I went to Sheely's with my wife, my father-in-law, and I sat down and he goes, you don't like green beans? And it's like, well, it's not that I don't like green beans, but I know how to do buffets. And I'm at Sheely's. Green beans have no place on my plate at Sheely's like rice. Hash, baked beans, barbecue with a little bit of collards and some macaroni and cheese. I know what I'm doing.
I've been to these before. And so I'm not getting green beans. But what I like about it is that you have to choose. You have to pick. You have to decide what matters, what's important. And the truth is in life, we're doing this all the time.
We're deciding what matters most. We only have so much room on our plate. We only have so much time. We only have so many resources. We're deciding all the time what's going to fit, what doesn't. We do this on autopilot a lot.
We end up putting things on our plate that if we really had thought about it, if we really had seen what we were giving up. See, that's what I like about a buffet. You can see what you're giving up if you put this on your plate. Jim Gaffigan, one of the great thinkers of our time. He's a comedian, for those of you who don't know who he is. You're like, oh, look him up.
No, don't. He's not like reading any books or anything, but he talks about getting to the end of a breakfast buffet, and that's where they kept all the bacon. And you're immediately like, bacon. If I had known you were here, I would have only gotten you. He's like, you're looking at your plate going, why do I have fruit here? And that's what we're doing in life, though.
We're always filling our plate with something. We're always putting something on here. We're choosing. You have a limited amount of time. You have a limited amount of energy. You have a limited amount of dollars.
And you are choosing what's the good stuff. What do I want to put on my plate? What do I want to have here? And the problem is that so often we do this on autopilot. We just kind of do whatever's there, and we just go forward. And sometimes we make conscious decisions, and sometimes we don't.
What we're looking at today is where Jesus is going to press on to decide to hear. He's going to talk about his mission as he sends them out. He's going to talk to them about making those decisions, about deciding what has value, and what doesn't, deciding what is ultimately worth and what isn't. So right now, we're in the third week of our gift series. What we are trying to do is raise money, partner with 1040 Hope. 1040 Hope is an organization.
I thought about Ben Johnson and his wife. He's here. I thought of our church family. I just recently submitted the membership. But what they do is they're trying to plant churches and launch people in the 1040 window.
It's one of the most unreached places. We talked about this last week. And so what we're trying to do is partner with them specifically in Egypt. So in our gift series, around this time of year, we always call ourselves to generosity. We always call ourselves to do things that are eternal with our money, to do things that ultimately, infinitely matter. And so we're partnering in Egypt to try to see people meet Jesus there.
There's a place in Minya, Egypt, where they are already seeing some growth. They're already seeing some things happen. We're trying to partner with them to fund them for a year. Here's our goal, which is a big goal for our church. We believe that the Lord would have to move, that he'd have to work in us for that to happen. We don't. $15,000 isn't.
Y'all know us, right? You know you. You know your budget. That's big for us. We're trying to buy them a tuk-tuk. It's the first thing we want to do.
My wife was asking for clarification after our first week. She said our gift project is to buy a motorcycle for a guy in Egypt. I was like, we didn't explain that well. We're trying to. It is a tricycle kind of motorcycle thing. And it's for them to be able to travel, for them to be able to get their leaders to travel around, for them to be able to do some sidewalk Sunday school stuff.
There's a lot of opportunities for them if they're able to move throughout this area. I know some of us are like, well, all I'm ever really able to do is $20, $30, $40. The truth is if that's for your budget, that's beautiful. The one lady that's highlighted for giving in the New Testament, she gave a mite, which is like nothing. It's like a shaving of a – it's like you took a penny and like scraped some of it off and put it in there. But that's all she had, and Jesus said she gave the most because she actually gave what was her first, what was her best.
And so for some of you like that, best I can do is $20. But the truth is we're trying to buy phone cards. A phone card is $20. That would allow one of the leaders to be able to use a phone for a month. That's a really cool thing if you're able to do $10, $15, $20. But we're trying to ultimately raise $15,000 so they can do this for a whole year in an area where people, the whole area in general, does not want the gospel.
They're hostile to it. So what we're doing in our Give Project is saying we want you right now while everything's – you feel spread thin and your budget is tight, we want you to pull money out of that and give it to a place where they are receptive to the gospel and hostile to the gospel. There are people who are fighting against the gospel spreading here where it is dangerous and where there's a lot of people who when they hear this good news receive it joyously. We want a partner there. You see, ultimately, at this time of year, we've been celebrating that Jesus is the ultimate missionary, that he was born, he came out of heaven, was born on earth, lived a normal life to pursue us and to ultimately to suffer and to die, that we might have the gospel, that he's a light that shines in the darkness.
And last week, Spencer was talking about that his plan from the beginning of forever was to have the nations be glad, to sing his praises. And what I love about that is that it is not a begrudging submission, but that he wants to steal our hearts. That he wants the hearts of the globe so captivated with him, so overwhelmed by him, so joyous that they can't help but be glad, they can't help but sing songs of praise. That he, through the gospel and through his work on the cross, is going to redeem people for himself, that we have actual beautiful good news to share. That Jesus Christ, through his blood, saves sinners.
Now, I'm going to do something that's a little bit different for us, but I want this to be clear as we move into this text this morning, what we're going to try to see. I'm going to read a few statements to try to help us see clearly what it is that we're trying to look at today, what it is we're trying to cement in our minds, have become real in our hearts. As we study, and if you'll grab your Bibles and go to Matthew 9, that's where we'll be this morning. Matthew 9, we'll start in verse 35. Jesus is sending his disciples out, and then, like I said, there's a scarcity of resources. You only have so much time, so much energy.
Ultimately, you will die, and you will have spent the time, the energy, the money you had, the abilities you had on something. You'll have lived for something. You'll have died for something. And so Jesus is calling us to make wise choices with what we put on our plate. So Jesus, I want to read a few of these statements to try to help us see what we're trying to see today as we go through this text.
Jesus is of such supreme value that there is nothing in existence that can be sacrificed for him that will outweigh what is to be gained in him. He is of supreme, infinite, unmatched worth. Jesus is to be loved and treasured above all else. See, this is what he's showing them as he walks through this, as he sends them out. He's trying to help them understand his supreme value, his worth, the joy in knowing him in the gospel. There's nothing on earth of comparable value to Jesus.
And he eternally rewards those who follow him. This makes all human sacrifice for the cause of Christ wise investment rather than foolish risk. Not one thing laid down in devotion to Jesus or his mission to reach the globe with the good news of his suffering and salvation on their behalf is wasted or forgotten. If we love our earthly treasures more than Jesus, if we value them higher than him, we will not get Jesus. We will not deserve Jesus. We will be unworthy of him.
And we will gain something that proves worthless, losing what is eternally priceless. Because the one who loses everything to gain Jesus ultimately loses nothing and gains everything. To put it simply, Jesus is better than everything else and is therefore worth giving up everything for. So our goal today as we study this passage is to cement this truth in our hearts so that the eternal unmatched worth of Jesus might propel us to invest all that we have. To see those who don't know him receive him. And we might see his value and know the wisdom in the seemingly reckless way we're called to lay down everything in response to his call on our lives.
There was a very good professional cricketer. And I know that that means so much to the people in this room. In the late 1800s in England, cricket is like baseball but weirder because they flatten the bat out and they bounce the balls and they run back and forth. So just pretend that he's English baseball and then it makes more sense. But he was very good at it.
He was a professional. His name was C.T. Studd. He became a Christian, continued playing cricket and over time started realizing that what he was spending his time doing, what he was spending his life for, what he was spending his energy for, he decided it wasn't worth it. So he stepped away from it and ended up being a missionary in Africa, China and India.
He wrote a poem at one point and the refrain that he keeps coming back to in his poem is, Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. So as we walk through this passage in Matthew, as Jesus looks at his disciples and sends them out and he's going to give them specific coaching as to what that's going to look like.
And as we're thinking right now about what's on our plate and what matters most and what we're going to do with our money and what we're going to do with our time. And as we're thinking about joining with these people in Egypt who are giving up everything for the sake of the gospel and everything for the sake of the king. We're going to look at this and hopefully have the Lord stir in us his supreme value, his supreme worth, so that it only makes sense for us to have the appropriate response. That everything's on the table. So I would ask you.
All the Christians in the room. To pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help us see where we've made poor valuations. As we study this together this morning, so let's pray. God, we believe your word. We believe in eternity. So often we get focused on what we can see and feel.
So we ask that you'd help us to clearly see what we've put on our plates and what we've given up. The trades we've made. The value you have. So that we might live. As your people. In Jesus name.
Amen. So Matthew 9 verse 35. Says and Jesus went out, went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. So Jesus is going around. He's proclaiming the gospel of the gospel of the kingdom, which is that the kingdom is coming among you. And then he's displaying as he proclaims.
He's displaying the gospel because he's healing afflictions and diseases. And he's ultimately showing practically on earth what the gospel is going to do eternally, spiritually, that eventually there will be a place where Jesus reigns, where it is the fulfilled kingdom. And there won't be sickness and there won't be crying and there won't be death and there won't be pain. And so he goes through healing afflictions and sicknesses and disease to display. This is the kingdom. This is what it's going to look like as he proclaims the good news of the gospel.
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. My grandparents were missionaries in Nigeria. Most of us don't know much about sheep or goats or anything. I mean, unless you grew up on a goat farm. So most of us don't know much about sheep or goats.
It's not really an American thing. But in Nigeria, they had sheep and goats. And they said that when the tail is up, the brain is on. And when the tail is down, the brain is off because a lot of goats have their tail point up and they are intelligent. And sheep have their tails point down and they are stupid. So if you know sheep and Jesus says they're like sheep without a shepherd, what he's saying is they're in trouble without him.
That he ultimately sees these crowds and he sees how they're living their lives, that they're harassed, that they're helpless, that they are in the darkness and they need the light to shine in the darkness so that the darkness cannot overcome it. They need to be rescued. They need to be saved. They need to be cared for. And so he says he cares for them. He has compassion for them.
Then he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful. So he's looking at these harassed sheep. And now he changes and he says his harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. So what he says is there's plenty of people who need me.
But there aren't plenty of people who are going to go and tell them this amazing news. So I want us to take a second. And as earnestly as we can pray in about 20 seconds, I want us to ask, join Jesus in accomplishing what he's asking here. And let's pray to the Lord of the harvest that he'd send more people into his harvest. Let's pray for many.
Let's pray for the 1040 window. Let's pray for right here where the majority of the people in our area don't know Jesus. Heard of him. They don't know him. Let's pray that he would change hearts, that he would send more laborers.
Can we do that for 20 seconds? Amen. So he tells him to pray that he'd send more laborers into his harvest. And then it says this. And he called. This is chapter 10, verse 1.
He called to himself his 12 disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out to heal every disease and every affliction. The names of the 12 apostles are these. And then it lists them off specifically. And so what this is saying is that Jesus calls specific people to himself. He calls them specifically individuals with names and stories and backgrounds. He calls them specifically.
And then it says this. Verse 5. These 12 Jesus sent out. So they went from being learners, disciples, to being apostles, which means sent. He sent them out instructing them. And then we're going to get to see what the instructions were in a second.
But Jesus says pray that the Lord would send out laborers. And then he picks people and says prayer answered. Go. I hope that he does that with us. That he burdens us to begin praying. And then while you're praying, he taps you on the shoulder and says, pray your answer.
Bosnia. I just hope he does that. I hope he begins to work in our hearts that we would go, that he would say, you know that place you work? You know that giant mass of cubicles? You're an apostle now. You're sent.
That's what he does. And he calls people to himself that he might send them out. This is what he did with Ben Johnson. He shared this with us a week ago. That he was in school studying Bible. It was Bible school.
And this guy gets up and starts talking about the children of Ishmael. And Ben said, I started to weep. And then I left class. And I went home. And I continued to weep. And he's like, I didn't care anything about Muslims until that day.
But it was like a lightning bolt struck him. And Jesus said, go. So what he does. Calls specific people and sends them out. And so here's what we're going to do. We're going to read his specific instructions to them.
We can learn helpful things as we go through this. But they are specific instructions. So sometimes he tells you, go here, do this. This is where Christians sometimes get confused. Somebody will start arguing with you. Well, we're supposed to do this.
And it's like, maybe you're supposed to do that. We're supposed to proclaim the gospel. He told you to go there. He told me to go here. As long as we're going, as long as we're proclaiming. All right.
Verse five. These 12 Jesus sent out instructing them. Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And he says, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.
So he's telling them, you get to spread the gospel the way I have spread it. You get to push back on darkness. You received without paying, give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey or two tunics or sandals or a staff for the laborer deserves his food. So he says, go.
People will take care of you, but don't get rich off of this. Your goal is to not make money. To be provided for is fine. Whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it.
But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave the house or town. Truly, I say to you, it would be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. One of the things that's helpful to understand from this is he says, go. And go to the people who receive you. And the people who don't want to hear it and fight with you.
Go to the next house. Eventually, if a whole town tries to run you off, go to the next town. He's preparing people to receive this. One of the things our group prays for on a semi-regular basis is that he would send us to the people he's preparing. That he would send us to welcoming, open people. Verse 16.
Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. That's not very encouraging. He's saying this will be dangerous. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues. And you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.
When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say. For what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death and father his child and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. This is happening right now in the area we're trying to partner with.
One of the pastors in Lebanon, his wife divorced him after he became a Christian. The majority of the pushback that comes in some of those areas is from the families that are responding very negatively and poorly. It's people in their family becoming Christians. That's what Jesus is talking about. That brother will turn brother over. That father will turn son in.
That this will go poorly. For truly I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the son of man comes. A disciple is not above his teacher nor a servant above his master. It is not enough for the disciple to be. Is it not enough? It is enough.
Sorry. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, which Satan. How much more will they malign those of his household? John Child, this has been in the news the past couple of weeks. He's prepared to go as a missionary to a small island off of India where it is a group of people that have largely been untouched by everything.
It's a tribe there that they're not supposed to send missionaries to. He went. He had been before. Told them that he loved them and Jesus loved them. They shot an arrow at him. It stuck in his Bible.
He got back in his boat. Decided to go back. All we basically know is that he landed at night and they were dragging his body back out and laying it on the shore in the morning. There's been a general reaction in our culture that this is ridiculous. First of all, he's a fool. Secondly, Christians are imperialists trying to force their ideas on other people and just leave them alone.
And I say if our ideas are that there's an eternal hell and a saving king who died to redeem us from our sins, imperialize away. We don't have to outsource capitalism. We don't have to outsource westernism. We don't have to convince them of anything other than what's here. But what's here is such good news.
But he was hated. So is his savior. He was killed. So is his master. We shouldn't be surprised. We should keep going.
So he says. He told them to beware. Be aware. Be aware they're not going to like you. Be aware they're going to hate you. And then he says this.
So have no fear of them. So be aware of them. Be wise as a serpent. But have no fear. For nothing is covered that will not be revealed. Or hidden.
That will not be known. What I tell you in the dark say in the light. And what you hear whispered. Proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear. Those who kill the body.
But cannot kill the soul. Okay. I think that's one of those sayings that we hear Jesus say. And we're like hmm. Because Jesus gets away with saying things. And I think we've gotten used to hearing him say things.
But did you hear what he just said? Killing the body is one of the things that we're in general kind of afraid of you guys. Like that's kind of a big deal. Is that your body would be killed. Like if you were looking for homes. And you were with a real estate agent.
And they took you to this area. And you said. Now isn't this kind of a rough area? Is this like a house? This neighborhood? Is it kind of dangerous?
And they said. Don't worry about this neighborhood. Don't be afraid to live here. All they do in this neighborhood is kill the body. Excuse me. What?
They'll just kill your body. They can't touch your soul. Also we do need you to sign some paperwork that says once they kill your body. We can immediately put this back on the market. Because that's actually how this just came open. But have you seen the countertops?
Like you would be like. Okay. I'm going to need a new real estate agent. Because this one is crazy. Also probably don't want to live in this neighborhood. But when Jesus says this to his disciples.
He says don't fear them. All they can do is kill the body. He's speaking as if he has seen and known eternity. It's as if he knows the limited amount of time that we are here. And the infinite mass of eternity. And the infinite worth of his glory and his name.
It's as if his perspective is so different from ours. And then he continues and helps clarify this for us. And it is different from ours. Do not fear those who kill the body. But cannot kill the soul.
Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. He says no, no, no, no. The worst thing that tribe can do. The worst thing they can do. Is get your heart to stop pumping. And drag a limp carcass back out onto the beach.
Let me tell you who to fear. There's a king of the universe. Who ought to be so supreme. Because you understand. That he doesn't just hold bodies and breath. But he holds souls and eternity.
And he says he'll destroy souls in hell. And one of the things that we've done in the American church. Is we've kind of responded with like. Well we don't want to talk about hell. Because we don't want to be offensive. And we just want to talk about God's love.
And let me explain something to you. If you're a Christian and you believe in hell. Do you know how absolutely unloving it is to not talk about that? To not share that with people. To not explain to them the reality of an eternity without God. He says I'll tell you what to be afraid of.
There's an eternity coming that could come at any moment. It's wet outside. It could come today. You could turn onto a road. Someone could slide through. And you could be entering into eternity.
And let me explain something to you. An SUV can kill your body. But there is a king who rules your soul. That's what Jesus says. He says let me tell you what to be afraid of. You can get a house in any neighborhood you want.
The worst thing they can do is kill your body. But there's a gospel to be proclaimed. That has to do with souls. And there is a hell that is a reality. Where the flame does not die. The worm does not die.
And it is not quenched forever. And I have come to redeem you from that. I've come to die. To take that onto my own back. And all we're supposed to do is go proclaim this reality. So he says I'll tell you what to fear.
But then listen to what he says. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Now that doesn't translate well into English. Can't you get a rotisserie chicken from Costco for five dollars? Isn't there a chicken plant in West Columbia? Next to some really nice apartments that's stinking the place up.
Chickens are rolling through. You see those big trucks? I see them in West Columbia and I say sorry buddy I know where you're headed. And later I'll see you at Egg Roll Station. What he's saying is. That's what it translates to.
Don't chickens die all the time? And then listen to what he says. Not one of them will fall to the ground. A cart from your father. There's not a chicken that's died at that plant that didn't die at the will of the father. That's why I don't mind eating meat.
Because God was in control of that. He oversees all this. And so what Jesus is saying is there's a king who rules eternity. And let me explain something to you. You when you follow after him will die at the exact moment that his will allows it. And not a moment before and not a moment after.
That you can say I'm going to this people group. I'm going to this people. That John Chow died the exact moment that the Lord was ready for him to die. That his blood was spilled to the exact ounce that it was supposed to be spilled to. And that we can send another missionary. And we can send another person.
And they will last as long as the Lord wants them to last. But he has a kingdom that will reign forever. And he will claim those whom he's going to claim. That we're told in Revelation chapter 5 and 7 that there will be people from all nations around that throne. Not all the people. But there will be people from all nations.
And if that is a distinct people group on that island I can tell you one thing. Somebody from that island will be proclaiming that Jesus is king around the throne. Because I've seen it in Revelation 5 and Revelation 7. You see. There is a reality to a heaven and a hell and an eternity. But there is a God who rules over it.
Verse 30. Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Not counted. Numbers. Fear not. Therefore.
You are of more value than many sparrows. So. Everyone who acknowledges me before men. I will acknowledge before my father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men.
I will also deny before my father who is in heaven. Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. That's a downer at Christmas time. Peace on earth and mercy my Lord. But he says.
I have not come to bring peace to the earth. I have come to bring not peace but a sword. That would be a different song. Swords on earth. It just doesn't have the same. Net King Kull can't make it work.
I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father. And a daughter against her mother. And a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A person's enemies will be those of his own household. Jesus demands singular allegiance.
So that when he enters into a household. And you place your faith in Jesus. And your parents say we're going to need you to stop. When Muslims are coming to Christ. And their parents say you don't belong to us anymore. The son or daughter who's placed their faith in Jesus.
Is supposed to say you're right. I have a new father. I've been purchased by a different brother. Now I want you to know him. But I want him more than I want you.
What's happening in our culture. As we shift away from Christianity. Is it happening in reverse. That there are a lot of parents who love Jesus. Whose children are saying I don't want this. I don't want you to try to push it on me.
I don't want you to try to tell me about this. I don't care. Where we decide. What are we holding with a closed hand. And what are we holding with an open hand. What are we going to try to cling to.
A person's enemy will be those of his own household. 37. Whoever loves father or mother more than me. Is not worthy of me. And whoever loves son or daughter more than me. Is not worthy of me.
And whoever does not take his own cross. And follow me. Is not worthy of me. Jesus says I am of such supreme. And matchless value. That if you think you can put anything else on the scale.
And it's going to even out. You are wrong. You have done the equation incorrectly. You have not seen me. Fully. You are not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it. And whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. You got a plate. And so many of us are running around trying to find life. Trying to find something that's enough. We're trying to find something that will fill us up.
We're trying to find something that at the end of the day. We can hang our hat on. That we can say this is enough. This makes me good. We're trying to find our life. And what he says is.
If you run around doing that ultimately. You will get to the end of the days. You will enter into eternity. And if you have piled your plate with anything other than Jesus. You've lost it. But whoever will take their plate.
Turn it sideways. Hand it to Jesus. And say whatever you want. You'll get more life than you ever understand. During World War II there was a poem that was written in it. And it says this.
It says some men die by shrapnel. Some men die by flames. Most men die inch by inch. Playing silly little games. See the truth is. You are going to live your life for something.
And you are declaring with every moment. That that something is also worth dying for. You are living your life for something. Your heartbeats are going to something. Your energy is going to something. Your talent is going to something.
Your treasure is going to something. And Jesus is ultimately. He's the only thing worth laying everything on the altar for. This is why in the American church. Where we've begun to teach our children. That security and safety is primary.
I want us to know. That as we do that. As we proclaim that with our lives. And our decisions to our children. We are lying about the gospel. Because Jesus says there are some things worth dying for.
And I'm not saying. You need to just put your children in undue risk. But I am saying. That there are some things worth risking for. The idea that you can't be a missionary. Because you have children.
Is false. Is false. 40. Whoever receives you. Receives me. And whoever receives me.
Receives him who sent me. That's why we go. Because if they'll receive you. And the proclamation of the gospel. They get Jesus. And if they get Jesus.
They get the father. And they get everything. That's why we send a John Chow. That's why C.T. Studd was right. To put down that crooked flat baseball bat.
And go do something else. Because if they'll receive him. They'll get Jesus. He's of infinite worth. The one who receives a prophet. Because he is a prophet.
Will receive a prophet's reward. The one who receives a righteous person. Because he is a righteous person. Will receive a righteous person's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones. Even a cup of cold water.
A phone card. A tuk-tuk. Because he is a disciple. Truly I say to you. He will by no means lose his reward. Jesus says there's not a thing that's wasted or forgotten.
That will extend into eternity. Won't be forgotten. See Jesus doesn't ever look at us and say. Don't want reward. He says fools. There's an eternity of reward.
Why are you spending it all here? If you went to stay four nights in a holiday inn. After your first night you thought. You know these sheets are scratchy. These countertops are lame. And that wall art is terrible.
Putting in new countertops. I'm buying new sheets. I'm going to get a better bed in here. Eventually even the people that own the hotel will be like. Thanks but are you a moron? You're only here for four days.
Why are you tricking out this hotel room? And that's what Jesus is looking at them and saying. Go for the real reward. Make an investment. That continues to turn over. Make something that doesn't waste.
And doesn't go away. I'm telling you even a cup of cold water in for God. Go somewhere where the reward is matchless. Jim Elliott. Was a missionary. Got a lot of things that rhyme today.
Because they help stick in my brain. These are things that have stuck with me for a while. But Jim Elliott. I'm sorry. I introed it that way. This doesn't rhyme.
Jim Elliott was a missionary. He showed up to a place. They got off on the land. And were immediately met by the people there. And killed. It found written in his journal prior to this.
It said he is no fool. Will give up. That which he cannot keep. To gain. That which he cannot lose. I want to tell you all a story.
About some Swedish missionaries. To the Congo. They went to the Congo. This was in 1921. There were two couples. Joel and Bertha Erickson.
And David and Savia Flood. David and Savia had a son. It was a two year old named David. They had been there for a couple years. And Joel and Bertha came to David and Savia. And said hey.
We're leaving. This is a waste of time. God has abandoned this. I don't know. He's not in it. And David looked at Joel and said.
There's that one boy. That we've led to the Lord. And Joel said. Yeah one boy. We're going to die of malnutrition. Or malaria.
And we don't even really know. If he understands what we're talking about. So Joel looked at David and said. Bertha and I are leaving. We want y'all to leave too. And David and Savia said.
We're not leaving. Joel and Bertha left. They didn't go all the way back to. They were from Sweden. They didn't go. Switzerland.
Sweden. Sorry. They didn't go all the way back. They went to. A kind of a mission outpost. Still in the Congo.
But not in the area they were in. It was more dangerous. So David and Savia continue to work. Savia gets pregnant. Has a daughter. Named Ana.
And when she's 17 days old. Savia dies. Of malaria. And complications from birth. David digs her grave. Standing over her grave.
Decides. God has forsaken this. This was a waste. And I'm done. Going back home. Starting my life over.
He goes back to the mission outpost. Joel and Bertha. Beg him. To not take. His newborn baby girl. With him.
Says she won't make the journey. It's 1921. It was a very difficult journey. From there. Back to Europe. So begrudgingly.
Takes his son David. And he leaves. Then about eight months. Joel and Bertha die. David's little girl. Is adopted by some American missionaries.
Who name her Agnes. Eventually. She grows up in this home. Eventually they leave. They go back to America. She gets married.
On her 25th wedding anniversary. She raises up enough money. To go. Visit her dad. Her birth dad. For the first time ever.
He's 73 years old. He's. Consigned to a chair. Because he's had. Some strokes. She goes in to see him.
He hugs her. He says. I'm so sorry. I didn't want to have to. She says. It's fine.
God took care of me. This he tensed up. And said. No. God abandoned us. She said.
No. There are right now. About 600 Africans. That we know about. In the Congo. Who know Jesus.
That little boy. Grew up. And he led. His entire village. To the Lord. And we know.
About 600. It wasn't a waste. And God didn't abandon. A couple years later. She gets to go to an evangel. An evangelism conference.
In England. There's somebody there. From the Congo. Who is standing up. And declaring. That there are.
10,000 Believers. In the Republic of Congo. Who now follow Jesus. He talks about the work. Being done there. The church is being planted.
When he gets down. She goes over to him. And she says. Sir. Have you ever heard. Of David.
And Sibia Flood. He says. Ma'am. Sibia Flood. Led me to the Lord. She said.
Sibia Flood. My mom. And immediately. He started crying. And said. Thank you so much.
For letting your mom die. So that we can live. They later. Went back. With him. To that spot.
He knew where the grave was. So he showed her the grave. They gathered a church there. To proclaim. The goodness of Jesus. And the pastor taught.
From John 12. 24. And I'm going to read it to you. Truly. Truly. I say to you.
Unless a grain of wheat. Falls into the earth. And dies. It remains alone. But if it dies.
It bears much fruit. Jesus looks at his disciples. And he says. If you won't pick up your cross. And follow me. You're not worthy of me.
And we have. To die. To our schedules. And our agendas. And our wallets. And our plans for our life.
And hold out our plate to the Lord. And say. What do you want? Because it's worth it. He's worth it. And one day.
There might be. Two people. That are in eternity. Because we poured out everything we had. There might be. One person.
That's in eternity. That's before the king. That is not spending. An eternity in hell. That is in. Gathered around the throne.
There might be two. There might be ten. There might be ten. Thousand. That are proclaiming. The name of our king.
That are joyously singing. With the rest of the nations. Glad songs of praise. Because God has so captivated. Their souls. And captured their hearts.
And we. Get to be a part of that. When God invites us. Into mission. Into service. Into sacrifice.
It is an invitation. Into so much more. It's not even a cold cup of waters. For God. As we finish up today. I just want us to take a minute.
A minute to listen. To the Holy Spirit. That if you. As we've been here this morning. If the Holy Spirit's been working on you. Maybe he's been working on you for months.
Maybe he's been talking to you for months. Maybe he's been nagging. And working in your soul for years. We know that we're sent. That's true for the church. But there are times.
When he calls out names. Specific. Men and women. And says I want you to go. I want you to go here. For this purpose.
For my purpose. And if he's doing that. I want you to listen. Because it's an invitation. Into living a life. For his matchless worth.
Some of us. He's pressing on us. Just because we're not even willing. To go across the street. Or go at work. And I want you to listen.
Listen. I want us to think. For just a second. If you can. If you can close your eyes. And picture your life.
And if you can picture. What you've put on your schedule. What you spend your money for. Where all of your energy. And ability. And intelligence goes.
And want us to ask. Have I filled my plate. With the right stuff. Do I live. As if I understand. The weight.
And the reality. Of eternity. I don't always. Fully believe this. In my soul. I don't always have it.
I wrestle. And I struggle. Because I'm weak. But I can definitively. Tell you that it's worth it. Whatever the Lord's.
Pressing on you. Whatever he's asking you. That feels like a sacrifice. At this moment. It's worth it. That feels like a loss.
At this moment. It's worth it. He tells his disciples. There's not a single thing. That's given up. That isn't given.
A hundred fold. In eternity. And a hundred fold. Here with suffering. That we. Enter into joy.
And gladness. Here with suffering. And eternity. There's no pain. There's no crying. There's no.
None of that anymore. There's no. There's no. There's no. There's no. I don't know.
What the Lord may be saying. Right now to you. I just know you ought to listen. I know if he's leading you to repent. If he's leading you to confess. If there's somebody you need to talk to.
I know you need to do that. If he's leading you to. Open your wallet. Or open your schedule. If he's telling you right now. Somebody you're supposed to go share the gospel with.
I don't know. But we're going to take a minute to just try to listen. Some of you right now. Need to realize the weight of eternity. And for the first time ever. Turn your life over to Jesus.
And just say I'm yours. I trust that you died for me. I need you to pay for my sin. Because I don't want to stand before you. And have to pay for it on my own. And I need you to change me.
I need you to rescue me. But I know as a church. That we ought to give. And we ought to go. And that none of it's wasted. Not a minute.
Not a dime. Not an entire life. That if you live to be 85. And spend your whole time pursuing Jesus. It wasn't wasted. And if you are killed at the hands of people.
Who hate Jesus. And hate the gospel. In the next year. It was not wasted. God we ask right now. That we would listen.
That we would yield. That some of us right now. Would begin to clean off. All the stuff we've piled on our plate. And we would just hold it out to you. And say.
What do you want? What do you want here? Jesus we trust you. You died to save sinners. We can do nothing to make ourselves. Redeemed.
Or fixed. Or saved. You've done all of that. And we ask that in a correct. And appropriate response to that. That we would live our lives.
As if eternity was real. Working us in this next moment. We're going to sit. For just a minute listening. And then. We'll stand and sing together.
For just a minute. And I'll see you here. Thank you. Thank you.
Let the Nations be Glad
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Spencer. I'm one of the pastors here with Mill City Church. We are going to be in Psalm 67 today, which is on page 275 in a blue Bible that is in front of you or beside you. If you don't have a Bible at home, please take that. That is our gift to you.
We want you to be able to have a Bible that you can read at home. We'll be walking through Psalm 67 today. We are in our gift series. Every year around this time, we pause to walk through this gift series because this time every year, collectively as a culture, we kind of lose our minds. We kind of get really materialistic and get obsessed with things. And every year around this time, we want to pause and say, no, for those of us that are called in Christ, we don't become obsessed with things.
God has called us to generosity. And then every year we walk through this to be reminded that we are called as Christians to be generous. And around this time every year, we also do a give project. And we've had different give projects over the years. A few years back, we were able to partner with a church plant in Chattanooga. Last year, we partnered with a church plant locally in Two Notch.
We've helped a women's shelter in the past. This year is a little less tangible because we are partnering with 1040 Hope, which is the organization that Ben and Patricia Johnson, who are members of our church, that you'll hear more from a little bit later. We're partnering with 1040 Hope specifically to help a church plant in Minya, Egypt, that we might cover all of next year's budget. And we're excited about partnering with this to see God bless the nations. And that's where we're going today in our text as we continue this gift series. So, Psalm 67.
You can go ahead and flip there. We'll jump to that in a minute. Have you ever pictured, ever wondered what eternity is going to look like? Have you ever thought about what heaven is going to be like? I feel like we do this a little bit. And sometimes when we do this, we picture heaven filled with some of our favorite hobbies.
Like if you like football, and maybe you're a Gamecock fan, it's like maybe in heaven, maybe in eternity, there's football, maybe there's some Gamecocks that are playing, and they actually win games consistently. Not excellent, just very good, never disappointing you. Maybe you're like me and you love music, but you're not really gifted in that department. And eternity is filled with maybe like, for me, it's like Matt Freeman invites me to come help lead worship, and I pick up a guitar and I start playing, and I can actually play. And I sing. And it sounds like poetic joy coming from my vocal cords, which is not exactly what happens when I sing now.
Maybe it's filled with food. I know that we have some biblical pictures of it being a feast, and I like to think it's kind of like Thanksgiving, except you don't feel terrible after you eat it. We fill it with hobbies. We fill it with pictures of loved ones, grandparents that have gone on, parents that we've lost, friends that we've lost, that we might be reunited with them again. Sometimes we have biblical pictures of what heaven is going to be like. We focus on what worship will be like, that we get to eternally worship the King, that we get to be in the presence of the Lord, that there's going to be a place of no more pain, of no more suffering.
Maybe we extend that picture even further, realizing that heaven is temporary, it is going to come down. There's going to be a new heavens and a new earth, and that Revelation 21 will be fully realized, that we'll be in the presence of God as He rules, and as He reigns for eternity. But we have this, and we do this. We picture what heaven is going to be like. So if you've done this, or if you haven't done this in a while, I want to give you a few moments to picture what eternity is going to be like.
Now, I want you to be honest. Who were the people that were there? What did they look like? Did they look like us? You see, often when I've done this, my picture has been incomplete. Because in my mind, I've welcomed family, and church family, which is a beautiful picture of what eternity gets to be like, and that's awesome.
But what I've failed to realize is that there is extended family, extended church family, every tribe, every tongue, every nation, that doesn't fit into my picture. That oftentimes, when I've sat down for the feast, and when I think through it, I think through the good southern comfort food that's going to be there. But what I've failed to realize is there's going to be plantains, there's going to be all kinds of other foods like curry that I don't picture in the feast in eternity. The music that I like to picture of what eternity is going to be like, it's indie rock music, which is kind of my thing.
Not some of your things, but that's my thing. But what I've failed to realize is there's going to be African drumbeats, there's going to be Indian sitars, it's going to be filled with the nations praising God. And I think that many of us have a muted picture of what eternity is going to be like. And I think that is in part to our incomplete view of mission. That we have a muted picture of eternity, and it's due to our incomplete picture of mission. So today, I want to fill this picture.
I want to fill this picture up and expand our scope for what mission is supposed to be as we walk through Psalm 67. What we're going to see is God's purpose in salvation is to claim all the praises from all the nations. That all people groups, that all nations will be in the presence of God joyously praising who He is for eternity with us. And because of this, as we walk this out of the church family, may we be motivated to see Chechens and Tibetans and Uzbeks and every tribe and every tongue being glad in the presence of God because we join God in the mission to see Him reach every tribe, every tongue, every nation with our focus, with our prayers, with our time, and with our money.
So I'm going to walk through Psalm 67. I'll pray. Then we'll jump in. Verse 1, May God be gracious to us and bless us. May His face shine upon us. Selah.
Selah, as we walk through in our Psalm series, we don't really know what it means. It could be a pause. It's just in the Psalms regularly. That your way may be known on earth, that you're saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise you, O God. Let all the peoples praise you.
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy for you. Judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah. Let the peoples praise you, O God. Let all the peoples praise you. The earth has yielded its increase.
God, our God, shall bless us. God shall bless us. Let all the ends of the earth fear Him. Let's pray. God, I pray that you would fill this picture up for us, that our picture of mission may be expanded in such a beautiful and joyous way as we look at how your heart and your hope is that all the nations may be glad. God, help us be present this morning and speak to us and go to work on us.
In Jesus' name, Amen. All right, so verse 1 says, May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us. I love what the psalmist does here. He's getting ready to take this Psalm and show God's heart for the nations, but what he does is he takes a traditional Jewish blessing that was meant only for the Jewish people. This, may God be gracious to us and bless us, make His face shine upon us. This comes from number 6.
It was a priestly blessing for the people of Israel and what he's doing, he's taking a traditional Jewish-only blessing and he's expanding it for the nations. He's getting them to pray bigger, to think bigger. In college, a buddy of mine, we were praying specifically for a fraternity called Pike, which was notorious for having the most, the wildest, really the most just lost people and Matt Freeman, who was voted four years in a row the worst fraternity member, Pike. But we were praying that God would go to work and I remember praying something that I thought was so bold. I said, God, may you, homecoming weekend was coming up and a lot of alumni were coming back and I was thinking, God, may you change Pike so much, may they be turned over for the gospel so that when the alumni come and see it, they'd be disappointed.
They'd be disappointed because it looked nothing like they used to remember. And then my buddy, he one-upped me and he said, God, may you also change the alumni that they would love Jesus and come back and be glad to see the fraternity be changed by the gospel. And when he did that, I was a little bit offended because he just dunked on my prayer. But it just, it reminded me how small our prayers can be, that it needs to be expanded to pray bigger and that's what the psalmist is doing here. He's inviting them to think bigger, that God is going to bless all of the nations and we need that too because I think we're really good at praying for the person across the street but we don't pray for the lost people across the world.
So, comes to verse 2, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations. Now there are two really important words in this verse that help us understand what God is doing here. The first one is the word that. That is a big shift here. That is a word of purpose. May God bless Israel so that they may be a blessing to the nations. that they may display God's saving power to the nations because Israel was chosen and raised up to be a nation that would be an ambassador of God's saving power.
That's what you get from Isaiah 49, 6 when it says, but I will make you, Israel, a light to the nations so that all the world may be saved. They were supposed to be an ambassador of God's glory. Ambassadors are supposed to represent the best of where they come from. The best of their nation. We've sent out really good ambassadors. I think of John Huntsman and Nikki Haley who we've sent out to be ambassadors of our country to foreign nations.
But we also have some bad ones and some unofficial really bad ones. I don't know if you know this, but Dennis Rodman is our unofficial ambassador to the People's Republic of North Korea. He hangs out with King Jumun and they talk and watch basketball and laugh and he speaks on behalf of the American people which is kind of scary because Dennis Rodman's crazy. I don't know if you don't know who he is. He won titles with Michael Jordan. Also married himself.
Very crazy person. If you don't know who Dennis Rodman is, go back, Google the 90s. It's more than the Backstreet Boys and Friends. There's a whole lot going on there and Dennis Rodman was a big figure in the 90s and he represents unofficially our country. That's a little scary. He's a poor ambassador for what we stand for and Israel fell into the same trap over and over again.
They were driven away by idols. They did not represent God's glory well. They were chosen that this is what we walk through in Genesis when God raises up Abraham. They were chosen as a people that might reflect the glory of God to the surrounding nations and that's the second big word we need to understand is the word nations. Decades ago there was a movement in theological studies to understand what this word means because generally what it's been understood to mean is bigger nations like the United States like Nicaragua. But as they studied this more as they zoomed in more on this word what it actually came to realize is it's more specific.
It means people groups. People groups. Peoples that are unified by a common language by a common culture. So it's not just God is going after the nation of Indonesia that has 242 million people most of them who are Muslim. He's not going after Indonesia. He's going after the 300 plus people groups that make up the country of Indonesia.
God is specific. Hear this. He's specific in his battle plan. And taking back ground from the kingdom of darkness God is very specific in how he goes to war. In World War II and the Pacific Wars both my grandfathers fought in the Pacific Wars. One of them was a boilermaker on a ship.
The other one was an original member of Navy SEAL Team 6. The dude was bathabony. He'd jump off ships and swim for miles and scout out bombs. But they were both a part of the Pacific Wars and what was cool about the Pacific Wars is we didn't have this general plan that we're just going to fight the Japanese and win it. Then it was really specific.
It went sea by sea we're going to conquer ground. Island by island we're going to take back islands all the way to Tokyo because that's how wars are won. They are won with specificity. And God is taking back ground people group by people group. He is taking back ground from the kingdom of darkness. It is the reason why Ben Johnson who you hear from in a little bit was called over a decade ago to go to Lebanon to go to a foreign place that he might proclaim God's saving power to the Lebanese people.
It is the reason why church planting teams are raised up that they might plant churches in darker places like the region of Chechnya to see Chechnyans experience the glory of God. It's the reason why teams are raised up that they might smuggle Bibles into the hands of Tibetans which is one of the hardest to reach places in the world. It is the reason why translators spend 26 years translating the Bible into people groups into the language of the Alun people in Indonesia that they might actually have a Bible that they can read in their own language. God is taking ground people group by people group and he is very specific in how he is reaching this whole world.
We see God's specific plan and we see it all the way back to how the psalmist is describing this here. He says, that your way may be known on earth your saving power among all nations. Verse 3 Let the peoples praise you, O God. Like, take a minute and soak in that. The psalmist is overwhelming with joy that God's saving power might make the nations be glad. He says, let all the peoples praise you with an exclamation point.
There's so much anticipation to see this gospel advance. Like a kid on Christmas morning who's looking forward to seeing what's going to happen. There's so much anticipation to see God's mission unfold. That was the hope that comes all the way back to Psalm 67. But as we've seen before in the nation of Israel they did not fulfill this hope well.
They were driven by idols. They abandoned God. And that the light that they were in reflecting God's glory started to go away. Light was being snuffed out. Hope was starting to grow very dim until at the darkest point of creation in a town of Bethlehem light entered the world. And then what we see is that Jesus' entire life is the fulfillment of Psalm 67.
That when Jesus was born he had three foreigners three magi who came and visited him declaring that he was the king. And it starts to tip the hand that this blessing is going to expand further. It's the reason why Jesus in his ministry he specifically goes to a Samaritan woman and reveals to her that he is the Messiah that he is God and that the Samaritan people are going to be brought into this faith. It's the reason why when he looks at a Roman centurion the very person who represented the oppression of the Jewish people and points to a Roman centurion and says who has more faith than this man here?
He starts tipping his hand. He takes all of that work to the cross where he dies for all peoples everywhere. And he conquers death at the resurrection. And then after the resurrection before he ascends he tells the disciples and the followers of Jesus go make disciples of all nations of all people groups. and then the Holy Spirit falls upon the church in the book of Acts and then we start to see God's plan unfolding. Then in Acts 8 we see northern Africans the Ethiopian unit get exposed to the gospel.
In Acts 10 we see Romans like Cornelius who get exposed and believe in Jesus. We see Syrians who trust in Jesus in Acts 11. We see Cyprians in Acts 13. We see Greeks in Acts 17. And people group by people group let the nations be glad becomes the refrain of the mission of God. And the psalmist continues in verse 4 it says let the nations be glad and sing for joy for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
Selah. Let the peoples praise you oh God let all the peoples praise you. And nations are reached and churches are planted and new people groups are exposed to the gospel and there's a succession of believers and church plants that gets all the way to how we are in this room today. And then over time what starts to happen is that for those of us who have been exposed to the gospel churches denominations and people groups what happens over time is we start to forget that we are called to join our father in this mission to make all the nations be glad. And guys we are missing out. We are missing out on this mission.
Light in the Darkness
Transcript
Good morning. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. This is the first week of our Give Series. I'm always excited about this time of year, love this time of year. This past week, our church got to, kind of led by the Kitty Wake Group, and Charlie Earp got to go to the Gentle Pines area with Turner AME, and was able to, on Thanksgiving Day, give out about 150 to 200 meals.
And so that's a really cool thing that gets to happen this time of year. And we get to start our Give Series this time of year. It's just a good time of year. I like Christmas. I like that it's cold. I like Christmas lights.
I like that all the food this time of year turns into meat and carbohydrates. Like, that's it. Like, if you play your cards right, you won't have to eat a vegetable again until the New Year. I mean, and if you do, it'll be like sweet potatoes, and they're going to put some, like, you know, pecans and brown sugar on top of that thing. So just eat the top and, you know, smush the rest of it around.
Like, it's going to be good. So we, in our Give Series, always try to rally our church towards generosity. It's what Spencer was saying earlier, that we're gospel people, that Jesus has changed us, and therefore we ought to live with a gospel generosity. That it's how he has given to us and how he has sacrificed for us, and that Christmas is this picture of him giving up heaven so that we might be welcomed in, and so that we get to join in that at this time. So grab your Bibles.
Go to Isaiah chapter 8. What we're going to do today is we're going to talk through some stuff, and then we're going to intro what our gift project is for this year, how we're kind of joining together and rallying together to give our money away for the purposes of seeing God work and seeing him work in us to change our hearts, because it's so easy for us to get caught up in consumerism and to get caught up in what I have defines me and that what I own is what brings me joy, and the Bible says none of that is true, but that our money is tied to our hearts, and so it's helpful for us to send some of our money away to help change our hearts. When I was about four or five, I was at my grandmother's house. My grandparents' names are Iya and Baba.
They were missionaries to Nigeria, and those are Nigerian grandmother and grandfather in Yoruba, and so I was at my Iya and Baba's house, and they had a fairly large house. He was a doctor, and we have a fairly large family, so it was all my aunts and uncles and all my cousins. There's like 13 of us. I was like four or five, so we were all over the place and running around, and at some point I went into their pantry, and their pantry is underneath a stairwell, so it's kind of like the thing that Harry Potter lived in, and so I went kind of into the back of the pantry. I don't know what I was doing.
My guess is trying to swipe some food, and the door closed behind me. I didn't have the light in the pantry on. I was just using the light that was coming in from the doorway, and so the door closes behind me. I don't know if somebody walked through that. It was kind of in the hallway under a stairwell, so I don't know if somebody walked through and just closed the door because why it shouldn't be open, or if I, being four, didn't know that it was just going to close behind me, but it closes behind me. It's pitch black.
They did have a light bulb with a string, conveniently adult height, and so there was no getting to that, although I tried, and then went to the door, and it was locked, and so I began to handle it really well as a four-year-old, scream and cry and bang on the door and yell for help, and nobody could hear me because they were all having a festive time two rooms away enjoying their Christmas shenanigans, and so I was in a closet in the pitch black with the inability to turn the light on and no ability to get out for an extended period of time until they... My mom doesn't remember how long I was in there. She said it was long enough for them to count up children and go, wait a second, we're missing one, which in this house, while everybody's running around playing, was a fairly long time. I was four, so it was ten years.
I was in a closet for ten years because that's how time works when you're four. I almost died in there. I didn't have a can opener. There was no way to get to the food that I was looking for. It was pitch black. They finally come around looking.
They hear me yelling. They open the door. I'm red-faced and crying, and they were like, did you yell? I was like, yeah, yeah. You know, intelligent, helpful four-year-old things. And what the Bible tells us about the state of humanity is that without Jesus, without God at work on our behalf, all of us are as effectively trapped as a four-year-old in a closet, that we are in the dark with no ability to fix our situation, no ability to turn the light on on our own, no ability to open the door on our own, no ability to do anything, but fumble around in the darkness and eventually die.
That is the beautiful beginning of the story to Christmas. It starts off very bleak and very dark and very painful and very hopeless, and then we get the hope and the joy and the peace that comes along with Christmas. Now, culturally, it's a little weird because if you remove Christ from Christmas, and I'm not just talking about putting an X on your sign at your store, I'm talking about if you remove Jesus as the centerpiece and the hope of Christmas, you don't actually have the hope anymore. It's flimsy. It won't hold the weight of the darkness that surrounds it. It can't fix the problem.
If you replace it with, you know, goodwill towards man, or peace, or just some generosity, or Santa Claus. Like, it can't handle the amount of darkness, the amount of hopelessness. That's why this time of year is collectively all of us kind of locking arms and saying, okay, be good to people, be kind to people, because we all realize that we're not. We don't have it together. We're not. This isn't, the world doesn't work the way it ought to, and some people get very, very depressed at this time of year because they can see the hopelessness, but no real reason for hope.
Isaiah 8. Isaiah is a prophet. He's speaking into a similar time where there's just rampant sin, there's darkness, there's hopelessness. He's in the bottom kingdom. He's in Judah at this time. So the kingdom of Israel was one kingdom for Saul, David, Solomon, and then it broke in half after Solomon.
You had the top kingdom of Israel with the top ten tribes, and then you had the bottom kingdom, Judah, with two tribes. Judah had some good kings. Israel had no good kings. They never got it together. Judah had some, but this is Ahaz, is the king now in Judah, and he is not a good one. The way 2 Kings describes him, it says, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, his God, as his father David had done, but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel.
He even burned his son as an offering according to the despicable practices the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. And he sacrificed and made offerings on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree. That's what it says in 2 Kings about King Ahaz, that it's the king at this point, that there was worship, it's rampant everywhere. Worship was all over the place, under every green tree they were worshiping something. He even sacrifices his son as an offering. And this is what Isaiah is speaking into this climate, into this time, with this king leading them in utter darkness.
Isaiah 8, verse 11. Let's look. It says, For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy and do not fear what they fear nor be in dread, but the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, let him be your dread, and he will become a sanctuary. All right, did you hear that?
He says, Don't go along with these people being afraid of everything they're afraid of and calling everything that they call a conspiracy. He says, Let the Lord be your dread. Doesn't that sound like a nice invitation? God's like, I'll tell you what to be afraid of. Me. And you're like, Okay, that sounds a little heavy-handed.
That's a little crazy. And then he says, Then I'll be a sanctuary. Because when we have God as the most fearful, most holy, most revered being in the universe, everything else is so much smaller. Everything else is so less fearful. My dad, when we were little, and we'd be like, Dad, there's a monster in my closet. Dad, there's something scary in here.
He'd come in. He would look. He'd go look in the closet. He'd look under the bed. He'd say, No, there's not. He'd go, Watch.
It's just because it's dark. You're scared. He'd turn the light off. And then he'd go, Oh, wait. No, it came back. Oh, no.
It's huge. It's got a closet. It's getting right. Oh, it's right near your face. And then he would turn the light on and go, Oh, no. It was dark.
That was our imagination. There's no monster here. He would come in a couple of times to check. You know, you keep saying, No, it's back. It's scary. Whatever.
Eventually, he would come in and say, Look, I am the scariest thing in this house. And you need to be way more afraid of coming and telling me one more time to look in this room because there is nothing in here that is scary. And I'm down the hall and I'm very scary. And then we would go to sleep because our father was scarier than the monster we were sure was there. And that's what God's saying. He's saying, If I'm dreadful, then you're free.
But that's what happens in culture. That's what happens in life. When God gets removed, everything else becomes scary. And I love that he says, Don't call everything a conspiracy. These people call it conspiracy because it wasn't just before YouTube. That conspiracies were everywhere.
YouTube just helps us find them better. But haven't y'all seen this? It's not YouTube, y'all. It's CNN and Fox News. Do you remember when Barack Obama was president and how many things you heard about what he was secretly trying to do? And what he was going to, what was going to happen around election time and what was going to happen and he was going to do this and there was something with the military and you had to...
Anybody in on those? Anybody in on the new ones about Trump? All his secret plans? Trump is either, he's pitched to us as either a buffoon who cannot put on his own pants or some evil mastermind. But no matter what, he's going to tear the country down and there's going to be the Democrats that are working at this and the Republicans that are going to do this and suddenly, all of a sudden, the Green Party is going to rise to the top.
Nobody believes that one. But... We hear things about the Russians and the Chinese and there's just going to be... And he's saying, look, don't join in. Not everything's that fearful when I am most to be feared. He says, I'll be a sanctuary and...
Pick up verse 14. And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both the houses of Israel. A trap and a snare to the inhabitants of it, Jerusalem. And many shall stumble on it and they shall fall and be broken. They shall be snared and taken. Eventually we're told that Jesus, ultimately the gospel, is the ultimate stone, the ultimate rock of offense.
The stone of... The rock of stumbling, the stone of offense. But there's this idea that God will either be a sanctuary or you'll fall completely over him. You won't be able to stand before him. Verse 16. Bind up the testimony.
Seal the teaching among my disciples. I'm sorry. I've got to pause for just a second. I should have said this earlier. We're going to read a lot of scripture today and we're going to move fast. A lot of times when you read the Bible, it's like a wine tasting.
You take one verse. You swirl it. You smell it. You put it in your mouth. You swish it around. You spit it out.
You put it back in. I think that's how they taste wine. You soak it in. It's like hard candy. You just hold it in there for a long time. Other times, reading the Bible is like jumping in a pool.
You just jump and you're like, whoa, it's cold. It's just you get the feeling of the sense that's what we're doing today. We're just going to move kind of quickly and we're going to get a lot all at once to try to paint one big picture for help us to understand and see this idea of darkness and light, hopelessness and hope. And so we're going to keep going and I should have said that earlier and I'm sorry. 16. For those of you with ADD, you're tracking.
Let's go. Bind up the testimony. Seal the teaching among my disciples. I will wait for the Lord who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob and I will hope in him. So this is Isaiah talking.
Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents and Israel from the Lord of hosts who dwells on Mount Zion. And when they say to you, inquire of the medians and the necromancers who chirp and mutter. So a medium would speak in between those and necromancers would speak on behalf of the dead and he says, they chirp and mutter. He says, should not a people inquire of their Lord? I love that he mocks them. He says, I speak clearly and they chirp and mutter.
They don't have a clear point. They're not helpful. Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? Verse 20. To the teaching and the testimony. So he's saying, go to what's written.
Go to what we know. If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. Meaning they have no light. They're in the dark. They have no wisdom. One of the ways the Bible talks about darkness is that it's this lack of wisdom, lack of understanding that you would fall and stumble.
He's saying they have no light. Verse 21. They will pass through the land greatly distressed and hungry and when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against the king and their God and turn their faces upward and they will look to the earth but behold distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish and they will be thrust into thick darkness. Okay, so when God is most fearful, everything else isn't as scary. And when you remove God, everything else becomes a conspiracy. The Republicans and the Democrats are coming for you.
Like everything else becomes spooky. Everything else becomes unstable. And then what it says is when everything starts to fall apart, they'll look upward enraged. This is a global thing. But that we would push away God, that we would not worship God and then as soon as everything goes bad, we go, see?
If there was a God, this wouldn't have happened. They look up enraged and then it says they'll look to the earth. This is verse 21. They'll immediately then say, we've got to figure out the problem. We've got to work it out. We'll look to the earth.
We'll solve this. And what they'll find, they'll look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, and they will be thrust into thick darkness. That without the Lord, all we have is darkness, hopelessness. There are a lot of good things that people are pushing for. There's a lot of good charities and things that are going to happen around the holidays where people are going to say, we need to do this, we need to do that. There's some good things that are godly things.
People will say, we've got to, we've got to, we've got to, the problem is ignorance. We've got to educate people. Or the problem is this, and we've got to fix it. And some of those things are right and some of them, but ultimately, if we say those are the, that's the only problem, that's the only thing we have to fix. If we fail to see that God is holy and that we are sinners and that sin is at work everywhere, we won't fix the problem. Ultimately, it will fail.
There are going to be people who tell you, look, the problem is this political party and this other one needs to rise up. The problem right now is men. They need to sit down. Women need to rise up. The problem is this skin tone. They need to sit down.
This skin tone needs to rise up. The problem is this political ideology, this economic ideology, but the issue is ultimately that we're sinners and we're in darkness and we're hopelessly trying to fix a problem that we cannot fix. We are thrust into deep darkness without God and that is a global problem. That without Christ, there is no fix and without Christ, as messed up as this world is, this is as good as it gets because one day we will face Christ and stand accountable for our sin. chapter 9. But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish.
In the former time, he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. That's the northern part of Israel. But in the latter time, he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. Matthew quotes this, says this about Jesus. He calls it Galilee of the Gentiles. What he's saying is this promise of hope isn't just for the people of Israel, but the promise of hope is for everybody, for the Gentiles, for the nations, that there's going to be hope.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them light has shone. That's the hope of Christmas. Some of you see the darkness. You know it. You feel it.
You listen to emo music. You watch independent film. Some of you know about the darkness. You know about... Some of you work in fields where you see it all the time. In social work or in police work.
Where it's in everybody. Everybody. You feel like everybody lies. Everybody cheats. Everybody. I got a speeding ticket this past... about a week ago.
I'm part of the problem. Because I am one of the reasons why we need police officers. Because if they weren't there, I would be doing whatever the heck I want on I-95 on my vacation. I would just be driving as fast as I possibly could. And I was until he pulled me over. And then I slowed down.
And I tried to tell my wife the odds of me getting two tickets in the same day are very slim. But the truth is we're all part of this problem. And he says there's hope. Light will shine. Verse 3. You have multiplied the nation.
You have increased its joy. They rejoice before you as joy at the harvest as they are glad when they divide the spoil. I love that. The joy of the harvest that when... If some of you have a... Your work is seasonal and there's a harvest time.
There's this... Oh man, this is when it's booming. My parents... I grew up in a family where we sold swimming pools in the summer. We could do whatever we want. And then as soon as the fall hit...
Because my parents didn't budget, y'all. They just kind of... They just rolled with the cash we had, you know. As soon as the fall hit they were like, Alright. No more happiness in this house. Every year.
The joy of the harvest. This hope. This... And then he says when they divide the spoil that means you've won the battle. The relief. And the joy.
Clemson thought they were just going to roll over South Carolina. And they eventually did. And they felt relief and joy. South Carolina was like, We got some punches in and we feel good about it. This is when they divide the spoil. It says, For the yoke of his burden and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken.
As on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle, tumult, and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For... So he says, The staff of the oppressor, the warriors, everything is gone. For... For...
To us a child is born. To us a son is given. And the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Now I want to show you all something interesting that happens here. He says a son will be born and immediately we're thinking, Okay, somebody, somebody's going to come along and they're going to fix this problem. And that's good news.
When Isaiah is... When he was prophesying this to the Israelites, they're like, Okay, we're going to have some kind of a Messiah. We're going to have somebody. But then he immediately says he's going to be called Mighty God. He's going to be called Everlasting Father. So this can't just be a regular person.
Can't. That wouldn't flex well with the God of the Hebrews who's the only God and does not share that. Remember how he's dreadful? He talked about it earlier. So he's saying this is going to be more than just a person.
Ultimately we know that this is Christ. That he comes who is God, joins us. He is Emmanuel, God with us. Prince of peace. Of the increase of his government, of the peace, there will be no end. On the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
All right. Jump to John chapter 1 because he picks up with the same idea. He's talking about Jesus coming and this idea of light entering darkness. And we're going to read through this pretty quickly. I'm going to point out a few things and then we're going to try to draw all this together to help us understand what's going on as we intro our gift series. So there's going to be someone born who's going to fix this problem.
This is Jesus. This is the hope of Christmas that everything was terrible, everything was dark, everything was awful and then somebody opens the door. Okay. At some point, I think we're going to teach through the book of John and when we do, we will approach this the way that John wrote it. He holds off telling us this is Jesus until way later. I'm going to ruin the surprise.
He's talking about Jesus the whole time, you guys. Okay. In the beginning was the Word, Jesus, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. all things were made through Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.
I love that verse. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. There are, for some of us in this room right now, we feel, see, wake up with darkness. We go to bed with darkness. We feel it in us. We see it at work in the world.
We feel like we're in a situation that is just darkness. It's just hopeless. It's just sinful. It's just broken. And He says, the light shines into the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. That's how light works.
I think when He built the world, He just said He did, He was like, I'm going to make light and darkness work like this and then later I'm going to say, I'm light. It's going to work perfectly. You ever turned a light on in a dark place and the darkness was so dark it just covered it up? No, because that's not how darkness and light works. Light always wins. Darkness is just the absence of light.
The absence of light. The sun does not timidly creep over the horizon. Before you can even see it, it's already lit everything up. It's not even there yet. Everything is perfect like I can see as far and then it's like, oh, there you are. Because light just wins.
And that's what it says, that Jesus is light and then He shines into the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. That is worth singing about. That is worth celebrating. That is good news. Because without Christ, we have nothing. We're fumbling around in the dark with no ability to fix it.
Let's keep going. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him. He was not the light but came to bear witness about the light. So, John the author is writing about John, another John, John the Baptist. He's talking about Jesus and then John just kind of interrupts.
He's like, okay, so there was this guy who talked about the light. He wasn't the light but he came to bear witness about the light but he wasn't but he talked about him a lot and he thought everybody would believe through him. Then he goes right back to talking about Jesus. Verse 9. The true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world and the world was made through him yet the world did not know him.
He came to his own, that's the Jewish people, and his own people did not receive him but to all who did receive him who believed in his name he gave the right to become children of God who were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God. You ever heard someone say well we're all God's children? John chapter 1 says no. To all those who receive Christ and who believe in his name he gives us the right to be called a child of God. We're all created by God we're all God's creatures but those who trusted in Jesus Christ as King and Savior and Lord are brought in not by lineage not by effort but by Jesus and his work.
And the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen his glory glory as of the only son from the father full of grace and truth. John interrupts again. John bore witness about him and cried out this was he of whom I said he who comes after me ranks before me because he was before me for from his fullness that's Jesus's we have all received grace upon grace for the law was given through Moses grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Christ. Okay. The story of Christmas and the story of the gospel is such overwhelmingly good news that I don't want us to miss it. when we're told here's a cataclysmic eternal problem and then you're told but a son will be born that's why it's grace that's why it says grace came through Jesus the law came through Moses see Moses showed up and he gave the law he gave rules he gave here's what God wants from us and we can't do it we can't I kind of was trying to pay attention to what the speed limit was but there was something I just couldn't I couldn't do it I could kind of eventually there's something to us when we see God's law it's like we're a part of the problem but Jesus shows up and he does it for us and from Christ we receive grace that he's the light that shines into the darkness and he does the work for us that we have a manger a cross a crown a throne all of which are are filled by not us Jesus was the son who was born Jesus is the son and the servant who goes to the cross and Jesus is the son who reigns as king and that's good news because it doesn't have to be you you're not the one who has to fix the problem I did not have to MacGyver my way out of that closet I just wailed and cried and fumbled around and then here I am you guys I'm not still in the closet that's that's what gets to happen for us as Christians that you should when you see a manger scene when you see a nativity you should be so overwhelmed by the fact that he came to solve this problem that he rescued us so the question is that's the hope we have at Christmas that's the darkness and the light the true darkness that overwhelms the world and the true light that overwhelms the darkness that's what we get at Christmas but the question is what do we do with that how do we respond to that well first we believe we trust Jesus we get welcomed in we get rescued the darkness in us gets banished we get free and then we do what John did and I love that he can't keep his mouth shut even while it's in the middle of this it's like he's talking about Jesus but John the Baptist keeps showing up because he it's almost like he's interrupting the story to proclaim how good the light is and I love verse 6 7 and 8 it says there was a man sent from God whose name was John he came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him he was not the light but came to bear witness about the light John who are you going to tell about the light all of them all of them are going to believe through me that's what John the Baptist is saying I'm going to so aggressively loudly constantly point to Jesus that all of them will know about the light because of me you ever had such good news you just wouldn't shut up that's what John is saying this light that shines into the darkness is that it's such good news so beautiful we can't not share it okay I have to take a second and talk to the people who might be listening to this on the internet later before I intro our gift project if you are listening to this on the internet you are not going to get to hear what our gift project is because some of the information is sensitive and we are not going to post it online have a nice day to decir you
God's Promises and Our Sin
Transcript
My name is Spencer. I'm one of the pastors here with Mill City Church. We are in Genesis 20 today, which is on page 9 in the blue Bibles that are around you. If you don't have a Bible at home to read, please take that Bible. That is our gift to you. But we'll be in Genesis 20 today.
This is our last week in Genesis for the fall. We're going to take a break. Every year we do a gift series after Thanksgiving, and we will jump into that. In the new year we will come back to Genesis. But this is our last week.
We have been journeying through Abraham and leading up to the promised son, the promised son of Isaac. And today we get another chapter of Abraham's failures. We get to see him fall on his face yet again. Abraham, he feels a little bit like character Gabriel from The Walking Dead. Gabriel is a priest. And you know when Hollywood gets a chance to portray Christians and priests, it's going to really go well.
And he shows up in the fifth season, and immediately something's off. And you quickly learn that he's a coward. That he's a fearful man. That when the apocalypse happened and zombies started to take over, he locked out his church members who came for refuge and safety at his church, and they all died because he was fearful. And you think that there's going to be some character development. It happens a little bit.
There are times where he starts to grow and being a little bit courageous. He starts to grow as a character. But then there are times where he falls again. And he's fearful. And he turns on the people that he's with. He's just this character whose influx is moving between fear and courage.
Finally, I feel like right now he's hitting his stride, which is about the time that usually characters in the show die off. But he's finally starting to hit his stride. And we're kind of there with Abraham. His life is fear and then it's courage. But we're not there to his shining moment.
When we pick up in the new year, we're going to see Abraham's moment where he gets to trust the Lord and his word. But today we get to look at another chapter of his failures because Abraham is a man that is driven by fear. That in the face of God's promises, the face of this unveiling covenant that is happening, he is driven by fear. So that's what we're going to walk through today and sing this in this story. And I know that some of you heard, oh, we're going to talk about fear. Cool.
I don't have fears. Listen, just because you're always packing, just because you maybe can bench 300 or you know some moves, doesn't mean that we all don't have fears. Because the reality is that we do. We have, some of us have fear of man. Some of us have fear of financial uncertainty. Some of us have fear of failures.
And in those moments, there is fear within us that shapes the decisions, that shapes our outward actions. And in that, we get to relate to Abraham. He's a character that we absolutely can relate to. And what we're going to see in this story and what we see throughout the Bible is that God accomplishes his purposes by giving generous grace to those who are driven by fear. That God accomplishes his purposes by giving us generous amounts of grace, those of us that are driven by fear. So we're going to walk through this.
We're going to see this. I'm going to pray. And then we'll be in verse 1. God, I am so thankful that you've given us stories like this. God, I pray that you would help us see the gospel in it, that you would help us see that you are better and that you are worthy of our fear and nothing else is. In Jesus' name, amen.
All right, verse 1. From there, Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur and he sojourned in Gerar. Which, by the way, I will continue to point this out. I just love how the Bible does history. I think it's giving you specifics of the territory of the Negev, somewhere between Kadesh and Shur and he's sojourning in the Gerar. All right, so let's give some context.
We bounced around a little bit in this part of Genesis. I'm going to give some context for the timeline here. In Genesis 18, God comes to Abraham and Sarah and says, you are going to have Isaac. He is going to come. He will be here in a year. So that's Genesis 18.
Quickly after that, in Genesis 19, we have Sodom and Gomorrah. God brings destruction on those cities. And then after that is when they move to this territory. Now, in 21, which we're not going to get to today, that is when Isaac is conceived. Which means, if you do the math, this is about a three-month stretch that we just went through before Isaac is getting ready to be conceived and before the nine months later he is going to come. So that's where we're at a little bit in this timeline.
And it picks up with from there. Now, we don't really know why they moved from there. The text doesn't give us that. It's possible that living next to two cities that just got destroyed wasn't that great. But we really don't know.
It just tells us that they moved and they moved into a region that they are strangers. That they're not known. That they're sojourners and they're strangers. And we don't have time to get into Genesis 21, which should give us another part of this story. But there's an important detail about this territory that we need to know that comes from that chapter.
And that is that this people, these are the Philistines. And if you know a little bit about the Old Testament, that should trigger something in your brain. Because the Philistines and the Israelites have a really, really rough history. They're consistently at odds and at war. If you've heard the story of David and Goliath, Goliath was a Philistine. So it is possible that this is the first meeting between Abraham, who is the father of the Israelites, and the Philistines.
And this doesn't go well today. And it's possible that from this is where the tension starts to grow. All right, picking up in verse 2. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah. Now if you remember Genesis 12 and what happened there, this is the moment of a collective facepalm.
It's like Groundhog Day. If Bill Murray was pimping out Anna McDowell for safety. It's like, what? This is happening again. He's 100. And this is still happening.
Back in Genesis 12, he goes before Pharaoh and says, This is my sister. And then she's brought into the household of Pharaoh. It's like, are we, collective wisdom says, You're 100. She's 90. Why don't you just roll up into the region of the gap and say, no, no, no. We don't have to do this.
No, let's make cookies. We'll be the cool old people that knit sweaters for dogs. Like, we'll be invited. We'll be neighbors. Why do you need to run this again? And if you step back and look at the context of this, God in eternity past shows Abraham, whose life is filled with fearfulness like this.
And that should be an encouragement for us. Because if you're in the zone where you're thinking, Man, there's no way God can use me because of my past. Maybe there is sexual sin in your past. Maybe there is a streak of violence in your past. Maybe you've got something, some stuff currently going on in your life. And you're thinking, There's no way that God can use me because of my anxieties, because of my fears, because of my anger.
All of that. And if we take a step back and realize, God chooses people that are broken. He can use anybody. He uses Abraham in spite of his fears. We get that example from this. So jumping back into the story, what is strange about this is that it works again.
She's 90. She has to be the most stunning looking 90-year-old woman in history because it works, and Abimelech brings her in to his household. All right, verse 3. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, Behold, you're a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife. Now Abimelech had not approached her.
All right, pause. This probably is the first recorded you're a dead man threat we have on record. And it's because he has taken, who's about to learn, is Abraham's wife. And what's important here is what the text tells us. It adds an important caveat. He had not approached her.
Nothing sexual has happened here. And it's important for this to be noted because the text is telling us, No, it is about time for Isaac to be conceived. Abimelech is not the father. No, Abraham is. So once the text makes that clear, Abimelech goes into his defense.
Pick it up. He says, Lord, will you kill an innocent people? Now that word people is intentional. It didn't say, will you kill an innocent man? It didn't say, will you kill an innocent person? This is a people.
The Hebrew word for nation is the same word that is used here for people. Because Abimelech, he knows what's up. He gets it. I mean, this is, he has probably heard of the destruction that has happened in Sodom and Gomorrah. He is fearful and is a right response. He's not like the kings of Sodom and the kings of Gomorrah.
He is fearful of the Lord. And he continues his defense. He said, Did he not himself say to me, She is my sister. And she herself said, He is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands, I have done this. So he is pleading his case before the Lord.
I was deceived. She was in on it. I did not know this. I have not touched her. And he's doing this because he knows that judgment is on the line here. And that ignorance and not knowing what is happening here is not going to be an excuse for him.
He appeals to his heart and to his intentions. And then in verse 6, it continues. It says, Then God said to him in the dream, Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart. And it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore, I did not let you touch her. There are two things from this verse that show God's sovereignty, how he rules and he reigns that is important for us to see.
And the first one is that God sees the heart. He sees the heart, which is your innermost self. It's your affections. It's your motivations. It's your desires. It's where all of your actions stem from.
He sees the heart of Abimelech. He sees the heart of Abraham. He looks through and sees the heart. And that is important for us to know. We need to own that. That God can see our hearts.
If we have outward actions that don't match our inner self, there's a problem. If you are currently angry with another believer and there's bitterness that's welling up within you, but your go-to is to smile and not act like everything is okay. Maybe you're fearful of confrontation. Maybe you're fearful of making it awkward. God sees through that. He sees the heart.
Maybe you're the kind of person that here on a Sunday or in your group, you look, talk, act one way. But when you get around people that don't love Jesus, that don't follow Him, you look and act completely different. The reality is that God, He sees the heart. You cannot hide your heart from God. He knows the motives behind every single action. God is sovereign in how He sees our hearts.
He's also sovereign in this verse in how He keeps us from sin. That's the second thing that we see here. It says, It was I who kept you from sinning against me. Tim Keller is a pastor in New York. He has this quote. We've used it before.
He says, You are far more sinful than you could ever possibly imagine, but you're far more cherished than you could ever possibly dream. That has vast implications for a lot of different things. But that first part, you are far more sinful than you could ever possibly imagine, is a reality that left to our own devices, left to our own self, we are far more jacked up than we could ever possibly understand. So when you have lustful thoughts, you think, There's no way that I could ever commit adultery. But that quickly rolls over.
It takes a little more thoughts, a little more action, and then eventually, that's where you land. It's how quickly, for anger goes from, Oh, I'm just a little bit angry to violence. It rolls over very quickly. It's how malice turns into rampant gossip, into slander. It rolls over very quickly, and we think, and we see, especially when we see other people that fall. We see other people that fall into sin.
It's easy for us to pass judgment and say, I would never do that, but the reality is, is that God keeps us from sinning. Circumstantially, He can prevent you from it, but we see, Jude 24 says, Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy. Tell me, who is it that prevents us from sinning? Who is it that presents us righteous before the Lord? For those of us who are in Christ, the Holy Spirit in us, intercedes for us, keeps us from sinning, keeps us, hear this, from being the worst possible version of ourselves. So God is sovereign in how He keeps us from sinning, and how He keeps us from letting our fears that rule in our heart, let that result into all kinds of rampant sin.
God accomplishes His purposes by giving generous grace to those of us that are driven by fear. So the Lord, He keeps Abimelech from sinning further, and then He tells him what to do next. Verse 7. He says, Now then, return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.
Alright, so what we see out the gate from this verse is that Abraham is a prophet. This is the first time in the Bible that we see anyone is called a prophet. And this prophet, from what we can see in his storyline, he is not exemplary at all. He is driven by fear. There's this old saying that God uses crooked sticks to make straight lines. We don't really know who said that.
This has been attributed to a few different people. But how true is that? That God uses crooked sticks. He uses the broken to accomplish his purposes. So Abraham is a prophet, and he says to Abimelech, he says, if you don't return her, you're done.
You and all of your household, all of the nation, all of you. Now we don't have time to look at this, but the very last part of this chapter, judgment has already happened because of this. God has closed up all of the wombs in the house of Abimelech. All the women are barren. Judgment is weighing on Abimelech, and they do not take this lightly. It picks up in verse 8.
It says, So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. Hear this. And the men were very much afraid. But unlike Sodom, unlike Gomorrah, this place fears the God of Abraham. They take this warning very seriously. In verse 9 it says, Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, What have you done to us?
And how have I sinned against you that you have brought on me in my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not be done. And Abimelech said to Abraham, What did you see that you did this thing? Abraham said, I did it because I thought there is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife. I feel like Abimelech would have been understandable had he been a little more aggressive in his approach. Because the reality is that Abraham's actions has put him, his wives, his kids, his nation in jeopardy.
And he comes to him, he says, What have you done? Why have you done this? Abraham says, I did it because I thought there was no fear of God in this place, and I thought you would kill me because of my wife. Now aside from the fact that Abraham was dead wrong, there is fear of God in this place. It's evidenced by their response. He put that whole nation at risk at the age of 100 because he was fearful.
After decades of getting to see how God has been beside Abraham, we have evidence. You go back to Genesis 14 as we walk through that he supported, he was behind Abraham in the wars that defended Lot. We go to Genesis 15 when he looks at Abraham and he picks up his head and he says, Look at the stars. You see the stars? That's how numerous your descendants will be. He does the ceremony that we got to walk through where Abraham splits the animals and God walks through the center.
What's being said there is may I be burst apart. The God of the universe, may I be burst apart if this promise doesn't come true. Abraham is given example after example, evidence after evidence to not be afraid to trust God. And he's fearful. And then we get a little bit of the back story of what all went into this and how far this deception goes back. He says, Besides, she is indeed my sister.
Alright. The daughter of my father, though not the daughter of my mother. I said, That makes it better. And she became my wife. And when God caused me to wander from my father's house, I said to her, this is the kindness you must do to me. At every place which we come, say of me, he is my brother.
Now, I don't have time to get into why it was somewhat permissible here for intermarriage to happen, for him to marry his sister. And yet, when the law is handed down in Exodus, it's explicitly forbidden. We did cover that early in our Genesis sermons over why that was permissible. You can go back and listen to that. But, aside from that, Abraham, we get some more background on how he cowardly passes off his wife as his sister. Part of it is, is it's a half-truth.
He says, Well, she's kind of my sister. By my dad's side. Now, I wasn't really being deceitful. I wasn't really lying. And some of you, man, some of you hear that and you're like, Well, technically, he wasn't lying. She is his sister.
Well played, Abraham. You did it right. It's technically not lying. No. It is absolutely lying. It is absolutely deceitful.
I can be a little more blunt with this because the worst version of myself does this. Before I was a Christian, like that was my MO. That's how I got out of trouble. My mom would say, Are you, you going over to your friends? Is there going to be drinking? Yeah.
There's going to be a few guys. There's going to be some beers. But there's not going to be any driving. It's going to be chill. It's going to be okay. And the reality was, the full truth was, that there's going to be a lot of people.
There's going to be a lot more drinks. There's going to be a lot more drugs. It was a half truth that I could give out to get out of trouble. And I've seen this, y'all. I've seen this already welling up in my daughter. She's three and I'll see her and I'll say, Ellie, did you just take your brother's toy?
And she goes, No, no, no, no. I gave him a toy. See, I gave him a toy. And I just, I said, No, no, no. First of all, I saw all of this. You took your brother's toy.
You made it look better because you gave her a toy in replacement. But that, she's already picking up on the sinful nature that I've passed down to her. That half truths are, that she can deal in half truths. And what she's going to have to learn and what I had to learn upon becoming a Christian and being changed by Jesus is that we as Christians don't get to dabble in half truths. Half truths are not truths at all. They are deceitful.
They are lies. The people of God who've been claimed and redeemed by Jesus don't get to tell half truths. Abraham's scheme was just that. It was a scheme. It was a lie masquerading as a half-baked truth. So if you love and follow Jesus, you don't get to deal in half truths.
And he's been doing this for a while. We see the history here. It says, When God caused me to wander from my father's house, I said to her, This is the kindness you must do to me. At every place to which we come, say of me, He is my brother. Which means they've been running this place since they left their homeland. This is how long this has been going on.
And again, take a step back. Look at this. God, in eternity past, chose to bring redemption through Abraham. In spite of his failures, in spite of his fears, God gives generous amounts of grace to those of us that are driven by fear. So we get this powerful picture in Abraham of God's grace towards us, and we also get a picture of repentance from Abimelech.
Verse 14. It says, Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen and male servants and female servants and gave them to Abraham and returned Sarah, his wife, to him. And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before you. Dwell wherever it pleases you. To Sarah he said, Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you and before everyone you are vindicated.
Then Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech and also healed his wife and his female slaves so that they bore children. For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. So Abimelech's actions here are evidence of a contrite heart. That God has, that he is, he is repentant. He gives oxen, he gives silver, he shows hospitality here. Saying that this land, you can dwell in this land.
You are, you are welcome here. Take this, settle here. And all is well at the end of this story between Abraham and Abimelech. So outside of just this being another example of God's radical grace of how he has shown so much grace towards Abraham, how does this story fit into the greater picture of the Bible? Two ways. First, God's rescue plan here is preserved.
Abimelech threatened the rescue plan. He threatened the line of redemption that was going to come through Abraham. That Abraham and Sarah were promised that they were going to have a son and through him redemption would come and that plan was threatened which is why God's response to Abimelech is so severe. Because the reality is is that without the seed coming through Abraham and Sarah there is no redemption for sinners anywhere. That includes the line of Abimelech. That future Philistines down the line will have the opportunity to hear the gospel because God's redemption through Abraham and Sarah.
Second, this is the first time that we see explicitly a prophet who makes intercession in the Bible. Intercession in the Bible is when someone Acts as a mediator between God and man and there's two main pictures that we see that happen throughout the Old Testament. For this, we see prophets and priests that act as intercessors between God and man. Priests interceded at the temple. Their job was to be at the temple to make sacrifices on behalf of the people that it might turn away God's wrath for sins. They interceded on behalf of the people at the temple in the presence of the Lord.
Prophets were raised up. Prophets were raised up that they might preach repentance. They might preach and call Israel to turn back from sin and call them into fellowship with God. Those are the two main roles of intercessors that we see in the Old Testament. Notice that Abimelech has to go to Abraham to have him pray for him that he might be forgiven, that his nation might be spared. And if you think about this, Abimelech goes to the man who deceived him to have him intercede between God and them.
Abraham, like the rest of the prophets that are going to follow, Abraham is not perfect. He is fallen. He is a poor type of the one prophet who is to come. He is a poor example of the prophet in Jesus that is coming. So praise God that we have a better prophet in Christ who came preaching a message of the kingdom, preaching a message of repentance, serving the least of these, who came bearing the message of the gospel and standing, hear this, courageously in the face of death, courageously in the face of people who were threatening him.
He stood his ground and was taken to the cross to take our sins on him. Praise God we have a better intercessor, a better high priest who took our sins with him on the cross, the final sacrifice for our sins that we might have a high priest who stands before us in the heavens. As the book of Hebrews talks about as our intercessor, it says, Hebrews 4, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.
That Jesus perfectly fulfills the role of intercessor. He is able also, hear this, he is able to sympathize with us. That in every respect he was tempted and tried, which means he was tempted in the same way that Abraham was to tell half-truths, to be deceitful. He was tempted like Abraham to be fearful, to fear others and not fear the Lord. All of us are tempted to chase after idols, to chase after things, to let fear rule in us that it might shape us to make decisions in ways that are contrary to what God has for us. And Jesus can empathize with all of those temptations because he was tempted and tried and did not sin.
That is the God that we get to pray to. That is our high priest. That is the one who made intercession for us. All of the prophets like Abraham failed. Jesus did it perfectly. So that's how that fits into the greater story of the Bible.
Now coming back to Abraham, if I'm honest, it is frustrating as we walk through his story. It's frustrating because I'm like, seriously, after all that God has done, after all the promises he has made, you, this unique relationship that you have with the God of the universe, you still are fearful at the age of 100 after decades of hearing this promise unfold. And when I get that judgmental posture in my own heart, man, we need to look in the mirror because God makes promises to us all the time. We have promises throughout the Bible that call us to trust him. I think of Matthew 6 is a passage in the Sermon on the Mount where God is addressing our fear of God providing.
How many of us are fearful of seeing bills paid, fearful of how we're going to make budget, fearful of how we're going to plan for retirement, fearful for how God is going to provide for daily bread and Jesus, he sees that. He says, look at the birds of the air. They neither reap nor sow nor gather in barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? How quickly are we driven to anxiety and fear of our finances when God has given us a promise? You are more valuable than all of creation.
I am going to take care of your needs. How many of us are fearful and when that happens we are driven into old sinful patterns. When we get scared, when we get worried, our go-to is to be driven back into who we used to be. That's our old patterns. Whether it's drinking, whether it's running, whether it's escapism, you fill in the blank. What we have in Romans, Paul says, for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father.
Meaning, we don't have a spirit of fearfulness in us. We have the Holy Spirit living and reigning inside of us. We don't have to let fear drive us into old patterns. We can trust in what God is doing. We can trust in His promises. He will work in us.
And I'll give you one more. For those of us that fear man and what man can do to us. Whether that's you fearing others and you being so concerned about their opinion of you. Maybe that's you. You are fearful to share the gospel with somebody because of how they might respond. We let other people and our fear of them drive us to do actions or to not do actions like sharing the gospel.
And Jesus in Matthew 10 says, And do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. And the picture that we have here is that those fears are so temporary. They are so temporary. We are eternal. If we believe in Jesus, if we have trusted in Him, He has claimed us.
What could anybody possibly do to us? We are eternally His. We have no reason to fear. We can trust in His promises. This is the Lord who came from heaven who sought us and redeemed us that we might not fear anyone else, that we might only fear and worship Him forever. God accomplishes His purposes by giving radical, generous amounts of grace to those of us that are driven by fear.
And we can relate to Abraham and y'all, that is good news because God has given us grace.
Sodom and Gomorrah
Transcript
Well, good morning. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. Y'all enjoying the new carpet smell? We are excited to have new carpet, and I actually like the smell. We close the doors, the chemicals start seeping into your brain, and as the sermon goes, my jokes get funnier.
Alright, that would kill at the end of the sermon, just letting y'all know. So, Kim, just keep breathing in those fumes. Grab your Bible, go to Genesis chapter 18. We're walking through the book of Genesis. We're in chapter 18, and we're going to actually pick up. So, what we did a couple of weeks ago, and even for the past two weeks, was we looked at some stuff that was happening in Genesis chapter 16, 17, and then we jumped past 18 and 19 to look at 21.
So, now we're picking back up. We're going to go 18, 19, and chapter 20 next week. So, we're going to look at 18 and 19 today. We'll be looking at picking back up with Lot. Last time we saw Lot, he and Abraham, he is Abraham's nephew. And the last time we saw him, they had grown too large for each other.
They had too much cattle, too many herds, too many people kind of living in their camps. And so they said, hey, let's not fight. Let's spread out. And so Abraham tells Lot, pick where you want to go. If you go this way, I'll go that way. Lot looks around.
He looks this way. And everything's dry and rocky. And it almost sounds like it even kind of maybe stunk that way. Like it just wasn't good. He looks this way. Everything was pretty and lovely.
And there was water. And it was like the garden of God. And so he was like, hmm, this way. And so Lot goes that way. And it says that he moved his camp all the way to Sodom, which was a very wicked place. And so it was kind of, it was bird-dogging a little bit, kind of telling us where it was headed.
And then it tells us kind of what happens with Abraham. So we're picking up in 18. I'll pray. And we'll start reading. Lord, we thank you for your word, that it doesn't move, that it is sure and steadfast, that we can study it now. And a hundred years from now, others can open it and study it.
And it helps. And it teaches. And it leads. We pray that we would learn from your word today. That your Holy Spirit would guide us in our time. In Jesus' name.
Amen. Amen. All right, we've read some of chapter 18 already. When we were talking through the story of Sarah and Isaac, the birth of Isaac, we're going to read back through it and kind of follow through the rest of the chapter. So it says, The Lord appeared to him, him as Abraham, by the oaks of Mamre.
Now that's where Abraham had settled as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. So Abraham is kind of hanging out in the, would have been like just like a covered space in front of his tent. These are goatskin tents, most likely black tents. It's hot. So we know that it's a hot time of year.
And a lot of times they would roll up the sides of their tents, but they still had an inside area that was still had the sides down where women, children were often. And so he's sitting in front of his tent. It says, God appears to him. The Lord appears to him. He lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, three men were standing in front of him. Okay, so it reads like we don't know if they just appeared.
If like they weren't there and he looked this way and he looked back and they were there. And so it was kind of magical. Or if he was like dozing off because that was a common thing in the middle of the afternoon and it was super hot. I wish South Carolina would institute a siesta. I think that would be wonderful. But we haven't.
But they had a similar system as that. And so he may have been sleeping a little bit. But it says he sees three men. So we're already told that it's the Lord or that the Lord is among them. He sees three men. So it is the Lord in some form of veiled glory.
It's not the Lord as we will see him. It's not the Lord as he has seen at other times in all of his glory. It's veiled glory. He looks like a man or at least it's fair to describe him that way. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, Oh, Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Now, that could read as him knowing exactly who he is talking to.
He doesn't say the name Lord. If you'll notice in your Bibles, when it said at the very beginning, verse one, it says, And the Lord and its capital, all caps, L-O-R-D. Down here it says, and he says, Oh, Lord. And it's lowercase O-R-D. That means it's a different word in the Hebrew. So the first one is the divine name of the Lord.
This one is just a term, Lord. And so he's either being very gracious, very hospitable. This isn't odd for him to describe visitors this way. So this wouldn't be out of place for him to say, You're my Lord. I'm your servant. He's being really humble.
It's like when someone brings you in and says, Look, this house is your house. You don't say, Sweet, give me the keys and get out. You understand they're being humble. They're saying, You can have whatever's here. They're not giving you the... So that's what he's doing.
He says, Oh, you're my Lord. I'm your servant. It is obvious that he uses the singular Lord. So there's at least of the three, one of them, who is obviously in a higher status than the other two. It is possible. Abraham knows who he's talking about.
It's possible he doesn't. It doesn't make a big difference because in a little bit he's going to have figured it out. And the story plays out the same. So he says, Let a little water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree while I bring a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves. And after you have and after that, you may pass on since you have come to your servant. So they said, Do as you have said.
And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, Quick, three sea is a fine flour. Sea is about a gallon. So he said, Get a lot of flour. Three sea is a fine flour. Knead it and make cakes. And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man who prepared it quickly.
Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate. Okay, so if he knows it's the Lord, he goes above and beyond for the Lord. He is sacrificial. He gets a calf, not a goat or a lamb. Which a goat or a lamb would have been plenty for three visitors.
He gets a calf, a young, tender, fat one. So he goes above and beyond. He gets milk. He gets curds. He gets her. He says to him, Oh, let me give you a little water.
Just a bite, a morsel, a skosh of bread. And they're like, okay. And then he's like, okay, kill a whole cow. Get three gallons of flour. Bake cakes. He goes above and beyond.
And he's being very hospitable here. There's a guy who hangs out with a community group. He was baptized a year ago. His name is Taha Hataram. And his family lives in my neighborhood. They are from Pakistan.
And I was over there talking with them at one point. And they said, hey, come in and have some tea. Would you like some tea? And I said, yeah. They said, we make really good chai tea. I said, that sounds delicious.
So I came in. I sat down there. And they were like, while you're having tea, here's some puri. And here's some, and I was like, okay. And I started eating that. And they were like, here's some kebab, which was like a smushed chicken thing.
And then they said, here's some naan. Here's some dal. She just cooked. By the time I was done, there was this whole table was full of food. And I was just eating like a king. And then I was like, I got to head home.
Bag it up. You know, like, it was great. Every once in a while, I swing back by. And I'm like, y'all got any tea in there? You know? That's what he does here.
He says, let me get you a little bit. And he goes above and beyond. And this is common Middle Eastern hospitality. We talk about Southern hospitality. The Middle Easterners eat our lunch on this. And we're less hospitable than we used to be.
But we ought to grow in hospitality as a church. Because it's one of, it's a very godly thing to welcome people. The New Testament over and over again says that we'll entertain angels unawares. That when we welcome somebody, we welcome Jesus. And so this ought to be a thing that as a church, we ought to be good at. When people come over, don't just pop out the mountain lightning.
Get out some mountain dew. Like, go above and beyond. Host well with whatever you have. And if mountain lightning is your favorite, well, pop it out. If that's your best. If that's what you like.
You know, but host well with what you have. So that's what he does. He stands by them while they eat. Now, verses 9 through 15. We have already read a couple weeks ago. I'm going to paraphrase it just so we don't miss this part of the story.
That is where the Lord starts asking about Sarah. He calls her Sarah, which means he knows her name has changed. He starts saying prophecy stuff about she's going to have a child. At this moment, if Abraham did not know he was dealing with God or some sort of divine representative, he does now. This is where God says, Sarah's going to have a child. She's super old, so she laughs by herself.
God looks at Abraham and says, why is your wife laughing? Abraham's like, uh. And then his wife says, I didn't laugh. And God says, yeah, you did. And that whole ending of change goes on. All right, we stopped there and skipped ahead before.
Now we're going to keep reading. Verse 16. Then the men set out from there and they looked down towards Sodom. So down means they are in a higher elevation. So where they are, they are up a hill, up a mountain, looking down.
It's a hilly region. Sodom is in a valley. They look down towards Sodom. Also, Sodom would be about 20 miles away. So they're just looking in that general direction.
I don't know if you'd have been able to actually see the city or not. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation. And all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. For I have chosen him that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice.
So that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised. Okay, so the Lord stops. Abraham's walking with him. He stops. And it's almost like he speaks to the other two men, which we're told later are angels. And he says, should I tell Abraham what I'm going to do?
Should I hide from him? He's going to be a great and mighty nation. He's going to be the one through whom I bring the promise. He's going to be the one who blesses all nations. He's talking about Christ. He's saying, should I leave him out of this or should I go ahead and include him on what I'm going to do?
They don't answer, but God keeps going. Then the Lord said, because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave. I will go down there to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know. So he says, should I tell Abraham what I'm about to do?
And then he looks at him and says, the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave. And we're going to check it out to see if it's as bad as the outcry has been. Now, I don't think it would be correct, given the rest of Scripture, for us to understand that God actually had to show up over there to know what was going on. I think this should be very encouraging to us. First of all, that God wants to include Abraham in what he's doing. He doesn't need Abraham.
He chooses to include Abraham in what he is doing. It's like when Archer has helped me build furniture. He did not help. I chose to include him. That's what he's doing with Abraham. He doesn't need Abraham.
He chooses to include him. And then he says, the outcry has been great and I'm going to go be near. I'm going to go be close to that. And honestly, that's a thing that we would want from God. That he would be near when we're crying out. That he would investigate.
That he wouldn't just sit far off, but that he would come close to what is going on. That he would see it. That's what it says. The sin is great and I'm going to go be close. I'm going to go investigate. I'm going to go see this.
So the men turned. This is verse 22. Turned from there and went towards Sodom. But Abraham stood, still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
Suppose there are 50 righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the 50 righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing. To put the righteous to death with the wicked so that the righteous fare as the wicked. Far be that from you. Shall not the judge of the earth do what is right?
Okay. That was bold. God says, should I include Abraham in on this? And Abraham immediately jumps in and says, hold on a second, God. And his question, I think, is a fair question. I think it's one that we have all the time.
Abraham, first of all, understands what God's going to do. God said, I'm going to go investigate. I think Abraham knows at least the reputation of Sodom and Gomorrah. It doesn't say that he's thinking of Lot when he kind of goes into talking to God about this. But it's likely that he knows that Lot lives there or is in that city.
He at least knows that's the direction he went last time we picked up with him. There's a good chance he knows a lot more than that. But here's his question. He's asking God about what's good and what's right and what's just and what's fair. And he's pleading with God. If you're going to plead with God, pleading with God based on his own nature is a good way to go about it.
God, you are good. Won't you do what's good? You are just. Won't you do what's just? But he says, far be that from you.
Don't go down there if there are righteous people in that city and just wipe it away. Now, city, we don't know how big it is. There were ancient cities that got pretty big. This one doesn't seem like it's that big. Sodom and Gomorrah I don't think would have been that large. We saw that they were part of 13 other cities that were paying tribute earlier.
So we don't know how big a group of 50 is in this city. Similar to. They had a king. Similar to what we've seen. If you've watched. I've studied.
Or. If you've studied history. Or. Watched movies and television. I was just going to assume no one had studied. But I don't want to be rude.
The two of y'all have studied. Y'all know about this. If you're like me and you've watched television. There would have been like a castle. Some of these in this area would have been made out of wood. Some of them might have been made out of stone.
We heard about one that was in the same area where they made. Their own bricks. Then they would have had a walled area. And people who lived inside the area. Lived inside the city. And had the protection of the king.
So we don't know how big this area was. Most likely not a very massive place. But. Substantial in the area. And his question is. If there are 50 there who are righteous.
You'll destroy the whole city. Will the righteous fare the way the wicked do? And his question is a fair question. And it's one we're still asking. Which is. What is just?
You see. When someone harms us. Our outcry goes to God. And we want God to care about injustice. We want God to when someone is harmed or abused. Or when someone in power takes advantage of somebody else.
We want him to care. We want him to pursue this. We want him to follow up. We want justice to be served. But then we have all these questions about.
Well. How much and how and to whom. What's fair? Have you ever thought about this? If there is a God. I would postulate that there is.
But. If there is a God. And he has a system for judging. What's fair? This is. This is a question that.
That's. It's. It's in our culture all the time. We're having to answer this. If you're mostly a good person. But you've done some really bad things.
Is it 50-50? What's his threshold? Is it graded on a curve? Do you have to be better than half the population? Do you have to be. Does it.
Does it matter what you come from? So if you're in general a nice person. But you also have a good digestive system. And you grew up in a fairly wealthy family. With nice parents. In a nice area of town.
And you turn out nice. Did you do much? Never really harmed anybody. It's like. Yeah. But where you came from.
You should be doing a lot more. If somebody comes from a place. That's not nice. Didn't have parents. All they ever got was. Was beaten.
All they were ever taught. Was how to be aggressive. And they grow up aggressive. Can. Can. Can.
Is Scrooge okay. Can you be a terrible person. For 80 years. And a nice one. For five. We just.
Supreme Court justice. Does it matter how long you've gone. How long it's been. Since something's happened. Can we just say. Oh well I was like that.
But that doesn't matter. Now there was a guy in Columbia. Who committed. Three murders. 45. 50 years ago.
And lived in Columbia. As an upstanding citizen. They found out it was him. They arrested him. Why? Because he committed three murders.
That's what he's saying. What is just. What is right. What are you going to do. And I think this is a fair question to ask. How good is good.
How righteous is righteous. And what should happen. So what he says is. Will you let the righteous fare the way the wicked do. Will you destroy the wicked. A wicked along with the righteous.
Here's God's response. 26. 26. And the Lord said. If I find at Sodom. 50 righteous in the city.
I will spare the whole place for their sake. So Abraham says. It's unjust. For the wicked. And the righteous. For the righteous to get what the wicked deserve.
And God says. Okay. If there are 50 righteous. Then the wicked will get what the righteous deserve. Is that just? Is that how that should work?
27. Abraham answered and said. Behold. I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. I who am but dust. And ashes.
Suppose five of the 50 righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city. For lack of five. He said. I will not destroy it. If I find 45.
There. Again. He spoke to him and said. Suppose 40 are found there. He answered. For the sake of 40.
I will not do it. Then he said. Oh. Let not the Lord. Be angry. And I will speak.
Suppose 30. Are found there. He answered. I will not do it. If I find 30 there. He said.
Behold. I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose 20 are found there. He answered. For the sake of 20. I will not destroy it.
Then he said. Oh. Let not the Lord be angry. And I will speak again. But this one.
Suppose 10. Are found there. He answered. For the sake of 10. I will not destroy it. And the Lord went his way.
When he had finished speaking to Abraham. And Abraham returned to his place. God invited Abraham in on that. And Abraham intercedes on behalf of Sodom. Abraham goes before the Lord. And says.
I've undertaken to do this. What about 10? What if there's just 10? He says. I won't do it if there's 10. Abraham doesn't push it further.
We don't know. If God gave him some clues. Throughout the conversation. It gets. The sentences get shorter. So it's possible Abraham knew.
I should stop. But we don't know. You thought Job interviews were tough. Or that first dates. Were nerve wracking. I think Abraham walked back to his tent.
A little. Interceding with God was. A bit much. But God. Graciously. Listens to Abraham.
19. The two angels came to Sodom in the evening. Okay. So the three men. One of them was the Lord. Two of them were angels.
The Lord is no longer among them. At least. Visibly. Came to Sodom in the evening. And Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. So most likely they would be closing the gate soon.
Most of the people who sit in the gate. Are prominent people. So Lot is in the gate of Sodom. Which means he's. Most likely a fairly prominent person. In the city.
When Lot saw them. He rose to meet them. And bowed himself with his face to the earth. And said. My lords. Again.
I just think this is interesting. He's going to respond. You'll see some similarities. Between how he and Abraham treat them. And also. Abraham said.
My Lord. Because I think there was obviously one. That was above the others. He says. My lords. Because.
Couldn't really tell. Y'all just seem like y'all are friends. You're on the same level. Please turn aside. To your servant's house. And spend the night.
And wash your feet. Then you may rise up early. And go on your way. They said. No. We will spend the night.
In the town square. But he pressed them strongly. That word is like. He grappled with them. Like he twisted their arm. So they turned aside to him.
And entered his house. And he made them a feast. And baked unleavened bread. And they ate. But before they lay down.
So it was evening. Sun's going down. Before they go to sleep. The men of the city. The men of Sodom. Both young and old.
All the people. To the last man. Surrounded the house. So he no longer lives in tents. He lives in a house in Sodom. And they called to Lot.
Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us. That we may know them. That phrase is used as a euphemism. It can mean know. Like get to know.
We want to befriend them. It can mean we want to have sex with them. Similar to the way we use the term slept together. It can mean slept. It can mean not slept. So we don't really know yet.
We're about to figure it out. It's not the good one. Lot went out to the men at the entrance. He shut the door after him. Shut the door after him. And said I beg you my brothers.
Do not act so wickedly. Behold I have two daughters. Who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you. And do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men.
For they have come under the shelter of my roof. Okay this got crazy. So these two men come to his home. They're like we're going to stay in the city gate. He knows about the city he lives in. He says no you're not.
They're like we'll be fine. He's like no no no no. Come come come come come. Come stay in my house. Every man to the last man young and old. Guys they didn't have TV.
Or cell phones. Word traveled. Seems like they didn't have anything else to do. I guess this town doesn't get visitors often. They show up. They surround the house.
And they say. Two men came in there. Send them out. We want to rape them. Lot. Steps out.
Closes the door behind him. He's staring at a sea of faces. I don't know if they had torches. I don't know how well he could see. It was getting dark. I don't know if he can tell.
It's just people and people and people. Until it gets too dark to see. Bravely says. Do not do this. And this sounds. Says something that sounds so absolutely crazy to us.
He says. I have two daughters. Take them. Now. That is absolutely crazy to us. It's crazy that this situation has played out to this point.
But if you understand a little more about Middle Eastern hospitality. That some people hold to. This is less crazy. If you've ever seen or heard the story about. Marcus Luttrell. He was the Navy SEAL.
Who they made the movie about. Lone Survivor. Navy SEAL. Four of them were sent in. Three of them die. He eventually escapes.
The Taliban is who they were trying to. There was a leader in the Taliban. They were trying to take out. He makes it to a small village. He is very very badly beaten. He has a broken back.
He has a dislocated shoulder. He's at some point bit his tongue in half. Muhammad Gulab. Sees him. Takes him into his home. The Taliban show up.
Muhammad gets a gun. And starts fighting. And the whole town fights to defend this guy. That has come under his roof. Because they understand. If he comes under my roof.
I have a sacred oath to him. That I must defend him. That's what's going on here. So Lot says take my daughters. And it's like what on earth. But he understood.
That there was a sacred thing. To hospitality. So he goes out. He says. I beg you. Don't do this.
Take my daughters. Verse 9. But they said. Stand back. And they said. This fellow came to sojourn here.
And he has become the judge. Now we will deal worse with you. Then with them. Then they pressed hard against the man Lot. And drew near to break the door down. But the men reached out their hands.
And brought Lot into the house with them. And shut the door. And they struck with blindness. The men who were at the entrance of the house. Both small and great. So that they wore themselves out.
Groping for the door. Okay. So these men have surrounded the house. They yell. Hey Lot. Send those men out here.
We want to rape them. Lot comes out and says. Do not do this. Do not act so wickedly. But he can tell.
They didn't just disperse them. He says. Look I have daughters in here. You can have them. Leave these men alone. They've come under my roof.
And they say. You're going to judge us. We're about to do worse to you. Than we were going to do to them. Instead of two men. We'll have three.
And they come at him. Angels grab him. Snatch him inside the house. I think this was probably the most aggressive grabs he has ever received. And thankfully so. They close the door.
And the angels strike with blindness every man outside. For the record. The angels would have been fine in the town square. And it says. That they wore themselves out. Trying to get to the door.
That's one of the craziest parts in the story to me. I think. If we were in the middle of something. And I suddenly went blind. I think I would say. Hey I suddenly went blind.
Some version of that. I think you pretty quickly would have found out. Yo me too. I am also blind. What a weird occurrence. At that point.
I don't know who's leading this gang. Someone should have said. Let's call it a night. Since we're all blind. Magically. It almost seems like it just made them angrier.
They must know. They have such a great vast majority. That they think. Even blind. We got this. And they.
They're enraged. And it says. They wear themselves out. Trying to get in the door. Blind. Now.
This puts on display. The great wickedness. Of Sodom. It has been often taught. That the primary sin of Sodom. Was homosexuality.
The New Testament. Does say. Does highlight. Their sexual sin. This passage. Is highlighting their sexual sin.
I don't think. The primary point of this passage. Is homosexuality. Those in the LGBT community. Have come along and said. That's not it at all.
It doesn't have anything to do with homosexuality. It has to do with a lack of hospitality. Certainly. What they suggested. Was not hospitable. I don't think.
That is a fair reading of that either. I think what this displays. Is when there is a complete rejection. Of God. And when there is active. Unrepentant sin.
Sexual sin. Rises. Rises to the top. Sexual confusion. Sexual misunderstanding. Sexual assault.
I think you can see that culturally. Right now. For us. We've spent some time. Talking about. Gender dysphoria.
Homosexuality. And I want you to know. If that's something you struggle with. Or don't struggle with. Feel perfectly fine in. Think that you want.
To celebrate. You're welcome here. Would encourage you. To talk with us afterwards. So we can clarify this position.
A little more. Because we believe. That you're welcome. That Jesus loves all of us. But that we're loved.
And welcomed in our repentance. And that God offers. Grace to sinners. This is sin. And it is actively. Aggressively.
Put on display. That's all the time. We'll spend. Talking about that. Specifically. Because it's not the point.
Of the passage. Then the men said to Lot. Have you. Have you. Anyone else here. Sons-in-law.
Sons. Daughters. Anyone you have in the city. Bring them out of the place. For we are about. To destroy this place.
Because the outcry. Against its people. Has become great. Before the Lord. And the Lord. Has sent us.
To destroy it. Can you imagine. The visitors. That showed up. The people. Who were wondering.
And saw lights. In a city. And went to Sodom. For refuge. All the times. That it wasn't angels.
Can you imagine. Why Lot. When they said. We'll stay in this town square. What he knew about. When he said.
No no no. Don't stay in the town square. Can you imagine. The tears. And the pain. Can you imagine.
The amount of times. If this is happening. And they're gathering. To do this. How much. Abuse.
How much. Theft. How much murder. How much. Has taken place. In this city.
And how often. Someone. Beaten. And bloody. Wept. And it came to God's ears.
How often. The outcry. Just rose. Rose. We see this. In small fashion.
When it comes out. That a teacher's been. Sexually assaulting people. And all of a sudden. You'll start hearing. More came forward.
More came forward. More came forward. More came forward. As soon as the Me Too movement. Started. And there was just.
Me. Me. Me. And how many tears. And how much brokenness. And how much of an outcry.
Had arisen to the Lord. From a city. That welcomed. And accepted this. Down to the last man. Maybe some of them.
Were just there. To see what was going to happen. But none of them. Save Lot. Were saying. This is wicked.
And we ought to stop. It says. The outcry. Has been great. So Lot.
Went out. And said. To his sons-in-law. Who were to marry his daughters. I'm assuming. Since it was down to the last man.
They were at his home. Earlier in the evening. Up. Get out of this place. For the Lord. Is about to destroy.
The city. But he seemed. To his sons-in-laws. To be jesting. He comes to him. And says.
Get up. Get up. Move. Get out of here. The Lord. Is going to destroy.
This place. And they thought. He's a joke. Some of you. May be in a similar situation. You've had people.
Come into you. And say. I'm telling you. God will judge sin. And Jesus. Does save sinners.
And they sound. Crazy. Sounds like a joke. They didn't believe. What Lot believed. And they thought.
He was kidding. As morning dawn. So it's been all night. As morning dawn. The angels urged Lot. Saying up.
So he said. Up to his sons-in-laws. They're saying. Up to him. Up. Get up.
Move. Take your wife. Your two daughters. Who are here. Lest you be swept away. In the punishment of the city.
But he lingered. So the men seized him. And his wife. And his two daughters. By the hand. The Lord.
Being merciful. To him. And they brought him out. And set him outside the city. And as they brought them out. One said.
Escape for your life. Do not look back. Or stop. Anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills. Lest you be swept away.
And Lot said to them. Oh no my lords. Behold. Your servant. Has found favor in your sight. And you have shown me great kindness.
In saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills. Lest the disaster overtake me. And I die. Behold. This city is near enough to flee to.
And it's a little one. Let me escape there. Is it not a little one? And my life will be saved. He said to him. Behold.
I grant you this favor also. That I will not overthrow the city. Of which you have spoken. Escape there quickly. For I can do nothing. Till you arrive there.
Therefore the name of the city. Was called Zor. Which means little. So he says. Get up. We're about to destroy the city.
Lot lingers. I don't know if he was packing. I don't know what he was doing. He doesn't tell us. I don't know if he was thinking. Well if the two of y'all.
Are going to destroy the city. You're not going to. As long as you're here. I don't know what he was doing. But they eventually just grab him.
They walk him out. And they say. Run. Run to the hills. Don't look back. Don't stop.
Don't linger. Don't catch your breath. Go. This whole place is getting destroyed. And he says. Let me go there.
It's closer. I'm not going to make it. All the way there. And that's. It's a little. It's barely even.
It's little. Isn't it little? Looks really small from here. There's not that many people. Let me go there. And what always baffles me.
Is I want angels and God at times. To just slap someone and say. Shut up. Do what I told you. He says. I'll grant you this favor also.
He says. Okay. And he says. Hurry. He says. Hurry.
I can't do anything. I'm not allowed to do anything. Until you get there. When you get there. Trouble starts. 23.
The sun had risen on the earth. When Lot came to Zor. Then the Lord. Reigned on Sodom and Gomorrah. Sulfur and fire. From the Lord.
Out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities. And all the valley. And all the inhabitants of the cities. And what grew on the ground. But Lot's wife.
Behind him. Looked back. And she became. A pillar. A pillar. Of salt.
Okay. Lot makes it to. To Zor. His wife is behind him. We don't know how far behind him. He was moving.
She was not moving as fast. And God from heaven. Rains down fire. And sulfur. I think this would have been. In the past.
Hard to picture. But with movies. And video. From wars. I think we can kind of understand. What happened.
Things started flying. Exploding. And there was fire. And there were tears. And there were two sons-in-laws. Who were very surprised.
The city was destroyed. And it says. Lot's wife looked back. And I heard this. Growing up in Sunday school. All the time.
And I always thought. Wow. That was super strict. Don't look back. Yeah. Salt.
I don't think that's a fair reading of the text. Especially. Since Jesus later clarifies it a little better. And we'll read that in a minute. But Jesus says.
Remember Lot's wife. Those of you. Who want to save your life. Will lose it. And those of you. Who are willing to lose your life.
Will save it. And the point was. When she looked back. She was longing for Sodom. She had turned back. She wanted to save.
What she had. She loved it. She had grown used to it. She didn't want to give up everything. Her looking back. Was not following.
What the Lord had said. Was not trusting him wholeheartedly. But going. I know. But. And it's not.
What if it's not. And then she turns back. And she's destroyed. And swept away. 27. And Abraham went early in the morning.
To the place where he had stood. Before the Lord. And he looked down. Towards Sodom. And Gomorrah. And toward all the land of the valley.
And he looked. And behold. The smoke of the land. Went up like the smoke of a furnace. He looks towards this valley. And the sky is just filled.
So it was. That when God. Destroyed the cities of the valley. God remembered Abraham. God remembered Abraham. And sent Lot.
Out of the midst. Of the overthrow. When he overthrew the cities. In which Lot had lived. There were not ten righteous. But when God comes.
He remembers. Abraham. And he has mercy on Lot. Verse 30. Now Lot went out of Zor.
And lived in the hills. With his two daughters. He was afraid to live in Zor. Okay. So. We don't know why he was afraid.
I think he should have run for mayor. Y'all only exist. Because I didn't want to run further. But. He leaves. It's a bad place to be.
So he lived in a cave. With his two daughters. In this area. In the Middle East. There are a lot of caves. This is why.
When we've. Been in fights with the Taliban. And that sort of thing. They've moved from cave. To cave. To cave.
To cave. To cave. This is historically. People would. Move to caves. To hide.
He lived in a cave. With his two daughters. And the firstborn. Said to the younger. Our father is old. And there is not a man on earth.
To come into us. After the manner of all the earth. Come. Let us make our father drink wine. And we will lie with him. That we may preserve offspring.
From our father. So they made their father. Drink wine that night. They understood. That he would not be on board with this. And the firstborn.
Went in. And lay with her father. He did not know. When she lay down. Or when she arose. He was very very drunk.
The next day. The firstborn. Said to the younger. Behold. I lay last night. With my father.
Let us make him. Drink wine tonight also. Then you go in. And lie with him. That we may preserve. Offspring from our father.
So they made their father. Drink wine that night. Also. And the younger arose. And lay with him. And he did not know.
When she lay down. Or when she arose. Thus both the daughters of Lot. Became pregnant. By their father. The firstborn.
Bore a son. And called his name Moab. He is the father. Of the Moabites. To this day. The younger.
The younger. Also bore a son. And called his name. Ben Ami. He is the father. Of the Ammonites.
To this day. And that is the last. We hear of Lot. In the book. Of Genesis. That story is gross.
And it makes you go. Why is this even. In here. I think there are. A few reasons. Why it is.
And a few things. We can quickly. Learn from it. I think it is. In here. Because it happened.
I think it is. In here. Because it tells us. Where the Moabites. And the Ammonites. Come from.
Who will play out. In the rest of Israel's history. I think it is in here. Because the Bible. Does not shy away. From displaying to us.
What humans are like. As much as we want to act like. This is. And what people are like. It shows to us. How much Sodom.
Had crept into. How much the daughters. Of. Lot. Were willing to accept. The sexual ethic.
Because you think. How would this come into. Anybody's mind. As an acceptable idea. Lot. It also displays.
That Lot. Isn't. A superhero. You read this story. And you are like. Okay.
Cool. There was one righteous. God goes and saves Lot. And then it is like. Lot got super drunk. And slept with his daughters.
It is like. What on earth? It is like. If you watched Rudy. And he gets to play. That last play.
And he makes the tackle. And it freezes. And then he goes. Twenty years later. And the last fifteen minutes. Of the movie.
Are him super drunk. Yelling at his television. And beating his children. And you would say. To the director. Why on earth.
Is that how the movie ended. Why would you put. Fifteen minutes of that. In here. And him cussing. And knocking over the table.
At their birthday party. It is like what. Just because he played. A little bit of Notre Dame. Doesn't make him a good person. I want people to understand.
How stuff works. It would be a terrible movie. That is what happened to you. You read this. And you are like. Okay Lot.
And then you go. Oh. What on earth? And you see. I think. When we look at this story.
As a whole. And we see. What is going on here. I think it is. We need the New Testament. To help us.
Understand how to read this. So. I am going to show a few verses. Where the New Testament. Begins to address some of this. Second Peter 2.
Six. Says. If by turning the cities. Of Sodom and Gomorrah. To ashes. He condemned them.
To extinction. Making them an example. Of what is going to happen. To the ungodly. The Sodom and Gomorrah. Is a small picture.
Of what is going to happen. Jude seven. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah. And the surrounding cities. Which likewise. Indulged in sexual immorality.
And pursued a natural desire. Serve as an example. By undergoing a punishment. Of eternal fire. That God. Will not stand sin.
Sodom and Gomorrah. Is a small picture. Of ultimately. What he is going to do. Which is judge. Wickedness.
Jesus. Brings it up as well. In Luke 17. They ask him. When the kingdom will come. And he says.
It is already working. Among you. He says. That don't get. Don't get confused. When someone says.
I found Jesus. He has already returned. He says. I'll come back like lightning. I'll rip the sky open. It'll be very obvious.
Then he says this. Likewise. Just as it was. In the days of Lot. They were eating. And drinking.
Buying. And selling. Planting. And building. But on the day.
When Lot went out. From Sodom. Fire and sulfur. Reigned from heaven. And destroyed them all. So we'll be on the day.
When the son of man. Is revealed. On that day. Let the one. Who is on the housetop. With his goods.
And the house. Not come down. To take them away. Likewise. Let the one. Who's in the field.
Not turn back. Whoever loses his life. Will keep it. So Jesus says. That his return. Will be like.
It was in Sodom and Gomorrah. The day before. Will be normal. And there will be many. Who are like Lot's wife. Who've just grown used to it.
If you think about. Us right now. What we've grown used to. What we've begun to accept. What we've begun to love. And to long for.
That's just earthly. Think about the sin. In our culture. That we're just becoming. Numb to. That we don't weep over.
We don't lament. We don't pray. That God would end. That he would fix. We're just. Used to it.
Think about what you. Watch now. That maybe you. Used to wouldn't. Think about what you'll. Laugh at now.
That maybe you used. To wouldn't. Think about. What you'll partake in now. Or accept now. Or join in now.
That maybe you used to wouldn't. That certainly. Our grandparents. Wouldn't have. You see. It's going to look normal.
There'll be weddings. Somebody will be leaving. For their honeymoon. It'll be a normal day. You'll get up and go to work. And the sky will crack open.
And Jesus will appear. And at that moment. For those who like Lot. Have trusted. And run from it. Some will be like Lot's wife.
Who thought that's what they were doing. But then turned around and said. I don't know. I kind of like this. And many will be like the sons of. Sons in law of Lot.
Who thought it was a joke. So the question. I think we need to ask. Because the band comes back up. Is when God cracks the sky open. What's his standard for righteousness.
I think if you'll genuinely believe. And understand. That there is an eternity of punishment. Coming for those who are wicked. That we will pay for our sin. That it will find us out.
That we will not live forever. Peaceably. But we will stand before God. My son. Watches. This movie called Lego Batman.
And at one point. They get taken to this little place. And this little block shows up. And says. Plays a little highlight reel. Of their badness.
I think if you played a highlight reel. Of some of your good qualities. Be your favorite movie ever. You'd be looking and going. Wow. Look at what I did.
Look at how I acted. Look at how great I was. And we could immediately. All of us could flip it. And show all the times you were petty. And all the times you lied.
And all the times you took advantage of somebody. And all the times you hid. And all the times that you went out of your way. To puff yourself up. Or to put somebody down. And I think we could watch.
In excruciating agony. As we saw how little we deserve God's grace. And I think it's a fair question to ask. What is his judgment going to look like? And how will he judge us? And what does righteousness look like?
Who gets. Who counts in the ten? Romans 3 says this. Paul's answering that question. For we have already charged. That both Jews and Greeks are under sin.
As it is written. None is righteous. No, not one. No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned aside.
Together they have become worthless. No one does good. Not even one. Later in the chapter he says. We all have fallen short. So that if God's standards of righteousness.
Is that you. Would live up to his perfect goodness. When he returns. No one is righteous. And there is. An eternal punishment.
Sodom and Gomorrah is a blip on the radar. There are people who are spending. Eternity in hell. They were there last night. They woke up there. This morning.
And they are not one day closer to that ending. There are people. That you work with. That when Jesus returns. Will not be a joyous occasion. Second Corinthians 521 tells us this.
For our sake. God. Made Jesus. That's the he made him. To be sin. Who knew no sin.
So that in him. We might become the righteousness. Of God. That there are. That there are. A group of righteous.
That will be redeemed. That will be. That will escape the city. And it's those. Who have had Jesus. Become their sin.
So that they can become righteous. That's the hope. That's the only hope. That Jesus Christ. Who knew no sin. Who deserved no punishment.
Took all of our sin. And all of our punishment. And all of our blame. And became our sin. He became the worst. Among us.
He became an abuser. He became a rapist. He became a murderer. He took it all on himself. And was nailed to a cross. And when he rose again.
He swapped places with us. So that all who place faith in him. Become the righteousness of God. That there are a righteous. Who are redeemed. That story says.
That on that day. When he destroyed Sodom. God remembered Abraham. And he rescued Lot. And there will be a day on judgment. Where I'm going to say.
When God judged the world. He remembered Christ. And so he saved his church. I want you to know. As best as I can say it. If Jesus Christ has not borne your punishment.
You will bear it. If Jesus Christ has not become your sin. And your wickedness. You will own it. And as Lot ran around and said. Up.
The city will be destroyed. Make a move. Do something. Trust me. Some of you need to get up. You need to trust.
You need to decide. You've been hanging out for a while. But you haven't decided. I'm going to follow Jesus. I'm going to trust in him. I need him to pay for my sin.
Because I will stand before God. And my highlight reel of my sin. Is not pretty. And I will justly deserve. The punishment I get. And there are so many of us.
That will not get what we deserve. Will get what Jesus deserved. Will be loved. And cherished. And welcomed. For eternity.
Because we've been made. Righteous. In Christ's righteousness. And will shine like the stars in heaven. And will reign with him. Because Jesus redeems sinners.
So here's how we're going to finish today. If you're a Christian. Prior to taking communion. Where we actively remember. That Jesus Christ became our sin. So that we could be made righteous.
So that the day that Jesus cracks the sky open. And like lightning shows up. Will be the most explosive. That the day that has ever happened for us. That's why we can leave everything behind. That's why we can run from everything the world has to offer.
Because it pales in comparison to the Christ. Who redeems those who don't deserve it. Prior. To taking communion. And celebrating that. I want you to ask the question.
Am I running around the city telling people to get up? If I believe that Sodom is a blip on the radar. If you thought tomorrow. That Columbia would be destroyed. Who in Columbia would you rescue? And Jesus says it won't just be a city.
It's going to be eternal. And it's going to be the whole world. And who are we seeking to say get up. Trust in him. I don't care if you think I'm a joke. I don't care what I look like.
This place is going to be gone. No. And if you haven't placed your faith in Jesus. In a moment. When his church gets up. After praying.
After repenting. After praying. Pleading for God. To redeem. Standing in the gap like Abraham. And saying Lord.
As we take communion. There's going to be some people around the room. Over in this area. And a few over in this area. Some of you need to get up. And you need to decide today.
I'm going to follow Jesus. You need to get up. You need to make a move. You've been hanging out for a while. You've been toying with it. You've kind of taken some steps.
You've kind of taken some steps back. Some of you are in the mode. Where you're jogging along behind the church. You're Lot's wife. You're trotting along. Everybody thinks you're going to escape.
And everything's holding you back. And at some point. You're just going to stop. And you're going to turn around. Because you never really believed it. You never really bought in.
Your heart never left Sodom. Some of you need to decide today. I'm going to get up. I'm going to trust. And I'm going to encourage you to stand up. To make a decision now.
To go talk with somebody. To pray. To place your faith in Jesus. Some of y'all need to walk through. What that looks like. Some of y'all just need to get up.
And take communion for the first time. As an actual Christian. Trusting that Jesus can become your sin. And you can be made righteous. And when we stand in judgment. We'll join with all those who've had mercy.
Poured out on them. Let's pray. God. God. God. We ask that in these next moments.
That those. Who have thought this is a joke for too long. Would hear it. See it. Know it. Believe it.
And that you would change them. And we ask in this moment. For those who seem like they're escaping. Who are trotting along with the church. And we can't tell the difference. But their heart.
Longs for this world. That they would trust you. And not look back. And we pray. That for those of us. Who know the truth.
That we would be unashamed. In proclaiming it. God.
Circumcision and the Outsiders
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Spencer. I'm one of the pastors here with Mill City Church. We are going to walk back through a little bit. Last week, Chet walked us through the story of Sarah and Hagar. This morning, we get to do that.
We get to do it a little bit differently this time. It's going to be on page 7 if you have a Blue Bible. We're going to be mostly in 17 today. If you don't have a Bible, please take that Bible home. That is our gift to you. A few weeks back, my wife and I got to do something that's been on our bucket list for a while.
We got to see the Broadway production Hamilton. If you haven't heard of it, it's a hip-hop Broadway that tells the life and legacy of Alexander Hamilton. We finally got to see it, and it absolutely blew our minds. It was way better than we thought it could be. And there's this two-song set in the first act. And the first song is the telling of how Alexander Hamilton met his wife, Eliza Schuyler.
And it's just the story. It's how they met. It's how Angelica, her sister, introduced the two of them. They meet. They start writing letters. They fall in love.
They get married. And on the set, when the wedding is over and the song is done, there's this center part of the stage that is circular. And it can go forward and it can go backwards. It goes in a circle. And they start reversing the set. And they start going back in time.
And they tell the story again. The second song is called Satisfied. It's one of the biggest songs from the whole production. And in that song, it tells the story, but it tells it differently. It gives a little bit of a why, a little bit of what's going on behind the scenes. It's this Angelica Schuyler, it's the sister.
She's the one singing the song. And you realize it's a whole lot more complicated than it actually looked, that Angelica actually sees Alexander and falls for him. But she doesn't realize, she doesn't think he has the money, has the class to hang with her New York royalty. So she sees her sister. Her sister also falls for him. She introduces the two of them with the hope that she can kind of have access to him later.
It turns into this weird love triangle that continues throughout the whole time as you see it play out. And we get to do a little bit of that today. We get to walk back through a story that was told last week. But we get to see what's going on behind the scenes. We get to see the bigger picture of what's happening here. Because if you are just working through this story, you might miss what's happening.
Like I can read one of the passages we're going to have today is Genesis 17. And in 10 and 11 it says, This is my covenant, which you shall keep between me and you and your offspring after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. And when you read that, it kind of feels a little bit out of place. Like we're going through this story.
Where did this come from? But there is major eternal significance in what's happening here. It has implications that play throughout the rest of the Bible. So we want to get a different view on this story. As we work from Genesis into the New Testament this morning, we're going to see the implications that play out. So I'm going to pray, and then we're going to dive in.
God, I'm thankful that you've given us your word. I'm thankful that we get to hear what you have to say. God, I pray that you would show us the big picture of what's happening here, and that would motivate us to respond to your glory. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, so like I said last week, Chet introduced this story of Sarah and Hagar.
I want to give a quick recap of what happened in chapter 16. So Sarah and Abram, at this point, had been changed to Abraham. Sarah and Abram are waiting on this promise. This promise of a line, of a son, of a legacy, of descendants. They're waiting on it, and it does not happen. And Chet hinted at this last week.
At this point, she probably has gone through menopause, and they don't believe the promise is going to come, so they decide that they're going to force the promise themselves. Sarah suggests, why don't you take my servant Hagar, and we can have a line through her. And Abraham doesn't step up. He doesn't say, no, we're going to wait for the promise. No, he says, okay. So she conceives, and then when she conceives Hagar, the text says that she looked upon Sarah with contempt, which is a little bit of saying, it's a little bit of a power play.
There's a little bit of a, she's going to stage a little bit of a coup here. She's going to try to overthrow the line, overthrow the promise. And Sarah's not having that. She responds with deep anger, and the text tells us that she abused her. So in the middle of all of this, Hagar, she bounces.
She just leaves. It kind of turns into a Latin soap opera very quickly, which, for the three of you that laughed, everyone else, if you don't know Latin soap operas, go YouTube Tello Novello today. Take five minutes to watch the dramatic scenes. You're welcome. But it quickly turns into that.
And Hagar is in the wilderness, alone, pregnant, and God meets her. He meets her where she's at, and he calls her and says, there's a greater purpose for you. There's a plan here that you are going to have a son. That son will be called Ishmael. Ishmael is he who hears. This is God hearing her affliction, and he responds.
And he says, you're going to have a great nation that comes from you. And what ancient commentaries have done is they have traced the line of the Arab people back to Ishmael. They've looked at, we won't read this today, but later in 17, it talks about how Ishmael is going to have 12 princes come from him. They're ancient commentaries that look back at those 12 princes, and that is where they draw their line. The Arab people come from Ishmael. And then later on in history, we know the story, Islam comes along, takes hold of that tradition, and claims that Ishmael is actually the one who got the real promise.
And then the rest is history after that. We see the great proclamation in Genesis 16, 12, the prophecy. It says, he, talking about Ishmael, shall be a wild donkey of a man. This is talking about his legacy. His hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen. And that played out even into today.
That Arabs and Jews are still at odds, that Arabs and surrounding nations are still at odds. And then 13 years later, it picks up in Genesis 17, where we're going to be today. So 13 years later, Ishmael is 13, Abraham and Sarah are approached by God. It says in verse 1, When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty, walk before me and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly. So this covenant, this promise, starts in Genesis 12.
And we've watched it unfold, that God tells him he's going to make a great nation. He's going to bless his descendants as numerous as the stars and the sand. And then he promises that he's going to have the promised land. There's going to be a great land for his people. And then we walk through Genesis 15, when the ceremony of splitting the animal in two, and God walking through. And this promise, this covenant is continuing to unfold.
But this right here is the climax. This is the climax of the covenant in Genesis 17. So this is a big moment. And the text continues in verse 3. It says, That Abram fell on his face, and God said to him, Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be called Abraham.
For I have made you into a father of a multitude of nations. So that's what Abraham means. A father of many. This name change is significant. It's meant to jar Abram, because names are significant in the Old Testament. They have meaning and value, and a name change is really big.
It would be big in our culture, too. If I walked in this morning with my kids, only one of them, because one of them decided to get sick on the way here, and went back home. But if I walked in with both of them, and checked them in, and Isaac's at the front, and Isaac goes, Hey, Ellie. Hey, Bridgers. And I said, No, no, no, no. That was them.
We changed their names. This one, Ellie, is now she who rules the children. And Bridgers is he who destroys the children. Now, what snacks are you having today? That would catch Isaac off guard. First, he'd be like, Dude, we can't put that on a name tag.
You got nicknames? Yep. Ruler. Destroyer. You got this. What about snacks?
Like, he would be, No, no, no, no, no. Are you trying to stage a coup in Kid City? What's happening here? You get Raz involved, it would be a big thing, because a name change is meant to jar you, it was meant to jar Abraham, to remind him of the promise. No, this promise is going to happen. You are going to be a father of a great nation.
There is going to be many that are blessed through you. So, Abraham's all right. Feeling it? Verse 6. I will make you exceedingly fruitful. I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your offspring after you, and I will give to you and your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their God. Now, we'll get to this in a second, but that language of offspring is significant. And we'll pick that up later. It continues in verse 9. He says, And God said to Abraham, As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.
This is my covenant, which you shall keep between me and you and your offspring after you. Every male among you shall be circumcised. Now, I feel like Abraham was feeling really good until that last line. He's like, wait a second. The name change was cool? Circum what?
Huh? Huh? And he would have been familiar with signs that came with covenants. He could think back to Noah. He's like, man, Noah got the rainbow. You did this really cool thing when you made the covenant with Noah.
Circumcision? That's really how this is going to be? Yes. And he keeps going in verse 11. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. Now, there's a few things I found puzzling in life.
My wife mentioned this a few weeks back. She said, why do mosquitoes exist? And I wanted to argue because that's what I love to do. And I couldn't. I said, I don't know. I don't know if they serve a purpose.
Like, they're just annoying. I can't really make a case for them. I don't know if you've ever thought about this either. Why does Tarzan have a clean-shaven face? It doesn't make sense. He grew up in the jungle, raised by apes.
It's like, that doesn't make sense. And I have stumbled upon this before over and over again. And I'm like, why? The most significant sign of the Old Testament. Why did God choose circumcision? It seems odd.
It seems like a curveball. It seems a little bit out of place. So first out of the gate, let me give you, let me say two quick things. Firstly, this is what circumcision is. It is the removal of the foreskin from the male genitalia. There's the scientific explanation.
Circumcision means to cut around. Now, you may have heard of something called female circumcision. That is a false term. It is. That's not like that. That is what we, what happens across the world is called, female circumcision is actually called female genital mutilation.
It is a barbaric practice that still happens today. But the term female circumcision, it doesn't apply because circumcision only applies to males. There is no sign, there's no female circumcision in the Bible at all. It is only male circumcision and females are brought into the covenant by being mothers, by being daughters, by being wives. They're brought into the family of God that way. There's no need for a female son.
So that's, that's something that we need to know coming out the gate. Secondly, I just want to state this. We'll get to this more clearly later. We as Christians in the new covenant do not have to practice this. This is a medical choice that you can make, but this is not something that is practiced. Jesus fulfills the law of the Old Testament.
He fulfills the sign of circumcision. What happens in the New Testament, which we don't have time to get in today, is that it gets replaced by the sign of baptism, that baptism is the new sign of the new covenant just as Abraham trusted God and was circumcised. Those in Christ who trust in him are responding in baptism and that is our sign. So those two things we need to state right out the gate. Let's keep diving into the text.
Verse 12. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not in your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, hear this, shall be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant.
So not only is this it's seeming a little bit odd it gets more serious. If you don't do this, if you are not circumcised, if the men in your household are not circumcised, if you do not circumcise your son, you are cut off from the covenant. So this is a really serious sign and the question is why? Why is this so significant? Why is it so important? I'm going to give you four reasons why this sign has great importance in this story.
The first is that this is a sign of the promise through faith. It's a sign of the promise through faith. Hear this, Abraham had to have trusted God. We see the evidence here. But also, he wouldn't have circumcised himself if he didn't trust God.
That's not how that works. You just don't up and do that. No, he had to actually trust God and follow through on this command. And this sign, this promise, this sign is explicit for a reason. It is intentionally sexual. Abraham trusts God and then he goes through with this and he is going to pass this on to his son Isaac.
Because we read last week that we're not going to have time to read this week that Ishmael gets circumcised. He responds and circumcises himself. He circumcises Ishmael and the men in his household. So why can't Ishmael get the promise? And the reality is is that he's not going to get the promise because there's something unique and intentional about Abraham trusting God then being circumcised then conceiving Isaac. It's intentional for a reason.
He is going to pass this on through Isaac and this is going to go all the way down the line. Second, this covenant was a sign of cleanliness and purity. We see this play throughout the entire Old Testament. Circumcision was a cleansing ritual. The rest of the Old Testament is going to refer to those who were clean and those who were unclean. You're going to see that over and over again.
Clean, unclean. And the reason why is because God is taking possession of his people. And this is an act, a holy act, what the Bible is going to say, a consecrated act. They have made themselves holy, that they are going to be set apart from the rest of the surrounding nations. So this clean, unclean distinction is going to show up over and over again.
And it is a daily and regular reminder for the people of God that you belong to him. That you are his people. You are supposed to be set apart. Third, this was a sign of priesthood. Circumcision is a priestly sign. Contrary to popular belief, Jews were not the only ones that did this.
They were the most famous for doing this and there weren't many other ones who actually did this, but there were some and there's one group of people that's actually very significant for understanding this and that was Egyptian priests. Egyptian priests would circumcise themselves and what they were doing was they were saying, we are separate from the rest of the Egyptian people, we have consecrated ourselves, we have made ourselves holy and we have access to the Egyptian false gods. And what happens as the story plays out is that the Israelites eventually end up in Egypt. They are enslaved for 400 plus years.
Then God, through Moses, brings them out of the promised land and when they come out of the promised land, here's what God tells them, you will be a kingdom of priests. You are going to be, as the New Testament calls it, a royal priesthood. You're a kingdom of priests. They just circumcised their priests. This whole nation bears this sign. And when you get into the land, the promised land, and you set up the nation of Israel, this is where I will rule and reign from, this is where the tabernacle and then the temple will be, you are to be a royal priesthood that will reflect the glory of God to the surrounding nations.
It's a priestly sign. Lastly, it's a sign of new creation. This is a sign of new creation. Why the eighth day? Why were circumcised, why were boys wait, why do they wait eight days to circumcise them? Chet gave a little bit of medical evidence, this is a little bit of God's design in humans, that blood starts to clot better by the eighth day.
It is safer then. But the theological reasons are because the eighth day, hear this, comes after the seventh. The significance of that, and this is a, is that it goes back to Genesis 1. The God created the world in seven days. This was the first week and the first day after, that was the first day of this newly created world. And what happens is, is that on the eighth day that the males are brought into the covenant.
They're brought into the covenant. This is day one for you being a part of the nation of Israel. So there's a whole lot of significance that is packed in to this sign. But like many signs and many symbols over time, this is going to start to lose its meaning. It's going to start to fade. And this happens with symbols.
I mean, in our culture, if you've ever been to a barber shop and you've seen a barber pole, you probably thought, cool, America. The red, white, and blue stripes. That's actually not where that comes from. It goes back to medieval times. In medieval times, there were barber poles and what these would signify is that barbers weren't just skilled with the blade to shave, but also could do basic surgery. So this pole, the red stripe symbolizes blood, the white would symbolize bandages.
Some think that the blue symbolized veins and that they were known for this is a place that once you see the pole that you can get basic medical care. But over time, that sign fades. We start to lose the significance of it and that happens with the sign of circumcision. Over time, circumcision ceases to be a sign of the faith, a sign of the promise, a sign of new creation, a sign of priesthood and it gets reduced down to a few things. It gets reduced down to ethnic superiority. We see this in the New Testament that the circumcised ones are superior.
They follow the law. Circumcision is always attached to the law. They follow the law that that makes them righteous, that makes them better and that makes them insiders. That they are higher than the pagan outsiders. That circumcision makes you an insider. And by the time that Jesus comes, circumcision has been so corrupted by pride and self-righteousness.
And then he comes. Jesus enters the scene and what does he start doing? He starts ministering to outsiders. He starts ministering to Samaritans. He starts ministering to Romans. He starts ministering to outsiders and he starts calling out the insiders.
He starts calling out the religious leaders. And he starts to expose the hypocrisy of the whole system. He starts to expose the hypocrisy of the good parts of their story. Circumcision was meant to be a good sign. The law is a good gift that God had given and they had used it as a bludgeon to keep outsiders out. Even against their own people.
And he starts to expose the failure of the system. He starts to expose the failure of them as a priesthood. And eventually this gets him killed. And he's killed. He conquers death at the resurrection. Then he commissions out the church.
And he says, go and make disciples of all nations. And then the church responds. And you read through the book of Acts that Gentiles start to be reached. That outsiders start to be reached. They start believing and trusting in Jesus. And then a new problem happens.
A group of people called the Judaizers which comprised of super Jewish Christians but also Jews who just wanted to stir trouble in the New Testament church. They start to come into the church and this is where we pick up in the New Testament in Galatians 4. It's page 566 in your blue Bible. In Galatians Paul addresses the problem of this group. This group comes into the church. They start preaching a different message.
They start preaching yes, okay, Jesus but you need Jesus plus circumcision. So they were going around trying to have people circumcised. You need Jesus plus the law. You need Jesus plus customs. You need Jesus plus the festivals. And anytime whether it's then or now that you start preaching a Jesus plus message you have lost the gospel.
It is only by Christ and faith in him alone. It is only by grace by what we just sang. And Paul just absolutely dismantles it. Take some time today to go read the first three chapters of Galatians. Man, he absolutely just dismantles the argument. Goes hard after it.
And then we get to chapter 4 and he shifts the story back to Sarah and Hagar. And we look at this from a different angle. Picks up in verse 21 it says, Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman, one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh while the son of the free woman was born through the promise.
Now this may be interpreted allegorically. Let me pause real quick. Allegorically here means he's taking two literal people with literal stories and they are symbolic of something that is greater. Doesn't mean they weren't real people with real stories. We see that he uses Abraham and circumcision in the book of Romans. They are real people with real stories and real meaning.
He just takes these two figures and shows something greater. This may be interpreted allegorically. These women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery. She is Hagar. So Paul begins to set up this argument.
He starts to say children of freedom and children of slavery. And in verse 25 he says, Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She corresponds to the present Jerusalem for she is in slavery with her children. Now, you probably didn't catch this because you're not a first century Judaizer going around trying to circumcise people. But Paul just threw some major shade.
I mean, he just threw some major shade here. You see, Mount Sinai is the place where the law was handed down. And he talks about present day Jerusalem and he's referring to these people. He said, You Judaizers, you people, you who boast in the law, who boast in circumcision, who uphold these things and do not understand them, y'all aren't children of freedom. You are Ishmaelites. You are children of slavery.
And that, man, those are some fighting words. That's the moment in the playground when two kids are going at it. One kid finally says something. Everyone backs up because they know something's about to go down. Someone's about to start throwing bows. He absolutely lays it down, but he didn't let up.
Verse 26, he says, But Jerusalem above is free. She is our mother. He's talking about heavenly Jerusalem. This isn't literal Jerusalem. This is the place where God rules and reigns from. And then he picks it up in verse 27.
This is where the story really all starts to tie together. Isaiah 54, 54, this is what's being quoted here in this passage. He says, For it is written, Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear. Break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor. For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband. I just want to pause for a second.
This is a sub-point of this. But isn't it cool here? This is a small picture that we get that you don't have to have literal children to have a spiritual legacy, an eternal legacy, that by taking the gospel to those who don't believe, you can have children of faith that will eternally be in the presence of God. That's just a helpful word for a culture, I think, that's overly obsessed with kids. He says, Who has no husband, now you brothers, like Isaac, are children of the promise. So he quotes Isaiah 54 and this story starts to come into full view.
He says, For years, of this argument coming up to here, is for years they have lost the symbol of circumcision. They've lost what understands the story of Abraham, the formation of the nation of Israel. They've lost the handing down the law. All this has been lost over time. And they have made it as a message of outsiders, insiders and outsiders, Jews and those who were not Jews. Paul quotes Isaiah 54 and what's being implied here often in the New Testament when the Old Testament is being quoted.
This is not just Isaiah 54 1 that is being understood here. He's actually bringing in the meaning, the context, which is verse 2 and verse 3 of Isaiah 54. And this is what Isaiah 54 2-3 says. Enlarge the place of your tent. Let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out. Do not hold back.
Lengthen the cords. Strengthen your stakes. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your offspring will possess the nations and will people, or in other words, inhabit, and will people the desolate cities. And that is when this story starts to come into full view. The tent was always going to get bigger.
The tent was always going to get stretched. It was not literal descendants of Isaac. It was not literal descendants of Abraham. That was never the story. It was through faith that you became children of God. Through faith in the promise.
The tent was always going to get bigger. And that word offspring here is significant. Paul in Galatians 3 addresses this. This offspring here is singular. And it would have been understood at the time to be implied to the nation singular Israel. Paul comes along and says, actually, no.
No, actually, in Christ, He is the offspring. That is the one this is talking about. That an offspring is going to come and perfectly fulfill the requirements of the law, perfectly fulfill the sign of circumcision, that He's going to take that perfection on the cross with Him, and then He's going to make a way through the resurrection, loosening the power of death, loosening the power of the law, and then after this, in the big, beautiful twist, what Chet likes to call the M. Night Shyamalan move, which, his name is M. Night Shyamalan, in case you're wondering. The big twist that happens here is that this tent was always going to be expanded and that Ishmaelites, Africans, Greeks, Romans, everyone, the plan was to save them all.
The plan was to save the nations that when Christ would come, they would be brought into the tent. That's the beautiful twist of this whole story. This story's been longing for, because I'll be honest, man, sometimes when I read this story, I get frustrated, because Chet said last week, there's no good, there's not any exemplary characters here. I mean, Abraham is, again, passive, again, failing. Sarah gets vicious, and Hagar, I mean, she's not innocent. She tries to overthrow the line.
She shows contempt. But there's a part of me that gets frustrated, because I'm like, now what kind of choice did she have? What about Hagar? What about Ishmael? And I have often heard, in the past, as people have thought about this story, as they've thought about, as we ended last week in 21, when Hagar and Ishmael are wandering in the desert, they are thirsting to death, they are getting ready to die. I have heard people say, you know, wouldn't it have just been better had they died?
Wouldn't it have just been better had they not gotten water? Had God just left them? And what's being implied when that is said is what good are this people, this wild donkey of a nation? What good are the Arab people? And the same that is said about them can be said about us, because all of us were outsiders. I haven't seen your Ancestry.com profiles, but I'm willing to go on a limb and say most of you, if not all of you, are not Jewish.
We are all outsiders, wandering in the desert, thirsting, having no hope. Jesus comes along, someone brings the gospel to us, and then we actually get to drink living water. We get exposed to the gospel, we believe in Him, we're brought into the family of God. That's the hope of the mission of the church. That's the hope of the mission going forward. And what can clearly be seen is that God cares about the Arab people.
You can see it in His care for Hagar and Ishmael and the story, and you can see it today. There's a something called the 1040 window in missions. It's the latitude and longitude from North Africa all the way to Indonesia, and it's the most unreached, the most lost people groups in the world, and the overwhelming majority of that window are Arabs and Muslims. Because Islam eventually comes along, takes that tradition, and there are billions that are wandering around in the desert that don't have water, that don't have the hope of the gospel. Some of them don't even have access to it. There's not someone within a thousand miles who believes in Jesus who can actually bring living water.
They are thirsting in the wilderness. But the hope of the gospel is that God cares about Arabs. He cares about the lost. And He is sending people out today to go out and bring living water. There's a couple in our church, Ben and Patricia. They're here.
I'm not going to point them out and make it awkward for them. But they're here and they're sitting over here. They are here. They were in Lebanon. Patricia is Lebanese. She grew up in Lebanon.
And this is her first time in the States. And Ben was a missionary for close to a decade. They are part of a missions organization called 1040 Hope. And I've loved having them here. I've loved having them in our group as we've talked through how Jesus is saving lost people in Lebanon. How people are trusting in Jesus.
And it gets me excited. It gets me fired up. But you know what's even cooler than that? They are like one of hundreds of thousands of mission organizations of churches who have a heart for the Arab nation and are sending people in to bring living water. And as we close out today, may we be humbled in worship by the God who sins because if He had not sinned, we would still be outsiders. We would not have access to this living water.
Sarai and Hagar
Transcript
Good morning. Grab a Bible. Go to Genesis chapter 16. If you do not own a Bible, there should be, or if you didn't bring one with you, there should be a blue one on your row. If you don't own a Bible, take that one home with you. We want you to own a Bible.
We want you to read it. But you will need a Bible today, so I would encourage you to grab one. There won't be any verses on screen, and we have a lot of reading to do. We're going to be working our way through kind of a longer story. The story we're going to look at today will span several chapters. We'll actually skip a few because in the middle of kind of this story playing out, there's some other things that happened, and so we'll come back to those later.
And so it's the first time we've kind of moved around a little bit. We'll do that. And the story that we're looking at has great theological and historical implications. I mean, massive for how humanity plays out, for how the rest of the world is going to work, and we are going to talk about none of that today. We will talk about that next week. So next week we'll look at a lot of the similar texts and look at the historical significance and the theological significance.
And today we're really just zooming in and kind of seeing this story as it happens, in the time it happens, to see how God interacts with these individuals. And I'm hoping that as we go through it, we're going to be pretty straightforward today. We're just going to read the story. We're going to talk about the story. We'll draw some things out kind of as we go. And then hopefully as we move through it, we will see how God chooses to interact with these individuals.
And we'll learn a little bit about what does God do and what do we do when life gets sideways, when our circumstances are just terrible, everything's bottomed out, when people have sinned against us and we are in a bad spot, when we in our hearts have grown angry and bitter and frustrated and lost hope and lost faith, when our circumstances are bad, when we are sinning, when others are sinning against us. And for most of us, that is how life plays out. I think sometimes we like to think that we are the, at least I do, I like to think I'm the main character of my story. And, you know, like in a good movie, there's a few plot twists, but mostly like I develop character over time.
There's like things I'm going to overcome and then there'll be this resolution and everybody will be happy. At some point in my life, I'll just freeze and there'll be words at the bottom of the screen that say, you know, the last little bit of facts that happened, but they're not super important because I already accomplished all this stuff. But that's not really how life works. For most of us, we have, I have whole seasons where my character doesn't develop at all, you guys. And they just be terrible to watch. Like, it's like, when is this guy going to grow?
And it's like, I don't know, keep watching, maybe never. You know, it's like sometimes my life looks like, what's the police show where it's the same thing every single time you watch it? Like, it just feels like that. And if I remember that, that would have been helpful, but I don't remember the name of the show. So, um, it goes, don't, don't, you know, it's all I'm talking about now. No, not helpful.
Law and order. It's the same thing every single time you watch it. Sometimes my life looks like that. No character development, no change, no whatever. Even if the character dies, I just swap them out for the same person who does the same stuff. So, uh, there's whole seasons of life like that.
There are other times where you feel like, oh, I've conquered this, I've overcome it, I've gotten better. And then, no, you haven't. And so that's kind of what we're seeing here is real people in a real story in real life. And it's a mess. What does God do? How does he interact?
What happens in the middle of that? And so let's pray and then we'll start reading. God, we pray that your word, um, would train us, would correct us, would encourage us today. and that ultimately as we see this story, um, that we would see you more clearly and more fully and in a real, genuine way that sinks into the depths of our hearts. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Um, Genesis chapter 16.
So we'll, we'll read through 16, we'll read through a good bit of 17, we'll read through half of 18, and we'll read through some 21. So we got, we got our work cut out, but it is a story and so hopefully it'll be better than if we just read through all of Ephesians or something at once. All right. Now, Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. Okay, so we hadn't talked about Sarai in a little while. Uh, when they introduced her at the beginning of this in chapter 12, they say Sarai, or chapter 11, they say, uh, Abram's wife, Sarai, was barren, she had no children and this is kind of her marker throughout life.
This is, uh, her identity is wrapped up in, uh, barrenness. And so it seems that, uh, for Sarai, this would have been part of who she understood that she was, part of who, how she understood her life. And if you think about this, there's a lot of pain wrapped up in that one verse that we just read. She, at this point, is in her seventies. she would have gotten married fairly young, most likely. Um, so if she got married somewhere between 15 and 25, she has been married for 50 to 60 years and has born no children. And in this culture, even in our culture, but in this culture, that was specifically, uh, consistently painful. she's actually married to a great man who's the head of a clan.
And that's very surprising because they have no children. He actually, at one point, has to go to war. We already read about that. He took 300 trained men that were born in his household, but he doesn't have a physical offspring. He doesn't have a physical household. He has a household that he has amassed through, uh, growth over time, but he's married to Sarai and she has never born children.
And this has to hurt that for a long time, she prayed and hoped and wished nothing. The people kept kind of thinking, right, is this going to happen? And then eventually the assumption would be there's something wrong with her or God is displeased with her or at least he hasn't put his favor on her. Forty years go by. I'm assuming at some point she accepts this. This is how it's going to look.
This is what it's going to be like. And then God, God, goes and speaks to her husband and says, you're going to be the father of a great nation. You're going to be a father of a great offspring. Your children won't be able to be numbered. And I'm assuming when he went back and told Sarai that for the first time in a long time, she had some hope here. Sarai the barren wouldn't be barren any longer.
When we pick up here, that was ten years ago. So for ten years, she waited, hoping, longing. Abraham waited. Abram waited. I'm assuming every month, no, not pregnant. Okay.
Every month for ten years, no, not pregnant. Now, Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. It's possible they picked her up while they were in Egypt. If you'll remember that story, they went there. Abram said, you're really pretty, but that's a problem.
Pretend to be my sister. He let her marry another guy. It was not his finest hour. Don't worry, though. He learned from it and does it again in chapter 20. So, she, it's possible that's where they picked her up.
It's possible at some other point. They kind of live on a trade route, so it's possible that people were going back and forth throughout there. They are Chaldeans, or at least they come from that land, and this is an Egyptian servant. And Sarai said to Abram, Behold, now the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go into my servant, it may be that I shall obtain children by her. So, Sarai comes to Abram, she says, Behold, now the Lord has prevented me from bearing children.
It is most likely, it's possible that she lost hope over the course of ten years, but she's reached 70, she's in her 70s, it is most likely that what she is saying is, I have ceased to have my cycle. That she has entered menopause or gone, completed menopause, which you know that had to be so painful the first time that, because when you enter menopause, and I looked this up, I don't know much about it, your menstrual cycle becomes irregular. And so for Sarai, who's been hoping and praying and longing for an irregular menstrual cycle, one time it doesn't happen. she waits. She's not pregnant. She goes through menopause and is no longer able, biologically, factually, to bear children.
I assume this crushed her. She goes to Abraham and says, the Lord's prevented me. God has chosen to say no to this. And I guess the hope that was in her, that maybe that was going to happen through her, that she was the one who was going to receive the promise that God was going to make a great nation out of her, that finally this thing she had longed for was going to happen, that she would no longer be Sarah, the barren, is gone. And so what she does is she comes up with a plan. She immediately enters in with, okay, I've got the backup plan.
She kind of tries to take control of the situation. I think she probably felt pretty insecure in her situation with Abram anyway, if he was willing to let other people marry her. I think that probably damaged their relationship a bit. And so she now is no longer able to bear children, but this promise to Abram is that he will have children. She was never mentioned in the promise. It was just to Abram.
It was assumed. Maybe she longed for, hoped for, that it would be her, but it's not. And I think if you went to her and you said, well, just hope, maybe it's still you, she would say, hope is gone. Look at the facts. We were wrong. It's not me.
But she comes up with this plan. She says, I'll give you Hagar, and maybe by her, I'll bear children. Now, that may sound crazy to us, and maybe it doesn't sound crazy to you, but that was a common practice. to have a surrogate practice in this way was common in this time. I don't think it was ideal. I don't think God blesses this as we read the rest of the story, but this was a common practice. That someone who was in a position of power, someone who had means and had servants, would present a servant to their spouse and say, she's going to bear children for me, and the children would actually be hers.
That's what Sarah says. Now, I wish this story stopped here. Let's read. It says, Go into my servant. It may be that I shall obtain children by her. And Abram listened to the voice of Sarah.
I wish that it didn't say that. I wish it said that Abram looked at Hagar and said, I'm sure you're very nice. I'm sure you're a lovely person. And then he looked at Sarah and said, Boo. You are the only woman for me. And then the lights got dim and he said, baby, baby, baby, baby.
I wish that was the story. Or at least he said, hey, maybe we ought to pray about this. God's the one who gave us the promise. Maybe we ought to seek him a little bit. It does seem like maybe that's not what's going to happen. I don't know all the stuff you've got going on, but you're saying you're not going to have children.
Maybe we ought to pray about this. Maybe we ought to seek his face. What it says is, and Abram listened to the voice of Sarah. Now, most people would argue that listening to your wife is a very good thing. This phrase, however, when used in Genesis, has only ever been used negatively. It was what God says to Adam when he shows up.
He says, because you listened to the voice of Eve, because you listened to the voice of your wife, and now it says he listened to the voice of Sarah. It does not mean just listened. It means obeyed. Abraham's the idea that he just took her word and submitted. He took her word and followed. It's what we're supposed to do with God.
Listen to the voice of God. If it said, and Abraham listened to God, what it would mean is he took it, he took it to heart, and he acted on it. You see, Abram is supposed to lead, love, defend, care, and he doesn't. Abram's in this story throughout the rest of this time, and he's the first sitcom dad. He does this. That's pretty much what he does in the rest of this story.
He just is kind of there. There's a lot of times where you're like, okay, do, okay, no. Okay, you're going to, okay, no. And he doesn't lead, love, serve as he ought. Abram listened to the voice of Sarah. Verse three.
So after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, so that's when the promise came when they came, so she's had ten years of trying to be pregnant. Sarah, Abram's wife, took Hagar, the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram, her husband, as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. So that's Hagar.
When she saw that she was pregnant, she suddenly viewed Sarah as worthless. she hated her. She looked on her with contempt. Now, Hagar hasn't had a say in this. This historically plays out this way that those who have no means, often what they do have, their body, their talent, is taken from them by those who do have means. that those who have the ability to pull some strings and have some money and have some ability will take those who have nothing really and will use them for their own purposes, their own value, use them up. They're only good for what they're able to do. They have no value in and of themselves.
So Hagar is in this position and her response is hatred, contempt, towards Sarah. She suddenly feels like, okay, hold on a second. First of all, it confirms very quickly according to the text that Sarah was the issue, that she was not able to get pregnant, that it was something going on with her, not with Hagar. And so Hagar immediately is pregnant and then looks down on Sarah. Treats her differently, Acts differently towards her. And it also can kind of hold the idea, contempt can mean that she just kind of rejects this idea, she's going to keep the child, it's not going to be Sarah's.
There are places in the Bible where it says that you have contempt on the plan, you're not going to do this until it seems like that may be what is happening. She looked on contempt with her mistress. Verse 5, And Sarah said to Abram, May the wrong done to me be on you. I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between me and you. But Abram said to Sarah, Behold, your servant is in your power, do to her as you please.
Then Sarah dealt harshly with her and she fled from her. So Hagar gets pregnant, she treats Sarah with contempt, she becomes maybe haughty, she looks down on her, she treats her as worthless, Sarah goes to Abram and says, This is your fault, may the wrong done to me be on you. She had told herself that if Haggai got pregnant she would feel better, that this would work, that this would be beautiful, that this would fix the plan. And she had, in the midst of her turmoil and hurt, she had grabbed the reins and just said, I'm going to work this out. I'm going to make sure I'm still in control here, I'm going to make this work, and it doesn't.
And that's played out in human history, that's played out in our histories over and over again. This will fix me, this will make me happy, if I can just make this work out, I'm just going to step in, I'm going to pull some strings, and then when we get it, it's worse. When we get what we wanted, it falls apart, it makes it worse, it's more hurtful, it's more painful, that's what happens. And she goes to Abram and says, this is your fault, and she's not entirely wrong. And all he says is, hey, hey, hey, hey, she's your servant, do whatever you want. So it seems as if Sarai beats her, she dealt harshly with her, and Hagar flees.
The angel of the Lord found her, that's Hagar, by a spring of water in the wilderness. So she runs away into the wilderness. This would not have gone well for her. She is pregnant. We don't know how pregnant, but obviously pregnant. She runs off into the wilderness where we're told in the land that they are in it is not well watered, so she finds a spring.
She's hanging out there. She has no real hope of a future. She can live in the woods and try to have a baby by herself, which probably won't go well. She can get picked up by somebody else and be a servant or a slave. She can die. She finds some water, she's there.
The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going? We're told at the beginning that that's her name, is Hagar. She's not called by that any time that Abram or Sarai speak of her. She's called the servant. Servant, servant, servant, servant, servant.
Until God shows up, until the angel of the Lord shows up and he says, Hagar. Because her value to him does not come from what she's able to do. Her value comes from who he has made her. His love for her. That she is a person that he cares about and he calls her by name. And I'm assuming the voice that she heard both instilled her with fear and with longing and with hope.
He said, Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going? She said, I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai. The angel of the Lord said to her, return to your mistress and submit to her. Those are not words of hope. That sounds terrible. He says, no, go back.
Submit to her. Change your attitude. Change your posture. Be there. The angel of the Lord also said to her, I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude. So there now lies hope that the baby will live or that eventually she'll have more children, that she will live.
And the angel of the Lord said to her, behold, you are pregnant and you shall bear a son. And that's exciting. She got to do an old fashioned God version of an ultrasound. And you shall call his name Ishmael, which means God hears. He doesn't say that, but that's what it means. You shall call his name Ishmael because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him. And he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen. Now, when we hear that, we might think, okay, is that like, is that good? Is that Bible talk for something good to be a wild donkey of a man? Because I've read Song of Solomon and he says your teeth looked like sheep and he was trying to be nice. Your neck is a pomegranate.
Like, is this just one of those weird? No, it translates about as well in English. It's not a nice thing to say about someone. If you're like, yeah, my neighbor is a wild donkey of a man. You're going to be like, he seems nice. So it's not a good prophecy.
He will be great. He will be a great multitude, but he will be against everyone and everyone will be against him. That plays out in history. Very significantly, and we're not going to talk about it. Verse 13. Talk about it next week.
So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her. You are a God of seeing. For she said, truly here I have seen him who looks after me. So she says, I'm seeing. He knows me. He hears me.
That's what he says. I see you. I hear you. I know you. Only person in the Old Testament, male or female, to give God a name. Right here.
You are a God of Abraham. Abraham a son. Abraham called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. Abraham was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abraham. So Abraham is excited.
He has a son. The promise is being fulfilled. She comes back and says, God says he's going to make him a great multitude. He's going to be a wild donkey. We'll talk about that later. Abraham is like, what was that?
She's like, you're going to Abraham was 86 years old. Now he's 99 years old. This is a 13 year old. Ishmael is 13 now. So Sarai, she's not mentioned.
Hagar comes back, says, God met me, told me to come back. Hopefully she changed her attitude and did what God told her to. There's a son. Sarai watches Ishmael grow to be 13. the promise has moved. He's going to be the great multitude. That's the situation Sarai is in.
When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God almighty before me. I'm God almighty. Walk before me and be blameless that I may make my covenant between me and you and may multiply you greatly. Then Abram fell on his face, which is a good response. And God said to him, behold, my covenant is with you and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, which means exalted father, but your name shall be Abraham, which means father of a multitude.
Be Abraham, which means father of a multitude. For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly
Fruitful and I will make you into nations and kings shall come from you and I will establish my covenant between me and you and
Your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your offspring after you and I will
Give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession and
I will be their God so Abraham is laying on his face and God is just saying this is what I'm going to do
This is my promise this is what's going to happen and God said to Abraham as for you you shall keep my covenant you
And your offspring after you throughout their generations this is my covenant which you shall keep between me and you and your offspring after
You every male among you shall be circumcised you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins and it shall be a sign
Of the covenant between me and you he who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised which is interesting that's when blood
Begins to clot in a human generations whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not your
Offspring both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised so shall my covenant
Be in your flesh an everlasting covenant any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from
His people he has and we're not going to talk about that verse 15 and God said to Abraham as for Sarai your wife
This is the first time that we've seen God speak about Sarai as for Sarai your wife you shall not call her name Sarai
But Sarah which means princess so all of you who get really down on little girls being called princess and being taught that they're
A princess boom proof text Sarai is a princess I will bless her and more over I will give you a son by her
I will bless her and she shall become nations kings of people shall come from her then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and
Said to himself you ever laugh at an inappropriate time Anna and I were at a wedding reception rehearsal dinner they were doing toast luckily we were at the
Back table we got to laughing so hard we were both crying I couldn't look at her it was terrible this is worse Anna and I really shouldn't go places together
It's a problem he laughed and said to himself shall a child be born to a man who is 100 years old shall Sarah who
Is 90 years old bear a child and Abraham said to God oh that Ishmael might live before you and God said no but
Sarah your wife he says that over and over again by the way he says Sarah your wife Sarah your wife a little bit of hey next time
She says marry this other lady say no Sarah your wife shall bear you a son and you shall call his name Isaac this
Is great y'all Isaac means he laughs so Abraham falls over laughing I guess he thinks God didn't know and he said you know
What you're going to name him you think this is funny it's going to be hilarious that's what it says that Abraham falls over
And Esau is the same it says Abraham falls over he laughs he says yeah that's what we're going to name him I will
Establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him as for Ishmael I have heard you behold I have
Blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly he shall father twelve princes God shows up when Ishmael is thirteen and
He says hey Abraham your name is Abraham now which is good because that's what I've been calling him the whole time hey Abraham
Remember that covenant that we cut I'm about to cut it into your flesh we're going to cut it into your flesh and it's
Going to be with you and Sarah your wife and I'm assuming that when Abraham went back to Sarah and he said it's you
You you're the one he said her her her she she she Sarah Sarah Sarah Sarah I even I hate to bring this up
I was like are you sure and he was like yeah Abraham has great love for his son Ishmael but God says no I'm going
To do it through Isaac and it's interesting the Bible doesn't place a lot of circumcised who conceives Isaac God comes in and says no this covenant wasn't clear
Enough I'm making the promise to you and to her and we're cutting it into your flesh the rest of this chapter says that
Abraham got up and did what God said and on that very day circumcised himself and everybody in the household which I can just imagine some
Guys watching some sheep and some people came running towards him and they were like what's going on and they were like God just
Spoke to Abraham God spoke to Abraham what'd he say the covenant he's gonna have children do what now everybody I wasn't even born
Here I was bought bought too he clarified twice when right now okay this is all coming on a little fast I'm gonna be
Honest well they got it over with and Abraham did what the Lord told him to 18 and the Lord appeared to him by
The oaks of Mamre and as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day now their tents would
Have been goat skin tents so these are big black tents made out of goat skin and they would have during the summer most
Likely rolled the sides up so it was just like a big open air kind of thing and during the winter they rolled the
Sides down because it gets pretty cold but it says he's in the heat of the day he's sitting out in his tent so
It's probably pretty warm he's sitting out underneath the covering also remember he's very old as he sat at the door of his tent
In front looked and behold three men were standing in front of him I said earlier that the Lord appeared to him so these
Three men it says the Lord is among them and behold three men were standing in front of him when he saw them he ran
From the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said oh Lord if I have found favor in your sight
Do not pass that you may pass on since you have come to your servant so they said do as you have said and
Abraham went quickly into the tent and said quick three seeds of fine flour knead it and make cakes and Abraham ran into the herd
And took a calf tender and good and gave it to the young man who prepared it quickly then he took curds and milk
And the calf that he had prepared and set it before them and he stood by them under the tree while they ate I
Don't know if they fried the cheese curds but if you ever get a chance to eat fried cheese curds are delicious verse nine
They said to him where is Sarah your wife I want y'all to see this God shows up to Abraham the first thing he
Says when he sits down he says where is Sarah he cares about her he reinstituted this promise and he says this is for
Sarah and he says where is she he said she is in the tent and the Lord said I will surely return to you
About this time next year okay if we're sitting next to a tent just think about this for a second we're sitting next to
A tent or in the so she wasn't even like she was at the door she was at the flat behind him now Abram
And Sarah were old advanced in years the way of women had ceased to be with Sarah so Sarah laughed to herself saying after
I am worn out and my Lord is old shall have pleasure meaning will this come true will this finally be real now immediately
You're like is that a good laugh is it like a joyous laugh is it like a not good laugh it's not good one let's see how
God respond Lord said to Abraham why did Sarah laugh and say shall I indeed bear a child now that I am old is
Anything too hard for the Lord so her laughter was lack of faith she scoffed we'll talk about that in a second is anything too
Hard for the Lord at the appointed time I will return to you about this time next year and Sarah shall have a son
But Sarah denied it saying I did not laugh I did not laugh she just pokes out behind the curtain or she just shouts
It what no laughing in here something else was funny for she was afraid and he said no but you did laugh no you
Did Sarah you did okay here's what happened God said I've made a promise to Sarah and then he reiterates it and she goes
Yeah okay we do that somebody comes up to you you're in the midst of a situation you can't see past the situation all
You know is pain all you know is hurting they say let me tell you something God loves you and in your heart you go
Okay do we do the thing I know I do this I don't necessarily laugh but I'll do the thing where it's like theologically
I know God can do whatever he wants secondarily I know he won't she has facts on her side after the way of women
Has ceased it's just how she wants to walk out and say don't you know biology I thought you created stuff ain't happening it's
Not a joyous laugh when Abram came back and told her this promise she was too shut down she was too hurt she didn't hold
On to this because it says about the same time next year twice meaning that God shows back up the first question he has
About Sarah is because when the news reached her that the promise was to her she did not believe it and God wants to
Talk to her about it this is where is she about this time next year she's gonna have a son and he says why
Are you laughing is anything impossible for so many of us we get in these situations where all we can see is impossible and
Then somebody comes along in your group and says let me remind you how much Jesus loves you let me remind you what happens
When the Holy Spirit works on somebody that they might repent let remind you and you go yeah okay and he says no but
You did laugh all right Sodom and Gomorrah happens situation with Abraham and Abimelech where Abimelech marries Sarah again somebody else marries her it's not great he thinks
You get over some stuff they would quit doing this anyway chapter 21 it's an exciting chapter you'll notice a little heading that was added
Later the birth of Isaac kind of giving away the ending here but okay chapter 21 the Lord visited Sarah as he had said
And the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised meaning that God fulfilled his promise he said he was going to do this
He did and she conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him now think about this she just
Started gaining weight y'all she's 90 wasn't like she was on a menstrual cycle that she could notice was missing all of a sudden one
Day she was just like no maybe she started throwing up first I don't know I don't know how this went she started having
Problems and then she was like wait a second Sarah conceived bore Abraham a son his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him Abraham
Called the name of his son who was born to him who Sarah bore to him Isaac and Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old as God
Had commanded him Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac was born to him and Sarah said God has made laughter for me
Everyone who hears will laugh over me I love that verse she said who would have said to Abraham and Sarah who would have
Said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children yet I have born him a son in his old age she has a son 75
80 Years late 25 years after the promise and she says I get the joke he made laughter for me so much joy in
That moment she also says everyone else will think this is funny and it is funny picture a 90 year old woman now picture
Her nine months pregnant it's startling yet humorous she gives birth to this child she does not die she has a healthy child she
Is healthy she nurses she says who on earth would have ever said this would happen and she now believes the impossible she says
The Lord did this and I get it I get the kind of laughter that this Isaac was going to be I get it
And the child grew and was weaned started eating solid food and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned
Men take a note here if you're the husband the dad the head of the household find things to celebrate this is one of
The cool things that Abraham does here he says you're eating solid food now well you're about to get all kinds of solid food
This is going to be a celebration find things to celebrate put your foot in the ground on some stuff don't always just be
Like it about time you started eating food I've been telling your mama I thought you were behind on that don't do that say boy
You ain't even have fried chicken for have you like just throw down find things to celebrate find things to be excited about don't just
Fuss when things are bad but celebrate but Sarah saw that the son of Hagar the Egyptian whom she had born to Abraham laughing he's
15 16 At he had an attitude so she said to Abraham cast out this slave woman with her son for the son of
This slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac her heart towards Hagar has not changed cast out this slave woman her
The son of this slave woman will not be an heir with my son and the thing was very displeasing to Abraham he's that
Word pretty heavy he's very frustrated very angry on account of his son he's like that's my son you can't just say get rid of
Your son but God said to Abraham be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman whatever Sarah says to
You do as she tells you for through Isaac shall your offspring be named so I just want to point this out earlier was a problem when he
Listened to his wife because God wasn't involved now she has some wisdom God steps in and says no listen to her so it's
Not like a general rule don't listen to your wife no she's helpful but listen to God as well what God said to him
Be not displeased because of the boy because of your slave one whatever Sarah says you do as she tells you for through Isaac
Shall promises for Sarah and Isaac that's where the promise has always been send them out I think this is a big messed up
Situation I think God also thinks it is but this is what should happen they're still facing the consequences of their sin and their
Desire to take control in their own hands so Abraham rose early in the morning he took bread and a skin of water and gave
It to skin was gone so this is some days later she had a skin of water they've been rationing it I'm assuming they're
Trying to figure out a place to go they're trying to make it somewhere safe when the water and the skin was gone she
Put the child under one of the bushes then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off at the distance of the
Shot for think it means he was refusing water and letting her drink that's my guess so she lays him parched lips chapped lips
Cheeks sunk in she drags him under a bush when he finally falls over because they're out of water and they've been out of
Water for a while and she just goes off somewhere kind of close but not too close because she doesn't want watch her son
Die she sits down let me not look on the death of the child and as she sat opposite him she lifted up her
Voice and wept and God heard the voice of the boy and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to
Her what troubles you Hagar fear not for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is his name is God hears
He said I have Ishmael Ishmael and it's like M. Night Shamelan signs or whatever when all just comes together at the end he
Was going to hear him all along I heard the voice voice the boy where he is verse 18 up lift up the boy
And hold him fast with your hand for I will make him into a great nation then God opened her eyes and she saw
A well of water she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink and God was with the boy
And he grew up he lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow he lived in the wilderness of Paran and
His mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt she's like I'm done with these Chaldeans okay you read this who's
The person that you think ah let's learn moral lessons from this character Hagar isn't the main character she does she's not terrible from what
We can see she has a lot of really bad circumstances happen to her but they're not really highlighting Hagar Sarai has this moment
Of redemption where she's laughing and it's almost like you got it you see what God was doing and then she sees Ishmael laughing
And says the joke is not for him kill him and you're like like y'all were having a party what what on earth she
Goes to Abraham in the middle of the party and says they gotta go he'll have nothing to do here and there may be
Some he was a threat to her son she's afraid of it but she's not saying send him away give bread give him some water and they
Can go die Abraham is not the hero in this he's not held up as like they wrote this so that everybody would think Abraham was awesome
That's not how it's written Ishmael seems okay from the little bit that we see Isaac started eating solid food that's pretty good I think he's the
Best character he made people happy and then he ate food and it's like all right Isaac this story is a mess and that's so
So good because your story is a mess and do y'all see how good God is in this story how tender he is how loving
He is like I want him to show up and bang some people's heads together like you want him to show up and say
What are you doing come no come here Abraham come sit down Sarah you think this is funny too come here both y'all in
Trouble like you want him to do that when he shows up to Hagar like he there's just these moments where you're like but
He just shows up and he's so kind and he's so gracious and he's just walking with them through this we so often think
That he's just so disappointed in us and he's so slow to anger and so slow to wrath and so welcoming and gracious and
In the middle of this he's just working it out with them and he's saying it's going to be okay no no let me
Clarify that the promise was for her now I hear you about Ishmael but I will bless him but it's not for him and
He just the whole time is just working through this and I want y'all to know that that God definitively does that for us
In Christ that he calls our name that he works out our problems that he accomplishes his purpose for our good in Jesus that
Ultimately Jesus is the Isaac that we get the laughter and the joy in the midst of our broke down inability to get there if you are
Not a Christian today I want you to just think and be like Hagar for a moment and know that God calls your name
I want you to hear him call your name and know that he knows you and that he sees you and that he loves
You and he can work in the middle of this and you can't see past your pain I want you to know that he
Works with you so similarly to the way he works with Sarah the promises don't break down because you actively worked to destroy them
He shows back up he renews him he reminds you and he works for your good and he calls you princess or prince if
That's better for you that you're a son or daughter of the king and his promises will hold fast a band is going to
Come back up here Matt and Bianca are going to come back up here we're going to sing we're going to worship a God
Who in the midst of our chaos and our sin and our lack of faith and our contempt and our scoffing at his promises
Consistently works to draw us nearer to him loves us so deeply is so kind and so gracious and that's what those pages are drenched
With the love of God for them and I don't know where you are I don't know what you've got going on right now
I don't know the circumstances you can't see past I don't know the promise you've been waiting on for 5 10 15 25 35
45 60 Years I don't know I know what you've been holding out on I don't know what you thought was going to happen
In life that hasn't happened in life I don't know what you have seen just crash around your ears but I know that there
Is a God who sees you and knows you and knows your name and through Christ is at work for your good and who
Cares and who loves and who in the midst of you being so devastatingly disappointing is not disappointed but comes to you and says
No and that through Jesus we can have that eternally secured for us forever let's pray God we thank you for your grace that you
See us thank you that you hear us and we thank you that when we are a catastrophic mess you call to us you
Clarify you walk with us you address us and you drag us forward towards your hope and your joy we pray that those who
Don't know Jesus would be forever changed by him would hear him calling their voice today would step out in faith we pray those
Who have grown hardened to your promises that you would soften them they would see the joy and laughter and the hope and the
Promises that are given from you and they would know that nothing is impossible with you in Jesus name we pray amen
October Baptism Party
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Spencer. I'm one of the pastors here with Mill City Church. Welcome to our baptism gathering. Welcome to a gathering with lots of our families in the room. Today is going to look a little bit different.
We're not going to be in Genesis this morning. We're taking a break. For this week, we're going to be in Galatians 3. So you have a blue Bible around you. It's on page 566. I encourage you to turn there as we will read through it.
So today's a little bit different. We've got all our families in the room. So this is going to be a little bit shorter for the sake of the attention spans that we have in the room. And today's exciting. It's Baptism Sunday. It's one of the most exciting Sundays we get to celebrate.
We celebrate that Jesus has changed four lives that we get to celebrate in baptism. In sports, one of the more exciting things you get to see, especially if you're a hopeless fan like me, if you love the Gamecocks or the Colts, you're always looking forward to new players. That's an exciting time. Whether it's in college, you're looking forward to signing day when players are going to declare, this is the school I'm going to go to. Whether it's in professional sports where there's a draft when a player is going to get chosen and they're going to put on a jersey or a hat, when that moment happens, everyone's excited.
Fans, players, families, coaches, because someone has been added to the team. And this moment that we get to celebrate today blows that out the water. What we get to celebrate as a church family that Jesus has changed four lives is so much more exciting because of the eternal implications of what are happening here today. So we're going to work through Galatians 3 as a church family together. And as we work through verses 22 through 29, we're going to see three different pictures. We're going to see a picture of who all of us were coming into this world as captives.
That we are all captives before faith in Jesus. And then we're going to see how faith brings us into freedom. That we have freedom because of what Christ has done for us and that that freedom was purchased and brings us into a family. The third picture we'll see today. That we belong to a church family. And as we work through these three things, we're going to see that baptism gives me a picture of how faith brings us from captivity into freedom and into a family.
So I'm going to read through this. We'll pray. And then we'll dive in. Verse 22. But the scripture imprison everything under sin so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek.
There is neither slave nor free. There is no male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise. I'll pray and then we'll jump in. God, thank you so much for your word.
God, I pray that you would make the gospel so clear and evident as we walk through this. As we celebrate what you have done. In Jesus' name, amen. Alright, so the first part of this passage, we're going to see how we all come into this world as captives. This is in verse 22. But the scripture imprisoned everything under sin.
So the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law. Imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then the law was our guardian until Christ came. In order that we might be justified by faith. That is the reality for all of us.
That is the picture of all of us before we encounter Christ. That we are imprisoned. We are captive by sin. And chasing sin is actually an ironic picture in comparison to how culture looks at this. Because culture looks at us as Christians and says, No, you guys aren't free. Y'all are the ones that are in prison.
Your faith has imprisoned you. Everyone else gets to be free to do whatever they want. The classic caricature of this shows up all over the place. But specifically you see it in the Simpsons. Over the last two decades of that show being on, Who's the classic Christian next door neighbor? Ned Flanders.
And for over two decades, he has been the stereotype of what Christians are. He's not fun. He's kind of boring. He can be kind of awkward. And his kids get to see that. And they look over and over again at the next door neighbor, the Simpsons.
They look at Homer Simpson and Bart Simpson. And all the fun and all the things they get to do. But they have to go inside and read their Bible and pray. And it's best captured, I think, in the full feature movie they did. Towards the end of the movie, the kids look at the Simpson kids and their father. And they say, I wish Homer was our dad.
And Ned Flanders says, well, I wish he didn't have the devil's curly hair. That's the caricature that gets put on us. That we're the ones that are in prison. That everyone else is free. But that is a false picture.
Because it's not actually freedom. The pursuing sin, pursuing the things of this world, isn't freedom. It actually reveals that you're not free. It actually reveals that you are a slave. That you are captive to your desires. That your desires, your sinful flesh, your pursuit of the world, that drives the train.
And that your free choices to pursue that further shows that, no, you're just a slave. Let me just give you one quick picture of what this looks like. There are millions of Americans that have lots of credit card debt. Because in our culture, the economy is really built on buying things and pursuing things. How many of us, I mean, to keep up with the Joneses, like if you want the newest and nicest phone, you've got to drop like $1,000 every year to keep up. On top of all the other data plans that you might spend on.
I mean, Americans shop regularly. How many of us have credit card bills that are loaded with shopping? Beauty is pushed in our culture. So hundreds of dollars every month in some budgets are spent on beauty. There is always the pursuit of newer and nicer vehicles where the prices go up and up and up. There's always a pursuit of toys, of things, of guns that we keep adding and adding and adding.
And many of us are swimming in this. And what it reveals is that you are actually a slave to materialism. That you actually worship comfort. And that out of that, your free choices to spend your money the way that you like it actually reveals, no, something else is driving the train. You weren't free at all. And you can pretty much do that with every other sin set there is.
Because it boils down to idolatry. Worship things in the place of God. And that is what drives the train. You are not actually free. Because worldly freedom is not freedom. And it's actually further imprisonment.
And the law reveals this. That's what this passage says. The law reveals this. The law is talking about the Old Testament law, which is the first five books of the Old Testament. But it gets expanded in the New Testament to mean all of the Bible.
That the Bible stands guard. And what it reveals is, is that these, you will never live up to what God has called you to. And also it reveals that you are a slave. That you are not actually free. And it stands guard and it reminds us of this. And if that was just it, if that was the whole of the news, then we wouldn't have this baptism water soon.
We wouldn't be celebrating this day. But, verse 25, But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. For as many of you were, for as many of you as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. What we see here is that baptism begins to be a picture of how faith takes captives and sets them free. That's the exchange that happens.
It's faith. Our faith differentiates us, it separates us from every other belief system, every other value system in the world. You can look at Buddhism. In Buddhism, and I know there's different, there's Therafada Buddhism, there's Mahayana Buddhism, I get this, but the whole gist of Buddhism is that there's an exchange that happens. You bring self-denial to the table in exchange for the final state, which is nirvana. In Islam, you exchange submission to Allah, you exchange that, that's the currency, and then you get paradise.
We see this in the American dream, a value system that we're all so familiar with, that you put in your work, you put in your blood, sweat, tears, identity, and then you get to level up. We used to say you used to get the house with a white picket fence, but I don't really see houses with white picket fence as much anymore. But it is, I want all the shiplap, I want all the luxury vinyl plate floors, I want all the quartz, the granite, the works. I want the cars, I want to level up in all of that. And I exchange all of that to get into that. Another value system you see that's been prevalent over the last couple decades is kind of the find yourself movement.
I mean, basically the last couple decades has been different forms of expression. You exchange expression for acceptance. You exchange identity for acceptance. That there are different tribes in our culture that will accept you, and you give yourself, you give a piece of yourself and express yourself and your identity in this and you will be accepted. You can do this with every value system, with every different religion. There's always going to be some type of exchange that you give of yourself, and the gospel cuts through all of that and says the opposite.
It says, some will say that you bring nothing to the table and Jesus takes care of the rest, and that's not even completely accurate. Because you don't just bring nothing to the table in our faith. No, you bring sin debt. You bring an accumulation of sin that stands against you with its legal demands. So we bring that to the table, and Jesus makes an exchange.
I want you to picture with me for a moment. Picture with me for a moment if you are in prison serving a life sentence. You've been serving this life sentence in prison for years. This is pretty much all that you know. And that every day is the same. You wake up, you leave your cell, you go eat breakfast, and you go, and maybe you go to the yard to do some, to work out, to play basketball, and then you go to a prison Job.
Or you work the job, go eat lunch, continue finishing the job, maybe you get done, have some more time for reg, then you eat a meal, then you go back to your cell, and then you wake up and do the same thing over and over and over again. Sounds like more than prison, sounds like reality for some of us. And you keep doing this over and over again, and then finally, someone comes and visits you. They sit across the table, and they say, this isn't actually freedom. This reality that you have isn't free at all. So here's the exchange.
You can walk out of here today. You can leave the barbed wire, you can leave the fences, you can leave the cell, you can walk out of here today. You just have to trust my word. Trust me, and you walk out, and I will take your place. I will take the sentence that you deserve, and you get to walk out. It's that easy.
That seems like a no-brainer. That seems like, absolutely, that's what we should do, but there is a chorus of lies that comes from everyone else in the prison that says, no, don't do that. No, that is a backwards system. That's archaic. That is, his followers are crazy. Don't do it.
And it's easy to get caught up in the chorus of lies. But that's all it takes in Christ, is to simply trust what he has already done. That in Christ, he went to the cross, he took death for us, so that we might not have to be slaves to sin, we might have to be, we might not be captives anymore, that we might be free. And all it takes is simply trusting in his life, his death, his resurrection, and he stands for us, that we take off the orange jumpsuits, and he gives us robes of righteousness, that all of his work will stand for us. And that's as simply as it gets in faith, that faith brings us from captivity into freedom.
And that's what we're going to get to celebrate today with these four stories that step into these waters, that they were once captive in sin, but through believing in his life, death, and resurrection, he made them free. As it says in verse 27, for as many of you were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ, that from this point forward, after placing their faith in Jesus, that Jesus' perfect record stands for them. That they get a point to that. They can't be accused anymore. All of their sin paid for at the cross. And that lastly, that they were purchased and brought into a family.
That's what we see in this last part. It says, verse 28, There's neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither slave nor free. There's no male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring.
Heirs according to the promise. This is what baptism gets to be a picture of. How faith brings us out of captivity, into freedom, and into a family. I've had some friends over the years that have adopted children. My wife and I actually currently were praying through this as adoption. It might be an option for us in the future.
There's one specific family I remember. This guy that I looked up to a lot. He has four kids. All four of his kids are adopted. And all of his kids come from different backgrounds. They're from different parts of the country.
They're different ethnicities. They have different stories. And some of these kids, they bounced around from foster home to foster home, from family to family. When you are a kid, the common questions you might have when you go through something like this is do I belong? Do I matter? Does anybody actually want me?
And these kids would land up on his doorstep and he would make it very clear. They'd make two things very clear. He'd say, listen, this is your forever family. This is the last stop. You belong. You matter.
You are here. This is your forever family. You are forever a part of this. And the second thing he would make clear is that you are a Jones. That's their last name. He'd say, you're a Jones now.
That's the most important thing you need to hear. You are a part of this family. And you are a Jones with everything that comes with that. And man, what a beautiful picture that we get in the gospel. That we are adopted into a family. We're adopted into a forever family that is so diverse with different people, different stories, different backgrounds.
That's what this passage is highlighting with some of these differences. It says, he intentionally pairs up different categories. He says, Jews, Greeks, which are different backgrounds, different stories, different cultures, but also what he's highlighting here, as we've talked about in Genesis, as we've been walking through the story of Abraham, is that the Jews ethnically thought that they were heirs to the original promise, but what happens in the New Testament in passages like this is that that gets blown up. It's not by ethnicity, it's by faith. You are heirs to the promise by faith. Jews and Greeks are different.
He says, slave, free, male, female, all different backgrounds. And that's true for us. You have black, white, rich, poor, male, female. The local church, the global church, we're all different in our backgrounds, different in our stories, but the New Testament makes it so clear. The most important thing about you when you have trusted in Jesus as your only hope is that your chief identity is Christ. Your whole, the whole of who you are is Jesus and that you are part of a forever family where God has sealed you with his blood.
And that's what we get to celebrate in these baptism waters as each steps in the water. What's going to happen afterwards is there's going to be a celebration. There's going to be people who celebrate and that's your church family as we celebrate what Jesus has done. So as we get ready for baptism, here's a couple things you're going to hear and here's a few things you're going to see. You're going to hear some stories. There's going to be some videos and it's going to tell the stories about each of these four individuals of who they were and now who they are in Christ.
And then, as a church family, we're going to celebrate which is a reminder that you've been adopted into a family. A family of different people with different stories as we celebrate the gospel together. And then, as the band comes up, I just have two closing thoughts. Church family, this is exciting. This is a fun moment that we get to celebrate together. Let's do what we do.
Let's go crazy. Let's celebrate that Jesus took people who were dead in sin and made them alive in Christ. That what happens here in these waters is that they're going to be, they're going to declare that Jesus is their Savior. They're going to be dumped under water which is symbolized that they were dead in sin. That they were once captive. And when they come out of the waters, they are free.
They are alive. It is a picture of the hope that they have trusted in. So, church family, let's celebrate. Let's be glad. if you, if there's anyone in here that has not trusted in Jesus as your only hope, if you are not a Christian, this is our hope for you today. That you would hear this word, that you would see these stories and you would see this is better. That you are actually in prison.
You have not experienced freedom and the hope of the gospel is that you can experience freedom in Christ and all it takes is faith. Faith will bring you out of captivity. It will bring you into freedom. And the hope of the gospel is that you will join our family as we celebrate what Jesus has done, as we get to celebrate together today in baptism. Let me pray. God, I am thankful so much for your word.
I am thankful so much for this holy symbol that we get to practice today. God, I pray that if there's anyone here who's not trusted in you as their only hope, they'd stop running. they'd see your freedom is better and they would surrender to you. God, I'm so thankful for how you work. Let's let this be a joyous celebration in Jesus' name. Amen.
The Covenant
Transcript
Good morning. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. We are going to be in Genesis chapter 15. So we've been walking through the book of Genesis, and we are in a section we're calling the Patriarchs, which is just we're looking at the life of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
And so the beginning of Genesis chapters 1 through 11 is kind of this the history of humankind and kind of how we have spiraled out of control after we rebelled against God and spiraled into sin. And then God's promise that he's not going to let sin win. And it zooms in on this one man, this one family, and kind of the rest of Genesis is going to carry out of this family. And really the rest of the Bible is going to carry out out of this family, out of what God does with Abraham and then Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and just this family as it plays out in history. And is he going to be able to fulfill his promise to not let sin win, to not let us all be overcome by sin and rebellion and death?
Can he somehow redeem us? And that's where we are. We're in the story of Abraham in Genesis. God hasn't changed his name yet, so it's still Abram. We're in chapter 15. We looked at the first kind of three chapters of Abraham last week, 12, 13, and 14.
And so we're picking up today and we're going to see two massively important kind of events take place in the life of Abraham and really in the life of us as believers. And so let's pray and then we'll study this story together. God, we thank you for your word, for the instruction and for the hope that is found in it. And we pray that as we read this story of something you did with this one man long ago, that we might see you more clearly in it and your son more clearly through it. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, so we're going to start reading in chapter 15, verse 1.
After these things, and that just means the events we read about last week, after these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. Fear not, Abram. I am your shield. Your reward shall be very great. So he comes to Abram in a vision.
He says, fear not. I am your shield. I'm your protector. I'm your defender. I'm what covers you. I'm what guards you.
And he says, your reward should be very great. And Abram responds. He says, but Abram said, oh, Lord God, what will you give me? For I continue childless. And the heir of my house is Eleazar of Damascus. And Abram said, behold, you have given me no offspring.
And a member of my household will be my heir. Okay, so Abram's response is kind of interesting. God comes to him and says, I'm going to be your shield. Your reward will be very great. And Abram starts interacting with the promises that God's already given him, which is that he's going to make him into a great nation. That he's going to give him land.
He's going to give him a great nation. He's going to give him people. And so Abram's saying, like, if you keep giving me stuff, the thing I really want, the thing that really clinches this deal, makes this wonderful, is that you would give me an heir. And so in some ways he's questioning God's plan. And in some ways he's just trying to understand if I misunderstood what's going to happen here. Do you actually want to continue to bless me and have all this go to the current heir that I have, which is Eleazar of Damascus?
Like, I'm going to give it to a person who's just part of my household, but he's not. He's not. He doesn't come from me. He's not in my family line. Or are you going to do something different? It's kind of what he's asking.
He's questioning God on how is this going to work. And I think maybe some of us have been there before where we're looking at the situation we're in. We're looking at what God says he's going to do. We're looking at how the Bible says things play out, how he treats Christians. And we're going, I don't see it. I don't see how you're going to do that from here.
I don't see how that's going to work out well from here. So that's what Abraham's saying. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him. This man shall not be your heir. Your very own son shall be your heir. And he brought him outside and he said, look toward heaven and number the stars.
So this vision happened at night or really early morning prior to sunrise. If you are able to number them. Then he said to him, so shall your offspring be. So he takes him outside. He tells him to look at the stars. And maybe you're used to looking at the stars in Columbia.
So you've ceased to try to look at the stars. But at this moment, Abraham walks out of his tent in an area where there is no light pollution. And he stares up. And he sees innumerable little pinpricks of light. Like the pictures you see on your computer desktop. Where it's just insane.
Where it almost looks like you're staring out beyond the world. And you can almost fall into it. That's what he sees. And he's staring at this. And God says, if you can number those, you'll have a good handle on the number of your offspring. And so as Abraham's staring up and as he's hearing the word of God, it says this.
Verse 6. And he believed the Lord. And he counted it to him as righteousness. So what that says is that Abraham believed the Lord. And God counted it to him as righteousness. Okay, so this is very interesting.
And very, very good news for us. What it says is that Abraham believed the Lord. Now that phrase there means that this, it settled. It became firm. That's the first time this word is used. And it means that it kind of, it settled in.
He locked it in. He believes him. Because we've seen Abraham trust the Lord before. We've seen him do things the Lord told him to go do. But this, in this moment, is where it really settles in his heart that he genuinely believes.
He comes to a firm, okay, I trust you. I don't know how you're going to work this out. I don't know when that's going to happen. I'm really, really old. And so is Sarai. But okay, I trust you.
It's this moment where that happens for him. That he locks this belief in. And for those of us who are genuinely believers in Christ, maybe you fully understand what it's saying. Because there might have been times prior when you were studying your Bible. When you were hanging out with a church or something. Where you kind of believed the Lord.
And then you would kind of back off. You would get a little bit tossed to and fro. You would vacillate. There was like this, no, I do believe. And then something would happen. And you're like, well, maybe not really fully.
I don't really know. And then at some point it became so clear to you. That actually in the face of mounting evidence. In the face of doubt. In the face of frustration. In the face of questions.
No, I believe. I trust you. Beyond I trust what you've done or what you will do. I trust you. And that's what Abram does here. And it says that the Lord counted it to him as righteousness.
Now, we need to know what righteousness is. Righteousness means being right. It means being good. It means being holy. It's actually, if you ask people. The majority of people believe that there is a God.
And if you ask them, what does he want from you? The general response is, he wants me to be a good person. That may be your answer. He wants me to be good. There's a big holy creator God. And he looks down at me and says, behave.
Do the things you're supposed to do. Don't do the things you're not supposed to do. Be good. Be righteous. That he wants me to be generous. He wants me to be kind.
He wants me to not hurt people. That's what the term righteousness means. But what did we just see? Is Abram righteous? He is because God credited him with righteousness when he believed him. So that Abram places his trust in God.
And he just says, I trust you. My faith is in you. I believe you. And God says, okay, that counts as righteousness. If you'll think back to school. Some of you are still in school.
So you don't have to think as hard as other people. Some of you got to think kind of hard. If you'll remember extra credit. So there were some people that you went to school with and they had intelligence. They didn't need extra credit. And there were other people who needed extra credit.
They needed something that made up for being able to just show up, take tests, do well. Maybe you didn't test well. Maybe you didn't study well. Maybe you, because you never studied, even though you might have been good at it, you never tested well. I don't know. But you needed extra credit.
You needed your teacher to say, I will trade hard work for intelligence. And there were annoying people in your class who were like, I don't need to do extra credit. And there was you who was like, I'm doing all the journal assignments. I'm doing all the things. I'm cutting clippings out of newspapers and gluing them to some sort of marker board. I'm doing whatever it is for me to get extra credit.
And what your teacher was saying was, I will trade. I will count. I will credit extra work, hard work for good grades. And so what God just said to Abram was, I will credit faith for good behavior. I will credit faith for righteousness. That you, if you trust me, that's the same.
I will credit it as if you have just perfectly behaved yourself. This is, Paul picks this up in Romans. We're just going to have this on the screen. That God applies this to his account, whose account. So if it says for, if Abraham was justified by works, now justified means made right, made righteous.
You're justified that your actions are justified. If you did something perfect and you said, no, I feel justified in this. It means that you did it the way it was supposed to be done. So if he was justified by works, then he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.
Okay, so what it says is, if Abraham was just a really good person, and if he was just righteous, then he could walk before God and say, look at my account. I have done so, so well. He would have something to boast about. He would say, everybody else on earth. This is the deal that God would have with Abram. And this is what we're tempted to think.
That God looked around on earth and he said, Abram's got it together. That's the guy I want. That Abram could actually look at God and say, everyone else on earth, trash. They're the worst. But I'm doing great.
Now, if you were here last week and you saw when Abram told his wife to pretend to be his sister so she can marry another guy, you probably aren't sold on his righteousness. Probably aren't convinced that he's the best. He has nothing to boast about before God. He can't walk before God and say, just take it on all my account. Just grade my little sheet and you'll know that I'm perfect. It doesn't say that.
It says, no, he didn't have anything to boast about before God because he believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Now, to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due. If you have a job, when you get your paycheck, your boss says, thank you, not your welcome. It's your due. You worked for it. They don't act like that you somehow are indebted to them.
They're indebted to you. That's what it's saying. So that if God had a system where you behaved and you went to him and you said, look at my behavior and he would owe you, but he doesn't owe you. It's not your due. It's a gift. And to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies, makes right the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.
Now, all of our little hearts should have just started fluttering because what it says is that God justifies the ungodly. Y'all know who that is? Us. We're the ungodly. You can't stand here and say, no, in all my actions and in all my thoughts, I have been like God. I've been godly.
I've been holy. I've been pure. No, you haven't. This is us. We're the ungodly. I know y'all.
That's y'all. My wife's here. Ask her. She can co-sign. That's me. His faith is counted as righteousness.
And then he says this, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord does not count his sins. So not only does he credit us with righteousness, but he doesn't count our sin. He takes our sin away. How?
By faith. That we trust God and he gives us righteousness. Now, some of you are genuinely appropriately excited. And some of you are like, wait a second. That doesn't sound fair. And you're right.
It is not fair. But it's not fair in our favors who don't complain. It's not fair towards the ungodly. We don't get what we deserve. He doesn't hold our sin against us. If we trust Jesus, if we place our faith in God, we get righteousness on our account.
The only people who have a problem with this are the people who think they're good enough. The only people who have a problem with this. That's why Jesus and the religious leaders didn't get along. Because Jesus came along proclaiming this idea. This is what he worked for. This is the people he reached.
And everybody who thought they had it together was really annoyed with him. Because they had been working. And they felt like God owed them. I've been punching the clock. You owe me. But the people who know they're ungodly.
Who know their sin. And who know that they can't work enough to pay it back. Or to be good enough. Who just trust Jesus covers me. God, you are good. And you are gracious.
And you justify the ungodly. Those people are excited. Remember in class. And the teacher, you had homework. But she forgot to take it up.
And you were so happy because you didn't do it. Teacher didn't say anything about homework. And you were like. And then this little greasy hand shot up. In the back. Um.
This is how they talked. I didn't go to your school. But I know what they sounded like. You didn't take up homework. And you were like. I'm going to choke somebody today.
Now do you know who raises their hand and says that? The person who did their homework. Not a single person ever shot their hand up and said. You didn't take up homework. And I didn't do it. But I just felt like being honest.
He justifies the ungodly. Abram is righteous. Not because he was well behaved. Not because he put in work. Not because he was good. Not because we're going to read Genesis.
And be blown away by how magical Abram was. He's righteous. Because he believed God. When God spoke. He's righteous. Because when God made a promise.
He said I trust you. And he placed all his faith in him. And he pushed all his chips over to God. And he says I'm following you. I trust it's settled in his heart. And that's good news for anyone who knows that they're ungodly.
So let's keep going. Because this is going to get more interesting. Where God kind of continues along with Abram in this story. Verse 7. And he said to him. I am the Lord.
Who brought you out. From Ur of the Chaldeans. That's modern day Iraq. I'm the one who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans. To give you this land to possess. But he said.
So this is Abram. Oh Lord. How am I to know that I shall possess it? I want y'all to be really encouraged. We just got told that Abram believes God. And he believes him so much.
Settled so much. That he has faith in him. But he still has questions. Sometimes people think. Like if you're going to be a Christian. It's just blind faith.
You can't question anything. You can't. It's like no. Like we get to wrestle with God. We get to talk to God. Did you read the Psalm we read a minute ago?
The part that Josh read. We don't read the discouraging parts out loud. We read the encouraging parts out loud down here. But did you hear what Josh said? Are you going to be angry forever? Is it going to be terrible forever?
Is everything going to fall apart forever? That's in the Bible. Like we get to wrestle with God. We get to ask him questions. And still trust. And still have faith.
And so that's what he says. Oh Lord. How am I to know. That I shall possess it? Verse 9. God said.
He said to him. Bring me a heifer. That's a female cow. Three years old. A female goat. Three years old.
A ram. Three years old. A turtle dove. And a young pigeon. And he brought him all these. Cut them in half.
And laid them each half. Laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. And when the birds of prey came down on the carcasses. Abram drove them away. Okay.
So that got weird. God was like. Go get some animals. And Abram just starts chopping them up. It's like. Hey.
I think he jumped the gun. He didn't tell you what to do with them man. But what happened here. Is that Abram knows what God is asking for. Even though we don't. But we're separated from Abram culturally.
So as soon as he said this. Abram knew what he was talking about. I'll give you an example of like cultural things that we're used to. That would seem weird to like. If you weren't familiar with our culture. And there were two people.
And one of them. They were haggling over. Like a car. They were talking about price. And they were going back and forth. On how much they were going to.
How much they were going to spend on it. How much they were going to buy. How much it was going to be selling. All of a sudden. One of them just said. He just.
Poked his hand out at the other one. The other one clasped his hand. And they jiggled it firmly. Makes perfect sense to us. That's a handshake y'all. But if we'd never seen one.
You'd be like. What just happened here? And then they said. Draw it up. Draw what up? We know.
Contract. Draw it. Like let's write it up. Let's put it up on some paper. It doesn't mean. Draw a picture of the car.
But we would know that. Because we're familiar with the concept. There's just certain things. That were social cues. That we're used to. I was playing football in college.
And one of our coaches. Was chewing out. One of the other linebackers. His name was Chris Hackney. He was chewing him out. About something.
They were arguing. Because there was a disagreement. Over how a play had been handled. And what had happened. And so. Chris was giving his point of view.
On how it went down. And the coach was giving his point of view. And in the middle of this. As they're kind of debating. Back and forth. The coach just sticks his hand up like this.
Which in the coach's mind. Symbolized. Shut your mouth. But in Hackney's mind. It symbolized. I just realized you're right.
Give me a high five. And this was awesome. Because they're arguing. Coach sticks his hand up. Hackney high fives it. And turns around.
And it didn't go well for him. But there's these cultural things. That we're used to. These cues. That we're used to seeing. These things that we understand.
That we know culturally. And here's what happens. When God tells him to get these animals. It's not that Abram lost his mind. Or that he was like. Oh you want me to get animals?
I'm mad at him. It's that Abram knew something was happening here. It's not that every time you tell Abram. He does this. It's like Uncle Abram. I want a pony for Christmas.
Will you get me one? I'll get you a pony. It's not like that. It's not. What he's doing. Is they're entering into.
A suzerain vassal covenant. Or a suzerain vassal treaty. That phrase actually. When earlier. Where it said. I am your shield.
One of the ways to accurately translate that. Is for him to say. I'm your suzerain. So this is how much of the ancient world. Was organized. There were suzerains.
And suzerains were the greater party. They were the kings. They were the stronger party. The more powerful party. And vassals were the weaker party. The humble party.
And they were often kings as well. But they were kings of smaller kingdoms. Or weaker kingdoms. And so here's what would happen. We actually read about this. Some of you were here last week.
In 14. When there was. Kings battling kings. It said that these used to serve that one. But they stopped.
That was actually a suzerain vassal covenant. That they broke. And that was why there was a big war. And it was a big mess. What happens is. A more powerful king.
A more powerful kingdom. A suzerain will have vassals. And that just means. That your kingdom. Submits to my kingdom. That I'm taking you in.
You are a part of my kingdom now. So you still get to reign. You still get to have your kingdom. Or whatever. But you're underneath me.
Your people are like my people. I will protect you. If somebody attacks you. As if you're my people. But you're going to obey me.
You're going to follow me. You're going to. If I muster your army. You're going to show up. You're going to do what I say. You're going to pay taxes.
There's just. That's the agreement. And the vassal would be saying. I obey you. I follow you. I'm going to submit to you.
Often in these treaties. When they were written up. And we have a handful of copies of these. That we know about. They would be called Lord. And servant.
Or master and servant. Or they would be called father and son. So you entered into these treaties. It's a very serious thing. That the suzerain is going to be the father. He's going to be the Lord.
The vassal is going to be the son. Or the servant. And the way they would do these treaties. They would call it cutting a covenant. They would take animals. They would cut them up.
It was different animals. Or a lot of animals. Whatever. They would cut them up. They would cut them in half. They would lay them.
On either side. So that there was this trail. Of blood. In between the animals. And then. There was two ways this would play out.
Way number one. The suzerain and the vassal. The suzerain. The suzerain. The suzerain and the vassal. Would walk through the trail of blood.
It was a mess. They would get stuff caked all around their shoes. Their feet. If they had sandals. They would get it if they had long robes. I'm assuming they dragged those in the blood as well.
And it would soak up. Because the only reason I assumed that. Is if you had a long robe. I think you would look funny. If you held it up like this. While you walked.
So I just. Just as I picture it. They dragged that through the blood as well. But it was to symbolize. So the suzerain and the vassal.
Would walk through. And what they were saying. Was the suzerain was saying. You now serve me. You now belong to me. And if I break this covenant.
Let me be like these animals. That you'll cut me up. That was one way that would happen. The vassal would be walking through saying the same thing. I serve you. I follow you.
And if I break this covenant. If I don't obey you. If I don't do what you say. You can cut me up like these animals. These animals aren't just animals. They're me.
Often. Often. And this makes sense. The suzerain didn't walk through the blood. Just the vassal. They'd cut up animals.
The suzerain would watch. The vassal was the one who would walk through by himself. And say. I commit myself to you. And if I fail to hold up my end of the bargain. You can cut me up.
Like these. Suzerains were allowed to have more than one vassal. Vassals were only allowed to have one suzerain. That's what they're doing. Abram knows that. So as soon as he says.
How will I know? He says. He's already told him. I'm your shield. He already told him. I'm your protector.
I'm the one overseeing you. He says. Go get these animals. And so Abram rolls up. Cuts them up. Knows exactly what he's waiting for.
We're going to do a suzerain vassal covenant. And you know that Abram. While he's cutting them up. He has to think. He has to be thinking. Can I do this?
Can I. Can I obey fully? Can I obey perfectly? Can I actually commit to. This kind of consequence. For not following God.
We're to assume. He decides. Yes. Like he doesn't try to back out of this. He says. No.
I can do this. We actually have. And it'll be on the screen. We have. A segment from a. One of these covenants in another place.
It says. This head. Is not the head of a spring lamb. It is the head of Matai Elu. It is the head of his sons. His magnates.
And the people of his land. If Matai Elu should sin against this treaty. So may. Just. As the head of the spring lamb. Be cut off.
The head of Matai Elu. Be cut off. And his sons. And his magnates. And it's a long document. And it keeps going.
It says. This shoulder. Is not the shoulder of. This is the. It says. We're going to cut you in half.
Like we cut this in half. We're going to cut your wife in half. Like we cut this in half. Like it is a very serious thing. I think. That if we still did covenants like this.
We wouldn't break them as often. If you were at Verizon. You worked out your deal. And he's like. Right. Let me head to the back.
He gets your iPhone. He walks out with a goat. He's like. All right. You sure about this? Family plan.
Two years. That would make those commercials. When they were cutting the bills in half. With like chainsaws and stuff. Those commercials would be more intense. Because they'd be like.
We will fight Verizon for you. You may break your covenant. We will assault them. This is how they did it. And this is the seriousness. With which Abram understands.
He's entering into. This covenant. He chases off the birds of prey. As they're trying to mess with him. He sits out there all day long. Because it was the night.
When he was first talking to God. He goes and gets this. This is a long process. Now verse 12. As the sun was going down. A deep sleep.
Fell on Abram. And behold. A dreadful. And great darkness. Fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram.
Know for certain. That your offspring. Will be sojourners in a land. That is not theirs. And will be servants there. And they will be afflicted.
For four hundred years. So he's prophesying. The Israelites being in Egypt. But I will bring judgment. On that nation. That they serve.
And afterward. They shall come out. With great possessions. As for you. You shall go to your fathers. In peace.
You shall be buried. In a good old age. And they shall come back here. In the fourth generation. For the iniquity of the Amorites. Is not yet complete.
When the sun had gone down. And it was dark. Behold. A smoking fire pot. And a flaming torch. Passed between these pieces.
So a torch. Passed through. Smoking fire pot. These represent divinity. They represent God. Passed.
Through these pieces. On that day. The Lord made a covenant with Abram. Saying. To your offspring. I give this land.
From the river of Egypt. To the great river. The river Euphrates. The land of the Kenites. The Kenizzites. The Kadmonites.
The Hittites. The Perizzites. The Rephaim. The Amorites. The Canaanites. The Girgashites.
And the Jebusites. So God promises him. I'm going to give you this land. And all of these people. Are going to be conquered. And kicked out.
Now. We don't know much about these covenants. We're not used to these. But they just did something very, very weird. If you remember how these covenants work. One way.
The suzerain and the vassal walk through. That's option one. Option two. Just the vassal walks through. Okay. But in this one.
Just the torch. And the fire pot go through. Abram doesn't. God actually. Like knocks him down. Puts him to sleep.
And then. In this moment. He. Dreadful darkness. Goes around him. And then just the torch.
And the fire pot go through. And this should trigger for us. Something. Something strange just happened. It's like if you. You've been to a wedding before.
You go to a wedding. I get to perform weddings every once in a while. It's a lot of fun. I get to stand at the front. Um. With the groom.
We usually walk out. First. We stand there. And then. People walk down. And they play whatever kind of music.
You know. Canon and D. Or whatever. And then. Like the doors will close. Or.
If it's outside. Like. The girl will hide behind a tree. Or whatever. Then the music will stop.
They wait like three seconds. So everybody can go. And then. They start playing the other song. The wedding march. Or whatever.
Which. Bum. Bum. Bum. Bum. Bum.
Bum. Bum. Bum. That song. And then. She starts walking down.
Everybody has to stand up. If the mom stands up. Or whatever. And everybody's got to look at her. And she walks all the way down. Okay.
But if you were at a wedding. You came walking in. Right when you walked in. To get seated. The bride was standing up at the front. In her dress.
You might. Would be like. Am I late? If you don't know. So you just go sit down.
And. They start playing music. People start walking in. Then music stops. Gets real quiet for a second. And then here comes the groom.
Here comes the groom. Starts playing. You're not as familiar with it. Sounds like the song from Star Wars. And the doors open. And this guy comes walking in.
With his little suit on. You would be like. Okay. It's 2018. And they're making some kind of point. I don't know what the point is.
But they did this on purpose. You would be. You would realize. That this had been done. Different. Backwards.
Whatever. For a reason. And so if you know. Suzerain vassal covenant. You read this section. You go.
Wait a second. I actually was reading. In one of my commentaries. And it said. This setup. Most resembles.
A suzerain vassal covenant. But. It cannot be. Because in. A suzerain vassal covenant. There is no example.
Where just the suzerain. Walks down the aisle. And that messed me up. Because here's what God just did. When he. Is the master.
He's the Lord. He signs off as the servant. And when he's the father. He signs off as the son. He walks through here. And he signs both sides of the covenant.
And he. Takes the position. Of son. And servant. Which is unheard of. And you almost want to yell at the text.
Like you did this wrong God. You're not the son. You're not the servant. That's Abram. Abram's on the hook. For this.
Abram's the one who's got to obey. Abram's the one who's got to make this work. He's the one who's smaller than you. You're. You're the shield. You're the suzerain.
You're the king. You're the Lord. You're the father. And God is. But he signs off.
As son. And servant. And he makes a promise. That Jesus is going to make good on. Which is Abram. You're going to obey me.
You're going to follow me. You're going to do what I say. You're going to be faithful to me alone. And if you don't. I'll make myself like these animals. This isn't the blood.
Of a heifer. It's the blood of me. A son. And a servant. This isn't the blood. Of a goat.
It's my blood. When I'm a son. And I'm a servant. And then we see Jesus Christ come and fulfill this. That we fail. That we fall into sin.
That Abram's family doesn't live this out. But God comes as a son. And a servant. And he says. I didn't come to be served. But I came to serve.
And to give my life as a ransom for many. That the son of God would be nailed to a cross. That we might have redemption. And freedom. And that this covenant. That might be fulfilled.
That God would justify. Those who have faith. Through his own blood. That's how he gives us righteousness. He doesn't pull it out of the air. He takes it from his son.
And he gives it to us. Because he makes good on the promise. That Abram couldn't make good on. And that we couldn't make good on. I want to read. Paul picks this back up.
In Romans. He says. No unbelief. He's talking about Abram. No unbelief. Made him waver.
Concerning the promise of God. But he grew strong in his faith. As he gave glory to God. Fully convinced that God was able to do. What he had promised. This is why his faith.
Was counted to him. As righteousness. So the God promises. Abram. I'm going to make you right. I'm going to be.
Your faith. Your faith will count as righteousness. And then it says this. But the words. It was counted to him. Were not written for his sake alone.
But for ours also. It will be counted to us. Who believe in him. Who raised from the dead. Jesus our Lord. Who is delivered up for our trespasses.
And raised. For our justification. Justification means for our righteousness. That he was raised. That we might be made righteous. That this is the hope.
That we have in the gospel. That every single one of us. We're supposed to enter into a deal. With God. That said. I will behave.
I will be good. I will worship you alone as king. And if I don't. Then I don't deserve you. And I don't deserve love. And I've fallen so far from your glory.
And I haven't treated you. As holy as you are. Then you can destroy me. That every single one of us. By our birthright. I entered into that.
But that Jesus came. And swapped places with us. And he said. No I'll sign off. And if you trust in me. And my work.
It'll be my head. My blood. My body. Not yours. That we get to. By faith.
Approach God. And in trust. And in Christ. And that God raised him from the dead. That he died for us. And that he rose from the grave.
That we get to be made righteous. That God pays our penalty. That he signs both sides of the covenant. And that we do not come to God. To present our good work. Or to boast.
We come to God. To enjoy. And celebrate. And in faith. Love and worship Jesus. Who paid the price for us.
That that is our hope. In Christ. That's why we do what we do. That's why we gather on Sundays. Because we're here. Not to practice being good people.
But to proclaim that Jesus was good on our behalf. To celebrate what he's accomplished for us. That's why we gather in community groups. That we might be on mission together. That we see more people come to know Jesus. We aren't going around and saying.
Hey do you want to join the behavior club? We're going around to our friends. And saying. Hey I've noticed over time. And I just wanted to point out. That you're the worst.
But I have really good news. Jesus saves the ungodly. He redeems people like you. And like me. Because we can't be good enough on our own. But Jesus was for us.
We're going to take communion. We've started taking it more often as a church family. And it's because we need to remind ourselves constantly. That we need Jesus for us. When we take communion. What we're doing.
Is we're taking a piece of bread. That symbolizes Jesus's body. We're taking a cup. That symbolizes his blood. We're reenacting. A suzerain vassal covenant.
That was signed by Jesus for us. And that's not our blood. And that's not our body. Even though it deserved to be. Even though through our sin. We had earned it.
It's his blood. And it's his body. And that he paid the price for us. And so that we get to have a shield. We get to have a suzerain. We get to have God watch over us.
And care for us. And love us. And we get to have righteousness. Through faith. And through the work of Jesus. And so if you're a Christian.
In a second.
The Call, Failures, and Faith of Abram
Transcript
Well, good morning. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. If you will grab your Bibles, we'll be in Genesis chapter 12 today. We are continuing along in Genesis, and we have worked through the first 11 chapters, and Genesis changes. The story of Genesis, the approach of Genesis changes at chapter 12.
So here's what happens in the book of Genesis. The first 11 chapters are kind of setting up the history of humankind, and then at chapter 12 it's going to shift into focusing on one family. And so we're still walking through Genesis, but we're calling this section the patriarchs, and that just means the heads of households that are males. And so the New Testament's going to talk about the patriarchs, and that's Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, three Middle Eastern men, as it zooms in on this family. And so here's the book of Genesis starts off with God creating the world, and he makes it beautiful and glorious, and then humanity rebels against him.
And sin enters the world. It's kind of like if you've ever been on Facebook or Instagram, and somebody takes a picture of like, look at this cake I just baked, and look at how beautiful it is. And then like five minutes later you see their next post, and it's the cake on the floor, and it just says, I dropped it. That's kind of how the Bible starts off. It's like, look at how glorious and beautiful it is. And then immediately humans are like, okay, all right, well, all right.
But it was a little more malicious than that. We actively rebel against God, and so then we see that sin enters the world, and God kind of comes in and he makes this promise that he's going to have a seed. There's going to be a seed, an offspring of Eve that is going to destroy the serpent, that the serpent isn't going to win, that sin isn't going to win, that Satan isn't going to win, that ultimately sin isn't going to overcome God's good design. And that's the promise made in Genesis 3. And then we just get to watch humanity kind of carry out until Noah and the flood. And then after that we still don't get it together, and it kind of just continues to go downhill in sin and rebellion until the Tower of Babel and God disperses humanity across the face of the earth.
That's what we read last week in Genesis 11. The back half of Genesis 11 is a genealogy, just kind of telling us this person had this person had this person until we get to Abram and his wife Sarai. And it introduces her in Genesis 11 as Sarai was barren. She had no child. Really trying to make that point, drive that home, because it's going to play out in this story through the rest of this time. So we're going to pick up in Genesis 12 this morning.
Let's pray, and then we'll kind of talk about what we're going to see as we spend our time here this morning. So let's pray together. Lord, we ask that you would bless the reading and the study of your word. We pray that you would bless the proclamation of your gospel, the good news that is for us and found for us in Christ. And we ask that you would help us to grow in our love for one another and our love for your word and our love for you this morning. In Jesus' name, amen.
So we're going to pick up in Genesis 12, and it starts this way. Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So the end of chapter 11 kind of intros Abram.
It just tells us who his parents were. It tells us he's got a brother who passed away, and his brother had a nephew, and the nephew's kind of with him. His name's Lot, and it tells us that he's married to Sarah, and that she's barren. And then it just says God speaks to Abram. We don't know anything really about him other than some basic details. And God speaks to him, and God says, Abram.
Ultimately, later, this is going to be Abraham. God changes his name later, but he starts off as Abram. He says, Go from your country. Go from your kindred. Go from your house. Go.
Go. I'm going to send you to a place that I'll show you. They didn't even tell him what it is yet. He just said, I'm going to show you. I'm going to send you to a place. And he says, I'm going to bless you.
You're going to be a great nation. So he doesn't have any children, but being a great nation means that he will. He's promising him he's going to have children. He's going to be a great people. And he says, I'm going to make you so great that you're a blessing to everybody. And through you, the whole world's going to be blessed.
And then he promises protection. He says, Those who bless you, I'll bless them. If somebody's your friend, they'll be my friend. Those who dishonor you, it's not going to go well for them. They won't be my friend. Like he says, I'll bless those who bless you.
I'll curse those who curse you. This is the promise that comes in Abraham. And this is where the rest of Genesis is going to follow this family. As this answer to the fall, that God now says, I'm taking you and I'm going to use you to bless the rest of the world. So what we're going to see today, we're going to look at three chapters as our introduction to Abraham and to his walk with the Lord.
We're going to look at three chapters. We're actually going to see these three different scenes, these three different stories in Abraham's life to try to understand who he is and how he walks with God. A lot of times when we study the Bible, we zoom in on one particular thing and the Bible's sturdy enough to handle that. We can take one verse and spend a lot of time on it. But sometimes when we do that, especially when there's narrative, we kind of miss out on the fact that as humans, we exist in a story that your life plays out over time and that there are some parts of your story that you fondly remember or you won the championship or you were really generous or you were super kind or there's this good season and there are parts of your story that you don't want to remember at all and you hope everybody else forgets that you've tried to bury.
And we're going to see as we watch Abraham, it's like his story playing out before God and the whole time, Abraham's going to get to choose faith, trusting God's promise because God just comes to Abraham and that's it. We just know, we don't know anything about him other than God promised him. So he's going to get to choose God's promise over what he can see. 2 Corinthians 5 puts it this way for Christians. It says, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Meaning that as Christians, we're called to live our life trusting God over and against what we can see.
That we walk by faith, not by sight. And that's going to be the story of Abraham and that's going to play out as the story of God's people throughout the rest of the Bible. That God designed humanity to walk by faith, not by sight. To trust him and his word and trust his promises. And so we're going to look at three stories in the life of Abraham and we're going to see when faced with circumstances, when faced with what he can see, does he trust God? Does he lean into his promises or does he not?
And then we'll draw some conclusions at the end for how we get to walk in a similar manner with the Lord. Now, God told him, go from your country, your kindred, your father's house to the land that I will show you and I'll make you a great nation and I'll bless you and I'll make your name great so that you'll be a blessing. And he later says, all the families of the earth should be blessed. Now for us, that sounds really nice. Like those are some good promises. Those are good promises that he's going to do all this.
But this lines up a little better with the American dream rather than the Middle Eastern dream because we value self over everything else. We value the individual over everything else. We like the Wrangler man, not the Wrangler, the Marlboro man who rides around on a horse smoking cigarettes. He's like an American hero because he doesn't care about anything and he just does what he wants. But that's not, that's not a Middle Eastern thing.
He's coming from an area where your family was who you were. Your value in life was how you served your family, how you fit in with your group. So for God to come to him and say, I want you to leave your family. He's saying, I want you to leave everything you use to define yourself. I want you to leave your kindred. I want you to leave your people.
I want you to leave your country. And then I'm going to make you great. Now he would have appreciated and understood the idea of being a great nation, but it's not as easy as some of us would have been like, sweet, leave my dad's house and go get to do my own thing. You got it, God. Like this is a little more difficult for Abram. So this is the promise.
This is the word that he has. And so it says this, verse four. So Abram went as the Lord had told him and Lot went with him. That's his nephew whose dad passed away. Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. Okay.
Now people in Genesis lived longer. We've talked about this before, but still 75. He's middle aged. He's 75 years old. He departed for Haran and Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all his possessions that he had gathered and the people that he had acquired in Haran and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. I want you all to see that.
God says go and he went. Our first impression of Abram is pretty good. God comes to him, speaks, says go do this and Abram obeys. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem to the Oak of Morah. Now Oak of Morah would be a place where the Canaanites were worshipping and it tags that.
It says at the time the Canaanites were in the land. So that means it's like a shrine. It's some sort of setup to a deity. And then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, to your offspring I will give this land. So he said, I want you to go to the place I'll show you.
He brings him out there. He says this is it. So he built there an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him. From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on still going toward the Negev.
So God says go. Abram goes. God shows up to him. He's building altars. So far our intro to Abram is good.
He's following. He's obeying. And we're going to get to kind of continue to see this story. One of the things my dad says sometimes is that he thinks when he meets a person he's kind of meeting a blank canvas. He doesn't know anything about this person at this point. And he says the more you get to know him the more you get to color in parts of the canvas.
The more you get to understand a little bit what they're like. And he says sometimes you'll go through a situation and it'll be really good and you'll get to paint this whole section of the canvas of this person as generous or kind or whatever. Sometimes it's kind of like oh wow I didn't realize that's how you watch sports and so you're going to you know realize you're not invited to the next party. Why were you throwing things? Whatever. So it's just like you get to paint in and so we're going to get to do with Abram a little bit.
We're going to get to kind of this is our first introduction to him. Let's see what he's like. How he walks with God. Whether he trusts him when he walks in moments where he's faced with difficult circumstances. So pick up.
This is kind of the first scene the first time we get to see Abram faced with difficult circumstances. We'll read through this together and then we'll talk a little bit about it. Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there for the famine was severe in the land. When he was about to enter Egypt he said to Sarai his wife I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance and when the Egyptians see you they will say this is his wife then they will kill me but they will let you live say you are my sister that it may go well with me because of you and that my life may be spared for your sake.
When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw the woman was very beautiful and when the princes of Pharaoh saw her they praised her to Pharaoh and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house and for her sake he dealt well with Abram and he had sheep oxen male donkeys male servants female servants female donkeys and camels. Let's stop there for a second. Okay guys I think many of us have heard about Abram or Abraham maybe even sang the song Father Abraham and many sons we're going to get to that God promises him that. One of the temptations as we walk through the Bible is for us to lift these people up as superhuman heroes of the faith.
Father Abraham and many sons we're going to get to that God promises him that. One of the temptations as we walk through the Bible is for us to lift these people up as superhuman heroes of the faith. This isn't a good introduction to Abram. So far we've only seen his actions God tells him to go he goes but the first time he speaks it's kind of creepy. It's not a good thing so here's what we see
This is the first time he's faced with difficult circumstances as far as we know Abram as far as the story we're getting told there's a famine in the land. Now we don't understand famine. We don't. The best thing to compare it to mentally is probably the Great Depression when the whole society just kind of shuts down and everybody's just trying to survive just trying to find a way to eat because when there's
A famine there's no food and it could be due to a drought it could be due to some sort of blight on the crops could be due to locusts but all of a sudden he goes where God sends him he's in the place where God wants him he's following and obedient so far he's crushing it some of us this is us as Christians it's like I became a Christian and I immediately started doing all the stuff I was supposed to do
I was going to a group and I was repenting of sin and I quit doing some of that stuff and I started doing some of this stuff he's right where he's supposed to be right where God told him to be and all of a sudden there's no food and that's a big problem and so all we're told is he goes to Egypt and at first when we're reading that we're going okay we don't really know is he abandoning what the Lord wants from him is he going down there with good intentions
Is it really just the famine is what it is and you gotta do what you gotta do and then he speaks and we realize his heart is far from God he is way off he's not trusting in the promises of God he's operating out of fear he's entered into a mode of let me fix the problem so ladies let's think for a second you're dating a guy he seems nice he's attractive enough he has a job he bathes regularly he doesn't play video games this is going pretty well you are with this guy
You're going to the first kind of public outing to like a party or maybe like like the club I don't know where y'all are going but it's somewhere like that it's going to be alcohol and other people and he stops right before you get in and he says girl girl you are so beautiful and you're like and then he says and that's going to be a huge problem when we get inside because there's going to be a lot of guys here
There's going to be a lot of alcohol they're going to come hit on you and then I'm going to be in a spot I'm going to be in a pickle because what am I going to do do I have to tell him to stop do I have to like defend your honor defend my honor I ain't trying to get in all that so here's what we're going to do when we go in there you're going to be my sister that way when guys hit on you you introduce me as your brother they'll want to be nice to me
Because they want to get along with you I might even get a free drink or two out of this now none of you would swoon and say this is the man I'm going to marry that's messed up it wasn't just Dana this is his wife and he says hey when we get in here I'm going to need you to tell them you're my sister and his reasoning is I want things to go well with me because of you I want you to take a risk
I want you to put in a weird spot I want you to have your feelings hurt I want you to be I want to harm my marriage but I want to get some stuff out of it that's his plan they're running from a famine they're not trusting God they've left the place they were supposed to be not leaning into the fact that God can feed them God can provide for them not waiting for God's instruction on what to do they show up he comes up with this plan that this is how
We're going to work this out they go in he lets her marry another person at no point he was like okay too far time out there wasn't even like at the ceremony when they say you got any objections I don't know if the Egyptians did that but like at some point you think he would have been like hey guys surprise y'all watch
Soap operas this is about to get interesting he doesn't do that so much so that he takes her to his house we're supposed to assume he just they got married they moved off he was there like throwing rice at the wedding and then he's there long enough to get stuff oxen and camels and female servants and male servants he just hangs out stays in Egypt profits off of this while his wife
Is married to somebody else okay let's pick it back up verse 17 but the Lord thank goodness but the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife so Pharaoh called Abram and said what is this you have done to me why did you not tell me that she was your wife why did you say she is my sister
So that I took her for my wife now then here is your wife take her and go and Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had so God puts plagues on Pharaoh's house and Pharaoh figures out hold on a second something's wrong here they somehow discern understand that he they are being
Punished by God because she is Abram's wife and he is livid the last sentence there where he says here is your wife take her and go that is translated in English so that it is smoother in Hebrew it is here wife take go it is this very curt and the fact that Abram does not respond in the text shows us
That he understands that he was wrong this was poorly done and so the only person who shows up looking good in this is Pharaoh and maybe Sarai she trusts in the Lord in this process but we don't really know where her head is so he sent out God showed up on Abram's behalf on Sarai's
Behalf and he fixes this chapter 13 verse 1 so Abram went up from Egypt he and his wife and all that he had and Lot with him into the Negev now Abram was very rich in livestock in silver in gold and he journeyed on from the Negev as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been
At the beginning between Bethel and Ai to the place where he had made an altar at the first and there Abram called upon the name of the Lord I just want to highlight this because we're Christians and I want us to see this in the text God shows up in the middle of he's made a promise to Abram I'm going to do this
Abram derails and God shows up in the middle of that and brings him right back to where he had him at the first and there are some of us who began following Jesus and trusting him and walking him and circumstances showed up and we derailed and there's this temptation to think well that's it I'm done can't fix that it's over but God
In his grace at times will use circumstances will knock us down will bring us back and get us right back where he wanted us because our hope ultimately is that God makes good promises to us through Christ and that he's the one who upholds all of that not us and not our ability but Abram situation one he's over one had an opportunity to face circumstances and to trust the promises that God had made that he was going to
Look if he's told him I'm going to make you a great nation that means you're going to live through the famine if he's told him I want you here in this land that means that he'll either provide for him in that land or send him somewhere else he's made real promises that Abram could have just said hey God what what do we do and trusted that the Lord could speak to him
That the Lord could provide for him that the Lord would care for him but he doesn't let's see how he continues from here story number two verse six verse five and Lot who went with Abram remember this is his nephew but kind of seems a bit adopted kind of as his son we'll see he doesn't really say that but he's with him the whole time also had flocks and herds
And tents so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together and there was strife between the herds there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock at that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land then Abram said to Lot let there be no strife
Between you and me and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen for we are kinsmen is not the whole land before you separate yourself from me if you take the left hand then I will go to the right or if you take the right hand then I will go to the left and Lot lifted up his eyes and he saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord like the land of Egypt in the direction of Zor this was before the Lord destroyed destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah so Lot chose
For himself all the Jordan Valley and Lot journeyed east thus they separated from each other Abram settled in the land of Canaan while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom now the men of Sodom were wicked great sinners against the Lord the Genesis is kind of tipping its hand a little bit there because it's going to go poorly for Sodom in the next story and then a few stories
Later it's going to go really bad for Sodom the Lord said to Abram after Lot had separated from him lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are northward and southward and eastward and westward for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever again promising you have children you don't yet Sarah's barren but you're going
To have children I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth so that if one can count the dust of the earth your offspring also can be counted arise walk through the length and the breadth of the land for I will give it to you so Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre which are at Hebron and there he built an altar to the Lord so the second story works like this
Abram and Lot move back and they don't get along their people aren't getting along because there's too much too many of them they're fighting over water they're fighting over pasture land somebody gets hit in the head with a stick like it just goes poorly I read that into the text it doesn't say that but there was strife between herdsmen I think someone swung a stick alright Abram goes to him and says hey let's not do this
Now how would Abram handle the situation if what we know from him about in Egypt carries on well he would try to figure out viewing his circumstances how best to work things in his favor no matter who it hurt no matter the cost but what's he do he looks at Lot and says you pick you go that way I'll go this way you go that way I'll go this way and any other iteration
Of that wherever I can point you pick so Lot looks around and it seems like the choice wasn't actually all that difficult Lot looks around and Abram is the senior partner here he could have just said Lot go I want you to understand that like he he has he is over Lot in the patriarchy system here but he does and he says you pick Lot looks around and he sees a place that looks like
The garden of God you guys it's nice that's what that means it's well watered it's beautiful and then Canaan's over here and not so beautiful and he says I'm going to go this way Abram says okay and then God renews his promise to Abram he says you see where you are this is yours so Abram in that situation just stopped and he said he just leaned into the promises
He leaned into trusting God he knows at this point it seems that God's going to provide God's going to care he saw the plagues in Egypt hopefully he learned a thing we'll see later as Genesis plays out he didn't learn all the things he should have learned but that's kind of how we work and so in this moment he's now one and one
He trusts he leans into the promises and God provides and God cares and Abram shows generosity and kind of a blind choice and some faith alright next story as we continue to see this play out and I think this is helpful for us to continue to walk through some of this stuff because I think sometimes we in the American church have gotten caught up in experiences y'all know this right
You're going to go away to this conference and you're going to have this experience and you're just going to be you're going to come back or you're going to go on a Sunday and it's just going to be this lightning bolt and you'll be fixed forever and that would be awesome but that's not really how that tends to work most of the time we play out our stories in time with God continually having to make similar decisions continually having to
Act the same way in circumstances continually having to choose faith over sight over and over and over and over again that's why we're perfectly fine with a lot of our community groups meetings being kind of boring what was the magical thing that happened we shared a meal with people who will live for eternity we tried to love each other we talked about some stuff
We spent way too long talking about this one weird passage in Revelation turns out everybody in my group is super into dragons and I don't even think that's what that was about because we believe that it's formative that's why we study through whole books of the Bible because we believe it's formative that over time we continually grow by making similar decisions in the face of similar circumstances and that's what we're looking at Abraham
As he continually faces circumstances what kind of decisions is he going to make is he going to lean into the promises that God has made him and trust that God can carry that out because he's God or is he going to which we all want to do take the reins get everything in our control and do what we can to get out of the situation situation number three also I know that at times there are a lot of pregnant ladies in our church family or people who want to be pregnant later this next section
Is I mean loaded down with awesome baby names so get ready chapter 14 verse 1 in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar Ariok king of Elessar Chedeloamar king of Elam Tidal king of Goam these kings made war with Barah king of Sodom Bersha king of Gomorrah Shinab king of Adma Shemabur king of Zeboam and the king of Bella that is Zor and all these joined forces in the valley of Siddam that is the salt sea it's kind of now that was intro telling us a little bit of the backstory here 12 years had
They had served Chedeloamar but in the 13th year they rebelled in the 14th year Chedeloamar and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim and Ashtaroth Karnam and the Susam and Ham and the Emam and Sheva Kiriatham and the Horites in the hill country of Sair as far as El Paran at the border of the wilderness then they turned back and came to end Mishpat that is Kadesh
And defeated all the country of the Malekites and also the Amorites who were dwelling in the Hazazon tomorrow okay did y'all catch that? I feel a little bit when I read that passage like when I listen to people talk about the World Cup it's like I'm sure that means something to you there's a king this is how this would have worked there was a king who would have a kingdom and most of them were kind of small
It was tribal but there were certain kings that had more powerful kingdoms so they would come through and they would basically rock up and they would say you pay tribute or we're going to kill you and there were all these what they would call a suzerain and a vassal and so what we're seeing is there was a bunch of vassal states underneath this bigger king and they did this for 12 years and they kind of get to talking and they're like I don't think he's as strong as he used to be I remember being real scared when I met him a long time ago but I'm really tired
Of shipping off our money and our food and our people to him so let's just stop that and see what happens so they do and Cheddar Lower Mar which I think is the name that wins if you get to choose call him Chet for short marches down through Israel through it's not Israel then but it becomes Israel it's the land of Canaan marches down and just starts just destroying everybody that's what we hear and then let's pick up in verse 8 see what happens
Then the king of Sodom the king of Gomorrah the king of Adma the king of Zeboim and the king of Bella that is Zor went out and they joined battle in the valley of Siddam with Chetalo Amar king of Elam title king of Goem Amraphel king of Shinar and Ariok king of Elessar four kings against five now the valley of Siddam was full of bitumen pits that's tar pits asphalt big pits full of it bitumen pits and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah
Fled some fell into them and the rest fled to the hill country so the ones that rebelled do not win so the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all the provisions and went their way they also took Lot the son of Abram's brother who was dwelling in Sodom and his possessions and went their way did y'all see that coming remember Lot got to choose
Where he wanted to live and he went and lived next to Sodom and then Sodom was full of wicked people and they rebelled and then this guy shows up and takes Lot and now we go oh this is why this is here went their way verse 13 then one who had escaped came and told Abram now Abram wouldn't have had a kingdom but at this point we're going to find out he's actually a pretty big like nomadic tribe that's traveling around that's taking over this area Abram the Hebrew
Who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite brother of Eschol and of Aner these were allies of Abram when Abram heard that his kinsmen had been taken captive he led forth his trained men born in his house 318 of them and went in pursuit as far as Dan ok so this tribes in areas where it wasn't safe he had trained men 318 of them and they were born in his house which means loyal to him as loyal as it can get because they belonged to him all his life
It wasn't newly people that had joined him it wasn't people who had married in it was people born in his house 318 of them if there's 318 trained men that means there's probably around a thousand that are rolling around with Abram at this time he's a big big nomadic tribe leader in the area 15 verse 15 and he divided his forces against them by night he and his servants and defeated them and pursued them to Hoboth north of Damascus then he brought back
All the possessions and also brought back his kinsmen Lot with his possessions and the women and the people so Chetalo Amar and his group have come down and beat up everybody and they have taken all this stuff and they're heading back and then Abram takes 318 he splits them up at night he's 75 years old or older and he leads an army to attack them they defeat them and they get everything so they defeated them well
Because it wasn't just like they defeated them and they all ran away at night they defeated them and they were like load up all the stuff and so they start marching back down with caravans full of people and all the things that had been taken from all the kingdoms around and here's how this works all that stuff is now under the control of Abram to dispense with as he wishes or to have to defend if someone wants
To take it from him but it belongs to him he's the last person who won and took it now so far Abram has handled this better than we maybe would have thought he would especially if he'd handled it the way he did in Egypt in Egypt he said I want you to take a risk so that I can have good things and so far he's taken a risk on behalf of another
So at least that's better but it's possible he just wanted all the stuff he saw an opportunity to become the most powerful person in the region everybody around him has been defeated maybe he thinks cool I can become the new suzerain over this whole area and everybody in all the kingdoms will bow to me we don't know yet 17 after his return from the defeat of Chetelomar
And the kings who were with him the king of Sodom went out to meet him so the king of Sodom goes out to meet Abram he just ran he didn't fall in a pit but he made it back he's going to go meet Abram just been defeated not in the best most powerful spot meet him at the valley of Sheva that is the king's valley and Melchizedek king of Salem brought out brought out bread and wine he was a priest
Of God most high okay we got to pause for a second just so to make you aware Melchizedek just now showed up he has not been mentioned yet so he has no connection to this whatsoever other than he just appears at this moment Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine he was a priest of God most high we don't know yet
When you're reading this you're going okay is that the God that Abram follows is that the Bible telling you he's the God most high what's happening and he blessed him and said he blessed Abram blessed be Abram by God most high possessor of heaven and earth and blessed be God most high who has delivered your enemies into your hand and Abram gave him a tenth of everything he just says every tenth item
Every tenth person whatever is yours and the king of Sodom said to Abram give me the persons but take the goods for yourself but Abram said to the king of Sodom I have lifted my hand to the Lord so that's proper name for God God most high so he says I'm connected with this priest king of Salem he and I worship the same God that blessing was this God I've lifted my hand to him
That I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours lest you should say I have made Abram rich I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten and the share of the men who went with me let Aner Escol and Mamre take their share okay we gotta unpack this for a second because what he just did there is kind of amazing
Abram comes back he rolls in as the most powerful person in the region another king just shows up and gives him bread and wine just kind of blesses him prays a blessing over him he's got one king sitting here that represents just this kind of blessing from God his name Melchizedek means the king is righteous and it says he's the king
Of Salem and Salem means peace so this is a righteous king who's the king over peace Hebrews later tells us that Jesus is a better Melchizedek he comes in that line he's the king of righteousness he's the king of peace he's a king and a priest that's Jesus and it says that he's like Melchizedek not that Melchizedek
Is Jesus we'll get that twisted up but Melchizedek points us shows us kind of Jesus is like him all right so Melchizedek shows up he just prays a blessing and then the king of Sodom shows up in a very weakened position and is not gracious he just says hey give me the people he's still trying
To show a little force give me the people but then he's also saying you can have all this stuff and so at this moment Abram gets a guy who's not connected to anything just giving a blessing and he gets the king of this area who apparently is he's listed first every time was the most powerful king in the area saying you can have
All this stuff and he could absolutely have this power position in the area which would seem like it was God doing what God had promised giving him the area giving him power in the area and what's he say he says no I already told God I'm going to trust that he's going to provide
All this and we're not going to have anybody in this area saying they're the ones that blessed me they're the ones that provided for me they're the ones that made me strong it's not going to happen now before he went into Egypt we heard him speak first and then we watched him act
And this one flips we see him act first we don't know his intentions and then we see that beforehand before he even went he said God I'm trusting you you're the one who says you're going to give me this land you're going to give me the land you're the one
Who's going to make me rich you're going to make me a big nation you're going to make me powerful you're going to do it I'm not going to do it my own might I'm not going to trust myself I'm trusting you and see how this plays out he comes
Back he gets to see a blessing from the God most high and then Sodom and he chooses blessing he gives that guy 10% of everything he says we're on the same page this person I worship the God most high
And he says take all your stuff I don't need it now he's two in one he handled this one better and here's the thing throughout the rest of Abram's life and throughout the rest of your life we will consistently be faced
With situation after situation after situation where we get to trust the promises of God or we get to trust our own ability our own strength our own wisdom our own know-how our own effort to make everything work out so Melchizedek
Is this picture briefly here of what Jesus is for us Jesus shows up and he gives a better bread and wine which is his blood and his body shed for us and he gives
A better blessing and better promises if you are a Christian you have better promises than Abram ever had you get an eternal home you get an eternal family you get to reign in the eternal kingdom that God
Says that we will belong to him and that we will relate to him and that we will be his children his sons and daughters not that we'll have a lineage but that we'll have an inheritance from the God of the universe
Through Christ that God has given us better promises and then called us to walk by faith and not by sight so how do we do that when so often we're just bombarded with circumstance we're just bombarded with what we can see
And feel and know you feel really hungry during a famine and you feel very much like you've got to do something real fear real hunger real pain real sadness I think firstly we have to know a deep and in a deep and abiding way we need to know the promises of God
We have to know his word because we're always having to choose between trust in his word and trust in what we see we have to know in a deep and abiding way the promises Abram needed to have repeated those promises to himself over and over and over and over
Again wouldn't it be nice if God promised you you'll have children and you hadn't had children yet when you enter into a battle I guess you'd be like well maybe she's pregnant now and I'm gonna die but otherwise I think I'm making it out of this
One see he gets to lean into these promises there are times as a Christian where you're gonna get to go God it doesn't look like I'm gonna be provided for but I know you say you will it doesn't look like this is gonna work out
But I know that you love me and that you promise that I'll never be you'll never leave me or forsake me so I can trust that you're here in the middle of this God I so badly want all the things that I can see but I know that you've promised me that there's pleasures at your right
Hand forevermore and that I'm to spend my life for something that matters eternally not something that I can have for a few years we're gonna do this throughout our lives you're gonna be in middle school where the primary currency of middle school is coolness and it's middle school coolness so it's not even real
But the primary currency and it feels real it's so real in the daily life of being in middle school and there's gonna be a kid who is so not cool that just talking to her just being around him makes you lose cool points you can feel him just being sucked out of you you get to choose faith or sight you trust a God who says there's more to life than what
We can see and that everybody matters and everybody has a dignity and everybody has worth can you think for a second about what it's like to be this kid who goes home every day just having to be them you're gonna get to choose and that choice doesn't stop in middle school some of you face that situation at work there's one co-worker that everybody just has
So much fun talking about them behind their back and you get to choose am I gonna look like Christ and defend them am I gonna care for them am I gonna befriend them am I gonna join in you're gonna get to choose when you get a job how honest you're gonna be are you gonna bend the same rules that everybody else bends and say well that's just how this industry works you're gonna get to choose in relationships some of us are gonna have
To choose faith oversight and stay with someone we're married to even though it does not look like that'll ever work or be good and some of us are gonna have to choose faith oversight and leave somebody because even though we know that the finances won't work out if we're not living together and going into retirement when the American dream is so palpable and so within reach and it's just like Sodom saying here take all this we're gonna have to say no
I have riches you don't understand from a God who's bigger and more eternal I'm not gonna have the nicest house I'm not gonna have the boat I'm not gonna have the stuff but I am gonna have a God who has a mission and I'm gonna see some people meet Jesus and then I'm gonna go meet him this is gonna play out forever and the hope for us is the same hope that was for Abraham you see when you become a Christian you are saying I am a sinner in need of a savior and I trust that these
Promises are good and our hope for us is that the promises will overcome the fact that we are terrible at carrying this out that the promises are strong enough to get us out of Egypt that when we've derailed when we've run when we've fallen the promises are strong enough that God will redeem us that he will save us that his his cross is bigger than our sin that his resurrection is bigger than our death that we get to trust in him and he'll bring us out and the truth is if you are a Christian he will so that's our hope and
We continue to walk this out with Abraham and see his story we're gonna see all the other times he has to choose between trusting in faith and walking by sight and our hope is that we would do that daily as we trust in Jesus and that we would know his promises so well that nothing else seemed appetizing band's gonna come back up we're gonna sing in a minute we'll take communion my prayer for us as a church is that we would be people who so believed in God and his goodness and his word that we wouldn't be enamored with everything we can see wouldn't be derailed by
Job loss wouldn't be derailed in the midst of pain of relationships and hurt we'd be hurt certainly we'd be confused certainly we'd be hungry we'd but we'd be trusting and that we'd live as people who walk by faith and not by sight and that ultimately God's promises would overcome our failures which is what he promises to do in the cross let's pray God we thank you for your grace and your goodness we thank you that you redeem real people not the perfect not the absolutely moral not those who always keep it together not those people who only go undefeated but those people who are absolutely defeated
And know that they need a savior and we ask that you'd help us to so trust you and so believe in you that even as we walk through the situations that we are in the middle of right now that we believe that you're good that you won't forsake us that we can cast our anxieties on you that you care for us that a peace that we don't understand will guard us that your Holy Spirit is a helper and a comforter that you walk with us God that we would know and love your promises and we would trust that you're the one who takes care who feeds who provides who
Loves in Jesus name amen and thank you thank you so
And defeated all the country of the Malekites and also the Amorites who were dwelling in the Hazazon tomorrow okay did y'all catch that? I feel a little bit when I read that passage like when I listen to people talk about the World Cup it's like I'm sure that means something to you there's a king this is how this would have worked there was a king who would have a kingdom and most of them were kind of small
It was tribal but there were certain kings that had more powerful kingdoms so they would come through and they would basically rock up and they would say you pay tribute or we're going to kill you and there were all these what they would call a suzerain and a vassal and so what we're seeing is there was a bunch of vassal states underneath this bigger king and they did this for 12 years and they kind of get to talking and they're like I don't think he's as strong as he used to be I remember being real scared when I met him a long time ago but I'm really tired
Of shipping off our money and our food and our people to him so let's just stop that and see what happens so they do and Cheddar Lower Mar which I think is the name that wins if you get to choose call him Chet for short marches down through Israel through it's not Israel then but it becomes Israel it's the land of Canaan marches down and just starts just destroying everybody that's what we hear and then let's pick up in verse 8 see what happens
Then the king of Sodom the king of Gomorrah the king of Adma the king of Zeboim and the king of Bella that is Zor went out and they joined battle in the valley of Siddam with Chetalo Amar king of Elam title king of Goem Amraphel king of Shinar and Ariok king of Elessar four kings against five now the valley of Siddam was full of bitumen pits that's tar pits asphalt big pits full of it bitumen pits and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah
Fled some fell into them and the rest fled to the hill country so the ones that rebelled do not win so the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all the provisions and went their way they also took Lot the son of Abram's brother who was dwelling in Sodom and his possessions and went their way did y'all see that coming remember Lot got to choose
Where he wanted to live and he went and lived next to Sodom and then Sodom was full of wicked people and they rebelled and then this guy shows up and takes Lot and now we go oh this is why this is here went their way verse 13 then one who had escaped came and told Abram now Abram wouldn't have had a kingdom but at this point we're going to find out he's actually a pretty big like nomadic tribe that's traveling around that's taking over this area Abram the Hebrew
Who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite brother of Eschol and of Aner these were allies of Abram when Abram heard that his kinsmen had been taken captive he led forth his trained men born in his house 318 of them and went in pursuit as far as Dan ok so this tribes in areas where it wasn't safe he had trained men 318 of them and they were born in his house which means loyal to him as loyal as it can get because they belonged to him all his life
It wasn't newly people that had joined him it wasn't people who had married in it was people born in his house 318 of them if there's 318 trained men that means there's probably around a thousand that are rolling around with Abram at this time he's a big big nomadic tribe leader in the area 15 verse 15 and he divided his forces against them by night he and his servants and defeated them and pursued them to Hoboth north of Damascus then he brought back
All the possessions and also brought back his kinsmen Lot with his possessions and the women and the people so Chetalo Amar and his group have come down and beat up everybody and they have taken all this stuff and they're heading back and then Abram takes 318 he splits them up at night he's 75 years old or older and he leads an army to attack them they defeat them and they get everything so they defeated them well
Because it wasn't just like they defeated them and they all ran away at night they defeated them and they were like load up all the stuff and so they start marching back down with caravans full of people and all the things that had been taken from all the kingdoms around and here's how this works all that stuff is now under the control of Abram to dispense with as he wishes or to have to defend if someone wants
To take it from him but it belongs to him he's the last person who won and took it now so far Abram has handled this better than we maybe would have thought he would especially if he'd handled it the way he did in Egypt in Egypt he said I want you to take a risk so that I can have good things and so far he's taken a risk on behalf of another
So at least that's better but it's possible he just wanted all the stuff he saw an opportunity to become the most powerful person in the region everybody around him has been defeated maybe he thinks cool I can become the new suzerain over this whole area and everybody in all the kingdoms will bow to me we don't know yet 17 after his return from the defeat of Chetelomar
And the kings who were with him the king of Sodom went out to meet him so the king of Sodom goes out to meet Abram he just ran he didn't fall in a pit but he made it back he's going to go meet Abram just been defeated not in the best most powerful spot meet him at the valley of Sheva that is the king's valley and Melchizedek king of Salem brought out brought out bread and wine he was a priest
Of God most high okay we got to pause for a second just so to make you aware Melchizedek just now showed up he has not been mentioned yet so he has no connection to this whatsoever other than he just appears at this moment Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine he was a priest of God most high we don't know yet
When you're reading this you're going okay is that the God that Abram follows is that the Bible telling you he's the God most high what's happening and he blessed him and said he blessed Abram blessed be Abram by God most high possessor of heaven and earth and blessed be God most high who has delivered your enemies into your hand and Abram gave him a tenth of everything he just says every tenth item
Every tenth person whatever is yours and the king of Sodom said to Abram give me the persons but take the goods for yourself but Abram said to the king of Sodom I have lifted my hand to the Lord so that's proper name for God God most high so he says I'm connected with this priest king of Salem he and I worship the same God that blessing was this God I've lifted my hand to him
That I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours lest you should say I have made Abram rich I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten and the share of the men who went with me let Aner Escol and Mamre take their share okay we gotta unpack this for a second because what he just did there is kind of amazing
Abram comes back he rolls in as the most powerful person in the region another king just shows up and gives him bread and wine just kind of blesses him prays a blessing over him he's got one king sitting here that represents just this kind of blessing from God his name Melchizedek means the king is righteous and it says he's the king
Of Salem and Salem means peace so this is a righteous king who's the king over peace Hebrews later tells us that Jesus is a better Melchizedek he comes in that line he's the king of righteousness he's the king of peace he's a king and a priest that's Jesus and it says that he's like Melchizedek not that Melchizedek
Is Jesus we'll get that twisted up but Melchizedek points us shows us kind of Jesus is like him all right so Melchizedek shows up he just prays a blessing and then the king of Sodom shows up in a very weakened position and is not gracious he just says hey give me the people he's still trying
To show a little force give me the people but then he's also saying you can have all this stuff and so at this moment Abram gets a guy who's not connected to anything just giving a blessing and he gets the king of this area who apparently is he's listed first every time was the most powerful king in the area saying you can have
All this stuff and he could absolutely have this power position in the area which would seem like it was God doing what God had promised giving him the area giving him power in the area and what's he say he says no I already told God I'm going to trust that he's going to provide
All this and we're not going to have anybody in this area saying they're the ones that blessed me they're the ones that provided for me they're the ones that made me strong it's not going to happen now before he went into Egypt we heard him speak first and then we watched him act
And this one flips we see him act first we don't know his intentions and then we see that beforehand before he even went he said God I'm trusting you you're the one who says you're going to give me this land you're going to give me the land you're the one
Who's going to make me rich you're going to make me a big nation you're going to make me powerful you're going to do it I'm not going to do it my own might I'm not going to trust myself I'm trusting you and see how this plays out he comes
Back he gets to see a blessing from the God most high and then Sodom and he chooses blessing he gives that guy 10% of everything he says we're on the same page this person I worship the God most high
And he says take all your stuff I don't need it now he's two in one he handled this one better and here's the thing throughout the rest of Abram's life and throughout the rest of your life we will consistently be faced
With situation after situation after situation where we get to trust the promises of God or we get to trust our own ability our own strength our own wisdom our own know-how our own effort to make everything work out so Melchizedek
Is this picture briefly here of what Jesus is for us Jesus shows up and he gives a better bread and wine which is his blood and his body shed for us and he gives
A better blessing and better promises if you are a Christian you have better promises than Abram ever had you get an eternal home you get an eternal family you get to reign in the eternal kingdom that God
Says that we will belong to him and that we will relate to him and that we will be his children his sons and daughters not that we'll have a lineage but that we'll have an inheritance from the God of the universe
Through Christ that God has given us better promises and then called us to walk by faith and not by sight so how do we do that when so often we're just bombarded with circumstance we're just bombarded with what we can see
And feel and know you feel really hungry during a famine and you feel very much like you've got to do something real fear real hunger real pain real sadness I think firstly we have to know a deep and in a deep and abiding way we need to know the promises of God
We have to know his word because we're always having to choose between trust in his word and trust in what we see we have to know in a deep and abiding way the promises Abram needed to have repeated those promises to himself over and over and over and over
Again wouldn't it be nice if God promised you you'll have children and you hadn't had children yet when you enter into a battle I guess you'd be like well maybe she's pregnant now and I'm gonna die but otherwise I think I'm making it out of this
One see he gets to lean into these promises there are times as a Christian where you're gonna get to go God it doesn't look like I'm gonna be provided for but I know you say you will it doesn't look like this is gonna work out
But I know that you love me and that you promise that I'll never be you'll never leave me or forsake me so I can trust that you're here in the middle of this God I so badly want all the things that I can see but I know that you've promised me that there's pleasures at your right
Hand forevermore and that I'm to spend my life for something that matters eternally not something that I can have for a few years we're gonna do this throughout our lives you're gonna be in middle school where the primary currency of middle school is coolness and it's middle school coolness so it's not even real
But the primary currency and it feels real it's so real in the daily life of being in middle school and there's gonna be a kid who is so not cool that just talking to her just being around him makes you lose cool points you can feel him just being sucked out of you you get to choose faith or sight you trust a God who says there's more to life than what
We can see and that everybody matters and everybody has a dignity and everybody has worth can you think for a second about what it's like to be this kid who goes home every day just having to be them you're gonna get to choose and that choice doesn't stop in middle school some of you face that situation at work there's one co-worker that everybody just has
So much fun talking about them behind their back and you get to choose am I gonna look like Christ and defend them am I gonna care for them am I gonna befriend them am I gonna join in you're gonna get to choose when you get a job how honest you're gonna be are you gonna bend the same rules that everybody else bends and say well that's just how this industry works you're gonna get to choose in relationships some of us are gonna have
To choose faith oversight and stay with someone we're married to even though it does not look like that'll ever work or be good and some of us are gonna have to choose faith oversight and leave somebody because even though we know that the finances won't work out if we're not living together and going into retirement when the American dream is so palpable and so within reach and it's just like Sodom saying here take all this we're gonna have to say no
I have riches you don't understand from a God who's bigger and more eternal I'm not gonna have the nicest house I'm not gonna have the boat I'm not gonna have the stuff but I am gonna have a God who has a mission and I'm gonna see some people meet Jesus and then I'm gonna go meet him this is gonna play out forever and the hope for us is the same hope that was for Abraham you see when you become a Christian you are saying I am a sinner in need of a savior and I trust that these
Promises are good and our hope for us is that the promises will overcome the fact that we are terrible at carrying this out that the promises are strong enough to get us out of Egypt that when we've derailed when we've run when we've fallen the promises are strong enough that God will redeem us that he will save us that his his cross is bigger than our sin that his resurrection is bigger than our death that we get to trust in him and he'll bring us out and the truth is if you are a Christian he will so that's our hope and
We continue to walk this out with Abraham and see his story we're gonna see all the other times he has to choose between trusting in faith and walking by sight and our hope is that we would do that daily as we trust in Jesus and that we would know his promises so well that nothing else seemed appetizing band's gonna come back up we're gonna sing in a minute we'll take communion my prayer for us as a church is that we would be people who so believed in God and his goodness and his word that we wouldn't be enamored with everything we can see wouldn't be derailed by
Job loss wouldn't be derailed in the midst of pain of relationships and hurt we'd be hurt certainly we'd be confused certainly we'd be hungry we'd but we'd be trusting and that we'd live as people who walk by faith and not by sight and that ultimately God's promises would overcome our failures which is what he promises to do in the cross let's pray God we thank you for your grace and your goodness we thank you that you redeem real people not the perfect not the absolutely moral not those who always keep it together not those people who only go undefeated but those people who are absolutely defeated
And know that they need a savior and we ask that you'd help us to so trust you and so believe in you that even as we walk through the situations that we are in the middle of right now that we believe that you're good that you won't forsake us that we can cast our anxieties on you that you care for us that a peace that we don't understand will guard us that your Holy Spirit is a helper and a comforter that you walk with us God that we would know and love your promises and we would trust that you're the one who takes care who feeds who provides who
Loves in Jesus name amen and thank you thank you so
Tower of Babel
Transcript
Well, good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. Grab your Bible. Go to Genesis chapter 11. Genesis is the first book of the Bible.
If you are new to your Bible or new to here, grab one of the blue Bibles. It'll be on page 5 in that Bible. We're going to look at the story of the Tower of Babel today. Now, we've been walking through the book of Genesis, and we're going to spend a good bit of time walking through the book of Genesis because the book of Genesis is a big book. We think that it is good for us to just study through whole books of Scripture. We believe that all of the Bible is breathed out by God, that it's beneficial to us.
One of the things that may be a danger for us as we walk through the book of Genesis is that it's easier for us to start thinking, kind of, what? That's neat, but what does that have to do with me? It's easier for us to kind of sit in here and go, yeah, that's a cool, cool story, bro. Nice, nice Job, preacher man. But I got, like, kids that won't listen to me, and I got job issues, and I got relationship issues, and to kind of act as if the book of Genesis is a little bit separate from us because there are other sections in the Bible that are just like, do this, don't do this.
If you do this, things will work out. Like, there's more coaching involved in the book of Genesis. It's like, here's a thing that happened. You want to hear another thing that happened? And it just kind of keeps walking through. It doesn't coach us up.
It doesn't tell us how to think about a lot of the stuff that it says happened. And so I just wanted to say that I think for us to approach the book of Genesis, we have to understand a few things about how God works, how the Bible works, and kind of how humanity works for us to get as much out of it as we need to. First of all, the story of the world does not have you as its main character. Now, in your life, you feel like the main character. I understand that. We're designed that way.
But the story of the world does not have you as its main character, that God formed this world, and God is actively at work interacting with humanity. And the story of the Bible is the story of the world, which is that God is the main character, and that we get to play a part in that story, but that we do ourselves a great service by understanding who God is, and what he does, and how he Acts, so that we might interact with him, and enjoy him, and appreciate him, and know him, and love him. And so when we come to Genesis, it's very helpful for us to understand that we're looking at the story of God as he interacts with human history. And that to just look at things through our own life-centered, our own kind of narrow perspective, that we actually miss out on the point of the world, and therefore we miss out on a lot that does directly affect us.
And so it's helpful for us to study all of God's Word, to look at Genesis, because Genesis is not just the beginning of the Bible. It sets the stage for all that we're going to see in the rest of the Gospels, and in the rest of the Old Testament, and in the New Testament, and everything. It lays all that out for us. It's hard to read the New Testament and not know who Abraham is. It's hard to read the New Testament and not see what happened when we made it through to the Exodus and all of that. But it's the Genesis of the world.
It's how human history started. The other thing that I think we run into when we read things, especially like Genesis, is that we're really far removed from them time-wise. So these are people roaming around, watching sheep, living in tents, and there's a tendency for us to think that we're not like them, or that they're not as smart as we are. Like, I feel really smart because I have Google. I'm actually not that smart, but I feel really smart because I can figure things out really quickly, because someone else figured out something that makes me seem smart, and I get to carry that around in my pocket.
And so we just kind of look at these people, and we think that we're different from them, but we aren't. And what we're going to see is that their sin, their struggles, their pain is a lot like ours, and it's very helpful for us to understand how God interacts with them so that we can understand how He interacts with us. And today, we're looking at the Tower of Babel. Now, if you grew up in Sunday school, you've probably heard about this. Even if you didn't grow up in church, you've probably heard references to this. And it is an interesting story, and I'm excited that we're going to get to walk through it.
So let's pray, and then we're going to study this together. God, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You that You actively, directly interact with humanity, that You pay attention to us, that You care for us in how our lives play out. And we pray that as we study Your Word today, we would grow in an appreciation for who You are and what You've done, and Your plan for the world. And we love You and we praise You in Jesus' name. Amen.
Genesis chapter 11, verse 1. Now, the whole earth had one language and the same words. So, the whole earth had one language and the same words. Now, if you had been reading and paying attention, Genesis chapter 1 through 10. Spencer, do you mind turning that light on in the back? Well, Genesis chapter 1 through 10.
Spencer, carry everyone. Thank you. All right. Genesis chapter 1 through 10. You would realize that chapter 11, verse 1, causes some problems for us. Because Genesis chapter 10 says things like, From these, the coastland people spread their lands, each with his own language, by their clans in their nations.
Two verses before this one, it says, their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations. So, Genesis chapter 10 is telling us what happens when people get off of, when Noah gets off the ark. If you remember, we talked about this a couple weeks ago. Spencer walked through it. Noah gets on the ark. God's wrath is poured out.
Noah gets off the ark. God looks at him and says, Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth. That's in chapter 9. Pull it up. That's in chapter 9. And, Nope.
Nope. God blessed Noah's son and said, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. That's the command as soon as Noah gets off the ark. That's what God tells him. And so we hit chapter 10 in Genesis, and it seems like we're doing it. They spread out.
They're covering the earth. It says they moved out by their clans. It gives us this long genealogy in chapter 10. And then as soon as we hit the first verse in chapter 11, it's like, wait a second. Something has happened here. Now, we are right to assume that Moses, who wrote this, did not forget what he had written two verses before when he said there was a bunch of languages.
That he intentionally told this story out of chronological order to make a point. So we have, Noah gets off the ark. God says, Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth. Genesis chapter 10 says, Here's how that started to play out. And we're like, finally. Finally, humanity is getting it together.
Finally, we're doing what God told us to. Because God made humanity, and this is the first command he gives them, Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, have dominion over it. He wants that humanity would spread out to display his glory over the whole earth. That they would be humans everywhere who related to God and displayed his glory over the whole earth. And then they don't do it. They rebel against God.
And so the flood comes because they're sinful. They're running away from God. They're hateful. They're harming each other. And then as soon as Noah gets off the ark, God looks at him and says, The exact same thing he said to Adam and Eve. Be fruitful.
Multiply. Fill the earth. We read Genesis 10, and we're like, yes. We're really getting it together. And then Moses starts Genesis chapter 11 with, Not so fast. I'm going back to before there were languages to tell you a story about how this happened.
And he did it to M. Night, Shamel Amos, and have a twist on the end there. And he stuck it in here to mess with us. So here it is. Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
And as the people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. That's Mesopotamia. Is that area it's modern day? Iraq. And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar.
Now, what that's telling us, they say, come let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. It sounds like some of y'all, when you go to cook a meal, you're like, come, let me make spaghetti and burn it thoroughly. What it's telling us is that they learned how to make bricks, that they figured this out. It's showing ingenuity. It's showing creativity that they had designed. They moved to a plane where they would have usually made stone.
That's what they say. Let's make bricks for stone. They would usually use stone to build things, and they figured out a way to make bricks. And bitumen or bitumen is asphalt. So they would have been big.
If you've ever heard of tar pits, it's actually an asphalt pit. And so that's what they would have had. So they figured out a way creatively to design things really well. So so far, the story is going well. They're doing what they're supposed to. They're spreading out.
And they're using what God has poured in them as image bearers to display his glory. And so that's what they say. Come, let us do this. And then it says this. And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. We're in verse four.
Then they said, come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. OK, so this next slide is laying that out. It says, come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. OK, so let's kind of lay out their thinking here.
They said, let us build ourselves a city with a tower as tops in the heavens and let us make a name for ourselves. So build a tower. So they're going to build a city and a tower. With its tops in the heavens. So that's their plan.
They figure out how to make the get creative. They figure out how to make stuff. And they say, we're going to build a city and a tower so far. No problems. We're doing good. Then what's it say?
And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. OK, now we have a problem. Because if you've been reading Genesis, what did God command humanity to do? Genesis 1. Be fruitful. Multiply.
Fill the earth. What did he command Noah twice when he gets off the ark? Be fruitful. Multiply. Fill the earth. We get to chapter 11.
And what did they say? Nope. Not doing that. Their whole plan is to glorify themselves and not be dispersed. So God says, I've poured myself into you.
I've made humanity in my own image. I want you to spread out for my glory over the face of the earth. And they say, how about we come together for our glory? How's that sound? That's their plan. It is an exact opposite of what God has called.
It is a complete rejection of his call on humanity. That's the issue with the Tower of Babel. Not that they built a tower. Not that they built a city. Those things are celebrated. Like God, it designed humans to create things.
He meant for us to do that. Whenever we make stuff. Like I have a three-year-old and he'll say, did Jesus make this basketball goal? And I'm like, he made people. And he made them smart. And he made all the things that we've created and we're able to make it.
So yes, but he likes to do it through us figuring things out. That's how God designed it. Nobody reads this and goes, oh, they built a tower. God's going to get them. He hates towers, you guys. Everybody knows God hates towers.
That's not what's happening here. The truth is what they're doing doesn't matter. They could have come together and said, we're going to dig a big hole and become mole people. It's the reasoning behind it. It's the goal behind it. It's them saying, we don't want to be dispersed.
We want to praise our own name. We want to make our own glory. So it's for their glory, their name, and their will. So if you think about how Jesus teaches the disciples how to pray, he says, our father in heaven, honored to be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done. The Babylonians, the tower of Babel, these people who came together, their plan is let my name be honored. Let my will be done.
It is the opposite of God's call on humanity, which means that their heart is far from God. This is very interesting for us because often we think that sin is just the action. We want to think that sin is doing a bad thing. But the truth is you can do really beautiful things. They had a super nice tower, you guys. But they did it for a bad reason.
When we sing, you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why. So we're training our children, you need to behave for greed. You need to so love stuff that you can control yourself. Now I understand that when you're training children, you have to start with a lot of law. You have to start with a lot of regulations. You have to be pretty hemmed in.
I think my son behaves a lot of times because when he does, good things happen. And when he doesn't, bad things happen. That's how it's supposed to work. He's a child. I can't explain to him a lot of these things. But at some point we have to realize that there are ways to train ourselves to do the right actions for the wrong motive.
And it works for a con man who's tricking your grandmother into getting her savings by being really nice to her and driving her around and tending to her house. And then suddenly he's moved in. He's taken over right to a lawyer and all that kind of stuff. You know what I'm saying? Like how this works where he's done a lot of really good actions but all of a sudden for a really bad reason. And that some of us try to con God by having all the right actions.
But our goal, my name, my will. There are many people. We live in the south. There are many people right now on a Sunday morning. Some in here. Many in other places.
Who are very moral. Who show up to church. Who give. Who do a lot of things. And their only goal is to behave well enough that Jesus leaves them alone. Because if they sin, they're in his debt.
But if they can behave well enough, they can hold him far away and he owes them. It's a con game. Because their heart isn't in it. It's not for his glory. It's not for his will. It's if I do these things, this will work out.
And that's what they did. They said we're going to do really good things that God poured in us. We're going to be inventive. We're going to be creative. All things that God would celebrate. That the Bible does celebrate.
That even the book of Genesis celebrates. But they do it for sinful reasons. So let's see how God responds. So they say, verse 4. Let's read that again.
Then they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves. Lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of man had built. I love this verse. The Bible mocks them.
I love two things that happened in this verse. First is, where was their tower going to go? Do you all remember when they built it? It's going to go into heaven. And then the next verse says, God came down to see it. It didn't shoot through the floor of where he lived, you guys.
They didn't quite accomplish what they wanted. Now the point isn't that God couldn't see it. That God can't tell what's going on over the face of the earth. It does indicate that God chooses to be intimate with humanity when he doesn't have to be. He chooses to be close when he doesn't have to be. We see that throughout Scripture.
But it's also meant to be some nice scorn. God was like, hey, I heard they built a tower that's stabbing up into where we live. Y'all want to go down and see it? He went down and he was like, this is cute, you guys. It's meant to mock it, that God comes down to see this tower. And then it says this, that the children of man had built.
That phrase, children of man, it's a Hebrew phrase that the word children can also be sons. The word man is also Adam. So it could just be the sons of Adam, the children of man. All it means was not that these people that lived in Babel were particularly amazing sinners. They were just people. You see, a lot of times we read the Bible and we like to think, those people were bad.
I'm one of the good ones. Those are the people who messed things up. I'm glad God went down there and fixed them. I'm so happy that he went and did that. That's neat. And we miss the fact that what it's saying is this is what humans do.
This is the natural bent of our heart is to, for our name and our will and our glory, to live our lives in a way that God really doesn't mess with us and we get to do what we want. They're just humans. So he goes down to see it. And then he pays them a great honor and he pays humanity a great honor. Let's see what he says.
And the Lord said, behold, they are one people and they have all one language. And this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down there and confuse their language so that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth and they left off building the city.
Okay, so here's what he says. He comes down, he looks at the tower and he says, they're not going to spread out. They're just going to keep doing stuff. And he pays humanity a great compliment. I mean, he poured himself into humanity. He made us in his image and he says, they're just going to keep creating.
They're going to keep making things. They're not really going to be able to, there's nothing standing in the way of them just sitting here for their own glory forever. And so then he just says, I'm going to make it to where they don't understand what each other are saying. And that'll fix the problem. Which it did. I don't know if y'all know this, but we have historically humans have not gotten along with people that look and speak differently than themselves.
Did y'all know that? We draw little lines. We say, your eyes and skin color are different. The way you talk is funny. We're going to kill you. That's what humans have done.
It wasn't always said in English, but it has pretty much always been said. That's what God did was he just said, I'm going to make it to where they don't get along the same way. And we still, as far as humanity has gone, we've accomplished a lot of things. We have a space station that we have to work out with other people because we speak different languages. We have to translate from standard measurements to metric measurements. We have to do all these kind of things.
I mean, there's two different types of countries in the world. Those who use the metric system and those who've been to the moon. And we have to work that out. We have to overcome these differences. This was God's plan here. And I want you to see how gracious this is.
We just read about the flood. Humanity gets off and immediately rebels against God. I mean, thumbing their nose at him. We're going to build a tower into heaven. We're going to be awesome and we're not going to do what you say. That was their plan.
I told my son something one time and he said, nah. I said, buddy, you don't say nah to me. He said, daddy, daddy, daddy. I said, what? He said, the reason I said nah was that that was not a good idea. I said, brother, that's not how this works.
That's what they did. God said, here's my plan for humanity. You're going to spread out. You're going to display my glory. You're going to have dominion. And humanity went, nah.
We're going to cluster together. We're going to have glory. We're going to do what we want. God could have crushed them. He could have destroyed this city. We just saw his act of wrath in a flood.
By the time you read this, you would think, oh no, here it comes again. He said he wasn't going to flood it, but he's got other stuff, you guys. Ain't just water that kills people. But he doesn't. He also, this is gracious what he does. You see, God has active wrath and passive wrath.
Active wrath is where we pay the direct penalty for our sin. You see that throughout scripture. Passive wrath is when he gives us exactly what we want. And we discover that it is extremely lacking because what we needed was him. I had a buddy of mine ask one time, he's like, why does bad stuff happen to people? Why do they?
If you're, he's like, you're a Christian. You believe in God. Why do people get cancer? Why do people get sick? I said, honestly, man, the biggest issue that humanity has is sin. And a lot of times we don't realize that we need God as long as our bank account's full, our belly is full, and our health's rocking and rolling.
The truth is, a lot of times circumstantial pain leads us to a beautiful savior. Because it's God's wrath on you if everything works out swimmingly until you stand before him and you realize you lived your whole life for your name and your will. And that's a problem because that's not how the world was designed to work. So what God does is gracious and, I think, kind of funny. Because this had to be pretty hilarious. If you were God.
It's pretty stressful for everybody involved, I think. Here's why. You ever been somewhere and you hear people speaking and it takes you a second to realize, oh, wait, that's a different language? Like you didn't realize you were trying to eavesdrop, but then you got annoyed because you're like, I don't know what they're saying. And then you're like, wait a second, that's because I'll never know what they're saying because I'm pretty sure that's Portuguese. And nobody's trying to learn Portuguese.
No offense if you speak Portuguese. A little bit, but that wasn't intended. Or you're watching a movie or you're hearing a song, like you're riding on the road and you're like, I don't understand those lyrics. And you turn it up and you're like, oh, that's a different language. But see, you understand different languages exist.
There was a day when they didn't. And then the next day they did. So if you walked outside and you saw someone and you said hello and they said bonjour, you'd be like, well, that's French. And unless you know English, we're not going to talk much. But if you didn't know other languages exist, you wouldn't recognize it as a French word.
It would be noises. Strange noises. Now, it's possible you woke up and noticed that you were thinking in a different language and you spoke strange noises. But we've seen people who have gone into like car accidents and stuff. They get hit in the head. They wake up from a coma and they speak a different language.
And they don't realize they're speaking a different language. That's just language to them now. We've seen this happen, which is a crazy thing, which makes me think that when you woke up and started speaking a different language, you didn't notice it was a different language. So you walked outside. You said hello to your neighbor. And they went, glee-blank.
Because you wouldn't have recognized it as anything other than sounds. And you were like, what? They said, skeetle-deedle. And everybody did this all day long. Nobody spoke. If you woke up, I'm assuming there maybe were a few people who were still speaking the same language, but can you imagine you walk outside, you look at the street you live on, and it's just symbols that you don't understand?
If you just walked outside and every sign now is in Arabic, and you were just like, that's a heck of a prank for someone to pull off overnight. Do you see why they all left the city? It didn't work anymore, you guys. I guess at some point, I'm assuming he made little patches of people that did speak the same language, so eventually you were just walking around going, does anybody know what I am saying? And you heard someone yell, I do! And you were like, we're best friends now!
Because it's just us! That's what happened! God said, y'all don't want to spread out and invent culture. That's actually what God's desire was. That there would be culture. That they would spread out.
Because most of culture, a lot of culture, comes from not your language, but your location. You know why we have high fructose corn syrup? Because we had corn. We didn't have sugar. We figured out how to make corn taste like sugar, and we've never looked back. We were like, this is what corn is for from now on.
Alright, we'll allow grits and cornbread. But that's it. Don't eat corn. Drink it. It tastes like magic. If you think about it, we speak the same language, mostly, as people from Australia and people from England.
But the culture is different. We're not on the same page. He designed it. He wanted them to spread out and create culture. Because God wants people who look and act and think differently to worship Him and love Him and display His glory. Because there's something about every culture that points back to God.
And they weren't going to do it, so He created language and therefore created culture. And here's what happens. You read it. He says, Come let us go down. This is verse 7. Come let us go down there and confuse their language so that they may not understand one another's speech.
So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth. And they left off building the city. Therefore, its name was called Babel. I'm going to get back to that. That's important. Because there the Lord confused.
That in Hebrew sounds similar to Babel. So it's not as clever in English. Babel and confused. The language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth. They said, Let's come together.
We're going to build a tower. We're going to build a city. And we will not be dispersed. And then it says God dispersed them. Their plan did not work out. I want to ask you a question.
Did God destroy the tower? No. What was the purpose of the tower? It was to make a name for themselves. It was for them to get glory. Glory.
Whenever anyone sees the tower of Babel. Or speaks about the tower of Babel. Who gets the glory? God does. Because that's the point of the world. Is that God would get glory from his creation.
I want to make something really clear to you. That's how glory works. You can spend your whole life trying to figure out how to develop your name. And make much of your name. And glorify your name. But your life at the end of the day will glorify God.
You will either glorify God intentionally or unintentionally. We will either glorify God by being so enraptured by his glory and his goodness and his love. That we pour our lives out for him and his mission and his will. Or we will reject God. We will run from God. And we will suffer the glorious wrath of God.
But he will get glory from our lives. Either by us paying the penalty for our sin. Either by us standing on our own merit and seeing how woefully short it falls. Or by displaying his glory intentionally. But that's how it works.
The tower does not make much of them. It makes much of God. But he's gracious to them. He does not. He creates culture. Now.
They spread out. And here's what's beautiful about this. As we get to read the rest of the story. As we get to see where God goes from here. Oh. I said that I would come back to this.
Babel is translated everywhere else as Babylon. So it's setting up this kind of dichotomy that's going to play out through the rest of scripture. Where Babylon is kind of the seat of rebellion against God. Even by the time we get to the book of Revelation. It's going to be talking about God making a city. And crushing the city of Babylon.
So that's just the theme that runs throughout. We're not going to keep talking about it this morning. But I just wanted to point that out for you. That's where that begins. Okay. Here's what God does from this.
He calls Abraham in the next chapter. We're going to look at that next week. He just calls a guy and says. I'm going to make a nation out of you. And then he's promised to him immediately. It's through you.
All the families of the earth will be blessed. So he promises. Bless Abraham. To bless everybody else. Then. He makes nation.
Out of Abraham. He brings them out of slavery in Egypt. After they go to Egypt and become slaves. He brings them out. He eventually continues to promise. That I'm going to bless everybody through you.
And he brings Christ through Abraham. And the goal. Is not just to make one nation. But that all peoples. And all languages. And all nations.
Would worship and love God. And so he does this through Jesus. Jesus comes. Lives a perfect sinless life. Dies on behalf of sinners. Which is the children of man.
He even tells people. As he's doing this. He says. I'm going to rescue the house of Israel. But I've got sheep.
That don't belong to this house. That are going to be mine. He keeps saying. Like this is for everybody. This is going to be for everybody. As soon as he rises from the grave.
Having conquered sin on our behalf. He grabs his disciples. And he says. Go and make disciples. Of all ethnicities. You see that God is reversing.
What happened in Babel. Through the gospel. Because he is going to have a world. Covered. By people. Of different cultures.
Who love him. And worship him. He will accomplish that. Pentecost. Is the reverse of Babel. Where they.
The Holy Spirit falls. They begin to speak a language. That everybody understands. Because God is going to have a world. Covered with people who know. Love.
And worship him. And then he sends them out. First to the Jews. Then to the Gentiles. Then to everybody.
Which is the Gentiles. But just further away. And we see in the book of Revelation. That it says. John stands up. And he says.
I see them gathered around the throne. Worshipping him. Worshipping God the Father. And Christ. And it says. This is Revelation 5.9.
They sing a new song. Saying. Worthy are you to take the scroll. And to open its seals. For you were slain. And by your blood.
You ransomed people for God. From every tribe. And language. And people. And nation. And he says.
I look. This is 7.9. Two chapters away. After this I looked. And behold. A great multitude.
That no one could number. From every nation. From all tribes. And peoples. And languages. Standing before the throne.
And before the God. Clothed in white robes. When Christ redeems peoples. He does not make them one culture. He does not wipe away their skin color. Or their language.
He brings them together. And he makes them one family in him. But when John looks around the throne. He says. I see everybody speaking different languages. But they're all saying the same thing.
I see a multitude of peoples. And nations and languages. But they're all saying the same thing. Worthy is Jesus. That's God's plan. He enacts it in Babel.
And he overcomes it. In the gospel. That the world will be covered with people who worship him. And he mixes up the languages. And then he says. Everybody's still going to belong to me.
Not everybody in the world. Because that's not how this works out. But people from every tribe. And language and nation. Will follow Jesus. At least one.
Somebody's singing in French. Somebody's singing in Yoruba. There are people groups on the face of the planet right now. We have not translated the Bible in their language. We have not reached those people group. And I will guarantee you one thing.
Somebody from that people group is coming out. And they will be around that throne. And they will be making much of Jesus. Because that's God's plan. Now. How do we read this story.
And respond. Now. In 2018. Knowing all that we know. Well. I got a few quick things.
First of all. We know God's will for us. So God told. Adam and Eve. Then he told Noah.
Be fruitful. Multiply. Fill the earth. Okay. Done. That's not.
That's not the thing for us anymore. We are still supposed to have dominion over the earth. Which means you need to care for the peace of earth that you have. You need to care for those around you. We're supposed to work jobs. We're supposed to do that.
But then. In the cross. He sends out his disciples. Those who follow him. And he says. Make disciples.
Of all the people. Of the earth. That God has given his church a mission. That we know. His will for us. Now.
You may make disciples. In your neighborhood. You may make your disciples. As a mechanic. Working at a shop. Who gets to know the people he works with.
You might make your disciples. Working at Blockbuster. And then they closed it down. So you start working at Sears. And then they closed it down. And now you work for a call center.
But you're making disciples somewhere. Wherever you are. That all people would come to know him. That all people would worship him. That all people would follow him. And here's what happens though.
Much of our life is not the prayer. Our father in heaven. Honored be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done. Much of our life is spent with.
Our father in heaven. May my name be honored. May my kingdom come. May my will be done. We spend a lot of our time. Not caring about what God has put in front of us.
To love. To serve. To have a mission for. We spend a lot of time caring about our bank account. Our name. Our glory.
Our will. Guys. I'm a pastor. Father. And it's really easy for me. To not want to preach sermons for God's glory.
But for mine. It's really easy for me. To when we have baptisms. Want to see a lot of people get baptized. Not because that means somebody new. Is going to be around the throne.
Praising Jesus. But because it helps indicate. That we're doing a good job here. It's really easy for us. To do good actions. For wrong reasons.
Where we want our will. And our glory. And that is written. Into the heart of humanity. And we need God to save us from it. I had a friend of mine.
He's a pastor. And he said. That there are times. Where he thinks. He cares more about his dynasty on Madden. Some of y'all.
Understand what those words are. Some of you don't. Than he does about the mission of God. But you can replace dynasty on Madden. With your garden. Your promotion.
Your 401k. Your car collection. Your children. You can replace it with anything. Even really. Really good things.
That we care more about. What God's called us to do. And the mission he's given us. See the truth is. Many of us. Will never have a tower.
That reaches to heaven. But we will have something. That we spent. All of our energy. All of our time. All of our intelligence on.
And often. Far too often. It was for our name. And our will. So that we could be comfortable.
So that we could be successful. So that we could be. Given glory. And it was in complete. And utter rejection. Of what God's called us to do.
So I think the way we respond. Is twofold. I think we need to ask the question. We need to look in our heart. We need to ask the Holy Spirit. To tell us.
Where am I living. For my will. And my glory. Secondly. The way that we respond. To this story.
Of the Tower of Babel. Is we get to know people. Who look differently. Speak differently. Act differently. Than us.
I remember the day. That I went. My cousin came here. He is. First generation. Nigerian American.
I've told this story before. We went. He wanted to know. Kind of some good food around here. So we went to a restaurant.
That's closed now. But it was very good. Mexican food. I got horchata. Which is. It tastes like.
The bottom of the bowl. Of cinnamon toast crunch. It's amazing. And then we went. To another place. That had churros.
And I remember sitting with him. And I was eating a churro. And I thought. I've never thought about this. But churros are going to be in heaven.
I know biscuits will be there. But I had never thought about churros. And I know. Like it was. It just dawned on me. That there's going to be.
Culture in heaven. And that we ought to display. That so beautifully here. That we don't just hang out. With the people who look like us. Think like us.
Act like us. We don't just hang out. With people who like spicy food. Or don't like spicy food. But that we.
We look like the kingdom of God. Which is a bunch of people. Who look and act. And think differently. And so what that means for us. How we respond to the story.
Is that we love God's mission. And we love it enough. To be made uncomfortable for it. For the sake of people. Who don't know him. And for some of us.
That means you are supposed to. Quit your job. Be an international missionary. Go someplace. Or maybe they don't speak. The way you speak.
And maybe nobody there. Loves Jesus. And it's possible. That there are churches. Around the globe. That will consistently.
Send Christians to. The reason that unreached places. Are unreached right now. Is because they are hard to reach. They don't want to be reached. And so there are going to be people.
Who have to die there. For the sake of the gospel. And we're going to send in somebody. And we're going to send in somebody. And we're going to send in somebody. And Christians are going to shed their blood there.
And we're going to do it. Because we know at some point. Somebody's coming out. Somebody's going to be around the throne. Some of you it means. Getting to know someone you've worked with.
For a long time. But you've never really talked to. Because y'all don't see eye to eye. Or you don't act the same way. Or you don't like the same music. Some of you it's going to mean.
Walking across the street. And getting to know your neighbors. Some of you it's going to mean. Stop inviting them to everything. But accept the invitation they've given you.
You go be the only person. With your skin color. You go be the only person. Who doesn't understand the references. You go be mad. Uncomfortable for the gospel.
The band's going to come back up. And I want us to ask the question. God do I care more about your glory or mine? Do I care more about my name? Do I care more about what I want in life? Do I care more about what I think is best.
Most comfortable. Most enjoyable. Or do I care about what you care about? And we're going to repent. We're going to ask Jesus to change our hearts. We're going to ask him to use us.
Through his Holy Spirit. We're going to take communion here in a second. Which is for Christians. Who have repented of sin. And placed their faith in Jesus. Who died for sinners.
The truth is. That we are all going to mess this up. We are all going to fall short. None of us are going to live perfectly. Or be on mission perfectly. Or love God's mission.
In his name. In his glory. More than ours. And that's why we trust Jesus. That he saves sinners. That he loves failures.
That he's strong enough where we are weak. And that we continually get to follow after him in repentance. But that ultimately we're going to stand before him. Not because we were the best at mission. And not because we were the best at diversity. And not because we were the best at loving people.
But because he was. And we're going to stand in him. And so if you are a Christian. I would invite you to take a moment to ask him. Where do I need to change? Where do I need to grow?
Where do you need to purge from me? The fact that I would have fit in so perfectly in Babel. And where do you need to change my circumstances? For your grace. And for your glory. And for your name.
And then I invite you to take communion. If you are not a Christian. Communion is not for you. Christ is. And you can repent of your sin. And have Christ.
But Christians partake in communion. To remind themselves. That they've placed their faith in Christ. And what he's done for them. So let's pray.
The band's going to sing here in a moment. And during that song. After you've prayed. And when you feel ready. You'll come take communion. If you have a celiac disease.
Or a gluten allergy.
Elder installation
Transcript
Well, good morning. Like I said, my name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. Today is an exciting day in the life of our church. We are installing Spencer Carey as an elder. And so it's going to be a good morning for us.
We are taking a break from our time in Genesis to install Spencer. He's been doing pastor and training stuff with us for a couple of years. And a lot has gone into this, and we're excited to be able to do this this morning. I hope everybody made it safely through the great mist of 2018. I know that if you live closer to the coast or have family that way, that there has been some significant damage in that direction, although we didn't catch the brunt of it. So thank the Lord for that, for Columbia.
So a little bit about what we're going to do today. It's going to be kind of like a wedding, because in some ways Spencer is going to be committing himself to our church family. And us as a church family, we're going to commit ourselves to Spencer. So there'll be times where I'm talking to us as a church family. There'll be times where I'm just talking generally from what the Bible says. There'll be times where I'm specifically addressing Spencer.
And so in similar ways, when I get to do a wedding, the couple stands. And then there are times where I'm talking to everybody, just kind of what the Bible says. There are other times where I specifically address the couple. Except for today, I think that as we specifically address Spencer, he'll listen. The couple at a wedding usually doesn't. They're just kind of staring doughy-eyed at each other.
But I don't think Spencer's going to be doing that with you all right now. So hopefully he'll listen as we kind of walk through this. I got to meet Spencer in college. And it took us a while to kind of admit it to each other after he had been hanging out here. But we did not appreciate each other's company in college, which I think is a testament both to our judge of character in college and our general attitudes towards humans.
And so we've grown since then. We like each other now. And Spencer's been around for a while. He felt called to plant in Lexington. And so he moved from Sojourn from Louisville, Kentucky, where he was going to Sojourn. No, Sojourn was the church.
Sorry, Southern Seminary is what I'm trying to say. Sojourn was the church he was a part of. Moved from Southern Seminary to be here to plant in Lexington. Called us up because somebody said, Hey, well, there's some guys that are planting a church. You should get to know them. He said, Well, I already kind of know them.
But he had to have a sponsor church. So he thought, Well, maybe these morons will sponsor me and we can go ahead and plant our church. And so we met and it turns out we had a lot in common. We had a lot that we believed similarly about how to pursue the mission and to worship Jesus and to mobilize people and make disciples. And so Spencer started hanging around. Eventually he started feeling like he was actually called to be here.
And that was an exciting moment for our church. And now as he's been doing pastor and training, we are going to install him today. So I want to go ahead and tell you a few things. One that Spencer's already done for our church. One of the things that he did pretty early on was he and he treated it like it was a gospel issue that we have better coffee on Sundays. So he used to be a barista or a barista.
I don't know. He's a guy. I don't know how that works. And he he he kind of just said, We can't drink this. If we believe all the things that the Bible says about how God's good creation, we can't be drinking this on Sundays. And we're like, What?
It's like seven week old Maxwell House. I don't understand what the problem is. And so we've gotten better coffee. He he fought hard for liturgy, which means a set order to worship. It stresses him out any time that we kind of break from that. But he's he fought hard for that.
So if you like responsive readings, you can thank Spencer. If you're like me and they make you uncomfortable, you can thank Spencer. I remember when he would say he's like, Why don't you all do responsive readings? And the answer was basically, I don't like them. And he was like, Well, you know, the Bible, he like went. He pulled the Bible out on us.
And he was like, You know, the Bible says for us to read together, for us to devote ourselves to the reading of scriptures. And I was like, Yeah, but they make me uncomfortable. And so since we didn't have a good point and he did, we've started doing them. And they've actually been really good and helpful. And I do appreciate them now. Other things that we have in liturgy are when Spencer gets up here and says he's going to give us a benediction, which is a blessing for the road.
And we had to tell him, Stop saying that. Just do it. Just say the benediction. He also fought really hard for shorter sermons. And I know some of y'all have been hanging around for a little while and you're like, These are the short ones. Yes, these are the short ones.
These are the shorter sermons. He's done a lot with shepherding and member care. I will also say that we have already made some allowances for Spencer that we hadn't made for other pastors. Everybody who's a pastor so far, the way we did email addresses was your first initial and your last name. But Spencer's name is Spencer and his last name is Carrie.
And he was really up in arms about having scary at millcitycolumbia.com be his email handle. So we already changed that up for him. So here's what we're going to do today. We're going to look briefly. I thought it was an awesome email address. We're going to look briefly.
I was like, didn't your parents do that on purpose? We're going to look briefly at three different passages. The New Testament has a lot to say about pastors and about what the church is supposed to look like. The New Testament church. And we're going to look briefly at three different passages that just deal with the kind of the role of the office of pastor, of elder. And we're going to talk through that this morning.
And then kind of at the end of our time, we're going to call Spencer up here and we're going to go through a list of things that he's going to commit himself to. And then we're going to commit ourselves to him as a church and he will be installed in our church as an elder. So I'm going to pray and then we're going to jump in. God, we thank you for this time and we thank you for what it means for the life of our church. We pray that we'd honor you well as we study your word together this morning and as we install Spencer as a pastor of our church. Thank you.
And in Jesus name. Amen. Grab your Bibles, go to Titus chapter one. Titus chapter one. It's going to be on page 579. If you have a Bible that looks like this.
And we're going to pick up in verse five. So we're going to talk briefly about the character of a pastor, kind of what the Bible outlines. There's several passages that do this. We're going to look at Titus today. Before we do that, I want to answer kind of a big question for us. So he says in verse five, this is why I left you in Crete.
That's where Titus is so that you might put what remained into order and appoint elders in every town as I directed you. OK, so what happens is the New Testament, Paul and the other apostles travel around. They share the gospel. People believe the gospel. People become Christians and become disciples of Jesus. And then it would say that they would come back through and kind of appoint elders, make sure that all the local churches and all the churches in all these cities had some organization, had some leadership.
And so that's what's happening here. And so today we will install. We will appoint Spencer as an elder. Now, for some of us, that word, we're not really familiar with the word elder. We use that term interchangeably here at our church. So the Bible also uses it interchangeably.
The word elder overseer are different words in the Greek, but they're used interchangeably. And we also use the word pastor. And so those are all three different words in the New Testament that are used to describe this kind of same role, the same office, this same thing that people are supposed to do. And so we interchange them. Now, some people look at that and go, OK, doesn't elder mean older? And then you might look at us and say, you don't look older, to which I would respond.
Thank you. I moisturize. I appreciate that. No, I would respond. We aren't that old. We are on the young end of kind of pastoring.
We're on the far end of this. And here's the thing. The term does mean older. And it originally meant in the Old Testament, you're going to see it means all the older people, all the heads of families were called together. But as it comes into the New Testament, it is only ever used as an office.
Similar to our term senator. Same root word is senile. Same same root word. It means older. But now we just use it as an office.
And that's how the New Testament uses this. And the primary thrust of what the Bible calls for from an elder is not physical age, but spiritual maturity. And so that's why he lists off these qualifications. In these qualifications, there is a call for maturity, but never a specific age. So that there can be people who are young and spiritually mature, old and not spiritually mature.
And the hope is that we would grow as we are young pastors. We would grow to be more spiritually mature over time. As we age. So here's what he says. Verse six. If anyone is above reproach, means nobody can bring any kind of claim against them.
The husband of one wife and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer as God's steward, meaning that he's a stand in for God. The person who's overseeing a church, an elder, a pastor, is handling God's people, God's word. He's not in charge. He works for God. Must be above reproach.
He must not be arrogant or quick tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain. But hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he might be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. So let's talk briefly about the character outlined for a pastor. So these are character qualifications.
There's only one in here that is a skill, which is the ability to instruct, the ability to correct. The rest of them are character, character qualifications that you have to see over time that wouldn't show up on a resume. So here's what it says. It says if you're above reproach. This is actually why as we went to install Spencer, we would announce we're going to install him on the 23rd. If you have anything to bring against him, anything that he has done, any slight, we need to know about it so that we can approach it, that we can talk to him about it, that we can correct it.
And that we see that he seems eligible for this, but we want to make sure that he hasn't been wronging and harming people in other areas. It says the husband of one wife, which means a one-woman man. This has been an honor to see how Spencer pursues his wife there. He's very busy. He does a couple of days here serving. He teaches often here, which takes a lot of his time.
He works with our member care and shepherding. He's put a lot of work into that, and then he does real estate, which keeps him very busy. And so there's often days where he's here working. He goes and does some showings. He goes and does some pastoral care. He gets home late, and he has to be very intentional with his wife, Anna, and it has been beautiful to see how intentional they are to spend time together, to date one another, to enjoy one another.
But it says husband of one wife and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. 1 Timothy 3, which also outlines character qualifications, says that manages his household well and his children are submissive. And so one of the things we see is that one of the first realms that you pastor is your home. And so we did not, when I first became a pastor here, who's considerably younger than I am now, didn't have any children. So now that qualification matters more because I have to keep my children submissive.
At some point, my son, he's three. He can't really be open to the charge of debauchery, although he did feel a little insubordinate last night before he went to bed. But we handled it. Boy, you're being insubordinate and churlish. Like, we walked through this with him. But what it means is that you manage your household well, that your children grow up.
And this is one of the things that we talk about on a regular basis as pastors is that as our children get older, there may be a season where we say, hey, guys, I no longer meet these qualifications. I have children who are rebelling, who are pursuing open, flagrant sin. They're not submissive. I'm not leading my household well. And I need to step back. We talk about that regularly.
This is the thing that we need to be prepared for. This is one of the reasons why not only do we believe it's biblical that we would have multiple pastors. Some people would look and say, you're going to have four pastors for this size church. And our answer is yes, because we believe that elders are supposed to be plural. That's why he says appoint elders in every town, that there should be more than one. And we believe that it's healthy.
It's helpful. It gives us room to shepherd our families well. It gives us the ability to shepherd each other, to be accountable. But there may be seasons where we have to walk through that. For an overseer, God's steward must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable.
He must have his home open to people. He must love good, be self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. So that those who are to lead the church are meant to be, they don't eat too much. They don't drink too much. They're not too aggressive. They're not too loud.
They're tempered. They control themselves. That they're disciplined. That they might set an example. Then he says he must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction and sound doctrine and also able to rebuke those who contradict it.
So there ought to be an exemplary character and a love for the scriptures and an ability to rightly teach and correct. We take this very seriously here. If there's two kind of caricatures of pastors, maybe many of you have grown up and you've known pastors who are really genuinely good people. They loved the Lord. They were humble. They were gracious.
They were caring. And that's one picture we have of pastor. The other one is that pastors are messed up. They're sneaky. They're greedy. They're power hungry.
I know that that's in me. When I meet somebody and they say they're a pastor, I'm like, okay, well, you might be weird. And I feel bad that I feel like that because I know I tell people I'm a pastor and I assume they think maybe the same thing. It's like, okay, weirdo. We'll see. But that's the thing.
And so we take it very seriously that we would uphold and display what God has intended. I want to turn. I'm going to talk a little bit more about this, but I want us to turn to the next place before I do. So we're going to look at the commitment of a pastor. So we're going to go to Hebrews 13.
So just a few pages over. And again, there's a lot of different passages, but I wanted to highlight a few things. So the Bible says that the pastor should have a godly character. And then it talks about how we are to commit both to the pastor and the pastor commits to us. And so I want to talk about, Spencer, what you're committing to today and what we as a church are committing to today. Because we are, as a church family, making a commitment when we install a new pastor.
And Spencer today will be making a commitment to us. So let's look. We're going to read a couple of verses and we're going to jump kind of a section and read another couple of verses. Because Paul introduces this idea. He talks about some specifics for this church. And then he kind of closes with this idea.
So we're going to verse 7. He says, remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. I didn't have this on there, but I want us to read verse 9 as well. It says, do not be led astray by diverse and strange teachings.
Okay, I just want to read that because it's going to apply to something we're about to have to read in here on verse 17. So verse 17 says this, and this is to the church. The church was talking to us collectively as a church family. Obey your leaders and submit to them. For they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning.
For that would be of no advantage to you. So if you're part of our church family, if you've committed to membership here. One of the things that happens when we install a new elder leader in our church family is that this applies. That we would obey and submit to our leaders. Now, as a pastor here, I wish that was worded differently. I wish it said like, consider it, but you still make the call.
Like, you know, think about it. They've probably been studying stuff, but don't overdo what they say. But that's not what it says. It says obey and submit to them because they're going to be held accountable. That's what the passage says. That's scary to me.
And this is another reason why we take eldership really slowly here. One of the phrases we use is we take it slower than we want to take it. I think Spencer could have been ordained a while back. The truth is if he can be ordained now, he could have been ordained earlier. That's usually how that works. Could have been installed earlier.
We actually had people, I had somebody in my group come to me and say, why isn't Spencer a pastor yet? And she was like, he's the best one we have and he's not even a pastor. And I was like, you said that right to my face. Like, I'm here. You're talking to me. And the answer is twofold.
One, character can only be seen over time. So he just said, remember their way of life. We have to watch way of life. We could tell Spencer could preach when he showed up. I remember the first time he preached when we were doing teacher development. I thought, yeah, we could listen to this guy.
You could listen to this guy week after week. That was helpful. That was good. That was encouraging. But there's certain things that don't show up on a resume that aren't going to show up as you get to talk to somebody.
And that's character. You have to see him in seasons of life. Are they consistently faithful? Do they love their spouse? How do they handle it when they don't have any money? How do they handle it when their child is going through a really difficult stage?
How do they handle it when they're sick? How do they handle it? Character only unfolds over time. So there's no way to do that quickly. Secondly, after we install him today, we as a church family have to obey and submit to him. And we want to make sure he's got some sense.
Because that would be really difficult to do. We want to see that. We take that very, that's a very weighty thing that we would say that we believe that we're going to, he's going to be my pastor after the day. I'm going to have to submit to his leadership. We wanted to watch and see, can we do that now? I've been submitting to some of his leadership.
I've been obeying some of the things that he lays out because he's got wisdom and he handles the Bible well. But we're co-signing that as a leadership team, as an elder team for the rest of our church family. And we want to take that really slowly. And the other thing that we have to see is that the, as Matthew 20 says, Jesus says, I didn't come to be served, but to serve, to give up my life as a ransom for many. What he says is that the leaders of you should be your slaves. The first among you should be last.
So what happens is Spencer's about to move into a position where he can lean into the fact that our church family is supposed to obey and submit to him. And he can do that as someone who is power hungry and loves authority. Or he can do that as someone who understands that his role is a servant. He's meant to die to himself on behalf of those that he serves because they belong to Jesus. One of the things we say often is if you can't take the trash out, you can't lead a church. You can't be an elder.
Or if you can't serve, you don't get to do anything else. Because it seems from a worldly perspective as if he's moving up in the ranks. But biblically, that's flipped upside down and he's moving down to be a slave to more people, to serve more people. So the Bible says, obey your leaders. Now, that does not mean check your brain at the door. We just read where it says, don't be led astray by diverse and strange teachings.
So he says, don't be led astray, obey and submit to your leaders. So what he's saying is biblical, healthy, godly leadership is what we follow. That we open the Bible. There's a reason why we set this out in the middle of everything. And we open the Bible up and we set it on here because this is what is leading us. This is what is teaching us.
God through his Holy Spirit, as he empowers his word, I could fall over dead. And what is important is still here. And so we follow the leadership that's outlined for us in scripture. But there are places where pastors have to make house rules. Because the Bible tells us certain things we're supposed to do and certain things we're not supposed to do. And then there's some areas where we got to make some calls.
Give you an example. It's kind of like parenting. When I was growing up, I had to be in bed at nine o'clock. All the way until I left my father's house. Eighteen years old. At a nine o'clock bedtime.
A little more lax on the weekends and during the summer. But not real lax. Just a little more. During school, nine o'clock, go to bed. You could get away with it a little more if you weren't annoying him. You could push it to like 9.15 or 9.30.
But if he like, if you bothered him, it was close. Bedtime. Now, as a house rule. At your house, you may not have had that rule. I was called to obey my parents. He said, go to bed at nine.
If I stayed up, if he told me to go to bed, and I said, no, I'm sinning. If I was up at ten in rebellion against my father, I'm sinning. Now, at your house, where you had no curfew, you weren't. Because it wasn't a house rule. You were supposed to obey your parents. They said, show up by three.
I remember when I first started dating my wife, Anna. And I said, what time do you need to be home? Because I was trying to, you know. She said, I don't have a curfew. And I was like, your parents hate you. Truth was, she had never done anything that had to be restricted.
She behaved herself. Phillip's voice, home at nine, in bed. There were restrictions at my house. And this messed me up. Because I was in college. And at 9.30, my body started to shut down.
I'd been going to bed at nine o'clock my entire life. People were like, you want to do stuff? And I'd be like, yeah, it sounds. My body's like, what are you doing? You're going to die. I'm like, you know what?
I'll catch you later. I've got to go to sleep. My roommate my freshman year hated me. And he moved out. And it was nice. I had my own room.
And I went to bed at nine. And he didn't make any noise. There are house rules. One of the house rules we have as a church family is our community groups. The Bible does not say you have to be in a group. People ask us this all the time.
What does the Bible say you have to do that? No, it doesn't. But the Bible does say that we're to love one another. We're to serve one another. We're to bear with one another. We're to forgive one another.
We're to be hospitable to one another. And we live in a culture where you are never forced to do any of those things. There's another church right down the road. So as soon as something gets difficult, you don't have to forgive. You can go over there. You can go over there and tell them how terrible everybody was here.
And you know what that church will say? We're so sorry. Because they want to put on a good impression of Christ to you. And they'll say, well, we love you. We'd never do that. And they're well-meaning.
But the truth is you should have stayed here and repented. Or you should have stayed at your last church and repented. We're called to do all these things. And we live in a culture where you don't have to. You can go home and watch, friends. You don't have to have any.
My brother, when they canceled the show The Office, he said, I feel like I've lost a lot of my friends. And I'm not going to see him all the time anymore. Then Netflix came out, and he's fine, you guys. So we say you need to be in a group. Because we're trying to apply what the Bible said. So we made a house rule to help us accomplish what we think we're supposed to do.
And so when the Bible says obey your leaders and submit to them, there are places where that shows up. And that means there are going to be times where, as a church family, we disagree. That's what submission is. It doesn't say agree with your leaders. It says obey, submit. And so we take our time to try to figure out, this person loves Jesus.
Does he love the word? Are we in agreement on how this plays out? Because the truth is, since there are house rules, Spencer might be installable elsewhere, but not here. Because we disagree on what the Bible is saying and how we ought to live that out. So we take our time.
But here's what it says. The two commitments that the church family is making and that we'll make later, we'll actually read and we'll kind of say, by God's grace, that we will. Is we're committing today to obey and submit to Spencer. And then it says, let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. So some of us maybe said, okay, well, I'll obey, I'll submit.
But man, am I going to make that awful. And the truth is, it's not what he says. It says, let them do it with joy. Spencer's supposed to be here. If he's supposed to be here, if he's supposed to serve, he's supposed to do this. Then we want him to do it with joy.
We want him to do it not begrudgingly. We want him to show up excited to be a part of this church family and to serve this church family and to slave for this church family. We want that to be a joy because it does us no good if he's bitter and unhappy, if he's frustrated. That is not how you want your pastors to be. So as a church family, we're designed, supposed to make things joyful.
Now, as a pastor, I want to give you a few tips on how to do this. One, if you are frustrated or hurt by something that one of your pastors has done, just go talk to them. It's one of the best ways to make bleeding a joy. Because someone sitting you down and saying, hey, you hurt my feelings. It's so much easier. It's so much biblical.
So what we're supposed to walk through. There are times where somebody sat me down and said, I think you need to repent. And when they got up, I was like, you're right, I do. I do need to repent. I handled that poorly. My thinking on that's been wrong.
And I get to grow and we get to move forward together in love. Being frustrated and complaining and whispering to other people doesn't help us grow. It doesn't model the gospel. It doesn't display anything good. So when you're frustrated, go talk to the pastor.
Whichever pastor it is. It's probably razz. Go talk to him. Sorry. I do remember I've had people sit down with me and after doing that, because they did it, they thought it was biblical, they knew they were supposed to, they sat down and afterwards said, that wasn't that bad. It's like, yeah, I just look angry.
I'm actually not a terrible person. Tell your friends. Encourage. When you see something that is encourageable, encourage. Fan the flame. When Spencer, and be specific.
When he does something that's helpful or encouraging or blessed you or you see Jesus at work in him, tell him. Because the truth is, often we as pastors run around, we get to work and serve. We've been called to this. We work and serve with everybody who's hurting. Everybody's weak. Everybody's frustrated.
Everybody's in the midst of sin. And we may spend a week, three weeks, four weeks, five weeks, just doing that. And if you're doing well and you see Jesus at work in your life, you see Jesus at work in your group, just grab a pastor sometime and just say, hey, I just want to let you know how this is working and how this is going. Grab Spencer at some point and say that to him, because that helps make this a joy. Spencer. Verse 17.
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. You are committing today to care for the souls of Mill City Church. This is one of the reasons why we do membership is that we want people to actually look and say, no, I commit to this. I believe in Jesus. I'm going to be here. I'm going to belong.
We don't know how it works. We know that as pastors, we're saying we're in charge of care for souls, eternal souls that will exist either in hell or in heaven with Christ and that one day we will stand before God and we will give an account. Not just for how we care for souls, but also the Bible tells us we have a stricter judgment for those who teach that we actually studied, that we actually tried, that we actually were as clear as we could on what the Bible says. But there's going to be a time, and I don't know if we get to go in together, I don't know if the four pastors of Mill City Church are going to stand shoulder to shoulder, I don't know if they're going to read off a list of names, I don't know how it's going to work, but we're going to stand before God and be accountable for souls.
Spencer, you're committing to that today, to have a moment in judgment that otherwise wouldn't exist, to have a moment in our judgment before God that wouldn't be there outside of accepting the call that you think he's placed on your life to do this. To stand before him and say, I wasn't just distracted, I wasn't just in it for gain, I wasn't just in it, but I was praying, and I was weeping, and I was trying, and I was studying, and I was pouring myself out. Because he knows. We can fake it in front of people, but he knows. That's what Peter says, one day the chief shepherd's going to show up, and we're going to be held accountable.
So that's what you're committing to in church family, that's what we're committing to. Turn to Acts chapter 20, it's one of my favorite passages in the Bible, it's where Paul calls together the Ephesians elders, so it's going to be back to the left. This is kind of some of the stories from the early church, after Christ had died on the cross, after he had risen from the grave, and the church had been commissioned and sent out into the world. So we're going to talk about the charge, kind of the commission or the task of a pastor. And yes, they were all three C's, because once you do two C's, you have to do a third one or you get in trouble.
So the charge, what we're called to do. So we're just going to read this passage, and we're going to make some observations about what this is supposed to look like. So verse 26, Paul's called together the elders of a church, the pastors of a church, he's going to call them elders, he's going to call them overseers. We said that's interchangeable. Verse 26. Therefore, I testify to you this day, that I am innocent of the blood of all.
For I did not shrink from declaring you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
So look back at the first thing that Paul says. He says, I'm innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. And so as we stand accountable for souls, what he's saying is that we, Paul says, I'm innocent because I read, studied, knew my Bible and proclaimed my Bible to everybody. I didn't shrink from even saying things that were unpopular or disliked. I proclaimed what was true. One of the most frustrating things, Spencer, is that we cannot help people repent.
We can't make them see it. We just get to say it. We just get to plead with people. We get to sit them down and say, this is what the Bible says. And this is where you're headed. And this is where destruction lies ahead for you.
And they don't see it. They don't believe it. Some of the stuff we tell people sounds crazy about marriage, about sexuality. Paul says he didn't shrink from it. He proclaimed it. And then he can walk away without having the blood of others hanging over his head.
So the first charge I would say for a pastor is that we would know our Bibles, love our Bibles, and proclaim from our Bibles. We would know it. We'd memorize it. We'd believe it. We'd trust it. In Paul's letters to Timothy, he says, I charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead by his appearing and his kingdom, which about as many things as Paul could think of, all the things you could charge someone by, he pulls them together and he says, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.
Then he says, until I come, this is in another passage, I devote yourself to the public readings of scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. This is one of the ones that Spencer cited on us that said we had to publicly read scripture. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them so that all may see your progress. We as pastors are supposed to grow in being Bible people. We're supposed to grow in it.
Progress should be seen. From what I understand, this is already true for Spencer. One of his first sermons he got to preach, he talked about the cross and repeated the phrase, gaze upon the carnage so many times that it made people very uncomfortable, but not in a good, here's the gospel way uncomfortable, just in a, you probably should stop saying that way uncomfortable. I'm sure there are more, but that's the one I wanted to talk about. But that this should be a thing that growth is seen, that we grow as men who love and trust our Bibles and proclaim our Bibles.
Because what else are we going to proclaim from? We do not have sufficient wisdom, but the Bible makes the simple wise. And there's our hope. Verse 28. So we would be Bible people.
Secondly, he says, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. So Spencer, you have to commit today to watch your own soul, to pay careful attention to your own sin, to your own proclivities, to your own desire for evil. And then pay careful attention for God's people, that you would love them, that you would care about them, know them, pray for them. They belong to Jesus. He purchased them with his blood. Then he says, I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock, and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them.
Therefore, be alert, remembering for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears. So that today you commit yourself to a group of people that you might love, that you might proclaim the word of God to them, that you might weep for them. I remember when I was first doing some internships with Midtown Fellowship, the pastors there said that they felt like pastoring a lot of times was standing next to somebody on top of a roof saying, don't jump. Please don't jump. I can tell you how far it is down there. I can tell you what happens when you land.
I can tell you why jumping is a terrible idea. Please don't jump. And then watching them jump and then immediately saying, okay, I'll meet you at the bottom. That's what Paul says. I didn't cease to admonish with tears to correct, to say, don't do this. Please see your sin.
Please turn. Please love Jesus. Spencer, you're a sinner and you're not sufficient. For the weight of caring and caring for the souls of those who belong to Jesus. In order to kind of highlight how big of a sinner you are, we got your wife to do a video where she outlines some things. No, that would have been fun though.
You are not sufficient for the weight. And that's why Paul ends, as he's talking to them, he says this to them. We're going to end with it. I now commend you to God. So Paul's telling him he's not going to see him again.
And he says, I'm handing you over to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. That those who lead the church are sanctified the same way that everybody else is. They're saved the same way that everybody else is. That we trust that Jesus, through his grace, has accomplished for us what we could never accomplish. That we are sinners who need a savior and ought to be the first to proclaim them. So Spencer, as you take on the weight of shepherding among our church family and among this people for as long as God gives you the grace to do so, we commend you to God and to his grace that you might walk in it and that you might one day stand sanctified along the rest of our church family, trusting that Jesus has redeemed us from our sin and set us free and given us hope, which he is our hope, our only hope, that anything would be good.
That you will not save yourself through pastoring well, that you will not save yourself through people responding well to what you teach, that you will not save yourself through your family being proud of you, that you will not save yourself through how well you lead a group or how often it multiplies, that you will not save yourself by leading people to Christ, that you will be saved the same way that everybody else is saved through the blood of Jesus on your behalf as a sinner who had no other hope. At this time, I'd like to ask our other two pastors, Matt and Raz, to walk up and Spencer to come up as well. So we're going to read a few things that Spencer will respond to, and then we're going to read one that we as a church family will respond to, and I'll tell you when that's coming. Spencer, do you believe by God's grace in your life that you meet the qualifications laid out in Scripture for an elder and have not hidden sin in order to serve in this capacity?
Spencer, do you commit yourself to God's Word, to study it, meditate on it, cherish it, striving to mold your life to its instruction while actively seeking to train others to do the same? Spencer, do you commit yourself to keep a close watch on yourself and your sin, being quick to repent in an error? Spencer, do you commit to keep a close watch over Mill City Church, sacrificially loving and serving and leading those to whom God's Holy Spirit has seen fit to make you an overseer? And Spencer, have you committed your life to Jesus above all else, believing only in the gospel, not your good works or efforts or success in ministry for your salvation?
Okay, church family, this is ours, so if you are a member of Mill City Church, we're going to commit to the things we talked about earlier. So we're going to respond with, by God's grace we do. Church family, do we commit, under the authority of the Word of God, to submitting ourselves to Spencer's direction and seeking to make his time serving here one of joy? By God's grace we do. Spencer, by the grace through Jesus Christ that we have, we commission you to serve alongside of us as an elder of Mill City Church, as one of God's stewards over his beloved people, sacrificially loving, serving and leading those to whom he has assigned to us for as long as God, in his grace, allow us.
Please come stand here, we're going to lay hands on you, we're going to pray. God, we thank you for this moment, for what it means. We thank you for this man. We pray that you would bless him, that your Holy Spirit would be at work in him to do beyond his ability in loving and forgiving and repenting, that you'd help him to be quick to see his sin, that you'd help him to be quick to offer grace, that you would work through him to enable your Holy Spirit and his giftings to serve your church for as long as you see fit, that you might receive glory. In your name, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, and as we collectively gather as a church who belong to you, we appoint Spencer Carey as an elder in our church family to lead, to serve, to sacrifice, and to love.
And we pray that we collectively would respond well to him, that we collectively would serve well together to see more people come to know you in this city. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
That's good. Amen. invite you to in a moment as we stand and sing for you to come down the aisle, for you to take some bread, dip it, and partake in communion as we celebrate that Jesus has covered us, that his blood has redeemed us. If you have a gluten allergy, the metal tins are for you over here. Let's pray and then we'll sing and take communion.
God, we thank you for your grace on us as a church. We pray that you would multiply the efforts of our church in loving, serving, sacrificing, forgiving, and caring for one another and for this city, that you might be given great glory. We love you and we praise you in Jesus name. Amen.
Noah Part II
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Spencer Carey. I'm a pastor in training here with Mill City Church. We are in part two of Noah this week. We're in Genesis 8 and 9. Last week was a heavy week.
We walked through God pouring out His judgment in the flood on the earth. And this week is a big shift into redemption. It's going to feel like a big shift. Every now and then, my wife and I, right before we have friends come over, we decide that that is the time that we're going to have an argument. We just think, what an opportune moment, five minutes before our friends come in the door. And so it starts with a comment, and then it goes back and forth, and then we kind of have this look like, are we going to do this right now?
And then we do, and then it gets a little heated, and all of a sudden the doorbell rings. Or they knock on the door, and we invite them in, and they immediately realize, wait a second, we've just stepped into something. Mostly, mostly because my wife is not a poker player. Like, she's one of the ones I love her. She's one of the most genuine people I've ever met. What you see is what you get.
Like, sometimes she stumbles in on a Sunday morning, and everyone's like, is she okay? She looks mad. It's like, yeah, she is. She had to take two small children, put them in a car by herself this morning. One of them is an emotional three-year-old. And yes, she's not doing well, but she's here.
And our friends will walk in the door, and they'll realize that the mood is a little heavy, and we have to make the shift from, okay, we will settle this later. There's a lot of emotions still in this, but we'll deal with this later. Our friends are here. This is exciting. Let's eat a meal.
Let's hang out. Let's have fun. And that's kind of the shift that we're making this week. There's going to be some lingering kind of thoughts, some lingering discussions, some lingering emotions from last week, but it shifts really hard into hope. And that's where the text starts today. So as we walk through Genesis 8 and 9, we're going to see kind of four movements.
We're going to see God's redemption and restart. That's the first thing we're going to see, his redemptive work and the restart of creation. We're going to see, secondly, sin's cost. That God is going to remind them that sin still has a cost. Thirdly, we're going to see that sin still remains, that the flood didn't fix sin. And then lastly, we're going to see God's covenant of grace.
So let me pray, and then we'll jump into the text. Father, thank you so much for your word. God, I pray that you would help us be present this morning, that wherever we came in this morning, that you would help block everything out. Help us be present. Speak your word to us. In Jesus' name, amen.
All right, so we're in chapter 8, first five verses. It says, But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the water subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed. The rains in the heavens were restrained, and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days, the water had abated.
And in the seventh month, on the 17th day of the month, the ark came to rest in the mountains of Ararat. And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month. And the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen. So we see a hard shift right out the gate in the beginning of chapter 8 when it says, But God remembered Noah. That's the shift that happens. They've been in a season of waiting after seeing God's judgment poured out on the earth, and then God remembers.
That term that's used in Genesis and used throughout the Old Testament is a euphemism. It's a term that is used for, but God is going to fulfill His promise. He remembers what He had promised to Noah, that redemption is coming. We're going to see it show up again in Abraham, in the story of Abraham and Sarah. It is God remembering His promise. So, as hope enters this scene, there's some interesting language in this passage.
It says, And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the water subsided. So that phrase, And God made a wind blow over the earth, that is meant to catch your attention. That is meant to draw you back. In the same way that if I were to say, if I were to sing a song, which I won't do this morning, if I were to sing one line that said, She's got a smile, it seems to me, reminds me of childhood memories, for some of you, that's going to take you back to acid-washed jeans, and big hair, and where you were in the 80s when you got to listen to Guns and Roses. If I were to sing, I'm such a baby, yeah, the dolphins make me cry, that's going to take some of you back to where you were in the 90s, when you were listening to Hootie, when you got to listen to Crack Rearview Mirror, and the whole album, and just all of the 90s, it's going to draw you back.
If I were to say, I go on too many dates, but I can't make them stay, some of you are going to have some memories of how you had a cathartic experience with Taylor Swift, to get over your ex, right? Like, these phrases, these verses draw you back, and that is what the Bible does over and over again. And this is meant to draw you back to Genesis 1. Wind hovering over the earth, just as in Genesis 1, as we talked about last week, God's work was pulling the waters back in creation to make way for land. His judgment was releasing the waters to come back, and now God is recreating, going back to Genesis 1.
If you skip down to verse 15, it says this, Then God said to Noah, Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons, and your sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, birds and animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. And hear this, That they may swarm on the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth. That is language that goes back to Genesis 1. The picture here is God is recreating. He is restarting in this new world as the waters are ceasing.
So then you go back to verse 4, and I love this, the detail here. It says, In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest in the mountains of Ararat, and the waters continued to abate until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen. I love the detail that is in this passage. I mean, it's wordy. It's giving you specific time.
And then it doesn't just say generally where the ark rested. It says, In the mountains of Ararat. And I love this because the Bible isn't folklore. The Bible is history. It's telling a historical account of what happened. That's one of the reasons that C.S.
Lewis, when he was an atheist, had to come to terms with the Bible. He understood. He had a Ph.D. in folklore literature. And he goes, No, this is different. The Bible is actually presenting itself as history. It wasn't just somewhere.
It landed in the mountains of Ararat. That is northwestern Assyria in the kingdom. That's modern day, somewhere between Armenia and eastern Turkey. This is, I love the detail as it walks through this. This is historical retelling of this account. And then it gives us some more details.
It says in verse 6, At the end of forty days, Noah opened a window of the ark that he had made and he sent forth a raven. Now, we don't really have, from the text, we can't tell exactly why he sent out a raven. We just know that he did. But I had to think, because if you read on, the raven is sent out and it just doesn't come back, I like to think it was probably a little bit disappointing. He's, after a year of being on the ark, he sends out a raven and it just never comes back. They're getting ready for this restart.
And oftentimes, in life, when you restart, when you turn over a new leaf, some people will get, like a puppy, or they'll get a dog, or they'll get an animal. And I feel like the situation had to be like, if you were restarting and you went and you got a puppy from the store and you brought home the puppy and you put it out in the backyard and you're just so excited that you brought it home and then it sees an opening in the fence and it looks back at you and it looks at the fence and it bolts and it never comes back. Like, I feel like that, that's got to be a little bit disappointing. He sends out the raven, it never comes back.
And then the text picks back up and it picks up in verse 8 and it says, he sent forth a dove from him to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. So we get a little more detail here. The dove was sent out to see if the water had subsided. Now, a dove is an interesting choice. He could have chosen anything. He could have chosen an eagle or a falcon, but he chose a tiny dove to accomplish this mission.
And that is significant because in ancient Near Eastern culture, a dove represents purity. It represents cleanliness. So it's supposed to be drawing you in to this restart, this theme of a new creation. Now, it should be noted that there are contemporary, there's a contemporary story that is about as old as some of the writings of the Bible. It's called the Epic of Gilgamesh. Alright, so in the Epic of Gilgamesh, there's a, I know some of you love reading old Akkadian literature, but really quickly, let me just tell you what the Epic of Gilgamesh is about.
All kinds of things. And in the middle of, or towards the end of the Epic of Gilgamesh, there is a flood narrative. And it's very similar in some ways to this flood narrative. They sent out a raven, they sent out a dove and a swallow. And what skeptics will do is they'll say, see, this is all just blended stories. The Bible isn't true.
This is all just blended folklore together. Now, aside from the reasons we just stated, this is, this reads way differently than the Epic of Gilgamesh, that it's telling history. What, what, what I don't understand and what logic has been hijacked when it comes to this, is that that doesn't actually, that makes a better case for the Bible because when you have multiple stories that are drawing from the same thing, it's way more likely there is an original source material. And it's way more likely that it's pulling from, the Akkadian people actually came from Noah. So they're going to have glimpses of, of the story.
And what we are saying is the Bible speaks truthfully and this is the original source material and that the Epic of Gilgamesh is pulling from this. So for the three of you that love Akkadian literature, you're welcome. For the rest of you, you need to have a little bit of a working knowledge of how to answer skeptics when they come at you with stuff like this. So, in this story, he sends out a dove and two attempts it finally comes back. It comes back with an olive branch. An olive branch is also symbolic.
An olive branch in ancient Near Eastern culture, it symbolizes fertility and beauty. So all, if you are listening to this with ancient Near Eastern ears, what you are picking up on is that hope has come. The mood has shifted and that God is recreating the world. And you pick up in verse 19. It says, Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth went out by families from the ark. So after a year on the ark, they disembark.
They leave. And as they leave, the first thing the text tells us is that they need to be reminded that sin costs. That's God's first lesson when they get off the ark that sin costs. It picks up in verse 20. It says, Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings to the Lord. Now, as we talked about last week, they boarded one male, one female of all the animals, but they added some extra animals in chapter 7 for this purpose, for animal sacrifice to happen.
Now, it is easy for us to look at passages like this and to go, that's weird. For most of us, animal sacrifice is foreign to us. Some of you may spend Friday nights doing that, but I'd be willing to bet the majority of us say, no, this is actually pretty foreign from us. Now, it is easy for us to pass judgment on things that are so culturally distant from us. In college, I got to study abroad and some of my best friends on my study abroad trip were from New England and they were women and what would happen is we'd go travel together and I would open doors for them and they were thrown off by this.
They go, oh no, is that a power play? Is it because you're a man? I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, Ha ha. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, animal sacrifice that you're going to see. And in the Old Testament law, it makes a system of it. And it does two things.
We look at it from the book of Hebrews and the New Testament back at the Old Testament. Firstly, animal sacrifice was meant to give a vivid display of what rebellion looks like. As we talked about last week and the week before, it is cosmic treason when you sin against God. You've sinned against the God of the universe and they needed a visual reminder that said, this is rebellion and this is the cost. It costs blood. And it was a grotesque, I mean, the whole process was gross because it's meant to show the grotesque nature of sin.
So it's a visual reminder of what rebellion looks like. But ultimately what it does is it points forward to the final sacrifice in Jesus, that he was the perfect sacrifice that came. So this is the early workings of what's happening here in the Old Testament and accomplishing those two things. And when Noah and his family get off of the ark, they need this lesson. It's been a year since they saw God's wrath poured out on the earth. They need to be reminded of God's judgment.
They need to be reminded of the cost of sin. They need to feel the weight of it. And then in verse 21, we see why. Picks up in verse 21, it says, and when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, I will never again curse the ground because of man. For the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever strike down every living creature as I have done.
So we mentioned this last week, that sin still remains. The flood did not fix the problem of sin. There is a sinful nature buried underneath the surface. Regularly at my house in my backyard, I have a war with weeds. Like my front yard is really thick, luscious grass. And the backyard is like five types of grass and other things.
And I mean, it's a regular battle for me. And I will go scorch earth on it. I will put roundup out and all of a sudden I'll see more weeds sprout up. I'll get intentional and I'll find them and I will pull them up individually and deroot them. And eventually a little bit longer, it'll pop back up. Because what's happening is underneath the surface, there's an entire root system that I have not pulled up from underneath the surface.
And that is so true of our sin. You can go scorched earth on it. You can have, you can change behaviors, you can change patterns, you can, you can spray roundup all over it and it still creeps up. You can go after root idols, which is something that we talk about regularly in our church. We tackle idols. The reason why that you sin is because there's idols beneath the surface.
There are things we worship in the place of God. So you don't just get angry. There's something underneath the surface. For me, one of my root idols is I have an idol of control. Like I want to be like God. And when things don't go my way, I get angry.
So regularly in my house, when my emotional three-year-old goes off the rails, I get angry. And what's being revealed there is a control issue that I want to control the behavior of my three-year-old. And I get angry. So it's good. I want to go to work on that root idol. But here's the deal.
Underneath the root is a whole sin nature. And it's important that we go after root idols. It's important that we address sin. But we need to have the understanding that ultimately, there's a sin nature underneath. And that is something we're going to have to continue to go to war with because we have inherited that all the way back to Noah, all the way back to Adam. It is underneath the surface.
And it shows up in a very vivid picture here. If you skip over to chapter 9, we're going to see the sinful nature show up first. Over in chapter 9, verse 18 and following. It says, The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah.
And from these people, the whole earth was dispersed. Noah began to be a man of the soil. He planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both of their shoulders, walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father.
Their faces were turned backward and they did not see their father's nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants, shall he be to his brothers. And the story keeps going and he gives blessings to the other brothers. Now, in typical Genesis form, it gets weird. His story just, it just, it's a little bit weird. So as you walk through it, what you first see is that Noah, when he gets off the ark, he plants a vineyard, which is good.
If I was on the ark for the year, I probably would have planted a vineyard. And he harvests the grapes and then he makes wine. And then we see what happens. He twists the good gift that God has given him in wine and he gets wasted. He gets drunk and he passes out naked. In humiliating fashion, the sinful nature is on display.
So he passes out drunk, naked in his tent. And then the story gets a little bit weirder. His son Ham walks in, sees that he's naked. And then the text tells us he walks out and he talks to his brothers. His brothers, they walk in, they take a covering, they make sure they don't see him, they cover him up and they don't look at him and they walk back out. And then after this, Noah wakes up and Noah gets angry and he curses the line of Ham, which is Canaan.
And that's why it mentions the father of Canaan multiple times in this passage, that the Canaanites who will come from Ham, if you read the rest of the Old Testament, they end up being the enemies of God. And you read this and you're like, what in the world is going on? That seems like it might be a little bit of an overreaction. What is happening here? Commentators have looked at this for a very long time to figure out what's happening. And here's one thing that is clear from this passage, that the actions of Ham were dishonoring.
They were dishonoring towards his father. We don't know if he was making fun of him, if he was joking, if he came out. We don't know if he was just making a mockery of his father. We can tell from the text that his brothers take a completely different approach. They go out of their way to make sure they walk backwards, that they don't look at their father, that they cover him up, they cover up his shame, and then they walk out. So we don't know the full extent of what happens, but we do know from the context that what they did was dishonoring towards, that what he did was dishonoring towards his father.
And that is significant. You see, we read that and we don't think it's that big of a deal because we are so far removed from what the Bible teaches on honoring your parents. Some of us, if our father passed out naked, we would probably take pictures. We would make light of it. And that's just the reality. Because we don't have an honor culture when it comes to honoring our parents.
And the Bible takes a way different tone. From Old Testament to New, it is a big deal to dishonor your parents. It's a huge deal. And we don't take that seriously. We make all kinds of excuses why we shouldn't do that. Well, that's not that big of a deal.
That maybe our parents don't deserve it. That we didn't, maybe they weren't the greatest parents in the world. So, I don't want to make light of that. I would encourage you, if you are struggling with that concept, to honor your parents. We did preach on this, this spring. We walked through Ephesians 6.
Chet walked through this. And I would encourage you to go back and listen to it because it is a very significant sin that the Bible takes very seriously, that you are called to honor your parents. So, there are two big sins that come out of this story. Noah's drunkenness, Ham's dishonoring of his parents. And what we see here is the flood did not fix sin. That sinful nature is still on display.
It is going to take more than a flood to fix the problem of sin. And that is what is pointed to in the last part of this story. We see God's covenant of grace. It picks up in verse 11 of chapter 9. I establish my covenant with you. This is God talking.
That never again shall any flesh be cut off from the waters and from the flood, the waters of the flood. And never again shall there be any flood to destroy the earth. And God said, this is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for all future generations. I have set my bow in the cloud and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring the clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. God said to Noah, this is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth. So God establishes a covenant and then he gives a sign for the covenant, which is helpful. And we still have this today. The most comparative thing we have for us today is marriage. Yesterday in our church family, I got to perform a wedding ceremony and there were rings that were exchanged.
And the ring is significant because what the ring says is that I have covenanted to have life together, to be one flesh with somebody else. And that is the sign of it. Years ago, when I got married, I chose this ring that was bigger and that was gold for two reasons. I like the classic look. I think graphite was pretty big at the time. But more importantly, I wanted something that was big that would stand out because I want people to see that, no, I belong to somebody, that I've covenanted to life together with my wife.
And it came in handy in the first year of our marriage. I worked at a coffee shop and and there's there's a few times that that women would come up and they would be flirting and they'd start to hit on me. And what I love to do is I would take my hand from behind the bar and I'd say, oh, that's great. And I would just twist my ring. And eventually they got the message. And what I've learned is and what I've noticed is that over the years, as I've gotten older, that girls are a lot better at noticing this.
They haven't been hit on in years because they're really good at really good at picking up on that. It's a sign of the covenant that I have in marriage and God establishes a covenant and he gives a sign for it, a sign that they would remember. Now, covenant relationships by nature are relationships of favor. We're going to get into that more in Abraham and the covenant that he makes coming up in the next month. But is God specifically looking at another party and finding favor on that specific party?
And that God's covenants, what he covenants here in this passage is that he's never going to destroy the earth again by flood. That is not what he is going to do. And it's not just a covenant that he makes with Noah. He makes it with Noah, all future generations, all living creatures, everyone. And the sign of the covenant is a rainbow. It says in verse 16, when the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.
I personally, I love the symbol here. I love that God shows the rainbow to teach us grace. That after the storms, that after the darkness, that after everything they had been through, God puts a rainbow in the sky. And what the rainbow gets to be is it gets to be the backdrop of God's grace. Because here's the deal. You don't find a rainbow on a sunny day.
That's not typically how it works. You find a rainbow after a storm has passed through. And what's happening in this text is that ultimately the rainbow, it points forward to Christ. The word for rainbow here, for bow in this passage, is also the same word that is used for a battle bow in the Hebrew. And what is being said here, and Charles Spurgeon, the pastor from the 19th century, he makes this point, that ultimately the rainbow points to Christ, that a rainbow itself is pointed upward. And what he is making the point is, is that it's pointing up to the one who is going to come down and actually accomplish the problem of sin.
He makes this point, he says, God's rainbow is hung over the cloud of our sins, our sorrow, and our woes to prophesy deliverance. And that deliverance of the battle bow that the rainbow was pointing to is the cross. That is where the battle with sin and evil is going to be won. But as we talked about last week, on the cross, Jesus takes the flood. He takes the flood of God's wrath that is poured out on him, and that we get the ark. And that Noah gets the ark, that like Noah, we get and receive grace.
Tim Keller, another pastor, he puts it this way. He says, on the cross, the storm of eternal justice and the son of God's love comes together. And that's why you have a rainbow. And every time you look into the heart of the storm and you see the rainbow of grace, you see that's where Jesus went. He went into the heart of the storm so that we could get the rainbow, so that we could get grace. And that's the reality, that never do you see God's grace at work without seeing your sin, without seeing grace as the backdrop to the storm.
Some of you came into here in a lot of different places. Maybe some of you are in a season that is really dark. Maybe some of you are in a season where you are tempted by unbelief. Like you've been coming, you've been preaching the gospel to yourself, you've been trying to be in community group, and it's been really difficult. You are just tempted by unbelief. You're like, what is the point?
This season is so dark. I don't know if I'm going to get to the other side. Maybe some of you, it is hard for you right now to talk to God. Like you want to pray, but you are just tempted by believing, does he even care? Is he even listening? Is this even worth it?
Maybe some of you in a really dark season of temptation with sin, that in the darkest parts of the night, in the darkest parts of your soul, you are tempted, whether it's lust, whether it's pride, whether it's bitterness, that sin is crouching at the door. And in this dark season, it is hard for you to see through the other side. Maybe some of you are just generally struggling through depression, that there's this physical darkness that is weighing over you, and it is hard for you to see hope on the other side. The reality is that in seasons, we will come into seasons of darkness, seasons of trials, season of storms, seasons of hopelessness.
And what God is trying to say to you through this story, like a father who looks at his child and with a child whose head is just looking down, he's looking at you and he says, pick up your head. Do you see it? Do you see the rainbow? I know it is hard, but do you see grace? It's behind the storm. In this season, it is difficult, but my grace is still sufficient.
My grace is still there. You don't have to earn my favor. I'm here. I gave you faith. I will carry it through to completion, and I'm not going anywhere. You have to trust me in this season.
We will get to the other side. My grace still remains. Do you see it? That's the hope that we have in this story, that in a season of darkness, you can look past the storm and you can see God's grace, that his redemption is there. And that is the hope that we have in the gospel.
Noah Part I
Transcript
So if you have a Bible, you can go ahead and flip there. If you don't have a Bible, there should be a blue one nearby. If you don't have a Bible at home, please take that. That is our gift to you. In the blue Bibles, it will be page three. My wife and I, we have in movies a guilty pleasure.
We love disaster movies. So like 2012, Day After Tomorrow, classics. We love it. The more over the top, the more ridiculous it can get, we're all about it. There was a movie that came out this year called Geostorm about a satellite system that made the weather turn on the whole globe. And it was amazing.
It was way over the top. It was ridiculous. And we love it. We love movies like that. I feel like we're not alone because America watches them because they keep making them. And I feel like one of the reasons why that we can enjoy those kind of disaster movies is because we are so far removed from the subject matter.
And if we are face-to-face with an actual disaster, we wouldn't be able to enjoy it. We don't appreciate the full kind of horror of the event until we're up close with it. And I feel like that we have done that a little bit with the story of Noah. That we've distanced ourselves from the story. And because of that, we don't want to stare at it. We don't want to wade into it and understand it.
We want to distance ourselves because it's a little bit scary and it deals with the judgment of God. And I think this happens at a very young age. That if you grew up in the church, if you grew up around church, if you had any type of Christian church background, at a young age, you heard this story told as kind of a cute tale with cute pictures. And everyone was kind of happy. Now, I looked at the internet and I found some pictures that I think captured this. I just got three of them.
There's thousands of them for children's ministry. This is the classic Noah selfie. And everyone's happy. Noah's happy. The animals are happy. If this is after the flood, it's severely inappropriate.
But everyone, this is kind of like, this is kind of the pictures you get. Everyone's really happy. I found another one. This one's called Noah's Ark. The white, clean storybook. It has a heavy sense of irony in the title.
That they would make a white, clean storybook to tell the story of Noah. If you didn't get it, it'll come in a second. It's ironic. It's a little bit dark. This third one is classic funny picture you get out of Noah. You got Noah.
He's taking a shower, having a good old time. His wife's doing the laundry. You got some animals that are fishing. There's a nice Titanic moment happening up front. And there are tons, there are tons and tons of pictures that are just like this. That kind of reduce Noah to this cute story.
And that is so far removed from what it actually is. We are uncomfortable with this story. And we have sanitized it. We've sanitized the judgment of it. We've sanitized the horror of it. And that's not the way this story is meant to be read.
It's not a cute story. It is a story that is meant to shock you. It is a story that shows the judgment of God. Now this story today is going to be really heavy. We're in part one of the story and the flood. There's going to be a silver lining of redemption that we'll see at the end.
And it will be more as we focus on next week. But this week is heavy. And as we work through the flood story, there's four things we're going to see. We're going to see the corruption of man, which is how we got to this scene. We're going to see God's sorrow over man's sin. We're going to see that followed by God's response to sin, which is judgment.
And then we're going to see God's promise of redemption kept. So today is going to be heavy. But the more that we weighed into this story, the more that we understand it, the better the redemption is that we have in Jesus. So I'm going to pray, and then we're going to dive in. God, thank you so much for your word, even when it is difficult to read, even when it's difficult to understand and absorb. God, I pray that today that we would be present, that if we immediately are opposed to this story, that we would be willing to listen and that you would speak to us.
In Jesus' name, amen. All right, so we are working through Genesis, which means as you work through Genesis, there's going to be these landmines that just pop up. We could avoid them, but that would be avoiding whole sections of the Bible. We're not going to do that. So before we even get to Noah, there's a setup.
And within the setup that gets to Noah, there's a couple landmines. The first one is found in the genealogy in Genesis 5. Genesis 5 is a genealogy, and like most genealogies, this is where your annual Bible reading plans go to die. I mean, they can be really long. They can be kind of boring. But there's actually some good stuff in this genealogy.
And I just want to read the first three verses. I'm not going to read the whole chapter. I just want to get the first three verses to get a feel for what's happening in this genealogy. Start us out in verse 1. This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.
Male and female, he created them. And he blessed them and named them man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. Now, if you read that, and then you keep reading, you're going to, if you are naturally skeptical, you're going to raise your hand, and you're going to wonder, wait a second, he had a kid at 130 years old, and then it says that he died at 930 years old, and that Methuselah, another character, died at 969 years old. So if you are naturally skeptical, or you're just inquisitive, you're going to raise your hand, you're going to be like, what is your Bible saying?
Are you serious? The Bible is serious. All right? There's two ways to explain this. Chet hinted at one of them last week. There are some theories that help explain why people live so long early on in the Bible.
The first theory, and Chet hinted at this last week, is that early on in the gene pool, the original design for man was that man would not be corrupted by, that man would live forever, and they were not corrupted by sin. So they were created to live forever, and then slowly, as sin started to wade through the gene pools, it started to corrupt man, slowly, you see lifespans, they start to get to where they are today. Now that's a theory, and there's a couple of them that are like that, but here's the more important way of understanding this. When you come to situations like this in the Bible, time and time again, you're going to wonder what is happening, because we live in a world with a natural worldview.
And you're going to see stuff that happens, it's outside of that natural worldview, it's outside, and it's supernatural. The Bible does this over and over again. Our whole faith hinges on the fact that God became man by way of a virgin, lived a perfect life, died the death on the cross, was dead and buried, and raised from the grave, and then floated into heaven at the ascension. That doesn't happen in everyday life. It's outside of the natural. And over and over again, you're going to see in the Bible that there are situations that go outside the natural, and this is one of them.
That early on, this is God's design. And while it is foreign to us, the Bible speaks truthfully. So if you work through that landmine, then you can actually start to see a little bit of what's happening in this genealogy. I'll just make a few quick points on Genesis 5. Firstly, the fact that in all genealogies, people are named show that God cares about our story. That each of these individuals has a story.
That God values humanity. Even in this genealogy, in the front end, it says, he links it to these people that descended from Adam being made in the image of God. Showing that each of them has value. Each of them has worth. God values humanity. What you see after this as well is that each one of these people died.
And it shows, genealogies show the effect of sin. That death is present. Everyone dies. The third thing that we can see about this genealogy is that this is the line of Seth. This is the line of Seth that God has chosen through Seth to bring the seed of Eve, the rescuer, Jesus, who will come. And through Seth, we get to Noah.
So we're about to start. We're in chapter 6. We're about to start Noah. And then the second landmine shows up in chapter 6 in the first four verses. It says, When man began to multiply on the face of the lamb, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive, and they took them as their wives, any they chose. Then the Lord said, My spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh.
His days shall be 120 years. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days. And also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of man, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. Now, for thousands of years, believers have looked at this and said, What in the world is going on? Why is this story even here?
It is very hard to understand. There are two prevailing theories, two prevailing interpretations that have come out of this text over the last few thousand years. And it deals with, Who are the sons of God? Who are the sons of God? The first view, and this is the more historic view, is that the sons of God in this passage refer to angels. That angels came down, and laid with the daughters of men, and had children.
Yes. Genesis got weird. Alright, that's the first view. And we see that in the Old Testament, you look in the book of Job, you look at the book of Daniel, that the sons of God is how it refers to angels in those passages. So there's some textual way to that actually being true.
That angels came down, and lay with women, and they had children. The second view, is that this is simply the line of Seth. That the line of Seth, these are different from the line of Cana. They came, and this seems to be, on its face, sexual sin. So something was happening here, that was not good.
And that view kind of avoids the weirdness of what, of the first view. But honestly, there's no need to avoid the weirdness, because of what follows next. Because of who the children that they actually had, were called. They were called the Nephilim. The Nephilim is an English word, that went from Latin to Greek, back to Hebrew. And all it means, is giants.
Very large peoples. So they had these children, and they were giants. They were the mighty men of old. And it gets weirder. So I'm like, I don't think you need to avoid, the view of this being weird, because it already is weird.
And I think that, I lean towards, I don't go hard on this, but I lean towards, the historic view, that this is referring to angels. Angels came down, committed sexual sin with humans, and produced giant people. And that gets, you read that, and you're like, that, okay, what's going on here? Here's the point. Why was this even here, in the first place? This is here to show, that the world has gone off the rails.
This is not the way, it is supposed to be. We just saw, in chapter 4, how the world has been ruined by violence. And now we see sexual sin, is all over the world at this point. This is not the way, it is supposed to be. The world has gone off the rails. Corruption has spread everywhere.
And that is the lead in, to Noah. So we're going to be in verses 5 through 8, of chapter 6, for a little bit. This is kind of a header, that explains the whole story, as a whole. And we're going to work through it, starting in verse 5. The Lord saw the wickedness of man, was great in the earth. And that every intention, of the thoughts of his heart, was only evil continually.
That every intention, of the thoughts of his heart, was only evil continually. That's the picture of humanity. It's not just a few bad apples. The whole tree, is rotten down the roots. Every thought and intention, of the heart, is corrupted by evil. And that is why, there's rampant violence, that's why there's rampant, sexual sin.
Now you might think, that's being, is that being overstated? Like every single thought, every intention of the heart, is that hyperbole? And I would say, I don't think so. Think about your own thoughts. How quickly, do good thoughts, get corrupted, and turn to bad? How quickly, in a situation, like maybe you have a friend, or someone in our church family, they get a job promotion, or they get, they level up in a new tax bracket.
And our, our, our Jesus-centered response is, I am so thankful, that God has provided for them. How quickly, does that turn to, but what about me? God, why haven't I moved up? How did I get passed over, for the promotion? How quickly, do we turn, to jealousy? This happens with kids.
You might have, kids, and if you have children, there's always going to be children, that are better at, whether it's grades, your kids might make, good grades, that your friends' kids, will probably make, better grades. Your kid might be good at sports, your kid, their, your friends' kids, are going to be, better at sports. And we get, we go from, celebrating our friends, and their families, and what's going on, to like, moving into a Tanya Harding mode, that we want to take out, other children. Our kid has got to be the best. Our kid's going to advance. Everyone move out of the way.
We do this with lust. You can't just notice, that somebody is beautiful, or somebody is handsome. It quickly goes from that, to I wonder what's underneath. I wonder what it's like, to be with them. We do this with, so many thoughts, that we think are pure. They are actually, there's sin attached to them.
That we are corrupt. And the picture of humanity here, is it is corrupt. It is rotten to the core. And this grieves God. It grieves God. We pick up in verse 6.
It says, And the Lord regretted, that he had made man, on the earth. And it grieved him, to his heart. He regretted, that he made man, and it grieved him. This reminds me, there's a, there's a movie called, American History X. It came out in the late 90's. It was Edward Norton's, big breakout film.
And, and it's about, a guy who grows up, and as, at an early age, he starts getting exposed, to racism, and to prejudice. And, it starts to grow in him, like a cancer. And then eventually, he starts, he gets introduced, to neo-Nazism. He starts to learn more, about that. And the cancer starts to spread. And he starts to, adopt neo-Nazi views.
He eventually gets, a swastika tattoo. And then it goes, so far down the line, that he's a, he's a full, fledged neo-Nazi, that he commits, a hate crime. And in the midst, of his downward spiral, in the midst of this cancer, growing within him, his mother, is watching this happen. And this isn't, the son that she raised. This isn't, who she brought, into this world. And he slowly, starts to get corrupted.
And finally, there's this scene, in the movie, where everything, is unraveling. They had this huge argument. And in the midst, of her grief, she says, I am ashamed, that you came, out of my body. And that is so, picturesque, of what is happening, here in Genesis. That the cancer, of sin has spread. It has corrupted man, so deeply, that God, regrets that he, even made man.
Man who he placed, his image in. That he placed, value and worth, and beauty, and goodness in. Has taken that good gift, and has corrupted it. And corrupted the rest, of creation. That he regrets it. And it also says, that it grieved him, to his heart.
And that might seem, foreign to some of us. Because some of us, grow up with this world view, that God is this, distant deity, in the sky. That he doesn't have emotions, that he isn't really involved, that he doesn't really care. And that is so, far from the view, that we have in the scriptures. That God is intimately involved, that he deeply cares, and he has emotions. And that he is grieved, by our sin.
He is grieved by, the corruption, of humanity. And that grief, is followed up by, a picture of judgment. That follows in verse 7 and 8. So the Lord said, I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the land. Man, and animals, and creeping things, and birds of the heavens. For I am sorry, that I have made them.
But Noah found favor, in the eyes of the Lord. Now for the rest of our time, the rest of this story, these are the two pictures. A picture of judgment, and a picture of redemption. And we'll get more, to the picture of redemption, next week. The rest of our story, mostly sits in, this picture of judgment. Which is something, that our culture, is greatly, they're greatly against.
We naturally, just don't, we don't like, the idea of judgment. In this story, there's two things, that stick out, that our culture, is very much opposed to. The first one, is that, he Judges all of creation. It's not just humanity. He Judges, everything. And that animals, go down with the flood.
That is something, that our culture has, a problem with. But the bigger problem, that our culture has, is that God, that God would judge sinners. That he would bring judgment, on humanity. I'll tackle that first one, fairly quickly. I don't have a lot of time, to spend on it. The reason why, God Judges all of creation, including the animals, is because God has given humanity, dominion over animals.
And that our actions, affect everything. And the same way, that nowadays, corporate greed, can affect, drinking water, and rivers, that has for the last, hundred years, our actions, on this world, affect all of creation, because God has given, that to us. So that when God, is going to wipe clean, the earth, he's going to wipe clean, everything, and start fresh. Everyone gets, the judgment. The second cultural objection, that we have, and this is natural to us, in our culture, is that we don't like, the idea that God Judges, sinners. We don't like the God, we don't like the idea of judgment, period.
And this is mostly, I would say, hear this, it's mostly a western objection, that us as westerners, are the ones who mostly, have a problem with God, being a judge. And I would even argue, and push a little farther, it's mostly white westerners, that have a problem, with judgment. And the reason why, is because we are, largely, shielded from injustice. That we have, as a culture, really experienced, the kind of injustice, that the rest of the world does. Because when the rest of the world, comes across, pictures of judgment, like in, in cultures, where towns, and villages, where there are people that come in, the government doesn't stop them, and they come and take away children, and sell them into slavery, they come and kill people, they read passages like this, they read the judgment of God, not as something, that they don't like, but as a comfort.
Because it is comforting, that God checks sin, that He Judges, those who do evil. So it's a natural objection, that we have, that the rest of the world, just doesn't have, that God Judges sinners. Now I think there's a part of us, that really gets on board with this. I think that, being part of, being made in the image of God, there's a little bit in us, that has an objection, or at least has, that at least supports, God judging sin. I think for mostly, the one sin in our culture, that people are on board with, that should be judged, is murder. Currently there's a case, in Colorado, where it looks like, it's alleged, but it looks like a guy, killed his wife, his pregnant wife, and then also killed, his two daughters.
And as this case, is starting to get momentum, people are getting enraged. There's a part of them, that wants justice. And that comes from, being made in the image of God. That if you actually, don't believe in God, there's not really a grounds, for justice, it's survival of the fittest. But in this, in this, this aspect, that we're made, in the image of God, that has not been, stamped out by our culture, we actually, want justice to happen.
The problem is, is we just limit it to that. We just take murder seriously, we don't take, everything else seriously. We largely don't take, sin as a whole, seriously. But God does. Because sin, corrupts. It corrupts our relationship, with God, it corrupts one another.
Take jealousy, and envy, that I talked about earlier. When you are envious, of your neighbor, what you have done, in those moments, is you have questioned, the goodness of God. God has provided for us, richly, he has given us life. And what you are saying is, what you've given me, is not enough. So much so, that I'm, I'm angered with you, and I am jealous of my neighbor.
And there's hatred towards God, and there's hatred towards neighbor, in that moment. And God does not take that lightly. That corruption spreads, in often really, evil ways. That lust is a big deal. Because what you were doing, when you were lusting, is that you were saying, God, you don't satisfy enough. Union with you, is not enough.
I need someone else. Or maybe you're married, and it's like, the spouse you've given me, she's not enough. He's not enough. I want to unite myself, with someone else. We do this over, and over, and over again. If you actually look at, the sin that is deep within us, and you follow, and trace it out, there is corruption everywhere, against God, and against man.
And God is not indifferent towards that. But in those moments, we have to see that we are, committing cosmic treason, as Chet said last week. We are sinning against, a holy and perfect king. And sin has to be, paid for. And that is where, this picture of judgment comes from. Picks up in verse 11, of chapter 6, says, Now the earth was corrupt, in God's sight.
And the earth was filled, with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt. For all flesh, had corrupted their way, on the earth. And God said to Noah, I am determined, to make an end, of all flesh. For the earth is filled, with violence through them. Let's pause for a second.
I've been thinking, through this. This is an undeveloped thought, so I'm not hanging, a ton of stuff on this. The more I have read Genesis, and the more that I'm studying it, this time around, the more I'm starting to realize, God hates violence. Hates it. And it shows up here, and it shows up throughout, the Old Testament. I don't have anything, to hang that on right now.
I don't have a complete thought, on that. I'm just noticing, that he hates it. And that I'm trying to, I'm trying to, as I'm studying this, and I hope as a church family, we can do the same thing, and looking at this, and seeing the implications of that, and what stirs in us, that we might, what stirs violence in us, what isn't good. I think that's something, that we should wait into. Like I said, not a complete thought, I just want you to feel the weight, of what the text is actually saying. He says, behold, I will destroy them, with the earth.
You skip down to verse 17. He says, for behold, I will bring a flood of waters, upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, in which is the breath of life, under heaven. Everything, that is on the earth, shall die. So he makes this pronouncement, and then he tells Noah, to build an ark. An ark, is a giant ship. This is going to weather the floods, that are coming.
And the picture of judgment, that is happening here, is a reversal, of what happened at creation. That in Genesis 1, God pulls back the waters, and land appears. And what he is doing is, is he's releasing the waters, and bringing judgment on the earth. And when this comes, he wants Noah to be ready. So Noah builds an ark.
And he gives the rest of chapter 6, some instructions, on how to build this ark, in measurements that we understand. It's about 510 feet long. It's 51 feet tall. It's 84 feet wide. It's going to be three decks. He tells them specifically, make it out of gopher wood.
We don't know what gopher wood is, but it was good enough for the ship. Then he tells them, that Noah and his wife, and his sons, and their wives, their family, can board this ark. And then he has a plan, to preserve animal lines. He says in 619, and every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort, in the ark, to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. So he tells them, take one male, one female of every animal, and they're going to, board the ark with you.
In chapter 7, we get some additional instructions, where he's going to give some extra animals, they can use, because they're going to have, some sacrifice that happens, when they get off the ark. But we'll cover that, next week. Then he tells them, to store as much food, as you're going to need, because you're going to be on this, ark for quite a while. They're on the ark, for about a year. And then it's time. Picks up, and chapter 6 ends, with Noah did this, he did all the Lord commanded him, and then we skip to chapter 7, verse 11.
It says, In the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the 17th day of that month, on that day, all the fountains of the great deep, burst forth. So all the aquifers, all the water underneath, it burst forth. And the windows of the heavens were opened, and rain fell upon the earth, for forty days, and for forty nights. As the waters underneath, come forth, the waters above, fall. And this is the part of the story, that gets sanitized. This is the part of the story, that we don't want to stare at, that we don't want, we want to ignore.
It is not a happy, and cute picture. It is a picture, of God's judgment, being poured out, on the earth. It is one of the scariest, and saddest moments, of the entire history of the world. It is meant to, it is meant to shock you, at God's wrath being poured out, on the earth. That for forty days, and for forty nights, God drowns the earth, in judgment. And then chapter seven, just ends.
It says, only Noah was left, and those who were with him, on the ark. And the waters prevailed, on the earth, a hundred and fifty days. And it just has, a bleak ending, to part one of the story. It is descriptive, and it is painful. It's a painful picture, of God's judgment. And there's probably, a lot of questions, that are swirling, as you read this.
But I think, there's one question, in particular, that rises to the top. And that is, why Noah? Why was Noah chosen? Why did he, and his family, get to board the ark? The text, answers this, in part, we see it later, answered in full. It says, in chapter six, verse eight, that, but Noah found favor, in the eyes of the Lord.
These are the generations, of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked, with God. And some have looked at this, and they have taken this, to say, well, Noah must have been, the good God. He must have been, the good God. The rest of the world, was evil.
The text says, that he was righteous, that he was blameless. And on its surface, you might get that, but the more, that you dig in this, you see, that's actually not the case. That's not the full picture, of what's happening here. Because Noah was a sinner. Noah, we're going to see that clearly, in the second half of the story, next week. Noah, was a sinner.
Noah, deserved judgment. So why, did Noah get chosen? Why was Noah spared? And the answer that we get, in the Bible, is by grace, through faith. Noah, Noah, was chosen, by grace, through faith. Hebrews 11, 7 says, by faith, this is the New Testament, looking back, by faith, Noah, being warned by God, concerning events, as yet unseen, in reverent fear, constructed an ark, for the saving, of his household.
Faith, is what set Noah apart. He trusted God, and it was God's grace, in him, and through him, that ultimately, saved him. That ultimately, Noah finds, unmerited favor. He didn't earn this favor. God, shows him favor, that he did not earn. Faith in him, through God, is what saves him.
And this isn't just good news, because it preserves, the seed of Eve, it preserves the line of Jesus, who will come and save the whole world. That is good news. We will talk more about that next week. It is good news for us, right now, because you, and me, everyone in this room, and everyone who's ever lived, we're in the same boat, as Noah. Noah, we deserve God's wrath. We deserve the flood.
But because of Jesus, we get the ark. Jesus became our ark. And the idea that we deserve wrath, that's for some of you, that's going to be frustrating. You might ask the question, why do we deserve wrath? And it's because we have the same picture of humanity, that is true for them, and their time for us. When it says that the Lord saw, that the wickedness of man, was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart, was only evil continually, that is us.
That did not stop at Noah. That continues through. We see this next week, as we'll cover it in chapter 8. After they get off the ark, this is what God says. He says, I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart, is evil from his youth. That post-flood, this is still true.
We are still corrupted. You see that in the Psalms, when David picks up on this, he says, for there is no truth in their mouth, their inmost self is destruction, their throat is an open grave, they flatter with their tongue. We see this in the New Testament, when Jesus is teaching, on the Sermon on the Mount, when he says, for out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander, over and over and over again. We see throughout the whole Bible, that because of Adam and Eve, because they sinned against God, they brought corruption into this world, and we inherit that corruption.
We inherit that nature. It is what we do. It is the reason why, when football started yesterday, that we can't just enjoy the good gift of football, that it has given us. No, we have to actually elevate it to an idol, and worship it. It's the reason why, we can't be happy for others, we get to be, we move into being quickly envious. It's the reason why, that when you get slighted, you want to retaliate immediately, whether it's on Facebook, or it's with your fist, because we are naturally children of violence.
We inherit this sinful nature. It is what we do. We inherit corruption, and that costs two things. We see that it costs God grief, that God grieves over our corruption, and that's not just a Noah's time thing, that's even for the people of God, that somehow, mysteriously, God can look at us, those of us who are in Christ, and see the perfect record of Jesus. We don't have to earn His favor. He can look at us and see Christ, and at the same time, He can look at the church, and in Ephesians 4 say, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.
That our sin, emotionally, affects God, still. It costs God grief. Ultimately, it costs judgment. Our sin, costs judgment. Somebody has to foot the bill. And the good news, of Jesus, is that the finished work, of Jesus on the cross, means that we, we get, through faith in Christ, that undeserved favor.
That we, deserve, I want you to feel this, we deserve the flood. That's what we, that's what we deserve, because of our sin, we deserve the flood, of God's wrath, poured out on us. But Jesus, goes to the cross, and He has the full cup, of God's wrath, poured out on Him. And, through His death, and conquering death, through the resurrection, we, get life. We get the ark. That's what 1st Peter, he plays on this picture, and relating to baptism, in 1st Peter 3.
He talks about baptism, and comparing it back to Noah. That because of what Jesus, has done for us, in conquering death, we pass through the ark, safely from death, into life. In about a month, we're going to celebrate baptisms. This is going to be a picture, of people who are dead in sin, and are alive in Christ. And the picture is, is that we were spared, we get the ark, we get Jesus, and we get life with Him. So as we sit in this story, I know it's uncomfortable.
And as we discuss this in groups, I know it's not, this is going to be challenging. But if you are in Christ, you get this picture. You deserve judgment, you get mercy. We deserve wrath, we get the ark. Band's going to come up. I don't want us, to just walk away from this, I want us to sit in it.
And I want you to hear this, that if you, if you are not a Christian, meaning that you have, maybe you've been around church, maybe you've been connected, maybe you've been coming, but you have not given your life, completely over to God. It is Jesus plus the world, it is Jesus plus something else. If that is you, I want you to hear this story. It's uncomfortable, but it's real. He's not going to destroy the earth, with water again, but wrath is coming. And we need to feel that.
And the good news of the gospel, is that we had, the God of the universe, who took on flesh, who came to take that wrath for us. And our plea for you, as a church, is that you would choose the ark. And that you would, have your life hidden in Christ. That you would believe in him, that you would lay down your life. And that you would get to experience, the goodness of the gospel, in Jesus. That is our hope.
If you are a Christian, I want this story to sober us. I want us to feel the weight, of the judgment, because I want us to feel, the weight of our own sin. Because I feel like, some of us get into a mode, of not taking our own sin, seriously. We don't think it's that big of a deal. And the reality is, that sin is a very big deal. But also, so is grace.
So is his mercy, that we get to lean into. And that's what we celebrate, with the Lord's Supper. On the night that Jesus was betrayed, he took the bread, and he broke it. And he said, this is my body, that was broken for you. He took the cup, which is the cup of the new covenant. And he said, this is my blood shed for you.
He said, as often as you eat, and drink this, you proclaim my death, until I return. So Christian, in this moment, I want you, as the music is playing, just to sit for a moment. I want you to reflect, on the seriousness of our sin.
Cain and Abel
Transcript
Good morning. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. I want to talk a little bit about H.G. Wells before we get started today. We're walking through the book of Genesis together, and I think this helps us kind of set up our time today.
H.G. Wells was an author who was born in the late 1800s, lived through half of the 1900s, and he wrote a lot of science fiction. He actually kind of envisioned in his writing airplanes, tanks, space travel, nuclear weapons, satellite television, and something resembling the World Wide Web. I don't know what that something was. I got that from Wikipedia, just trying to give you all background on H.G. Wells.
But he would always write about like a utopian future when he would write science fiction. We always got bigger and better and more wonderful and more amazing. And so this is a quote from his book. He wrote histories as well and kind of social commentary. And this is in a short history of the world. He wrote this in 1937.
Again, he lived in England. He wrote this. He said, Can we doubt that can we doubt that presently our race will more than realize our boldest imaginations, that it will achieve unity and peace, and that our children will live in a world made more splendid and lovely than any palace or garden that we know, going on from strength to strength in an ever-widening circle of achievement? What man has done? The little triumphs of his present state form the prelude to the things that man has yet to do. So he's saying he's looking at the world, he's looking at history, and he's saying, Isn't it just going to get better and better and better and more beautiful?
And the gardens and palaces we know now are nothing compared to where all of our children will live in the future. Now, if you're a student of history, you know that living in England in 1937, this wasn't about to be realized. World War II was about to plunge the world into conflict and pain and strife. And so this is a quote from his book that he wrote in 1946, which is the same year that he died, called A Mind at the End of Its Tether. And a tether is like a leash. So he's saying he's at the end of his rope.
He's about to become completely unhinged. And he says this, So in less than 10 years, this idea that everything would go on from beauty to beauty, and everything would get more wonderful. He sees the world plunged into World War II, and he just says, We're done. I can't believe that this is what humanity does. And as we're looking in Genesis chapter 4 today, and if you want to go ahead and grab your Bibles, it'll be in Genesis chapter 4. We're going to see how this continues.
So what we talked about last week was the fall of humanity, where Adam and Eve rebel against God, and sin enters the world. And we're going to see that it does exactly what H.G. Wells saw. That it goes from a beautiful garden, and it goes from God's good design, all the things that could be, and it turns into ever-increasing evil. That that's kind of as Genesis plays out, there's this two stories that run side by side. That we see that God designed the world beautiful, and all of a sudden there's this current of sin, and the world's descending into chaos, and evil, and hatred, and sexual sin, and violence.
And at the same time, God begins to weave next to that story, this idea that he is going to bring redemption, and he's going to bring hope. And that's what we're seeing beginning in Genesis, and it carries throughout the entire Old Testament. And so what H.G. Wells got to see on a massive scale, we're going to get to see kind of the beginnings of, on a personal scale, in Genesis chapter 4, as we study the story of Cain and Abel. And I have to go ahead and get this out of the way. I have an uncle named Abel, and he has messed me up on being able to call this Cain and Abel.
And so if that bothers you the entire time, I want to preemptively apologize. But I tried. I tried when I was working on this to say Cain and Abel, and I kept going back and forth between Cain and Abel. And there's no telling what's going to come out, but mostly it comes out Abel when I say it, and it's spelled that way, and my uncle talked me into it. So I can't not read Abel when I say it.
So let's pray for our time, and then we'll get started in Genesis chapter 4. God, we ask that as we get to study, in our brief time this morning, these two brothers, and this evil sin that tears this family apart, we pray that you would help us to see ourselves, see our sin, and have you intervene on our behalf before it gets out of control, and before we stand before you, covered by our sin rather than covered by Christ. And so we pray that you would help us to see this clearly today. And we love you, and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
Chapter 4, verse 1. It's on page 2. If you have one of the blue Bibles, it's probably very near to page 2 if you have any other Bible whatsoever. But if you don't own a Bible, we got these. We have a pile of them. We want you to take one home.
We want you to read it often. That's our gift to you. So it says, Now Adam knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord. Now this is really encouraging to be the way that Genesis chapter 4 starts because Genesis chapter 3 walks us through the story where Adam and Eve sin. They rebel against God. They're cast out of the garden.
And all of the good things that they had have kind of begun to erode and be broken and fall apart. And so it's beautiful to see that they, when Cain is born, she says, No, God helped me. That there's still some faith. There's still some connection to God in this family, even in the midst of sin, that Adam and Eve haven't completely run from God. But she, in faith, responds and says, No, I've gotten a man.
God's blessing me, and humanity is continuing with the help of the Lord. And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. So Cain does what Adam was told to do, which is tend a garden, cultivate, be one who works in the soil. And it says that Abel tends sheep. He's a keeper of sheep.
In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. I want to pause and just give you a little quick thing about the way that Hebrews write, the Jewish people write, when we're getting into these stories in Genesis. And we'll see this throughout. But the way we tend to write stories is we set the stage. We give setting. We give everything's in chronological order.
Or if you do it out of chronological order, when you mention it, you say, Now this happened prior to what I was just telling you about, but we always put it in chronological order. But they don't always do that. They much more often will explain things thematically, and they don't give you information that they don't think really applies to the story. So when it says, In the course of time, we have no clue how old they are, how long this has been. We're told later in Genesis that Adam and Eve lived for about 900 years, which we're going to discuss more because some of you are like, Wait, that sounds made up.
We're going to discuss more, but we believe they were designed perfectly, and that sin hadn't worked its way into the gene pool the way that it has now. So they were designed to live for eternity. They fall into sin, and then sin enters the world and begins to corrode, begins to destroy, but they don't immediately have the shorter lifespans that we see post-flood. So Spencer will get more into that next week. So they had a lot of children.
They had more children. We don't know how long it's been. That's all I'm saying, is that these guys could be like 20. It could be 250. We don't know, and that'll show up later as more characters get added in, and you're suddenly going, Wait, I thought there was just four people. It was Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel.
Abel died, so I thought the character grid got dropped to three, but then there's just other people showing up, and so I'm just trying to help you see like this has been an indeterminate amount of time so that it's less confusing later when we hit some places that are going to be a little confusing. So that was confusing, and I hope it helps. All right. In the course of time, this is verse 3, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. Okay, so we see worship. We see Cain and Abel worshiping the Lord.
They bring to him, and we don't know exactly how they brought it to him, where they brought it. If they can see him, we don't understand exactly how this worked, where God related to them, but they bring to him offerings, that there's this aspect of worship. There's this aspect of them coming to the Lord and acknowledging his place above them. So they bring him an offering, and Cain brings an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. That phrasing is going to be important in a second. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard.
So we're told that they both bring an offering, and that God appreciates, has regard for Abel and his offering, but not for Cain and his offering. And I've heard people try to explain this in different ways, as to sheep is better than fruit, and some different things like that. And I don't think that's actually what the text is showing us. I don't think that's what it's highlighting for us, because one of the things that we see is it doesn't say that God had regard for his offering, or his offering. It says for Abel and his offering, for Cain and his offering. The person comes first.
So that God's looking at the person, not just what they brought. He's looking at the inside. And one of the clues that we have in the text is that we're told that Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground. He brought of the fruit of the ground, but that Abel brought the firstborn and their fat portions. Meaning that Abel brought the best he had. That he, as soon as his sheep were born, he brought those to God.
The ones that you would be the most excited about. The first paycheck in the way it goes for sheep keepers. Like the first thing he could have gotten, he brought it to the Lord and said, this is yours. Like without you, none of this happens. And it just kind of says that Cain brought some of what he had. It says that Abel brought the fat portions, meaning the best of what he had.
And so in that, we're getting a clue kind of into Abel's heart and into Cain's heart. And we see that God looks at Abel and he accepts what Abel does. He has regard for what Abel does, but he doesn't have regard for what Cain does. And then we see that God's looking at their heart and we get a clue next as to the fact that Cain's heart is off. It's strayed from what it would seem with him bringing an offering. And I'll show this to you.
It says, verse six, oh, verse five, but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard. So Cain was very angry and his face fell. That means he showed it. Some of you, you have a poker face, you have the ability to be angry and look happy. You have the ability to be upset and frustrated. Some of you do not.
Cain did not. Some of you, something bad happens and your face turns bright red. One of the tricks that I've always had is to just always look angry and tell people that you're happy and you can get around it. So Cain's face falls. He looks visibly upset. He is, he's very angry.
He's furious. And so this is a clue as to Cain's heart. So let's just think about this for a second. If Cain was genuinely, I'm here to worship. I'm here because God is glorious. I'm here because he's valuable.
I'm here because he's holy. I'm here because I love him. And when he brought his offering, if God said, Cain, this isn't right. Cain, you haven't done this well. And we don't know exactly how he displayed that he had no regard for it, but he does. You would assume that Cain would be hurt, that he would be sad, that he would be mournful.
But that his desire would be for the relationship with God. His desire would be for this to work well. His desire, so it would draw him closer to God. But what we see is that he's livid. He's furious that this would happen. And so we get a picture as to Cain's heart and that it starts to seem as if Cain really, his offering wasn't a genuine love for God.
His offering wasn't a genuine respect for God, a holiness, holding up his worthiness, but that his offer was something else. That what he really wanted was something else. And actually, I think in Cain and Abel, we see the beginnings of true worship, true faith. We're actually told in Hebrews chapter 11 that Abel has true faith and religious worship, religious faith. And I'll explain the difference there because some of you are like, wait, I thought we were like a religion. The concept behind religion, as we talk about it often here, is I will do these things that God wants me to do and therefore God will love me, God will bless me, God will owe me.
That religion is this idea that I'm going to be a good person, I'm going to do what I'm supposed to, I'm going to show up on Sundays and if those people keep saying join a group, then I'll join a group, but God better make my finances work out, he better make my relationships work out, he better make my kids quit acting like their father. He better, he better, he better, he owes me. That's why when something bad happens to religious people, they'll get so mad. Something bad happened to Cain, he got furious and some of us have seen this in ourselves and in other people where something bad happens, you lose your job and you say, where are you God?
You owe me. How on earth could this happen to me? Because your belief is I did the stuff. I'm one of the good ones. I'm not like those other people that I'm one of the good ones. You owe me and that's what we see in Cain's heart.
I've heard a story to help kind of picture this and I really appreciate this image in my head. And so there's a king who has a beautiful kingdom and on different times he would allow people in his kingdom to come visit him and that sort of thing. And so they announced to him that there's a farmer who lives in his kingdom that's come to see him. And he allows the farmer to come in and the farmer comes in and he says, oh king, my king, I have a farm on your land and because of your kingdom I've been well protected and well guarded and free to farm. I wanted to bring to you this carrot. It's the biggest, prettiest carrot I think I'll ever grow.
I grew it. I was so excited. I just, when I was pulling it out of the dirt it just kept coming and coming and it was so bright orange and so carrot-y that I just wanted to share it with you. I just wanted to give it to you, my king, in appreciation for who you are and what you've done because I don't think I'll ever have another carrot like this one. And the king looks at the man and he sees his heart and he sees his love and he's touched by this and the king says, I actually know where your farm is and I own all the land around it and I want you to go speak with, and he tells him what official to speak with and he says, I want to double your track of land because we need more people like you in our kingdom and the farmer's just blown away.
That's not at all what he was hoping for. It's not at all what he imagined. Well, there's an official of the king who sees this entire interaction and he thinks, double your land for a carrot. So the next day, this official actually breeds horses and he brings in the stallion and he says, oh king, my king, I breed horses and this is the finest horse I think we'll ever sire. This is the finest horse I think I'll ever have. It's the most beautiful horse and I wanted to give it to you, my king, because you're so lovely and wonderful and amazing.
The king looks at his official and he can see right through him. He sees his heart and the king says, thank you. Please take that horse to my stable. And he just waits and the guy's frozen in place and he can see his face turning red and he's like, and the king goes, oh, is this about the carrot? You see, you're confused. The farmer was giving the carrot to me but you were giving yourself the horse.
See, the whole point of turning over the horse was just to receive back. It was just an investment. It was just for what he was going to be owed on the other end of it and I think we see that interaction playing out with Cain and Abel that Abel is overjoyed and appreciative towards God and so he brings his first fruits and he brings the best he has and he just says, God, thank you. Abel doesn't even talk in the story. We just see pictures of what he's like and that Cain was bringing the fruit to God but he wasn't really giving the fruit to God. It wasn't really appreciation for God.
It wasn't really a love for God. It was a desire to receive back, a desire to something. Something in Cain is for his own benefit to Cain's furious. And so we see how God responds. So God has no regard for Cain's offering but he cares about Cain.
So it says, so Cain was very angry and his face fell. Now verse 6, the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? And why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you but you must rule over it.
So God, as best he can, tries to intervene with Cain. And he says, Cain, if you do well, if you change, if your heart changes, won't this work? Won't this be beautiful? Won't this be good? And he says, but if you don't, if you don't do well, if you don't change, sin is crouching at your door. One of the things I want us to see very early on is that God expects Cain.
He says, you must rule over it. God believes that Cain can change. God believes that Cain can master his sin. God believes that Cain is morally responsible for his decisions and his attitude and his heart. We have culturally bought into the idea that this is what I'm like and this is how I was born and people all the time will say things like, well, you know, I'm just the type of person who, and so Cain can say, well, I'm just the type of person who gets really angry when things don't go my way and God steps in and looks and says, yeah, and you're the type of person who needs to change that. You're the type of person who needs to master that.
You're the type of person who needs to not be overcome with that. You're the type of person who needs to know that that will destroy you. Well, I'm Italian, so I yell and you're the type of Italian who needs to stop. Well, I'm this, I'm that, my family just always, my dad, well, you're the type of person who needs to change that, who needs to, who needs to, and God's inviting him to him. It's not just, do it on your own, it's not just be better, try harder, but it's Cain, come on. This can be different.
We can work differently. You can change. And I want you to see the seriousness of sin. He says it's crouching at the door. It's crouching at the door. I am, out my front door, the way it's set up, on a regular basis for a couple weeks there there was a spider, and he was pretty big, but he kept setting up a spider web right in front of my front door.
And I'm really intelligent, so I walked through this like 17 times. Like I just opened the door, and I'd be like, oh God, and I would see the spider the night before, so I'd be like, it's on me. You know, I'm like, I'm sure my neighbors thought there was something wrong with me, because there's nothing that makes you look crazier than you walking through a spider web other people can't see. You know, you open the door, and you're like, peeling at your face and stuff, and it's like, hey, it's good to see y'all. Y'all hunting to work? Me too.
But I can just imagine the spider consistently, like he's hanging out, setting the web up again, and his friend's like, dude, are you doing that again? He's like, yeah, I'm going to eat like a king. If I can just catch one of these things that keeps walking in and out of this house, I won't have to make a web again for years. His spider friend's like, you're an idiot. And it just never worked. He never got me.
But, that's what sin's doing. It's at our door, laying a trap to destroy us, and we think it's like the spider that actually can't get us. Let me tell you something, if that spider was the size of a tiger, I would have remembered that web was there and I wouldn't have been walking out there. And so often, we think that sin is so small, it's so little, it really can't get to us. But sin's desire is against us.
It's contrary to us. It wants to harm us. You ever watch a movie and there's been a bad guy the whole time and then something happens in the movie and they decide to kind of team up with the bad guy? They're going to work together for a little bit? And how many of us when we're watching that are like, hey, moron, that's been the bad guy the whole time. I don't think he's actually joined your team.
That's sin. That we're like, no, no, no, we're cool. We're friends. This will work out well. And it's like, no, it's desire is contrary to you. It wants to destroy you.
But too many of us think we can have sin as a pet. Too many of us think, yeah, well, I'm doing pretty good. I've got all this, but this one, this one, I don't really want Jesus messing with. This one is really kind of, I'm working on it, but you just say that, you're not. And you just kind of feel like, but sin destroys us. Y'all remember a while back when Roy, of Siegfried and Roy, got attacked by a tiger?
It mauled him. And everybody was shocked. But it's like, bro, that was a tiger. That's a tiger. They don't, there's a reason why you can't just have pet tigers. Because they can do that.
Like, the risk reward on owning a tiger is not worth it. I mean, some of y'all got a dog, and it's like a sweet little dog, and you're like, this dog's never bit anybody. It's like, that dog's got teeth. I had, you know how many, every time I've been bitten by a dog, it's been bitten by a dog that doesn't bite people. Helping somebody move, no, this dog never bites anybody. I turned my back on it, it bit the fool out of me.
I was like, I'm suing, everybody's going to penitentiary. And so many of us think we have this pet sin that we're cool with. And God grabs Cain as best he can, and he says, if you don't change this, sin's at your door, and it will destroy you, but you have to rule over it. And so many of you, I hope you can hear that this morning. I hope you can take the moment to see that in God's word and see God looking at you and saying, it's at your door. And if you don't rule over it, it is not your friend.
It is contrary to you. It will destroy you. Verse eight, Cain spoke to Abel, his brother, and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Cain spoke to Abel, his brother, and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Okay, so when it says Cain spoke to his brother Abel, the best we can guess is that the text put that in there to help us see the premeditation of this. That he was drawing him out.
There's some kind of, he was luring him. That he gets him in the field where nobody is and he just kills him. Now I want to show you something interesting we learn about religious activity. I want to show you something interesting that we learn about what happens when our approach to God is I want you to, I'm doing these things so that you'll love me. I'm doing these things so that we'll be good. Is that if you're approaching God not just for him but for you to be one of the good ones, do you know what that means?
You need some people to be the bad ones. If hard work is what saves you, then you need some people to be lazy because if everybody works as hard as you do, you're not winning. If religious activity is what saves you, then you need some people to be heathens and infidels. You need them. And so what, Cain kills Abel. He doesn't change his heart.
He gets rid of the competition. My offering will be the best offering if Abel doesn't show up. And I also think that for most of us we think this was a really quick turnaround. Cain's very angry and then he just murders somebody. But see, the text told us this is what sin does.
We do things that we don't think we would do quicker than we think we would do them. That we're actually more evil, more quickly than we believe is possible. Sigmund Freud, who will not get quoted often from this stage because he's a nut and most of what he said is slap crazy. There's a quote where he gets this really, really right and he agrees with the Bible and so since he agrees with the Bible we're going to read this. He says this in civilization and its discontents. Men are not gentle, friendly creatures wishing for love who simply defend themselves if they are attacked but that of a powerful measure of desire for aggression has to be reckoned as a part of their instinctual endowment.
What he says is there's actually aggression in them. They're not just kind. The result is that their neighbor is to them not only a possible helper or a sexual object but also a temptation to them to gratify their aggressiveness on him. To exploit his capacity for work without recompense that means to have slaves make them work don't pay them to use him sexually without his consent to seize his possessions to humiliate him to cause him pain to torture and to kill him. Homo homini lupus which is the Latin phrase man is a wolf. And then he says who has the courage to dispute it in the face of all the evidence in his own life and in history.
Without his consent to seize his possessions to humiliate him to cause him pain to torture and to kill him. Homo homini lupus which is the Latin phrase man is a wolf. And then he says who has the courage to dispute it in the face of all the evidence in his own life and in history. He says who on earth could stand up and say that this isn't true given how history works and how your life works. There is sin
In us that once Adam and Eve sinned they delivered it over to their children and that Cain and Abel were not sinless but that it was in them. I also want us to see that what happens with Cain is he has he has anger inside of him and then it leads to actions outside of him that he that he goes from an internal sin
To an external sin and so many of us will say to ourselves well this isn't that bad because I'm not really doing anything I'm just thinking about stuff. Sure I've sat at my desk for the last hour running through what the conversation would be like if I told my boss everything I think about him what he would say what I would say what his little face would look like his beady eyes when little tears came out of it
When he finally heard everything that was true about it like I sure I hadn't really been working I've been doing this I've been nurturing bitterness but I haven't actually acted on it I just thought about choking him I wouldn't ever actually choke him these are just fantasies I'm not actually cheating on my spouse it's all in my head and see it's when it was in his head that God grabbed Cain and said
Change because it goes from here to here way quicker than we think almost everybody who's done big unthinkable sins if you'd have stopped them prior to it and asked them at some point along that road will you ever do this they'd say no I'd never do that and then they do most of us if we're honest
Have things that we've done in our past that we don't fully understand why we did it and that we if you'd asked us beforehand will you ever do that you would say no I would never do that I'm not that kind of person but the truth is we are outside of God intervening on our behalf 1 Peter 2 11 says beloved I urge
You as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions that's desires or lust of the flesh which wage war against your soul James 1 15 says then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death I have two sons and I fight with one of them
The other one's an infant but I could totally take him if we got to fight him I fight with the three year old and if we ever got in a real fight like if he ever just you know pushed it too far and we had to really fight I think I would win you guys here's what James 1 15 just said it says we have desire that conceives and gives birth
To sin and then sin when it's full grown brings death now this is talking on a spiritual level that when we sin the end result of that is death that we deserve punishment but I think it also gives us a picture of the fact that some of us have some baby sins that right now would be way easier to get rid
Of some of us have little sins that are starting to creep up a little bit of bitterness towards somebody a little bit of anger a little bit of frustration a little bit of jealousy a little bit of and we're starting to tell ourselves well it's not that big a deal it's just a little bit I haven't really done anything
Yet a little bit of lust a little bit of temptation you see when it's full grown you're a slave and it's a murder the desire that the desires in us do not always lead us down the right path this is why when people will say things like well I prayed about it and I just don't feel like it's wrong
We'll be something we'll say hey do you see what the Bible says like that's a sin yeah I know the Bible says that I prayed about it I just don't feel bad it's like do you know how far that means you're
Disconnected from the Lord that proved nothing to anyone people are doing something simple and they say it just feels right it's like right because your passions are at war against your soul
Your flesh your desires are contrary to you that sin wants to own you that ultimately what is good for you is that you would have Jesus and that you would have holiness and that you would have love and peace and no sin and that our desires and sin's desire is to destroy
Us and to derail us and we're like it feels good can't be bad it's like that's cute it's not in the bible this is how someone goes from jealousy to lying from covetousness to stealing from anger to abuse to murder from lust to rape
To adultery this is why every time they interview somebody who's just done something ridiculous their friends and family say that wasn't the tina I knew no he was always so quiet and nice so often that happens and it's because sin is at work in
Us and it is growing and if we don't run to the Lord and seek to get rid of it all of us are capable of doing things we never thought we'd be capable of doing Tim Keller explains that one
Of the things that we do with children is we often develop fear and pride in them that we develop it in them that we'll say things to kids like well you don't want to be one
Of those bad people you don't want to be like them and go to the penitentiary and so what we've done right there is we've said we've developed pride you want to be one of and you pick whatever kind of
Little cut down thing you want to use to try to develop fear and pride but this is how we train children so often and he says that for a lot of us fear and pride are our primary motivation not worship
Not love for the Lord not God's grace but fear and pride and he said this is how somebody who for most of their life has behaved really well and been really a good worker suddenly embezzles thousands of dollars because they were operating
On fear and pride and fear and pride for a long time kept them in check but at some point when they were afraid of losing their job or when they were afraid of what was going to happen if they didn't have the money or they
Were prideful to let people know that they were failing suddenly fear and pride took over and led them so far into sin and so many of us have these things that we are just slowly letting grow and then at some point they tip
Over and we run headlong into sin so let's see how God reacts and this plays out so similarly to Genesis 3 and there's brokenness and God shows up to talk God shows up to ask questions and he does he asks questions here even though
God knows the answer it's like your mom when she found out that you snuck out last night or that you went to a different place from where she thought where you told her you were going to go and then she says where were you last
Night and you're like you know we were at Mark's house but where were you were you just at Mark's house oh well she starts asking more questions she already knows the answer and your story starts not making a whole lot
Of sense that's what we're going to have play out with God and Abel no God and Cain I forgot Abel died in the last verse 9 then the Lord said to Cain where is Abel your brother and he said I do not know am I my brother's keeper oh am I
In charge of Abel all of a sudden I thought you liked him better than me anyway now I'm the king of Abel am I my brother's keeper verse 10 and the Lord said what have you done the voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the
Ground and now you are cursed from the ground which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand seems as if Cain used his cultivating abilities and tools to bury his brother if not
At least his brother blood has drained into the ground and his body somewhere else 12 when you work for when you work the ground it shall no longer yield to you its strength you
Shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth Cain said to the Lord my punishment is greater than I can bear behold you have driven me today away
From the ground and from your face I shall be hidden I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on earth and whoever finds
Me will kill me real quick this is why I did that age stuff earlier who's going to find him and kill him there's two options
Anyone in the future he just thinks I'll be a wanderer anywhere I go anybody can come find me and kill me most likely he's
Talking about his own brothers his own father because there's been some time it's most likely his parents have continued to have children and
He's just saying I've harmed my brother and now that this is known someone is going to kill me I don't want us to
See the heart of sin here Cain is angry and God gives him a chance to repent God comes to him and says you
Need to change your attitude does he no so he's not willing to listen to God on the front end God comes to him
After it the action after he murders his brother and gives him a chance to come clean to be honest to confess does he
Know when does Cain speak up when there's punishment and what does Cain say this is unfair it's unfair what you've done to me
And don't you know someone might kill me Cain who just introduced murder to the world now says it would be unjust if someone
Would hurt me this is too much and doesn't Cain have a lot of children today we don't want to listen we don't want to
Repent when God is coming to us beforehand after we have sinned we don't want to repent we don't want to confess we just
Want to bury it and then when we see there's wrath coming for sinners we say who on earth does God think he is
A God of grace he doesn't have judgment I don't worship a God of wrath and it's like we do worship a God of
Grace but he does have wrath that's what the grace is for it's for his wrath it covers his justice too often all we
Care about is the consequences not our own actions not our own hearts we can't even see our sin so verse 13 and Cain
Said to the Lord my punishment is greater than I can bear behold you have driven me today away from the ground and from
Your face I shall be hidden I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on earth whoever finds me will kill me then the
Lord said to him not so if anyone kills Cain vengeance shall be taken on him seven fold and the Lord put a Mark
On Cain lest any who found him should attack him then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the
Land of Nod east of Eden so Cain says this is unfair and God says no your punishment is that you'll be a wanderer
Your punishment is that you'll be no longer attached to the ground and I'm going to put a Mark on you that if anyone harms you
His vengeance will be seven fold and God saying he'll carry that out which shows a lot of grace in the midst of Cain's sin
And in the midst of Cain's audacity to argue with God about what's fair and not fair 17 Cain knew his wife so now
This becomes important we don't know when he got a wife who his wife is Cain knew his wife and she conceived and bore
Enoch now some of you were saying okay wait a second some of you were fine with that and I'm about to make you
Not fine with that some of you weren't fine with that because you were like wait I thought there was Adam and Eve and
They had some sons where did this wife come from glad you're all sitting down most likely Cain sister you guys Adam and Eve
Are the only people and all the children come from them Cain married his sister now I want to make that a little bit
Better to talk about dogs for a second so all the dogs we have and all the dog breeds that we have just stay
With me don't don't start guessing what I'm going to say just wait all the dogs we have and all the dog breeds we
Have came from an original wolf like a big dog like there wasn't a bunch of little like chihuahuas didn't roam the wild that
Didn't happen you guys I know you thinking mine is mean enough to no it's not if you're not even paying attention to it
In your yard a hulk will still get that thing like you eliminating strands of DNA and types of DNA and we we kind
Of can whittle them down to make a certain type of dog so you eliminate genetic code to get a specific dog this is
Why purebred dogs have more health issues than mutts because the genetic code is smaller they have less to pull from they have more
Health issues this is why like if you go buy a $1200 to Adam and Eve were like wolves they were the original pair
That had all the genetic code their children weren't they did inbreed but they weren't inbred does that make sense like they didn't have
Small genetic code so actually later in the Bible it's going to say no you don't need to marry your cousin but that is
As they became a nation that had eliminated so God brought all peoples from Adam and Eve and it wasn't the way we imagine
It now I hope that helped it might not have but there you go okay verse 17 came to his wife and she conceived and bore Enoch
When he built a city he called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch to Enoch was born Irad and Irad father Mahujael and Mahujael fathered Methushael and Methushael fathered
Lamech and Lamech took two wives okay so the text just told us Lamech is changing things and it indicates to us that Lamech is pursuing he gives a full vent to his passion that's kind of what the text has shown us here
Because God originally made a man and a woman he brought them together and from this point on there was a man and a woman and we're following this one train through here and all of a sudden it says Lamech took
Two wives the name of one was Ada and the name of the other Zilha also for the record the Bible in Genesis doesn't always give us commentary of what's going on so it doesn't say he did this and that was wrong
It just tells us that it happened and this is the father of polygamy and polygamy never works out well in the Bible it happens all the time in the Bible it's never shown in a good light there's never like this was a
Polygamy a polygamous couple and it was great it's always a mess and some of y'all are like I'm married to one person and it's a mess we're not adding other people into this like imagine all of your arguments but now there's a third person who's in bed like that would
Be great we're gonna see it gets worse you guys when we get to Genesis later there's a lot of polygamous problems other Zilha and Ada bore Jabal and he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock he kind of had a whole people that lived
In tents and have livestock his brother's name was Jubal he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe so what we're seeing is that this line coming from Cain which is sinful still has beautiful things going on there's still culture coming
Out of it there's still cities there's still music there's still creativeness in this and it says Zilha also bore Tubal Cain and he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron the sister of Tubal Cain was Nema and Lamech
Said to his wives so we're going back to Lamech and this is to highlight what Cain's line became what it was like Ada and Zilha hear my voice you wives of Lamech listen to what I say I have killed a man for wounding me a young man
For striking me if Cain's revenge is sevenfold then Lamech's is seventy sevenfold and so it just shows that sin continued and that Cain rather that Lamech declares his own curse somebody just harms him he murders him and then he's just proud of it he doesn't hide it he announces it and he says
If anybody tries to harm me Cain who had a curse placed on him by God to protect him I get to place my own and it's better and bigger than God's and so the text is showing us that Cain's line has deteriorated and then it turns and it says Adam knew his wife again and she bore a son and called his name Seth for she said God has appointed
For me another offspring instead of Abel for Cain killed him to Seth also a son was born and he called his name Enosh and the time people began to call upon the name of the Lord and so it kind of gives this redemptive idea here at the end through Seth that God's going to continue the promise he made that he's going to continue his offspring that he's going to continue to do this beautiful work of redeeming
In the middle of Cain's sin and his line God brings about Seth and begins to continue out the promise that he says he'll one day send a redeemer and that's who Christ comes through is Seth and I want to highlight one thing as we come to a close the band's going to come back up here we're going to sing and we're going to take communion but in verse 10 God says this to Cain says the Lord said
What have you done the voice of your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground the Bible tells us that it was through faith that Abel spoke even though he was dead that it was his faith that declared his presence and who he was and what Cain had done and then in Hebrews 12 right after it says that it says this about Jesus and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant and to the sprinkled blood that speaks
A better word than the blood of Abel you see the blood of Abel cried out for condemnation all the blood of Abel could do for Cain was display his sin all the blood of Abel could do for Cain was call out for God's justice and God's wrath and condemnation for what Cain had done and so we have Jesus who gives us a better covenant and better blood so many of us have sins that are like Abel we have tried to bury them
And all they will ever do for us is cry out to God for condemnation for destruction for justice for wrath there is going to be a day when we stand before God and you are either going to have all of your past cry out like the blood of Abel condemn or you will get to stand in a new covenant with Christ where his blood cries out forgive that Jesus would come in the line
Of Seth that he would take the punishment for sin that he would die so that we could live that he would rise again that we might have hope and that those who place their faith in him are covered by his blood which speaks forgiveness and life and hope not condemnation so in a second church as we take communion together it's for all those who have placed their faith in Christ to remember
To appreciate to enjoy to take part in the fact that his blood cries out forgiveness and hope and life for us so that we take communion that we might celebrate that his body was broken his blood was shed and we've been forgiven and if you're not a Christian the blood of Christ does not cover you we would encourage you to not take communion but to sit and think about the fact that his blood can cover you
And that if you place your faith in him rather than your sin crying out condemn you'll have Christ crying out forgive and his blood speaking on your behalf let's pray God we thank you for your goodness and your grace towards us we pray that you would help us to trust in you that we might see our sin before it's too late before we've run headlong in it and that for those of us who feel like I'm on the other side
I've already committed my murder I've already done the unthinkable that we would know that God comes to us and he gives us a chance to repent and that he still has grace for us and that Christ's blood will shed for all those who do not deserve it not for the good not for the well behaved but for the sinner I pray that we would repent of our sin that we would partake in communion as those who are forgiven and free and who your blood
Speaks a better word on our behalf in Jesus name amen they're going to play a little music and as you pray and reflect when you feel led get up and take communion and then we'll sing together in a moment I'm going to open up two ahead how are you there you
The Fall
Transcript
Well, all right. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. Grab a Bible. Go to Genesis chapter 3. We're working our way through the book of Genesis.
And we're in Genesis chapter 3. And so far in the book of Genesis, it has been great. Everything is working perfectly. The world is beautiful. The grass is green. The birds chirp.
Everybody's frolicking around naked and happy. And today it's not going to go so well. One of the things that we all collectively agree on, and it doesn't matter kind of your worldview, and it doesn't really matter your approach to faith or your approach to God. It doesn't really matter your understanding of origin. One of the things that we collectively agree on is that this world isn't perfect. That there are things that are broken in it.
There are things that are marred in it. There are things that are wicked. All you have to do is watch the news for a little while. Like if you're at your house and you're like, I'm having a pretty good day. I'd like to be depressed. Just open a news app.
Watch the news for a little while. I know Jimmy Fallon for a little while would do good news. They just had news anchors read made-up good news stories to try to make everybody feel better. So it's like two minutes of them just saying happy things, and it was the weirdest thing to ever see news anchors do. But they'd use their little news anchor voice, and they'd be like, this just in.
Puppies are still cute. And then they would turn to the other camera, and they'd be like, When asked his favorite color, Barack Obama excitedly answered all of them before hugging the questioner. Like it would just do two minutes of like this happy news because that's not what we get. That's not what happens, and it doesn't matter what your belief system is. Everybody can kind of collectively say, no, this isn't how this should work. And then the argument comes not that everything is broken but how to fix it.
That's where we begin politics. That's where we begin these discussions. That's where we have debate is in the answer of how do we fix this. Not that it's broken. Nobody's ever said, we really need to work on this issue. And someone said, I don't even know of those issues at all.
I don't see that. I don't see how hunger is a problem. I don't have a problem. No, we all agree that there's something broken. And so what we're going to see in Genesis is kind of how this unfolds. One of the complaints that happens towards Christianity, and these two complaints happen at the exact same time, and it's kind of interesting, but if you'll listen out for them, you can hear them.
One of the complaints towards Christianity is that it takes a beautiful world. We have this beautiful earth, and everything's nice, and Christians come along and say, no, it's terrible. People are sinful. People are wicked. You're wicked. Like, Christianity is just, like, mad at everybody, and so, like, the world is just, like, happy rainbow place, and Christianity comes by and spray paints garbage on it.
Like, that's kind of a complaint that you'll get. The other side, though, at the exact same time, they'll say that the world is broken and chaotic, and there's death and pain, and Christians come along and just spray paint a little smiley face on it, and we're all like, we're happy, and we have hope. Like, that's, these two complaints are happening at the same time, and the truth is Christianity does 100% say the world is broken, and you are wicked. And if this is your first time hanging out with us, welcome. You're wicked. Intro to Christianity.
You are a sinner. But we also collectively at the same time 100% say, no, the world is beautiful, and it is glorious, and there is hope, and we get to see right now at the very beginning of Scripture where we get that, where that concept comes, that there is beauty and majesty beyond what you understand. There's hope beyond compare, and that we're more depraved and more wicked, and things are more broken than you could believe. So let's pray, and then we'll start reading the text. God, we thank you for this time that we have to study your word. We pray that you would use it to correct us and to train us, to convict us, and to change us.
And we ask for your power through your Holy Spirit to do that today. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, so we're going to pick up in Genesis chapter 3, and so far what's happened in Genesis 1 and 2 is that God created everything in Genesis 1. He spoke it into existence. And then we saw that He kind of paused on day 6, and He created humanity in His own image. And then in chapter 2, we see this kind of zoomed-in look of what that looked like and how God created Adam and Eve, and He designed them, and He blessed them, and He surrounded them with everything they needed to flourish and to have joy.
And the last verse of chapter 2 is this, And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. That's where it ended. Now, that's a pretty little picture of marriage. They're in a garden. They have good things to do. Their needs are supplied for, and they're naked and not ashamed.
There's no shame. There's freedom. And some of you think, that sounds awful. And you'll see why in a second, why we can't have that anymore, why that doesn't work the way it's supposed to anymore, why nudist colonies are weird. We're going to get there. But it's a beautiful picture that God began humanity this way.
Chapter 3, verse 1. Now the serpent, it's a snake. Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He's sneaky. He's up to something. He said to the woman, Did God actually say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?
And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. Okay, so we've got to understand a little bit what's going on here because this is kind of a weird intro to this story. So it says that of all the animals God made, the serpent was the sneakiest, the craftiest. We're told later in the book of Revelation that this is actually Satan, that he's the ancient serpent. So that Satan has infiltrated God's good garden.
Satan has infiltrated God's good design, and he is now at work against God. And he starts speaking to the woman, and he asks about this tree, and we read about it in chapter 2 and chapter 2, where God says, You may eat of any tree in the garden except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it, you will die. That's all he said. Don't eat of that tree. So the snake comes along, and he says, Now we've got to pause for a second, because if you're new to this, you may want to go, Bible's cool with talking snakes?
Nobody's batting an eye at that? Like, you want to lean and look at the rest of your row like, y'all cool with that? Like, we're just, we're going to pretend like this isn't weird? A few things on that. One is, the Bible doesn't act like animals just talk. There's a later in the Old Testament where a donkey talks, and that was miraculous, and everybody acted like it was weird.
But God used a donkey to speak was a miracle that he performed. It wasn't like, yeah, animals used to talk. They didn't believe that. So they're having the same response, which is, wait, why is the snake talking to her? But it makes sense that Eve would not have been necessarily surprised or thrown off by this.
And the reason it makes sense is that Eve lives in a world where nothing bad has ever happened. She lives in a world where everyone and everything is to be trusted because there aren't any lies, there aren't any evil, there's no brokenness, there's no pain. So a snake talks to her, and she thinks, neat, I guess. I guess that's what she thinks. She doesn't freak out, but that's, it's the same with where you have to teach a children about strangers. Like, my wife was doing something the other day, and she told my son, he's three now, he's going to be sitting in the room by himself.
She was like, if anybody comes to the door, come get me, don't answer the door. He was like, okay. She was like, not even for the mailman, because he knocks on her door sometimes. And he was like, well, I can let the mailman in. And she was like, no, you can't. He's like, yeah, I know the mailman.
She's like, no, you don't. He's like, yeah, I do. And it's like, no, you do not know him. We're having to like explain to him like, no, no, no, no, you've seen him before, but you don't know him. He's not your friend. He's nice, I guess.
He's the mailman. Don't open the door. Like we have to explain to him. He doesn't get the concept. And so snake starts talking to her. And if a snake started talking to you, you would run away.
You'd have a better reaction. But she didn't because she doesn't understand yet. There's no evil yet that she knows about. Okay. So the serpent says, did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?
And we know that this is Satan. We do believe that Satan is real and he is at work to undercut what God has done. And we, it's really interesting that we get to see this unfold. And I want to, I want to tag something before we go any further in this story. I want to highlight something for us. There are some people who will try to argue that this is just an allegory.
This is just a little picture of try to give us an understanding of our world. But the Bible does not treat it that way. It treats it as if this is a real event with two real humans, Adam and Eve, who are the original pair that God created. And we believe that there was a literal Adam and Eve that God made. That he designed. The Bible treats it that way.
The New Testament assumes they're real. It treats Adam as a real man. It treats just the way it treats Jesus as a real man. And so we believe that this was a real couple with real events and a real description of what's going on. So the serpent says to her, did God actually say you should not eat of any tree in the garden?
And this is interesting because what he does is he comes along and he says something that's kind of outlandish. He stands next to her, slithers next to her. And then he says, huh. So you're not allowed to eat any of this, which isn't true at all. It's we just told in chapter two that God gave him all the fruit to eat except for one tree. But he does this blanket statement.
He still does this to us today. The enemy comes along and says, huh. So God's just anti love. So God doesn't believe that two people who love each other should have a, huh. So God just doesn't want you to have any fun.
Oh, so God just doesn't want you to be happy. Like he comes along and makes these outlandish statements. It automatically puts us off, off guard on the defense. So here's what she says. We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden. Neither shall you touch it lest you die.
Now, God did not say that. He said, don't eat of it. He didn't say, don't touch it. Now we don't know if Adam told her that or if she added it, or if she was confused, we just know that that's not what God said. But the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
What we're going to get to see this morning as we continue through this passage is how sin works. We're going to get to see how we're tempted, how we respond once we have sinned and how we ought to respond in our sin. And so what he says to her is, you will not surely die. And this is something that the enemy continues to do. He tells us that there will be no judgment. What God said won't happen.
That's not true. You won't actually get in trouble. It's not that bad. You won't die. That was an overstatement. That's not really how that works.
Look at it. He knows. And then he tells her that God's a liar. You'll not die. For God knows when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Now, some of that is true.
She will be like God, knowing good and evil. But what he's impressing upon her, what he's making her believe is that God is withholding something good from you. Now, of good and evil, which one does she not know anything about yet? Evil. She knows good. God placed her in a garden and it was good.
God brought her and Adam together and said it was good. God ends creation by saying that everything is very good. What has he withheld from her? Evil. So the enemy comes by and he says, he's withholding from you.
But what's he withholding? Evil. No. And so often that is what we have to understand is true about sin. It's true about the things that God steps in and says, you don't want that. It's that he's not withholding good things from us.
He's withholding things that are harmful, things that will destroy us, things that hurt us. And some of you feel the way she feels today. Is God good? Is he withholding from me? Does he really have my best interest in mind? So, verse eight.
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. And this is how temptation works. We are always sinning visually and mentally prior to sinning actively. So she looks at it and she starts convincing herself. She sees that it's going to taste good. She sees that it looks good, that this fruit is pretty, it's lovely.
And then she starts telling herself what it'll accomplish for her, that it'll make her wise. She completely buys in to what the enemies told her. She's elevated herself to the position of God and she doesn't even know it. You see, what she's done is she's placed herself to where she gets to evaluate whether what God said was true or good or not. C.S. Lewis said that it used to be that we understood as humans that we were the ones on trial before God, that God got to sit in the judge's seat and we stood before him in the dock, which is the place where you would stand to be judged.
And he says, but we flip this and we've put God in the dock and we sit in the judge's seat. That we're the ones who get to decide whether or not he's right. We're the ones that get to evaluate whether or not what he said was true or not. And so she places herself where she is now convincing herself to do this and elevating herself above God. She wants to be like God, forgetting that she was already made in God's image. So she talks herself into it.
And this is what we do. This is how we approach sin. We see something that we want and we start convincing ourselves that it'll be good for us. We see something that we desire and we start talking about, you know, I'd look really nice with that. That would be really good. My granddad was a pastor and I remember him telling this story one time in a sermon.
He said when he was little, his family didn't have a lot of money and he remembers going to school and kids would bring in 10 lunchboxes. And they started bringing those in and they had different colors and he saw them and he really wanted one, but he knew there was no way his family was going to be able to get one. And so he said, he watched the little kids at his lunchbox next to the swings and go get on the swings and start swinging. He saw the lunchbox. And it started to like glow and get bigger. Like this was his window.
This was his moment. So he snuck over there and he says he stood watching the kids swing up in the air, swing back, swing up in the air. And he said he swung in the air and he owned a lunchbox. And he swung back towards the ground and he no longer owned a lunchbox. My granddad, while he swung in the air, didn't own a lunchbox. And when he swung back down, my granddad was the new owner of a beautiful lunchbox.
He had picked it up when he was in the air and started walking off with it. He had seen something and he had begun to convince himself that he needed that. He pictured what it would be like. He knew how much joy it would bring to him, how much life it would bring to him. And any of us who have actively pursued sin, we should know what's about to happen. We should see what happens next.
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. Now we should all be shocked. Everybody's jaw should hit the floor with what happens next. And she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate. The text did that on purpose. It's a twist.
They just M. Night Shyamalan'd us. We all assumed Eve is by herself talking to this serpent. And all of a sudden in this moment, she bites and then we're told, and he just almost appears in the story. She hands it to her husband who was with her. What was Adam doing?
I can tell you it was not what he was supposed to be doing. Adam and Eve were in charge over all of creation. Adam was given the role to keep this garden, to guard, to keep it, to defend it. And there's a serpent in here. And we can assume it's okay for the serpent to be there. But as soon as the serpent starts questioning God, Adam and Eve should have said, you don't have a place here anymore.
You're not welcome here anymore. But do y'all want to know what Adam did? And men, do you want to know that we're tempted to do it today? We're told later in 2 Timothy that Eve was deceived, but that Adam was not. She was tricked. Adam wasn't tricked.
He was waiting to see if she would die is my best guess. He just, he was going to see how it went. Did it work out for her? He just kind of put her out in front of him and was like, we'll see. If she dies, I got more ribs. That's my best guess.
He was like, you want to make this decision? We'll see if it works. And husbands still do this. I don't think that's the correct decision. I don't think it's how we should handle our money. But you know what?
Hop out in front. And if it falls apart, I'll stand back here and know I was right. You can take the beating. You can hold the bag. And he let her just, he just waited. She ate.
He was like, is that good? She didn't fall over. Cool. But there was a slight delay on what happened. And all of us who've sinned know this feeling. She gave it to her husband who was with her and he ate.
Then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. Now the text is assuming that we know what it feels like to be naked in front of people. But we have a clue as to what showed up. See, what we read earlier in the chapter two was that man and the wife were both naked and were not ashamed. Now they know they're naked and they're what?
Ashamed. Shame enters the world. And I don't know if you've ever been embarrassed or felt shame but it crawls up the back of your neck and it covers you. I don't know if you've ever been in a moment where you got caught red-handed or you broke something and then your parents show up and you're trying to explain to them that you and you can just tell that your face is it feels like your head has swollen up and you've turned bright red and you know they know you're lying and bees like this is what happened. That they got what they wanted which was the knowledge of good and evil. But it wasn't what they thought it would be.
And for all of us who've convinced ourselves to sin and to pursue something. Sometimes it happens immediately. Sometimes it takes a little while but we always get what we chased after. And it ends up being not what we thought it would be. You see my granddad said that after he began to walk away with his new lunchbox for the first little bit he could just tell how handsome he was and how good he looked. People knew how wealthy he was because he had this nice lunchbox.
And the further he went the more he realized he felt like everybody was looking at him and that lunchbox got heavier and heavier and heavier and the weight of it became unbearable. And he felt like he was exposed. That everyone would know that he was a fraud and everybody would know whose it was and like this was going to fall apart and so he said he walked back while the kid was still on the swing and he went up in the air and he didn't own a lunchbox and when he came back down he did. But this one wasn't as easily returned. So here's what happens to us in our sin.
We are exposed. It sticks to us. We feel it. It's that moment in the dream when you're giving the presentation at work or in front of a class and suddenly you realize in your dream that you don't have any clothes on. This has been imprinted in us that we're exposed and shame covers them. And so here's how they respond and you'll see that this is how we respond that we learned all of our beautiful tricks from them.
It says and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. So fig leaves are just a big leaf so they found some and they covered themselves up. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. This is one of our favorite and first responses to sin. We try to cover it up and we try to hide. I'm going to give you some of the ways that we cover sin up.
One of my favorites has been to promise myself very sincerely that this is the last time I'll ever do that. And I'm an honest person so I believe myself. Okay. Alright. That's a fig leaf. That's all that is.
Okay. You know what? I did sin but you know I'm not ever going to do that again. And I can always tell this is so wicked in my heart because that's in that same moment I'll be saying this. The reason I don't have to tell anybody. The reason I won't have to talk to my community group about this is that this was the last time and it'd be weird to talk to them about the last time I ever did something and I don't need to bring that up and this will be the last time and I promise it'll never happen again and I just try to convince myself but that's all that is is me trying to cover it up.
We try to cover it up with religious activity. I don't know if y'all know this but religion the idea that we can do things that make God love us we can do things to stand before God and say we're presentable all that is is elaborate fancy fig leaves. It's ornate fig leaves. See we're Christians. We believe that we don't come to God and present to Him things that we have done that make us worthy and valuable and lovable. We believe that we were made lovable that we fell into our sin and that Christ had to remake us that He had to die for us and that we present what Christ has done on our behalf to God.
We don't present what we have done but good works and religious activity is a fig leaf. I've been bad I've sinned but now I'm going to be good. Now I'm going to work really hard I'm going to turn over a new leaf. You ever heard that? Just add fig leaf to it. It'll be more biblical.
Turning over a fig leaf. I'm going to be good now. I'm going to behave now. I'm going to sow oh you don't even know my sowing skills are beautiful. I will look so good in these fig leaves. That's what we do.
That's what religious activity is. I'm going to work really hard and I'm going to prove to God that I'm okay because I'm going to make up for all the stuff that I did that was messed up. We hide. Oh man we hide. How many of us are sitting in here today and we have a few things that we've told ourselves you can never tell anybody that. I'll confess some things.
I'll confess some sins but I'm not confessing this one. Everything would fall apart if I did. This one I'll take to the grave. This is the one I'm hiding forever. If I tell people this there's no way I can keep going. There's no way they'll still love me and I just want you all to know that's such a trick.
I want you to understand that when you do that when you're in a community group and you've convinced yourself I don't have to confess this. I'll never tell them this. If they really knew about it they wouldn't really love me. But the problem is you never feel really loved because you know they don't know you. You consistently continue to tell yourself yeah but if they really knew and so we hide it. That's what they did.
They covered themselves in front of each other and then they hid from God which means that God's a little more unbearable in our sin. You ever have a friend it's like I remember in high school when I was walking late to class and you're like hurrying and you're trying to I gotta be and then you see someone else who's in your class and immediately both of you are just like hey cool. This is not so bad to walk in late with somebody. Do you know what I'm saying? So there's some amount of in our sin we can find a little bit of company but not before God.
And so we hide and I just want to ask how's that working for you? How's hiding working for you? Because it doesn't work well for them and God in his grace does something that I hope he is doing for us today. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him where are you?
And I hope God's doing that today. And for some of you who have been hiding who have been running who have tried to make the most elaborate fig leaves I hope that God right now in his grace is saying where are you? That he's calling you out. Some of you have no desire there's a part of you that has no desire to follow Jesus has no desire for any of this stuff. You hear us talk about community groups every week and you're like they sound like they're the worst. Some of you have been to a community group once or twice and you're like I hate this but you keep coming here and I'm praying our hope is that it's because God keeps saying no, no, no, no, no, no.
Where are you? Where are you? Where are you? And he said that's Adam I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. Now is that true?
Kind of. This is another thing we love to do in our sin. Anybody ever been in a community group and half confess the thing? Just me? Okay, you don't have to raise your hand it's cool. You kind of confess like what he hid because he was naked or because he did the thing that God told him not to do?
Yeah, me and my wife we're just kind of struggling right now I want you to pray for us. You don't say I'm really stressed out at work so when I come home I yell at my children I yell at my wife and then I start drinking just to calm myself down. I do that every day. You say you're struggling and you need some prayer but that's the I hid because I was naked. He doesn't say I'm hiding because you remember that tree you told us not to eat of? We both did and I did and I willfully did it even though I think she was tricked I wasn't and that's why I ran away.
He doesn't say that. It's like a kid you hear a lamp break and you come in the other room and there's a kid there holding the cord and you're like did you break that lamp? And they're like what are lamps? I've never even heard of this. I don't even understand the concept. No, this was I was trying to fix it.
That's what we do. We kind of confess a thing because we know we're supposed to but we have this other part that we hold back or we try to make it sound a little better and we think we're clever. They did this on their own with no help off the cuff and they taught us how. We're going to see the next way that we respond to our sin. I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. Just wanted to point out the fig leaves didn't work.
If he had made really good fig leaves he wouldn't be hiding behind a tree. He said who told you that you were naked have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? God does this in an interrogation style but he knows the answers to the questions. the man said here's our next go-to the woman whom you gave to be with me gave me fruit of the tree and I ate. Who gets blamed at the very last part of the sentence? I ate. He doesn't say I ate.
He doesn't answer yes I ate. He says the woman whom you gave to me she he's hoping he gets confused by the end of the sentence. She gave me some food we were there there's a snake like he just and how much do we do that? How many of us downplay our sin and we say things like this? Yeah when I was in high school I made some mistakes because I was kind of running with a rough crowd. So they weren't sins and they weren't willful they were mistakes you know like when you spill milk on somebody it was a mistake and it really what me was the rough crowd.
And it really what me was the rough crowd. I wasn't really a part of them I was there when we made the mistakes but I wasn't like how many of us do that? How many of us do this? Yeah we're having some problems but my wife yeah I know I did that but if you knew my parents if you understood what my husband was like how many of us
Elevate ourselves as Eve did to evaluate what God says and then use blaming others and blaming God God I know your word says this and I know it seems clear but I also know that I'm in a circumstance that you probably don't understand and they didn't really understand the circumstance when they wrote this and if people knew what my wife was like people knew what my children were like
People knew what my boss was like if people like if you just it's in us to sin to cover to hide to blame God you're the one who made me like this I love the movie Fiddler on the roof it's a play but I love the movie I haven't seen the play very often and he says Tevye says dear Lord you made many many poor people and I realize
It's no shame to be poor but it's no great honor either and would it have been so terrible if I had a lot of money he kind of looks at God and that's what we do we look at God and we say we know but why not me why am I in this situation why were my parents like that why did my life work out like that why are my children like that and it's this idea that God
Somehow is to blame for our choices and our actions and our sin and we got it from Adam who passed all this down to us then the Lord God said to the woman so God says she gave me the tree and I ate and the Lord God says to the woman what have you done and she does another thing that we do she says
The serpent deceived me and I ate she was deceived she was tricked he tricked me so we blame evil we blame the concept of evil we say yeah well you know the world's a messed up place we're just living in the system so the Lord God said to the serpent and he's about to curse the serpent he's about to curse Adam and Eve
And we're going to notice something in the text they do not immediately die but death enters the world and spiritual death enters the world we notice spiritual death entering the world the moment that the relationship between them is fractured and they have to hide from God they're no longer alive the way they were they're no longer designed the way they were everything's broken and that's how sin works
It takes a good thing and it twists it there is no evil that stands alone there's only evil that corrupts something that God has already made good and so some of us some people maybe want to read this and go hold on a second time out this seems like a very over aggressive heavy handed response to eating some fruit fruit I think death is overkill but the truth is this it wasn't just that they ate fruit
Every sin R.C. Sproul says every sin is an act of treason it doesn't matter how big we deem it that if God is the king of the universe and we decide to have an uprising against him to revolt against his good will revolt against his good design that we want to elevate ourselves to his position that we want to get rid of his decrees that we want to sit in his throne that we want to be
The king over our lives it's treason and that death is an appropriate punishment for traitors for those who would usurp the throne so the Lord God said to the serpent because you have done this cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field and on your belly you shall go and dust you shall eat all the days of your life I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring you shall bruise your head and you shall bruise
His heel so God curses the serpent and then he says this I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring and we're going to talk about that again in a second but it's kind of this prophecy of what's going to happen and then to the woman he said I will surely multiply your pain and childbearing pain existed before the fall in small measure it was a helpful thing he says he's going to
Multiply it I have two children my wife recently had a baby he's about six months old I think that came true that he multiplied pain and childbearing it's bad and she was like they gave her drugs we've done some things by God's common grace to kind of fight some of that and then he says your desire shall be contrary to your husband and he shall rule over you or your desire will be for your husband and he shall rule over you depending on which way they translate
That phrase in your Bible but there's this idea that what was going to be a beautiful kind of marriage dance like this perfectly leading perfectly stepping in time with one another is now broken and there will be pain when it comes to children and there will be pain in relationships and there will be pain between men and women as a result of sin and to Adam he said because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree I have that I made a big board
And I put that up in my house so that anytime my wife tries to tell me anything I point at it it's not true you guys my wife's small but she's fiery so what his point there is not that you shouldn't listen to your wife what his point is that what we were talking about earlier where rather than leading rather than serving rather than defending he put his wife in a position to take the blame and to take the fall and then blamed her because you've listened to the voice of your wife
And have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you you shall not eat of it cursed is the ground because of you in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you and you shall eat of the plants of the field by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground for out of it you were taken for you are dust and to dust you shall return death enters the world pain enters the world and we will now survive by scratching and clawing and by the sweat of our face we'll be able to make it until we will have fruitless
Active fight scratch claw tooth and nail to eat by the sweat of our face and then at the end of that we die that that's what we have that's what's happened because of sin and that's the world that we live in where everything is beautiful and good and designed by God and there's so much loveliness and there's so much majesty and that it's so completely marred by sin and our relationships are marred by sin and our relationships
To God are marred by sin and to each other and it's broken apart and that's where we live and that's who we are and then he says this the man called his wife's name Eve because she was the mother of all living and the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them then the Lord God said behold the man has become like one of us knowing good and evil now lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life that was also in the middle of the garden and eat and live forever
Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken he drove out the man and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life so God sends them out of the garden he sends them out they've been removed from the place he made for him their relationship with each other is broken their relationship with him is broken and they're sent now cursed
To try to work and make it and eventually die and this is us and this is where we find ourselves but there are three pictures of the gospel in this text and I want to encourage us the way we want to respond to sin the way you want to respond to sin is you want to use Adam and Eve as a playbook cover hide blame I want to cover I want to hide I want to blame I want to get myself
As separate from this as possible I want to do enough good works to make this go away I want to do my little religious activity I want to do these things so that God will love me that I'll be okay I want to try to make up for it I want nobody to know but I want us to see how we ought to respond to our sin in the back part of this chapter that we just read so he looks at pick back up in verse 14 Lord God said to the serpent because you have done this cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts
Of the field and on your belly you shall go and dust you out shall eat all the days of your life I will put enmity meaning you'll be enemies with between you and the woman between your offspring and her offspring he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel now the New Testament does some interesting stuff with this that he's going to have offspring what we see is that the enemy is going to be destroyed he's going to have his head bruised
Although he's going to harm the one who does this he's going to have his head bruised by a specific and that singular offspring it's not ancestors it's ancestor he says I'll put in between you you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring everywhere in the Bible that a genealogy is done it is done father to father to father to son father to son father to son every once in a while the highlight a female if we know a little bit about their story
Here God says there's going to be a woman who's going to give birth the only person in the Bible and the only person in the world that was born without a father on earth was Jesus so God makes this promise to the enemy I'm going to send someone who's going to crush you the first way we ought to respond to our sin is to acknowledge that we're not the ones who get to beat it you're not the one who's able to overcome this you're not the one who's able to fix the promise fix the problem God has promised
Someone else to do it secondly it says this in the text look at verse 21 and the Lord God made for Adam and Eve and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them God did not look at them and say no no no don't cover yourself stay naked he says I've got a better covering I've got a better covering than what you can accomplish the second thing that we ought to do in our sin is to go to God and expose our sin
So that he can cover it that's what happens in Christ see we're told that everything that we hide gets uncovered everything that we hide gets exposed that on the last day God's going to bring it forth that what we whisper he's going to shout from the rooftops but that everything that we expose everything that we bring to him in our sin he covers and so they had to come to him and they had to remove their fig leaves they had to quit hiding
And let him cover them we're clothed in the new heavens and the new earth by God's glory by Christ's grace lastly then the Lord God said behold the man has become like one of us knowing good and evil now lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken he drove out the man at the east of the garden of Eden
He placed the cherubim that's a type of angel and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life the way back to the tree of life is for someone to face the sword of God's wrath the only way to make it back to the tree of life is to face God's wrath and so the way we respond is we admit that we can't fix this problem we expose our sin before God and we place our faith
In Jesus who took the wrath of God on our behalf so that we might re-enter the garden and be given life see Jesus Christ fixes what falls apart here in Genesis chapter 3 and that's our hope it's the only hope we have that we would trust him who died for us and rose again that we might have life Raz and Kelly are going to come back up some of you have been hiding you've been hiding for a long time
Some of you have some actual fig leaves that work they work around other people Adam and Eve could have kept on going with the fig leaf thing until God showed up and some of you that's what you've got you've got acceptable fig leaves for your family for your co-workers for your neighbors but one day you stand before God and everything gets exposed and so I would encourage you to go to God and lay yourself bare to confess your sin
To be open about it to admit that you're wrong and place your faith in Jesus who takes God's wrath on your behalf that you might have life that the way to the tree of life is open again because Jesus Christ went to a cross and took God's wrath on our behalf so in a second Raz is going to play the guitar and give us a little bit of time to just pray to reflect some of us believe in Jesus but we've been hiding we have some things we need to repent of some people need to go grab somebody and talk to them that's in your group
And confess some sin and work some things out and then when you're ready when you've confessed when you've dealt with your relationship with the Lord and with others if you're a Christian in the room we'd invite you to take communion which is where we celebrate that Jesus Christ's body was broken for us that his blood was shed for us and that we have a new covenant with him not based off of our work or our labor or our ability but based off of his and if you're not a Christian in a moment while everybody else is taking communion please just stay where you are
And then we'll have a chance to sing and pray and be dismissed and if you've never placed your faith in Jesus you can't because it's not about your work it's about his so we would encourage you to expose your sin have Christ cover you with his love and his good work and then you may take communion as well let's pray God we thank you for how good you are thank you for the love that you've shown us I pray right now Lord that you would help us feel the weight of our shame
And our guilt and our sin before you that we would not grow comfortable with it that we would not begin to accept it and therefore never get rid of it I pray that we would confess that we would be honest that we would be real about where we are that you might cover us and clean us refresh us and give us life in Jesus name Amen
The First Man and Woman
Transcript
Well, good morning. My name's Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. Grab your Bibles, go to Genesis chapter 2. We are walking through the book of Genesis. Genesis is the first book in the Bible, probably on page 1, no matter what Bible you have, whichever which Bible you have.
If you do not own a Bible, we have blue ones in the row next to you. We'd love for you to grab one. We'd love for you to take it home. We want you to own a Bible. We want you to read it often. I have been married for, it'll be nine years this year, and I have gotten fairly competent at building things out of particle board.
There's not much in our house that is made out of any kind of solid material, but we have a lot of particle board. And I have built bookshelves and tables, and we've got a three-year-old now, and he'll jump up on particle board like coffee table, and I'm like, yeah, that thing's days are numbered. Like, this isn't going to last long. But we don't have a whole lot of real stuff, but there's different times when you buy something, and it looks nice in the store, it looked nice on the box, and then you pour all this stuff out, and you have no clue who originally wrote these instructions, and then even less of an idea of who then translated them, but they don't really match.
The pictures aren't great, and there have been times when I've been building something that I hit, you know, step seven, and all of a sudden I'm like, I just have to, like, step back away from it and stare at my creation, and it's like, I think something's wrong here. I think something's out of place. This picture doesn't look like this. I'm not even sure these instructions go to this. I think I'm missing some pieces. This isn't great, and since having a child, I've built even more things that don't even get me started on, like, train tables.
Like, there's just these moments where I have to step back and go, okay, I don't know if my instructions match. I don't know if I'm doing this the way it's meant to be done. And I think for a lot of us, life feels like that. I think for a lot of us, there are moments in life that kind of feel like that. Like, it just started happening. You just started making decisions.
Maybe for you, this kind of starts, I think really kind of starts, people actually start making some decisions in middle school. We've actually encouraged you before to reevaluate all your middle school decisions because some of us made decisions in middle school that we've just stuck with, and maybe we need to think back through those. But there are these decisions we make in middle school and high school, and then we kind of get out of high school, and we kind of pick, we're going to go to work, or we're going to go to college. We date some people. Maybe we get married. Maybe we don't.
Maybe like, and there's all of a sudden, there's these moments in life where you just kind of step back, and you look at your life and go, have I done this right? Is this built correctly? Did I miss a step? Am I missing some pieces? What is going on here? And so as we look at the beginning of Genesis where God is creating humanity, what we want to see today is kind of the good gifts that God places around the first man and the first woman, what he gives them, what he equips them with, so that we might better understand what is our life meant to have?
What are the pieces that are supposed to be involved? What order are they supposed to be in? How are we supposed to understand what's meant to be a part of life, and how do we live well in all the good gifts that God gave us? So that's kind of what we're doing, that as we zoom back on life at times and try to figure out, oh, I have everything here, we're going to hopefully see in God's original creation what he said, no, you need this, you need this, you need this, in order to be designed the way he designed humanity, to flourish and to be healthy. So let's pray, and then let's read the text together.
God, we thank you for your word. We thank you for how helpful it is, and we pray that as we see the beauty of your creation in Genesis 2, that you might help us to rejoice, and you might help us to worship, and that we might leave today grateful for Jesus and his good work on our behalf. Lord, we love you, and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to pick up in verse 4, and we're going to kind of throughout the day walk through the rest of this chapter, but it says, these are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
This is the first of 10 times that we'll see this phrase, these are the generations, in the book of Genesis. Every time we hit that, we kind of know we're hitting a new section, a new kind of idea is being opened up, a new chapter in the book, and so it's saying, these are the generations, meaning these are the people, this is the stories we're going to tell kind of in this time frame, and so he says, in the time when God was creating and his beginning of creation and him in the time frame, that's what the day means there, in the time that God was making heavens and the earth, these are the people, this is what happened, and so verse 5, when no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground, then the Lord God formed the man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. So in the opening of the Bible, we have Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, and both of them are giving an account of some of the same historical things that took place. They're giving an account of some of the same events.
So Genesis 1 is going to give this big, cosmic account of creation, how God, the God of the universe, exists before everything else. That's why it starts in, in the beginning God, like he was here before everything else was here, and that he speaks everything into existence, and it's this orderly account of God's creating and kind of the way that he created. And then Genesis 2 is going to start back up, kind of in the middle of that, and zoom way in. So Genesis 1 is this big, cosmic picture of who God is and how powerful he is and how glorious he is and how he speaks everything into existence.
And then Genesis 2 is going to jump right in, and the main character is man fairly quickly. It's saying kind of nothing was ready yet, nothing was going on, and then God creates man. And some people will read Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 and say there's some conflict there. There are some places where if you just do a straightforward reading of each, it seems like they're in conflict. I don't believe that they are. I think the purpose is different so that Genesis 2 is telling the same story but in a different way.
And you know this. You meet some people who both were in on the same event, and you ask them how it went, and maybe your granddad says it like just real matter of fact and real logical and real in order, and it's not the best story, but you got some of the facts there. Well, this happened, and then this happened, and your grandmother and I at that time were, and like he tells it that way, and maybe your grandma's chaotic. She's all over the place. She's like telling this part of the story, and you're like, wait, I didn't think y'all had kids then. She's like, oh, well, we didn't, but they came later, and she just mixes it all up, but her story's way better, and it's from the same events, and they're both true.
That's kind of what we have here where Genesis 2 is going to zoom in and say this is the main point of the story. So when it talks about trees, when it brings up these other things, it's just kind of saying God did that, but it's not trying to tell you an order. It's not trying to make this a big, it's saying let's focus in on the main part here. So that's what we have in Genesis 2, and so let's look at as God creates humanity, and as Genesis 2 zooms us in on this, let's look at what God places around man. So go back to 5.
When no bush of the field was yet in the land, and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground. Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. So in Genesis 1, God speaks, and it is. God speaks, and it is. God speaks, and he sees it. It immediately happens, and then there's this, in Genesis 2, we see that God pauses, and we saw this last week as we looked at the man was formed in the image of God, that God pauses when he gets to humanity, and he approaches it differently.
That he forms, and he breathes, and there's this intimacy that is seen with humanity that is different, and in contrast to the rest of creation. That as the biblical account tells it, the stars have glory, but not compared to the glory of man. That God's good creation, animals have glory, but that God's poured extra distinct beauty and creative work and connection into humanity that is wholly different from the rest of everything else. And the Lord God, this is verse 8. So this is the first thing we're going to see that God kind of gives man.
So he makes him, and then we're going to start seeing kind of what he puts in place. And the first thing is a place, or place. God gives humanity place. Let's look at this idea. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.
The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Those two trees are going to play a very important role in the history of humankind, and we'll get more to them in a minute. A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold, and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are there.
The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush, and the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria, and the fourth river is the Euphrates. And the Lord God took the man, and he put him in the garden of Eden. And we'll stop there. God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden. So the first thing that God gives humanity is a place, and it is a specific place.
Some people will try to argue, and they're like, Genesis 2 is kind of this, it's an allegory, it's a picture, it's like, it's this, it's just kind of a story, but there wasn't like a real first man, real first woman, and we're going to see next week, we'll argue this out a little more. But yes, there were, because Eden is a very specific place. It didn't just say, once upon a time in a garden. It goes, no, in the east, and there was this river that ran into this river, and went to this land, that's not a part of this story, but that place has gold. Like, it just kind of keeps going, because it's telling you, it's a specific place on earth, and God takes Adam, and places him in a specific place on earth.
That we're designed to inhabit space. None of us can teleport. You had to wake up this morning, and move your body, and work really hard to get here. And some of us didn't make it here. There's some people who tried, and they're not here, you guys. They're in another place.
They inhabit other space right now. This is how this works. Some of you left family members at home. You were like, you're ruining this. I'm going. I will be there.
You will not. But we were designed to have a place that is ours, that is a home. And this is one of the beautiful things that God gives man. A place to belong. A place to be where he's meant to be. See, we're looking at just one man here, but this is actually what God is going to do for humanity.
He made earth this way for us, and that we're all only able to live in one place at a time, and only able to be in one place at a time, and that is a gift. It doesn't feel like it when you're at the DMV, but it is a gift that God designed us to inhabit space and to have places where we feel at home. You ever had those moments? I mean, it's not all the time, but there are these moments where you're just like, this is my place. This is where I belong. This is where I'm meant to be.
This is my home, and I don't know for you what that is. For some of you, it's the places that you, as you live in a place, maybe it's the restaurants and kind of your local haunts. I have restaurants. I had a Japanese restaurant when I lived in Lynchburg, Virginia. There's a Chinese restaurant that when I walk in, if I wasn't there the week before, there's a lady who's like, oh, I walked in the restaurant recently, and she went, it's not Thursday. It's like, yeah, my schedule changed.
I'll be here on Tuesdays, though. There are these places where you feel like, this is where I'm supposed to be. Maybe it's when you've come back from vacation, or maybe you joined the military, and when you got to come back from being downrange, there are these moments when you were like, yes, this is my home. This is my place. Maybe it's with family over Christmas or something where you're gathered together and you just have this moment. You can't describe it, and it's one of the things that C.S.
Lewis talks about in his book, Surprised by Joy, where you have this moment and you feel it, and as soon as you try to capture it or as soon as you try to look at it, it disappears. But there are these moments where you just feel, yes, I belong. I'm here. I'm meant to be here. I'm home. That's the first place that God gives it.
I want to point out something about this place that God gives. And I love that it talks about Havilah, and I love what it says about Havilah. So it says, God plants this garden in Eden, and then it starts talking about this river. And in verse 12, it says, in verse 11, it says, the name of the first river is the Pishon, and it is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah where there is gold. Verse 12, and the gold of that land is good. What does that have to do with the Garden of Eden?
As far as I know, it just helps place where it is, but this whole little, like if you were writing this, your teacher would circle the like, why are you talking about gold in Havilah? This has nothing to do with the rest of the story. Does Eden have gold? No. Does Havilah have gold? Yes.
Is it good? Yes. Where did God put Adam? In Eden. To work in a garden. What I love about that is that so often we long for other places and maybe you're supposed to be here where there is no gold.
That God placed you in a place and so often we get so, we wander and we convince ourselves that some other place should be our place. That we don't inhabit where we're meant to be and we don't enjoy the good gifts that are here. Some of you are so bothered by the fact that, you know, Charleston has the coast and they have these good types of food. And it's like, yeah, are you enjoying the river and the barbecue that's here? You've been to the zoo lately? Because if you were in Charleston and you wanted to see a lion, you're out of luck, bro.
And if you see a lion in Charleston, I got bad news for you. Something bad has happened. Like being in a place and enjoying the good things that God put there. That's a good gift that God gives humanity. He keeps going. We're going to see this in three spots.
It shows up in three spots, but we're going to hit it here. The second thing that we see that God gives man, it says this, verse 15, and the Lord God took the man and he put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. So God placed man there and he wasn't just like, hey, here's a beautiful garden. Take a nap. He says, hey, here's a beautiful garden. You got some work to do.
Because if you don't keep this up, it will not be a beautiful garden anymore. Isn't that crazy? I think we have this idea that prior to the fall, prior to sin, like back then, there was like, he just got to nap. That was it. God was like, here's green grass. Take a nap.
You know, he puts him there and he says, you got work to do. Later, he's going to have him name all the animals. Earlier, I love this. Verse five, it says, when no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land and there was no man to work the ground. God designed certain plants to not exist if humans don't exist. Without humans, without us tending and toiling and working, it doesn't exist.
He designed it from the very beginning to need us to be involved, that God made the world that way. I heard a story one time of a pastor who used to ride by this plot of land and it was just overgrown. It was a big mess. He'd ride by it every day to and from work. Eventually, he saw there was a for sale sign in front of it and then the for sale sign was gone and then at some point he rode by and he saw that some of it had been cleared and then slowly over his trips he just kind of kept seeing it getting cleared and cleared and cleared and then things started being planted and it became this beautiful part of his drive.
He was driving by one day and he sees a tractor out there and he just gets out and he's staring at it and the guy kind of stops and gets off and they start talking and he goes, isn't it wonderful? Because he's a pastor so he pastors it up. He says, isn't it wonderful what man and God can do when they work together? And the farmer's like, you know, you should have seen what it looked like when just God was in charge of it. Every time I heard that, like it bothered me but that's actually how God designed it. From day one, there are things that were meant to only be good as humanity got involved.
Do you see the elevation and the purpose and the joy that God brings humanity in on his good work? That's the second thing he gives us is work. Good work to do. That he designed us to have a purpose. That none of us are meant to be here and just inhabit space but we're meant to be here and in the space that we are and in the place that we're put, we're meant to make it better. We're meant to add into it.
We're meant to do something with our hands or our intelligence or our ability to speak to others and love others and work together but we're meant to be a part of God's good work and that's a blessing. And you've had moments like that where you're doing some work, you're involved in something and you just have this glimpse of, now this is what I'm supposed to be doing. This is it. You have days at work when you come home and you're riding home and you're like, yes, that is what work is supposed to be like. I crushed it today. I am a worker and you liked it.
You don't always have days like that but there are days like that. There are times like that when you're doing something, when you finally, you were trying to cook the perfect breakfast and it just worked. You actually flipped the omelet and it landed and you thought, yes, from now on, I am the chef of the house. It was that one day, you've never done it again but you had these moments where it worked, where you felt your purpose and God gave us that as a good gift that was meant to be felt for humanity. It was meant to be a part of how we lived prior to the fall, prior to sin. Let's pick up the third gift that God gives is He gives us Himself and He gives us His Word.
Let's pick up in verse 16. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, you may surely eat of every tree of the garden. Okay, that's part of place. He gives us food. That's just a blessing but it comes along with the provision of your place. I didn't want to add in food because I would talk forever about that.
I'd have way too much to say but food's good, you guys. Later He gives us meat but that's not until later. Right now it's just trees and like vegetables and stuff. I realize we don't really eat trees. All right, let's go.
And the Lord God commanded the man saying, you may surely eat of every tree of the garden but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. I find this part of the passage so interesting. It told us earlier that God plants a garden in Eden and in the middle of the garden He plants tree of life, tree of knowledge of good and evil in the midst of the garden, in the middle, somewhere in the middle. It doesn't necessarily mean it was the exact center but it's in the middle. Now, I have a question. If there's a tree that they will eat of and it will kill them, why plant it there?
That's my, I was like, I'm not like a botanist or like an arborist or whatever but why when you were designing the garden did you put it like if I said, hey, I'm making my backyard perfect for my three-year-old and there's going to be a swing set over here and this area's just going to be kind of wooded and I'm going to have kind of where you can hang out and I'm going to put a pit with spikes in the middle and there's going to be a tree house. Like, you'd be like, what's with the pit of spikes? And I'm like, no, I'll tell him it's there. It's like, no, there's this question I have when I read this text.
It's like, why is that there? You want to know the text, the answer the text gives us? Unfortunately, it doesn't give us one. It doesn't tell us why he put it there. We have a lot of people who've made guesses and I think some of them are reasonable and some of them are intelligent but we don't know why God placed it there. We know that God is infinitely wise and infinitely good but I want to point out one thing about this that I think changes the minute that God says, don't eat of that tree.
See, the moment that God looks at Adam and says, you can eat of every tree except that one and if you eat of that one on the day you do, you'll die or in the time you do, you'll die. what happens that moment is Adam now has to trust God in a way that he never had to before. He has to believe God in a way he never had to before. He has to relate to God in a way he never had to before. That God is inviting Adam into a depth of relationship that is beyond what would happen if God had just put Adam in a padded room. We also see that it seems like that death and this kind of this interaction was going to be a part of creation somehow.
God had not designed it for humanity. It was not meant for this to be the way it worked but God places him there and he says, you're just going to have to trust me. And the moment he does that we're invited into humanity's invited into a relationship where we are more dependent on God and more have to believe him and trust him over and against our own desire and over against our own wisdom and over against everything else so there's this moment now where the relationship has changed and God has said you're just going to have to trust me. Those of you who are parents especially parents of older children maybe you've had these moments where you're trying to explain to them why they cannot do a thing you're trying to tell them that they should not act in such a way and their answer is why?
Their question is why? They want you to convince them. They want to be on your team. They want to agree with you and at some point you just land on because I am your parent because I love you because I have wisdom things you can't just you're going to have to trust me. Maybe you didn't say it that way maybe you said because I said so. Maybe some of you said because if you do they will be like I'm coming after you like I don't know how you worded it but there was these moments where the reason they're supposed to do or not do a thing is because you have told them and they're supposed to bank on the relationship and the love and the connection and your wisdom and lean into you in a way they can't lean into themselves and as soon as God says don't touch that tree he invited Adam into that.
That he gives us himself and his word and the truth is we need God to do that. We need God to enjoy life. This comes third in the list but it's first we need God. In the way humanity works we see that God's at work before he begins everything that humanity needs God. We were designed to relate to God. We were designed to enjoy God.
We were designed to walk with God. We were designed to have conversations with God. You ever had that moment I wish God would just tell me. That's how it was supposed to work. He still gives us his word in scripture but we were meant to have this relationship where we listened to him where we understood him where we knew what he wanted from us where he gave us wisdom we couldn't have otherwise. And it's a good gift that God gives us and it's the way it works best that we were designed to be in a relationship with God.
The way that children were designed to have parents and that's the way that it works best. We were designed as humans to be in a relationship with God and that's the way that we are most free and most flourish. There are things about the world we do not understand. There are spiritual aspects to the world we don't understand that God wove in who we are and how it works. We see it in glimpses of things like when you become depressed you also get physically sick. You can be actually sick.
What made you sick? I was sad. It's like how does that work? That there's more to us than we understand. There's more that God's put in the world and we need him to explain it to us and show it to us and we need to trust him and we were meant to. Prior to the fall we were meant to trust God and his wisdom over our own.
The next one we're going to see is that God gives us each other. Let's keep reading. Verse 18 Then the Lord God said it is not good that the man should be alone. I will make a helper fit for him. We've spent a decent amount of time talking about this in the past couple years. The first thing that God says isn't good is for him to be alone.
He looks at the man he's created in all of his creation so far in Genesis chapter 1 he said he saw it it was good he saw it it was good he saw it he ends by saying everything's very good. This is the one moment where God was like no it's not good for him to be alone. I will make a helper fit for him. Real quick just to try to for anybody that this is a hurdle for the word helper while having kind of diminutive connotations in the way we use it like oh you're my little helper. like if Archer's helping me do work I'm like oh you're being such a good helper. He's not he's just hitting things with a hammer but it's like yeah good Job buddy.
And so it's like God looked at man and said oh I'm going to make you a little helper. And then that's where women came from. That's not that's that's that's why sometimes it seems like it reads the word helper in the Bible is most often used for God. There's only two instances where it is used to mean someone who is of a lower status. Every other time it's someone who shows up as like a rescuer. So it is not in the text and in the original Hebrew it is not meant to be diminutive.
Helper fit means that phrase really just kind of means a like opposite so he's going to make something that's similar but very different so that he's actually helped. So now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. This does show Adam's dominion over creation and God's place that he's put him in and whatever the man called every living creature that was its name. And the man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field but for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.
So Adam you just think he's got a job and then at the end it surprises you because it was like a weird dating game because it's like but he didn't like any of them. None of them worked out. I think God was really putting that on display for him was like everything else is different from you. You are in a different category. So it's like zebras are neat but they're not like cute cute.
They're cute but not like I'm attracted. So that's what he's doing there. He's just kind of saying like this isn't going to work for you. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and while he slept he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh and the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and he brought her to the man. Then the man said this is at last this at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man.
This is the first bit of poetry this is the first bit of song that we see that existed in human existence. Adam had the urge that every high school guy has had who had a guitar at a party which was to sing and look at a girl. That's what he did. He saw her and he was like I want to write you a poem. That's what happens. This is the last bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she should be called woman because she was taken out of man.
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh and the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. Alright so in this part of the text there's a lot going on here and we're going to zoom way out but there's a lot of things happening here. Adam specifically Adam the one man that God had put on earth did not need to be alone and so God brings him Eve. So what the text is telling us is that Adam needed a wife specific to Adam. It also means that masculinity is incomplete without femininity. That God's distinct way that he displays his glory and himself through masculinity is not going to accomplish what the world needs so he also has a distinct way to display himself and his glory through femininity and they were meant to be complementary like opposites that come together to make a beautiful picture.
It means on another level that humans were meant to procreate and they're not going to be able to have dominion over the earth and be fruitful and multiply and accomplish all that God's meant without males and females but on a very zoomed out level one of the things that God is saying and completely writing into how he designed humans was that we were not meant to be alone and that does not just mean romantically that humans were meant to have relationships. This is why if you get trapped on an island you will start talking to a volleyball because we were meant for other people. We were meant to have relationships. We were designed and so in this moment God says no, no, no, no, no.
Humans need friends. Humans need relationship. Humans need love. That we're made in his image and God's existed in a trinity so that he's been forever loving and relating and being a friend and all of this. God did not make humans so that he could relate to us but he did once he made humans say no, y'all need to relate to each other. And if you think about all the ink that has been spilled all the film that has been used all the song lyrics that have been written about the beauty of friendship and love this is a good gift.
That God did not design you to just be alone but he designed you for family. He designed you for relationships. He designed you for friendship. And how much joy that brings to life. How we were designed to relate to one another and bring things out of each other. It's one of the things where you know like maybe you have a friend and when y'all hang out it's really enjoyable and there's a lot of fun but there's a third friend that when they add in you all of a sudden see a whole other side of this person that you'd never seen before and like you get more out of them because there's more people involved and God designed that to be a thing that happened for humanity that we had friends and enjoyed it.
So God in his goodness to us and his love for us intentionally made it to where you inhabit a place and you're meant to be there to be home to enjoy it to be content there. He designed you to have a purpose to have work to do. He designed you to relate to him and to know his word to trust him and he designed you to have relationships. We don't believe that everybody has to get married. We don't believe that the Bible teaches that. We don't believe that you're an incomplete person without a spouse.
We don't think that jives with the rest of the scriptures. We think that Adam was an incomplete person without a spouse because God specifically brought him Eve but we don't think that this means everybody has to have a wife but we do believe that everybody has to be in relationship. You were not designed to be alone. I'm going to be honest with you. You alone is scary. You need help.
One of the things that I know that is true about me when I'm alone is I let myself get away with a lot of things that aren't healthy or helpful. I convince myself of a lot of things that are harmful to myself and I also believe a lot of lies about myself like that I'm really easy to get along with and I'm the smartest person in the room. When I'm alone I'm super easy to get along with and I'm great you guys and then I get around my wife and she's like you're not that great you got some stuff to work on and I'm like what is wrong with you and I hang out with my community group and they're like why do you do this repeatedly? We've been hanging out in a group with you for years and you haven't fixed this and I need them to grow and to be healthy and to see my sin and I need them to enjoy life.
We're meant for relationship. God in his goodness gave us each other and I have really bad news. We're not going to end the sermon here and it's going to get way worse next week but I'm going to give you a little hint about what happens next week. Y'all remember that tree that God talked to Adam about? Well next week they decide not to trust God and that humanity is more intelligent than God that we know a better idea of what's good for us than God and they completely mess up all four of these things for us. They get derailed they get stolen they get corrupted.
And that humanity is more intelligent than God that we know a better idea of what's good for us than God and they completely mess up all four of these things for us. They get derailed they get stolen they get corrupted. We still long for all four of these. Every single person in this room wants a place where they belong wants a purpose that makes them feel fulfilled wants a job that is great for them
Wants to have a relationship with God even if you don't understand that even if maybe I always want to point it out to you you're in this room some of you think you have no desire for God whatsoever but he's been drawing you he's been pulling on you he's been claiming you he won't let you get away you're here because we know we were meant for we don't understand why but we know that it's missing and we need each other some of you
Think you hate people but you know you're way worse off without them you're like people are the worst and oh my goodness I have to have them I don't understand see what happens is this they sin and all of this good gift that God gives them they lose they're removed from Eden the good work that God had given Adam to do
In Eden is now just kind of dispersed and he has to move and try to try to patch it together everywhere he goes to work the ground but it's going to be harder the relationship they had with God where they walked with him intimately knowing him where he could just speak to them and they trusted him is completely corrupted and their relationship
With each other you know this line at the end of this where it said they were naked and unashamed which is like that's weird to put in here but alright good for y'all as soon as they sin as soon as they rebel against God both of them go I don't feel right they cover themselves up they feel naked they lose the relationship with each other so let me explain what happens let me explain us in this story
You kind of like your house if you just moved in it you think it's great we'll give it some time we have this idea that like this house is great but if my kitchen just and we pick weird things if it was just a different color I'd be happy I'd be settled if our floor looked a little different if maybe we were in a different part of town if maybe our house was a little bigger I realized that I wanted this but now I really kind of want that because the reason is
We were meant for a place and we really wanted to work for some of us we do this with cities you liked it when you were first discovering what Columbia has to offer but now that you're going for the third time to the same place and you realize that the best restaurant near you is like an Applebee's like that hurts you inside and you're thinking man if I could just move to Savannah if I could just move to Denver if I could just go somewhere
Where weed was legal and we need to talk to you we do this we convince ourselves that some other thing would be better some other thing would fill us up some other thing would make us more whole and we have these glimpses of it where I'm home and then it's gone this is my place no it's not because we've lost this and we long for it this happens with work any of y'all ever had the perfect Job just the perfect Job is it still the perfect Job nope
Because that's how it works you get in it and you're like finally I'm at my place this is where I belong and then it turns out this boss is an idiot like your last boss everywhere you've gone your boss is an idiot and it's not your fault it's the boss's fault you don't know how idiots keep getting promoted you have those days where everything worked you remember that day I was talking about you're riding home and you're like yes this is how everything was worked how many more days have you been sitting in traffic
Like wanting to bang your head on the steering wheel like this is I don't even understand how everything broke I don't understand how this all went sideways because we long for work we long for this to work and it's twisted it's broken it's corrupted our relationship with God this is a room full of people who are trying trying to read trying to pray trying to listen to God how's it going you have those days where you're like I don't even know how to pray I don't even know
If I've ever done this right I have days I'm a pastor you guys don't get rid of me I'm going to tell y'all something I have days where I go to sleep I'm about to go to sleep and I'm like did I even pray today? like I have this deep longing for God and this paired with this absolute inability to bridge that gap and we were meant for each other you guys for every beautiful love song just Taylor Swift has written a breakup song
How many people used to be your friend? we can rewind a little bit to the moments where you're like oh we're going to be best friends forever and where are we now? it's broken we hurt each other how many people that you care about have you done some serious wicked harm to evil we're going to talk more about that next week I want to tell y'all something beautiful the story starts off where God says I'm going to make
Everything good for y'all and it's going to be beautiful and he puts Adam here and he equips him with everything he needs and then Adam and Eve mess it up it breaks apart it falls down and the story does not end after chapter 3 see we're here the rest of this is about God fixing the problem and here's what he does he loves humanity so much that the God of the universe leaves his place see he was meant to be on a throne he was meant to be elevated
He was meant to be glorified we sang a song about this earlier that he comes here and he's a baby he's mute he's weak he's helpless he's laid in hay he leaves his place he was meant to be the ruler of the universe and to do all good work and to pour life into everything and his good work that he's sent here to do is to die the author of life the creator of life life itself is going to die
He was meant to have a perfect relationship with the father and every time we see in scripture that Jesus prays he calls him father until he's on the cross and then he says my God my God why have you forsaken me this beautiful relationship this beautiful connection with the father that has existed since eternity passed in a trinity is severed because God poured our sin on Christ
And then poured his wrath on him that the sky turns black because God is pouring his wrath out on Jesus as a human and as God Jesus was meant to have this beautiful relationship with us he's despised he's rejected he's hated humanity gathers together to kill God and he does all of that so that he can
Swap places with us Jesus does that so that we can have a place so that we can have purpose again so that we can have him again so that we can have each other again that's the story of the gospel that everything's been lost and we have this ache and this longing for it and no ability to get it except through Christ if you're here today
And you don't know Christ you haven't accepted Christ I want you to understand that this longing is in you this desire for this to work for you to have a place for you to have a purpose for you to have each other for relationships to be good and I want to tell you definitively you will not get those outside of Christ swapping places with you taking the punishment for you and granting you what only he deserves now which is love
And acceptance belonging and purpose and here's what happens our place all of these get to be twofold now we have a home we're citizens of heaven you will eventually get to heaven and go this is why I liked every little place that I kindly had this is why I liked all the little things I liked on earth are here because I was meant for this place you'll get to heaven and be like yes this is finally home
But it also means that we get to enjoy the place we are now your kitchen gets to be a weird pink you're okay you get to enjoy it you get to live in the neighborhood you live in you get to drive the traffic route you drive you get to enjoy Columbia that's God's grace through Christ for us you get to do good work here and Jesus has given us all a new purpose which is to see people
Come to know him so it doesn't matter where you work there are people that don't know Jesus there that need to know Jesus there and maybe God's already sent in a missionary to work there so that you might know them and pray for them and long for them to know Christ we get Jesus we get a relationship with him we get to be welcomed back into the beautiful relationship with Christ beautiful relationship
With the Father because Christ bridges that gap for us and because Jesus forgives us of our sin and we can have the gap between us and God reconciled then we get to reconcile with everybody and we're given a new family that we will be brothers and sisters in the new heavens in the new earth for eternity that heaven for us will be a place of purpose
Of belonging of family and of love towards Christ and the Father the band's going to come back up we're going to take communion in a second and what communion is is for us a celebration of what we just talked about that Jesus Christ gave his life for us he shed his blood for us his body was broken for us so that we might have life
And we might be forgiven and if you're a Christian in here what I would encourage you to do is prior to taking communion prior to getting up and celebrating that Jesus' body was broken for you and his blood was shed for you I want you to think through place and work and your relationship to God and your relationship to others and I want us to repent I want us to repent
Where we've begun to convince ourselves that we don't belong here that we have to be somewhere else to be happy I want us to repent for all the times that we've begun to convince ourselves that if we just worked this job if we could just move our job if we could just get that we lost our purpose and our meaning for mission for seeing people come to know Jesus and for just doing good work
But God to put us here to do I want us to talk to God about our broken relationship with him and ask Christ to help us to commune with God to pray to rest in him to enjoy him and if you have a conflict with somebody and they're in this room I want you to get up and go talk to them I want you to begin the process of reconciling of repenting of asking them
To forgive you of telling them you forgive them if they're not in this room you have a magic box in your pocket and Verizon through God's good grace and somebody's good work will connect you to that person and I'd love for you to step up step out and go call them here or out there and then come back in and take communion and celebrate the fact that Jesus shed his blood so that we can have
Each other so all around the room we're going to start praying we're going to start repenting we're going to start celebrating the good gift that God gave us through his cross and then when you're ready if you're a Christian we encourage you and invite you to come take communion if you're not a Christian you can be all you need is Christ so you can repent of your sin and you can say I need a place I need good purpose I need to belong
I need you and I want to repent of my sin and where I've run and where I've rebelled and where I've like Adam and Eve chosen to listen to myself over you you can repent and then you can celebrate communion as well let's pray God we thank you for these beautiful gifts that you gave us and we thank you that when we lost them you redeemed them so that we get an eternal family we get a place to belong a home
We get good purpose here and with you and ultimately God we get you back that we might be restored I pray that you would help us to see where we've gotten this twisted and where we've been believing lies you'd help us repent and then celebrate well that we're redeemed by a good God who loves us in Jesus name Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen
Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen 音 Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Rema
Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen
Imago Dei
Transcript
Morning. We're in our second week of our series in Genesis. We're going to spend some time walking verse by verse through this book. It is the first book in the Bible. We're going to be on page one of your Bibles today. We're going to be in Genesis chapter one.
So if you want to grab your Bibles and go there. And you have some deeply held convictions about the nature of humanity. You have some deeply held convictions about human rights. And I don't know if you think about them a lot. Sometimes some people work in certain industries or they're fighting for certain causes. And so they think about basic human rights often.
But many of us don't. We just take these for granted. We understand that this is how this works. If a politician began running for office and they announced that they were pro-cannibalism. You would immediately be like, well, I'm not voting for you. And you maybe haven't thought about cannibalism very often.
But you didn't take much time to know you're anti-cannibalism. Like you don't. You're not on board with that. If they started saying they were pro. They were going to. Hey, like they came and said, hey, I think the purge.
I watched that movie and I like it. And I think that's a really good idea, honestly. And I was thinking maybe just like a two-week purge in the summer. Maybe one around the holidays. Like we would immediately be like, no, we're not. We can't do this.
Nobody can sign on for this. Because we have these deeply held convictions about human rights. About how we ought to treat people who are not in positions of power. How we ought to treat people who have different backgrounds culturally. How different stage of life. We have these deeply held convictions.
And so what we're going to look at today is why do we have these? Where are they founded? How do we know that they're real and true? Because they are a part of our lives. And they are assumed. But what I want us to see this morning is that they come directly from the scriptures.
And without the doctrine, without the understanding of the origin of life that we're going to look at today, you actually lose basic human rights. So what we're going to do is we're going to study this passage in Genesis 1. We're going to zoom in on something we looked at last week. We're going to talk about how human rights grows up out of this. And then we're going to spend a little bit of time talking about failures in this today. Because of sin, there are failures here.
And so we're going to spend a little bit of time talking about how we ought to engage with those as Christians. So let's pray. And then we'll move into Genesis 1. God, we thank you for this time we have together as your people to study your word. We pray for all of those who come in here hurting, who come in here confused about what to do next or how to respond to life as it is. And we pray that in these moments we would not just interact with your word, but that we would interact with you.
That your Holy Spirit would be at work in us for our good and your glory. In Jesus' name, amen. But it's Genesis 1, verse 26. If you're new to your Bible, like I said, Genesis, the first book of the Bible is on page 1. When we say chapter, we mean the big number. And when we say verse, we mean the little number that's kind of smushed down in the text.
So we're going to be in Genesis 1, verse 26. As we pick up here, we're in the first creation account. So Genesis 1 gives us a creation account. Genesis 2 kind of zooms in, gives us another creation account, kind of walks us through in kind of a more intense fashion. So next week we'll get to spend more time talking about creation.
We kind of set it up last week, said that there's some different ways to approach it. We're going to continue that next week. But what we see in this place where we're picking up is that the pattern has been this. God says, and it is, and then God sees that it's good. So God says something.
He says, let there be light, and there was light. It doesn't say, God said there be light, and then he has to kind of go for it. No, when he speaks it, it happens. And so we see that this, God says it is, and then he sees that it's good. And then it says there's evening, there's morning, the first day. And this is kind of the pattern that goes.
God says it's good, and then evening and morning. God says, there it is, it's good, evening and morning. So that's the pattern. We pick up, it just ended at day five. It says there's evening and morning, the fifth day. And then in day four, in day six, he begins to bring forth living creatures.
And it says this, then God said, this is verse 26, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them, that's humanity, that's what he means by man there. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So there's this pause, there's this break in the flow where God begins to speak, and he says, let us make man in our image. And so we as Christians see a reference to the Trinity there. This is God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, speaking inside the Godhead and saying, we're going to make humanity different and distinct from all the rest of creation.
And so God makes humanity in his image, and places humanity below God, but above everything else in creation. Verse 27, So God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created him, male and female, he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it. We're a young church with a lot of young families, and I think we've been doing pretty well with the be fruitful and multiply. I just want to say I'm proud of y'all.
Fill the earth and subdue it. We spent some time talking about that recently with the idea of work and how we're designed to have dominion over the earth. And it says, Have dominion over the earth, over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. So, humanity is distinct above all creation. And we know this. We believe this.
We feel this. And this, every once in a while I'll get on Craigslist, and I kind of just think, Let me see what kind of dogs people are selling. I just get interested, and maybe every once in a while I think I want to have a pet. I don't, but every once in a while I think I do. And I think I do until somebody in our church goes out of town, and they're like, Hey, can you watch my dog? And then I watch it, and I'm like, No, I don't want one of these.
Children make it hard enough to go out of town. I don't want to have a dog that I have to deal with also. But I get on there every once in a while, and I'll look and see what they have, and people will say, like the little Craigslist thing will be, Hey, I'm moving to a new place. Got transferred from my job. I'm needing to move into a one-bedroom house. They don't allow pets, and so I need to re-home my dog.
I love my dog. This is the best dog the world has ever known. It's crate-trained, and I love it, but I can't take it with me. That happens all the time, on Craigslist. That may not be true. That dog might bite everyone, and they're not actually moving, but that's the list thing you see.
I've never gotten on there and seen one that said, Hey, I'm having to relocate to another part of the town. I've actually lost my job. I'm having to get a job that doesn't pay as much. I'm really going to need to move into a one-bedroom apartment, and so I'd like to give up my eight-year-old Ian. He's great. We love him.
He's in the second grade. He can read pretty well, but we're just going to have to move, and it would be best for us if he didn't come, and he's crate-trained. You don't see that, you don't see that, because we know that if you're going to have to get rid of something, your children aren't on the chopping block. You've got to get rid of the dog. You've got to get rid of the parakeet and the fish, but you can't get rid of it. We know this is distinct and different.
We value this, and even for those people who come in and say, No, I think, and we mentioned this last week, but I think everybody comes from an evolutionary process, that all humanity grows out of this process, this long process of this creature turning into this creature, and then into this creature, and then into this creature, and then into this creature, and now we have humanity, and what we actually said last week is that there is room for a theistic evolution. This derails some parts of evolution, though. Humanity does not come in the line of creation. It does not come in the line of livestock.
It is distinct and set apart, so there is some room for there's some microevolution for some changes in, and we're going to spend more time on this next week, but this messes this up because God has made humanity distinct and separate, set apart as something different, and we know this. We don't treat animals the same. I was sitting there in my house, looking out my back window, and I like squirrels. I've owned squirrels periodically throughout my life. I'm watching the squirrels in my backyard. I like having squirrels in my backyard.
We actually raised four and set them loose in our backyard. I used to, when I'd go out there and talk on the phone, they would jump on you, which was great for me, weird for people who visited. So I'm watching the squirrel. He's eating. And out of nowhere, this hawk just goes, snatches him up, squirrels flipping around, and just takes off. And you know what I did?
Whoa. That was pretty cool. I like squirrels, but that was crazy. Now, flip that around. If I was facing out the front of my house, I'm across the street from a playground, and if I saw like an athletic 25-year-old do that to a six-year-old and just snatch him up and take off running, I wouldn't have been like, whoa. My response would have been a little differently.
I wouldn't have texted someone and be like, you wouldn't believe what I just saw. And they'd be like, what did you do? And I'd be like, what? We all know we're going to lose some young if they get separated from the herd. Predators will find them. Nobody, I wouldn't say that.
The response is different. I'm heading across the field. I'm going to go figure out what's going on. I'm calling the police, but I didn't call and say, you guys, there's a hawk and it just ate a squirrel. We don't do that. That hawk is not going to go to trial, is not going to get arrested.
How to Catch a Predator is a different show than National Geographic. You don't ever see the cheetah chasing and all of a sudden the person who was filming shoot it with a rifle and be like, I saved you gazelle, you're welcome. That doesn't happen. We just watch it eat it and they're like, neat. Because humanity is distinct from the rest of creation and we know this because of this. That God intentionally poured his image into humanity.
That humanity is made in the image of God and has the Mark of God on us and this is what this means. Because humans are made in the image of God, therefore, all humans have value and are worth loving, pursuing, defending, and serving. Because humanity is made in the image of God, all humans have value and are worth loving, pursuing, defending, and serving. You can add any other words you want to to that. I grabbed a few to try to help us wrap this picture around the fact that it doesn't matter what skin tone you have, it doesn't matter which gender you are, male, female, pink skin, tan skin, brown skin, this language, that language, this type of food, spicy food, bland British food, it doesn't matter. made in the image of God, worth loving, worth serving, worth defending.
Now here's what happens with this. One of the things that comes along with this concept is that we have purpose. Because we are made by God for a purpose in His image, then we have purpose, we have value. One of the things that has happened, come along in culture, is this idea that you need to create your own purpose. That you need to look inside yourself and find your purpose. You need to figure out who you are, you need to make your own purpose.
And so many people in our culture right now are languishing under the weight of having to prove that they have value when the text tells us that you have value because God designed you and put His image in you. Made you in His image for His glory and placed you here on purpose. That you do not have to prove your value. And here's what happens. This is the foundation for human rights. That humans are distinct from creation, distinct from creatures, distinct from the animals, that we aren't just in a long chain of that and that we all have value because God's placed value in humanity.
This is the foundation for human rights and so here's what happens. If we have the idea that we came out of nothingness, this is chaos, it all just swirled into what we have now and just by chance after chance after chance after chance after chance after chance our world won the lottery and here we are. we lose the foundation of human rights because if you have to find your own purpose it means that we don't just have to find our own purpose, we have to find and create our own morality as well. I want to read a law professor from Yale Law School whose name is Arthur Allen Leff and he's just interacting with this idea that if you have a God morality makes sense. Some rules that we all have to follow make sense and if you don't if you remove God from the picture if this isn't actually how this happened then laws and rules and morality we don't really have a leg to stand on.
He actually says that he uses a phrase that he says you'll find in bar rooms and schoolyards which is says who. You can't do that. That's not fair. That isn't how you should treat people and he says the response is says who? You and what army? And he says if there's a God you have an answer to the says who and if there isn't you don't have an answer.
I want to read this quote it'll be up here. God's will is binding because it is his will that it be. He just spent some time talking about in the scriptures you'll see God says and it is that whenever he says something it automatically exists. That when he speaks something he speaks it into existence so that if God says it is wrong to do this or if it is right to do this it is. It is wrong. It is right.
He's the only one who can speak in that way. Under what other circumstances can the unexamined will of anyone else withstand the cosmic says who and come out similarly dispositive? Meaning that God can say this is how this works this is what is right this is what is wrong and we just have to take it because he's God. But nobody else gets to do that. We examine it and we decide what we think. There are no such circumstances.
We are never going to get anywhere in ethical or legal theory unless we finally face the fact that in the psalmist's words there was no one like unto the Lord. If he does not exist there is no metaphoric equivalent. No person no combination of people no document however hallowed by time no process no premise nothing is equivalent to an actual God in this central function as the unexaminable examiner of good and evil. The so-called death of God turns out not to have been just his funeral it also seems to have affected the total elimination of any coherent or even more than momentarily convincing ethical or legal system.
Just his funeral it also seems to have affected the total elimination of any coherent or even more than momentarily convincing ethical or legal system. So what he's saying is this God gets to answer the question of the grand says who he gets to speak into existence morality he gets to say this is right and this is wrong and if you remove him from the picture then nobody else
There is no other equivalent you can't move the US government over there you can't move the UN over there you can't move nobody else fits into that equation where they can just speak and it's unexamined. He kind of finishes with this he says put briefly if the law meaning this morality this ruling over us is not a brooding omnipresence in the sky then it can only be one place
In us as things stand now everything is up for grabs so if we believe that we grew out of the strong eat the weak survival of the fittest the smartest the strongest the baddest the toughest the biggest need to breed and pass on their genes and the rest need to be weeded out you cannot build a system of global human rights off of that you can build a system of local ones
You can say our government works best if we don't allow murder so you can say that it's best for the United States to have rules and laws but you cannot make the argument that it's not a good idea for the United States and the USSR during the Cold War to just annex everything on the planet and say we own you now and if you don't like that we're going to destroy you because they're more powerful and that's how the system ought to work you cannot
Say this is wrong this is unfair without acknowledging the fact that you have nothing to base it off of for example most people in the United States think that females should have rights be able to drive be able to vote have opinions I agree I think that's good I distinctly and specifically agree whether I had a choice or not because the scripture says he made male
And female in his image and to deny that is to deny what this says but here's what happens we want to outsource this all over the world people who don't believe in God want to take this idea all over the world and so what happens is people will say well we know that women should have rights and we know that they should be treated this way we know it okay but for the majority of the population and the majority
Of the human history we haven't known that and much many many places across the world do not know that and so what happens is when you lose the grand says who when you lose the ability to say this is why this is true when you outsource it when you go over to Saudi Arabia or Libya and say no this is not how to treat a woman this is how women are supposed to be treated these are the rights they're supposed to have
All you really are doing is taking a very aggressively deep held opinion equivalent to whether or not pineapple should be on pizza it's an opinion if I told you that I was going to go to Saudi Arabia and I was going to make sure that they got rid of the ridiculous clothes they wore and the nasty tasting food they had started eating cheeseburgers and pizza and wearing blue jeans because they're all better you would say how on earth are you going to act like your culture
Just wipes their culture out but then we'll say they need to treat women this way and act like that's in a separate category and it is if you're over here where God created humanity in his image and it's not if you're over here in a big line of chaotic everything I weigh 220 pounds my wife weighs 100 pounds if I'm over here who's to say how she's treated if I'm over here it's different now you could say well we have laws
We have regulations but all you end up getting to do is appealing to power might makes right which was the argument I was making you say well the police will come in and they're more mighty than you we can say racism is wrong and we just know it it's common sense but the truth is for the majority of history and the majority of the population of the earth that hasn't been just known or made sense we can say
That a stronger nation shouldn't just plow over a weaker one and overtaken it but the truth is for the majority of the population and the majority of history that's exactly how that's worked and it's made the most sense so you can say that Russia should not annex the nation next to it named Georgia but without this it's hard to back up your argument and so for many of us what we'll say is no no no no I know this
You just want to argue with this you're like I know this to be true and the truth is I agree with you and the reason that so many people who believe this stand over here with us on human rights issues is because God made us in his image and we can't shake it it's been marred by sin but we can't shake the fact that we know that humans are distinct and different from the rest of creation and Christians have modeled this forever Christianity came in and immediately began
To interact with and adjust how the world viewed women how it viewed other races one of the most beautiful things that happens in the early church is the holy kiss we don't know much about it we read it and are sometimes like well that's weird because they'll say greet each other with a holy kiss here's what the holy kiss was in that time period when the church got started when people greeted
Each other on the street they would greet each other with a kiss so if you were of equal level with one another you kissed kind of cheeks we're equal if you were in higher status you could hold out your hand and they would kiss your hand and that demonstrated to everyone when y'all met this person is lower than me and if they were very low they could kiss your feet they'd bow down at your feet and Christianity comes in and goes nope
Everybody gets kissed on the face I don't care what your money is I don't care what your race is I don't care if you're a slave or free I don't care it's a holy kiss and it was this symbolic picture of what the gospel had done and Christianity began to do this very early on because Jesus came and he redeemed humanity he loved humanity made in his image so much that he would die
For us Christians immediately began to model this and how they cared for the poor there's a letter from the Roman Emperor Julian who's writing in the 4th century and he says this he calls Christianity in here and he calls it atheism because Christians only believed in one God and that was a big problem for everybody so you would say well of course all these gods are gods and Christianity would just be like
Nope can't play your game just the one so they called them atheists they were mad at them he says this atheism has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers and through their care for the burial of the dead it is a scandal that there is not a single Jew who is a beggar and that the godless Galileans that's the Christians care not only for their own poor
But for ours as well while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them what he says is part of the problem with these Christians is they don't just take care of their poor people they take care of our poor people too which is crazy but it's helped them grow but see this idea that poor people didn't have worth was rampant and then Christians came along and said no Christians and the Jewish
People who also believe this no every person's made in the image of God and is therefore valuable worthy of loving serving pursuing defending that's how hospitals began was Christians serving those who couldn't get medical help medical help was given to those who were wealthy Christians started just giving it to everybody there are actually stories where there were plagues
In cities and people were just dumping out someone in their family would get sick they would just put them out on the street or whole people were just leaving cities and the only people that were going back in were Christians started caring for the sick that weren't even theirs because they believed that this is a person made in the image of God and the truth is if I get the plague and die I have a great king that I'm about to meet
What we're about to do is going to be distinctly political so it should be fun y'all like being uncomfortable I assume the reason it's going to be distinctly political is we're going to talk about human issues and human issues always get pushed to the forefront of politics as they should sometimes I'll hear people say well Jesus wasn't political and that's true he didn't run for office he did ride a donkey one time
But he didn't he didn't run for office there we go but he always engaged in political issues one of the reasons he was killed was for political reasons they said he was setting himself up to be a king he was accused of undercutting the power system that the Pharisees had and the balance between them and Rome but the reason he was always interacting with political issues is because he was always interacting with humans on their level
In their lives and in human issues you will find politics so what we're about to do is take this idea that every human is made in the image of God and is therefore valuable and we're just going to apply it to some areas where we see it breaking down currently where we see conflict where we see frustration where we see a divide in the aisle and we're just going to try to point out and say here's how we ought to approach this and understanding that every human
Is valuable we're just going to push it into that area some of these will be handled more quickly than others the whole goal is for us to draw our attention to the fact that Christians have forever engaged in image of God breakdowns in culture and that we are not called to do anything less the first one we're going to talk about is gender we see this playing out in two distinct
Ways culturally you see we've been told that gender is a cultural construct but we just read that it's a divine construct that God made man in his own image and he made them male and female that there is a distinction between males there is a distinction between females and it both hold the image of God and are meant
To put him on display so here's here's where this is falling apart in two places culturally one is we have kind of this idea that gender is fluid that there are no two genders that you can't figure that out by biology and there are a few exceptions that are actually
Mentioned in the Bible but God designed gender two distinct genders on purpose and so one of the areas that we're seeing this breakdown is that this is under attack is maybe a harsh word it is but it's disbelieved and aggressively disbelieved and so we as Christians have to hold to
The fact that no there are two distinct genders but the other way that this is breaking down is that those in our culture who struggle with gender dysphoria those that are transgender in our culture are at increased likelihood for sexual assault they are four times more likely to attempt or to commit
Suicide and Christianity cannot just join in looking at those who are struggling and hurting and made in the image of God cannot just join in to aggressively chant you're wrong when we're called to distinctly love pursue defend and serve that there are those
Who in the middle of this are told that you have to create your own value you have to find out who you are you have to make yourself have worth that those in the transgender community the suicide rate does not change
Prior to or after transition because a lot of times they transition continue to face outside pressure but also continue to face the inside pressure that this didn't fix them and we as Christians know that they're made in the image of God and Jesus loved them
So much that he would die for them and they have value and they're worth loving pursuing defending and serving while we also uphold the truth that there are two distinct genders this is a gender issue as well but I want to we're going to give it a different word women this is a
Current cultural it is it has been a forever problem because God's good design was broken by sin and in God's good design men have been larger created larger stronger have thicker bone density tendon density muscle mass and therefore have gotten away with a lot of
Things they shouldn't have gotten away with that are heinous and evil throughout the history of the world because they've taken advantage of females who God designed in his good design to reflect his glory not as big so that we have the me too movement and I
Celebrate and applaud even where it has been painful and we have seen it cropping up in places where Christians are and in churches where there has been sexual assault and pressure we ought not to just discount everyone who comes forward with this but we ought to celebrate the fact that a voice has been given where there was no
Voice in history no voice attempted rapes and completed rapes according to RAIN which is the largest anti-sexual violence 90% of that is towards females 82% of the total rapes that take place or attempted rapes are towards juvenile females who are often in a position of lacking power lacking a
Voice if you are a female and you are 18 to 24 and you are in college you are three times more likely to face sexual assault if you are not in college you are four times more likely to face sexual assault than other females one out of six women in our nation has either
Been raped or someone has attempted to rape them and this is not okay that we have such a breakdown caused by sin in the image in the image of God that masculinity which was designed by God in the way he designed it
For protection for defense I'm meant to be bigger than my wife so that I can meet whomever's coming in the door so that I might carry more than she I'm meant to do this and it has been twisted and it's not okay we ought not grow tired of the me too movement we ought not discount it
Out of hand because on the other end of it is a human made in the image of God who has been harmed by sin and Christians are meant to swoop in and defend and love and pursue and serve thirdly the unborn and the orphan since day one Christians have joined in
This it was very common in the Roman Empire for a child that was born that was unwanted to be put over to exposure which just meant they would take a child and they would place them out where they might be destroyed die by lack of food
Lack of shelter and Christians knew where these drop off sites were and they began showing up and adopting a lot of females and any child born with a deformity and taking them home because Christians from day one have believed all humans are made in the image
Of God and therefore worth immense value loving protecting pursuing there are about 750,000 illegal abortions in the United States every year according to the CDC that is the equivalent of someone on the first day of school walking into every public school in the
State of South Carolina and gunning every child down since a legalized abortion in the United States there have been 45 million legal abortions there was an article that recently ran by CBS and it said that Denmark it says Down syndrome is disappearing in Iceland you click on
The article and basically the article was about the fact that they do prenatal screenings in Iceland and 98% of children that are prenatally screened to have Down syndrome the pregnancy is terminated they were interviewing I watched this interview and they were interviewing one
Of the ladies that counsels the women in the situations and they said what do you tell the ladies that are in the situation she said tell them this is your life and you have the right to choose how your life will look and that's
True over here but it's not true over here and here's the thing Christians if this changes and as ladies currently choose to not have abortions an unwanted preborn child is an unwanted child and Christians need to be
Adopting there are 400,000 children in the foster system currently and we cannot chant protect the unborn protect the unborn and then care nothing for those children that are starving
And care nothing for the children that are in foster care and care nothing for the children that go home every weekend and don't eat a meal because their parents decided to keep them when that was not a
Financially viable situation we're called to do both all humans are made in the image of God and therefore are given irrevocable value and are worth loving pursuing defending and serving we have two more racial injustice
Systematic racial injustice this isn't just garden variety racism this is what has been brought to the forefront currently consistently in the United States we act as if this is new if you watch videos and riots now they look similar to the 60s we've lapped back around on some
Things they were similar to the ones before that you cannot I don't believe that you can coherently or intelligently act as if the United States does not have historic issue with racism a nation that grew wealthy off of the backs of slaves
And that up until 50 years ago was actively oppressing and removing the right to vote from those who are of different skin color and then to act as if that should have flipped around in a generation I do believe a lot
Of it has gotten better I think a lot of it is still systematically at work to cause problems now our church is predominantly white and I do not believe that if you are white you are racist I don't believe that I believe you might
Be I believe most of us lean towards we're comfortable with our color skin our cultural background our nationality and it makes it easier for us to look down on others but I do want to make the argument that if you are white it is easier in the United States for you to
Pay zero attention to this issue I like to make jokes about people who have gluten allergies and who are lactose intolerant it's really fun to be like oh does that spicy milk get to you they don't
Appreciate it but I think it's funny I didn't care anything about allergies and stuff other than the people that were around me like I wouldn't like if I was hanging out with my friend Raz who has a gluten allergy I wouldn't
Like dip a cracker in his soup or anything ridiculous like that but my son now has a milk protein intolerance so that when we feed him milk he throws up and now I care I am aware of
Where milk is I don't want it near him it's an issue that now matters and I think that if you're white in the United States because we have been the majority and we have been in power it is much easier to just say I
Don't see the problem and that's true because you've never drank spicy milk and you don't understand what the problem feels like so I've ceased to listen to the arguments and what I've got to say is that may be a very good approach if you
Were conservative that may be a very good approach for a Republican but much of the rhetoric is not Christian it is not about our nation it's about a kingdom and there are things that we need to as Christians get very very good at listening
To and walking in that we currently aren't because all humans are made in the image of God and therefore are given irrevocable value and are worth loving pursuing defending and serving this is the same issue but it's in a different area
I'm talking about refugees a refugee is someone who is displaced from their home due to poverty due to famine due to war due to violence 65 million people made in the image of our good
God loved enough by Jesus that he would die for them were sent away from their homes last year now that is a major national and international problem to take in people into your nation that do not speak your language
Do not hold your values do not agree with you on basic human rights in so many areas are not on the same page it is a major national international and national interest and issue when people are flooding over borders I understand
That it needs to be handled by those in politics with wisdom but it needs to be handled by Christians like Christians with a lot of grace and a lot of love understanding that these people were made in the image of God and we cannot deny
That this scripture does not tell us a skin tone of our first parents but it does give us the indication that all skin tones came from them it does not tell us the language of our
First parents but we know that all languages came from them it does not exactly tell us their location we know they're in the Middle East so if you want to make an argument for European
Superiority you are going to be in trouble when you meet Adam other than the fact that he messed everything up but Jesus was also Jewish and he fixed it we we are designed by God with value
And purpose and so is everyone else and we as Christians ought to be at work and at war with all the breakdowns in our culture these are a few there are many many more I have a few questions
For us as we finish out our time the first one is this I want you to ask do I undervalue myself you see because this isn't just a global truth it is a personal truth that you
Were made in the image of God I know in a room this size some of you are considering suicide I know some of you practice self harm I know some of you are languishing and being broken under the weight of I've
Got to prove my value and the truth is you do not you were given value when the God of the universe created humanity in his image and you are an image bearer of our God loved so
Much that Christ would die that you might be his that he might redeem you from your sin C.S. Lewis in his essay The Weight of Glory says this there are no ordinary people you have never talked to a mere
Mortal nations cultures arts civilizations these are mortal and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat but it is to immortals with whom we joke work with marry snub and exploit immortal horrors
Or everlasting splendors this does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn or serious we must play but our merriment must be of the kind which exists between people who have from the very
Outset taken each other seriously no flippancy no superiority no presumption that you are not an ordinary mortal but you have been designed by a God to exist for eternity
And everyone you interact with the same questions that Christians ought to ask is who is marginalized or who is devalued when it comes to interacting with this image of God breakdown in our culture we need
To ask who is marginalized and who is devalued this is systematic this is who doesn't have a voice in our nation who doesn't have a voice who is in a minority but it's also who at work
Is marginalized and devalued who at your school is treated day after day after day and has to go home with the understanding day after
Day after day believing a lie that they don't have worth or they don't have value because of their intelligence because of their ability because
Of their looks when all of that is a lie because they were designed and made in the image of God with purpose and
Value who do you marginalize or who do I marginalize who do I devalue who isn't worth my time who's lower on the scale than I am who am
I biased towards who do I have negative connotations of these are all fair questions for us to ask as Christians as we investigate our heart when it comes
To our inability to walk this out well the band is going to come back up and I want to end with one main idea I know humans and I know this room and I
Know that these aren't these issues that we talked about aren't separate from us but that in this room we are those who have been
Assaulted and we're those who've committed assault and in this room we're those who have trampled the rights of others and in this room
We're we're those who are blatantly blindly racist or coming out of that and every time we think about it we feel shame crawl
Up our spine in this room we've had abortions we've hurt others we've lied about others we've maligned others we've irrevocably harmed others in
Three years in middle school we are image of God failures and offenders that each time we sin we give a broken picture of
What our God was designed to be like and how he was meant to care for our city and our world and how he was meant to
Subdue and how he designed us to give beauty to the world and each time we devalue women or each time we grow in our frustration and our hatred
Towards another race or another language or men we chip away at what was so beautiful you see the scriptures tell us we were made in God's image that Adam and Eve sinned and rebelled and that
Image didn't go away but it got marred and then it tells us in Colossians and in John that Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God that he perfectly images God the way that we
Were designed to that he puts God on display in a way that humanity was meant to that he comes here and he so loves us that he dies for us that each time you think about
What you've done to someone or how you've harmed someone or how you've been harmed and each time you begin to believe that I deserve to die God agrees with you but he doesn't leave us there you see in Christ Jesus took our sin and died
For us that we might be forgiven because I know that in this room I listed off a whole bunch of issues and sins that we carry around with us and that we no longer have to carry if we're in Christ you see in this room we
Are blameless in this room if you are in Christ you are free in this room if you are in Christ you are spotless and beautiful washed and redeemed by the blood of Jesus that you might one day stand before the king and he might welcome you as a son or as a daughter he might wrap his arms around you and he
Doesn't know your sin he's forgiven your sin he's wiped it clean because Jesus Christ took it all and died for it so in this room and among the global ranks of the redeemed we engage where it's messy where it's difficult where we say the wrong things where we mess up our wording where we offend where we harm and we engage and we re-engage and we re-engage and we
Love and we serve and we pursue and we open our wallets and we open our time and we open our schedule and we open our hearts that we might love those who the world has lied to and told them they didn't have any value because we have a God who when we were valueless in our sin when we deserved death loved us enough to redeem us let's pray God we thank you that we are redeemed we
Thank you that in you we have hope we pray you'd forgive us for all the times we've trampled on those made in your image and all the times that we've robbed them of the glory you placed in them through our words through our actions we we've asked for your forgiveness for all the times God that we've blatantly aggressively lied about who you are by the way we've treated your world and we've treated others and we
Thank you that Jesus took all the pain and all the punishment that he suffered and was assaulted so that we might be clean that we might be forgiven that he died so that we might live we love you and we praise you Jesus name if you're a Christian in this room one of the ways that we celebrate the truth of the gospel is that we take communion which is where we take bread and we take the cup and see Jesus took these on the night before he died and he he took bread and he broke it he said this is my body
Broken for you he took the cup and he said this is the covenant of my blood poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins one of the ways that we remind ourselves that we are forgiven that we won't be crushed for our sin is that we take part in communion where he was crushed for our sin and his blood was poured out for our forgiveness that we are washed clean that we are made new and if you're not a Christian communion isn't for you but if you belong to Christ it is and if you aren't a Christian and you've never placed your faith in him I would
Encourage you to do that today to trust him with your life and with your salvation with your forgiveness and then you may be free to take communion you pray you repent you talk to Jesus and then when you feel led if you're a Christian take communion otherwise we'll stand and sing you Christoph
Creation
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Spencer. I'm a pastor and training here with Mill City Church. As you can tell, we are in Genesis. We wanted to read Genesis as we worship this morning because the point of Genesis 1 is to turn to praise. It is meant to see the glory of God and how he created everything and lead us to worship.
Genesis literally means beginning. Or if you're a superhero nerd, this is the origin story. This is the origin story of all of our stories. All of our stories go back to this chapter in Genesis 1. The book of Genesis was written by Moses. He's the chief architect of Genesis and the first five books of the Bible.
He had some collaboration in it, but he is the chief architect. And he is telling the story in Genesis of how the earth came to be, how the early history of the world and the first 12 chapters of Genesis. And then from chapter 12 all the way to the end of the book is about the formation of God's people, the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. There's a whole lot that can be said about Genesis. I don't have time for it this morning because we have a whole lot to get into. So I will just say simply this.
Genesis tells the story of how everything started off, of how it all went wrong, and it tells us the story of why we need a Savior. So we're going to be in Genesis 1. It's in page 1 of your Bibles. If you don't have a Bible, there's a blue Bible around you. If you don't have that, if you don't have a Bible at home, please take that. That is our gift for you.
I'm going to pray, and then we're going to dive in. God, thank you so much that you created us, that you created everything that was made. God, I pray that we would see the beauty of that this morning. Amen. All right, so there are two different creation accounts.
There's two different stories in Genesis that tell how the earth came to be. We're going to be in the first one, which is chapter 1 through verse 3 of chapter 2. The people who put the verses and chapters into the Bible did a pretty good Job, and this one, they missed it just a hair. So this goes into verse 3 of chapter 2. The next one starts in verse 4 of chapter 2. Chet is going to cover that creation story.
There are differences, and the differences are highlighting different things, and he'll get into those when he teaches on the second creation story. But this story, Genesis 1, is meant to capture the glory of God. It's meant to capture, there are a lot of ancient Near Eastern creation stories that had all kinds of different ways they were telling about how the earth came to be. This one is meant to stand out above them. This is the true story. This is how it came to be, and it's meant to inspire worship in awe of the glory of our Creator.
And what happens in our current day is that a guy with a Richard Dawkins tattoo and a penchant for going on YouTube videos and commenting, a really just angry atheist, and there's not many of them that are that angry, but there's a few of them, and they're very loud, and they want everyone to know what they have to say. They stand up and say, hold the phone. Can you explain evolution? Because if you can't explain that to me, the book is closed. It's irrelevant. Your religion's irrelevant.
We don't want anything to do with it. Now, that's a loud, small minority, but then everyone else goes reasonably, okay, but what do you do with this? What do you do with Genesis 1? What do you do with how it interacts with what we know and what we hear in science? And when that happens, it sucks the beauty out of what this story was supposed to be. That because of Darwin's origin of species and the rise of evolutionary biology in the past two centuries, we've lost the point of what this story is meant to be.
This story was meant to be a great slice of cake, to be enjoyed, to be looked at in its glory, and we've traded it out for a cookbook, for a set of instructions. It's supposed to be a honeymoon, and we've traded it out for health class. And we have lost the point. Instead of focusing on why God created the earth and the universe and everything that was made, we focused on how. But the reality is, that's where we're at.
That's the context we're in. We've missed the point. So the elephant's already in the room, so today we need to do a little bit in addressing that. So this is what today is going to look like. I'm going to walk through five principles, five truths that help give us a posture for how we are supposed to approach this. And once we kind of have the posture of how we approach this, I'm going to walk through six different theories on how to reconcile what's happening in Genesis 1 with current scientific findings.
And then once we've done that, we're going to trade it out for some cake, and we're going to look at the beauty of what's happening in Genesis 1. So starting out, here are five principles, five truths that need to form the basis, the posture for how we approach this. The first is, the Bible is authoritative and true. That through faith in Jesus, who transforms our hearts, who transforms our minds, we know that God speaks truthfully. And He speaks authoritatively through His Word. And when He speaks truthfully, and when He speaks clearly, and you hear anything the world has to offer, and specifically scientific theories, we need to hold those theories skeptically, because we know the Bible is authoritative and true.
Second, the Bible is not a science textbook. It was not written to explain quantum physics, and it wasn't written to explain microevolution. Science by nature is limited to the natural, and it is blind to the supernatural. And our faith rests in the supernatural. I don't know if you know this, there's no scientific theories that show dead people rise from the grave. That's not.
But our whole faith hangs on Jesus conquering death, at the resurrection. Science deals with the natural. God created those natural laws. He operates outside of them. The Bible is not a science textbook. Third, God gives us the common grace of a growing scientific field.
Therefore, science is not evil. It's not. Scientific studies are the reason why we have a fighting chance against cancer now. It's the reason why, in the coming decades, the whole world will be run off solar power and wind power, because of scientific advances. So science is not evil at all.
One of my best friends from growing up, my roommate in college, is now a professor at Presbyterian College, my alma mater. He is a professor of biology. He has a Ph.D. in genetics. And I called him this week, and we talked a little bit, in interacting with science and the Bible. And he said something that I thought was really, really helpful. He said the sciences, broadly all the sciences, are trying to make sense of the natural world in an inductive way.
And when that happens, we get a little more info every day, a small piece with every new study. And with every piece, he says, we realize there is so much we don't know. The more he studies genetics, the more that he does research, the more that all of science starts to do this, they realize there is so much that he doesn't know. There is so much that we don't know. He says that most of scientists, most of people who are doing research, have that posture. Most of them have that approach, that there is so much that we don't know.
He said, you just hear about the ones who are the most vocal. He said, the Neil deGrasse Tysons of the world, the Richard Dawkins of the world. He is like, they are the most vocal. And then he threw in a jab, he said. And they are also laymen. They haven't been practicing science for years.
And the reality is, is that they are the most vocal. But most of science is humble in its approach. So we're not afraid of science. We welcome it. We welcome the quality of life that it brings. And if you want to hear more about that, we did a Home Sweet Home series a while back that talks about the Bible and science.
You can go back and listen to that. But science flows out of a ordered universe that God made. It is a common grace to us. Fourth, when everything is revealed and understood correctly, science and scripture are in perfect harmony. When everything is revealed, when all the cards are on the table, science and scripture are in harmony. Much of science is actually very compatible with the idea that the world and the universe were created.
If you talk to physicists, if you talk to people in biochemistry, they're going to point out that there's a lot that points to an intelligent designer. There's a lot that points to a creator. And out of the whole pie of science, there's one very thin slice of evolutionary biology. And there are quite a few people in there that are going to say no. So in knowing that, we understand what science is.
Science, in and of itself, is not fact. Science is not fact. Somehow down the line, we have come to understand that when someone says, oh, it's science, what they mean is it's fact. And science is not fact. It is a collection of theories that help form facts. And those facts become the basis for more theories.
I mean, bloodletting was the scientific way to treat illnesses for centuries. And so finally someone said, I think we're killing people. We're draining their blood. And they need this to fight things. We see this all the time. Scientific advancements keep coming and coming and coming.
We realize what we used to know isn't correct. That is important for us because you will consistently hear news stories that say, a scientific study says this. And I don't even have time to get into how those are funded and what they're going for and what the headlines they're grabbing for. I don't have time for that. But when you hear a scientific study says this, sometimes it's going to come in contradiction with a biblical worldview.
And when that happens, we don't panic. We read our Bibles. We wait for more research to come out. Lastly, Genesis is incredibly complicated and very hard to understand, especially the first few chapters. There's a church father named Jerome around 4th century. He noted that Jewish rabbis didn't allow anyone under the age of 30 to interpret Genesis, which I find ironic because I turned 30 in a month and other pastors are 30 and under.
Yeah, there we go. So, it's incredibly complicated. And if your approach has been, it's absolutely clear, we know it, I would have you pause for a moment and say, it may not be as clear as you think it is. It is very complicated. So, with those worldviews, with those truths in mind to help set up the worldviews we're going to look at, that needs to be our posture. Now, we're going to walk through six of the leading positions, six leading theories that help reconcile science and what evolutionary biology and some of the evidence that we're seeing and the findings we're seeing and the Bible.
Now, I just want to say on the front end, this is an open-handed issue. This is very open-handed. There's some things that come out of it that we can talk about later that are important, but it's open-handed as we walk through this. And the first one that we will cover is six literal day creationism. Some of my closest friends of the years, guys that are really smart, people I love, people that know the Bible so well, this is where they land. This is a view that says that if you look at it, they're going to argue, a straightforward reading of the text is going to argue for six consecutive sequential days.
And they're going to look at verse 5 when it says, God called the light day and the darkness He called night. And they're going to point this out every time. And there was evening and there was morning the first day. And they're going to say, that's sequence. That's chronology. Evening, morning, evening, morning.
That is six days in a row that God made the whole universe and everything in it. So that worldview places the entire universe at around 10,000 to 20,000 years old. And they get that through looking at some of the genealogies from the Old and the New Testament and piecing it together. The reason there's a big gap between 10,000 and 20,000 years is because genealogies and the way they were written weren't meant to record every single person in the line. They were just recording major figures. And they're going to argue that this was the consensus until Darwin came.
And they're going to say, when Darwin came, everyone started to read their Bible differently. And what happens when people do that, they're going to say, is you've elevated science to a place of authority and you've cheapened the Bible. That is going to be some of their arguments. And when pressed on the evidence, particularly the scientific evidence, people that hold this worldview are going to have two main critiques, particularly on carbon dating, which is how we know how old things are. Carbon dating is the measuring of carbon ratios. Obviously, I know so much about it.
But it's how they measure how old things are, how old fossils are. And they're going to look at some of that and say it isn't always accurate. It's not always true. One of the biggest theories they have is called flood theory. It's the theory that when the whole earth flooded at the time of Noah, which we'll get to in about a month, that when that happened, a global flood changed everything and it made everything look so much older than it actually is. That the flood aged the entire earth.
And these guys have gone to flood sites that have happened in the last century. And they've gone and they've looked at some of the artifacts that are just about 50 to 100 years old and they've carbon dated them. And the carbon dating came back as way older than a century. And they're going to say, see, water damage causes this kind of aging. Therefore, this is the leading theory. It's what they're going to say.
The flood killed off the dinosaurs. It killed off different species. And this is the way the world looks now. So that's six-day creationism. I want to walk through some critiques, a scientific one and textual critiques on this position. There is mounting evidence outside of geology and archaeology that show the universe is much older than 10 to 20,000 years old.
Astrologists are going to point out that there are meteors that come into the earth's atmosphere all the time. And we date those and they were never affected by the flood and they are much older than 10 to 20,000 years old. Physicists are going to point out that the universe is expanding and they're measuring wavelengths of light. And they're saying it's way older than 10 to 20,000 years old. And there's all kinds of other different scientists that are studying the earth and they're pointing out different arguments. And they just say, even if you conceded some of the fossils or some of the dating, there's so much more evidence that shows the earth is much older than 10 to 20,000 years old.
Now textual critiques in the Bible, what six day creations have argued for is that the Hebrew word for day, which is yom in the Hebrew, they're going to say that means 24 hours. It is literally a day. And we'll get to that word in a little bit. But there's plenty of Hebrew scholars that say that's not exactly correct. And the other critique that says that while we're just accommodating for what Darwin found, a lot of historical theologians are going to say, no, you can look at Augustine. Augustine in the 5th century, he said this.
He said, what kind of days these words are extremely difficult or impossible to determine? So the African theologian, Augustine, back in the 5th century, was having questions about this. Some of the reformers, like John Calvin, were having questions about Genesis. Some of the medieval theologians were having questions about Genesis. So it has not always been understood this way.
And we're not just accommodating for what Darwin found. All right. So that's literal 6th day. That is in the young earth, young race. Young earth being young universe. Young race meaning human race.
All 10 to 20,000 years old. There is another theory that's in that same category that runs alongside of that. And that theory is called mature earth. Here's what mature earth theory says. When God created Adam as an adult male, was he 30? Because he looked 30.
Or was he a day old? They're going to say, when God made trees, big trees with fruit on them for them to eat, were those trees with 50 rings on the inside, were they 50 years old? Or were they one day old? They're going to say, yes. And that's the point. That God made everything mature.
That everything looks the age that it does because God created a mature universe. And they're going to say that you can hold a 6th day view from Genesis because everything looks older than it actually is. Now some of the critiques that come with this deal with what about the fossils? What about what we find in the earth? So as I heard one atheist comedian say, do you think God put dinosaur bones in the ground just to mess with us?
And what they're getting at and what people in the Bible also are interacting with or getting at is that this kind of makes God look a little bit deceptive. So that's the strengths and the weaknesses of mature earth. The next few theories I'm going to walk through deal with an old earth view, meaning it's much older and some of these allow for a young race, a young human race in the 10,000 to 20,000 year range. And the first one is called day-age theory. Day-age theory looks at the text and when it says day, when it says yom in the Hebrew, they're going to say it does not mean 24 hours. It means in the day of.
In the same way that when your grandpa says back in my day, he did not literally mean a day. He meant in that day, in that era. And this view is going to say there are six consecutive eras. They could be a thousand years each. They could be a million years each. We don't know.
And they're going to argue that that is why the earth looks so much older. And much of this view is going to hang on in the translation of that word in the Hebrew. So does it mean a day, a literal day, or does it mean in the day of? So if you just put Genesis 1 away for a second and try to understand how this word's being used, you've got to look at the next usage that comes out. And the very first usage that comes out is the next creation story. And this is how it is used there.
It says, These are the generations of the heavens and the earth and when they were created in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. So the first instance that it's used outside of the first creation account shows this is a flexible term. It's being used this is not 24 hours, this is in the day. These are the generations in the day when it is being used. So there's flexibility from the text that we can see in this word.
And it's been understood for centuries. We just mentioned how Augustine earlier had noted that. The most influential theologian of the past 20th century was Carl F.H. Henry. He influenced everyone from Billy Graham to John Piper and everyone that we look up to. And he says this, he says, Faith in an inerrant Bible does not rest on the recency or antiquity of the earth.
The Bible does not require a belief in six literal 24 hour creation days on the basis of Genesis 1 and 2. It is gratuitous to insist that the 24 hour days are involved or intended. So what day age theorists are going to say is that this is flexible. This is six periods of time. So that's the argument.
Here are some of the critiques for that. Science, this view allows for some flexibility. It allows for some time. But people in evolutionary biology are going to point out, wait a second, that even if this is millions of years, the order in which it comes about is not what we see in our current scientific findings. that it doesn't match up. And you actually can just look in the text and you can ask the question, how were, if there are thousands of years between these days, how on day three when plants were created, how did they survive without insects on day five? That's how they pollinate.
Like how did they make it? The same argument is made of birds. Birds were created on day four. How did they survive without insects on day five? So if this is the view that you're going to hold, you've got to have some answers to that.
You've got to figure out how that pieces together. But then you have to answer the question when six day literal creations are going to say the text says it was evening and it was morning. And say, how are you going to answer that? It seems back to back to back. And that is what the next view answers pretty directly. The next view is called literary framework view.
This is a view that doesn't attempt to really deal with the science at all. It looks at the text from a completely different perspective. Here's what it says. That because Genesis 1 is poetic prose, it is poetry. The way the Hebrew is read is it's poetic and it's prose. It's common language telling a story.
That because it's poetic prose, there is creative license in how this story was told. And because ancient Near Easterners told stories differently than the way that modern Westerners tell stories, that we shouldn't read it as chronological. We should see it as a framework of days of forming, days one through three, and days of filling, which I'll get to in a moment. And they're going to say that because this is a framework and a creative story that's being told, that this is how you can interpret it. So let me show you the chart.
Literary framework is going to say this, that there are three, the first three days are days of forming. Light and darkness, sea and sky, land and plants. And the literary framework shows that on days four through six, the sun and moon feel it was formed on day one. The fish and the birds feel it was formed on day two and that land, animals and humans feel it was formed on day three. So the whole point of this is a poetic retelling.
It's not meant to convey chronology at all. It's just a poetic retelling of the story and that seems foreign to us. It does. I mean, we're Westerners in the post-modern age. That seems really foreign to us in the same way that if I had a foreigner over who knew English fairly well but didn't know all of the English language and I was telling him a story about, you know, my wife and I, we played cards last night and I killed her. And I'm smiling and he sees that and he's like, whoa, this guy killed his wife and he's really happy about it.
He's going to try to get away. He doesn't know all the euphemisms of our storytelling. It's a euphemism for, I beat her, which is another euphemism for, I won the card match, which does not happen very often when I play cards with my wife. It's a foreign way of storytelling but here's what, it shows up all over the place. It even shows up in the Gospels. Take the Gospels and try to put them in sequential order of events and you're going to have a tough time because even the Gospel writers aren't telling the Gospel stories chronologically.
They're telling them thematically and theologically. It is a different way of storytelling. So because of that, chronology is not important and therefore you don't have to reconcile science with this view. Now here are some of the critiques of this view. One of the basic ones is, well, well, well, that seems really convenient. You found a cute little framework, I like your chart, forming and filling.
That seems, it seems like you're just not trying to deal with the science at all. And that's kind of the gist of a lot of it is it just seems a little too convenient, it seems a little too pieced together well. The other one, and it just comes, and this is going to be where it's just, the two sides are going to agree to disagree. The sixth day is going to say, it says morning and evening, morning and evening, it applies sequence and the literary framework is going to say, that's not how ancient Near Easter is told stories. And that's kind of how this view is and some of the critiques of this view.
I got two more. The next one is historic creationism. This looks at the word beginning in verses 1 and 2. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and that word for beginning is the Hebrew word, Rashid. And they're going to say that that word has a flexible meaning which can mean an unspecific, undefined beginning. So what this view is going to argue is that verse 1 and 2 could be a long period of time that we don't know that God forms the universe.
And what the focus of the six days is the preparation of earth, the preparation of the land. So they're going to say that there's a long, undefined period of time on the front end, and then the earth is made in six days after that. There's another theory called gap theory which I can't get into that looks at that very similarly. It looks at verses 1 and 2 and it says, this is when probably the fall of Satan happened and the whole earth had to be recreated because of that and he used what was old to make what we now have. So it is looking at verses 1 and 2, looking at a big period of time and then what follows afterwards is six literal days.
So here's the critique on this theory. This theory is going to argue for a sequential pattern of days, of days 1 through 6, but they're going to separate it from the first two verses. And people who look at the text are going to go, if you're arguing for a sequential order, chronological order, why do you just separate it from 1 and 2? That seems a little too convenient. Others who are Hebrew scholars are going to look at how beginning is used in this view and they're going to say, well, that's actually debatable and there's going to be a debate over how you can translate that word. And then scientifically, you're still going to have to answer some of the challenges that come up in the fossil record, which brings us to our final one.
Our final view is theistic evolution. I don't want to spend a lot of time explaining this. This is what theistic evolution is. Evolutionary findings are true. The Bible is true. Yep.
They're placed on top of one another. The Bible is telling it poetically and what we know in science is true. And therefore, they're both compatible. Let's move on. So I want to point out two questions that this view is going to have to wrestle with.
And it's honestly two questions that each view is going to have to wrestle with. And the first one is, when did death occur? And the second one is, were Adam and Eve real? Were they real people? So that first question matters.
When did death occur? We know from Genesis 3 that God warns them not to eat of the tree of the fruit and knowledge of good and evil lest you die. They eat of it. We'll get to this in a couple weeks. They spiritually die and then one day they physically return to dust. They die.
So we can tell from the text humans were not supposed to die before the fall. But what about plants? What about animals? And this is going to matter for the fossil record. What do you do with that? Well, plants, obviously, something had to die.
Something had to get eaten. So fruits and vegetables, plants died. But then what about animals which make up a ton of the fossil record that we have? What about them? Did they die before the fall? I mean, there are a lot of people that are going to have current stances on food based on did animals die before the fall?
Like I went to a Brazilian steakhouse yesterday, saved up all day some stomach room and all I ate was meat and cheese and it was glorious. But there's some people that say, no, you don't do that. You have to go back to the picture before the fall that animals didn't kill one another. And some are going to argue, wait a second, what about lions? They have large teeth and claws. You mean to tell me that God designed them to eat grass?
That doesn't make any sense. And the other side is going to fire back. No, look at Isaiah 65. Isaiah 65 is a picture, it's a prophecy of the new heavens and the new earth at the end of time and it says this, the wolf and the lamb shall graze together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox. They're going to say, if this is a picture of the new heavens and the new earth, the new heavens and the new earth is a retelling of what happened in Eden.
It looks like they didn't eat each other. The other side is going to say, no, no, no, it's just metaphorical language for peace and they're going to go back and forth. Here's why that matters. You've got to have that wrapped around your brain. You've got to have that figured out because that's how you're going to have to explain some of the fossil record, some of the things that is being found. So when to death occur is a big one, but here's the biggest question that comes out of this entire debate.
Were Adam and Eve real people? I don't have time to get into that question fully. Chet's going to cover that in the next creation story more directly. But your, hear this, your view of this is going to be very telling of your understanding of the truthfulness of the Bible. I'll just give you a spoiler. The New Testament assumes that Adam and Eve were real people.
So your view on this is going to matter and it's also going to matter because there are scientific findings that are going to come out and they're going to say there's no way the age of man is 10 to 20,000 years old. They're going to say absolutely it's got to be over 100,000 years old. And there's also over the last decade has been a debate on was there an actually original Adam and Eve? Was there an original genetic pair? And there's been paper published, paper published going back and forth on that. So your view of this is going to be very telling.
But for all of these you've got to sort these out in your brain a little bit. And the reason why you should and the reason why you should read up on this and you should invest in this and we're going to talk about this in community groups this week is because there are people that have used this as a reason for unbelief. And you were called as a Christian to have an answer for that. You were called to be able to defend your faith in some form or fashion to be able to explain this a little bit. Now, pause. Some of you were like, yes.
Give me more. I want more fears. Some of you, very few of you probably, are like, I want to spend all day in this. And then others of you are like, I just died inside because we just spent 20 minutes. I just want the answers. Like, I want the cliff notes.
That was the cliff notes. They could go much longer. Can you just tell me what it is? What does the Bible teach? This should be clear. And I cannot ease that tension for you.
The answer is, I don't know. After all that, we don't know. I don't know. I cannot solve this for you. I honestly don't know. What's the position of our church?
We don't have one. We're open-handed on this. I mean, you talk to different pastors and we're going to say different things on this. I think that literary framework has some textual basis, but I'm not completely sure. I think mature earth theory has some textual basis. I'm not completely sure.
Genesis is really complicated. And you have to have that posture as you walk through it. Now, let's get to the cake. Let's try out the cookbook. Let's try out health class.
Let's get to the honeymoon. Let's get to the cake. And let's actually look at this text and see why Genesis 1 is beautiful and glorious. It starts out, In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Francis Schaeffer says, this is one of the most pregnant with meaning literary statements in all of literature. There is so much packed into, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
What we see out the gate here is that God is the main subject of Genesis 1. He's the main subject of the Bible. It's no accident that He's the subject of the first sentence and that His name shows up 35 times in the first chapter. And here's what that means. The story's not about you. And it's not about me.
I don't care what self-help book you picked up in Books A Million that says you are the hero of your story. It's not true. God is the hero of this story. He is the point of creation. And we get to be made in His image as a specific part of creation. We'll get to that next week.
But we're not the point. And I feel like what happens when we have these debates over how the earth came to be, how the universe came to be. I know my posture in the past has been, God, could you have given us like a different, like an extra chapter of Genesis? Could you have explained this in a better way? Because there's a ton of people that are looking at this and saying, see, we shouldn't believe this. I've got to have an answer for them.
And I feel like God in that moment, it's just my feeling, is saying, are you serious? You have trouble installing ceiling fans. And you want me to explain how I made everything out of nothing. No. Read your Bible, look at an epic sunset, and be thankful. This should turn you to worship, not focusing on how.
Because God is the main subject. He's the point of creation. The next thing we see is in the beginning. And in that statement in this story, God pre-exists creation. Which means He eternally has been, always will be. People will say, well, what happened before God?
There was no before. God has eternally existed. He is the eternally uncaused cause. He caused everything into being. And it also means that He created time. And if time is like a linear object, God created time, and this is time, this is the beginning, this is the end, and that God eternally exists before time.
He eternally exists also within time. He also eternally exists outside of time at the end. Which is mind-blowing. And it hurts our brain. But that's how big our God is, and that's even a poor way of explaining the glory of what's actually happening.
God pre-exists time. He's infinite, and He's without need. Which also means He doesn't need us. He didn't need, He didn't make creation the universe. He didn't make humanity because He was lonely. He eternally existed in perfect harmony with Himself.
Which begs the question, why did He create us in the first place? And the Bible gives us two answers. One, because He desires us. He doesn't need you, but He desires you. He desires all of humanity generally, and He desires His church specifically. He desires us.
And the second reason is He did it for His glory. For the glory of God is why He made everything that was made. And we see that packed in the first statement. As you walk through the rest of Genesis, you see something else. You see that the Trinity is creating together here. That Genesis 1 gives us our first picture of God the Trinity forming things together.
In Genesis 1, 26, it says, Let us make man in our own image. And that is God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit in communion with Himself saying, Let us make man in our own image, in our own likeness. You see God the Father forming, shaping, creating. In verse 2, it says, And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. You see the Holy Spirit involved in making the universe. And then in verse 3, it says, And God said, Let there be light.
And there was light. And John in his gospel picks up on this. In the very first verse of John 1, it says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And that is talking about Jesus. Jesus, the Word, the creative Word who brought everything into existence. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit together creating.
That's the first picture of the training that we get in the Bible. It shows up in Genesis 1. What we also see in Genesis 1 is that God speaks the world into existence. Think about this. He literally speaks things exist. He forms everything that was made by the power of His creative Word.
That when He says in verse 3, and God said, let there be light. In verse 6, and God said, let there be an expanse amidst the waters. Every time He creates, He speaks by the power of His creative Word. And the power of His creative Word, the power that that Word gives life, that theme is strung throughout the whole Bible. And it first shows up right here. That throughout the Old Testament, prophets speak, and it gives life that when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, the Word came to life, and then He dies, the death on the cross, He conquers death at the resurrection, and then He leaves us with what?
He leaves us with a message. And we get to share that message with those who are spiritually dead to watch the Holy Spirit work through it and make those alive in Christ. God speaks into existence, and that theme is carried and it starts here in Genesis. What we also see is that God creates everything out of nothing. He creates everything, the Latin is ex nihilo, out of nothing, out of thin air, air. Not out of, air is a substance and thinness is a quality.
It's literally out of nothing that He creates everything. He didn't need substance to make anything, which also means is He didn't need inspiration. God is the one who inspires. And let me play that out for you on a practical level why that's good.