03/15/26 - Sunday Sermon - Guest Speaker
Royals - For All the Right Reasons
Royals - For All the Right Reasons
It has been said that if history doesn’t exactly repeat itself, it at least rhymes.
A good rule of thumb is to pay attention to instances in Scripture when God is repeating a theme.
As with a teacher and a test, it means that this theme is of utmost importance to God.
We will see this as we continue with King Saul’s tragic story today.
Focus: Partial obedience is still disobedience - you need to obey the whole of God’s word.
For God’s Sake
For All the Right Reasons
Faithful King
For God’s Sake
All that we’ve been gifted and graced to do is for God’s sake, not just our own.
After Saul is rebuked by Saul for his rationalized disobedience in I Samuel 13, things don't get any better.
King Saul is left with about 600 men situated less than two miles from Micmash where the Philistines are entrenched and are sending raiding parties (literally meaning “destroyers”) to the north, west and southeast of Israel.
Because of the longstanding “weapons control” laws and economic warfare of the Philistines, the only Israelites with any weapons to defend themselves when the attacks begin are King Saul and his son Jonathan.
Saul and his men relocate to safety while leaving Jonathan and a small troop to defend themselves.
In Chapter 14 Jonathan, showing courage and a trust in the Lord, goes with his armor-bearer and once again catalyzes a great victory from the Lord against the Philistine oppressors.
Saul responds by continually taking the best men for his team, while leaving others to do the heavy lifting and reap victories for Israel by putting themselves in danger.
1 Samuel 14:52 ESV
“There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he attached him to himself.”
Maybe you recognize this from the workplace.
King Saul was continually concerned with his own image of success, but not the mission of God.
Once we get to chapter 15, God is giving Saul another opportunity to make his kingship about something more than himself - another opportunity to express obedience to the Lord and fulfill his purposes.
1 Samuel 15:1-9 ESV
“And Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.”
First we need to understand the battle.
The lesson of the Amalekites is that God’s justice will be done, sooner or later (Exodus 17:8-15; Deuteronomy 25:17-19).
We need to trust God and make sure that we are on the right side of his judgments.
Now this warfare into which God called King Saul was not genocide or mere imperialism, but Kherem warfare.
The Gospel Coalition notes that “The distinguishing character of kherem warfare is evidenced in Saul’s sparing the Kenites, whom the Lord had not commanded him to devote to destruction (15:5–6).”
It also foreshadows the dispensational imagery of how God will bring a day to judge all sin.
Though there will be a final judgement where all those committed to unrepentant sin who have not come under the Lordship of Jesus will be consumed, the New Testament implores followers of Christ to advance his Kingdom with the gospel and love, not violence.
At the same time, you can not be romantic, at the time of King Saul, the only way to stop the Amalekites was with force.
Do not be misled by chronological bias.
Modern diplomacy was not a part of ancient near eastern culture.
The Amalekites were violent people who committed atrocities and genocide.
Amos 1 and 2 speak about the violence and atrocities of the surrounding nations.
Yet God in essence said, “I will not allow you to use force on them the way they use force on other nations.”
*Historically, all nations attack others to enrich themselves - not just to kill, but to get land, slave labor, natural resources and capital.
In I Samuel 15:1-9, God says to smite the Amaliekites as a form of divine justice, a terrible but necessary thing, as divine justice, not imperialism.
It is a foreshadowing of the eschatological judgment God eventually brings against all sin, and which Jesus bore on himself for humanity on the cross.
*Whereas other nations made war on others to profit in the form of imperialism, God was saying here in his divine justice that the Israelites were not to profit even one cent from this campaign.
God knows people say they go to war in the name of “truth and justice”, but really are motivated to enrich themselves and therefore speaks to Saul accordingly, giving instruction about what not to do.
Yet as we will see, King Saul once again chose to sin.
For God’s Sake!
We also have to see what God intends to be the purpose of the gifts he entrusts to us, but what we often do with them instead, bringing destruction in the end because of our disobedience.
For example:
*What is the purpose of your marriage and family unit - is it just companionship and postcards or is it something more?
(Grant Cardone clip about wife saying he needs to be a billionaire)
According to Jesus, even the gift of your family is a vehicle for you to make disciples, advance the Great Commission and bring glory to his name.
For All the Right Reasons
Partial obedience is still disobedience and will be judged by the Lord.
I Samuel 15:9-23
“But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.” The word of the Lord came to Samuel: “I regret[c] that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night.And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.” And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”
*Partial obedience is disobedience.
*Your self-made sacrifices and spirituality do not please God - faith in and obedience to his Word are the only things that he will accept.
*King Saul sins when he focuses not on God’s divine justice against sin, but on the capital, the wealth that he could gain from the campaign.
*Saul, in essence adopts the very same violent, imperialistic values of the nation that he was sent to destroy.
In so doing, he forsakes Israel’s God given mandate to be different, a light to the nations to turn them from the historic patterns that bind individuals, families, societies and nations in sin.
King Solomon would later rightly write by the Holy Spirit:
Proverbs 14:34 ESV
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”
Yet the purpose of this text is not to have you think simply about a nation’s foreign policy, but about yourself and how you are similar to Saul in the destructive trappings of partial obedience.
Worldly wisdom says we all need to be a little selfish.
What are the “best things” in life that you thought were good to hold back for yourself and ended up costing you in the end?
Was it choosing career over family?
Was it choosing sexual freedom over devotion to a God-given spouse?
Was it time pursuing your own ambitions rather than cultivating time with your children?
Did you forsake church, Christian community and service in the name of worldly success and mere monetary pursuits?
Could it be that like Saul, your sin was that you were determined to make a name for yourself and fulfill personal ambition at all costs?
Like King Saul, were you driven by selfishness and pride?
Maybe you didn’t know or didn’t choose to trust that God opposed the proud, but gives grace to and exalts the humble.
*Bruno Mars sang a song about it…. “I should’ve bought you flowers, I should have held your hand…”
Understanding sin from an irreligious worldview:
-Timothy Keller
King Saul in his disobedience would eventually express this in erecting a monument to himself.
How are we similar to Saul?
What is the monument that you are erecting to yourself that is driving you?
Here’s the point:
*It is sin to do what you would prefer to do or you think is wiser, when God has already told you what he expects.
*God’s commands take into account his purposes and not just your preferences.
We convince ourselves that we are obeying God when really we are doing what we want to do and calling it an offering to God.
You have to know that God rejects this.
People often ask me why their prayers aren’t answered when we both know they are in the middle of sin.
For all the things God is in his grace, he is by no means an enabler.
The Psalmist would learn:
Psalm 66:16-20 ESV
“Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul. I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!”
King Solomon would write:
Proverbs 15:8 ESV
“The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.”
Proverbs 15:29 ESV
“The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.”
*The reason God gives you provision is, yes for our enjoyment, but also for worship so that the gospel of the Kingdom could go to the nations (Matthew 24).
But Saul kept the best for himself.
Ultimately, Saul’s sin could not be hidden.
And it would be found out.
Lesson: Your sin will be found out and come back to bite you.
“A sin takes on a new and real terror when there seems a chance that it is going to be found out.”
-Mark Twain
Do what is right before God even when you think no one is watching - because God is.
1 Timothy 5:24-25 ESV
“The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.”
*We often try to protect our favorite sins.
*What are the best things that we try to keep for ourselves but God tells us to destroy because they are destroying us?
It’s easy to want to get rid of the weak and despicable things.
Saul likely kept Agag alive to parade Agag as a captive and to display his combatant prowess and personal glory to other nations.
When confronted with his sin, Saul began to employ religious speech and excuses as we all do.
Saul told Samuel that he kept the devoted things “to sacrifice to the Lord your God…” not Saul’s God.
Saul’s heart had already departed from the Lord and thus abdicated his commissioning to be a ruler under God.
King Saul exemplifies the infinite capacity of human beings towards self deception - knowing something at one level but choosing not to know it at another because it threatens our preferences and desires.
Blameshifting is always a part of the self deception
Now here’s the sad part - God did not accept Saul’s final admission of guilt.
1 Samuel 15:24-26 ESV
“Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord.” And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.””
*Why didn’t God accept Saul’s admission of sin?
There was no godly sorrow, but simply worldly sorrow - being upset about the consequences of his sin, not that he had offended and rebelled against God.
2 Corinthians 7:9-11 ESV
“As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.”
*How do we need to turn from such sin to show our obedience rather than sacrifice?
Do not pick and choose.
All sin matters to God.
James 2:8-13 ESV
“If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
When Samuel rejected Saul, Saul’s greatest concern was that Samuel would honor him in the eyes of the people.
Though Saul wouldn’t die for many more chapters, the summation of his rule was evidence that things were over for him here.
Like the Kings of the other nations, Saul was described with his victories in battle, not his heart before the Lord as in I and II Kings - in relation to God.
*At the end of the day what matters is not what you think you know about God, but what God thinks of you.
1 Corinthians 8:1-3 ESV
“Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.”
*How would the Lord speak about you?
Faithful King
Jesus was the faithful king who obeyed all of the commandments and purposes of the Father without fail to completely save those who put their trust in him.
How was Jesus the better king?
For those of you recently tuning in, we’re not talking about politicized, hollow Christianity, but a Biblical faith with teeth that looks to give life rather than destroy from the throne of the Son of God.
Jesus was the better king because he was a prophet, priest and king who lived fully devoted to God.
Hebrews 7:23-25 NIV
“Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.”
Author John Ortberg described Jesus this way:
“Who is Jesus? He is the hinge of history. He is the hope of the oppressed. He is the inspiration of the despairing. He is the King of Kings. He is the Lord of Lords. He is the greatest teacher who ever lived. His is the greatest mind that ever thought. He sparked the greatest movement that has ever spread. He offered the greatest gift that has ever been given. He alone mastered life. He alone conquered death. He alone overcame sin. He alone grows more present with each passing year. He is the Son of God. He is the Savior of the world. the victorious risen king.”
—John Ortberg
Jesus came not to destroy us, but to save us from destruction and redeem our lives.
Yet he does so only as we recognize the excuses we’ve made for our own exaltation that have ironically led to our own destruction.
We must turn from our self justified, self deceived reasoning, humbly repent of our sin and receive the righteousness that comes from Christ alone.
Jesus was the better king because he looked perfectly for the pleasure and honor of the Father, knowing his ways best and good.
Jesus would live sinlessly, putting to death all of the works of the flesh, die sacrificially on the cross to take the punishment the rebellious deserve and rise three days later to provide forgiveness of sins and eternal life to all who would trust in him.
There are really two types of people in here today, represented by the story of the prodigal son and his elder brother - both of whom tried to find satisfaction outside of God and suffered for it.
Yet God calls us to the complete obedience of our perfect king Jesus to save our souls.
“What must we do, then, to be saved? To find God we must repent of the things we have done wrong, but if that is all you do, you may remain just an elder brother. To truly become Christians we must also repent of the reasons we ever did anything right.”
Timothy J. Keller, The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
Why?
*Because partial obedience is still disobedience and God wants not a partial life, but a whole devotion with a righteousness, identity, purpose and security that he alone provides.
When you are adopted into the family of God, you become part of a royal priesthood, and are then set apart in all of life for the divine purposes of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
May we love Jesus as he’s loved us, not in part, but in whole, and by so doing become the men and women God has called us to be.
Royals: Hidden in Plain Sight
Royals: Hidden in Plain Sight
Focus: We need to acknowledge who is actually ruling our lives - Jesus or us, and stop pretending we are submitting to Jesus as Lord when we are not.
Devil in the Details
Didn’t You Say It’s All About Me?
Dying to Make a Change
Devil in the Details
Our acceptance or rejection of God’s rule in our lives is often more subtle than we would like to admit.
We want to help you understand the history of the Bible and how it all leads to the person of Jesus Christ.
Coming out of Egypt and following the death of Moses after forty years of wandering in the desert, the Israelites went into the promised land, taking initial possession of it under the leadership of Joshua (Moses’ aide) over the course of approximately 25-30 years.
During this time, the Israelites would have the Book of the Law as summarized in Deuteronomy to guide them.
Deuteronomy would be the summation of God’s law and regulations by which Israel would be measured in regards to their covenant faithfulness to God or lack thereof.
*In essence, would Yahweh and his commands in regard to identity, relationships, family structure, finances, civic responsibility, sacrifices and the rhythms of worship be their governing compass or would the ways and idols of the surrounding nations define them?
The same question is asked of us today.
Now in that Law, the Holy Spirit had Moses predict a king that God would provide to rule his people, one that would be “after his own heart”.
This is how the king that God would provide would be described:
Deuteronomy 17:14-20 ESV
“When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.”
Yahweh said he would allow a king, but one that was ultimately representing and serving God, and not simply himself as king.
*Thus, the sin would later be not in Israel asking for leadership or a king, but in Israel putting their ultimate trust in someone or something other than God for their protection, provision and purpose.
The next period, which included the book of Judges and Ruth included a period of between 300 and 350 years where Israel moved in and out of periods of disobedience to Yahweh with subsequent subjection to the surrounding nations.
It was a time when Israel had no king, and everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes.
This reflects the trouble we create for ourselves when instead of obeying God’s word, we reason what will be best for our own lives and end up suffering because of it.
Yet the judges were God’s appointed deliverers to turn the Israelites back to the law of God as given by Moses, so that they would stop doing what was right in their own eyes and be freed from the tyranny of the foreign oppressors.
The Israelites at this time were being led by a series of deliverers, from Othniel to Deborah and eventually Samson and Samuel, who was the last recorded judge of Israel and also a prophet of the Lord.
*The Israelites eventually came to a time where they wanted to be like all the other nations and have a king rule over them.
*This was at a time when the pressures of Philistine and Ammonite threats were front and center for Israel’s leaders and they no longer considered a direct theocracy, where Yahweh was their ruler, to be sufficient.
*The Israelites wanted other means of defense, having a human king who would lead them into battle for their national security.
In doing this, they were denying the covenant of the Lord, rejecting confidence in God and his commands as their sole provider, leader and giver of purpose.
1 Samuel 8:7 ESV
“And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.”
So the front was subtly towards not just Samuel, but God himself, since the people were asking for a king not like the Lord, but like all of the other nations.
*The people wanted to continue, like in the book of Judges, to do what was right in their own eyes, yet this time with a king.
How do we do this?
God, you’re good, but what I really need is…
Just as our modern democracies, art or music are a reflection of the condition of the hearts and ideologies of the people that make them, so the kings of Israel would become a representation of the devotions and pitfalls we would experience in serving other things other than Yahweh, and why we’d need the ultimate king, Jesus, to reconcile us to the one true God and out of a return to self-imposed slavery.
People in the church today want to be like everyone else, without God’s direct instruction already given in his word.
God tells Samuel to grant their wish, but let them know all of the trouble that will come with it.
Saul was anointed to be King by the prophet Samuel to deal with the oppression of the Philistines, a theme that had continued from the book of Judges.
1 Samuel 9:16 ESV
“Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.”
Saul peaked early in his kingship.
*May we take warning and grow in our devotion to God over the years rather than coasting and finding an inevitable decline.
The example of my college friends was that many were on fire for Jesus at first, but when hit with the trials and pressures of life,petered out on divergent paths.
Matthew 13:22 ESV
“As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.”
Though Saul confirmed his kingship in I Samuel 11 by engaging and defeating the Amorites, he was dragging his feet to address the problem for which God had anointed him - dealing with the Philistines.
By I Samuel 13, Saul is thus enjoying the role of the kingship without fulfilling his God ordained mandate or duties.
This is a precursor to the pick and choose pattern that Saul would employ to eventually have him rejected as king.
Why does being rejected as king matter before Jesus?
Much of the western church lives with a mentality that they can live a “blessed life” still having all that they want while not obeying God fully.
However the New Testament writers give us some strong warning from God that we will see foreshadowed in King Saul’s life:
I Corinthians 3 - anything not built on Christ will be burned up and we will lose our reward.
Galatians 5 - those living in unrepentant sin will not inherit the kingdom of God, will be sent to Hell.
Revelation 3:14-22 - Jesus will spit out the lukewarm from his mouth.
Didn’t You Say It’s All About Me?
We express our devotion to God by obeying his commands by faith - to accomplish that for which Christ laid hold of us (Philippians 3:8-16).
At this point in the coronation, King Saul should have been about God’s business, dealing with the Philistines as he had been anointed to do, but instead his son Jonathan had to lead the charge.
1 Samuel 13:1-4 ESV
“Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel, Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.”
One of King Saul’s first recorded acts of disobedience was precipitated by a lack of trust in God’s provision and timing.
I Samuel 13:8-15 ESV
He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin.
*How often do we walk in this guise of spirituality, but at the end of the day decide what is right and wrong for us based on our circumstances?
*The Lordship of Jesus demands faith-filled obedience, even when worldly wisdom would dictate otherwise.
Here’s the point: According to the word, you need to stop letting Your Circumstances Dictate Your Obedience to God.
We need to learn to live by faith.
*God knows better - stop trying to obey him only when you think it expedient.
In impatience and defiance, Saul offers the sacrifice, an act of treason against God.
***Do not take matters into your own hands - God often arrives at the moment we are ready to give up.
*What we learn from King Saul is that rationalized disobedience is still sin that God will judge.
*What things do we regularly do that seems a little deal to us, but are actually a big deal to God?
When you do these things over and over again, you are constructing a life that is not defined by Lordship but by you subtly and repeatedly saying that you know best and you are at the end of the day, master of your own life.
*If you say you are a man or woman of faith, you must obey God’s word.
Romans 1:1-5 NIV
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake.”
*It is sin to do what you think is right to do as determined by your circumstances when God’s word has already given you instruction about what he expects you to do.
*Rationalized disobedience is still disobedience and will be judged by God.
*God’s commands take into account you learning to build a life of faith - learning to trust and obey his word and not just what you think will save you.
Why was Saul rejected as king?
*He was living in the position of the kingship as if the privileges were all about his personal benefits and comforts versus being anointed and positioned by God to fulfill God’s purposes.
*In essence, Saul forgot who was really king.
In the moment of his great distress, Saul fails the test as to whether he would be a king under God or a king in place of God.
We often do the same, treating our walk with God as merely a means to personal blessing, protection and provision rather than the relationship through which all of our time, talent and resources are utilized for the worship of God and the advancement of his Kingdom.
How often do we say we are serving Jesus as Lord but are really attempting to use him for our ends and rely on other means of survival in place of God.
Like King Saul, we all have to answer the question as to whether we are willing to wait on the Lord in complete submission and trust, regardless of how perilous the circumstances appear.
We have to ask ourselves if we think we are above the Word and Law of the Lord.
Think:
How does this play out in your desire for companionship and acceptance?
How does it play out in your use of time and career pursuits?
How does it play out in your relationship to finances?
Pious acts (Saul asking for the Lord’s help) and religious acts (making a sacrifice to God before battle) did not make up for Saul’s disobedience.
Nor will it for us.
You can not paper over disobedience with other acts of spirituality and hope to be right with God.
God has already prescribed what he desires.
Read his Word and obey it.
If you’ve not completed the Purple Book, pick one up and start it today.
“We habitually and instinctively look to other things besides God and his grace as our justification, hope, significance, and security. We believe the gospel at one level, but at deeper levels we do not. Human approval, professional success, power and influence, family and clan identity—all of these things serve as our heart’s “functional trust” rather than what Christ has done, and as a result we continue to be driven to a great degree by fear, anger, and a lack of self-control. You cannot change such things through mere willpower, through learning Biblical principles and trying to carry them out. We can only change permanently as we take the gospel more deeply into our understanding and into our hearts. We must feed on the gospel, as it were, digesting it and making it part of ourselves. That is how we grow.”
-Timothy J. Keller, The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
How are we similar to Saul?
*How do we need to turn from such sin to follow God’s commands even when it seems our circumstances would dictate otherwise?
Dying to Make a Change
Jesus is the Father’s appointed king, who came as the spotless sacrifice, at the perfect time, to turn us from our sin that we might be saved from our enemies.
How was Jesus the better king?
Jesus was a better king because he demonstrated total consecration to the glory of the Father and benefit of those he came to save.
Jesus is God in the flesh who lived sinlessly in obedience to the commands of the Father, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
On the cusp of Jesus’ entry into the world, Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father would prophesy this:
Luke 1:68-75 ESV
““Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”
To be a disciple, we must come to repentance and change the way that we are living.
Jesus plainly said:
Matthew 6:24 ESV
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
He would then speak about God’s care for his children saying that we shouldn’t worry about our daily needs like food and clothing because your Heavenly Father knows that you have need of such things.
Especially in this changing economy, this is pertinent.
To counter being ruled by fear, Jesus said:
Matthew 6:33-34 ESV
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
This relates to any other master that would try to replace Jesus as king in our lives, whether it be a relationship, a career pursuit or even a sense of identity.
Jesus would be both the king and the prophet to turn us back to God and his commands, perfectly fulfilling them himself and thus providing righteousness for those who would repent of their sin and serve him as King.
Matthew 5:17-20 ESV
““Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
“In the end, Martin Luther’s old formula still sums things up nicely: “We are saved by faith alone [not our works], but not by faith that remains alone.” Nothing we do can merit God’s grace and favor, we can only believe that he has given it to us in Jesus Christ and receive it by faith. But if we truly believe and trust in the one who sacrificially served us, it changes us into people who sacrificially serve God and our neighbors. If we say “I believe in Jesus” but it doesn’t affect the way we live, the answer is not that now we need to add hard work to our faith so much as that we haven’t truly understood or believed in Jesus at all.”
-Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith
When Jesus, in God’s perfect timing, went to the cross, he became the sacrifice that we needed to defeat our enemy sin, take the punishment we deserve and provide grace by his resurrection from the dead to stand in obedience to God by faith.
Galatians 4:3-7 ESV
“In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”
Let’s choose to trust him today, obeying him not only in times of ease, but the challenging times that we might fulfill that for which Jesus laid hold of us!
Royals: Dismantling False Gods One Plague at a Time
Royals: Dismantling False Gods One Plague at a Time
Focus: God’s dismantling of the Egyptian gods through the 10 plagues showcases His superiority in the past, in the present, and in the future. He is the One True God. Serve Him and Him alone.
Setting the scene: Roughly 3,300 years ago God’s chosen people, the Israelites, were settled in Egypt. Because of their great size, the Pharaoh (royal ruler) of Egypt was threatened and chose to enslave them. They were slaves for hundreds of years (215-400, depending on interpretation) and finally God responded to their cries for deliverance and sent Moses, a Hebrew child raised by Egyptian royalty to bring them out of Egypt. After killing an Egyptian as a young man and fleeing, Moses returns to Egypt from exile, sent by God, to lead his people out of captivity. Moses and his brother Aaron proclaim this command from their God to Pharaoh: let my people go. Pharaoh refuses, hardening his heart, and thus God sends 10 plagues upon Egypt to ultimately free His people.
Prior to the 10 Plagues, both Moses and Aaron met with Pharaoh and Pharaoh challenged them by saying, “perform a miracle.”
Exodus 7:8-13
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.”
So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
Before the 10 Plagues even began, God proved that He was superior to Pharaoh’s gods when the snake Moses and Aaron conjured swallowed up the sorcerers’ snakes.
While other gods of this world can imitate God, the One True God will always and forever remain superior to the counterfeits.
By this we can know: Not everything that looks like God, that feels like God, that acts like God, is of God.
Jesus confirms this in Matthew 7:21-23
Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Jesus is dismissing those who did miracles. Just because someone may display a miracle does not mean that they are of God.
Have you ever received a prophetic word that was preluded by a miracle? Maybe a word of knowledge - someone telling you things that they could not have possibly known about you? While God does speak to us in this way, that does not necessarily mean that when someone displays a mighty work that he or she is truly of God.
We judge a prophecy by the prophecy itself, not a sign that seems to confirm it. Our awe and wonder should be reserved for the point of His miracles, not for the miracle itself.
Jesus tells us how to determine if something said is of God or not in Matthew 7:24-27
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
The test is placing every claim of God made by man against His very word – the Word of God, the Bible. That is how you build your house upon the rock.
The Israelites had a broken spirit due to the harshness of their slavery (Exodus 6:9b) and likely were swayed by the very mighty works that the Pharaoh’s magicians performed in front of Aaron and Moses. But Aaron and Moses were not swayed because they had heard from God Himself - no miracles could convince them otherwise.
The Israelites likewise had the Word of God to rely on via the Abrahamic Covenant.
In Genesis 12:6-7 God spoke to Abraham (who was called Abram at the time):
Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring[c] I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
Egypt was never promised as the settling place of the Israelites, so their hope was to be on things to come, not things that were (their captivity, the mighty works of the magicians, etc.).
Through the 10 Plagues, God will further demonstrate His superiority over Egypt’s gods.
Exodus 7:14-24
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river. Confront him on the bank of the Nile, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened. This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’” The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels[a] of wood and stone.”Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt. But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river.
God directly confronts the Egyptian god Hapi, the god of the Nile, by symbolically killing him by bringing literal blood and death to the entirety of the river, disrupting Egyptian culture, economy, and growth.
The magicians, however, replicate this miracle (on a much smaller scale) and Pharaoh uses this as confirmation bias that he and his gods are still in control. He does not yield.
Do we fall into the same trap? Are we looking so eagerly for a confirmation of our own beliefs that we do not stop to compare a sign or message to the ultimate standard of God, to the Bible? That is what Pharaoh did, and he proved himself over and over to be a fool.
The second plague is Frogs - Exodus 8:1-15
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs on your whole country. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’”So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land. But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of EgyptPharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.” Moses said to Pharaoh, “I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile.” “Tomorrow,” Pharaoh said. Moses replied, “It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God. The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.”
After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. And the Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them. But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
But we see it again – the magicians mimic this plague. This time, however, Pharoah does not accept this as an adequate dismissal of Israel’s God. He is growing tired of their copying and he even yields, asking Moses and Aaron to pray to their God to take away the frogs and he will then let the people go.
However, we see in v15 that once there was relief, Pharaoh hardened his heart again and would not let the Israelites go.
Does this sound familiar? How many times have we asked God for something, God delivers it, and then almost immediately after we return to our old ways?
We need to recognize that God is superior to our ways, to the things that bring us comfort, and not be like Pharoah who uses God like a genie, receiving that which we ask and returning nothing to His glory.
After his refusal, God sends the plague of gnats in Exodus 8:16-19
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,’ and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.” They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came on people and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats. But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not.
Since the gnats were on people and animals everywhere, the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the Lord had said.
This time, the magicians could not use their secret arts to imitate God. They even admit to Pharaoh: “this is the finger of God.” Yet, Pharaoh refuses to listen.
This reveals the true god that Pharaoh served - himself. He used the mimicry of the magicians to justify his decisions, but at the end of the day he still had his power, economy, and slaves - those were his true gods. God will now begin to dismantle those gods one by one.
Plagues 4-9:
Plague 4: dense swarms of flies all throughout Egypt (Ex. 8:20-30).
Plague 5: death of the Egyptians’ livestock (Ex. 9:1-7).
Plague 6: every Egyptian was struck with festering boils upon their skin (Ex. 9:8-12).
Plague 7: Hail - where a hailstorm of ice and lightning killed all who ignored Moses’ warning of the imminent storm and who didn’t run for shelter, stripped the growth of the fields and the trees, yet did not touch the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived (Ex. 9:13-35).
Plague 8: locusts that covered the land and anything that managed to survive the hailstorm and devoured it. The Bible says that they covered the ground so densely that it was black and nothing green remained on a tree or plant in all the land of Egypt (Ex. 10:1-20)
Plague 9: darkness over all the land, a direct attack on perhaps the most important god of the Egyptian religion: Ra the sun god. God proved his superiority over the Egyptian gods so thoroughly that even the god they could always depend on, as dependable as the sun rising and setting every morning and night, was completely and utterly rendered obsolete. (Ex. 10:21-29)
Throughout plagues 3-9 Pharaoh attempted to barter with God, telling Moses that would give the Israelites certain privileges under his terms. Pharaoh was trying to “serve” God while also simultaneously clinging to his gods, that of power, status, culture, etc. But God rejected these compromises.
We cannot serve God half-heartedly. Our God has made it very clear – that if you choose to serve Him, you choose to serve Him and Him alone. He must be Lord of your life, that is what he is owed, that is what He demands.
What gods are you still trying to serve? What systems are in place in your life that you look to for provision, protection, and purpose?
Whether it is now or in the future, you can be sure that God will dismantle those gods and if you are still holding onto them, it will not be pleasant. When God ultimately does this, we want to be in Goshen, or in other words, we want to be on the other side of it. We want to cling wholly to the One True God and cheer as he destroys false gods and reveals himself as the only one who is worthy of our praise. We don’t want to be under the hailstorm, in utter darkness, covered in flies, gnats, locusts, and frogs.We want to be delivered from that judgment.
This brings us to the final plague. Plague 10: The death of the firstborn in Exodus 12:1-13
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb[a] for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.
“On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
Through this plague we can learn this:
God is patient and He is waiting for you to turn to Him. But we are not privy to the extent of His patience.
The events of Plague 10 are known as the “Passover” and it was a rare time in history where God’s judgement had a declared time and date. We do not have the same convenience.
Yet God desires that no one should perish.
2 Peter 3:8-9
“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
2 Corinthians 6:2
“In a favorable time I listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”
Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
We must choose which god we will serve. What God should we want to serve? We should want to serve the God that tears apart every other god, the God of Exodus, who killed Hapi, Heqet, and Ra, and 2,000 others, who tore down every pillar of Pharaoh’s position: his power, his economy, his magicians, his deceit, his influence, his own self-proclaimed deity, the God who destroyed the land with ice and lightning, who blackened out the ground with locusts and the sky with darkness, THAT is the God that we want to serve. That is NOT the God we want to oppose, to barter with to share our hearts and services with other gods. He will not accept that compromise, He deserves our all and this story of the plagues of Exodus firmly displays why He was, is, and will be the superior choice over all other gods.
We must rely on Him and Him alone to save us. But save us from whom?
God is not saving you from yourself, He’s not saving you from your sins, from the other gods you may have in your life. When Jesus Christ came down to this earth to die on the cross on our behalf, He took our punishment – He took what we deserved. What did we deserve? Jesus took on the wrath of God. God, through the sacrifice of His son, is saving us from Himself. From His wrath that we justly deserve! But by His grace and mercy, through His deliverance, He will pass over us if we put our full faith and trust in the Lamb of God that was slain for us – just like the Passover lamb – Jesus Christ is our ultimate Sacrificial Lamb who received the judgment of God on our behalf.
I do not just want to be saved from the God of the plagues, of the hailstorm, blood river, and frog infestation, but the same God who spared the firstborns of whoever placed the blood upon their door frame is the same God who did NOT spare HIS firstborn to give us the ultimate justification that we did not deserve.
Romans 8:32-39
“If God is for us, who can be[i] against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.[j] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Egyptians brought everything they had against my God – they brought the power of over 2,000 pagan gods, wise men, sorcerers, a booming economy, an overbearing power, a ruler in Pharoah who was thought to be a god himself… and our God – He dismantled every single affront against Him and delivered His people from them.
He will do that for you as well
He not only wants to save you, but He wants to adopt you into His family, He wants to be for you, He desires that no one should perish. So know this: today is the day of salvation. Put your false gods away, repent and serve no other gods, place your faith and future in the One who is Superior to everything else yesterday, today, and forever.
Royals: Egypt, Pharaoh and the Wilderness: A Plotline for Christians
Royals:
Egypt, Pharaoh and the Wilderness: A Plotline for Christians
About our new series: Royals
From Pharaohs and prophets to queens and kings, Scripture is filled with rulers who shaped history, formed empires, and defined entire eras. In Royals, we journey through the great (and terrible) leadership narratives of the Old Testament — Egypt’s Pharaoh, Israel’s kings, Esther in Persia, and the ruling systems that governed God’s people — not simply to study ancient power structures, but to understand them in light of Christ.
We’ll cast a wide lens across biblical eras to ground us in a deeper vision of authority, dominion, and government — helping us see how every human kingdom ultimately points beyond itself. As we examine these rulers and systems, we uncover not only their strengths and failures, but also the idols we still form today: our dependence on leaders, systems, politics, success structures, and power dynamics to give us identity, security, and meaning.
Royals leads us to Jesus — the true King — whose kingdom doesn’t operate through domination, fear, or control, but through humility, sacrifice, justice, and love. As we explore earthly rule, we are re-formed by a heavenly reign.
This series also opens space to explore how Christian Faith is lived out in real-world systems — including the marketplace, leadership spaces, and cultural institutions — helping us discern how to live faithfully inside earthly structures without being ruled by them.
Because in the end, the question isn’t just who rules the world, but what rules our hearts — and which kingdom we’re actually living for.
Focus: Situate ourselves in the finished and ongoing work of Jesus as our liberator and redeemer through the lens of the Exodus narrative so we can ultimately engage with our own “Egypt and Pharaohs”
Texts (Referenced in the sermon intro, but I may not read them out)
“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
Hebrews 1:1-3 ESV
“Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”
Isaiah 43:16-21 ESV
Intro: Exodus is also our story
Truth 1: God Intervenes
Truth 2: God Dwells
The Embodied Freedom Jesus Offers
Takeaways
“When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.””
Exodus 14:5-14 ESV
Introduction
The Red Sea as the Turning Point of Salvation History
It's hard to overstate the importance of the Red Sea crossing for the rest of the Bible. In In the New Testament, there's at least two dozen other direct references to the Red Sea crossing, and there's innumerable allusions to it. Here are the most direct:
Matthew 2:15 references Hosea 11 > Matthew is making a very direct connection between Jesus' work and the Old Testament Exodus in the Red Sea crossing.
Luke 9:29-31 the transfiguration > Luke is hinting that what Jesus was going to accomplish in Jerusalem was the ultimate getting out, the ultimate Exodus. When Jesus is talking with Moses and Elijah, they talk about his “departure” - or Exodus in Greek if you look at the footnotes
Hebrews 3 and 4 says that Jesus is the greater Moses, that Moses points to Jesus. And then in Hebrews 11 verse 29, it says that by faith the Israelites passed through the sea on dry land, but the Egyptians couldn't do it because they didn't have faith. And it's very clear Hebrews 11 is talking about Christian faith, and it's using the Red Sea crossing as a paradigm for Christian faith
1 Corinthians 10, where Paul makes that enigmatic statement that says that when the Israelites passed through the cloud and the sea, they were baptized into Moses. And then just a few verses later, it talks about that and several other incidents in verse 6, Paul says these things were written as examples for us, us Christians.
Paul tells us the church must read this story Christologically. He shows that the Old Testament people of God possessed the same essential spiritual realities as New Testament believers.
Both the Israelite leaving behind Egypt and us Christians would say:
I was in a land not my home, under the yoke of bondage and sentence of death
I cried out for help and God heard my cry
I took shelter under the blood of the Lamb and death passed over me
My mediator led to safety through the wilderness
Now I’m on my way to the Promised Land - I’m not there yet, but with my mediator, God is leading the way
And he’s given us a tabernacle to dwell with us - a church - because that’s how we live by grace and forgiveness
Most importantly, God proved that His presence is in our midst, that He will indeed walk among us
Transition:
It’s all about redemption and salvation—about getting out. But saved from what—and saved for whom?
We see in the Exodus story two parallel truths:
God intervenes in what we think are closed social systems - like governments, workplaces, social statuses - to provide, protect and direct His people
God has been positioning Himself to dwell with us, He attaches himself to us and eventually, Jesus takes on our very humanity.
In both of these, we find God’s “I AM THAT I AM” becoming more “real” - The original Hebrew means "I will be what I will be," indicating God's promise to be present and act according to the needs of His people.
Since Jacob and his clan moved to Egypt, God was quiet for some 400 years. It’s no wonder that even after God, via Moses, had recounted His promises of land, prosperity and identity, the Israelites could not process it - they couldn’t have “known God” in the same way their forefathers have because they haven’t experienced His outstretched arm.
When it seems like God is silent in our situations at our workplaces and in our country’s national affairs — most people would say these are outside God’s authority - it’s important to ground ourselves in the Exodus story. It is OUR story too.
“God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’” Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.”
Exodus 6:2-9 ESV
Why was it hard to see God’s saving arm coming? Let’s take a look at how our heart’s inclination to form idols can get in the way even when God is ready and able to intervene.
Truth 1: God Intervenes - Physical Rescue
Pharaoh: The Anatomy of a Totalizing Ruler
The book of Exodus does not introduce Pharaoh as a cartoon villain. It presents him as a ruler who consolidated fear into policy, scarcity into leverage, and power into an unquestioned absolute.
But, let’s take a step back. He surely didn’t start that way. This is more than a change of administration for the Israelites, who at this point, has not really been addressed as a “people”. Yet, somehow, their situation signals the loss of covenant memory.
Let’s a take look at the type of government they were under: From Exodus alone, Pharaoh is depicted as:
Fear-driven (1:8–10)
Economically exploitative (1:11–14)
Violently coercive (1:22)
Theologically arrogant (5:2)
Manipulative negotiator (8–10)
Emotionally hardened (7–9)
Obsessed with retaining labor and productivity (14:5)
He monopolized:
Labor
Food supply structures (context from Genesis 47 backdrop)
Population control
Security
Religious permission
But here’s the catch: In Egypt, under Pharaoh’s rule, the Israelites had what they needed. Exodus never says Israel loved Pharaoh, but it does show us why their dependence felt safer than freedom.
The text reveals something subtle: Israel did not submit because Pharaoh was good. They submitted because he appeared necessary for survival.
Old Testament scholars and historians alike often note that empires sustain themselves not merely by violence but by structuring life so thoroughly that alternatives seem impossible.
Why This Still Matters:
Pharaoh is not merely ancient history. He is a pattern. And how the Israelites continued to submit to him is also an inclination we all have when we consider the “good things” that we derive from closed systems - and even leaders who lead them - that provide what we need.
The relevance today is not partisan; it is spiritual. Exodus confronts us with a question:
What systems have we trusted to keep us alive?
Pharaoh’s regime promised food, stability, order. But it required submission, silence, and soul-deep compromise. We may not live under an Egyptian monarch, but the Pharaoh pattern persists wherever:
Security justifies oppression
Productivity defines worth
Scarcity is manipulated to control behavior
Authority refuses accountability
Tim Keller once wrote that the human heart is an “idol factory.” Exodus demonstrates that societies can become idol factories as well. When institutions claim to be our ultimate source of provision, protection, and purpose, they begin to resemble Pharaoh’s Egypt.
“We think that idols are bad things, but that is almost never the case. The greater the good, the more likely we are to expect that it can satisfy our deepest needs and hopes. Anything can serve as a counterfeit god, especially the very best things in life.”
― Timothy J. Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters
Truth 2: God Dwells - Spiritual Rescue
You Can Take Israel Out of Egypt, but Can You Take Egypt Out of Israel?
Israel left Pharaoh geographically before they left him psychologically. Physical liberation does not equal mental liberation. Alec Motyer and other biblical scholars have noted that although Israel was physically freed from Egypt, their mindset remained shaped by slavery.
During the Red Sea crisis and the wilderness episodes (Marah, manna, Massah/Meribah), Israel repeatedly longed to return to Egypt, saying:
“Let us alone, so that we may serve the Egyptians” (Exod 14:11–12)
“We sat by the pots of flesh… and ate bread to satiety” (Exod 16:3)
“Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to kill us… with thirst?” (Exod 17:3)
Israel crossed the Red Sea, but their imagination was still governed by Egyptian rule: security and provision turned out to be their gods. Deeply ingrained psychological and spiritual state resulted from generations of bondage in Egypt. This mindset persisted even after their liberation, characterized by fear, a longing to return to captivity, and an inability to trust in God's provision.
Physically walking away from bondage is just the first step. We also have to learn how to dwell in the presence of God and live under His rule.
Exodus 18: God With Us
Here, we begin to see the shift in how the Israelites experience Yahweh. In Exodus 1–17, Yahweh makes Himself known primarily through:
Mighty acts of deliverance
Judgment against Pharaoh
Miraculous provision in crisis
But in Exodus 18, something changes. More and more, the Israelites are depicted as a people whose real problem wasn’t the system, not even the oppressive leader. It was their hearts—they also needed a change in their identity and had to keep living it out.
Physical deliverance was not just the end goal after all. They had to learn over and over again that it was about knowing Yahweh: living under His statutes and becoming a covenant people.
Yes, we learn that God can intervene in Egypt and the Wilderness. But not just to display His redemptive power, but to prove over and over again that He was to be amongst His people.
Transition:
To recap, we see two Truths in how God saves us from the “doom” of closed systems”
He intervenes for physical rescue
He dwells with us to lead our hearts with a spiritual redemption
So you see, God does want to break through our physical needs. He can grant us favor with Kings. Even when Pharaoh asks:
“Who is the LORD, that I should obey him?” (Exod 5:2)
He speaks as if his will is ultimate. Yet Exodus quietly undercuts that claim. The repeated refrain about his heart—sometimes he hardens it (Exod 8:15), sometimes it “is hardened” (Exod 7:13), and sometimes the LORD hardens it (Exod 9:12; 10:20)—places his stubbornness within a larger sovereignty.
Proverbs 21:1 does not deny Pharaoh’s agency; it frames it. Pharaoh acts freely and culpably. Yet his heart is never beyond God’s governance.
What is more important is that God has been intending to dwell with His people and lead them Himself. The physical rescue is important, but it’s only half the story.
But to be clear, God can intervene. He just does it to point His people back to Him—not necessarily to simply dismantle governments and displace the Pharaohs for the sake of it.
The Embodied Freedom Jesus Offers
Not Just Amongst Us, but One of Us
Fast-forward thousands of years, we now see what Paul realizes when looks back at his own people’s history taking a different “newness” (Isaiah) in Jesus.
When we arrive at Jesus, we are not leaving Exodus behind. We are watching it reach its fulfillment.
The God who said, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exod 3:14) now stands in flesh and blood and says:
“I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35)
“I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12)
These are not random metaphors. They are Exodus claims.
In the wilderness, Yahweh gave manna from heaven. Israel learned daily dependence. But Jesus stands before them and says the manna was a signpost. The bread in the wilderness pointed to Him. The provision that kept them alive physically was preparing them to see the One who would sustain them eternally.
He is not just giving bread.
He is the bread.
And in Exodus, the people were led by a pillar of fire — light in the darkness. The presence of God blazing in the night, guiding them through chaos. Now, in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles — when giant lamps were lit to remember that wilderness fire — Jesus stands and declares, “I am the light of the world.”
He is reclaiming the story.
Walter Brueggemann writes that the Exodus is “the decisive act of God’s self-disclosure,” where God shows Himself as the One who sides with the enslaved and breaks imperial inevitability. But in Jesus, that disclosure becomes personal, embodied, and luminous.
And this is where our understanding of authority shifts.
Takeaways
Jesus offers abundance of daily grace, not bound by the scarcity we hear about every day. Pharaoh says, “Produce more or die.” Yahweh says, “Gather daily. Trust Me tomorrow.”
Under Pharaoh and closed systems, worth = productivity, our security = submission, our future = controlled. Matthew 11:30 (NIV), where Jesus promises that his "yoke is easy and my burden is light," offering spiritual rest to the weary
The all-in freedom Jesus offers:
Not just freedom from Egypt. Freedom from needing Egypt for our identity and purpose.
Not just rescue from darkness. Freedom to walk in the light.
So as we close, here is the question this Royals series is pressing into our hearts: Whose authority feels necessary to you right now?
What system promises bread?
What voice promises security?
What structure promises light?
Royals: The Chosen One
Royals: The Chosen One
Isaiah 42:1-9 ESV
“Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coasout, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it antlands wait for his law. Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them d spirit to those who walk in it: "I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them."
Throughout Biblical history, several individuals were referred to as royal emissaries for God, those set apart to accomplish His purposes.
A constant subject of Isaiah's ministry is the servant of the Lord, who would turn people away from idols, false saviors, to the only true God.
This suffering servant would also be humanity’s true king.
Focus: For the salvation that we all need, we must look to Jesus, who is God's chosen one, perfectly expressing his justice, his mercy and his might.
God’s Justice
God’s Mercy
God’s Might
God's Justice
God’s justice is perfect in wisdom, considering all things and is unsullied when he administers what is righteous and good.
Proverbs 18:17 ESV
“The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.”
Historical background of Isaiah, the Babylonian exile, Cyrus and Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 42:1 ESV
“Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.”
Justice is the Hebrew word mispat and determines the difference between right and wrong in the way that we walk out our relationships, conduct our business practices, execute societal governance and utilize our resources.
Scripture is filled with references to God's love for justice.
Justice is directly linked to God’s law and is a foundational attribute of His character.
Humanity's downward slope begins when we think that we can liberate ourselves from God's commands.
When we substitute anything else as having the highest value in our lives rather than God - whether it be our romantic relationships, careers, idea of beauty, financial or political success - we have succumbed to idols.
As with the king of Babylon who would come to take Israel captive, these are the things that try to identify us, and if we place ultimate value upon them, when we lose them, inevitably ruin our lives.
“The moment you have a self at all, there is a possibility of putting yourself first-- wanting to be the centre-- wanting to be God, in fact. That was the sin of Satan--and that was the sin he taught the human race. ... What Satan put into the heads of our remote ancestors was the idea that they could 'be like gods'-- could set up on their own as if they had created themselves-- be their own masters-- invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history-- money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery-- the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.The reason why it can never succeed is this. God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing."
(C. S. Lewis - Mere Christianity. Macmillan Publishing, 1978. Pgs. 49-54)
Luke 9:30-36 ESV
“And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah"—not knowing what he said. As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!" And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.”
Jesus is the chosen one sent by God the Father to bring us back to God and his liberating law, his ways.
God's Mercy
God sent his Son because though we wander, he is full of mercy, and does not leave us in the bondage that our wanderings deserve.
First to the faithful believer:
Isaiah 42:3-4 ESV
“a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.”
Isaiah 42:3, 4 NIV84
A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope.”
Faithfulness is the Hebrew word Emet which means firmness, stability, security and continuance.
It speaks of integrity; to be reliable and sure.
It is was a term used frequently of God in the OT and is the primary Hebrew word for truth.
This is what the chosen one provides.
Then to the irreligious:
According to studies, the spiritual but not religious are likely to face mental health issues, drug use:
Isaiah 42:6-7 ESV
“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.”
Isaiah 42:6, 7 NIV84
“I, the Lord , have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
God's Might
To come into God's freedom and salvation, we must identify what we have allowed to replace God as the one who defines us.
What people or things have become our functional idols, our subconscious Saviors?
Isaiah 42:16-17 ESV
“And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them. They are turned back and utterly put to shame, who trust in carved idols, who say to metal images, "You are our gods."”
Isaiah 42:16, 17 NIV84
I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them. But those who trust in idols, who say to images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned back in utter shame.
“Our need for worth is so powerful that whatever we base our identity and value on we essentially 'deify.' We will look to it with all the passion and intensity of worship and devotion, even if we think ourselves as highly irreligious. ”
― Timothy Keller
Luke 23:33-35 ESV
“And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And they cast lots to divide his garments. And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!"
Luke 23:33-35 NIV84
When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals–one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”
God most clearly expressed his might through Jesus' work on the cross, turning us through repentance and faith to the one, true King and Savior.
Isaiah 52:13-15 ESV
“Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.”
So how shall we live?:
1 Timothy 6:11-16 ESV
“But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of Lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.”
The Mission: The Church’s Mission
The Mission: The Church’s Mission
Notes Prepared by Pastor Brian Taylor
John 4:35–38
Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.
Summary:
The church is a partner in God’s mission, called to embody and proclaim the gospel, demonstrating God’s love, justice, and mercy in the world. This includes evangelism, discipleship, social action, and cultural engagement, reflecting God’s kingdom on earth.
Focus:
Jesus calls his disciples to see the urgency of participating in the harvest of souls, emphasizing the church’s role in evangelism and the proclamation of the gospel.
What is the Harvest?
What Did Jesus Say About the Harvest?
What is my Role in the Harvest?
Background:
At this point in the gospel of John, Jesus was leaving Judea and heading to Galilee—his ministry base at the time.
He passes through Samaria, stops at a well in Sychar, and encounters a woman.
In verses 7–26, Jesus begins a conversation with this woman.
He was thirsty and needed a drink, but she needed living water.
Jesus tells her of the living water and has her call her husband (v. 16).
Jesus reveals insight into her situation, and through this, the topic shifts from water to worship.
As the conversation closes, Jesus reveals he is the Messiah she has been waiting for (vv. 25–26).
In verse 27, the disciples return and are amazed (θαυµάζω, to marvel) that Jesus was speaking to her—he was violating cultural norms.
She was not only a Samaritan, but a Samaritan woman.
Jews and Samaritans did not interact, and there were cultural taboos of talking with a woman in public.
In verses 28–30, she goes into the city to tell others about Jesus, and they all come to him.
Meanwhile, in verses 31–33, the disciples ask about food.
Jesus replies, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work” (v. 34).
**What motivated Jesus is not what motivated others.
Others were concerned about natural food, but Jesus was concerned about the mission of the Father.
It is this mission that Jesus accomplishes while in Samaria.
Jesus understood that he was sent (John 20:21)—he was committed to the purposes of the Father, not a man-made agenda.
Jesus knew there was something for him to accomplish.
The context of this story sheds light on the statement Jesus made in verses 35–36.
John 4:35-36 ESV
“Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.”
Verse 35
There is a contrast between what “you” say and what Jesus says.
Who is the “you” Jesus is referring to?
The “you” here is second-person plural.
Jesus is addressing his disciples at this moment but is also addressing a common adage in society.
What did the disciples say, and what did Jesus say?
The disciples said, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest.”
Jesus said, “Lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.”
**The disciples are looking to the future, while Jesus sees the opportunity right now in front of them.
Why would these two elements be contrasted?
**It highlights that Jesus can see what we often cannot yet recognize.
While they wonder why Jesus is talking to this woman, they only look ahead at what may be.
In contrast, Jesus understands the opportunity of the moment.
* Implication: It is possible to be a disciple of Jesus and still fail to see and say what Jesus would say.
Their contrasting view is not from rebellion but a lack of understanding.
What is the Harvest?
What is meant by “the harvest”?
The harvest refers to people who are ready to believe in Jesus.
This is evidenced by the people’s response in verse 39: “Many Samaritans from that town believed in him.”
Other places in the gospels also refer to harvest.
In Matthew 9:37, Jesus says,
“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”
Verse 36 of Matthew 9 gives the context to who Jesus refers to as the harvest:
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
The harvest was those who were distressed and lived as sheep without a shepherd.
While the author is different, the reference to harvest seems to be used similarly.
Jesus tells the woman in John 4:22, “You worship what you do not know.”
When people from the city came, their hunger to be led by a shepherd is evident in verse 40: “So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them . . .”
*Why would Jesus use the term “harvest” to describe the people?
*This term indicates worth and value.
You get rid of weeds, but you collect the harvest because of its value.
Even though the people in this town in Samaria were lost and confused, they were valuable to God.
*To describe people as harvest is to see them with intrinsic value.
What Did Jesus Say About the Harvest?
First, Jesus tells his disciples to lift up their eyes.
What does Jesus mean by “lift up your eyes”?
*It means being alert to what is going on around you.
There is a harvest that they need to notice.
This is not just the physical act of lifting up their eyes; it metaphorically speaks to an awareness of what is happening right in front of them.
*Implication: If you don’t lift up your eyes, you will miss what God is doing right now in front of you.
Why would Jesus say this to the disciples?
They were not seeing as clearly as they ought to.
The disciples did not understand what Jesus was doing talking with this woman.
Jesus gives them an imperative: they are to lift up their eyes.
Sometimes, we have to be told to look up when we are prone to not notice something.
Jesus said that the people right in front of them were white for harvest.
What does it mean to be “white for harvest”?
It means they are ready for harvesting now, and the harvest is ripe.
*Implication: Where the harvest may be future-oriented in the minds of most, the signs show us that the harvest is ready now in this moment.
Verse 36
Jesus uses the term “already” to describe the timing of the reapers receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life.
In what way are reaping and gathering already happening?
This reinforces the point Jesus made in verse 35: the time for harvest is now.
The fruit gathered for eternal life is the lives experiencing eternal life.
What is already happening?
He who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal.
What does he mean by “already?”
We don’t have to wait until one day down the road; this is a present reality.
Why does Jesus tell the disciples it is already happening?
Perhaps if they are prone to waiting, they may miss out on what God is doing.
In what way is this fruit being gathered for eternal life?
To believe in Jesus is eternal life (John 11:25–26), and the people of the town are coming to believe in Jesus (John 4:41).
• Implication: The reaping that is already happening seems to be out of the normal flow of what typically happens.
Where the reaping may be expected to take place later in normal circumstances, it is already happening right now.
Possibly this is a reference to Amos 9:13— “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed.’”
Some people live with what is known as F.O.M.O. (fear of missing out).
*Jesus was helping the disciples see so they wouldn’t miss out on what God is doing.
I don’t want to miss what God is doing in my generation.
God is always working, preparing hearts to be harvested - we must join him in sowing into and reaping that harvest.
What is my Role in the Harvest?
Jesus always makes things practical - not just for our knowledge, but for our involvement.
Verse 37
What does it mean for one to sow and another to reap?
It is an agricultural reference that speaks to the role different people play in the mission of God.
It is similar to Paul’s language in 1 Corinthians 3:6–7—“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”
Why would Jesus use this saying?
It is a way to illustrate how, even in that moment, Jesus was fulfilling the mission of God.
He was always at work with the Father and planted seeds in this Samaritan city.
•This seems to imply that the disciples will be engaged in both sowing and reaping as well.
EVERY EFFORT COUNTS!
*We don’t all play the same role at the same time, but we are all called to be involved with God’s mission of seeing lost people come into faith in Jesus.
Verse 38
What does it mean that Jesus sent them?
There is a difference between going somewhere and being sent somewhere.
Jesus understood what it was to be sent and what it meant to send others (John 20:21).
The Lord Jesus sent the disciples.
What were they sent to do?
They were sent to reap that for which they did not labor.
They were sent because the harvest was ripe.
**Being sent to reap indicates that the harvest was ready to be harvested.
• Implication: Because Jesus sent them to reap the harvest, we see God’s heart for the people.
Remember, we only reap what is valuable.
•The people we are sent to may not mean much to others; they may not even mean a lot to us personally, but they mean a lot to God.
**If we are going to be in mission with Jesus, we are going to have to prioritize what God prioritizes.
There is a contrast between those sent to reap and those who labored.
In what ways are these groups different?
The former group labored (sowed seed) for the harvest, but those sent to reap the harvest benefited from their labor.
Why would this contrast be emphasized?
This is a way of showing how they are all working together for the same harvest.
• Implication: There should be gratitude for those that labor secretly.
*This should keep us humble when we are in times of reaping and encouraged when we are in times of sowing.
One sows and one reaps, but God gives the increase.
Concluding Thoughts:
Summertime for our family typically means a road trip is around the corner.
My kids are getting bigger, but we take advantage of the time to squeeze in a vehicle and travel together.
Sometimes we pass scenic views, and I will tell my kids to look up and see the beauty of what is right in front of them.
But it is easy to be so wrapped up in our phones and other distractions that we miss what’s right in front of us.
I believe that also happens to us when it comes to the mission of God.
We can be so absorbed in our daily lives that we forget to look up and see the beauty of how God is working right in front of us.
**As the church on mission, we must see as Jesus sees to move as Jesus moves.
What does Jesus understand about God’s mission that we as the church must see?
Can we recognize the opportunity?
Jesus saw opportunity where others did not.
**A simple request for water became an open door to a city.
**The place of passing through became a place of revival.
**Some of the most significant opportunities come disguised as inconveniences.
Can we recognize the urgency?
Jesus saw urgency where others did not.
There will always be a contrast between what some say about the harvest.
(“There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”) and what Jesus said about the harvest (“the fields are white for harvest”) revealed the moment’s urgency.
We must understand the hour we are living in now.
Can we recognize our need for one another?
Jesus saw team effort where others did not.
This is seen in verses 36–38.
The ones who sow and the ones who reap rejoice together.
Why is that?
Because the kingdom of God requires both.
Don’t be too discouraged if you have sown and not seen the harvest yet.
And don’t be too haughty if you see the harvest and things happen quickly.
It just may be that you are walking in someone else’s labor.
The Mission: The Spirit’s Power
The Mission: The Spirit’s Power
Notes prepared by William Murrell
John 20:21–22
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Summary
The mission is rooted in the Trinity.
The Father sends the Son, the Son sends the Spirit, and together they send the church to participate in God’s work.
This highlights the relational and communal nature of mission.
Focus:
The mission of Jesus, sent by the Father, is explicitly connected with the sending of the disciples, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The Scripture illustrates the relational and communal nature of mission within the Trinity.
With His Pleasure
With His Purpose
With His People
With His Presence
Introduction
As the Father has sent me . . .
The Challenge of Mission
There are an estimated 430,000 Christian missionaries serving on the mission field today.
According to the International Bulletin of Mission Research, every year, roughly 6.5% leave the mission field. 1
While this may not seem like a huge number, this steady attrition rate adds up to a third of missionaries leaving the field within the first decade of missionary work.
What’s more, according to the Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 70% of these missionaries leave for preventable reasons. 2
While these stats focus on the attrition rates of full-time vocational missionaries, they point to a larger problem.
Whether we examine the burnout rate of pastors or the rising phenomenon of deconstruction among evangelicals, we find that the temptation for disciples to abandon God’s mission is ever-present.
It is often easier to simply quit working than to labor diligently in the harvest field.
Why is this the case?
Sometimes it’s a lack of confidence in the gospel.
Sometimes it’s a lack of clarity of mission.
Other times it is a lack of co-laborers.
Sometimes it’s forgetting the real enemy, the one intent on destroying the work of the gospel in the nations and the laborers who are participating in God’s work in the nations.
While there are many helpful books and organizational resources that can help both vocational missionaries and ordinary disciples of Jesus to persevere in mission, nothing is more helpful than embracing and living into one key truth that Jesus gave his disciples on the day of his resurrection:
John 20:21–22
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Let’s begin with a few Key Observations and Questions
Observation: The disciples were afraid of the religious leaders after the crucifixion of Jesus and unlikely candidates to risk their lives proclaiming the gospel.
John 20:19
“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’”
Question: What changed in these fearful disciples?
Observation: When Jesus appeared to the disciples in the upper room on Easter Sunday, he proclaimed peace to them, and told them he was sending them as the Father had sent him (John 20:21).
Question: How would this truth fortify them for mission for the rest of their lives?
Observation: After making this stunning claim, Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22).
Question: What role does the Holy Spirit play in our being sent on mission (as Jesus was sent)?
The key to understanding this text and these questions is to understand how the Father sent the Son on his mission to earth and what role the Spirit had in Jesus’ sending.
How did the Father send the Son, and how does the Son send us?
• With His Pleasure
• With His Purpose
• With His People
• With His Presence
With His Pleasure
Luke 3:21–22
Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
John baptized Jesus at the beginning of his mission, and two things happened: the Holy Spirit descended like a dove, and a voice from heaven said, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Thus, before Jesus began preaching, before Jesus healed anyone, before Jesus had any followers, the Father assured the Son that he was pleased with him.
In short, the Father sent the Son with his pleasure.
He wanted him to know he was loved and accepted before accomplishing anything.
The world system works differently from this.
We typically receive affirmation after the completion of a mission.
However, the Son received affirmation from his Father before he started.
Knowing that the Father loved him strengthened the Son as he entered ministry.
It is the same for us.
To be sent on mission as the Father sent the Son is to know that our Father is pleased with us because we are his children.
His pleasure precedes our successes and failures.
It is essential to embrace the affirmation of the Father independent of our missional effectiveness.
Those who think that missional success precedes divine pleasure will live in anxiety and fear of failure.
However, for those who know that divine pleasure precedes missional success, their work will be fueled by joy and faith-filled expectation.
With His Purpose
Luke 4:14–15
And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.
Luke 4:40–44
Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ. And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Luke 4 gives us a glimpse into the early days of Jesus’ ministry (after his baptism and fasting in the wilderness).
Though Jesus’ ministry would take him to many different places and many other people, he was clear on his purpose.
He preached the gospel of the kingdom and healed the sick.
Because of his powerful preaching and healing power, many people wanted him to stay in their town, perhaps to be their local rabbi (see Luke 4:42).
Others wanted him to be king (John 6:15).
However, Jesus was never distracted by fame and popularity.
Why?
Because the Father had sent the Son with his purpose.
His mission was crystal clear.
His time on earth was short, and his time in ministry even shorter.
So, he did not waste one day straying from the Father’s mission.
How was he so focused?
Because God sent him “in the power of the Spirit.”
It is the same for us.
To be sent on mission as the Father sent the Son is to have clarity of purpose and an abundance of power from the Holy Spirit.
We will never be as focused as Jesus, but we can be assured that the same Spirit who led him into a fruitful and focused mission lives inside of us, giving us direction and dynamism as we go into all the world to make disciples.
With His People
Luke 5:1–4
On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
Luke 5:9–11
For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
In Luke 5, we see the moment when Jesus calls the first of his twelve disciples—the men who would follow him and partner with him on mission for the next three years while he was on earth and the decades after his death, resurrection, and ascension.
This raises the question—why didn’t Jesus simply do his ministry as a solo act?
Why recruit and mentor other disciples?
Jesus did most of the preaching, teaching, and healing, and he did it much better than his disciples ever could; so why include them?
Because the Father had sent the Son with his people.
It was the Father who led the Son to call disciples to himself.
To teach them and live with them; to instruct them and empower them; to call them to himself and to send them out on mission.
This is because the mission of God is fundamentally relational.
This foundation of relationship begins with the Trinity and their inextricable yet distinct roles in the work of redemption.
However, this relational quality to mission extended further when Jesus called his first disciples to join him on mission (“from now on you will be catching men.”)
This was not incidental but part of the Father’s design for the Son’s mission on earth.
It is the same for us.
To be sent on mission as the Father sent the Son is to be sent on mission with others.
Note that in John 20, when Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you,” the “you” in Greek is the second person plural.
Just as the Father did not send the Son to do ministry for three years by himself, the Son did not send his disciples on mission as individuals but as a collective.
Why?
Because there is greater power in going on mission together.
With His Presence
John 8:28–29
So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”
In John 8, when the Jews questioned Jesus about his authority and relationship with the Father, he made an interesting claim: “He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone.”
Jesus claimed that even though the Father sent him, he was still with the Father.
Usually, when one sends someone on a mission, they are, by necessity, separated from one another in time and space.
Not so with the Father’s sending of the Son.
Why?
Because the Father had sent the Son with his presence.
This meant that the Father was with him wherever the Son went on earth.
Not only was the Son sent with the pleasure of the Father, the purpose of the Father, and the people of the Father—he was sent with the Father himself.
The Father never left the Son while the Son was doing the Father’s will on earth.
It is the same for us.
To be sent on mission as the Father sent the Son is to be sent on mission with God himself.
When Jesus sent his disciples into the world with the commission to make disciples (Matthew 28:18–20), he promised them: “I am with you always to the end of the age.”
Jesus promised to be with us always.
How is this possible when Jesus is in heaven at the Father’s right hand?
Because the Son sent the Spirit to be with us and in us (John 20:22), so that, like the Son, wherever we go on mission, he who sent us is with us.
It’s the constant presence of the Spirit with his church that reminds us of God’s pleasure (regardless of our results), of God’s purpose (despite the distractions), and of God’s people (especially when we feel alone).
Conclusion
What happens when the Father sends us as he did the Son?
As we go on mission to make disciples of all nations, let us never forget that the Son sent us in the same way the Father sent him.
When we remember that we’ve been sent with his pleasure, we will not engage in mission out of anxiety but rather work with joy because we know that God is pleased with us because of who we are and not what we have done.
• When we remember that we’ve been sent with his purpose, we will not be distracted by successes or fads because God has given us a clear focus and scope of mission—making disciples of all nations.
• When we remember that we’ve been sent with his people, we will not attempt to go on mission alone but rather embrace the relationships God has given us for our good and the good of others.
• When we remember that we’ve been sent with his presence, we will attempt great things not because we are great, but because of the greatness of him who dwells within us.
1
Zurlo, Gina A., Todd M. Johnson, and Peter F. Crossing. 2021. “World Christianity and Mission 2021: Questions About the Future.” International Bulletin of Mission Research 45 (1): 15–25.
2
See “When Missionaries Regret Being Missionaries,” OMF United States. Posted March 12, 2020, https://omf.org/us/
when-missionaries-regret-being-missionaries/.
3
See “Study of Pastor Attrition and Pastoral Ministry,” Lifeway Research. Accessed July 30, 2025, https://
research.lifeway.com/pastorprotection/.
4
See “Ex-Christians Aren’t the Only Ones Deconstructing Faith,” Barna. Accessed July 30, 2025, https://www.barna.com/
trends/ex-christians-deconstructing/.
The Mission: The Son’s Sacrifice
The Mission: The Son’s Sacrifice
Notes prepared by Jessica Lee
John 12:27–33
“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.
Summary
God’s mission is the active work of restoring men and women to a relationship with him and one another. The cross of Christ is at the center of this mission.
Focus:
Jesus’ crucifixion is the turning point of God’s redemptive plan. It is the means by which he draws people back into a relationship with him.
The Problem
The Solution
The Application of the Cross
Intro:
On January 3, 1956, Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian camped on a small sandbar along the Curaray River in Ecuador.
After years of praying, dreaming, and planning, the men were about to contact the Waoroni people, an unreached tribe deep in the jungles of Ecuador.
Five days later, they were all killed in a surprise attack.
They left behind their wives and seven children, whose lives would never be the same after this tragic event.
A few months after Jim’s death, Elisabeth Elliot wrote in her journal:
“Today I am thinking how my short time with Jim was not the End of all things. There are times when it seems so—as if it is all over, and I’ve nothing left now to do but put in time till [Jesus] comes. Not so. Marriage was not in itself the End of Desire — it generated further ones. It was but a segment of the Journey which is Life, and called for obedience. Now, what have I to do? Obey. And my eyes will be opened to the next thing.”
-Elisabeth Elliot, Becoming Elisabeth Elliot
Just as God’s mission didn’t end with Jim’s death, the story of redemption didn’t end with Jesus’ suffering.
In fact, that suffering was the very path by which salvation came.
Last week, we began this series by discussing God’s love and how it drives his mission to restore men and women to a relationship with him and one another.
This week, we will examine the cross of Jesus and how the crucifixion is central to God’s reconciling work.
Let’s first look at the Scripture
Text Exegesis
V. 27—“Now is my soul troubled . . .”
This passage in John starts by Jesus acknowledging that he is deeply troubled by his impending death.
We could also look at Luke 22:44, Mark 14:35, and Hebrews 5:7.
The Gospel of John does not portray Jesus’ struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Instead, we see it here in this verse.
Jesus is deeply troubled in his soul about what is to come.
In this context, the verb used for troubled (Greek, tarassō) means “to cause acute emotional distress or turbulence.”
Jesus, in his emotional distress, then asks the question (paraphrased),
“Should I ask the Father to save me from this hour?”
His answer is an emphatic “no” because it is for this very purpose that he has come—to die on the cross for our sins.
This leads us to ask the question that is as old as Christianity itself: “Why did Jesus have to die?”
The simple answer to this question is, “Jesus died to save us from our sins.”
But for many, the lingering question remains: "Why was his death necessary to save us from our sins?
If God loves us so much, couldn’t he just forgive and forget?
Robert H. Mounce gives us a clue as to why more was required when he said:
“The reason, of course, was to bring salvation to the human race. Unable to save themselves, people are totally dependent on the work of the only One to have emerged victorious over sin and Satan.”
-Robert H. Mounce, Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 10: John, 537.
The Problem
God is more holy than we imagine.
It’s easy to be comfortable with the God described in John 3:16 who loves us so much that he sent his only Son that we may have eternal life.
Even for those who have a hard time believing this could be true, it’s still something most would hope is true.
We all want to believe there is a God who loves us unconditionally.
But while Scripture certainly reveals a God abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, we are also met with a God who is awesome and fearsome in the splendor of his holiness.
Most of us are less comfortable with the God described in Hebrews 12:29 as a “consuming fire.”
So, we often minimize his holiness, which can have no part with sin, and downplay his perfect justice, which must punish sin and make wrong things right.
And that’s what leads us to ask the question, “Why can’t he just forgive and forget?”
But imagine any one of the atrocities of the twentieth century — the Holocaust, Stalin’s Purges, Mao’s Cultural Revolution, or the genocides in Rwanda, Cambodia, or Bosnia.
Would God be just and good if he were simply to forgive and forget those sins?
Our sin is worse than we admit.
The problem of sin is far greater than most want to believe.
We are not merely lost, in need of a teacher to guide us back to God.
We are spiritually dead and in need of a new life.
We have inherited a nature corrupted by sin and subject to the law of sin and death.
Every intention of the thoughts of our hearts is only evil continually (Genesis 6:5).
The Solution
God’s justice was satisfied on the cross.
Now when we go back to the Scripture in John, we see that Jesus said in:
V. 31—“Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.”
As the perfect, incorruptible one, Jesus died in our place.
On the cross, he bore the punishment and shame that our sin deserves, ensuring that perfect justice was achieved, and in doing so, set us free from the tyranny of the devil.
Because Jesus paid the price, our sins can be forgiven.
This is reflected in the apostle Paul’s later writings when he said:
Ephesians 1:7
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace . . .
Romans 5:18-19 ESV
“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.”
And ultimately in Ephesians 2:1–10:
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Death was defeated through the cross.
In the gospel of John, Jesus speaks several times about being lifted up.
Ben expounded last year on:
John 3:14 ESV
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,”
Jesus also said:
John 8:28 ESV
“So Jesus said to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.”
But going back to John 12, Jesus said in:
V. 32—“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
The word translated “lifted up” is more frequently used in the New Testament figuratively to mean “exalted.”
John is aware of the double meaning and uses the word intentionally.
While Jesus is about to be lifted on a cross, it is by his humiliating death on the cross that the power of sin and death is defeated.
Therefore, the apex of his humiliation is also the moment of his exaltation, because what appears to be Jesus’ shameful and humiliating defeat, in light of the resurrection, is his glorious victory.
“Look at him there, spread-eagled and skewered on his cross, robbed of all freedom of movement, strung up with nails, pinned there and powerless. It appears to be total defeat . . . [BUT] What looks like (and indeed was) the defeat of goodness by evil is also, and more certainly, the defeat of evil by goodness. Overcome there, he was himself overcoming. Crushed by the ruthless power of Rome, he was himself crushing the serpent’s head. The victim was the victor, and the cross is still the throne from which he rules the world.”
-John Stott, quoted in Christopher Watkin, Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic, 2022), 426-427.
EXAMPLE:
When Harry Potter learns he’s a wizard and has been invited to Hogwarts, he heads to King’s Cross Station to catch the train.
But he can’t find Platform 9¾.
All he sees is a brick wall.
He then discovers the way to this new world is to run headlong into this brick wall.
Once he runs through it, what appears to be a dead end opens up to a new world.
Similarly, the cross is not the dead end or brick wall that it appears to be, but the start of a new, glorious future.
What feels like the end is just the beginning of the story that God is writing, the story of him reconciling us to himself through the sacrifice of his Son.
His humiliation is his exaltation.
His defeat is his victory.
His death is the doorway to new life.
V. 32—“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
Jesus’ humiliating and ignoble death on the cross has an attractive power.
“His glory rises from his humiliation; his adorable conquest from his ignominious death. When he ‘became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,’ shame cast no shame upon his cause, but gilded it with glory. Christ’s death of weakness threw no weakness into Christianity; say rather that it is the right arm of her power. By the sign of suffering unto death the church has conquered, and will conquer still. By a love which is strong as death she has always been victorious, and must for ever remain so. When she has not been ashamed to put the cross in the forefront, she has never had to be ashamed; for God has been with her, and Jesus has drawn all men to himself. The crucified Christ has irresistible attractions: when HE stoops into the utmost suffering and scorn even the brutal must relent: a living Saviour men may love, but a crucified Saviour they must love.”
-Charles Haddon Spurgeon, “The Marvellous Magnet,” sermon no. 1717, delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, accessed via The Spurgeon Library, Spurgeon.org, July 30, 2025, https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/the-marvellous-magnet/#flipbook/
Through his shameful death on the cross, Jesus opens the way for all people, Jews and Gentiles, to come to know God.
“For it is only on the cross that a man dies with his hands spread out. And so it was fitting for the Lord to bear this also and to spread out his hands, that with the one he might draw the ancient people and with the other those from the Gentiles and unite both in himself. For this is what he himself has said, signifying by what manner of death he was to ransom all: “I, when I am lifted up,” he says, “shall draw all unto me.”
-Athanasius, quoted in Joel C. Elowsky, ed., John 1–10, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, vol. 4A (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2007), ebook.
The Application of the Cross
What does this mean for you and me?
It is through the Son’s self-emptying sacrifice that God has provided a solution for the problem of our sin.
The cross is how we are reconciled to the Father.
However, the cross also has implications for our lives as disciples of Jesus because Jesus calls all his disciples to follow him in this death and resurrection pattern.
In John 12:24, Jesus says, “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.”
When a seed is planted in soil and is in the right conditions, that planting that appears to be a burial is what’s needed for the seed to burst forth in new life.
That is what we are called to, and that is what it looks like to embrace the cross-shaped life.
It looks like dying so that new fruit and abundant life can spring up in our lives.
As we join God in his mission, we will face many situations that feel like dead ends.
There will be a lot of dying to self, disappointments, and setbacks.
In those moments, it feels like this is the end of the story.
But what feels like a death, what feels like the end of the story, is often the beginning of the story God is writing for our lives.
Conclusion
For Elisabeth Elliot, Jim’s death felt like the end.
At first, all she could do was get through each day.
But eventually, her eyes began to be open to the “next thing” God had for her.
Two years after her husband’s death, she would step into her “next thing” when she, her two-year-old daughter (Valerie), and Rachel Saint (Nate Saint’s sister), went to live among the Waoroni people, working to translate the Bible into their native language and sharing the love and hope of Jesus with them.
In her book Through Gates of Splendor, Elisabeth included a quote from Jim’s journal:
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
This became a guiding principle for Elisabeth in the years that followed Jim’s death.
Despite what it felt like at the time, his death was not a dead end.
The story was not over.
Instead, as she trusted God, it became the doorway to a beautiful new life God had prepared for her.
In the final page of her journal (the one she was using when Jim died), Elisabeth wrote lines from poet Frederic W. H. Myers:
“‘Yea, thro’ life, death, thro’
Sorrow and thro’ sinning
He shall suffice me, for He hath suffered:
Christ is the end, for Christ
Was the beginning.
Christ the beginning, for the End is Christ.”
-Vaughn, Becoming Elisabeth Elliot, 164.
As you join God in his mission, there will be a lot of dying to self, a lot of dead ends, and apparent defeats.
But as you trust him and follow him in this cross-shaped life, he will show you that just as the cross has the attractive power to draw men to God, your life will have the power to draw people to Jesus.
The Mission: The Father’s Love
The Mission: The Father’s Love
Notes prepared by: Paul Barker
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Summary
Mission originates in God's heart, where he actively works to reconcile and restore creation to himself. This reflects God's character as a sending God, as seen in the sending of the Son (Jesus Christ) and the Spirit to fulfill his redemptive plan.
Key Idea
God’s love for the world is the driving force of missions.
This single verse captures the heart of the gospel and lays the groundwork for the church’s missionary impulse.
The Greatest Love
The Greatest Gift
The Greatest Invitation
The Greatest Escape
The Greatest Destiny
Intro
John 3:16 was a cornerstone of numerous mission movements. For example:
John R. Mott, the most influential leader of the Student Volunteer Movement (SVM), frequently quoted or alluded to John 3:16 in his writings and speeches.
In his classic work The Evangelization of the World in This Generation (1900), Mott builds his appeal on the universal love of God:
“God so loved the world — not merely a part of it or certain races or favored classes, but the world.”
This emphasis echoed in countless SVM publications, student addresses, and training materials, where John 3:16 was treated not merely as an evangelistic slogan but as a theological foundation for the global missionary mandate.
Reports from SVM conferences show how John 3:16 was often highlighted in sermons, Bible studies, and calls for commitment.
For example, the 1891 Cleveland convention and the 1898 Detroit convention featured keynote messages that framed God’s sending love (John 3:16) as the basis for students’ sacrificial commitment to missions.
In many testimonies preserved in The Student Volunteer magazine, students wrote that they were stirred to surrender their lives to missions after hearing John 3:16 expounded as a personal calling to reflect God’s love to the unreached.
William Carey (1761–1834), known as the “father of modern missions,” was profoundly shaped by John 3:16’s universal scope.
In his influential 1792 booklet, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens, Carey confronts the false belief that the Great Commission was only for the apostles.
He argues instead that because God so loved the world, every Christian is obligated to care about the salvation of every person, regardless of nation or culture.
He wrote: “If the whole of the human race are equally objects of the divine regard, and under the same obligation to obey the divine commands, are they not all equally bound to love God with all their hearts and to promote his glory?”
The London Missionary Society (LMS), founded just a few years after Carey’s pamphlet, explicitly built its missionary philosophy on the universality of God’s love.
In their founding documents and early appeals, John 3:16 was repeatedly cited as the warrant and fuel for cross-cultural missions.
In an 1804 LMS report, they wrote: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. . . . That world still lies in darkness, and how shall they believe on Him of whom they have not heard?”
This connection made John 3:16 the heartbeat behind their missions to the Pacific Islands, Africa, and Asia.
The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) sent and supported missionaries like Adoniram and Ann Judson.
ABCFM’s commissioning sermons and fundraising materials were saturated with John 3:16.
For example, in Samuel Worcester’s 1811 sermon The Kingdom of Christ, preached before the ABCFM, he argued: “The love of God for the world . . . demands the labors and the sacrifices of those who know Him, that those who know Him not may believe and live.”
This language, anchored in John 3:16, became a consistent feature in missionary appeals throughout the 19th century.
The Greatest Love
“God so loved the world . . .”
God’s love is not limited to one nation or people; it embraces all humanity.
That global love fuels the church’s mission.
If God’s love reaches everyone, then our mission must aim to reach everyone.
John insists that the Son’s mission was the consequence of God’s love.
The Greek construction behind “so loved that he gave his one and only Son” emphasizes the intensity of the love.
The words “his one and only Son” stress the greatness of the gift.
The Father gave his best, his unique, and beloved Son.
It is atypical for John to speak of God’s love for the world.
This makes the truth stand out as even more wonderful.
Jews knew that God loved the children of Israel; here God’s love is not restricted by race.
Even so, God’s love is to be admired not because the world is so big, but because the world is so bad.
The world is so wicked that John elsewhere forbids Christians to love it or anything in it (1 John 2:15–17).
Christians are not to love the world with the selfish love of participation; God loves the world with the selfless, costly love of redemption. 5
The Greatest Gift
“. . . that he gave his only Son . . .”
God’s love produced the action of giving Jesus.
God moved toward us before we moved toward him.
God “gave” his Son when he sent Jesus into the world.
This pattern—God sending—becomes the model for the church’s mission.
Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus explicitly ties this to the missionary calling: “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21).
God’s sending of Jesus becomes the model for the church’s mission.
The word “gave” points us to both Jesus’ birth and his death—he was sent to die.
Love always costs, and God paid the highest price.
His mission is rooted in giving, not in taking.
“For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
The love of God is a wonderful thing, especially when we see it set on a lost, ruined, guilty world.
What was there in the world that God should love it?
There was nothing lovable in it.
No fragrant flower grew in that arid desert.
Enmity to him, hatred to his truth, disregard of his law, rebellion against his commandments—those were the thorns and briars that covered the wasteland, but no desirable thing blossomed there.
Where did this love come from?
Not from anything outside of God himself.
God’s love springs from himself.
He loves because it is his nature to do so.
“God is love” (1Jn 4:8). Nothing on the face of the earth could have merited his love, though there was much to merit his displeasure. This stream of love flows from its own secret source in the eternal deity, and it owes nothing to any earthborn rain or stream; it springs from beneath the everlasting throne and fills itself full from the springs of the infinite.” -Charles Spurgeon 6
The takeaway?
God’s love isn’t just wide—it’s deep and sacrificial. And that love fuels our mission.
The Greatest Invitation
“. . . that whoever believes in him . . .”
The invitation is open to “whoever believes.”
This underlines the inclusive scope of the gospel message—it is not restricted by race, social status, or background.
The church’s mission is to extend this invitation as widely as possible.
The Greatest Escape
“. . . should not perish . . .”
Missions exist because people are perishing without Christ.
**The gospel is not just about improving lives but about rescuing people from perishing and bringing them into eternal life with God.
Without missions, many will never hear of the One who saves.
Although many people think primarily of John’s Gospel in terms of the bright side of love, it has a dark side that is perhaps more threatening to the unbeliever than almost any other document in the New Testament except the Apocalypse.
To overlook the dark side in John is to miss the full message of the Gospel.
God’s judging (krinetai) is a negative theme that is also foundational to this Gospel and is obvious in these verses.
The purpose of Jesus’ mission was life, not condemnation.
He came to save, not judge.
John Calvin said in his commentary on Isaiah 28:21, where the prophet speaks of the Lord’s judgment as “his strange work” (“For the Lord will rise up as on Mount Perazim . . . to do his deed — strange is his deed! and to work his work — alien is his work!”).
Calvin writes: “The work of destruction is a strange work to God; it is more natural to Him to spare than to punish.”
Judgment is something he does only when necessary, in holiness and justice.
The Greatest Destiny
“. . . but have eternal life.”
Eternal life begins now and culminates in the age to come.
If we share God’s heart, we will share his mission.
Conclusion
John 3:16 is often called the gospel in a nutshell, but it is also the mission of God in a nutshell.
It gives the why (because God loves), the who (the world), the how (by sending), and the goal (eternal life).
**Without understanding this connection, Christian missions can drift into mere humanitarianism or cultural expansion.
But rooted in John 3:16, missions stay centered on proclaiming God’s love through Christ for the world’ s salvation.
Do you need Christ’s salvation today?
From Resolutions to Reformation: Rewriting Our Story in Jesus
Preparing for our annual fast and the year ahead:
From Resolutions to Reformation: Rewriting Our Story in Jesus
Primary Texts: John 1 and Colossians 1
“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. For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”
John 1:14-18 ESV
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,”
Colossians 1:3-6 ESV
Focus: When we look ahead, simply making resolutions won’t be the path to Christian maturity—we need to reinterpret our lives and allow Jesus to rewrite our stories based on who He says He is, so that we might become more like Him, each in our own unique expressions.
Hope you had a wonderful holiday season as we crossed into 2026. For many of us, this past stretch of days was a rare gift—time to slow down, to pause, to celebrate, to sit across tables with people we love and remember what actually matters. Those moments—unhurried conversations, shared laughter, quiet reflections—have a way of recalibrating us. They remind us that life is more than schedules and metrics and obligations. They remind us who we are.
For me, one of the greatest joys this season was getting to spend time with my brother’s kids—my nephew Jack and nieces, Maggie and Lucy. I’m especially close to my family, and I’ve been fortunate enough to watch them grow year after year. And lately, we’ve been joking about how they’re becoming “real people” right before our eyes. You know what I mean—no longer just kids reacting to the world, but young humans beginning to interpret it.
They’re developing distinct personalities. You can already see their inclinations—what excites them, what frustrates them, what lights them up. And now, they’re starting to talk about who they want to be one day. Not just what they want to do, but who they imagine themselves becoming.
Watching that even more so during the last month stirred something in me that also coincided with our annual fast, which starts tomorrow.
Because as we stand at the beginning of a new year, I couldn’t help but remember how we all used to do the same thing. We told stories about our future selves. We had “personal missions”. We imagined the kind of people we’d be, the lives we’d live, the meaning we’d carry. That instinct—to frame our lives as stories, to give ourselves identities through narrative—isn’t taught. It’s human. It comes naturally, especially to children.
But somehow, as we get older, it becomes more of a luxury to keep going back to these stories, or even sustain the practice of reflecting on where and who we are.
To me, this annual fast has been the most transformative way of surfacing questions I usually avoid. It forces us to ask not just what we believe, but how we understand our lives. More specifically, for this year’s theme, it can press us to ask how we see God’s unfolding story—and whether we see ourselves living inside of it.
Last week, Pastor Rollan, in his last message on our series, Divine Movement, he shared something that also stirred me. It coincides with our inclinations as humans to find cohesion and purpose in our stories.
He reminded us that when God moves in our lives, He shifts us—away from building our lives on temporary things, and toward building on the only thing that lasts forever: Christ and His Kingdom.
And he asked a piercing question: How many of us missed Jesus because we were expecting God to show up in a different way?
My hope today—especially as we prepare to fast and step into the year ahead—is that we learn to situate our personal stories within the ultimate narrative God the Father has been writing since the beginning of time. Because when we look ahead, we don’t simply make resolutions—we reinterpret our lives.
Just like the Christians in Colossus who heard the story about Jesus:
And what if this year, we allowed Jesus to rewrite our stories based on who He says He is, so that we might become more like Him, each in our own unique expressions?
So today, let’s look talk about:
Why Jesus is the story.
Rewriting our stories in who He is - His “I AM” statements
Sustaining our fidelity in the “meanwhile”
Part 1: Jesus is the Story
Missing the Bigger Picture
There was an experiment once conducted by the psychology department at Princeton University. Every student had to participate. One by one, they were asked to look through a small hole into a room. Beforehand, they were given very specific instructions. There was a particular object in the center of the room, and they were told to study it closely. They would be quizzed on it afterward.
The students focused intently. And sure enough, when the quiz came, almost everyone could describe the object in great detail. But then came the final question—the real point of the experiment: Did you notice anything else about the room?
Most answered no.
What made that so fascinating is that the room itself was completely warped. One wall was much taller than the others. The floor and ceiling were slanted. The entire space was distorted. And yet almost no one noticed.
Why?
Because it wasn’t what they were told to look for.
That experiment may have been controlled, but it’s deeply revealing. Because growing up works much the same way doesn't it?
It’s essentially human to reduce our attention to what we need to focus on based on what’s being demanded of us. Like my nephew and nieces, we are born wired to imagine identities and futures. But over time, what we’re told to focus on becomes narrower and narrower.
Find a career, save up for your retirement
Focus on what makes you happy, but be practical
Responsibilities pile up. Limitations press in—money, time, resources. Even internal limits—our talents, fears, skills, insecurities—begin to define the edges of what we believe is possible.
And eventually, without realizing it, we stop noticing the room. We focus only on that one object.
As “very skilled” Christians let’s admit it, sometimes living by a moral code and being consistent with religious practices can even become the focus.
And that’s ok! Of course, we need these, but I would submit that even these can sometimes limit our vision from seeing the bigger picture.
Jesus is fully God and fully human, he is sinless, yet died for our sins. He rose from the dead, went up to heaven and is now our advocate. He’s taken up our broken humanness once and all, and reconciled it with the Father.
And what’s the bigger picture a life experienced with Jesus points to?
Personal relationship with God Himself
Eternity in Humanness
Reconciliation of all things
“In the end that Face which is the delight or the terror of the universe must be turned upon each of us either with one expression or with the other, either conferring glory inexpressible or inflicting shame that can never be cured or disguised.
I read in a periodical the other day that the fundamental thing is how we think of God. By God Himself, it is not! How God thinks of us is not only more important, but infinitely more important. Indeed, how we think of Him is of no importance except insofar as it is related to how He thinks of us.
It is written that we shall “stand before” Him, shall appear, shall be inspected. The promise of glory is the promise, almost incredible and only possible by the work of Christ, that some of us, that any of us who really chooses, shall actually survive that examination, shall find approval, shall please God. To please God…to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness…to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a son—it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is.
C. S. Lewis, “Weight of Glory”
So in the Colossians passage, Paul very much picks up on how John depicted his realization about Jesus.
Our whole advent series - or any advent series for that matter - reminds us of how the birth of Jesus was in and of itself a break in the story when it takes a radical twist,.
And 30 years later, when Jesus makes His “I AM” statements in the Gospel of John, He isn’t offering metaphors for inspiration. He is revealing the new nature of reality that HE brought forth. These are clues to a new and everlasting chapter God is writing into the human story.
I personally love the Gospel of John. You could say I’m biased.
But really, most commentators will say more than any of the other Gospels, John depicts Jesus’ I AM sayings with more context clues to His personhood.
God becoming man.
A radical, unexpected twist in the God timeline.
History itself turned. Time was reoriented. Our calendars still testify to it—BC and AD. God didn’t merely influence the story. He stepped into it.
So the invitation today is simple: widen your focus. Look beyond inherited notions of God and yourself. Because like the students at Princeton, we often miss the person of Jesus and therefore miss the fullness of who we are.
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”
Colossians 1:9-10 ESV
Jesus is the story.
Every one of us enters this year already living inside a story. A quiet script we didn’t consciously write but slowly absorbed. Stories that define success. Stories that promise safety. Stories that tell us what love costs and what wholeness requires.
Some of those stories promise life but deliver exhaustion.
Some promise freedom but quietly form chains.
Some promise certainty but leave us anxious and afraid.
Into a world full of borrowed stories, Jesus speaks simple, yet seismic words:
I AM.
He does not say, I will help you find life.
He does not say, I will show you the way.
He does not say, I will teach you the truth.
He says, I AM.
And when we fail to experience Jesus in all areas of life, we fail to experience the fullness of grace and truth in this lifetime. Faith begins with acknowledging sin—but it matures as we embrace the reality of a living Savior who is deeply interested in everything.
Part 2: Rewriting our stories in who He is - His “I AM” statements
The “I AM” sayings of Jesus challenge every worldview. They redefine sustenance, security, identity, and hope. And they demand not partial belief, but a reordering of our lives around the One who says, I AM.
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Colossians 1:15-23 ESV
When we take a step back from our formal and learned Christian faiths, and just look at how humans have interacted with gods, and powerful beings, these I AM statements really transformed how we relate to God himself.
Jesus made these statements for us humans, to “humanize God”
1. “I AM the Bread of Life” (John 6:35, 48)
What Jesus is saying about himself:
Bread — basic sustenance, that which keeps life alive.
Jesus does not say He gives bread but that He is the bread.
Writing our story:
Life with God is not sustained by religious activity alone but by ongoing dependence on Christ Himself.
Faith is not a one-time act but continual “feeding” on Christ as we navigate the wilderness of our waiting and longing.
2. “I AM the Light of the World” (John 8:12)
What Jesus is saying about himself:
Light — truth, life, revelation, and the presence of God.
In the Old Testament, God Himself is light (Psalm 27:1; Isaiah 60:19).
Writing our story:
Jesus identifies Himself as the source of divine illumination, not merely a teacher of insight. We do not merely receive instruction from Jesus; we live in His “light” - His presence
Discipleship means walking in His revealed truth day after day rather than self-constructed meaning
3. “I AM the Door (Gate)” (John 10:7, 9)
What Jesus is saying about himself:
We enter through Him with our weaknesses. He fulfills the promise that God Himself would come to rescue and gather His flock.
Writing our story:
Salvation is not found in systems, morality, or identity but in entering through Christ.
Assurance flows from His protection, not our performance.
4. “I AM the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11)
What Jesus is saying about himself:
Of course, Psalm 23, the most quoted Psalm identifies Yahweh as our attentive shepherd who takes care of our most personal needs, and knows us by name
Writing our story:
We trust His care
5. “I AM the Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25)
What Jesus is saying about himself:
Resurrection — victory over death; Eternal Life — divine vitality.
Jesus collapses future hope into present reality: resurrection is not an event but a Person.
Writing our story:
Eternal life begins now, not only after death.
Grief is transformed by hope rooted in Christ’s living presence.
6. “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6)
What Jesus is saying:
Way — access to God
Truth — ultimate reality
Life — fullness of divine life
Writing our story:
Christianity is not primarily a worldview but a relationship with a Person.
Confidence rests not in knowing answers but in knowing Christ.
7. “I AM the True Vine” (John 15:1)
What Jesus is saying:
Vine — source of life, fruitfulness, and identity.
Writing our story:
Spiritual growth comes from abiding, not striving.
Fruitfulness is the result of remaining connected to Christ’s life.
Part 3: Sustaining our fidelity in the “meanwhile”
When David prays in Psalm 16 and 27, that the path of life is experienced in the fullness of God’s presence and that gazing God’s beauty is truly all we need to stay secure, we see that fullness in Jesus.
Our way forward in 2026 won’t simply have to be based on our own wills, but on the richer experience of Jesus himself in all of the different situations we will face this year.
“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”
Colossians 1:21-23 ESV
Prepositions can be very eloquent. A man is "in" architecture or a woman is "in" teaching, we say, meaning that is what they do weekdays and how they make enough money to enjoy themselves the rest of the time. But if we say they are "into" these things, that is another story. "Into" means something more like total immersion. They live and breathe what they do. They take it home with them nights. They can't get enough of it. To be "into" books means that just the sight of a signed first edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland sets your heart pounding. To be "in" books means selling them at B. Dalton's.
Along similar lines, New Testament Greek speaks of believing "into" rather than believing "in." In English we can perhaps convey the distinction best by using either "in" or no preposition at all.
Believing in God is an intellectual position. It need have no more effect on your life than believing in Freud's method of interpreting dreams or the theory that Sir Francis Bacon wrote Romeo and Juliet.
Believing God is something else again. It is less a position than a journey, less a realization than a relationship. It doesn't leave you cold like believing the world is round. It stirs your blood like believing the world is a miracle. It affects who you are and what you do with your life like believing your house is on fire or somebody loves you.
We believe in God when for one reason or another we choose to do so. We believe God when somehow we run into God in a way that by and large leaves us no choice to do otherwise.
When Jesus says that whoever believes "into" him shall never die, he does not mean that to be willing to sign your name to the Nicene Creed guarantees eternal life. Eternal life is not the result of believing in. It is the experience of believing.
~originally published in Whistling in the Dark and later in Beyond Words
Takeaways:
Christian maturity is not about better resolutions, but deeper reformation.
Growth doesn’t come from self-improvement alone, but from allowing Jesus to reinterpret our lives and rewrite our stories according to who He is—not who we imagine ourselves to be.
.We are always living inside a story—but not every story gives life.
Human beings naturally construct meaning through narratives, yet many of the stories we absorb (success, security, performance, certainty) quietly exhaust or enslave us. Jesus invites us to widen our vision and recognize the larger, truer story God has been writing all along
Jesus is not a supporting character in our story—He is the story.
Through John’s Gospel and Paul’s words in Colossians, the sermon emphasizes that Jesus doesn’t merely point to truth, life, or hope—He embodies them. When we miss Jesus, we miss both the fullness of God and the fullness of who we are meant to become
.The “I AM” statements don’t inspire us—they reorganize us.
Each “I AM” claim challenges how we understand sustenance, guidance, belonging, security, suffering, and growth. To believe Jesus is not simply to agree with His words, but to reorder our lives around His presence and reality
.Faith is sustained not by striving, but by abiding in the “meanwhile.”
The way forward is not willpower or control, but fidelity—remaining “into” Christ rather than merely believing in Him. Spiritual fruitfulness flows from ongoing dependence, especially in seasons of waiting, uncertainty, and formation
Divine Movement
Divine Movement
Focus: When God is moving, he is shifting us to build our lives on the only thing that will last forever - Christ and his Kingdom.
Protection
Promises
Providence
Protection
When God is moving it can feel unsettling, but ultimately his movements are to protect his people with his eternal purposes in mind.
Matthew 2:19-23 ESV
“But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead." And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.”
God’s movements can be seasonal.
Your displacement does not have to be permanent or pointless - it can be purposeful if you lean on God and his instructions.
What is it that he is both protecting you from and preparing you for within that season?
We must choose to obey God’s commands even in the midst of confusing circumstances to find our way to the salvation he is providing in Jesus.
If you listen to God, you will see that your unexpected detours in life are part of God’s divine movement to protect the revelation of Jesus in and through your life.
Promises
When God is moving, we want to keep our eyes fixed on his promises to keep in step with his timing, not ours.
Luke 2:22-35 ESV
“And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord") and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons." Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, "Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel." And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed."
Simeon had to wait a long time before he would experience and fulfill that which he knew God had promised him he would.
We have no mention of his job or vocation.
But Simeon was a righteous and devout man.
This posture was altogether different than just being religious.
***Simeon would build his life around the person and promises of God - because Simeon knew that ultimately the Messiah and his Kingdom would be the only things that lasts.
*God had not promised, nor was Simeon waiting for, a form of therapeutic deism for the consolation of Israel - God had promised and Simeon was waiting for the person of Jesus, which makes all of the difference.
“I am not asking whether you know things about Him but do you know God, are you enjoying God, is God the centre of your life, the soul of your being, the source of your greatest joy? He is meant to be.”
-Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones
He Simeon had to remain faithful, ever watching and ever waiting, until God fulfilled his promise.
*Simeon was not looking for a new promise, he was waiting for the one God had already given about his Messiah and the consolation the Messiah would bring.
This type of living can seem foreign to us.
The ditch into which this generation falls is always looking for what we don’t have - the better life, the better job, the better relationship, the better calling - rather than cultivating the ones that we do have.
In doing so, we miss the positioning of God for his ultimate purpose and promise.
This would be a detriment to those who would miss Jesus during his earthly ministry.
Luke 7:18-35 ESV
“The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?" And when the men had come to him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, 'Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?'" In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me." When John's messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, "'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.' I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." (When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.) "To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, "'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.' For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by all her children."”
*Whether it be your marriage, your children, your job, your friendships or present ministry opportunities, cultivate that which God has plainly made available to you rather than always holding out for what you think things should be or what you wish you had.
(This is that about which Jesus spoke in the parable of the Talents (Matthew 25) and the Minas (Luke 19).)
Again this generation misses God because of incessant FOMO focusing on the thing over the horizon vs. what is right in front of them.
In the instance above, the Pharisees were missing the Messiah in front of them for the Messiah they thought he should be.
Hundreds of years prior, the author of Proverbs gave us this wisdom:
Proverbs 12:11 ESV
“Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.”
Proverbs 28:19 ESV
“Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.”
Dreams are powerful when they are rooted in the promises of God.
How can I tell the difference?
It’s a matter of holiness.
*Fantasies are detrimental because they lack God’s endorsement and grace.
They are rooted in the fruit of the flesh, primarily selfish ambition - it reeks of covetousness, envy and at times, pride and greed.
*God will speak when the time is right.
Simeon was not allowed to miss Jesus coming.
*As long as you are on the lookout for God’s promise, you don’t need to fear missing it.
God told me a long time ago, "I am much more able to make myself heard than you are able to hear me.”
And when he speaks, we act and are a voice to prophesy God’s greatness and Jesus’ salvation to the world.
If you live like Simeon, you can then settle in and not allow the enemy to steal your joy, peace, relationships and present opportunities to work with Jesus because you think something better is going to come along.
On the other hand, we can have a holy posture working the land God has given us while waiting on his divine direction and promises with a foundation in Christ’s gospel and eternal Kingdom.
*When Jesus is revealed, it always comes with a line drawn to cause the rising and falling of many, piercing the soul of even the faithful because Jesus reveals the motives and intentions of our hearts.
“Any person who only sticks with Christianity as long as things are going his or her way is a stranger to the cross.”
-Timothy Keller
Why do you do what you do?
Who is it for?
Will he beIs Jesus truly Lord of our lives and is our love for his glory alone or for ours?
Proverbs 16:2 ESV
“All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit.”
Proverbs 16:2 NIV
“All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.”
Proverbs 17:3 ESV
“The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.”
John 5:41-44 ESV
“I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?”
Providence
Because God is moving, we want to trust that his providence will lead us to the opportunities that will glorify him and will prepare the way for Jesus to be revealed in our corner of the world.
Luke 2:36-38 ESV
“And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.”
With roots in Latin meaning “to see before”, providence is defined as divine guidance and care where God with protective oversight prudently manages and directs world affairs.
“No doctrine in the whole Word of God has more excited the hatred of mankind than the truth of the absolute sovereignty of God.”
-Charles Spurgeon
At the same time, Spurgeon also said in comfort to believers:
“When you go through a trial, the sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which you lay your head.”
-Charles Spurgeon
"No doctrine in the whole Word of God has more excited the hatred of mankind than the truth of the absolute sovereignty of God".
-Charles Spurgeon
At the same time, he also said in comfort to believers,
"When you go through a trial, the sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which you lay your head".
-Charles Spurgeon
Anna experienced unexpected loss early and had a choice to make regarding how that loss would shape her.
Anna could get bitter or allow her circumstances to fuel her consecration to the Lord, finding her identity, purpose and joy in the purposes of God that were greater than her personal pain.
My pastor would often say that “scarcity brings clarity” in life where we are given the opportunity to see what is most important.
When Anna’s immediate temporal joy was removed through her husband’s death, through a life of fasting and prayer, she was given a picture of what was eternally significant.
Anna persevered in faithfulness.
Because she found her home amongst the people of God at the temple, Anna was positioned in God’s providence to meet Christ and have a significant part in announcing his redemptive work to the world.
Yet Anna came to this privileged place through suffering.
God’s providence is in the midst of our suffering.
We must learn to look to God, as Anna did.
You can imagine her reciting this Psalm over and over again to shape her mind and steady her heart during her decades of consecration at the temple.
Psalm 84:9-12 ESV
“Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed! For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!”
And every time should Anna would reflect on itthese words, itthey would be true.
“Suffering is the stripping of our hope in finite things, therefore we do not put our ultimate hope in anything finite.”
-Timothy Keller
Corrie Ten Boom and learning to thank God in all circumstances:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/datL_HxIEEg
Though not a Christian, we can see the influence of the Bible’s teachings on Rudyard Kipling when he wrote If:
If by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
So in this new year, how can you better interpret your detours in the light of God’s protection?
How can you build your life in such a way to know and rely on God’s Biblical and Holy Spirit spoken promises?
How can you learn to trust God’s providence, planting yourself in the house of God and thanking him in all circumstances because you know he is looking to root you in the only thing that will last forever - Christ and his Kingdom?
Luke 2:39-40 ESV
“And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.”
Jesus would grow while living sinlessly, following the Father’s directives and timing to the very end.
He would die sacrificially on the cross for our sins, putting his confidence in the Father’s promise to bring him back from death through the resurrection.
And with a supreme trust in the providence of God, after having paid the price for our sins through his suffering, Jesus would receive eternally the reward of all of those who would repent of their sin and put their faith in him.
May we follow his ultimate example and allow God to walk us, with divine comfort and joy, through all of his divine movements.
May you, like Christ, grow and become strong, being filled with his wisdom so that the favor of God might be upon you this year and always.
Benediction:
Romans 8:31-39 ESV
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
“I am going to judge my circumstances by Jesus’ love, not Jesus’ love by my circumstances.”
-Timothy Keller
Divine Movement: A Christmas Story Full of Love
Divine Movement: A Christmas Story Full of Love
Focus: God uses divine interruptions and surprising direction changes to lead us to a different kind of love in Christ.
Divine Interruptions
A Different Kind of Love
Divine Purposes in Christ
Divine Interruptions
God is ordering our footsteps even when it feels like our future and destiny are out of our control.
Luke 2:1-7 ESV
“In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”
We have confidence in the person of Jesus because as opposed to ancient mythology, his story is part of recorded, verifiable history.
His birth took place in the midst of the Roman Empire under the reign of Caesar Augustus.
*Though the secular world was moving without regard to God, God was using temporal events to bring about his eternal plan in Jesus.
God used the diversions and direction changes on a societal scale to fulfill his word, verifying the very place Jesus was to be born.
Micah 5:2 ESV
“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”
This was on top of God sovereignly arranging the very family line to which he would be born, to come as the prophesied eternal King of the nations, the Lord our righteousness.
In Genesis 12:3, to the patriarch Abraham God said,
Genesis 12:3 ESV
“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."”
God would later make the lineage of the Messiah more specific when he said through the prophet Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 23:5-6 ESV
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The Lord is our righteousness.'”
*If we can trust God to sovereignly order the genealogies and world events throughout history to bring about Christ and his birthplace according to his word, we can also trust God with the intimate details of our lives which concern us.
Mary and Joseph would have to learn a new kind of love based not on feelings, but based on trust in God’s Word, God’s purposes, and ultimately God’s example.
How have recent personal or societal tensions encouraged or discouraged the love of God in your heart?
Why do I ask?
Because by looking at the advent we can discover God’s eternal plan in Jesus.
It was to bring us to a different kind of love - God’s perfect love expressed through Christ.
A Different Kind of Love
Through Christ, God extends his love to those who were once his enemies.
Luke 2:8-14 ESV
“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"”
*Sometimes the direction changes that God brings are those of the heart to lead us to a different kind of love.
What was God demonstrating about the gospel through the shepherds?
God was demonstrating that he loves, and we are to love, those who the world does not.
“The shepherds’ lives were ironic. Their job was to care for the animals that would be sacrificed to atone for the sins of the people. Yet because of their handling of these dirty creatures, they themselves were unclean and thus prevented from keeping the ceremonial law. And because they were ceremonially unclean, they were often regarded as untrustworthy, irreligious, and poor in reputation. Nevertheless, it was also expected that one who did his job well, a good shepherd, would be willing to lay down his life for his sheep. A good shepherd was someone who cared deeply for the lambs under his watch, many of which were appointed to die on the altar of the Lord for the sins of the very people who looked down on the shepherds. The shepherds’ lives were, in effect, sacrifices.”
-Russ Ramsey
This is powerful because Jesus would be known as both the good shepherd (John 10:11) and the lamb of God who would (through his sacrifice on the cross) take away the sin of the world (John 1:36).
So Jesus would be the good shepherd who was introduced to the world through shepherds.
And what Jesus does is come to shepherd our hearts.
The Holy Spirit had Paul instruct the church:
Ephesians 5:1-2 ESV
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
This type of love is a translation of the word Agape or its verb form agapao meaning to value, cherish and esteem.
It is the type of love that God has for us and that which we are to have for others.
This is a tall order and difficult for us at times to emulate because sheep bite.
But again, with the advent what might God be doing and about what is he actually concerned?
The answer: RECONCILIATION
The first and most important reconciliation that Jesus provides is between God and humanity.
*The shepherds lived on the outskirts of society, and their situation can remind us of a certain type of self-satisfied isolation (we don’t bother anyone and no one bothers us).
*Many people consider themselves like this in their personal lives and think their lack of disruptive interaction with the world excuses them from God’s sight and judgement.
However, God made it clear that he both sees and cares about those who hope to move through the world undiscovered and undisturbed.
Like the shepherds, we are all still sinners in need of a savior.
“In one of his diaries Kafka says something that many have taken to be the theme of The Trial: “The state in which we find ourselves today is sinful, quite independent of guilt.” In other words, we live in a world now where we don’t believe in judgment, we don’t believe in sin, and yet we still feel that there’s something wrong with us. Kafka was really on to something. Though we’ve abandoned the ancient categories, we still have a profound, inescapable sense that if we were examined we’d be rejected. We have a deep sense that we’ve got to hide our true self or at least control what people know about us. Secretly we feel that we aren’t acceptable, that we have to prove to ourselves and other people that we’re worthy, lovable, valuable.”
-Timothy J. Keller, Jesus the King: Understanding the Life and Death of the Son of God
It is only in our repentance and faith - looking to the wildness of God’s redemptive prescriptions found in Jesus - and the grace that would eventually flow to our lives through his sinless life, death on the cross and resurrection from the dead that we can be saved.
The second type of reconciliation that God introduces is between people through that same agape love.
Reconciliation takes love towards those who were once enemies.
This is the gospel.
Through the coming of Christ, God would break down the dividing wall of hostility between himself and humanity, and humanity and one another.
Ephesians 2:11-22 ESV
“Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”
The question is with whom in your family do you need to be reconciled?
What about in your friendship group, community, or in your heart (the social media world at large)?
Romans 5:10-11 ESV
“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
**What proves to be supernatural is that we have a divine agape love for those about whom we would otherwise not be concerned or those in the world who would naturally be considered our enemies.
This is the divine love of God for all involved in the Advent account - from Mary and Joseph to the shepherds and the Magi.
And now to you and me.
Divine Purposes in Christ
Through Christ and his gospel, God reconciles those who would otherwise be estranged.
Luke 2:15-21 ESV
“When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”
“There will be three effects of nearness to Jesus: humility, happiness and holiness.”
-Charles Spurgeon
We can say confidently that all of these were the result of the shepherds meeting Jesus.
***We can also see through the advent that the celebration of Christmas is meant to be more than a family affair.
We know that at the holidays that many times we want to be tucked away and retreat from the world with our nuclear units BUT…
Joseph and Mary had their very intimate moment interrupted repeatedly by visiting worshipers.
Through Jesus, God invites us and others into his Kingdom and family when we otherwise would not belong.
*There can be difficulties at the holidays when loved ones are missing.
This is the beauty of being invited into the extended family of God through Christ.
You are no longer alone.
But what if the sadness and distress comes from somewhere else?
What if it comes from your posture toward others in the world, or even more specifically, your world?
There can be another sadness if there is division or strife within the home or a perpetual angst in your soul towards the happenings of our world.
Jesus came with good news of great joy for you so that you can be set free. But how?
Jesus would later communicate in his ministry how to live out daily what we caught a glimpse of in the annunciation to the shepherds.
He would instruct his disciples this way:
Luke 6:27-36 ESV
“"But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. "If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”
Why is this possible?
Jesus came to introduce a Kingdom that sets people free from wickedness, selfishness, hatred, discord, division and strife - all fruits of the flesh.
Jesus came to introduce an eternal Kingdom where he will forever reign in justice, righteousness and love - thus our present circumstances are not our eternal destiny.
And if this is the case, I have the ability to receive God’s love, love Christ in return and love those who were previously estranged from me because of the gospel that has transformed me.
As Paul said to the Corinthian church:
2 Corinthians 5:16-21 ESV
“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
In terms of the Kingdom, make sure that you are on the right side of history - Jesus and the Father’s eternal wisdom and purposes.
Matthew 10:34-42 ESV
“"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. 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. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. 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 cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. "Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and 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 because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."”
Because in that Kingdom there is hope.
In that Kingdom there is peace.
In that Kingdom there is joy.
In that Kingdom there is love.
And just like the shepherds, we get to both meet the King and announce his good news to the world.
“When the church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it. It is then that the world is made to listen to her message, though it may hate it at first.”
-Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones
Jesus would be born sinlessly, live sinlessly and die sacrificially on the cross to pay the price for our sins.
Three days later he would rise from the dead to give forgiveness of sins and eternal life to those who would repent and believe the good news.
Let’s receive this good news and love the world by inviting them to meet Jesus every day after as we’ve been transformed by his love.
Divine Movement - Mary’s Journey of Joy: From Disorientation to New Orientation
Divine Movement
“Mary’s Journey of Joy: From Disorientation to New Orientation”
Two weeks ago, Pastor Rollan preached about how God unexpectedly moves through our distresses and disappointments. That if we wait on him, we will find our ultimate salvation in His son Jesus.
And last week, Ben shared about the Magi who abandoned their pagan religion to turn to the one true God. He challenged us to shift our gazes from the idols of our hearts, and continually turn our hearts to the One True King.
Today, we look at the Advent experience through Mary, whose life, in a single divine moment, dramatically shifted. In the text, we see that over a brief period of time, her disorientation ushered in a new orientation - a new everlasting hope because the long-prophesied Savior had finally come.
Focus: Advent invites us—like Mary—to acknowledge and bring our disorientation to God, to trust His surprising work, and to step into the new orientation only He can create. In the process, we can find joy in the waiting as Jesus reveals himself to us in new ways.
PRIMARY TEXT: Luke 1:26-56
“And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
Luke 1:46-49 ESV
We continue with the theme of Joy.
Unlike happiness and pleasure, Joy is rooted in faith as it is from the Holy Spirit. We know this — it’s Christianity 101. But how Joy actually feels when we are in the midst of experiencing it can be harder to pinpoint because of our natural orientation to happiness and pleasure.
Even C.S. Lewis writes:
“it is that of an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction. I call it Joy, which is here a technical term and must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and from Pleasure. Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic, and one only, in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again. Apart from that, and considered only in its quality, it might almost equally well be called a particular kind of unhappiness or grief. But then it is a kind we want. I doubt whether anyone who has tasted it would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasures in the world.”
From “Surprised by Joy”, C. S. Lewis
Mary’s exuberant poem filled with Joy, Magnificat, appears right after her disorientation. So let’s take a closer look at her journey getting there:
1. Advent: Season of Holy Disruption
2. Who was Mary?
3. Mary’s Disorientation
4. Mary’s New Orientation
5. Takeaways
1. Advent is the season of Holy Disruption
At the heart of Advent season is the experience of a promise being fulfilled after a very, very long season of waiting. When a cast of unlikely characters experienced a breakthrough in their realities. Unbeknownst to the most elite, most privileged and most “followed” (in our social media culture), God in His grace, quite literally entered our world through Jesus.
Christmas indeed is the season of new hope.
What we see so clearly is that when God does something new, the story always begins with a time of waiting, and most often, waiting in darkness.
Before new orientation comes, disorientation takes place.
With Mary as a great example of this journey, we’ll look at some Psalms as we acknowledge our own disorientations in life - situations, from God’s perspective - that are fertile grounds for New Hope.
She begins in the quiet orientation of Nazareth.
She is thrown into radical disorientation by Gabriel’s announcement
She emerges into the joyful new orientation of the Magnificat - which references many Psalms she was probably well versed in as Jewish teenager
2. Who was Mary?
A. Mary’s world before the angel
A teenage girl in Nazareth, engaged to Joseph.
Her life was predictable, quiet, normal—what Brueggemann calls a stable world of orientation.
Psalmic resonance: Psalms 1, 8, 33, 145—songs of trust, order, beauty, stability.
B. Orientation is not naïve—it is good
God blesses seasons of stability.
Orientation forms gratitude and rootedness.
Mary is spiritually prepared in the ordinary for the extraordinary call that is coming.
C. Advent connection
Israel once lived in orientation: promises, covenant, temple.
But the world is about to be disturbed—both Israel’s world and Mary’s world
Then what happens? In an instant, her life loses equilibrium. Her storyline changes.
Gabriel’s announcement disrupts everything
Luke 1:29:
“She was greatly troubled…” (literally: agitated, shaken, disturbed)
Mary faces emotional, relational, social, and spiritual upheaval:
Fear – “What does this greeting mean?”
Social risk – pregnant before marriage.
Relational threat – Joseph could leave.
Spiritual confusion – What does it mean to be overshadowed by the Spirit?
National tension – Messiah expectation under Roman occupation.
I vividly remember the four times I got laid off - in a single moment, several strands of fear, insecurity, anxiety, and anger rushed in.
For you it might be a breakup, illness, death…
We suddenly face the reality of chaos, dislocation, injustice and brokenness in the world. We come face to face with our human vulnerability.
Let’s take our time and look at Mary’s moment of disorientation:
3. Mary’s Experience of Divine Movement: Disorientation
It was personal:
Earlier in the text, we see another person getting a visit from Gabriel.
“And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.”
Luke 1:11-12 ESV
Unlike Zechariah who was more alarmed at the sight of an angel, Mary reacted to the directness of the message to her:
“And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.”
Luke 1:11, 28-29 ESV
This is the moment of her disorientation. As Jewish girl, she is well-versed in the history of her people. She knows that everyone who’s had a similar encounter with God or his messengers didn’t have a easy life after:
Unprecedented Favor: The title "highly favored" was a divine, royal blessing usually reserved for great figures, making Mary, a simple peasant girl, deeply unsettled by the implications of such immense grace.
Call to Mission: The greeting signaled a significant divine encounter, prompting her to think, "What is God asking me to do?" as she recognized a call to a great task like those of Old Testament heroes.
Personal Incongruity: She couldn't reconcile the divine favor with her own humble life and status, making her question the meaning of the greeting for her specifically.
Disorientations are always specific to our individual sense of self and our grasp on the world. The very definition of disorientation entails that we were once orientated towards something that grounded our stability and framed our views about life - a job, a relationship, a dream…even ideologies like democracy, justice and freedom.
Note that these are not sinful orientations in and of themselves. In fact, Mary most likely lived a very “good life” steeped in tradition and religious beliefs.
Yet, these are also established ways of how we operate in the world and navigate reality that in a second, when they get shaken, shift our sense of balance.
It posed the intrusion of a new reality:
Mary’s honest question: “How will this be?” (Luke 1:34)
If hope is the belief that a new configuration of reality is possible, then disorientation - what comes before it - is a giving way of old realities.
Let’s learn from Mary’s reaction.
She didn’t ask, “Why me?”
She didn’t complain, nor grumble
She didn’t make it about herself at all
Her focus was on how will this move forward - how will this work?
It was God-initiated:
“And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.”
Luke 1:35-38 ESV
When Mary came to the clear understanding that God was still behind this - that He hadn’t left the scene and in fact simply showing up in an unprecedented way, she submitted to His will.
And throughout the New Testament, we see that her “blessedness” isn’t exactly how we in our present day sensibilities would frame as glory to glory.
No. We see a poor, courageous Jewish mother whose life is repeatedly broken open by God—and who keeps consenting, again and again, to live in this strange, painful, hopeful new world that the God of Israel is bringing to birth in her Son.
Now, we can’t expect a visit from Gabriel in our moments of disorientation. And this is the danger of course.
As Pastor Rollan mentioned in his sermon, in moments of distress and disappointments, we turn to sinful patterns like addictions.
Likewise, in our disorientations, we have several coping mechanisms:
We minimize the situation
We disassociate
We deconstruct
Sadly, some Christians turn away from God completely.
So how do we experience Joy in these moments? How can we stay in Faith?
But what we can do is bring them before God. More importantly, engage our community. And the Psalms are the tools we have to do so.
This isn’t a sermon on the Psalms, but let me take a quick pit stop here to share some context. Mary’s song of praise we read earlier mirrors several Psalms of New Orientation.
Ancient Israelites - the culture Mary was raised in - believed that God was open to honest engagement. He understands the great human struggle to make sense of experiences of pain and suffering, and helps us integrate them into the spiritual journey.
On the whole, the Book of Psalms broadens our dialogical relationship with God. Spoken, prayed and meditated on, they direct our words to the only One who can truly validate them in their realness.
Through these candid and sometimes, awkward poems, we experience a God who attaches himself to the human condition. To belong to someone is to be vulnerable. You are allowing yourself to be in their moments of pain and grief, reckoning with trauma, and just dealing with the day-to-day struggles.
A closer look at some Psalms of Disorientation:
Psalm 6: bones are “in agony”; the psalmist is worn out with groaning.
Psalm 13: “How long… will you forget me forever?”
Psalm 22: abandonment and mockery that Jesus takes on his lips at the cross.
Psalms 3, 7, 17: hunted, slandered, surrounded by enemies
Psalms 32 & 38: the weight of sin felt in body and soul.
Psalm 37 & 73: wrestling with the prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous
Psalm 77: remembering God’s past wonders and asking if his steadfast love has ceased
4. Mary’s New Orientation: “My Soul Magnifies the Lord”
Only in bringing our disorientations to God can we create and hold space for our souls as we wait faithfully for new orientation.
Luke 1:46–55 is structurally and emotionally identical to Psalms of reorientation (Pss 30, 40, 126).
It contains:
Joy after fear
Surprise after confusion
Reversal after brokenness
Praise after lament
Mary emerges with a new song. What was the turning point?
“And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
Luke 1:41-45 ESV
There are three elements we see here:
She sought community
She experienced the Holy Spirit
She believed
5. Takeaways:
New orientation is never a return to normal
Mary is not going back to Nazareth as if nothing happened.
Her entire identity and destiny have been redefined by grace.
Like Mary, as we bring our disorientations to God and wait on His divine movements, we can also experience her new orientation:
God’s faithfulness:
“He who is mighty has done great things for me.”
God’s justice:
“He has brought down the mighty… lifted the humble.”
God’s mercy:
“His mercy is for those who fear him…”
God’s covenant:
“He has helped his servant Israel…”
Our disorientations are holy places.
We acknowledge that our lives will never be the same again, yet we know in Christ, we will not be shaken.
We experience the depths of life’s injustice, feel forgotten, tired of waiting or even completely overlooked by opportunities, but we know God so loved us that He gave his only Son - He gave himself - for our salvation.
Like Mary and the Psalmist, the most important response is that we bring our truths to God - we go to Him with our disorientations. Like Isaiah and Jeremiah, we name our sources of fear, anxiety and pain. We bring them before God knowing that New Orientation only comes from Him.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Romans 5:1-5 ESV
Summary:
You can bring your honest disorientation to God.
Mary did. Israel did. Jesus did.
God meets us in disorientation with new creation.
If your world is shaking, Advent says: you are on holy ground.
New orientation is coming—but on God’s terms.
It may not look like your old life restored—
it will be deeper, truer, and more Spirit-filled.
Your “yes” to God in the dark is enough.
Mary didn’t have clarity—she had trust.
Every believer is called to bear Christ into the world.
Mary’s physical bearing of Christ becomes the Church’s spiritual calling.
Divine Movement: The Mystery of the Magi
Divine Movement: The Mystery of the Magi
Focus: The story of the Magi prepares us to have faith in the mysteries of life in order to declare Christ’s Gospel through tragedy, joy, and all circumstances in between.
Setting the Scene: Mary and Joseph have traveled to Bethlehem, Mary has given birth to the baby Jesus, the shepherds have come to visit and worship him, and now our story picks up roughly 12-18 months later in a home in Bethlehem.
Matthew 2:1-15
“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 have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 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.’”
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 have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that 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 worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.
Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
“A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
Who were these Wise Men, these Magi from the East?
1. They were educated and religious pagans.
The term “Magi” or magoi in the ancient world refers to scholars, astronomers and astrologers, dream interpreters, and court advisors. They used a star to interpret divine signs, which was a pagan practice and not within the orthodoxy of Jewish customs.
2. They came from the East, likely from Persia or Babylon.
These areas had a form of astral religion, reading stars for divine messages.
Because of the Jewish exile they likely had some exposure to Jewish scriptures and were thus aware of a coming Messiah.
Zoroastrianism was a monotheistic religion in this are that they were likely familiar with, but by seeking out this star in connection with Messianic prophesies they were probably looking for the one, true monotheistic religion/God in the child. They were likely aware of this passage:
Isaiah 9:6
“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.”
3. They belonged to the highest status of culture
Likely, their positions within their culture were either king-like or right hand to the royalty there as advisors. In terms of employment, this was an excellent position.
In contrast, the first visitors of Christ were Jewish Shepherds, of God’s chosen people (not pagan, like the Magi) but at the bottom rung of society.
Jesus’ Kingdom plan, the new covenant was initiated and formalized by people who were forgotten, overlooked, or even despised by the religious authorities of that time.
Both sets of people did the same thing when they saw Jesus: they believed and worshiped Him.
The Magi likely turned away from their pagan beliefs and instead turned to the one true God - to Jesus.
God revealed himself to them through the star (2:2)
They said they were looking for the King of the Jews to worship him
When they find Jesus, they fell down and worshiped him (2:11). The word for worship used in this passage is proskyneo, which is the same word used in most instances of people worshipping God. This was not a respectful salute or cultural bow, this was full-on worship reserved only for deity, for God Himself.
Finally, after this God warns them in a dream to not return to Herod (2:12), implying that they are now receiving direct divine guidance from God on a relational level.
There is no scenario, no type of person, that can be held back from worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth!
If you are in step with the Spirit, you can turn to and worship God.
If you are falling away or have become distant, you can turn to and worship God.
If you don’t know God or even if you feel like you are disqualified from knowing Him, you can turn to and worship God.
God remains sovereign amidst your displacement, disorientation, and disillusionment. You can turn to God and worship Him.
Every one of us must wrestle with the realities of who reigns supreme in our hearts. These Magi were no exception. Their particular set of skills and convictions came by reading the stars, a categorically pagan practice that the Bible itself warns against. Yet when they saw Jesus - God - they fell down and worshiped Him.
What idols do you have in your life? What is reigning supreme in your life? Perhaps it is the stars, perhaps it is something else like work, family, self, ambitions, image. Our encouragement to you is this: like the Magi, this Christmas season sit and gaze at the born Christ – abandon your idols and worship at His feet. He is the one true God.
The Magi declared certain things about Jesus when they arrived.
By gifting Gold, they declared that Jesus is King.
By gifting Frankincense, they declared that Jesus is God.
By gifting Myrrh, they declared that Jesus was to die as our Sacrificial Savior.
Many times when we arrive at the Advent season we focus solely on Jesus as a baby - small, vulnerable, with us, moving into our home (Earth) for our sake. But none of this matters if we do not consider the greatness that became small. The Magi declared that Jesus is King, God, and Savior. It is that Jesus who was always King of Kings, Almighty God, Savior and Mighty Defender of our souls that chose to come down and lower Himself to our level in order to rescue us.
The KING did that for us.
Kings RULE.
Kings CALL THE SHOTS.
Kings THREATEN other rulers with their reign.
When you are presented with this King, King Jesus, are you threatened? Are you defensive of the lordship you have over your life? Or, like the Magi, do you recognize Him as King and instead worship Him and offer your gifts to Him?
In the final elements of our passage we see Jesus and His family fleeing to Egypt from danger of Herod’s murderous crusade, seeking to destroy Jesus.
The Holy Family - Jesus, Mary, and Joseph - felt a great displacement, disorientation, and possibly disillusionment during this time. How could it be that Mary was called blessed and yet her journey into motherhood would start this way? The Scriptures note that Mary pondered the things that she experienced in her heart and throughout her life she experienced God’s sovereignty through it all:
The shepherds share that the angels declared Christ the Savior, and throughout her life she witnesses Jesus miracles, ministry, and ultimate sacrifice for all people.
The Magi present her with gifts declaring Jesus King, God, and Savior and she witnesses all this coming to pass.
Directly after the Magi leave, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus flee to Egypt due to the threat of Herod literally hunting Jesus to kill him. A horrible way to start the first few years of motherhood, yet the Magi’s gifts directly prepared them for this flight as their departure to Egypt and subsequent time spent there as refugees was likely funded by these gifts.
We see over and over again dire circumstances arise in Jesus and his family’s lives and we see over and over again God remaining sovereign.
Jesus Himself, from His birth to His death, experienced displacement. He was born into a place with no room for Him, He was hunted by Herod and set to flee to Egypt, and ultimately He was rejected by men and murdered at Calvary. Yet God remained sovereign and through this story provided a way for us all to come into the Kingdom and His purposes.
The same is true for your story.
Whatever you have gone through, whatever you are going through, whatever you will go through, God desires that you would dwell on stories like the Magi, like the story of Christmas, and hold fast in faith to his ultimate plan for you. That you would look to his divine movement and place your faith in the best that is yet to come.
So in this Advent Season, consider the Magi, who through faith abandoned their pagan religion, turned to the one true God, and helped prepare the Messiah for his ministry on earth by declaring that He is the King, He is the God, He is the Savior, and He is Sovereign through all the mysteries that we will endure.
Declare that today as we, in step with the Magi, fall down and worship The Lord Jesus Christ.
Divine Movement: A Christmas Story Full of Hope
Divine Movement: A Christmas Story Full of Hope
*The 1st Sunday of Advent has a theme of hope - the hope of the Messiah’s coming prophesied in the Old Testament.
Focus: In the midst of distresses and disappointments, God is continually moving to fulfill his eternal purposes in and through the hope of the promised Christ.
Distress
Disappointment
Divine Movement
Distress
God is moving, even in our unexpected distresses to open us to receiving Jesus in our lives.
The things that can cause a sense of instability and distress in our lives abound - from family dysfunction to health concerns, the testing of prolonged singleness, from the relational trauma of adultery or divorce to embracing aging and loss, the shock of political strife, job instability or loss with the advent of AI, or for the young, the challenge of finding work after graduation.
In all of these scenarios, God is positioning our hearts to receive Jesus.
And with Jesus comes hope.
Matthew 1:18-23 ESV
“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 Immanuel" (which means, God with us).
First the important people in the story.
Jesus Christ is both Jesus’ name and title.
Jesus, which means “Yahweh saves” originates from the Hebrew Yeshua and would speak to his divine identity and work.
It is equivalent to the name Joshua.
Christ is a title, the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for Messiah, which meant the “anointed one” of God.
Those anointed in the Old Testament were chosen by God and set apart to him for his service.
They included kings, priests and prophets, all which Jesus would embody.
So this is the story of Jesus the Messiah or Jesus the Anointed One - the Christ.
Joseph and Mary were small town kids from Nazareth (Luke 2:4).
At the time, Nazareth was a small, relatively isolated agricultural village of a few hundred, with estimates ranging from about 200 to 480 people, though more recent archeological works suggests the population could have been as large as 1,000.
You may feel like your life is small, detached and insignificant, but as with Joseph and Mary, God cares, is involved and wants to use your story to reveal his Son.
Joseph had a plan for how he saw his life going.
He was a young Jewish man who was taking a young bride and they would build their lives together in the Lord.
He hit a detour when Mary showed up with child from the Holy Spirit.
It challenged his confidence in Mary, his picture of the future and how he would walk out his faith in God.
He tried to do the right thing within the confines of his own reasoning - to put Mary away quietly - but God intervened.
Life does not always turn out how we planned it or wanted it, but that does not mean that God is not on the move.
Even when it seems that you’ve tried to do all of the right things before God, situations and circumstances can arise that remind you that your relationship with God is not transactional, but based on his purposes and grace.
The question we need to ask in the midst of life’s surprises is, “What is God up to?”
And, “What is God trying to reveal about Christ and his gospel in and through your life?”
We need to pause and pray.
How often do we react to our circumstances without consulting God and miss the very thing by which he wants to reveal the hope of Christ in and through our lives?
*What God does in his movements, often with unexpected scenarios, is pull us out of a trajectory for hell where we are simply consumed with self.
”I am really upset with the most pernicious of all the literary images of evil, it’s Goethe’s Mephistopheles in Faust. The humorous, civilized Mephistopheles strengthens the illusion that evil is liberating. But the real mark of hell is a sleepless, unsmiling concentration upon the self. We must understand hell as a place where everyone is perpetually concerned about his or her own dignity and advancement, where everybody always has a grievance, and where everybody lives in the deadly seriousness of envy and self-importance.”
-C.S. Lewis
There was no room for this as Joseph and Mary were thrust into the visual scandal that had them in the center of the purposes of God.
God’s unexpected movements allow us to move from solely focusing on self to the freedom of Christ and his purposes.
Disappointment
If we wait on the Lord, he will show us his divine movement in the midst of initial disappointments.
God will show us who he is, what he is doing and what we should do.
Why?
Because our unexpected circumstances are meant to help reveal Jesus to the world.
Matthew 1:20-25
“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 Immanuel" (which means, God with us).
When the angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph in the dream, he gave context to his initial disappointment and showed him God’s purpose in Christ.
Mary would be the prophesied virgin who would birth the promised Messiah, God in the flesh, the Savior of the world.
Though not having a particular birth story, the Apostle John spoke of Jesus’ eternal, divine existence when he wrote:
John 1:1-5 ESV
“In the beginning was the Word, 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 any thing 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.”
John 1:10-13 ESV
“He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, 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.”
John 1:14-18 ESV
“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 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 we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.”
So what Mary would be carrying in her womb was the uncreated second person of the Trinity, the Son of God who would become flesh to bring grace and truth to the world.
*Thus Matthew’s account is one of hope because what was a surprise to Joseph and Mary was no surprise to God.
You see, God let us know a long time ago that he works in extraordinary, and at times, unusual ways, to show his miraculous hand of intervention in our ordinary lives.
God does this to grab the hardened hearts of humanity to turn them towards the saving person of Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 7:10-17 ESV
“Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz: "Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven." But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test." And he said, "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!"”
So in our disappointments, we must avoid the trappings of religion and humbly receive God’s grace.
There are at least two unforeseen dangers to religion:
The danger of religion is that we think that we can reduce God to being like us, making him manageable and controllable.
Psalm 50:19-21 ESV
““You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.”
But the truth is that he will not be controlled - God is infinitely better, wiser, and more loving in his movements than we ever could imagine.
The danger of religion is that we think that if we’ve been good enough, like Joseph trying to do all of the right things, that somehow God owes us a good life - the spouse of our dreams, impenetrable health, comforts and joys without end.
But the point is that we live in a fallen world, and we have all added to its fallenness through our own sin and bitterness, and deserve death and hell.
But as secular people we reject this notion because we do not understand the complexity of sin as God understands it.
*More than just lawlessness (breaking God’s commands), sin is a dislocation of the soul where we do not love God, his design or his ways, and suffer accordingly.
Jeremiah 2:1-9 ESV
“The word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord, "I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. Israel was holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his harvest. All who ate of it incurred guilt; disaster came upon them, declares the Lord." Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: "What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless? They did not say, 'Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells?' And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, 'Where is the Lord?' Those who handle the law did not know me; the shepherds transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit. "Therefore I still contend with you, declares the Lord, and with your children's children I will contend.”
Henry David Thoreau would give vocabulary to this in Walden when he described people who feel trapped by their routines and societal expectations, leading to an internal, unspoken dissatisfaction despite outward appearances of success and stability.
I know far too many men and women like this.
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things..”
-Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience and Other Essays
This reality is on full display in the endless drone of YouTube and the internet.
The one person show reveals that most people are just boring because they are simply consumed with sin and self.
We are enslaved to sin when we are focused on ourselves and our condition rather than looking to the person of the promised Christ.
In A Preface to Paradise Lost C.S. Lewis would write:
“To admire Satan is to give one’s vote for a world of lies, propaganda and incessant autobiography. Yet the choice is possible. Hardly a day passes without some slight movement toward it in every one of us. Sin in each of us is something that wants to just be petted and admired, to take advantage of other lives. It especially wants to be left to itself. It wants to keep well away from anything better or stronger or higher than it, anything that would make it feel small. But unimpeded, sin would exploit the whole universe if it could.”
In explanation, Timothy Keller would later comment:
”Advanced sin makes you boring because all you’re ever worried about is how you’re doing, how you look, how things are affecting you. There’s always a grievance - incessant autobiography. You can never get out of yourself. You’re always feeling sorry for yourself…. Sin makes you mediocre… There’s nothing more boring than someone who is always worried about how you look. Sin makes you these very uninteresting, unprincipled, shallow, boring people.”
Yet we find our sense of our true, intended self when we turn to Jesus in distress and disappointment because we see God as bigger as he pulls us out of the smallness of myopic living into his eternal purposes in Christ.
Jesus came to save us from our sins.
He came to save us from ourselves.
To do so, he would put on the flesh of sinful humanity while being conceived of the Holy Spirit that he might be sinless himself.
As God incarnate, the second person of the Trinity, Jesus would live in perfect obedience to the Father’s commands by the power of the Holy Spirit.
He would eventually die sacrificially on the cross, again, not a likely imagined destiny of a savior, to pay the price for our wrongs and through his resurrection provide us not only reconciliation with God but the power of new and eternal life through the same Holy Spirit through whom he had been conceived.
Jesus would continually enter into distress and disappointment to save those who were in and of themselves enslaved to and bound by such a fate.
And in the place of distress and disappointment Jesus would offer hope - hope of forgiveness, salvation and purpose - both eternal and abundant life in him.
But how do we enter into this hope?
*We must trust and obey God to see Jesus revealed in and through our lives.
This is the life of faith.
Matthew 1:24-25 ESV
When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of 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.”
The gospel was seen even in the power of this virgin birth being foretold.
What did Joseph do?
He changed his mind and went in a different direction.
To meet the savior Jesus, all we have to do is, like Joseph, repent (change our mind to turn away from our sin) and believe the good news.
So the question then is why would God choose to visit us in the manner in which he did - in seeming scandal to fulfill the prophecies of the coming Messiah and to give us hope?
Amongst other reasons, he would do so to show us that in the midst of life’s distresses, disappointments and mess, the Father was sending Immanuel, the Savior who would be “God with us.”
" The first link between my soul and Christ is, not my goodness, but my badness ; not my merit , but my misery ; not my standing , but my falling ; not my riches , but my need . He comes to visit His people , yet not to admire their beauties , but to remove their de - formities ; not to reward their virtues , but to forgive their sins . "
- C . H . Spurgeon
The powerful thing is that as Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born in the flesh to the Virgin Mary, now each time that God transforms a life, we have the opportunity to see Jesus - his goodness, mercy, grace, and love being displayed again and again.
Divine Movement
God is moving in our unexpected circumstances to bring about the promised salvation and Lordship of Jesus Christ.
So what was this hope that would be found in the Messiah, that Joseph and Mary were now able to welcome through their unexpected circumstances?
Isaiah 9:1-7 ESV
“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, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. 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 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. Of the increase of his government and of 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.”
God’s movements in history are ultimately about bringing Jesus into the world and for him to increasingly become Lord of our hearts.
God’s intervention in confusing circumstances leads to greater trust and obedience because we learn that if God is involved, it is leading to a greater good.
After losing her husband in missionary work in Ecuador along the Curaray River, January 8, 1956.
“God is God. If He is God, He is worthy of my worship and my service. I will find rest nowhere but in His will, and that will is infinitely, immeasurably, unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to.”
-Elisabeth Elliot, Through Gates of Splendor
*As you determine to obey God, you’ll see that your surprises are no surprise to him, and he has a hope for you and the world that he is birthing as you steward Christ’s intervention in your life.
*No matter what distresses or disappointments you have experienced, there is hope for you in Jesus as you submit to his wisdom and will.
As you allow Christ’s rule, his government, to increase in your life, you will know him as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace.
Despite the trials of your present, you can experience “God with you” and find yourself a part of the Lord’s redemptive plan to reveal the eternal hope that is found in Christ.
Just as Jesus came the first time to die on a cross to save us from our sins, by the power of his resurrection, so he will return to make all wrong things right.
The fact that God continues to move means two things:
The first advent of Christ was for the payment of sin.
The second will be for the vanquishing of it.
So as we wait, the question remains:
What are the distresses and disappointments of your life meant to birth, and how are they being used by God to point people to the hope found in the saving person of Jesus Christ?
We Believe: The Doctrine of Missions
We Believe: The Doctrine of Missions
Even as last week Pastor Kore spoke to us about God’s heart towards us that precedes any directive towards missions, today we will speak about the goal behind missions.
The Bible is not a random collection of writings but a single story - a unified record that communicates a coherent and constant message.
It is the unfolding drama of God’s mission to save a remnant for himself from lost humanity and to shape a new creation from a broken world.
“The Bible presents itself to us fundamentally as a narrative, a historical narrative at one level, but a grand metanarrative at another.
It begins with the God of purpose in creation, moves on to the conflict and problem generated by human rebellion against that purpose, spends most of its narrative joinery in the story of God’s redemptive purposes being worked out on the stage of human history, and finishes beyond the horizon of its own history with the eschatological hope of a new creation.
Missions, then, is not just for missionaries; it is the totality of life.
We all are honored to participate in God’s mission.
Doctrinal Statement: We believe God’s mission is to redeem a people for himself from every tribe, nation, and language and to restore creation for his glory. As the Father loved the world and sent his Son, and the Father and the Son sent the Spirit, the Triune God sends the church into the world to proclaim the gospel, make disciples, and seek God’s justice and reconciliation in the world.
God’s mission is to redeem a people’s for himself.
God sent his Son and his Spirit to redeem sinful humans.
God sends the Church to proclaim the gospel.
God sends the Church to make disciples.
God sends the church to be a prophetic voice to a sinful world.
God’s mission is to redeem a people’s for himself.
Revelation 7:9-12 ESV
“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 Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.””
Ever since Adam and Eve’s fall in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), God has been on a mission to redeem humanists and all of the created order.
God’s redemptive mission is not an attempt of a divine watchmaker to fix a broken creation; it is the work of a loving father to restore a broken relationship with his creatures.
God has always manifested his redemptive work in the world in particular times and places and with particular people - but always with universal implications.
One early example of God’s rescue mission was when he saved Noah’s family from the great flood (Genesis 7).
His mission continued when he called out Abraham with the promise that he would become a great nation and that God would bless all the nations of the earth through him (Genesis 12).
Abraham’s descendants became the nation of Israel - God’s chosen people.
In their unique history chronicled in the Old Testament, God chose and revealed himself to them.
The Israelites were God’s chosen people, but he chose them to be a light to all the nations of the earth.
Deuteronomy 4:5-8 ESV
“See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?”
This promise was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus - the second person of the Trinity who came into the world a Jew in the royal line of King David.
Jesus focused his brief earthly ministry demonstrating to the Jewish people that he was the Messiah, but his final words made it clear that his disciples should proclaim the good news of his death and resurrection to the ends of the earth.
Since then, the Father, through the Son, is still redeeming a people for himself from every tribe, tongue, and nation.
This redeemed people from all times, places, and ethnicities is called the Church.
God sent his Son and his Spirit to redeem sinful humans.
John 3:16-21 ESV
““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.””
The Bible uses different metaphors to describe the saving work of Jesus - the focal point of God’s mission.
One of the most common is redemption.
The modern world thinks of redemption primarily as a “religious” concept, but the ancient world thought of it in economic terms.
*To them, it signified the price paid to rescue a slave or a prisoner of war.
Sometimes the payment was in money (gold, silver, etc.); sometimes the payment was in people (a prisoner exchange).
In this passage (and elsewhere in the New Testament, e.g. Mark 10:45), John uses the metaphor to explain why God sends his Son to earth.
The Bible likens our sinful human condition to slavery or captivity to emphasize that we cannot redeem ourselves.
*This is why Jesus came, to pay the ransom price.
*But Jesus was not only the broker of our redemption - the person who coordinated the payment - he was the payment itself.
Jesus was free, but he gave his life to redeem humans in bondage.
He was perfectly holy, but he gave his life for sinful humanity.
It was his life for our life.
When Jesus explained this to an inquiring religious leader named Nicodemus, he started with God’s motivation in sending him to redeem the world - love.
God’s redemptive mission flows from his love for sinful humanity.
Because he loved the world, he sent Jesus to redeem sinful humans.
*It is crucial to highlight God’s stated motive here because it is also our motive in joining God on mission.
God did not redeem us because he needed us or because he was under an obligation to us.
God sent his Son to redeem us because he loved us.
God sends the Church to proclaim the gospel.
John 20:21-22 ESV
“Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he charged his small group of disciples to proclaim the good news of his life, death, and resurrection to the ends of the earth.
As Pastor Kore mentioned last week, Jesus used the metaphor of a witness - someone who testifies to what they’ve seen or heard in a court of law.
*Whether we are actively proclaiming the good news of the gospel or answering questions about what we’ve seen or heard about Jesus, the goal is to call all people to repent and believe the gospel.
The first disciples did this with great zeal and courage, which is what every subsequent generation of Christians has tried to do (with greater or less success) for the last two thousand years.
Effective gospel proclamation is only possible when we recognize who is involved.
*First, it’s important to note that this is the Church’s calling.
Sometimes we can feel overwhelmed by the task and feel like everything is up to us as individual Christians.
However, knowing God has called and sent the Church to do this massive work is freeing.
John 17:15-19 ESV
“I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.”
*It is a multi-ethnic, multi-generational team with different gifts, strengths, and social connections.
*And it is only as the whole Church that we will effectively proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth.
As the body of Christ, we are called to continue God’s redemptive mission in the earth.
*It is not just about us finding our place of belonging or getting our personal needs met.
God gives us these things, but as in the Abrahamic call that set all of this in motion - we are blessed to be a blessing.
As the Father sent the Son to redeem the world, so he sends us - the Church - into the world to bring that good news of his redemption to all people.
It is important to remember that when God sent the Church into the world to be his witnesses, he did not send them alone.
He sent his Holy Spirit to empower them to be his witnesses.
*When we preach the gospel, we are not alone.
*We are on a mission with the whole Church, and the Holy Spirit empowers us.
”…when you are in your place in the Body, God will give you the gifts you need for that place. A lot of people are just interested in spiritual gifts - and I agree, they are exciting. But they are not to be sought in detachment from the Body. In fact, until you know your place in the Body you do not know what gifts you will need. My experience has been that when I get in the right place, I have the right gifts.”
-Derek Prince
God sends the Church to make disciples.
Matthew 28:18-20 ESV
“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””
*Gospel proclamation is crucial and primary, but our mission does not stop with preaching or even conversion.
Jesus commissioned us to make disciples.
Disciples are people who follow Jesus, fellowship with other believers, and fish for people (Matthew 4:19).
So we must preach the gospel to make disciples and also teach people to follow Jesus.
Conversion is a one-time event when people surrender their lives to Jesus, but discipleship is a lifelong process of following Jesus, becoming more like him, and bringing others on the journey.
We cannot underestimate this call for all followers of Jesus not only to be disciples but to make disciples.
So often, people assume that making is the role of professionals (like pastors or campus missionaries), but Jesus made no such distinction.
Following him in a discipleship relationship implicates us (the Church) in his mission of bringing lost people into a relationship with the Father.
*We are all called to be disciples and disciple-makers.
*We all have unique spheres of influence.
*We know people who will only hear the gospel if we share it with them and will only start on the road of discipleship if we walk alongside them.
***There are many things to learn in our discipleship journey and many things to pass on to others, but Jesus highlighted one foundational principle that undergirds everything else - obedience.
As disciples, we are on a journey of obedience - daily learning how to die to ourselves and submit our lives to the lordship of Jesus.
And as disciple-makers, this is what we must teach and encourage others to do.
This is hard work, but we must never forget that as we go and make disciples of all nations, Jesus is “with us always to the end of the age.”
God sends the church to be a prophetic voice to a sinful world.
Luke 4:18-19 ESV
“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.””
Jesus began his ministry by reading Isaiah 61 aloud in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth.
After reading this ancient messianic prophecy, he said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
At that moment, Jesus claimed he was the fulfillment of the prophecy.
Profound concern for human suffering would mark his ministry and result in transformative liberation.
He would bring healing and freedom to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed.
*In other words, Jesus’ mission - and by extension, his Church’s mission - had an other-world and a this-world orientation.
Jesus called his Church to preach the gospel and make disciples.
He also called her to heal broken bodies and liberate people from unjust systems.
Jesus set the example by preaching to multitudes, healing the sick, and liberating the oppressed.
As a consequence, historically, Christians have spearheaded the most significant abolition movements over the last two thousand years and have been at the forefront of providing health care to those who need it most.
This is why C.S. Lewis wrote:
“Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth “thrown in”: aim at earth and you will get neither.”
-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
To quote Isaac Watts in “Joy to the World”, it is the work of the Church to seek God’s justice and reconciliation in the world “as far as the curse is found”.
To be a prophetic voice is to see the world’s injustice and join with the prophets of old in decrying the oppression of humans made in God’s image.
To be a prophetic voice is to engage the world with a kingdom-inspired imagination and a Christ-centered hope - to work to see God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.
However, we must remember Jesus called us to be prophets, not saviors.
We must accept that our work will always be incomplete and unfinished.
Only Jesus can finish this work when he returns.
Our role is to bear witness to it in small (and occasionally big) ways.
“The point of the resurrection…is that the present bodily life is not valueless just because it will die…What you do with your body in the present matters because God has a great future in store for it…What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God's future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day when we leave it behind altogether (as the hymn so mistakenly puts it…). They are part of what we may call building for God's kingdom.”
-N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking, Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
This is why Jesus taught his disciples to pray:
Matthew 6:9-13 ESV
“Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
*This prayer is an ongoing posture that both orients us and motivates us for the mission of Christ until Jesus’ inevitable return.
“Jesus's resurrection is the beginning of God's new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven. That, after all, is what the Lord's Prayer is about.”
-N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking, Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
We are not the savior of the world - Jesus is.
And our mission is to point people to him.
Next week begins the Advent (Christmas) season celebrating the very reason that Jesus came.
Greater Than: How the Mission of God is Greater than Your Locked Door
Greater Than: How the Mission of God is Greater than Your Locked Doors
Focus: The mission of God finds you in your weakness and moves you from “I can’t” and “I won’t” to “I will” and “I must”
John 20:19-23
“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
John 20:19-20
“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord”
Important Takeaways:
The mission of God pursues in weakness. His weakness > your locked doors.
The mission of God propelled in weakness. His sending > your locked doors.
The mission of God power in weakness. His breath > your locked doors.
Acts 4:5-8
“On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders”
We Believe: The Doctrine of Sacraments
We Believe: The Doctrine of Sacraments
Focus: We believe that water baptism and Communion are the two sacraments ordained by Christ, visible signs of God’s covenant of grace. Baptism is the sacrament of entrance into the church by which believers publicly identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Communion is the sacrament whereby believers corporately remember Christ’s body given and his blood shed for their forgiveness. Sacraments are means of grace in which God is present, affirming his promises represented by the visible signs.
A “sacrament” is a representation or a picture of an inward reality. We should know this: God takes His pictures seriously.
Here are some examples of how seriously God takes His pictures:
Moses and the rock:
In Exodus 17, God has Moses strike a rock to bring forth life-giving water.
In Numbers 20, God tells Moses to this time talk to the rock in order to bring forth life-giving water.
Moses obeys the first time (Exodus 17) but disobeys the second time (Numbers 20) and strikes the rock again.
We learn that this was intended to be a representation of Jesus being struck (killed) once and only once and then asked of in subsequent times for His life-giving blessings.
But Moses messed this picture up through his disobedience. God punishes Moses and does not allow him to enter the promised land.
Marriage:
Ephesians 5:22-32 reveals that marriage is an illustration of Christ (the husband) and the Church (the wife).
1 Peter 3:7 says that if a husband mistreats or dishonors his wife, his communication with God could be cut off.
We know that through these examples (among many others) that God takes His visible signs seriously. They are not to be toyed with.
The Sacraments of Baptism and Communion are visible signs of God’s covenant of Grace. They are the pinnacle of our expression of faith and a direct representation of God’s greatest gift.
It would behoove us to understand and practice these Sacraments with as much accuracy and reverence as possible.
Let’s break these down!
Baptism
Baptism is the sacrament of entrance into the church by which believers publicly identify with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
When we go down into the waters of baptism we identify with Jesus’ death and burial.
When we come up out of the water we identify with Jesus’ resurrection and our new life in Him.
We are saying, “I belong to Him now.”
The physical act of baptism in and of itself does not save us.
We can know this through the clear teaching of salvation by faith alone in the Bible:
Titus 3:5
Romans 10:9-13
Ephesians 2:8-9
We can know this by John the Baptist's declaration of Jesus’ superior baptism that He will enact on all who believe:
Matthew 3:11
We can know this through the example of the first convert after Christ’s death - the thief on the cross - who was not baptized:
Luke 23:39-43
Baptism, however, is required of the Christian in as much as it is possible to physically engage in this practice.
It is the first act of New Testament believers:
Acts 2:38
Matthew 28:19
1 Corinthians 12:13
Romans 6:3-4
It is done through an appeal to God for a good conscience:
1 Peter 3:21
The intended sequence of events for a new believer in Christ is to be saved, get baptized, then serve God for the rest of their life.
If you are saved but have not been baptized, we encourage you to reach out to us so you can get baptized!
If you have already been baptized but feel like you did not have agency in that decision or were not genuinely saved at the time of your baptism, we encourage you to reach out to us to learn more about baptism and get baptized in obedience to Christ!
Communion
Communion is the sacrament whereby believers corporately remember Christ’s body given and his blood shed for their forgiveness.
Communion, most commonly practiced when believers eat bread and drink juice/wine in a church service, was designed to be taken regularly in habitual remembrance of Jesus’ work on the cross. But it is more than a simple symbol or remembrance service.
1 Corinthians 11:27-32, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.”
Something that is purely symbolic could not have this type of effect on us both spiritually and physically.
Consider the Bronze Serpent in Numbers 21.
The Israelites, because of their sin, were cursed with snakes in their camp.
God has Moses construct a bronze serpent, which represented Christ (John 3:14-15) to be erected in the camp so that if anyone is bitten they can look at the symbol of Christ and be healed.
The bronze serpent was an illustration of Christ, but it also contained the spiritual presence of Christ, able to heal those afflicted. It was more than just a piece of metal because it possessed the power to heal.
Consider the Ark of the Covenant.
The Ark represented God’s presence, but it also contained His presence in such a powerful way that someone who accidentally touched it actually died from doing so (2 Samuel 6:1-7).
The Ark was both a symbol and physical item that contained the very real presence of God.
Similarly, we believe in a real, spiritual presence of Jesus in Communion. It is a symbol but should not be reduced to just that as it has the power to impart spiritual blessings if taken correctly and spiritual and/or physical peril if mishandled.
Communion is also a representation and practice of the equal standing Christ gives to all who put their trust in Him.
Paul rebukes the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 11:20-22 because they were partaking in communion while giving preference to those with higher social or fiscal status. The table was for all who believed, not for some.
1 Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
2 Peter 1:1b, “To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:” (emphasis added)
These passages teach us that the newest convert to Christianity has the same standing with God as the most experienced pastor and everyone in between.
No one can withhold the blood of Christ from another, no one can withhold the body of Christ from another – we take these elements in both kinds because His body and blood, his sacrifice, is for all people. That is a beautiful reality that is reflected in this great sacrament.
Communion should be held in such high regard that there are times some believers should not take it.
In the passage quoted above (1 Corinthians 11:27-32) Paul warns that a person should examine themselves carefully so as to not bring judgment or physical ailment upon themselves.
If you are not in a place with your personal walk with God to take communion with a clear conscience, abstain and pray for a heart of humility and repentance so that you may partake at a later time.
Communion is the pinnacle expression of a life spent “consuming” Christ.
In John 6 we read of Jesus giving a difficult teaching to the disciples and those who followed Him after He fed 5,000 people.
In vv47-58 He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
This is difficult to understand, but by studying the original words Jesus uses we can come to a better understanding.
In verse 56 the word for “eat” that Jesus uses is phagete.
Phagete means to eat, devour, or feast.
In verses 54 and onward, the word Jesus used for “feed” is trogon.
Trogon means to gnaw, nibble, graze, or in other words, to eat continually.
Jesus instructed those who follow Him to not only feast on His life giving body and blood, but to continually do so, without ceasing. It is a lifestyle, a continual feasting on His body and blood (His sacrifice on the cross that gives us our salvation) throughout our day-to-day walks with Him.
Is feasting on Christ’s flesh solely reserved for Communion? No. Feasting on Christ is a larger reality of the Christian life. When you read your Bible, you trogon Christ. When you serve in the church, you trogon Christ. When you give an answer for the hope that is in you with gentleness and respect, you trogon Christ. When you raise your family to know and love Him, you trogon Christ.
When we take communion we are displaying that inward reality at its highest point, communing with the very presence of Jesus with His bride, the Church through the sacrament and meal that He initiated.
Means of Grace
Sacraments are means of grace in which God is present, affirming his promises represented by the visible signs.
When we partake in these sacraments, the one-time sacrament of Baptism and the habitual sacrament of Communion, we should expect to receive God’s blessings as a means of grace. That is to say, these sacraments remind us of His forgiveness and impart spiritual life to us through Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit.
If you have not been baptized since consciously devoting your life to Christ, get baptized. Obey Him and expect Him to be faithful to you through your obedience.
If you belong to Christ, after examining yourself in humility and faith take of Communion. Commune with His presence and partake in His sacrifice in humility and reverence.
The full extent of these Sacraments are still a great mystery. By trying to understand and practice them with humility and faith, our obedience in faith is enough to draw near to Him as He draws us near to Himself.
So continue in humility to seek after these mysteries, to participate in them, and to draw near to the One who has given everything so that we may have life abundant in Him.
We Believe: The Doctrine of the Second Coming
We Believe: The Doctrine of the Second Coming
The ultimate appearance of God’s kingdom is the focus of the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.
But this scriptural emphasis is not on times, dates, or world events, but on the revelation of Jesus Christ as the Sovereign Lord of all creation.
Christ’s sacrifice on the cross secured our salvation and victory over sin and death.
But his return will bring us to that state of complete victory when we have glorified bodies unstaffed by sin and fleshly desires.
That will be the fulfillment of our blessed hope.
Doctrinal Statement: We believe that Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will return to earth bodily, in power and glory, at a time fixed by the Father and unknown to the Church, to raise the dead and judge the world. He will clothe the righteous with immortal, glorious bodies, rewarding them according to their deeds. But the unrighteous, Satan, and the forces of darkness, he will punish with eternal destruction. God will consummate redemption and renew creation, and his people from every nation will enjoy, worship, and reign with him forever.
Jesus will return to the earth bodily.
Jesus will judge the world when he returns.
The righteous will have a great hope in the resurrection.
The wicked will pay the penalty of eternal destruction.
The entire creation will be made new and glorious.
Jesus will return to the earth bodily
Acts 1:11 ESV
“and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.””
God’s rule is continuously advancing throughout history.
It will culminate in the final establishment of his kingdom when Jesus returns to the earth suddenly, visibly, and bodily.
He is the Sovereign Lord of creation and history, and when he returns to establish his kingdom, he will remove all evil and set up his throne of righteousness and justice.
God is in control of history, and his victory is assured.
The theme of God’s coming kingdom unfolds in Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.
The biblical writers never emphasize times, dates, or world events but God’s plan to establish his rule on earth.
Therefore, we should look forward to the Lord’s return, but we should not be consumed with dates and times.
God has set a definite time for the return of Christ, but no man knows when it will be.
Mark 13:32-37 ESV
““But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.””
One reason God has not told us when Jesus will return is so we will not turn our focus away from the Great Commission and toward self-preservation.
Rather than being concerned with “when he will return,” God wants to focus on “why he will return.”
We should not wait passively for his return but actively obey the mandate to make disciples of all nations.
God’s victorious return should spur us to action as we disciple the nations.
But we do look forward to his return.
Because he ascended with a physical body and will return with a physical body, we have hope that we will also have glorified physical bodies one day.
This assures us that the material creation is valuable to God and is part of his ultimate plan for the universe.
This knowledge protects us from asceticism - severe self-discipline and avoidance of all forms of indulgence.
We can fully enjoy God’s material blessings as a part of our worship.
Jesus will judge the world when he returns
Matthew 25:31-32 ESV
““When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.”
“He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”
The Apostles’ Creed affirms the glorious truth that Christ has ascended into heaven and reigns victorious.
It further affirms, “He will come again to judge the living and the dead.”
This truth stirs our hearts with the promise that every wrong will one day be made right.
That should comfort us and terrify us at the same time.
Everyone will die and face a personal judgement of either damnation or salvation.
Hebrews 9:27-28 ESV
“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
There will be a great final judgment of believers and unbelievers.
All will stand before the judgement seat of Christ and hear the proclamation of their eternal destiny.
Life is not cyclical, and we do not get multiple chances through reincarnation.
*Death and judgement are the inevitable reality for all people.
This judgment is good news for Christians.
For on that day, Jesus will say:
Matthew 25:34 ESV
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
But this judgment is bad news for unbelievers.
For on that day, Jesus will say:
Matthew 25:41 ESV
““Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
This doctrine has several positive moral influences on our lives.
It satisfies our inward need for justice.
We live in a world marred by sin and rife with injustice, and we know that no laws or leaders can ultimately fix what is wrong.
We long for the judge of all the earth to do right.
Genesis 18:25 ESV
“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 all the earth do what is just?””
It also provides a motive for holy living and evangelism.
Paul was deeply mindful of his accountability before a holy God.
That knowledge produced in him the fear of the Lord, a yearning for holiness, and a desire to persuade others to reconcile to God.
2 Corinthians 5:10-11 ESV
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.”
The righteous will have a great hope in the resurrection
1 Peter 1:3 ESV
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”
Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day, breaking death’s hold on humanity.
He is the ”firstborn from the dead” (Revelation 1:5, Colossians 1:18), “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (I Corinthians 15:20).
He was the first to be resurrected eternally, but not the last.
On the Final Day, God will raise the righteous to eternal life and the unrighteous to eternal condemnation (John 5:28-29, Daniel 12:2-3, Acts 24:15).
*So his resurrection ensures our resurrection.
It gives us a living hope, a hope that is securely kept for us in heaven.
It is our inheritance, imperishable, undefined, and unfading (I Peter 1:4-5).
But though God purchased our salvation through his Son’s death, our final salvation will not be complete until the “day of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
This is what theologians call the already; not yet tension.
In this life, we experience his promises, but the full completion of those promises awaits our resurrection on the Last Day.
That is why Christianity is a forward-looking faith.
It is a life of hope.
The basis of our hope is the finished work of Jesus Christ, but the object of our hope is the final appearance and complete salvation he will bring when he returns.
His sacrifice on the cross secured our salvation and victory over sin and death.
But his return will bring us to that state of complete victory when we have our glorified bodies that are unstained by sin and fleshly desires.
*Therefore, hope is our dominant perspective about the future.
*We are not simply trying to hold on until Jesus comes back; we labor expectantly during the brief time God enables us to inhabit his planet.
And we labor against the backdrop of Christ’s ultimate return in victory, power, and glory.
The wicked will pay the penalty of eternal destruction
2 Thessalonians 1:5-10 ESV
“This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.”
Jesus taught more about eternal judgment than any other biblical author.
He called Hell a place of eternal torment (Luke 16:23) and unquenchable fire (Mark 9:43) from which there was no return (Luke 16:19-31) - a place of “outer darkness” (Matthew 25:30) where people will gnash their teeth in anguish and regret (Matthew 13:42).
He called it Gehenna in reference to the valley along the south of Jerusalem where people burned garbage and corpses.
Maggots consumed the bodies and the trash.
Because there was a constant supply of trash and corpses, the maggots that fed on them “never died” (Mark 9:48).
Three Old Testament authors referred to eternal destruction: Daniel (12:1-2), Malachi (4:1), and Isaiah (66:22-24).
Eight of the nine New Testament authors also referred to it: Matthew (18:8, 25:46), Mark (9:48), Luke (3:17, 16:19-31), John (3:36), Paul (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9), Peter (2 Peter 2:4, 17), Jude (1:7,13), and the author of Hebrews (9:27).
Despite all the biblical evidence, eternal destruction is still one of the most challenging doctrines to embrace.
“The sentimental secularism of modern Western culture, with its exalted optimism about human nature, its shrunken idea of God…makes it hard for Christians to take the reality of Hell seriously. [It] assumes a depth of insight into divine holiness and human sinfulness that most of us do not have.”
-J.I. Packer
God does not punish sinners in a fit of temper but rather as the result of his perfect love and unchanging hatred of evil.
*Hell is a place of justice, not cruelty.
*Cruelty involves punishment more severe than the crime.
Cruelty, in this sense, is unjust, and God is incapable of inflicting an unjust punishment.
But human concepts of justice and love are distorted by sin and, therefore, deceptive and unreliable.
God is infinitely worthy of our love, obedience, and honor, and our failure to do so is an infinite evil and deserving of eternal destruction.
The entire creation will be made new and glorious
Revelation 21:1 ESV
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.”
“God created the earth…to be man’s permanent home. But sin and death entered the world and transformed the earth into a place of rebellion and alienation; it became enemy-occupied territory. But God has been working in salvation history to affect a total reversal of this evil consequence and liberate earth…from bondage to sin and corruption”
(Alan F. Johnson, Expositors Bible Commentary, 12:592).
Though God subjected the original creation to futility, the new creation will be free from corruption and full of the glory of God.
Awaiting us is a glorious future kingdom where death is defeated, and God will wipe away tears of sorrow, pain, and grief.
The sea - the source of the satanic beast (Revelation 13:1) and the place of the dead (Revelation 20:13) - will be no more.
This is a symbolic picture of the new creation’s freedom from evil in all its forms.
In this new creation, we will enter into the full enjoyment of life in the presence of God forever.
Jesus will say to us, “Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).
In this kingdom:
Revelation 22:3 ESV
“No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.”
God made the original physical creation “very good” (Genesis 1:31).
Nothing is inherently sinful about the physical world.
God will perfect his creation in the new heavens and earth and bring it into harmony with his original purpose.
We will dwell in a fully redeemed universe that is “very good.”
We shall eat and drink at “the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9).
The “river of the water of life” will flow from the throne of God (Revelation 22:1).
The tree of life will bear “twelve kinds of fruit for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2).
And our physical bodies will again be “very good” in God’s sight to fulfill the purpose for which he created us.
This is our blessed hope.