I will have to say that living in Leviticus the last two weeks has been a powerful experience for me personally.  I have spent much time contemplating what the people and the priests must have felt as they worshipped the Lord through the system of sacrifices.  One item I failed to mention on Sunday (I do this every Monday – I kick myself for not remembering to say certain things that I wanted to say) was that when a Israelite brought their sacrifice to the tabernacle they had to do a couple of things.  First, they had to lay their hands upon the sacrifice, signifying that what was about to happen was substitutionary.  The sacrifice was being offered in that individuals or the entire nations place.  If the elders brought a sacrifice for  a corporate sin, they all would lay their hands on the sacrifice.  Second, not only did they recognize that the animal was being slaughtered in their place, they had to kill the animal.  The priest did not slit the throat of the animal, the blood was on the hands of the one offering the sacrifice.  Why is this powerful?  Put yourself in this situation.  I got very upset one time when I ran over a squirrel with my car.  I can’t imagine taking one of my prize animals to the tabernacle, laying my hands on that animal and slitting its throat.  Sin is costly, very costly and must be paid for by the death of the innocent in our place. 

One more thing about sin that Leviticus points out, unintentional sin is still sin.  Sin is an OBJECTIVE reality, not subjective!  When we sin, we sin, regardless of motive, intent, or even knowledge.  Sin is costly and we sin without even knowing it time and time again.  How can anyone make the claim that they are good enough to get to heaven.  How can we live with the attitude that if we just try hard enough, even as Christians, that we earn God’s favor.  No, the only thing we can do is trust that Jesus is the perfect substitute to pay the penalty for our sins and to satisfy God holy anger against us for our rebellion.  That is all we can do, take God at his word.  Through Leviticus we understand that faith is essentially this:  We lay our hands on Christ, recognizing that he is the perfect substitute.  We effectively nail him to the cross, trusting that his by his wounds we are healed.  This is all we can do…when grace opens our eyes to the gospel….all we can do is respond in this way be faith.

Then what?  We worship Jesus Christ as Lord because of who he is and what he has done for us.  Read the lyrics to this great hymn and ponder what Christ has done for us.

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!

I also noticed that I had not posted the notes from  Exodus…here they are.

Introduction: 

·         Hero  - a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

·         Who is the hero in the story of Exodus?

·         Romans 9:14-18:  The Mission of God: the powerful proclamation of his name for those he rescues.

·         Exodus 3: 13-25

o   I am that I am – literally “to be” connected to YHWH – literally “to be the Lord”.

o   The Covenant Name of God – YHWH.  This name became so holy that at some point in Israel’s History they replaced it with Adonai – my Lord.  It is translated – the Lord.  It is not a mere title – but it is linked to his character as the God who makes the gracious commitment of himself to his people.

o   Moses will go to Pharaoh armed with the power of God and the authority that comes with the name of God.  Pharaoh and all of Egypt will eventually know the name of the Lord.

·         Do you know the Lord as the God who saves, who makes a gracious commitment to all those who put their trust in him?  I pray that today you will understand more about who the Lord is, and how he has a initiated a mission to rescue a people, who will live for eternity in God’s special place, under his rule.

 

I.                     God Raises up Nations to Powerfully Proclaim His Name

a.       Egypt – the greatest empire in the world.  The Pharaoh was the most powerful ruler in the world.

b.      Israel  - God Brings Joseph to Egypt, setting the stage to make them a great nation.

c.       Moses – an unlikely leader

                                                               i.      Saved in the river, adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, raised in Pharaoh’s courts, murders an Egyptian, flees to the wilderness.  He stutters, He is scared, and Argues with the Lord

                                                             ii.      Exodus 4:10-14

d.      God works through unlikely circumstances, using undeserving characters, to accomplish his mission in the world. 

II.                  God Rescues His People to Powerfully Proclaim His Name

a.       God demonstrates his incomparable power over all other “god’s” through the plagues.

                                                               i.      Exodus 10:1-2

b.      God demonstrates his incomprehensible sovereignty over the will of Pharaoh.

                                                               i.      God Hardens the heart of Pharaoh – Exodus 4:21, 7:3,9:12,10:1

                                                             ii.      Pharaoh Hardens his heart (8:15;9:34)

                                                            iii.      The sovereign plan of God and Human responsibility are intertwined yet never compromised.  This is not something beyond our powers of understanding.

                                                           iv.      In the context of this passage we must recognize that God is sovereign over all events, even human agency, and does everything to magnify the power of his name.

                                                             v.      Notice that this Pharaoh is anonymous in history, but God is famous.

c.       God demonstrates his initiative to save when He frees his people from their bondage in Egypt.

                                                               i.      Exodus 6:2-8 – God’s promise to save

                                                             ii.      The Passover – Exodus 12:1-13

1.       The people of Israel now had to take God at his word, follow his instructions, or they will also face judgment

2.       We must trust that the only way God will Passover and forgive us for our sin is by the blood of Christ, the perfect lamb.

3.       As God gave Israel the Passover feast, he has given us the Lord’s Supper to remember what Christ has done.  We no longer look back to a national redemption, we look back to a permanent redemption in Christ.

                                                            iii.      The Red Sea – Redemption complete as the evil rule of Pharaoh is devastated.

1.       God leads Israel right to a dead end, the Red Sea.

2.       Exodus 4:13-18 – God fights for his people!  He shows himself strong even when we grumble and complain and fail to trust him.

3.       He does this for his own glory!

d.      God Remembers His Covenant and Establishes a Nation as a Powerful Proclamation of His Name.

                                                               i.      He gives Israel the law to show them how to live in a covenant relationship with the Lord.

1.       Exodus 20:2 – God is serious about HIS NAME

2.       Covenant treaty – Stipulations imposed by a conquering king on a subdued people because they had already been made his subjects.

3.       The law stems from and are a reflection of God’s Character

a.       We are supposed to be separate, distinct people, not to earn God’s favor, but to reflect his character as God special people.

4.       The law reflects the nature of God’s intended relationship with mankind at creation and how people are to relate to one another.

                                                             ii.      He gives Israel the tabernacle as the powerful place of his presence with is covenant people.

1.       Moses is on the mountain for 40 days and nights and the people rebel

2.       God relents in wiping them off the face of the earth

3.       Exodus 33:1-16 – Who are we without God’s presence?

                                                            iii.      He shows Moses his glory as a powerful declaration of his goodness and grace in the midst of a rebellious people. (33:17-23)

III.                Conclusion:

a.       Exodus 34:5-9

b.      In Exodus God has powerfully declared his name, but this is only a foreshadow of a greater proclamation of his name. 

                                                               i.      The bondage of Israel is nothing compared  to the every person’s bondage to sin.

                                                             ii.      God’s rescued Israel from slavery to Egypt, he has also rescued us from our sin , not through the blood of a lamb, but through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

                                                            iii.      The law has been completely fulfilled in Christ and he is present with us through the indwelling of His spirit in our very lives.

                                                           iv.      Do we see God for who is he is?  Do we want to see his glory pass by?

Here are the notes I promised from Leviticus.  You will notice that I had to cut and paste a little on Sunday morning.  I will be something about Numbers soon.  If you have any questions that you would like to discuss concerning Leviticus, please post them!

Introduction:

a.        Bible Challenge

b.      Leviticus Background:

a.       The third book of the Pentateuch – (penta means five, teuch means book)

b.      If you sit down to read Leviticus it will take about three hours

c.       It is not in a narrative form like Geneses and Exodus, rather it is a set of instructions that God gave to Moses during the first year the people were camped at the base of Mount Sinai.

d.      This is one of those books often cast aside as irrelevant, the stuff of the mean and vengeful God of the Old Testament.  God is the same yesterday, today, and forever…We had better pay special attention to this book.  This book describes very effectively what it means to live for God and how the only hope for sinful man to live free is through sacrifice.

c.       When I was growing up I had a healthy respect for my Father.  It didn’t take me long to figure out the best ways to approach Dad.  A child learns how to approach his father when his father is consistent.  When a father is rash, unpredictable, a hot-head – children try many ways to approach them, but eventually stop trying – why? because this unpredictability gives them no freedom to approach.  I Leviticus God gives his people a perfect set of instructions on how to approach him and to live a life that is pleasing to him and he is perfectly consistent in how he deals with his children.

d.      The Law:   The law is given to the chosen and already redeemed people of God so they might know what their new relationship to God means for the way they live.  The law of Sinai is the expression of the character of God as it relates to the revelation of his kingdom at that time.

e.      Key NT Passage:  Hebrews 9:11-14

I.                     God’s People are Distinct, So They Should Live Holy Lives

a.       The Priests Must Be Especially Distinct

                                                   i.      The Story of Unathorized Fire – 10:1-7

                                                 ii.      God raised up a tribe of priests called the Levites.  They are called to be especially distinct.

                                                iii.      Special  Duties

1.       Sacrifices

2.       Teachers (10:10-11)

3.       Physicians

4.       Home Inspectors

                                               iv.      Special Provisions

                                                 v.      Special Judgment

1.       Nadab and Abihu

2.       16:2

                                               vi.      The NT calls the church a kingdom of Priests:  We are to take care of each other and proclaim the gospel to the world.

                                              vii.      The priests in Leviticus point to Christ, who is our great high priest. (Heb. 8:1-6)

b.      The Whole People Must Be Distinct

                                                   i.      24:10-16 – God’s People must be distinct or they lie about who God is!

                                                 ii.      Cleaness and Ritual Purity:  “You must distinguish between the holy and the common the clean and the unclean.”

1.       God is indifferent about nothing:  All of life matters to God.

2.       God cares tremendously about how He is worshipped!

a.       Ritual cleaness separated God’s people from the pagans.

b.      Does God care how he is worshipped today?

                                                iii.      Holiness – (Chapters 17-27)

1.       Reinforces the 10 Commandments

2.       Chapter 18

a.       Sexual sins forbidden

b.      Honest business practices

3.       Chapter  19

a.       Do not curse the deaf – 19:14

b.      Justice to both the poor and the rich – there is not partiality with God.

c.       Respect for Elders – 19:32

4.       Jesus’ favorite verse – 19:18

a.       James 2:8 – The Royal Law

b.      Love is the root of the law of God.  God’s law tells us how to love God and others – it is the freedom to live for God.

c.       Remember  - we are just as guilty for what we fail to do.

5.       Unintentional Sin – 5:17

a.       This is sin done in ignorance or without intent.

b.      Sin is not subjective, it is objective!!!

                                                                                                                           i.      Three implications

1.       Ignorance is no excuse – everyone is guilty because of sin!

2.       This should cause to gain knowledge of God – we should want to know how not to sin. 

3.       Urgency in spreading the gospel….and we cannot rightly share the gospel without the law….it is our schoolmaster…it demonstrates our unrighteousness before a Holy God.

6.       The Severity of Punishment Demonstrates How God Feels About Holiness.

a.       Sins Against Authority – Parents – punishable by death

b.      Sexual Sin/Perversion of God Design – punishable by death

c.       Occult Practices – Death

d.      “It was more important for God’s people to live Holy than to live old.” – Mark Dever.

e.      This is justice in a Theocracy!  This is not just the mean God – this is the same justice we have been spared because Christ died in our PLACE ON THE CROSS!

f.        God insisted that His people send a distinct message to the world about who God is….and so should the church.  Sadly – the church today does not live distinct from the world.  We lie to the world about who God is!

g.       Why should God’s People Obey Him?

                                                                                                                           i.      They want to prosper

                                                                                                                         ii.      He promises to be with them

                                                                                                                        iii.      They fear him

                                                                                                                       iv.      Because of His special relationship with his people

                                                                                                                         v.      They are called to reflect his character – 19:2 – The motto of Leviticus!

                                                                                                                       vi.      God intends for his people to be a witness to the nations (20:23-26)

                                                                                                                      vii.      If you are a Christian you must understand the importance of holiness among God’ s people – If you don’t – turn loose of the name Christian!!!

II.                  God’s People are Sinful, So They Should Offer Sacrifices

a.       9:22-24 – Aaron first sacrifices

b.      Sinful People need sacrifices because they fail to be holy

                                                   i.      Unclean, the sinful, and the grateful were to bring sacrifices to the Lord.

                                                 ii.      They typically would bring the finest animals that they owned – without defect.  The sacrafices were valuable in themselves and costly to the ones bringing them.

                                                iii.      They sacrifices were more than lost goods, they were a destruction of life. (17:11)

1.       Sin brings death and only shed blood bring atonement.

                                               iv.      The individual would lay their hands on the head of the offering publically identifying themselves with the offering – “What happens to this animal should happen to me because of my sins.

                                                 v.      Then they would slaughter the animal and the priest would perform their duties according to what type of sacrifice was being preformed.

                                               vi.      Sacrifices were brought daily, weekly, monthly, and annually – Why?  God knew his people would keep sinning.  This is why the fire on the altar was to never go out.  Only Christ would atone for sins once for all!

c.       Sinful People Need Atonement

                                                   i.      Atonement is how estranged parties are reconciled

                                                 ii.      The Day of Atonement – Yom Kippper – Chapter 16

1.       The High Priest enters with the blood of a bull, for himself, and of a goat, for all the people.

2.       He goes in the room alone and pours the blood on the mercy seat.

3.       The Scapegoat – 16:20-22

4.       The Insufficiency of this act by the high priest should be obvious – it had to be made every year.

                                                iii.      Christ is the perfect High Priest (Hebrews 10:1-4)

1.       John the Baptist – Behold the Lamb of God

2.       Peter – “a lamb without blemish or defect.”

3.       Hebrews 13:11-12 – Jesus became unclean for us!

4.       Paul – Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.

5.       No one else can atone for your sin – mercy is only  found in Christ.

III.                Conclusion:  What do I do with the Law today?

a.       The Law shows us our sinfulness and our need for atonement.

b.      It reminds us that God is Holy and that we are to be holy and this can only be done through Christ!

c.       It tells us something about our mission – to be different than the world because we are the people of God and we are to proclaim him to the world around us.

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving!  I have been enjoying my time off and will miss each of you on Sunday.  We have two weeks to read the book of Leviticus.  I would make a guess that most people have not truly read all the way through this book.  What’s the point?  The book is full of rules, regulations, and instructions that do not seem to apply to us.  The truth is that this book is rich with meaning for us today.  Here are some tips when reading through this book.

1)  Put yourself in the situation of the people and the priests.  Try to imagine what it would be like to bring these offerings to the Lord and the perform the duties outlined for each offering.

2)  Look for the theological themes that point to what Christ accomplished on the cross.  Four themes stick out to me as I read this book: (1) The Holiness of God, (2) Atonement, (3) Covenant, (4) Ethics.  Look for these and make a list of others that stand out to you.

3)  Notice repeated phrases that appear in the book and look to Scripture to determine their significance.  Phrases such as the sacrifice was a pleasing aroma to the Lord, etc. appear multiple times.  Notice those phrases and see if there are any NT parallels.

Enjoy your reading and feel free to post any comments, questions, any aha experiences you had while reading the book.  I will see you a week from Sunday. 

I hope that many of you will read the book of Exodus with me this week.  The Exodus is Israel’s national epic.  It is the story of the birth of a nation, a nation whose role is to be a light to all other nations.  They are the chosen people of God, to whom he will reveal himself once again as the one, true, God.  He will also manifest his powerful presence to them in a variety of supernatural ways.  It is amazing to me that God can reveal himself so vividly, yet the people still complained, moaned, and groaned.  But, the same is true for us.  We don’t have burning bushes, pillars of fire, and manna from heaven, but we do have the miracle of the Bible.  God has revealed himself powerfully to us through his inspired word.  As you read the book of Exodus this week consider the following themes:

1)  A New Revelation of God’s Name:  I AM
God reveals himself as the Great I AM, a personal God who is faithful and consistent.  He is the only God.  Look for ways that God reveals himself as I AM that I AM.  If you ask most people, Moses is the hero of Exodus.  But, if you read the Bible as God’s story, you discover that God is the hero of this amazing account.

2) The Exodus is a powerful picture of redemption.  God delivers a people from slavery and death and they are to be his and his alone. 

3) What happens at Sinai may be the most powerful portion of the book.  Here we see God mould this wandering rabble into a nation.  He shows them his power, gives them his law, brings them into a covenant relationship, and provides instructions for proper worship.  God would be present with them wherever they went.

I think it is interesting the God didn’t give Moses the Law at the burning bush.  Moses did not walk into Egypt and tell the people, “If you can keep this law for twenty years, God will rescue you from the hand of Pharaoh.”  That is not how God operates.  God chose to redeem his people first.  They had to demonstrate faith, taking God at his word, when they followed the instructions at the passover, but their deliverance did not depend on them, it depended upon the faithful and strong hand of the Great I AM.

The law today does not function as a set of rules we have to live up too, it is our schoolmaster.  The law instructs us of our sin, alerts us to our slavery, and awakens us to our need for redemption.  Just as the Hebrews needed the blood of a sacrificial lamb on their doorposts in order for their firstborns deliverance, we need the blood of Jesus to cover our sins so that the Great I Am will passover.

Enjoy the book of Exodus and post any questions or comments here for discussion.

Here are the notes from yesterdays message.  I am behind on uploading sermons, sorry about that.  I will try to catch up this week.  I will also be posting some thoughts on Exodus soon!  There is an interesting discussion on the previous post, chime in!

Genesis: 
Episode I:  The Righteous Rule of the King
(Key NT Verse – Galatians 3:8)

Intro:

-          The Genius of Star Wars – episodes 4,5,6 leave us waiting for episode 1,2,3 20 years later.

-          Now think about God’s Word.  If you were a devout Jew living during the time of Christ, you would live in a time where there was 400 years separating the last recorded Word from God.  God had not spoken authoritatively for 400 years.  There are 39 books of law, history, wisdom, poetry, and prophecy that are inspired by God, yet only a few anxiously awaited the story to continue.  The ones who waited, who really understood the story of the Old Testament, recognized Jesus as the Messiah.  The signs were all over the pages of the Old Testament, but very few were waiting in such anticipation.  The most religious of the Jews saw Jesus as a threat to their own plans.  Just as Sarah saw fit to fulfill the promise of God for a son by giving her servant to Abraham, the Pharisees had given up on a literal Messiah.  By their own law-keeping and political maneuvering, they thought they could usher in a new messianic kingdom.  What they didn’t realize, was that they were the ones being used by God to bring his covenant promises to their fulfillment by nailing Jesus to a cross.

-           But a few, a remnant, saw Jesus for who he was….the Messiah, the savior of the world, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, The Alpha and Omega!  Those who experienced the gospel events and all of us who look back on those events and accept the gospel by faith, we have the beautiful experience of seeing the Old Testament more clearly.  We have the opportunity to see and understand the Old Testament through the gospel event, looking backwards as the Old Testament helps us understand more clearly what God accomplished through the cross, on our behalf.  So in Star Wars terminology – Genesis is Episode I and we get to look back at Genesis and see this beautiful book in light of the Gospel.

Introductory/Background Information

·         Genesis in an anthology or a highly unified collection of works.  Moses is the author of Genesis, as well as Exodus, Leviticus, numbers  and Dueteronomy.

·         50 Chapters and 1,533 verses…it will take you about 3 hours to read Genesis in one sitting.

·         Within the book of Genesis there are all different types of literature, but the main type of literature is the hero story, which is used to tell the history of mankind and in particular the history of God’s covenant relationship with Abraham and his family line.

·         1-11 – Primeval History – Universal Experience of the Human Race

·         12-50 is Patriarchal History – The Story of God’s Chosen Line

·         Epic Story – one of the most dramatic books in all of history.

o   Grand Narratives – such as the creation narrative/Flood Narrative

o   Intimate Details – Gen. 29:20 – “So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.”

o   Everyone should take the time to read the book of Genesis in one sitting!

Episode 1:  The Righteous Rule of the King
 – Key NT verse to unlock the OT book of Genesis (Galatians 3:8-9)

-          Proeuaggelizomai – to proclaim the good news beforehand

I.                     The Kingdom of God Established(God’s Sovereignty)  – The Pattern of the Kingdom is Established in Eden

a.       God’s People

                                                               i.      Human Kind is God’s Special Creation – created in his image.

1.       We have special dignity before God

2.       We are next to God in the order of things

3.       We are the special focus of his care

a.       The rest of creation exists for our benefit

4.       Only Man knows God and is created to live purposefully for God.

b.      In God’s Place

                                                               i.      Perfect Environment

                                                             ii.      Perfect Boundaries

c.       Under God’s Rule

                                                               i.      Man is a special creature who is ruled by his creator. We are uniquely responsible to God.  We must give an account.

                                                             ii.      God’s words have authority…

1.       They design reality

2.       They define righteousness

3.       They determine life and death

II.                  The Kingdom of God Rejected – The Fall

a.       God’s Word is Rejected

b.      God’s Rule is Rejected

c.       God’s Righteous Judgment is Enacted – (DEATH)

                                                               i.      The Curse of Death – Eternal Separation from Fellowship with the Creator

                                                             ii.      The Flood

                                                            iii.      The Tower  of Babel

d.      God’s Sovereign Grace is Revealed

                                                               i.      God’s grace is his unceasing loving commitment to a race that has acted in a way that not only does not deserve such love, but actually deserves the very opposite.

                                                             ii.      God’s grace is sovereign because it is only by his initiative, by its very nature, grace must originate from the heart and mind of God.

                                                            iii.      How is this grace revealed in Gen. 3-11

1.       Preservation of the human race – God does not wipe humanity off the map.  He gives Adam and Eve Children.

2.       The Beginning of Redemptive History

a.       God places his favor on Abel’s Offering

b.      God gives Adam and Eve Seth, who takes the place of his murdered brother Abel in the favored line…. (Show family tree in PowerPoint)

c.       Enoch is in Seth’s Line

d.      Noah is in Seth’s line – 10 generations from Adam.

e.      Noah and his family are saved from the FLOOD!

                                                                                                                                       i.      Notice faith and obedience working side by side in the life of Noah.  The Brother is building an ark- it’s like building a bass boat factory in the middle of the Sahara Desert – what is the point?

                                                                                                                                     ii.      Noah trusted God’s Word and Submitted to God’s Rule and Rested in God’s favor.

                                                                                                                                    iii.      The Salvation of Noah and his family is an act of God’s grace leading to a new beginning.

                                                                                                                                   iv.      God’s mercy once again extends to the entire human race as he promises never to destroy the earth again with a flood.

III.                The Kingdom of God Promised – God’s Covenant with Abraham

a.       The Rest of Genesis focuses on God’s Chosen People – Beginning with Abraham.

b.      God continues his plan, that started with Seth, to reclaim a people for himself, that will live in his place, willingly submitting to his rule.

                                                               i.      (Show chart again revealing Noah’s family tree to Abraham)

c.       God establishes a covenant with Abraham

                                                               i.      Abraham’s Descendants would become a great nation

                                                             ii.      These descendants would possess the promised land

                                                            iii.      These descendants would be God’s own people

                                                           iv.      These descendants extend to those not physically related to Abraham (Gen 12:3, 17:4-8 and Romans 4:16-18….don’t forget our key verse)

d.      God demonstrates his Sovereign Grace is Keeping His Covenant Promises

1.       God establishes his kingdom in a way that can never be attributed to man’s own devices.  

2.         (Read paragraph from page 121 of according to plan)

                                                             ii.      God Remembers Sarah and she bears a son, Isaac

                                                            iii.      God Places his favor on Jacob, who steals his brothers birthright.

                                                           iv.      God Remembers Rachel, Jacobs’ beloved wife, a son – Joseph

                                                             v.      God displays his sovereign power in the life of Joseph

1.       Genesis 45:1-15/50:15-21

IV.                The  Righteous Rule of the King

a.       Characterized by Grace

                                                               i.      In the Genesis account of God’s chosen line of blessing, it is clear that God’s blessing is not deserved.  It is a work of God’s Grace.

                                                             ii.      Just as Noah and Abraham did not deserve the blessing of God, neither do we.  We can do nothing to earn our salvation, Only Christ could do that.

b.      Characterized by Sovereign Choice

                                                               i.      God chooses some and not others as the objects of Grace. 

                                                             ii.      God is working out His plan, for his purposes, for His Glory. 

                                                            iii.      God election is a demonstration of Mercy

1.       As we read the Scriptures together we cannot ignore the reality that God is keeping for himself a remnant that willingly submits to His rule.  If God leaves sinful humanity to our own devices, we would all be swept up in the flood of his righteous judgement.

2.       The Cross – Plan A, Not PlanB

c.       Our Response must be Characterized by Faith:

                                                               i.      The Faith of Abraham was not perfect, not always strong and sometimes borders on disbelief. (gives Sarah to the King, Hagaar

                                                             ii.      Yet, at crucial times he takes God at his word and believes his promises.

                                                            iii.      The key is not the strength of Abraham’s faith, but the strength, reliability and perfection of the God he trusts!

                                                           iv.      Our response to God is a response of Faith- taking God at his word.  This is the opposite of what Adam and Eve did in the Garden.

1.       Have you trusted in the promise of God that your sins are forgiven because of what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross!

a.       Jesus is the second Adam – he obeyed God completely

b.      Jesus is our Ark – only if we go into him, will we be safe from the righteous judgment of God.

c.       Jesus is the sacrificial lamb provided by God in our place, just as he provided a ram in Isaac’s place.

d.      Jesus is the second person of the Trinity, who like Joseph, has been exalted and given a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that JESUS Christ is Lord!

I hope that many will take up the challenge to read Genesis with me this week.  Genesis is the book of beginnings.  The first four words of the Bible may be the most important.  “In the beginning God…”  God is eternal and independent, meaning that he has a perfectly glorious existence apart from any other reality.  He pre-exists.  Now, think on this for about ten minutes then stop, because your brain will explode if you go any longer.  Why is this so hard to comprehend?  Because we are creatures, not creators.  We have been created in a world designed for us, within a framework of space and time.  God, by his authority, ordered the world in this special way.  So, anything outside of that order, namely himself, is quite difficult for us to wrap our minds around.

As you read Genesis, recognizing who God is, look for ways in which God reveals his character to his special creation.  You will see a God of love, mercy, and compassion.  You will see a God who is passionate about his holiness.  You will see a sovereign God who can create from nothing and justly judge his creation.  You will see a God who is sovereign over history.  Read Genesis looking for God. 

Second, as you read, try to see the consequence of humanity’s response to God.  In Genesis we already experience the beautiful tension between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility.  Quite simply, God holds us accountable for how we respond to him.  He held Adam and Eve to account.  He held Cain to account.  He held the world to account in the days of Noah.  He held Sodom and Gomorrah to account.  But in the midst of all this accountability, there were those who exercised faith and obedience.  Abel exercised faith, Noah exercised faith and built and ark when he had never seen rain, Abraham exercised faith, when he believed God would raise Isaac after he sacrificed him (read Hebrews).  Joseph exercised faith and obedience time and time again, and late in his life demonstrated that he understood God was working in every circumstance.

 Look for these themes and enjoy.

I am so excited about this series…and this weeks message.  I have never preached a message on the whole Bible!  It is going to be fun.  You might not think this sounds fun…you may think it sounds really long.  Here is why this is going to be fun…the Bible, when read and understood as a “whole” is a meta-narrative or a master story.  It is an epic that explains everything!  The Bible gives us a real picture of where we came from, why we are here, why we are in the condition we are in, our purpose while we are here, and the reality of the future.  Did you realize the Bible provides us with all of this vital information?

The Bible presents us three key realities:
1) The reality of God, not a generic God, but this God, as revealed in his Word.  We come to know his character in the Old Testament and meet him personally in the New Testament in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ.

2) The Bible is a particular story, this story, the ultimate story that tells us from where we came, why we are here, and where we are going.  Jesus is the climax of this story and we are still anxiously waiting the conclusion.

3)  The Bible is about a particular people, this people, the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, a people of promise who are to be a light to the nations.  Through Christ, we have become a part of this people of promise (Gal.3:2-8) as the church and our mission is the same as that of Israel’s, to be a light to the nations, expanding the rule and reign of Christ to every tribe, tongue, and nation by the proclamation of the Gospel in both proclamation and deed.

This grand story of the Bible is the story of reality, of how things really are.  This is why I am so excited about this message and series of messages.  If we catch the story, we will understand more about who we are and what we are called to do as the people of God.

Now on reading Genesis…Next week I will be preaching on the book of Genesis.  It would be great for you to read along this coming week and have chewed on the text before you come to church on Sunday.  Don’t read it to understand every minute detail.  Read it like you would a novel, a story.  Try to see the character of God and how he relates to His creation, even after the fall.  Read it in a way that puts God at the center.  It is so easy to read Scripture as a self-help book, putting ourselves as the primary purpose of the story…remember, this is God’s story that he has invited us to partake.  His word is authoritative because it provides us with the parameters by which we live, He gives us permission to be a part of his story.  Read it along with me and lets see what God unpacks for us each week.

We are starting a new adventure on Sunday mornings!  Starting Nov. 4, we will head out to cover all 66 books of the Bible, in one message on each book.  No, the messages will not be three hours long.  I can read your minds.  The purpose is to give us an cross-country view of God’s Word.  We can spend so much time looking at chapter and verse, that we have a hard time seeing how Old Testament, New Testament, books of the law, epistles, and prophecies all point us to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our goal is not to overview every book, or  even cover every popular story.  The goal is too discover how each book of the Bible points to the redeeming work of Christ in his birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. This series will help us in several ways:

1) We will clearly see the big picture of the Bible.  God’s word is one story and the testaments are two sides of the same coin.  The Bible is unified in its message and purpose as it points us to Jesus.

2)  It will help us read our Bibles in the proper context.  How do we interpret Leviticus?  What is so important about the message of the minor prophets?  Why do the Gospels refer to the Old Testament prophecies?  All of these questions and more will be addressed.

3)  It puts God at the center of Scripture.  It is really easy to put ourselves at the center of the Bible when we go to discover its meaning.  The Bible is God’s revelation of himself to us, and this is most fully personified in the Word that became flesh, Jesus Christ.

4) Some of us will understand the Scriptures as they truly are for the very first time!

I am so excited that God is leading us down this path.  This blog will be here for discussion and devotion as we take this journey together.  Let’s discuss the high points along route 66 and share what God is teaching us along the way.  Use this blog as your travel log.