Steve Gentry
[0:00] That song we just sang, just to give you a little background on it, [0:04] that song was written a long time ago. [0:06] It was written in the 1500s by a theologian named Martin Luther. [0:11] Martin Luther was an interesting, he’s one of my heroes of the faith. [0:14] God used him in a mighty way to give scripture to the common man, [0:20] so that the common man could read it.
[0:21] But when he wrote this song, it was very special to him. [0:25] The proclamation that God is a mighty fortress was so deep into his heart, [0:31] because at the time, his life was constantly in danger. [0:36] He had exposed a great deal of heresy and corruption in the church, [0:41] and the church really ran the state at that point in Germany. [0:46] And his life was constantly in danger.
[0:49] He had to go into hiding for a certain period of time. [0:52] And the story goes that while he was in hiding, [0:54] while he’s living in fear of his life, [0:56] and while he’s going through a great battle with illness at that point too, [1:00] he penned those words, [1:03] proclaiming his great faith in God,
[1:05] no matter what the circumstance in his life said, [1:08] because he believed that God was greater than circumstances. [1:12] He believed that God’s power was greater than his position in life. [1:18] And this morning, go ahead and open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 12. [1:22] What we’re going to be talking about this morning, [1:23] is the great power of God,
[1:28] in spite of the great sin of man.
[1:33] And last week, for the last few weeks, [1:35] we’ve been going through this series called, Story. [1:38] And we’ve had two weeks so far. [1:40] And in the first week, [1:41] we talked about the glory and wonder and beauty of the creation, [1:46] that God just simply spoke into existence,
[1:51] and the world comes to be, [1:52] and how beautiful and how glorious it was, [1:55] and how God did this in order to bring himself glory, [1:59] that the earth functioned in a way that it was dependent on his hand, [2:03] and it still is that way. [2:06] And that man is the highlight of his creation,
[2:09] because through man, [2:11] he’s first going to create man differently than he creates the rest of creation. [2:15] He puts his image into man, [2:18] and he actually breathes life into man. [2:23] He didn’t breathe life into any other thing that he created. [2:27] But then last week,
[2:28] we saw that man being created in community with Eve, [2:34] man is responsible to steward creation, [2:37] to take care of creation. [2:40] And that in this, [2:41] what man is doing is man is reflecting the image of God [2:46] onto the creation of God’s hands through stewardship.
[2:51] But last week, [2:53] we saw that Satan enters the world after falling from heaven, [2:59] and we see Satan tempt man with distrust in God. [3:05] Satan tells man that man doesn’t have to obey God, [3:10] but rather, [3:12] if man will disobey God,
[3:15] throw caution to the wind, [3:17] trust in his own discernment over the wisdom and glory of God, [3:23] that man will actually not die, [3:27] but rather man will be equal to God, [3:30] having the same knowledge, [3:31] the same wisdom,
[3:32] the power that God has, [3:34] and we see man disobey God, [3:37] and immediately we see creation go from something [3:40] that is completely beautiful, [3:43] that is completely innocent, [3:44] that is completely pure,
[3:46] and we see creation fall to the state [3:48] where Adam and Eve look at each other [3:50] and they realize that they’re naked. [3:53] They now need a barrier between them [3:56] to hide what they now see is impure, [3:58] even though God has made it pure.
[4:00] So they cover themselves. [4:03] And then God, of course, comes knowing full well what has happened, [4:07] and they hide from God. [4:08] So we see that sin has brought this isolation, [4:11] that what once was a perfect, [4:14] united front between God and man,
[4:17] and then man and woman has now become something [4:20] that is full of isolation, [4:22] full of fear. [4:25] And we see Adam and Eve questioned, [4:27] and what does Adam say? [4:28] Adam says,
[4:29] this woman that you gave me, God.
[4:34] So because of his sin, [4:35] he first blames God, [4:37] and then he blames his wife. [4:40] And men have been blaming their wives ever since. [4:43] All right. [4:45] So we see community begin to destroy itself.
[4:51] Then we see man destroyed in the fact [4:55] that now we face death, [4:58] we face distance, [5:00] we face isolation, [5:02] we face pain. [5:04] Because through our sin,
[5:05] God, because he is a God of holiness, [5:08] he is a God of justice, [5:09] sin could not go unpunished. [5:14] Because what man has done is the same thing that we do [5:17] when we go and we cut our grass, [5:19] and we cut grass off from its source of life,
[5:22] and it ends up turning yellow. [5:24] And for the last month, before this week, [5:26] it was turning yellow on its own because it had no nourishment. [5:30] And when we cut a branch off of a tree, [5:32] we see that it withers, [5:33] we see that it dies,
[5:34] and that is what happens when we cut ourselves off from God. [5:39] And from that point in history, [5:41] when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, [5:44] distanced themselves from God, [5:46] what we see is we see man facing sure death, [5:51] not because God is some cosmic killjoy,
[5:54] or some boss at work that is trying to lay heavy burdens on us, [5:58] but because man has willfully cut himself off from his life source.
[6:04] And so he faces this death that is a distance from God, [6:08] but we also face a physical death [6:11] because of the pain that has come through sin.
[6:15] And so the question that we have to ask is, [6:19] is there hope?
[6:21] Is there anything that we can do about our position? [6:27] What I want you to see is in this story of the fall, [6:31] God curses the snake, [6:33] He curses Adam and Eve, [6:34] so now we have man who works by the sweat of his brow, [6:40] whereas work used to be this wonderful thing of worship,
[6:43] now we wake up in the morning with aches and pains, [6:46] and when we go and we do manual labor, [6:48] we sweat and we wake up the next morning and we are deathly sore. [6:53] So man is cursed in his work, [6:56] and the thing that all men have to strive after their whole lives [6:59] and taking care of their families,
[7:01] now it is hard. [7:02] And of course for the female, [7:03] it is the curse of childbirth that really never goes away,
[7:09] because you now have this struggle between mother and child pain. [7:13] I watch my wife constantly tired [7:15] because she is a much better caretaker than I am. [7:19] I can sleep right through a baby crying, she cannot.
[7:23] And so we see the pain of childbirth, [7:25] but then what we see is sin has caused distance between each of us. [7:32] And we now live in isolation, [7:34] we now live just to get away from each other. [7:36] If I could just have a day or two to myself, [7:41] life would be so beautiful.
[7:44] What we don’t understand is that is actually the effect that sin has had on our life, [7:50] because we used to be able to just have this united front, [7:53] where we are together and it is beautiful, [7:56] and there is no stress, and there is no resentment, [7:59] and there is no need for reconciliation, [8:00] because there is no offense, we just have a community that is like the Trinity,
[8:05] where God just exists in this perfect communal unity with Himself. [8:11] But now we distance ourselves.
[8:15] But in that moment, [8:19] God also makes a promise to His creation. [8:24] In Genesis 3 verse 15, God tells them, [8:27] He says, looking at the snake, He says,
[8:42] A good translation in the Hebrew does kind of give you the idea of bruise, [8:47] but an almost better translation is the translation that says, [8:51] He will crush your head. [8:55] And God makes this interesting and almost vague promise, [8:59] that the serpent who really represents evil, [9:02] because it is Satan in the form of an animal,
[9:05] will be defeated. [9:07] And what God is promising there, because we can now stand back, [9:10] and we can look at Scripture as a whole, [9:12] what we see is this promise of God, [9:15] that sin and death will not always reign over top of humanity. [9:22] What we see is this great promise,
[9:25] that sin and death will one day be defeated. [9:28] And what God is saying is, [9:30] God is saying, I have dominion over sin. [9:34] And it’s this cosmic joke on Satan almost, [9:37] where God says, Satan, you thought that you were going to come in, [9:41] use my creation against me,
[9:43] defeat my plans through man, [9:46] but through man, I’m going to defeat you. [9:50] And I’m going to defeat this sin and death, [9:54] and even this curse, that sin has brought onto man. [9:58] So what happens…
[10:02] I don’t know what’s going on back there. [10:04] What happens through the rest of Scripture, [10:08] is God begins to unfold Genesis 3.15, [10:13] so that we will see exactly what He was talking about. [10:17] Because what our temptation is as people, [10:20] is what we do is, we’ll look at one verse,
[10:22] and we’ll say, well that doesn’t make any sense to me, [10:25] and we’ll quit. [10:27] Because I have no idea what that means. [10:28] What does the snake have to do with anything?
[10:31] But as the Old Testament goes, [10:34] and as we then go into the New Testament, [10:35] what we see is God unfolding creation, [10:40] to show His mighty hand of redemption.
[10:46] What I want you to understand is in Genesis 3.15, [10:49] what God is doing is, God is promising redemption. [10:54] God promises that He Himself will redeem His people. [10:59] And what we’re going to do today, [11:00] is we’re going to take this, [11:01] it’s really kind of an ambitious thing,
[11:03] that I decided to do today, [11:05] and I’m now questioning why I decided to do this. [11:07] We’re going to go from Genesis 4, [11:09] all the way through to the book of Matthew today. [11:12] I don’t know why I chose to do that in one week, [11:14] but I will open your Bibles,
[11:16] the book of Genesis chapter 12. [11:19] Between Genesis 3, where we see the fall of man, [11:22] we see the curse of man, [11:24] and Genesis 12, what we see happen is, [11:27] man does not get better. [11:30] It gets worse.
[11:33] Sin is then passed on to everyone that is born. [11:37] We saw that last week in Romans chapter 5, [11:39] where through one man sin came unto all men, [11:42] because Adam and Eve served as representatives of all humanity. [11:46] Well, right after this, Adam and Eve have children, [11:49] and they do things that in our eyes are even worse,
[11:51] but it’s not that the things that they did made them sinful, [11:54] they were just born that way, [11:56] and we see the first murder happen between Cain and Abel. [12:01] Cain is jealous of his brother, [12:03] so he kills his brother. [12:05] And then after that, all of their descendants just kind of get worse,
[12:08] where it comes to a point where God says, [12:10] I’m going to wipe out all of humanity except Noah and his family.
[12:19] Because what you need to understand is, [12:22] is that if God had just wiped us all out, [12:24] He would have been found to be a liar Himself. [12:28] Because in Genesis 3, He said, [12:31] I’m going to win.
[12:33] So what He does is, [12:34] is man has gotten to the point where he’s completely sinful, [12:37] and God has to once again show His holiness, [12:40] and He wipes out all of humanity, [12:42] He redeems Noah and his family through an ark, [12:46] and they live,
[12:47] and then Noah promptly, [12:48] as soon as he sees the power of God through that, [12:50] he decides, well, I’m going to get drunk now, [12:51] because all my friends died. [12:54] So even in the face of that, man sins. [12:58] And through his sin, then his son sinned against him.
[13:02] And then we see just this constant cycle begin to unfold, [13:06] where man is just abundantly sinful. [13:11] God is abundantly powerful, [13:14] but man is abundantly sinful. [13:17] What we’re going to see is this promise that God does. [13:20] After the flood, He finds this man named Abraham,
[13:24] and we all have this view of Abraham. [13:26] Maybe you sing the song, Father Abraham had many sons. [13:28] Well, what we do is, we see Abraham, [13:30] and we’re like, Abraham was so good in spite of all these sinners, [13:34] that God chose him because he was so good. [13:37] That’s not true at all.
[13:38] When we find Abraham in Genesis chapter 12, [13:40] he doesn’t even know who God is. [13:42] He’s a idol worshiping pagan. [13:44] God comes to him, and Abraham’s like, who are you?
[13:49] Abraham is completely separated from God. [13:52] Abraham is not a good person. [13:54] Abraham is just as sinful as everyone else, [13:56] but what God is doing is, [13:58] is God chooses him out and singles him out, [14:01] because God’s saying, I’m going to fulfill my promise.
[14:05] Man is sinful, but I’m going to show that I can fulfill my promise [14:09] in any way that I want to, in any person that I want to, [14:12] because I am God, and I am the Redeemer. [14:16] So in Genesis chapter 12, starting in verse 1, [14:20] it says, Now the LORD said to Abram, [14:23] whose later name was changed to Abraham.
[14:25] We’re not going to go into that. [14:27] Go from your country, and your kindred, [14:30] and your father’s house to the land that I will show you, [14:33] and I will make you a great nation, [14:36] and I will bless you and make your name great, [14:39] so that you will be a blessing.
[14:41] I will bless those who bless you, [14:43] and to him who dishonors you I will curse, [14:46] and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. [14:53] Okay, so right there, we see the promise of God from Genesis chapter 3. [14:58] It gets unfolded just a little bit more.
[15:05] God has said, I’m going to defeat sin and death, [15:08] and now He unfolds it, and He finds Abram, [15:12] and He chooses him out of the earth, [15:13] and He says, Abram, I’m going to make you the father of many nations. [15:18] We see that a little later, [15:20] but then notice the end of the promise where He says,
[15:23] through you all of the families of the earth will be blessed. [15:29] If you spend time in church, especially in this culture, [15:32] there’s this great temptation to think that the promise that God gives here to Abraham [15:36] is only applicable to the people of Israel.
[15:44] But as we see in the end of this promise, [15:46] and even as the promise is unfolded more in Genesis 15, [15:49] and then in Genesis 17, [15:51] God is promising to bless all of the families and the nations through Abraham. [15:59] So God is going to do something through the descendants of Abraham [16:03] that is going to fulfill His promise in Genesis 3,
[16:07] because what He’s saying when He says, I’m going to bless everyone, [16:11] He is fulfilling His promise to bring about a Redeemer [16:16] that will redeem all of the nations.
[16:22] Okay, remember, if you’ve been in this church very long, [16:23] you’ve heard me quote Revelation chapter 7. [16:26] So we go from the book of Genesis all the way to the end in Revelation chapter 7, [16:30] where is this great view that has not happened yet, [16:33] it’s in the future where John the Revelator, [16:37] who saw this great revelation of the future,
[16:39] is at the throne of God at the end of time, [16:42] and he says, I see people from all tribes, all tongues, and all nations.
[16:51] Through this promise that God is giving to Abraham, [16:54] God is going to redeem people from their sin. [17:00] And when you go through the rest of the Old Testament, [17:04] you have to understand that everything else that’s taking place in the Old Testament [17:09] from God is unfolding this promise.
[17:16] Okay? [17:18] So what I want to do today is I want to just kind of unpack a little bit of the Old Testament [17:23] so that we can see this God who has said, [17:26] I’m going to bless all the nations through this man. [17:30] Because as soon as He comes out of this through the rest of the book of Genesis, [17:34] we watch the bloodline of Abraham unfolding.
[17:38] What we see is Abraham’s children have children, [17:42] and then those children have Joseph.
[17:46] And then Joseph, if you’re familiar, it’s the guy with the tecton color dream coat. [17:50] Okay, that guy, Joseph, alright. [17:53] We had a play where it was an amazing coat and it did amazing things. [17:56] There’s actually nothing special about the coat. [17:58] There’s something special about the God behind the man. [18:00] And so we see Joseph and all of his brothers hate him,
[18:03] so they sell him into slavery, [18:04] and then he goes to Egypt, [18:06] and then he’s under bondage in Egypt. [18:08] He’s a slave, and then he becomes a really good slave, [18:11] and then he’s thrown into prison under false pretenses, [18:13] and he spends time in prison,
[18:14] and he’s always faithful to this God who he believes will fulfill a promise to him. [18:20] And then what we see is he’s liberated from prison, [18:22] and goes to second in command of all of Egypt. [18:25] Then his brothers come, and at the very end of Genesis, [18:27] he looks to his brothers and he says, [18:29] hey, remember when you guys hated me so much,
[18:32] and you tried to do great evil against me? [18:34] Well, what you meant for evil, God meant for good. [18:40] And that is a hard mentality to have if you’ve been a slave, [18:43] and then you’ve been in prison. [18:46] Where the guy’s responsible for it, [18:47] you look at them and say,
[18:48] hey, remember those sins you were doing? [18:50] God used those to do some cool stuff.
[18:53] I do not have that mentality quite often.
[18:57] All right, and we see Joseph say, [18:59] what God meant for evil, you meant for good. [19:00] And what Joseph is actually prophesying about is the next 400 years [19:04] of descendants of Abraham, [19:07] because pretty soon Joseph’s whole family moves to Egypt, [19:11] and then in Egypt, they multiply and become so great that the Egyptians say,
[19:16] we’ve got to put all of you under slavery. [19:19] And then the Charlton Heston movie unfolds, [19:22] and we have the great Exodus. [19:24] We have the Ten Commandments. [19:27] We have this nation of people who are what? [19:34] Redeemed out of the bondage of slavery.
[19:40] Does that sound familiar? [19:42] Because in Genesis 3, man goes under the bondage of sin and death. [19:49] So God keeps unraveling through the stories of the Old Testament [19:54] more and more about his promises to man. [20:00] And what I want you to see in the Old Testament is the amazing power of God. [20:04] God shows himself to have awesome power.
[20:10] And I want you to see just a few stories, [20:12] because there are so many stories in the Old Testament [20:13] where God shows his power so that he can fulfill his purpose, [20:18] that it’s ridiculous. [20:18] Open your Bibles a little further. [20:20] Go to the book of Joshua, chapter 6.
[20:22] Okay, the book of Joshua, what happens here is that Israel, [20:26] the descendants of Abraham have been brought out of slavery in Egypt, [20:29] and they’re about to enter into a land that God has promised to give them [20:34] so that he can continue to unveil and unravel his promises to them. [20:39] In Joshua chapter 6, I want you to see verses 12 through 17. [20:44] Because what has happened is as they go into the land,
[20:47] God tells them, I’m going to defeat everybody that’s going to stand in your way. [20:50] And the first place they really come to is this place called Jericho. [20:54] And Jericho was a mighty city, not because they had a great army, [20:57] but because they were really smart about their architecture. [21:00] They built these walls that nobody could penetrate. [21:04] No army on earth could penetrate the walls of Jericho,
[21:07] because they stood so high, they were so thick, [21:09] there was an outer wall, there was an inner wall. [21:12] You just could not get to the heart of the city. [21:15] And so what God does is God looks to Joshua, [21:17] who at that point is leading God’s people, [21:20] who are the people that are the descendants of Abraham,
[21:22] who are going to bring the great promise of redemption. [21:25] What happens is God looks at him and says, [21:27] Okay Joshua, what I want you to do is I want you to gather the people [21:30] and every day for six days, march around the walls of the city once. [21:36] Then on day seven, get all the people together, [21:39] march around the city seven times,
[21:41] and then after the seventh time, the priests will grab their trumpets, [21:44] and they will blow the trumpets as loud as they can, [21:46] and have the people just shout, [21:49] and I’m going to defeat Jericho. [21:51] Not the greatest tactical plan in my opinion.
[21:56] Okay, and look at verses 12 through 17 of Joshua chapter 6. [22:01] Sorry, looking at that wrong. [22:02] Then Joshua rose early in the morning, [22:04] and the priests took up the ark of the Lord, [22:06] and the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of ram’s horns, [22:10] before the ark of the Lord walked on,
[22:12] and they blew the trumpets continually, [22:14] and the armed men were walking before them, [22:16] and the rear guard was walking after the ark of the Lord, [22:19] while the trumpets blew continually. [22:22] And the second day, they marched around the city once, [22:24] and returned to the camp, so they did for six days.
[22:27] And on the seventh day, they rose early at the dawn of day, [22:31] and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. [22:34] It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times. [22:39] And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, [22:42] Joshua said to the people, [22:44] Shout for the Lord has given you this city,
[22:46] and the city and all that is within it will be devoted to the Lord for destruction.
[22:57] And what we see right there is as they blow the trumpets, [23:02] as they stand there shouting, what happens? [23:06] Well, if you spent much time in Sunday school, [23:07] you know that the city basically imploded onto itself. [23:13] If it explodes, the people of Israel die. [23:18] But what happens is it implodes onto itself.
[23:23] And if you watch the Science Channel or anything, [23:26] they’ll say that the reverberations from the shouting [23:28] caused this great seismic activity, [23:31] because there were so many of them, [23:32] and we can explain this with science. [23:34] I can’t.
[23:37] I’ve never shouted at anything and seen any movement. [23:41] Maybe a styrofoam cup.
[23:44] But what we see here is God just saying, [23:48] You’re my people. [23:50] Look at my power. [23:53] Trust me. [23:54] I’m going to fulfill my promise. [23:57] And the city falls in on itself.
[23:59] And go a little further. [24:00] I want to look at another story. [24:01] 1 Kings, Chapter 18. [24:05] Elijah has been risen up out of the people of Israel. [24:08] And what’s happening in this point is sin is rearing its ugly head. [24:12] And the people of Israel have turned from the true God of creation.
[24:16] And they’re now worshiping a false god named Baal. [24:20] And God rises up out of them a guy named Elijah. [24:22] And God goes to Elijah and says, I’m going to speak through you. [24:26] And Elijah has spoken three years before this point. [24:29] And he said, rain is going to stop. [24:32] You’re going to have a severe drought.
[24:34] It’s going to be ugly. [24:35] Famine is going to set in. [24:36] God is doing it because you have not followed him. [24:40] And it happens. [24:41] It doesn’t rain for three and a half years. [24:44] And the people of Israel still will not turn to the God
[24:47] who’s made a promise to the father of their nation, Abraham. [24:52] And so they’re in rebellion against God. [24:54] And then God comes to Elijah and says, Elijah, [24:56] I want you to go to the prophets of this false god Baal. [25:00] And I want you to challenge them. [25:03] And I’m going to show myself powerful.
[25:06] So one guy, Elijah, who God is speaking to, goes. [25:10] And he gets 450 priests of this false god Baal. [25:16] And he says, OK, we’re going to set up an altar. [25:19] And we’re going to put a bull onto that altar. [25:22] And we’re going to see who the real God is. [25:25] You call unto your God.
[25:27] And if he can bring fire from the sky, he’s the real God. [25:31] Then I’m going to call unto my God. [25:32] And if he can send fire from the sky, he’s the real God. [25:36] So the prophets of Baal, they just start praying. [25:39] They start dancing. [25:40] They start chanting.
[25:41] They start singing. [25:42] At one point, they start cutting themselves out of devotion to Baal. [25:46] And nothing happens. [25:48] The bull is just laying on the altar. [25:51] Silence. [25:52] At one point, Elijah, which is I love the humor in scripture and really the sarcasm.
[25:57] Elijah looks at the prophets of Baal and says, maybe you should wait five minutes. [26:01] Maybe he’s in the bathroom relieving himself. [26:03] And he’ll be back when he can hear you. [26:05] All right. [26:06] But Baal never does because Baal isn’t real. [26:09] And so no fire happens.
[26:11] Then Elijah says, he has so much trust, so much faith in this God that has come to him. [26:17] He says, go get buckets of water. [26:19] I want you to douse the bull, douse the altar, build a trench around the altar, fill it with water.
[26:30] And then let’s see if my God will burn the bull that’s soaking wet. [26:35] If you’ve ever tried to start a fire with wet wood, it doesn’t typically work out that well. [26:40] So Elijah stands before the men and he prays one prayer for fire. [26:50] Let’s look at what happens.
[26:53] First Kings 18, starting in verse 36. [26:57] And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, oh, Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel. [27:07] Notice that he’s crying out to the God of promised redemption.
[27:15] Let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and that I have done all these things at your word. [27:21] Answer me, oh, Lord, answer me that this people may know that you, oh, Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back. [27:29] Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust and looked up the water that was in the trench. [27:40] And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, the Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is God. [27:46] And Elijah said to them, seize the prophets of Baal. [27:49] Let not one of them escape.
[27:50] And they seized them. [27:52] And Elijah brought them down to the brook, Kishon and slaughtered them there. [27:57] Be really cool scene in an action movie. [27:59] But what we see here is Elijah has this amazing faith in this powerful God that just I mean, can you imagine? [28:08] Put yourself in that place. [28:09] These are real people just like you and I standing outside after there has been a promised drought from God for three and a half years.
[28:18] Elijah has the audacity to say wastewater. [28:22] I know there’s not much around, but put it on the fire. [28:24] I know the restrictions are on, but put fire on the water or put water on the altar. [28:30] But so Elijah standing before the altar, he’s got four hundred and fifty priests who we know are armed because they’ve been taking knives and cutting themselves. [28:38] It’s one against four hundred and fifty. [28:40] And God just looks to heaven and says, God, show yourself true.
[28:44] And fire comes out of nowhere and not only consumes the bull, but it is so hot. [28:50] And it’s burning so hard that it burns everything.
[28:56] Even the dust to our now we imagine there’s just this little crater where not even dirt is on the ground.
[29:06] That’s a powerful God. [29:09] That’s a God who’s saying my power is going to bring about my purpose because I want my people because I’m going to bring redemption through them.
[29:18] Let’s go a little further. [29:19] John, Chapter 12, I’m going New Testament on you now.
[29:24] John, Chapter 12. [29:27] We’ve seen through the rest of the Old Testament.
[29:31] And when you’re reading the Old Testament, understand that it is a cycle that just continues to go round and round and round and round. [29:41] God shows himself faithful. [29:45] Israel says we love you. [29:48] Then they turn very soon. [29:51] And then God shows himself faithful again. [29:54] And then they repent.
[29:57] God is faithful. [29:59] Then they sin again. [30:00] Just happens over and over and over. [30:02] There are so many stories just like that where God shows himself powerful for his people. [30:09] And then in the Gospels, God sends the Redeemer. [30:17] God sends Jesus.
[30:23] And he continues to show his power. [30:27] John, Chapter 12, look in verse 26.
[30:32] Jesus is in the temple and he’s speaking to the people of Jerusalem. [30:36] The people that know the stories of the Old Testament know the stories of God’s power. [30:41] That when God shows himself powerful through a prophet, through a priest, through a servant, that they repent because God is showing his power to fulfill his purpose. [30:52] And Jesus looks at them and he says, If anyone serves me, he must follow me. [30:56] And where I am, there will my servant be also. [30:59] If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
[31:02] Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? [31:05] Father, save me from this hour. [31:08] But for this purpose I have come to this house. [31:11] Father, glorify your name. [31:14] Alright, stop there for just one second. [31:16] God from the beginning brought about creation for one purpose.
[31:21] To bring himself glory. [31:23] And Jesus is telling the people of Israel, the Father will bring himself glory. [31:29] I have come to redeem his people. [31:33] And then Jesus says, Father, glorify your name. [31:36] And if I am standing somewhere, and a man is praying, and he asks God something, he prays to heaven, and then we hear God reply, we know something special is taking place. [31:52] And this is the third time God has spoken in the ear side of people through Jesus.
[32:00] And notice, then a voice came from heaven, I have glorified it. [32:07] And I will glorify it again. [32:10] But then here is where the power is so magnificent. [32:12] The crowd that stood there and heard it said, and heard it, excuse me, said that it had thundered. [32:20] Others said, an angel has spoken to him. [32:22] And Jesus answered, the voice has come for your sake, not mine.
[32:27] Now is the judgment of this world. [32:31] Now will the ruler of the world be cast out. [32:35] And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. [32:39] He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. [32:45] Notice how Jesus ends it. [32:46] He says, through me, the ruler of this world, that all Jews knew was Satan was going to be cast out.
[32:55] Jesus is saying this in full knowledge that all of the people gathered there had Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 memorized. [33:03] He is saying, I am here to crush the head of the serpent.
[33:11] And they hear the voice of God come from heaven. [33:17] That is magnificent. [33:19] That is power. [33:21] That is the Creator. [33:23] And we see this awesome, wonderful God. [33:26] But then let’s look at how man responds.
[33:29] Because we know these stories.
[33:32] We see, wow, God is pretty awesome. [33:34] But I want you to see how man responds to each story. [33:37] Go back to 1 Kings chapter 18, excuse me, to Joshua chapter 7 this time. [33:43] And I want you to look at verse 4. [33:44] You may not have time to turn there. [33:46] But in Joshua chapter 7 and verse 4.
[33:50] But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things. [33:55] Alright. [33:55] Once the walls of Jericho fell. [33:57] Joshua, who is the leader from God, has heard from God that all of the things in Jericho are to be destroyed. [34:05] And the precious metals are to be given to the temple to be devoted to God.
[34:12] But Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things. [34:15] For Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah took some of the devoted things. [34:21] And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel. [34:25] Within five minutes, man sins. [34:30] God shows himself exceedingly powerful. [34:33] But as soon as God shows his power, man always shows himself unfaithful.
[34:38] Every single time. [34:40] You say, well that’s just once. [34:43] Go back to 1 Kings chapter 18. [34:46] Then the fire of the Lord, 1 Kings chapter 19 verse 4.
[34:53] Ahab was the king at that point. [34:55] Israel was in captivity. [34:57] He had a wife named Jezebel. [34:59] Right before fire had fallen from heaven. [35:04] Elijah goes up to Ahab and says, Ahab, I’m going to destroy your God. [35:08] God’s going to make it rain again.
[35:10] After I destroy your God. [35:12] So then Elijah sees the power of God. [35:15] Then God makes it rain again. [35:17] And we see this amazing power of God. [35:20] Then Ahab’s wife. [35:23] There’s a scary lady apparently.
[35:25] Her name is Jezebel.
[35:27] She sends word to Elijah. [35:29] You scare my husband, but you don’t scare me. [35:33] Just picture this, okay. [35:35] You have just seen God tell you to tell them it’s not going to rain for three years. [35:39] It doesn’t rain for three years. [35:41] Then God sends fire from heaven.
[35:44] Consuming an altar. [35:46] And it’s like, this God’s pretty powerful. [35:48] Then he says, Hey Elijah, I’m going to make it rain again. [35:50] Just to show that I’m the real God. [35:51] And you’re my servant. [35:52] And it starts raining again.
[35:54] Then the queen says, Elijah, I don’t like that you’re making us look like idiots. [35:59] I’m going to kill you. [36:00] And what does Elijah do? [36:01] A guy that has seen God be just amazingly powerful. [36:05] A God that gave him amazing security in the face of 450 enemies. [36:09] Well in verse 4, but he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness.
[36:13] And came and sat down under a broom tree. [36:15] And he asked that he might die saying, It is enough now, oh Lord, take away my life. [36:20] I am no better than my fathers.
[36:24] This is like the next day. [36:27] He just called down fire from heaven. [36:29] And a day later he’s saying, I’m depressed. [36:31] They want me to die. [36:31] Kill me.
[36:35] Go to John 12.
[36:39] Verse 37. [36:41] I mean, the voice has come from heaven. [36:45] God’s going to glorify his name through Jesus.
[36:50] Verse 37. [36:51] When Jesus had said these things, this is verse 36. [36:54] He departed and hid himself from them. [36:57] Then verse 37. [36:58] Though he had done so many signs before him. [37:01] So on top of the voice from God, apparently he had healed a couple of sick people.
[37:05] He made the lame to walk. [37:07] Made the blind to see. [37:08] Made the deaf to hear. [37:09] You know the stories. [37:10] But look at what the people respond. [37:12] They still did not believe in him.
[37:19] I’ve heard it said a lot of times as I’m talking to people. [37:24] If God would just show me a sign, I’d believe in him.
[37:29] If God would just heal this person, I’d believe in him. [37:32] If God would just do this, I’d believe in him. [37:35] If God would just show me a sign. [37:37] And then sometimes we wonder, why does Jesus say it’s a wicked generation that seeks a sign? [37:41] Because throughout the history of man, what do we see? [37:44] God shows amazing signs.
[37:46] He parts the Red Sea and then they complain because they’re hungry. [37:51] He makes the walls of Jericho fall. [37:53] They take money that they were told not to take. [37:57] Achan was more worried about his material gain. [38:03] And living a life where he could buy his family things. [38:07] Then he was in following the God that destroys civilizations through miraculous means.
[38:15] Elijah was more worried about his safety from the government. [38:19] Than following the God who could consume things with fire that came out of nowhere. [38:24] A God that could dry up the sky. [38:26] Elijah said, that’s not enough. [38:27] I’ve been threatened by the government. [38:29] I should just die.
[38:31] The voice of the Father comes from heaven saying, [38:35] Jesus is the way. [38:37] I will be glorified. [38:38] He will defeat sin and death from Genesis 3. [38:42] And the people of Israel say, even though he can heal, even though voices are coming from the sky, [38:47] not good enough, we don’t believe in you.
[38:49] Our religion flourishing over the Roman Empire is more important to us than the God who uses his power [38:56] to fulfill his purpose, to see redemption come. [38:59] Because he’s a God that keeps his promise. [39:02] And all man can do is say, but I’m not that comfortable in this life.
[39:08] I don’t care how powerful you are. [39:10] I don’t care about your promises. [39:13] Give me money. [39:14] Give me safety.
[39:16] Make my people and my religion more powerful than the others.
[39:21] The whole time God is sitting in the background.
[39:28] He’s unfolding his story through his power. [39:34] And we say, where is the hope? [39:36] Where is it? [39:38] Man, it’s just so sinful. [39:39] No matter what God does, man just rebels.
[39:44] In Genesis chapter 15, God has made a promise to Abraham. [39:49] And then Abraham comes back and he says, God, I don’t know about this. [39:52] It seems a little far-fetched. [39:54] And God says, OK, I’ll make a covenant with you. [39:58] OK? [39:59] That was big at this point.
[40:01] These just customary covenants between people. [40:03] And God says, I’ll make a covenant with you. [40:05] I’ll contextualize my promise so that you’ll understand it. [40:08] And at that point, what they would do sometimes, it sounds pretty gross to us, they’d cut a cow in half. [40:12] And then they would put it apart. [40:14] And then the two people who are making a covenant will walk between the dead cow together.
[40:20] To make a covenant. [40:21] And it’s a legal covenant.
[40:25] God says, I’ll do that with you, Abraham.
[40:30] But then God comes and Abraham’s there. [40:34] And God gives him some holy anesthesia. [40:37] And Abraham falls asleep.
[40:40] And Abraham starts to come, too. [40:43] And he sees God go through the calf alone.
[40:54] Because God knows man can’t redeem himself. [41:01] God says, because you are so unfaithful. [41:05] Because I know you’ll break this covenant. [41:09] I’m making the covenant with myself. [41:12] I’m going to redeem you, no matter what. [41:16] Because I will be glorified.
[41:19] And when we look in John 12, we say, what does God mean when he answers Jesus and he says, I have glorified it. [41:24] And I will glorify it. [41:26] Because God knows his promises are totally contingent on himself. [41:31] His power. His faithfulness. [41:34] And in the face of man’s great sin. [41:37] Man’s great distrust.
[41:39] Man’s great unfaithfulness. [41:41] What do we see? [41:42] We see a God who shows himself abundantly and over and beyond faithful. [41:49] To fulfill his promise. [41:52] We say, but what about Achan? [41:54] What about Elijah?
[41:55] They were so fearful. [41:57] Well, unfaithfulness leads to fearfulness. [42:01] Well, what about the people of Israel? [42:03] They were so distant from their belief in God. [42:05] Well, distance comes from disobedience. [42:10] And we see a people who are so far removed from God.
[42:13] And we look at it and we say, it’s totally unrealistic. [42:16] God can never redeem these people. [42:18] And God says, I can and I will. [42:21] Because my redemption is not dependent on man. [42:24] Because man is full of sin. [42:26] And he will not seek me.
[42:27] Because Abraham was not seeking God. [42:29] God sought him. [42:31] And God said, I know you don’t know who I am, but I’m going to tell you what I’m going to do. [42:36] And so what does he do? [42:37] He says, well, since you can’t redeem yourself, I guess I will have to step down off of my throne. [42:43] Become a human being.
[42:44] And I will redeem my people.
[42:51] And he does it. [42:53] And Jesus dies.
[42:56] And he takes our sin. [42:58] But then he rises from the dead.
[43:05] Promise.
[43:07] Fulfilled.
[43:11] And we look at our life and we say, where is the power of God?
[43:20] We look around and we say, it doesn’t seem to be working out. [43:24] We look at everything that says our life is pointless. [43:30] We have fear. [43:31] We have sickness. [43:33] We have people that are so scared. [43:35] We live lives in fear.
[43:37] We live lives in isolation. [43:38] We live lives fearing death. [43:40] We live lives fearing sickness. [43:42] We live lives so afraid of everything. [43:44] And we say, well, where is the power of God for me? [43:48] And God says, my power isn’t for you.
[43:51] My power is for me. [43:52] And I’m going to fulfill my purpose through my power. [43:56] And you have a choice. [43:57] You can jump on to this promise. [44:00] And you can be a people of promise. [44:02] Because my promise is fulfilled through my power.
[44:04] And my power is through Jesus who is your Redeemer. [44:08] Trust in him for your redemption. [44:10] And you will not have to fear sin. [44:11] You will not have to fear death. [44:13] You will not have to live in isolation. [44:15] You will not have to endure the pain of eternal separation from God in hell.
[44:21] If you will trust in him. [44:22] [44:22] [44:22] Trust this powerful God. [44:25] And he will show himself mighty in your life. [44:27] But it will never be for your purpose.
[44:29] If you think God is not showing himself powerful in your life. [44:32] It is because you are not living for the purposes of God. [44:34] You are living for the purposes of you. [44:37] And God says, my purpose is in Jesus. [44:38] And my purpose is Jesus. [44:39] My mission is Jesus.
[44:41] Live for Jesus. Go make disciples. [44:44] Go. [44:44] Take my message of redemption. [44:46] Go. Show the world that they can be redeemed through Jesus.
[44:55] That is what it means in Romans 8 when it says there is therefore now no condemnation to those who follow Jesus.
[45:07] I got a little King James on you all right there. [45:09] Sorry about that. I went to Iwana. [45:11] That is all they had. [45:13] My notes are down there. [45:15] So I am reverting back to Iwana. [45:18]
[45:21] Jesus. [45:21] Jesus. [45:22] Is our hope. [45:24] How can we trust it? [45:25] Because the same God. [45:28] That made Jericho fall.
[45:32] Said I will take your sin. [45:34] Give it to me. [45:36] I will take it. [45:37] And he said, now you can have my righteousness.
[45:41] Live for me. [45:42] Trust me. [45:43] Live a missional life based totally on my mission. [45:47] And when things don’t seem to add up. [45:49] Look to the future. [45:50] Because I have promised a great future.
[45:53] That is why Romans 8 says the little pains of this life. [45:56] Don’t even deserve comparison. [45:58] To the glory that we will one day have with Jesus Christ.
[46:03] We are not doomed.
[46:07] God is powerful.
[46:11] When you respond today. [46:13] Like we do every week. [46:14] We take communion. [46:16] If this is your first time here. [46:18] I want you to understand. [46:20] That the table of communion is open.
[46:22] To all followers of Jesus.
[46:27] If you are not a follower of Jesus. [46:29] Don’t take communion. [46:30] Not because God is separating himself from you. [46:32] But because you have separated yourself from him.
[46:37] The only barrier you have. [46:39] To the bread and the cup. [46:40] Is the barrier of sin. [46:41] And Jesus says I am taking that on myself. [46:44] And if you are not a follower of Jesus. [46:47] This is meaningless.
[46:49] If you are not a follower of Jesus. [46:50] This will not fill you up like a McDonald’s Happy Meal. [46:54] It is pointless.
[46:56] But if you are a follower of Jesus. [46:58] What this represents. [47:00] Is a power that is mightier. [47:04] Than the power that knocks walls down. [47:07] A power that is mightier than a power that sends fire from heaven. [47:10] It is the power over sin and death.
[47:13] Because only God can raise himself from the dead. [47:17] And you have Jesus’ broken body. [47:19] His shed blood. [47:20] Which represent the penalty for your sin. [47:23] That was laid on to him. [47:24] And then as you take it into yourself.
[47:26] You are taking in the righteous life of Jesus. [47:29] Symbolically.
[47:31] Because you know. [47:32] That Jesus didn’t stay dead.
[47:36] He showed his ultimate power. [47:40] In life.
[47:43] After death. [47:45] Father we come before you and we thank you.
[47:48] We praise you. [47:51] We love you.
[47:56] You have shown yourself so powerful.
[48:00] We have shown ourselves so unfaithful.
[48:05] God that you would raise up from within this church. [48:08] A people who want to live for your purpose. [48:12] Because it is under your power that we live.
[48:16] God that we would spread the gospel of your power. [48:19] Through your son Jesus. [48:21] A power that has redemption from death. [48:25] Redemption from sin. [48:27] Redemption to live for the purpose of you. [48:30] Under your power.
[48:31] So that we can see the mightiest thing of all. [48:34] Take place in our lives and the lives of people around us. [48:37] Redemption from sin. [48:40] Redemption from death. [48:41] God you are powerful. [48:42] Make it happen today.
[48:45] That we would begin to repent of our sins. [48:47] And we would begin to follow you under your power. [48:52] Oh Holy Spirit baptize this place.