We are continuing our
study of the covenants.
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Are we learning
anything here? Yes!
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I'm feeling really good.
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Not just learning in
terms of an intellectual growth
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but I'm feeling really good
about the personal, familial
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applications of this
as well in terms of trust
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and relationship and
not self-preservation
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and self-centeredness
but other-centeredness.
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And really, that's the way
the universe works, beloved...
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that is the way
the universe works.
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Because - as we put that first
piece on the table there...
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What is it? That "God is love. "
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That's the way the universe
works, and so I want my family
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to work that way. I want
my life to work that way.
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I want my heart
to work that way.
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I want to enter
into covenant with God
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and to live the way
that He created me to live.
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And that's what we're going
to talk about now. We're really
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getting full on now into the
guts of the Abrahamic covenant.
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And so we're just
going to pray again
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and we're going
to dive right in.
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We're going to pick
up where we left off.
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Father in heaven, Jesus
Himself said that "No man
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knows the day or the hour
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no, not even the Son of
Man, but My Father which is in
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heaven. " And
Father, we stand here
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and it must be painful to
Your heart because You have
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communicated to us
that there is a dynamic...
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that there is an elasticity in
the day that Jesus will return.
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We can hasten or by
extension slow that day.
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And Father, the
prayer of my personal heart -
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David Asscherick's heart -
and I'm sure that the others
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here pray this same prayer:
I don't want to be that kind
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of a person or among those who
are slowing the process down.
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Father, make us
movers and shakers
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in the literal sense.
Moving and shaking and agitating
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with regards to the
kingdom of heaven on earth.
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Father, may we be dissatisfied
with the status quo,
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with this world
full of death and disease
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and oppression and injustice,
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murder and every other
kind of violence, and hate.
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Father, may this
world not be our home.
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May we not feel
comfortable here... even though
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the birds sing and
the sun yet shines.
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May we have a deep
dissatisfaction with this earth.
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May we pray in our
innermost heart of hearts
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and our soul of
souls "Thy kingdom come,
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Thy will be done on
earth as it is in heaven. "
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And Father, we know that
that will never eventuate
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this side of the
return of Christ.
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But may we be -
inasmuch as we are able -
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creating that environment,
creating that atmosphere.
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And Father, we long to
live in harmony with the great
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principle upon which
the universe operates...
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and that is love,
other-centeredness.
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Father, remove even
the last residual vestiges
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of self-preservation
and self-centeredness
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and selfishness from us.
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All of those things which
are out of harmony or in discord
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with the way that You have
made the universe to operate.
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Father, teach us
how to love as You love,
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to live as You live,
to walk as Christ walked.
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And as we now continue
our study of the covenants
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Father I pray that this
would be far more than a mere
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intellectual or cerebral
exercise for us. Father,
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may we enter into
covenant with You.
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Teach us what that
means. Teach us how to trust
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in the faithfulness of
Your Son, the Messiah, Jesus.
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Be with us now as
we open scripture.
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Illumine our minds is
our prayer in Jesus' name,
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let everyone say "Amen. "
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In order to continue our
presentation here, I want to
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start by reminding us of
something that we've mentioned
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before, and that is
the basic structure of the
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book of Genesis.
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We talked about there are
fifty chapters in Genesis.
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And the first 11 of those
chapters are by far the most
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hotly debated and
hotly contested passages
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in all of scripture.
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More than Jesus
being born of a virgin,
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with a few loaves and fishes,
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and even His
resurrection from the dead.
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Genesis 1 to 11 is a
cauldron of controversy...
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not just outside of the
Christian church but even inside
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of the Christian church.
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Because if Genesis 1 to
11 is portraying an actual
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history... And by the
way, there are great textual
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and exegetical reasons
to believe that this is more
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than figurative, it's
more than metaphorical.
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It is the history of the earth.
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Right? Now we're not going
to spend any time on that here.
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That's another series
to talk about the sort of
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evidences within
Genesis to believe in its basic
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historicity. But
our point here is this:
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you have fifty chapters
and the first eleven chapters
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cover roughly - you know -
2,000ish years of human history
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and then the last 39 chapters
basically cover 100-150ish years
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as well. So when
you think about that
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it is very strongly - hugely
- disproportionately weighted
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toward the history
after Abraham and the history
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of Abraham. Which kind of
raises the question: "Why? "
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In this sense it's a little
bit like the gospel of John
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for example. You
know, Jesus lived
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some 30ish
years on planet earth.
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And John's gospel
is 21 chapters, right?
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Twenty-one chapters,
and the last few days
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of Jesus' life in
the gospel of John
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begin in John chapter 12.
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Now just let that disproportion
settle in for a moment.
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Here Jesus lived
some roughly 30 years
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which is basically
John 1 to John 11. Right?
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And then the last few days of
His life is John 12 to John 21.
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Right? In other
words the last few days
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and even hours of
the life of Jesus.
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It's
disproportionately weighted.
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In the book of Genesis
the reason that you have that
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disproportion is that
it's as if Moses is racing
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to get to the point,
right? To get to the main point
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which is God's covenant
with a man named Abraham.
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He's just... There was
creation, there was the flood,
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there was the Tower of Babel.
Chhew... Genesis chapter 12
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we're at Abraham. Now
before we get right into
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the texts that talk about
Abraham, there's a couple things
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that we have to address
here that are very important.
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I hope we have nailed down
firmly in the mind that Satan
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the enemy's basic MO
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is to undermine and to
bring doubt into our mind
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about the character
of God. So far so good?
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You remember the statement:
"It is Satan's constant
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effort to misrepresent
the character of God. "
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And then the
statement went on to say
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that he causes
us... he seeks to cause us
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to relate to God on
the basis of fear and hate
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rather than on the
basis of love, and he paints
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the picture of God with
his own cruel character.
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And we looked at
instances of that.
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Vignettes...
Biblical vignettes of that
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in the experience of Job,
in the experience of even Eve
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in Genesis 3 and also of
the demoniacs in the Gadarenes.
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And many other
instances could be given.
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I mean those are
just real quick instances.
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Basically our point here is
that in seeking to undermine
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the character of God,
the trustworthiness of God,
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the person of God,
Satan has brought about
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a climate - an
environment - of distrust.
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And in a climate and
an environment of distrust
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sin is the natural consequence.
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Now just a quick word on this.
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I want to talk to you
just very briefly about
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what C.S. Lewis calls
"the eternal mystery. "
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Right? "The
eternal mystery of God. "
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And I love this
idea. He refers to it as
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"the greatest miracle
that God ever wrought. "
00:08:18.46\00:08:21.19
And I want to sort of
enter into that with you here
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for just a moment.
The idea here is that God
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is not ruling the universe
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by the strength of His nature.
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He could... because He has
the resources of omnipotence
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and power at His disposal
He could... to use the very
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picturesque words of Ellen
White... He could destroy Satan
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"as easily as a child
casts a pebble to the ground. "
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So we're not dealing with an
issue of might or of strength
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or of power here, right? And
Lewis makes an amazing point -
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what he calls "the greatest
miracle of all miracles" -
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is that God actually made a
thing. He fashioned and formed
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His creation but He invested
it with the ability to resist
00:09:01.33\00:09:06.12
the Creator. Right?
We call this free will
00:09:06.32\00:09:09.82
and it is the grand eternal
mystery that the Creator would
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create not just a
widget, not just a robot,
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not just a puppet,
not just a marionette...
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but He creates a will.
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An actual being that
possesses will and intelligence
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and reasoning and volition.
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And then He doesn't just
provisionally give that over
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and say "You can keep your free
will as long as you continue
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to make decisions that
are in harmony with My will. "
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He literally
genuinely gives actual free will
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to His
creation. Lewis calls this
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"the eternal mystery. "
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The greatest of all
miracles that the Creator
00:09:40.93\00:09:44.23
could be
resisted by His creation.
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Are you with me? Yes or no?
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Well the moment that
that resistance takes place,
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the moment that that
rebellion takes place,
00:09:51.64\00:09:52.92
the rebellion that
we've been describing
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where Lucifer - you know -
suggested that he had access
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to what was behind the veil
so that he could go and say:
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"Hey look, I know
what you don't know.
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I've had access. I'm concerned
about what's back there. "
00:10:01.69\00:10:03.62
The moment that he begins his
clandestine plan of undermining
00:10:03.82\00:10:07.82
and innuendo and subterfuge
00:10:08.02\00:10:09.59
God could solve this problem
in just two moments. Right?
00:10:09.80\00:10:13.30
He could just give
Satan a good whacking,
00:10:13.44\00:10:16.43
a good kicking, or He
could just blink His eyes
00:10:16.53\00:10:18.90
and blink
Lucifer out of existence.
00:10:19.00\00:10:20.64
Right? The whole thing
could be instantaneously solved
00:10:20.89\00:10:25.32
just like that.
Which raises the question:
00:10:25.62\00:10:28.13
why doesn't He do that?
00:10:28.33\00:10:29.54
Why doesn't He do that?
00:10:29.84\00:10:31.83
And part of the
answer lies in this fact:
00:10:32.13\00:10:35.17
God - rather than overpowering
His creation with the force
00:10:35.37\00:10:39.43
of His character and will -
which incidentally would only be
00:10:39.53\00:10:41.43
to confirm the basic
accusation of Lucifer -
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Rather than winning...
listen to this carefully...
00:10:43.78\00:10:46.47
rather than winning - or
even winning is the wrong word -
00:10:46.67\00:10:49.18
rather than causing
His creation to submit
00:10:49.38\00:10:53.82
based on the force or
the strength of His nature -
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He is God after all -
00:10:57.92\00:10:59.10
He will woo and
win His creation back
00:10:59.50\00:11:03.56
on the beauty of His character.
00:11:03.76\00:11:05.90
See, God is powerful, but the
kind of power that God exercises
00:11:07.24\00:11:13.03
is not a power that
most of us would exercise
00:11:13.13\00:11:15.51
given the opportunity to do so.
00:11:15.61\00:11:17.11
He exercises what Shelley
talked about the other day:
00:11:17.32\00:11:19.93
the power of love.
00:11:20.13\00:11:22.29
Rather than forcing back
on the strength of His nature
00:11:23.40\00:11:27.47
He will woo His creation back
by the beauty of His character.
00:11:27.67\00:11:32.11
So far so good?
00:11:32.41\00:11:33.59
Well that's not going
to be an easy process.
00:11:33.99\00:11:35.87
It's going to be a painful...
pain filled, suffering filled,
00:11:36.08\00:11:39.01
difficult, complex,
circuitous process...
00:11:39.14\00:11:41.87
and it is the process in
which we find ourselves now.
00:11:42.07\00:11:44.20
Now, speaking of Abram and
getting up to Genesis chapter 12
00:11:44.60\00:11:49.53
we've got to mention
a couple things here.
00:11:49.63\00:11:50.81
We often talk about the
"sin problem" only in terms
00:11:50.85\00:11:54.81
of Genesis chapter 3.
We've spent time on that.
00:11:55.01\00:11:57.44
We talked about shame and
fear and hiding and covering
00:11:57.65\00:11:59.83
and blaming and all of that.
00:11:59.93\00:12:01.19
And essentially Genesis
chapter 3 you could summarize
00:12:01.59\00:12:05.05
it - it would not be an
over-simplification to say -
00:12:05.25\00:12:07.72
that the message of
Genesis chapter 3 is man's
00:12:07.93\00:12:11.30
disloyalty to and
severing from God.
00:12:11.50\00:12:14.51
Right? It's a
vertical separation
00:12:15.32\00:12:17.45
where they chose to
basically go their own way
00:12:17.65\00:12:19.42
and God essentially
honored their choice.
00:12:19.62\00:12:21.99
But in those opening chapters,
those quick 2,000 years of
00:12:22.19\00:12:26.03
human history - Genesis 1 to 11-
00:12:26.23\00:12:28.00
there is another sin problem.
00:12:28.20\00:12:30.19
And it's not just the
sin problem of Genesis 3 that
00:12:30.60\00:12:33.25
God is setting out to bring
healing and restoration to...
00:12:33.35\00:12:36.00
it's the sin
problem of Genesis 11.
00:12:36.20\00:12:38.13
Now the sin
problem of Genesis 11
00:12:38.23\00:12:40.67
and you tell me, Bible students,
what happens in Genesis 11?
00:12:40.87\00:12:43.52
We've mentioned it a couple
times. It's the Tower of Babel.
00:12:43.82\00:12:46.31
The sin problem in
Genesis 11 is very interesting.
00:12:46.55\00:12:49.62
It says in Genesis chapter 11
you can read the first several
00:12:49.82\00:12:51.75
verses there - it says that all
of the people were of one mind
00:12:51.85\00:12:56.80
and of one voice.
And they basically said -
00:12:56.91\00:12:59.59
now listen to this,
this is very interesting -
00:12:59.79\00:13:01.22
They said: "Let us
make a name for ourself. "
00:13:01.42\00:13:04.97
Right? So they were unified.
00:13:06.18\00:13:07.82
And we think: "Oh, unity
is a good thing, right? "
00:13:08.02\00:13:10.08
Depends on what
you're unified on.
00:13:10.18\00:13:12.02
Here we have a profound unity.
00:13:12.32\00:13:14.59
A unity that is so
profound and so thorough going
00:13:14.79\00:13:17.62
that God Himself has to
come down and personally
00:13:17.82\00:13:20.45
investigate and interrupt
the unity that had become
00:13:20.65\00:13:24.13
so... that had so
galvanized humanity.
00:13:24.33\00:13:26.70
But notice that it was a
unity built around making a name
00:13:26.91\00:13:30.48
for ourself. It was a
unity based on self-preservation
00:13:30.68\00:13:33.73
and selfishness. So far so good?
00:13:33.93\00:13:35.93
So look at what God does.
00:13:36.33\00:13:37.68
God confuses their languages
00:13:37.88\00:13:40.74
and thus effectively
separates or fractures
00:13:40.94\00:13:45.28
the various groups of
humanity all over the earth.
00:13:45.48\00:13:49.61
You with me?
00:13:50.04\00:13:51.07
So in Genesis 1 to 11 basically
Moses paints the picture
00:13:51.25\00:13:54.12
like this: you have two
major problems. Number one:
00:13:54.22\00:13:57.77
a personal severing from
God which is largely the problem
00:13:57.97\00:14:01.02
of Genesis chapter 3...
a turning away from God.
00:14:01.12\00:14:04.67
Then you have the
problem of Genesis chapter 11
00:14:04.87\00:14:06.51
which is humanity being
separated from their own
00:14:06.71\00:14:10.18
communities and from themselves.
00:14:10.28\00:14:11.49
And so we make all
kinds of divisions now.
00:14:11.59\00:14:13.26
We say: "Oh, those people live
on that side of the mountain
00:14:13.46\00:14:15.74
but we live on this
side of the mountain. "
00:14:15.94\00:14:17.28
"Those people have black skin;
these people have white skin. "
00:14:17.58\00:14:20.34
"Those people live on
that side of the river;
00:14:20.55\00:14:22.45
these people live on
this side of the river. "
00:14:22.65\00:14:23.99
And all of a sudden you
have these linguistic, social,
00:14:24.29\00:14:27.25
racial, geographical
distinctions between people
00:14:27.45\00:14:31.23
and millions... no...
perhaps hundreds of millions
00:14:31.43\00:14:34.84
or more have been
killed. People have been killed
00:14:34.95\00:14:37.56
on the basis of these
distinctions, these arbitrary
00:14:37.76\00:14:40.88
lines that are drawn
between God's children.
00:14:40.98\00:14:42.98
You with me? Yes or no?
00:14:44.08\00:14:45.18
The whole world is a mess!
00:14:45.38\00:14:46.66
It's a complete mess, right?
00:14:47.51\00:14:49.70
People elevating themselves
and thus devaluing others
00:14:49.93\00:14:53.59
on the basis of foolish
things like skin color or height
00:14:53.79\00:14:58.42
or language or even religion.
00:14:58.62\00:15:01.66
Right? This is the
world in which we live.
00:15:02.97\00:15:04.81
It is a fractured,
fragmented humanity
00:15:05.01\00:15:07.95
and that is the sin
problem of Genesis chapter 11.
00:15:08.15\00:15:10.39
Now I don't have time to go
into this in too much detail
00:15:10.59\00:15:12.22
but let me just say
this... very interesting:
00:15:12.32\00:15:13.87
after the death, burial,
and resurrection of Jesus
00:15:14.85\00:15:16.88
when the Holy Spirit is poured
out on the Day of Pentecost
00:15:17.18\00:15:20.15
God starts reversing the curse.
00:15:20.35\00:15:23.35
Now watch what He does.
00:15:24.32\00:15:25.74
In Acts chapter 2 when
the Holy Spirit is poured out
00:15:25.94\00:15:30.57
it says they were all "in
one accord in one place. "
00:15:30.78\00:15:34.21
Now don't miss that.
You have a profound unity
00:15:34.54\00:15:37.04
in Genesis 11, but
it's a unity for self.
00:15:37.14\00:15:39.61
And you have a
profound unity in Acts chapter 2
00:15:39.81\00:15:42.04
where they wanted to
make a name for ourselves.
00:15:42.34\00:15:45.19
The church in Acts chapter
2 says "We want to make a name
00:15:45.39\00:15:47.47
for God on earth. "
And you know what God does?
00:15:47.57\00:15:50.19
He brings the languages
back together in Christ.
00:15:50.88\00:15:55.74
Oh, this is a
profound point. And by the way,
00:15:55.98\00:15:58.29
it's the very point that Luke
is making in the book of Acts.
00:15:58.39\00:16:00.12
Because what happens is
this thing that started off
00:16:00.43\00:16:03.56
in Abraham... that started
off as a very Jewish thing...
00:16:03.76\00:16:06.62
and this is the
tension of the book of Acts:
00:16:06.72\00:16:08.37
Jewish scriptures and a Jewish
Messiah and a Jewish economy
00:16:08.67\00:16:12.02
and a Jewish legacy
and a Jewish history.
00:16:12.22\00:16:14.22
How do you take that thing that
is patently, thoroughly Jewish
00:16:14.52\00:16:17.60
and start translating
it into the Gentile peoples
00:16:17.80\00:16:21.37
of the Mediterranean and beyond?
00:16:21.57\00:16:23.95
And they didn't
always get it exactly right.
00:16:24.85\00:16:27.05
You know, you read the book
of Acts and it's not as though
00:16:27.25\00:16:28.81
they just had everything
figured out. They're sort of
00:16:28.91\00:16:30.54
stumbling and making a mistake.
Backtracking a little bit here
00:16:30.64\00:16:34.01
then some advance. But
the point of the book of Acts
00:16:34.21\00:16:36.60
is that God is reversing
the curse not only of Genesis 3
00:16:36.80\00:16:41.39
and reuniting people
with God but He's reversing
00:16:41.49\00:16:43.10
the curse of Genesis 11.
00:16:43.13\00:16:45.13
He is bringing people back
together. Where the languages
00:16:45.85\00:16:48.57
had been confused because
they tried to make a name
00:16:48.67\00:16:50.62
for themselves, the languages
are now un-confused and there's
00:16:50.72\00:16:53.72
unity, there's connectivity.
And the connectivity
00:16:53.82\00:16:56.21
is in Christ. Amen? So
in restoring the covenant
00:16:56.41\00:17:01.55
which we talked about the family
of God and the family of earth
00:17:01.95\00:17:04.65
having been broken, that
relationship having been broken,
00:17:06.07\00:17:08.26
God is bringing
families back together on earth
00:17:08.56\00:17:12.01
and He's also
bringing His family back
00:17:12.32\00:17:15.41
to the family of man.
00:17:15.61\00:17:17.21
Which is why... which is
why we can have Julia come here
00:17:17.42\00:17:19.99
and talk to us about Russia.
I've not yet been to Russia.
00:17:20.09\00:17:22.80
I've not had that privilege,
00:17:23.00\00:17:24.03
but there are many
places where I have been.
00:17:24.21\00:17:25.85
And I've traveled all
over the world and I have seen
00:17:26.05\00:17:28.33
people with very
different eating habits
00:17:28.43\00:17:32.36
and clothing habits
and the way that they talk
00:17:32.57\00:17:36.43
and the way that they
carry themselves and the places
00:17:36.63\00:17:38.15
in which they live.
These are not my people.
00:17:38.25\00:17:40.28
Ah, but in Christ
these ARE my people!
00:17:41.18\00:17:45.10
In fact, I had a privilege
recently of being in the
00:17:45.41\00:17:47.09
Philippines and I stood up
in front of 5 or 6 thousand
00:17:47.19\00:17:49.32
people. And I said: "Here
is a profound gospel truth:
00:17:49.42\00:17:52.54
I am more connected
with and more identified with
00:17:52.75\00:17:56.69
all of you people
here... " Sabbath morning
00:17:56.89\00:17:58.90
thousands of them. I
said: "You are more my people
00:17:59.10\00:18:02.23
than my fellow
Americans are my people. "
00:18:02.43\00:18:04.05
Because I am an
American and I was born here.
00:18:05.15\00:18:07.95
By the way, I've never
understood the thing about
00:18:08.05\00:18:10.34
being proud of something
you have no control over.
00:18:10.44\00:18:12.83
I just have to say
that. People say: "Oh, I'm
00:18:15.70\00:18:18.12
proud to be black. "
"I'm proud to be white. "
00:18:18.32\00:18:21.48
How pray tell? Was
that a choice you made?
00:18:21.68\00:18:24.97
Now if you have done something
and you have acquired something,
00:18:25.17\00:18:27.21
you did really good on a test
or you... If there's something
00:18:27.31\00:18:30.05
that you have done... "Look
at this car that I built. "
00:18:30.15\00:18:32.20
Well that's something to
be proud of if it's something
00:18:32.40\00:18:33.43
you did. But you didn't choose
to be born white and you didn't
00:18:33.46\00:18:36.48
choose to be born black
and you probably didn't choose
00:18:36.58\00:18:39.38
to be born in the United States.
00:18:39.48\00:18:40.76
All of this - you know -
balderdash about being prideful
00:18:40.96\00:18:44.83
of things that you
have no control over:
00:18:44.94\00:18:46.83
away with it!
00:18:46.93\00:18:48.12
The thing that unites us
and that binds us together...
00:18:48.32\00:18:51.27
And yes, I feel a
tremendous solidarity with the
00:18:51.37\00:18:53.08
United States of America.
I'm happy that I was born here
00:18:53.18\00:18:55.80
because of all the countries
on earth - no offense to other
00:18:55.91\00:18:58.01
countries - I feel most
ideologically identified with
00:18:58.11\00:19:01.59
the United States because
I see it as the principles
00:19:01.69\00:19:04.05
of the United States growing
out of what scripture says.
00:19:04.15\00:19:06.50
You with me on that?
00:19:06.80\00:19:08.06
And so that is a
choice that I have made.
00:19:08.26\00:19:10.05
It's a choice that I have
made. Sure, I was born here,
00:19:10.15\00:19:12.28
but I am happy now to be
in this country where the
00:19:12.49\00:19:15.56
principles of religious liberty
and civil liberty are at least
00:19:15.66\00:19:18.04
given lip service to and are
part of our founding fathers'
00:19:18.15\00:19:20.41
legacy. So far so
good? But here's the point:
00:19:20.51\00:19:22.83
my identity with
my fellow Americans
00:19:23.13\00:19:26.29
is this big in my
identification with them
00:19:26.49\00:19:29.04
compared to my identification
with others who have put their
00:19:29.25\00:19:31.90
faith in God's Messiah Jesus.
00:19:32.00\00:19:34.06
So I can look at black-skinned
people who don't even speak
00:19:34.26\00:19:36.84
my language and who don't live
like I live, eat like I eat,
00:19:36.94\00:19:39.07
or act like I act and I
can say "You are my people. "
00:19:39.17\00:19:41.33
And the linguistic
barrier is a bit obnoxious
00:19:42.33\00:19:45.69
on this side of eternity, but
God will sort all of that out.
00:19:45.80\00:19:48.14
And what He began
to do in Acts chapter 2
00:19:48.44\00:19:50.30
with the bringing back together
of the nations and the languages
00:19:50.40\00:19:52.79
He will finally and fully
complete in the new heaven
00:19:52.99\00:19:55.91
and the new earth.
00:19:56.11\00:19:57.51
Yes, we are various citizens...
We are citizens of our various
00:19:57.91\00:20:02.86
countries and
nations and kingdoms.
00:20:02.96\00:20:04.57
I get that, but we
are first and foremost
00:20:04.77\00:20:06.86
citizens of
God's kingdom on earth.
00:20:07.07\00:20:10.03
This is the
reversal of the curse.
00:20:10.34\00:20:12.29
Not only of my connection with
God - the reversal of the curse
00:20:12.50\00:20:15.49
of Genesis chapter 3-
but the reversal of the curse
00:20:15.60\00:20:17.62
of Genesis chapter 11 where
God is bringing the nations
00:20:17.73\00:20:21.25
back together. What
did He say there in Isaiah?
00:20:21.35\00:20:22.95
"My house will be called a house
of prayer for all people. "
00:20:23.15\00:20:26.80
This is what I love about
the Three Angels' Messages
00:20:26.90\00:20:28.58
because they're to
every nation, kindred, tribe,
00:20:28.78\00:20:32.69
and language. This is not
a little parochial message
00:20:32.89\00:20:36.52
to be guarded and kept away.
00:20:36.62\00:20:38.21
No! There is a
universality in this message.
00:20:38.41\00:20:41.37
It is for everyone. The
educated; the uneducated.
00:20:41.57\00:20:44.12
The black and the
white. The male; the female.
00:20:44.32\00:20:45.91
It's for everyone.
00:20:46.11\00:20:47.77
Whooo! Can you say "Amen? "
00:20:48.58\00:20:50.50
Amen. So Genesis chapter 12
out of this quick 2,000 years
00:20:50.80\00:20:54.70
of history Moses
gets right to Genesis 12.
00:20:54.81\00:20:58.46
He has a point to
make; he races to Abraham
00:20:58.66\00:21:01.15
and here's why. I'll give
you the punch line of the sermon
00:21:01.26\00:21:02.67
right up front so you
know where we're going.
00:21:02.77\00:21:04.08
Because Biblically speaking
there is not discontinuity
00:21:05.00\00:21:08.92
between the Old
and the New Testaments.
00:21:09.12\00:21:10.54
There is a radical continuity.
00:21:10.74\00:21:12.52
And the continuity is
built around God's covenant
00:21:12.72\00:21:15.54
with Abraham. God's
covenant with Abraham
00:21:15.64\00:21:19.85
is... Let me say it this
way: the covenant with Abraham
00:21:20.05\00:21:23.42
is God's answer
to the sin of Adam.
00:21:23.62\00:21:25.94
Did you get that?
00:21:27.46\00:21:28.66
God's answer to the sin of Adam
00:21:29.55\00:21:32.44
is His covenant with Abraham.
00:21:32.84\00:21:34.79
The Abrahamic covenant
becomes absolutely central
00:21:35.80\00:21:39.52
and normative for every-
thing that God does on earth.
00:21:39.62\00:21:43.24
In fact, let me just
show you that idea here.
00:21:43.37\00:21:44.59
Go to Genesis 6. Let's
just talk briefly about Noah
00:21:44.79\00:21:48.54
because before we get to
Abraham God makes a covenant
00:21:48.67\00:21:51.31
with Noah. Genesis
chapter 6 and verse 18.
00:21:51.41\00:21:55.06
God says: "But I
will establish My covenant
00:21:55.26\00:21:58.58
with you and you will go
into the ark. You, your sons,
00:21:58.78\00:22:01.67
your wife, and your
sons' wives with you. "
00:22:01.77\00:22:03.11
God establishes a
covenant with Noah.
00:22:03.31\00:22:04.59
Incidentally, He had
already established a covenant
00:22:04.79\00:22:07.44
which C.A. did a great job
the other day of identifying
00:22:07.64\00:22:09.90
for us the legal stipulations
and the non-elasticity
00:22:10.10\00:22:14.49
that's contained in
an agreed-upon covenant.
00:22:14.59\00:22:17.17
Even though the language is
not used, God had a covenant
00:22:17.47\00:22:19.98
relationship with
Adam and Eve. Yes or no?
00:22:20.08\00:22:22.64
Yeah. The covenant basically
went something like this:
00:22:22.87\00:22:24.96
"I am your Father;
you are My children.
00:22:25.16\00:22:28.04
You can eat of every
tree. Be fruitful and multiply.
00:22:28.24\00:22:30.40
Have a great time, just
don't eat of that tree. "
00:22:30.60\00:22:32.27
So far so good?
00:22:33.39\00:22:34.68
It was a covenant in
a sense based on faith.
00:22:34.88\00:22:37.31
Faith in God's good will
and in God's good character.
00:22:37.61\00:22:39.81
Not faith in the
righteousness of Christ...
00:22:40.11\00:22:43.34
that was not yet necessary.
00:22:43.44\00:22:44.49
But faith in God's good will
and in God's good character.
00:22:44.69\00:22:47.32
There's reasons for you
not to eat of that tree.
00:22:47.52\00:22:50.03
And so in this
covenantal relation God trusts
00:22:50.23\00:22:53.82
Adam and Eve.
Whooo! He did what?
00:22:54.02\00:22:56.49
He trusts Adam and
Eve. And Adam and Eve...
00:22:56.79\00:22:59.43
what did they do to God?
00:22:59.63\00:23:00.81
They trusted God, and
that's what we've already said.
00:23:01.01\00:23:03.04
All relationships are
built on time and trust.
00:23:03.14\00:23:04.99
Time and trust. Time and trust.
00:23:05.19\00:23:06.48
Yeah? Which is why the
Sabbath is so significant.
00:23:06.78\00:23:08.75
We don't have
time to develop that.
00:23:08.85\00:23:10.06
That's why the Sabbath
becomes a sign of the covenant:
00:23:10.17\00:23:11.98
because it's time and
trust. It's relational.
00:23:12.08\00:23:14.28
OK. And when you put the Sabbath
back on the table of truth
00:23:14.58\00:23:17.96
and you preach the Sabbath
like that: it's built around
00:23:18.17\00:23:20.10
time, it's built around trust,
it's built around relationality
00:23:20.21\00:23:23.04
now you're
preaching the Sabbath fully.
00:23:23.24\00:23:25.72
You're preaching the
Sabbath as it was intended both
00:23:26.03\00:23:28.14
creationally and redemptively.
Not just: it's Saturday
00:23:28.24\00:23:30.76
not Sunday. Now
you're preaching the point!
00:23:30.86\00:23:33.61
OK... are you with me?
And that's not this series...
00:23:34.59\00:23:36.49
that's another series. So
God had a covenantal relation
00:23:36.59\00:23:40.33
with Adam and Adam
broke the covenant.
00:23:40.53\00:23:42.59
So far so good?
00:23:42.79\00:23:43.91
Now again, the language...
The word covenant isn't used
00:23:44.11\00:23:46.33
but it's patently a
covenantal arrangement.
00:23:46.53\00:23:48.54
So now God does a
really cool thing with Noah.
00:23:48.84\00:23:50.97
He basically hits
control alt delete
00:23:51.17\00:23:53.57
on the hard drive. For
those of you that are PC
00:23:53.77\00:23:55.26
users do you
still have to do that?
00:23:55.37\00:23:56.70
Restart...
restart the whole thing
00:23:58.68\00:24:01.23
and He does it in the flood.
Now just very quickly here,
00:24:01.43\00:24:03.13
it's fascinating. When
God had originally created
00:24:03.23\00:24:05.97
in Genesis chapter 2 it says:
"In the beginning God created
00:24:06.07\00:24:07.94
the heavens and the earth.
And the earth was without form
00:24:08.04\00:24:09.82
and void and darkness was
over the face of the deep. "
00:24:09.92\00:24:12.59
In other words, the earth
was basically a watery mass.
00:24:12.69\00:24:15.43
We don't know how long the
earth was in that watery, fluid
00:24:15.73\00:24:18.77
form, but it was
basically a watery mass.
00:24:18.87\00:24:20.91
And God said: 'Let there be
light and there was light. "
00:24:21.11\00:24:22.63
And then the next thing that
God does is He creates a space
00:24:22.74\00:24:25.84
in the watery mass.
And it says that He...
00:24:26.04\00:24:28.04
He made a firmament in
the midst of the waters
00:24:28.24\00:24:30.85
and He divided the waters
that were above the firmament
00:24:31.05\00:24:32.91
from the waters that
were below the firmament
00:24:33.01\00:24:34.32
effectively creating
an atmospheric space, OK?
00:24:34.52\00:24:38.23
And you can just imagine
with your mind's eyes that it
00:24:38.46\00:24:40.30
was very much like my
hands here. As it were, God
00:24:40.40\00:24:42.27
slid His hands into the
watery mass and He separated
00:24:42.37\00:24:45.65
the waters above the firma-
ment from the waters below.
00:24:45.75\00:24:48.65
So far so good? And
that's how creation takes place.
00:24:48.85\00:24:51.18
God starts creating these
spaces like a good painter
00:24:52.12\00:24:55.03
and many
scholars have noted this:
00:24:55.13\00:24:56.74
that Genesis is basically a
chiasm of God creating spaces
00:24:56.94\00:25:00.63
and filling spaces.
00:25:00.66\00:25:02.13
He creates a space here
and then He's going to fill it
00:25:02.43\00:25:05.19
with the birds. He
creates a space on the dry land:
00:25:05.29\00:25:07.50
He's going to fill it with
the animals and the humans.
00:25:07.70\00:25:09.38
He creates a space
in the watery depths
00:25:09.58\00:25:11.51
and He's going to fill it
with the fish and the other
00:25:11.71\00:25:13.45
sea creatures. Incidentally,
on the seventh day He then
00:25:13.55\00:25:15.85
creates a space in time.
00:25:15.95\00:25:18.05
Not a geographical, right...
not a geographical space
00:25:18.65\00:25:23.04
He creates a space in
time - a chronological space -
00:25:23.44\00:25:26.81
and then He fills it with
Himself... with His presence
00:25:27.01\00:25:29.44
and invites us into a
relationship with Him.
00:25:29.84\00:25:31.82
That's back on the Sabbath
as it should be preached.
00:25:31.92\00:25:33.66
But now check this out: in Noah
00:25:33.86\00:25:36.13
when the Bible says that
"God saw that the thoughts
00:25:36.34\00:25:38.03
of man were only
evil continually... "
00:25:38.13\00:25:40.87
They had so completely
severed themselves from God
00:25:41.07\00:25:43.68
and His will and His covenants
00:25:43.88\00:25:46.98
that God basically
says "We're going to reverse
00:25:47.28\00:25:49.78
creation. " And what happens
is it says that the windows of
00:25:49.98\00:25:53.94
the heavens were opened.
00:25:54.14\00:25:55.44
God removed as it
were the upper hand
00:25:56.34\00:25:58.25
and the water
begins to come down.
00:25:58.45\00:25:59.97
And then it says the
fountains of the deep
00:26:00.17\00:26:02.34
burst forth and
God removes this hand.
00:26:02.54\00:26:04.26
And the waters rush from
below the crust of the earth
00:26:04.47\00:26:09.13
and the waters rush from above
00:26:09.33\00:26:11.37
and do you know what you
have after the rain had come
00:26:11.57\00:26:14.59
forty days and forty nights?
00:26:14.69\00:26:15.75
You have a watery mass.
00:26:15.95\00:26:18.12
That's exactly what started
in creation: a watery mass.
00:26:19.95\00:26:22.82
And God here now makes a watery
mass and He's starting over.
00:26:23.03\00:26:27.08
And He starts over with His
new man, and His new man's name:
00:26:27.28\00:26:29.85
Noah. Just as he had His
first man with whom He had made
00:26:30.15\00:26:33.78
a covenant - Adam - and a watery
mass had created a habitat
00:26:33.88\00:26:39.88
or an environment for him,
00:26:39.98\00:26:41.07
He now has a new watery
mass and He has a new man
00:26:41.27\00:26:43.46
and the Bible calls him Noah.
00:26:43.56\00:26:44.81
And in Genesis chapter 9
verse 20, you can go look at it
00:26:45.01\00:26:47.34
yourself, it says - my Bible
says, your Bible says probably:
00:26:47.44\00:26:50.28
"Noah was a farmer. "
00:26:50.38\00:26:52.54
But literally what it
says in the Hebrew is:
00:26:54.05\00:26:56.16
"Noah was an earth man. "
00:26:56.36\00:26:58.64
Now you tell me: who
was the first earth man?
00:26:59.67\00:27:02.53
Adam was made of the earth.
00:27:03.34\00:27:06.42
Noah is here made of the earth
00:27:06.62\00:27:09.31
and fascinatingly, the first
command - the first outright
00:27:09.51\00:27:13.96
command that God
gives to Adam and Eve
00:27:14.06\00:27:15.65
is... you should know
this... He says to them:
00:27:15.85\00:27:18.03
"be fruitful and multiply. "
00:27:19.25\00:27:21.54
Guess what the first
thing is that God says to Noah
00:27:21.74\00:27:23.88
after the flood waters
have receded and now you have a
00:27:24.08\00:27:27.09
habitable earth again.
What does He say to him?
00:27:27.19\00:27:29.29
"Be fruitful and
multiply and fill the earth. "
00:27:29.70\00:27:32.09
Same command. So you
have all of these scholarly...
00:27:32.29\00:27:35.06
many scholars have looked
at these various parallels
00:27:35.36\00:27:37.47
that I don't have time to
completely flush out here.
00:27:37.57\00:27:39.60
But God is re-starting.
00:27:39.80\00:27:41.75
He had His first man -
Adam - that was an earth man
00:27:41.95\00:27:45.79
and then, by the way,
he falls by illegitimately
00:27:45.99\00:27:48.61
partaking of the
fruit of the garden.
00:27:48.71\00:27:50.28
Noah is disobedient to
the covenant by illegitimately
00:27:50.48\00:27:53.12
partaking of the fruit of the
vine in which he becomes drunk.
00:27:53.22\00:27:56.67
And there's all of
these parallels here.
00:27:56.87\00:27:58.43
And it's as if again
Moses is just like racing
00:27:58.63\00:28:03.56
through the story
to get you to Abram.
00:28:03.76\00:28:06.44
God's covenant with Adam
was established and was broken.
00:28:06.74\00:28:10.09
God's covenant with
Noah was established and
00:28:10.29\00:28:13.36
partially kept in the
sense that he built the ark
00:28:13.56\00:28:15.62
and God protected him.
But in terms of Noah being
00:28:15.72\00:28:18.48
God's on-going man,
that covenant was broken
00:28:18.68\00:28:21.31
when he partook illegitimately
of the fruit of the vine.
00:28:21.41\00:28:23.89
So now you get to Genesis 12
00:28:24.19\00:28:26.19
and the rest of Genesis
is weighted toward Abraham
00:28:26.59\00:28:30.13
and his family because
God establishes a covenant
00:28:30.23\00:28:32.57
with Abram. Let's pick
it up in Genesis 12 verse 1.
00:28:32.87\00:28:36.22
"Now the Lord had said to
Abram: 'Get out of your country,
00:28:36.62\00:28:39.03
from your family, and
from your father's house
00:28:39.23\00:28:41.09
to a land that I will show you.
00:28:41.29\00:28:42.35
I will make you a great nation.
00:28:42.66\00:28:44.38
I will bless you
and make your name great
00:28:44.48\00:28:47.47
and you will be a
blessing. I will bless those
00:28:47.67\00:28:49.30
who bless you and I will
curse those who curse you
00:28:49.40\00:28:51.03
and in you all the families of
the earth shall be blessed. ' "
00:28:51.23\00:28:53.99
Now people have noted
the various elements of this
00:28:54.19\00:28:56.47
covenant
relation. You get the land;
00:28:56.57\00:28:58.66
you get the
covenant; and you get to bless.
00:28:58.76\00:29:00.76
But here's a fascinating
thing. Notice that the whole
00:29:01.43\00:29:04.41
covenant is built around
a bunch of stuff that God
00:29:04.51\00:29:06.99
is going to do. That's the first
thing that must jump out at you
00:29:07.09\00:29:11.95
when you read this arrangement
that God has with Abraham.
00:29:12.05\00:29:14.22
He basically says: "Abraham,
I need you to get out of your
00:29:14.42\00:29:17.28
country and from your
father's house because
00:29:17.38\00:29:20.46
I need you in your own place.
00:29:20.66\00:29:22.36
I need to start with a
tabula rasa... a clean slate.
00:29:22.56\00:29:24.90
He tried it with
Adam; He tried it with Noah.
00:29:25.10\00:29:27.26
And He says: "I need you
in a new place because... "
00:29:27.46\00:29:29.19
now watch this... "I am going
to do this and then I'm going to
00:29:29.22\00:29:31.62
do this and I'm going to do this
00:29:31.72\00:29:32.98
and I'm going to do
this and I'm going to do this
00:29:33.18\00:29:35.24
and I'm going to do this
and I'm going to do THIS! "
00:29:35.44\00:29:37.07
In other words, it's inescapable
that the covenant that God made
00:29:37.87\00:29:42.44
with Abraham was based
not on Abraham's promises
00:29:42.54\00:29:46.23
to God but God's
promises to Abraham.
00:29:46.43\00:29:49.88
That's the point
and that's the gospel!
00:29:51.35\00:29:54.30
Oh... that's the
gospel right there.
00:29:54.54\00:29:56.50
If all we had was
Genesis 12:1-3 we'd have enough.
00:29:56.70\00:29:59.45
Plenty enough that the heart
and soul and guts of the gospel
00:29:59.65\00:30:03.51
is not about those ridiculous
00:30:03.61\00:30:07.55
and non-strong and weak
promises that you make to God.
00:30:07.75\00:30:13.56
It's the promise
that God has made to you
00:30:13.76\00:30:15.65
and your responsibility
is to believe it. Amen!
00:30:15.85\00:30:18.90
You believe it!
00:30:20.20\00:30:21.92
Yes sir... that's all
right. Now check this out:
00:30:22.12\00:30:24.61
he begins to
believe the promises of God
00:30:25.87\00:30:28.93
and Abraham - more
than Adam, more than Noah -
00:30:29.14\00:30:32.24
latches on to this
basic truth of the covenants:
00:30:32.64\00:30:36.12
that God is the One
who will make the promises
00:30:36.42\00:30:39.67
and He is the One who
will keep the promises.
00:30:39.88\00:30:42.59
Oh, let's say that.
God is the One who will
00:30:42.80\00:30:45.11
make the promises and
He is the One who will
00:30:45.51\00:30:48.27
keep the promises.
00:30:48.57\00:30:49.61
And all of the New Testament
writers - Paul in particular -
00:30:49.81\00:30:51.90
pick up on this.
They basically say
00:30:52.10\00:30:54.40
just universally in the
New Testament that the reason
00:30:54.60\00:30:57.30
the Abrahamic covenant is so
normative for the Old Testament
00:30:57.40\00:31:00.39
and the New is that
Abraham believed God
00:31:00.59\00:31:05.02
and it was accounted
to him for righteousness.
00:31:05.32\00:31:07.80
He believed!
00:31:08.55\00:31:10.23
The heart and soul...
I'm going to say it again...
00:31:11.00\00:31:12.72
the guts of the gospel
is not about the promises
00:31:12.82\00:31:15.21
that you made to God.
00:31:15.31\00:31:16.37
And all of us have made
promises to God that we have
00:31:16.57\00:31:18.30
subsequently
broken... usually within moments
00:31:18.50\00:31:21.50
but sometimes we make it
a few days or even weeks.
00:31:21.70\00:31:23.39
But... and here's the point...
God has extended Himself
00:31:23.69\00:31:27.33
in covenant, God has
extended Himself in promise,
00:31:27.53\00:31:29.86
and He's never broken a single
promise that He makes. Amen!
00:31:30.06\00:31:35.04
Now... Genesis 15.
00:31:35.58\00:31:37.63
Genesis 15 gets to the
kind of heart of the covenant
00:31:38.45\00:31:41.65
language. We'll
pick it up in verse 18.
00:31:41.75\00:31:43.36
Genesis 15 and verse 18.
00:31:43.76\00:31:45.73
There's the covenant
language then we'll go back.
00:31:45.83\00:31:47.55
"On the same day the
Lord made a covenant... "
00:31:48.34\00:31:52.49
I'm in Genesis 15:18. "On
the same day the Lord made
00:31:52.69\00:31:54.41
a covenant with Abram saying:
00:31:54.51\00:31:56.35
'To your descendants
I have given this land
00:31:56.65\00:31:59.12
from the river of
Egypt to the great river -
00:31:59.32\00:32:00.71
the river Euphrates -
the land of the Kenites,
00:32:00.75\00:32:02.11
the Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
the Hittites, Perizzites,
00:32:02.21\00:32:04.70
Rephaites, the
Amonites, and the Canaanites,
00:32:04.90\00:32:06.69
the Girgashites
and the Jebusites. ' "
00:32:06.89\00:32:08.19
He makes a covenant with Abram.
00:32:08.29\00:32:09.89
I keep saying Abram and
Abraham interchangeably.
00:32:10.09\00:32:11.78
You'll forgive me
for my imprecision there.
00:32:11.88\00:32:13.72
We know who we're
talking about, right?
00:32:13.92\00:32:16.07
Now in making this covenant a
very interesting thing happened.
00:32:16.21\00:32:19.06
God essentially says
that 'You will have a child...
00:32:20.02\00:32:23.91
you will have descendants. "
00:32:24.12\00:32:25.15
Well that's going to be
problematic because Abraham
00:32:25.25\00:32:26.40
at this point is an old man
and he doesn't have children.
00:32:26.44\00:32:28.48
Right? And so he sets
out to keep God's promises.
00:32:28.83\00:32:33.96
Whoo... did you hear that?
00:32:34.20\00:32:35.41
He sets out to keep...
because he's an old man
00:32:35.62\00:32:37.68
and Sarah is old. And after
He had made the initial promise
00:32:37.78\00:32:40.08
back in Genesis chapter 12
a number of years have gone by
00:32:40.18\00:32:43.63
now and he still
has no descendants.
00:32:43.73\00:32:45.56
He still has no
evidentiary indication
00:32:45.86\00:32:49.34
that God is going
to keep His promise.
00:32:49.45\00:32:50.84
And so like we are inclined
to do - just like Adam and Eve -
00:32:50.94\00:32:54.79
right? Rather than waiting
for the covering of God to come
00:32:55.19\00:32:58.40
and the good news of God to
come they tried to make their
00:32:58.50\00:33:00.11
own good news
and cover themselves.
00:33:00.21\00:33:01.78
Right? And so in a
natural state of self-dependence
00:33:01.98\00:33:05.78
and self-reliance, he
submits to Sarah's suggestion -
00:33:05.99\00:33:09.99
which he
obviously was complicit in -
00:33:10.09\00:33:11.86
he may have even been a kind of
initiator in it, we don't have
00:33:12.16\00:33:15.33
all the details here...
but he agrees to take Hagar.
00:33:15.43\00:33:18.13
Right? And that's
Genesis 16 by the way.
00:33:18.53\00:33:20.86
So Genesis 12 to 15 God
establishes His covenant.
00:33:21.16\00:33:25.03
It's a covenant based on
faith and it's a covenant
00:33:25.23\00:33:26.47
based on the literal
genealogical descendants of
00:33:26.57\00:33:29.27
Abraham, then Genesis 16
is Abraham trying to keep
00:33:29.37\00:33:34.13
God's part of the promise.
00:33:34.33\00:33:35.81
Now this is where
things get really interesting
00:33:36.21\00:33:38.24
and I don't mean to be
indelicate or non-decorous here
00:33:38.44\00:33:40.45
but I do need to just
tell you what scripture says.
00:33:40.55\00:33:42.52
In Genesis 17 God
gives what the Bible calls
00:33:42.92\00:33:46.21
"the sign of the covenant. "
00:33:46.31\00:33:48.23
And the sign of the
covenant is circumcision.
00:33:49.11\00:33:52.12
Now we're going to spend
just a moment on circumcision.
00:33:52.42\00:33:54.06
Here's the point: God
basically shows up to Abraham
00:33:54.26\00:33:56.75
and says: "You're going to have
a son. Sarah will bear a child
00:33:56.85\00:34:01.84
and you will get the land,
you will get the descendants,
00:34:02.04\00:34:05.03
you will... " And
he says: "Oh Lord! "
00:34:05.13\00:34:06.86
Abram says: "Let
Ishmael live before You...
00:34:07.06\00:34:10.29
my son. "
00:34:10.49\00:34:11.90
And God says: "Well, it is true.
00:34:12.20\00:34:13.79
He is your son, but
he's not the promised son. "
00:34:14.19\00:34:17.83
Right? "That's your son,
and as such I will treat him
00:34:18.89\00:34:23.36
fairly and
kindly and magnanimously
00:34:23.57\00:34:26.12
because that's in keeping
with My character. But he's not
00:34:26.32\00:34:27.89
the promised son. " And you
will forgive my indelicacy here
00:34:27.99\00:34:31.30
God essentially says
"Here is the sign of My covenant
00:34:31.50\00:34:35.78
with you: you will
circumcise your foreskin -
00:34:35.88\00:34:39.80
the foreskin of your flesh. "
00:34:39.90\00:34:41.74
Now, basically
what He's saying here
00:34:41.94\00:34:43.74
is: "You tried to solve
the problem of a descendant,
00:34:43.94\00:34:48.25
you tried to keep
the covenant by resorting
00:34:48.45\00:34:51.19
to your own
masculinity, your own power,
00:34:51.39\00:34:55.25
and your own ingenuity. "
And so God essentially says
00:34:55.45\00:34:58.04
symbolically: "We're going to
cut the tip of that thing off"
00:34:58.14\00:35:00.94
Are you with me?
00:35:02.73\00:35:04.24
"We're going to cut the tip
of that thing off and I'll STILL
00:35:05.47\00:35:08.89
fulfill My promise to you. "
00:35:09.09\00:35:10.45
Whoa... I mean, what a
strange thing for God to say!
00:35:10.85\00:35:14.56
I mean, circumcision is a
weird thing. You just have to
00:35:14.76\00:35:17.85
be straight up about
it. I mean, it's like
00:35:18.05\00:35:20.35
whaa... where
did that come from?
00:35:20.75\00:35:23.74
Right? I mean, you
wouldn't just invent that.
00:35:23.94\00:35:25.90
"Hey, let's start cutting stuff
off and let's start there. "
00:35:26.10\00:35:28.99
You wouldn't do that.
00:35:30.34\00:35:32.31
Now many of you are
sitting there thinking
00:35:32.51\00:35:33.95
"Well, you know... of
course, circumcision. "
00:35:34.05\00:35:37.06
But it's because of
our own familiarity with it
00:35:37.26\00:35:39.97
that we've just grown
accustomed to something
00:35:40.07\00:35:41.47
that's actually kind of strange.
00:35:41.67\00:35:43.99
Yes or no? The
Romans regarded...
00:35:44.39\00:35:46.25
This is one of the major reasons
that there was disconnect...
00:35:46.45\00:35:49.08
Not one of the
major... one of the many reasons
00:35:49.28\00:35:51.67
that there was disconnect
between the Romans and the Jews
00:35:51.87\00:35:54.01
because they regarded
the practice of circumcision
00:35:54.22\00:35:56.68
as roundly
primitive and superstitious.
00:35:56.88\00:36:00.35
"What is that? " Right?
00:36:00.59\00:36:02.70
But the
theological reasoning behind it
00:36:02.90\00:36:05.43
is that God
establishes His covenant,
00:36:05.53\00:36:06.96
He says: "I will
keep My promises to you. "
00:36:07.16\00:36:08.81
Abraham grows
impatient with God's timing.
00:36:09.01\00:36:11.69
Whoo... you
heard that, didn't you?
00:36:11.99\00:36:13.40
He grows impatient with
God's timing and so he decides
00:36:13.43\00:36:16.36
to do for God what God
said He would do for Abraham.
00:36:16.57\00:36:20.41
Right? And God says:
"Let me give you a sign.
00:36:21.24\00:36:23.67
And it will be not just a sign
for you because I know all your
00:36:23.87\00:36:25.65
descendants are going to be
prone to that same inclination
00:36:25.85\00:36:28.52
and that is to try and do for
God what God said He would do
00:36:28.72\00:36:30.93
for you. We'll
snip that thing off
00:36:31.03\00:36:33.23
as a perpetual sign...
00:36:33.43\00:36:36.59
as a sign that the
gospel is not about the promises
00:36:36.79\00:36:40.64
that you made to Me...
it's about the promises
00:36:40.74\00:36:42.20
I made to you. And
I'll keep My promises. "
00:36:42.30\00:36:43.87
That's circumcision. By
the way, when Paul gets to
00:36:44.98\00:36:46.99
the New Testament
and the Jews had taken -
00:36:47.10\00:36:49.37
not all of the Jews but
many of the Jews of 1st century
00:36:49.57\00:36:52.18
Judaism - had taken and
they had actually made -
00:36:52.28\00:36:55.48
and this is one of the
most astonishing ironies in all
00:36:55.58\00:36:57.79
of scripture - they had
taken circumcision and they had
00:36:57.89\00:37:00.52
turned it into a rite of
initiation that was a kind of
00:37:00.62\00:37:05.51
I wouldn't say meritorious
00:37:05.71\00:37:07.23
but it was certainly a
symbol of their national
00:37:07.43\00:37:11.10
ethnic identity.
00:37:11.30\00:37:13.69
Right? And this is
one of the major things
00:37:13.89\00:37:16.09
which is why you have so much
controversy in the New Testament
00:37:16.12\00:37:17.71
over circumcision because "Do
you circumcise the Gentiles? "
00:37:17.81\00:37:19.97
Paul say: "I don't think so.
00:37:20.17\00:37:21.28
Now that's going
to be a tough sell. "
00:37:21.48\00:37:23.59
Right? And then even later
Paul has the audacity to say
00:37:24.58\00:37:28.43
"Even the Jews don't
have to be circumcised. '
00:37:28.63\00:37:30.56
And here's one of the
great ironies in scripture:
00:37:30.76\00:37:32.50
and that is that the very
symbol that was a symbol of
00:37:32.70\00:37:35.87
righteousness by trusting
in the faithfulness of God
00:37:35.97\00:37:38.43
had become a symbol of our
own righteousness and identity.
00:37:38.53\00:37:41.85
And so Paul has to make this
fantastic argument in the book
00:37:42.58\00:37:45.13
of Romans where he says:
"Why don't you remind me... "
00:37:45.23\00:37:47.46
writing to his Jewish
readers and listeners...
00:37:47.67\00:37:51.15
"Why don't you remind
me: did God make His promise
00:37:51.35\00:37:53.51
and covenant with
Abraham before or after he was
00:37:53.61\00:37:55.96
circumcised? "
00:37:56.06\00:37:57.35
You tell me: what's the
answer to that question?
00:37:59.08\00:38:00.90
Before!
Circumcision was almost punitive
00:38:01.10\00:38:04.02
as a reminder... a
reminder, a continual reminder
00:38:04.12\00:38:08.55
that the heart and
guts of the covenant
00:38:08.65\00:38:10.54
is God's promises to you
00:38:10.74\00:38:12.40
and your response is to believe.
00:38:12.50\00:38:14.54
And Abraham got it mostly right.
00:38:14.64\00:38:17.04
He got it what did
I say? Mostly right...
00:38:17.91\00:38:20.27
which is why the New
Testament picks up on Abraham.
00:38:20.37\00:38:23.09
Abraham,
Abraham, Abraham, Abraham.
00:38:23.29\00:38:25.24
Because he believed God.
00:38:25.44\00:38:26.78
Now did he always
get it exactly right? No.
00:38:26.88\00:38:28.23
He said: "Sarah is my sister. "
00:38:28.43\00:38:30.01
Not only once... he
said it a second time.
00:38:30.21\00:38:31.68
And so we see Abraham
as a pretty good example
00:38:31.88\00:38:35.54
of headed generally
in the right direction
00:38:35.74\00:38:37.76
but sometimes
stumbling, sometimes fumbling,
00:38:37.96\00:38:39.62
and sometimes not
getting it exactly right.
00:38:39.73\00:38:41.22
Exactly the kind of
hero we need, by the way.
00:38:41.52\00:38:44.19
Did you get that?
00:38:44.49\00:38:46.21
Someone who is like
us who we can relate to.
00:38:46.71\00:38:49.34
We can say: "Yeah,
that's what it looks like. "
00:38:49.44\00:38:50.66
Now, the descendants of Abram -
00:38:51.61\00:38:54.08
Abraham - to fast forward -
end up in Egyptian captivity
00:38:54.28\00:38:57.59
and that's a
story that you know.
00:38:57.69\00:38:59.11
Exodus 2 has God saying
a very interesting thing.
00:38:59.31\00:39:01.79
I think it's to Moses. He
says... Or actually, Moses is
00:39:01.99\00:39:04.41
just writing it and he
says I think it's Exodus 2:24
00:39:04.51\00:39:07.17
"God remembered His covenant
that He had made with Abraham
00:39:07.37\00:39:10.94
and his descendants. " Hooo!
00:39:11.14\00:39:12.68
He remembers the what?
00:39:13.60\00:39:16.25
The covenant. He
remembers the agreement.
00:39:16.55\00:39:19.34
And so God essentially
says to Moses when He meets him
00:39:19.54\00:39:22.36
at the burning bush: "Go
tell Pharaoh to let My son go. "
00:39:22.47\00:39:26.17
"To let My firstborn go. "
00:39:26.47\00:39:29.38
Right? Now check this out...
we've already mentioned this.
00:39:29.68\00:39:32.16
When Jesus comes, He's repeat-
edly referred to in scripture as
00:39:32.56\00:39:35.57
the Son of God. He's
also called the Son of Man...
00:39:35.67\00:39:38.42
but the Son of God.
And there are two primary
00:39:38.72\00:39:40.22
figures in scripture
that were the Son of God.
00:39:40.33\00:39:42.28
We've mentioned these.
00:39:42.58\00:39:43.77
Who was the first one?
Adam is the son of God.
00:39:43.98\00:39:46.52
And so when Jesus comes
He's basically... when He
00:39:46.72\00:39:48.46
announces Himself as the
Son of God He says: "I'm coming
00:39:48.56\00:39:50.78
to undo what Adam did. "
00:39:50.98\00:39:52.56
OK? And who was the
other? We just mentioned it.
00:39:52.86\00:39:55.04
Who was the
other one? It's Israel.
00:39:55.24\00:39:57.39
So Adam and
Israel are the son of God
00:39:57.69\00:39:59.53
and the gospel writers
and the New Testament writers
00:39:59.63\00:40:01.29
paint in a
marvelous theological fashion
00:40:01.49\00:40:03.97
Jesus as the true Adam
and as the true Israel.
00:40:04.17\00:40:08.15
Yeah? So God establishes His
covenant with the descendants
00:40:09.40\00:40:13.01
of Abram. And we
could go into that.
00:40:13.12\00:40:14.86
We could talk about and maybe
we should just talk a moment
00:40:14.96\00:40:16.83
about it... the ratification
of that covenant took place
00:40:16.93\00:40:19.77
with blood. You can read this
in Exodus 19 down to verse 24.
00:40:19.87\00:40:24.03
And it's very interesting.
In fact, take a look at
00:40:24.24\00:40:25.49
Exodus 34 which
is very interesting.
00:40:25.59\00:40:28.54
Exodus 34. As this covenant
is being re-communicated...
00:40:28.74\00:40:33.31
not re-established
but re-communicated
00:40:33.51\00:40:35.38
to the descendants of Abraham
that had frankly forgotten it
00:40:36.29\00:40:38.65
Exodus... what
chapter did I say?
00:40:40.06\00:40:41.76
That's right... and verse 28.
00:40:41.96\00:40:43.71
"So he... " speaking of
Moses "was there with the Lord
00:40:44.11\00:40:46.80
forty days and forty
nights. He neither ate bread nor
00:40:47.00\00:40:49.91
drank water. And he
wrote on the tablets the words
00:40:50.01\00:40:52.75
of the covenant:
the Ten Commandments. "
00:40:52.95\00:40:56.86
Now this is where
things get amazing.
00:40:57.06\00:40:59.44
They have already been amazing.
Now they're getting even more
00:40:59.64\00:41:01.02
amazing. God basically
says "Build Me a house. "
00:41:01.12\00:41:03.39
I'm going to teach you this.
Some of you are visual learners.
00:41:03.59\00:41:05.96
Some of you are
auditory learners.
00:41:06.06\00:41:07.22
I'm going to give you not
only the words - the auricle -
00:41:07.32\00:41:09.84
I'll give you a depiction
of how this is going to work.
00:41:10.04\00:41:12.57
"Build Me a house, and the
house will have 3 compartments.
00:41:12.77\00:41:14.99
It will have a courtyard, a holy
place, and a most holy place.
00:41:15.19\00:41:17.61
And these will be the various
ceremonies and other details
00:41:17.91\00:41:20.71
surrounding the sanctuary.
" I'm reading a book right now
00:41:20.81\00:41:22.45
by Roy Gane that's just
blowing my mind on the details
00:41:22.65\00:41:26.08
and idiosyncrasies... particu-
larly on the Day of Atonement.
00:41:26.28\00:41:28.54
By the way, it's a great book.
It's called Cult and Character.
00:41:28.74\00:41:31.27
Highly recommend
it... Cult and Character.
00:41:31.47\00:41:33.38
So anyway, basically
you have the courtyard,
00:41:33.68\00:41:36.26
holy place, most holy place.
00:41:36.46\00:41:39.06
And God says: "Build a box... "
00:41:39.26\00:41:42.49
Build a what? A box!
00:41:42.80\00:41:46.17
"and overlay it with
gold as a symbol of value
00:41:46.37\00:41:49.70
and of importance and of beauty.
00:41:49.90\00:41:52.67
And build this box
and put the tablet -
00:41:52.87\00:41:56.80
the contract of the
covenant - inside of the box.
00:41:56.90\00:42:00.09
Put a lid over it
- the mercy seat -
00:42:00.39\00:42:02.34
and I will dwell there. "
It's as if God is saying...
00:42:02.54\00:42:05.49
Not as if, God IS saying
00:42:05.59\00:42:06.97
"I will reside in My
place, in My most holy place
00:42:07.17\00:42:10.81
and I will stand on... I will
sit on the terms of the covenant
00:42:11.11\00:42:16.12
waiting for you to
come into My presence.
00:42:16.32\00:42:19.05
I am here where I
have always been. "
00:42:19.25\00:42:21.51
And this was
the most holy place.
00:42:22.01\00:42:24.36
And the most holy place was
just exactly what it sounds like
00:42:24.76\00:42:27.10
the most holy place. But
inside of the most holy place
00:42:27.30\00:42:29.93
the singular piece of
furniture there was a box.
00:42:30.14\00:42:32.48
And what made the box so
important - the ark of the
00:42:32.68\00:42:34.64
covenant - was
what was in there.
00:42:34.74\00:42:36.26
And what was in there was
the terms of the relational
00:42:36.29\00:42:39.33
connection of the family of God.
00:42:39.53\00:42:41.49
Not a mere list of rules.
00:42:41.69\00:42:43.62
Shame on you for having ever
thought of the Ten Commandments
00:42:43.82\00:42:46.39
as that, and shame on
me for doing the same!
00:42:46.59\00:42:48.57
The Ten Commandments are so much
more than a list of prohibitions
00:42:49.77\00:42:53.08
you can't, you
can't, you won't, you won't,
00:42:53.28\00:42:54.54
you aren't allowed
to, you aren't allowed to.
00:42:54.64\00:42:55.91
Oh no, no, no. These
are the encapsulization
00:42:56.11\00:43:00.75
of the whole law that
defines and prescribes
00:43:00.95\00:43:05.26
and protects a
holy relationship.
00:43:05.46\00:43:09.76
We know this because when Jesus
was asked in the New Testament
00:43:10.16\00:43:13.26
"All right, Jesus, what are the
great commandments in all the
00:43:13.46\00:43:15.40
law? I mean, there
are hundreds of them.
00:43:15.50\00:43:16.66
What's the most
important? " He's like: "Oh,
00:43:16.76\00:43:18.86
so glad you asked.
00:43:19.26\00:43:20.68
The great commandment in the law
00:43:21.08\00:43:23.74
is to love the Lord... "
What a funny thing to say!
00:43:24.04\00:43:28.04
"What's the most
important rule? "
00:43:29.06\00:43:31.92
And Jesus says: "to love. "
00:43:32.32\00:43:35.93
Since when is love a rule?
00:43:37.96\00:43:39.85
Since when is
love a commandment?
00:43:40.35\00:43:42.12
It's... and this is another
great book that you should read
00:43:42.32\00:43:44.24
if you've not yet read it...
It's called: The Lost Meaning
00:43:44.34\00:43:46.84
of the Seventh Day
by Dr. Sigve Tonstad.
00:43:47.04\00:43:49.18
This book is marvelous:
00:43:49.29\00:43:50.47
The Lost Meaning
of the Seventh Day.
00:43:50.57\00:43:51.61
And in there Dr. Tonstad -
published by Andrews University
00:43:51.72\00:43:53.90
Press - in there Dr.
Tonstad calls the Sabbath -
00:43:54.00\00:43:56.78
ooh, I love this -
he calls the Sabbath
00:43:56.98\00:43:59.04
"the reluctant commandment. "
00:43:59.24\00:44:01.66
Right? It's the
reluctant commandment because
00:44:03.02\00:44:06.37
it's a little problematic
to command someone to
00:44:06.57\00:44:09.53
spend relational
time with Me in intimacy.
00:44:09.63\00:44:11.87
Right? So is it a
commandment? Yes or no?
00:44:12.53\00:44:14.82
Yes, but it's the
reluctant commandment.
00:44:15.12\00:44:16.64
And all of the Ten Commandments
are reluctantly prohibitive.
00:44:16.74\00:44:19.84
In fact, in
their original language
00:44:20.04\00:44:21.77
they're not "you
shall not; you shall not;
00:44:21.97\00:44:25.06
you shall not. " A
better rendition is:
00:44:25.27\00:44:27.65
"You will not. "
00:44:27.85\00:44:29.47
Now we're getting somewhere.
00:44:29.97\00:44:31.00
Not prohibitions but promises.
00:44:31.20\00:44:33.59
"You will not have
other gods before Me. "
00:44:34.21\00:44:36.07
"Really God? You can
enable me? " "You won't. "
00:44:36.27\00:44:37.84
"And you will not
take My name in vain. "
00:44:38.24\00:44:40.18
"Really God? You
can do that in me? "
00:44:40.39\00:44:41.58
"I can do that... you won't and
you will not commit adultery. "
00:44:41.78\00:44:45.89
"Really? You can
do that even in me? "
00:44:46.03\00:44:47.30
These are promises. This
is exactly why Ellen White
00:44:47.53\00:44:49.52
says, and she was
profoundly insightful in her
00:44:49.62\00:44:51.68
basic exegesis. She said:
"All of His biddings are... "
00:44:51.78\00:44:54.73
Do you know this? "enablings.
" That's just another way
00:44:54.94\00:44:57.06
of saying: "The Ten Commandments
are not primarily prohibitory
00:44:57.16\00:45:00.58
they're promises...
they're promissory. "
00:45:00.78\00:45:03.54
And God puts them in
that little box and He says:
00:45:03.74\00:45:05.76
"This is the guts;
this is the covenant;
00:45:05.96\00:45:08.14
this is what it's about. "
And so when Jesus was asked
00:45:08.34\00:45:10.17
"What's it all about?
What's the great commandment? "
00:45:10.37\00:45:11.69
He said: "Oh, that's an
easy one. You will love the Lord
00:45:11.79\00:45:16.17
your God. " And listen to
this language; it's borderline
00:45:16.27\00:45:18.03
romantic: "with all of your
heart, with all of your mind,
00:45:18.13\00:45:21.52
and all of your soul. "
You could render that that:
00:45:21.72\00:45:22.99
"You will fall in
love with who I am. "
00:45:23.09\00:45:25.81
Again, an interesting command-
ment; a reluctant commandment
00:45:26.90\00:45:29.53
but a commandment nonetheless.
00:45:29.63\00:45:30.71
"And the second one is like it:
00:45:30.91\00:45:32.13
you will love your
neighbor as yourself. "
00:45:32.43\00:45:35.35
And right here we
have in embryonic form
00:45:35.55\00:45:38.66
the essence of the covenants:
00:45:38.96\00:45:41.79
supreme love for God and
authentic love for mankind.
00:45:42.00\00:45:45.73
So far so good? By the
way, this solves the problem of
00:45:46.72\00:45:49.68
Genesis 3 and this solves
the problem of Genesis 11.
00:45:49.78\00:45:53.07
Oh... you get that?
00:45:53.27\00:45:54.62
Genesis 3: reconnected
with God in love and intimacy
00:45:55.02\00:45:58.66
and trust. Trust!
00:45:58.76\00:46:00.21
And solving the problem of
Genesis 11 which is being cut
00:46:00.31\00:46:03.10
off. "Oh, you're black,
you're white. You're male;
00:46:03.21\00:46:05.97
you're female;
you're slave; you're free;
00:46:06.17\00:46:08.99
you're educated;
you're un-educated;
00:46:09.19\00:46:10.78
you're Russian;
you're American. "
00:46:10.98\00:46:12.39
He's: "No, away with
this! Away with it! "
00:46:12.49\00:46:15.80
In fact, oh man, I don't have
time but even there there was
00:46:15.90\00:46:19.30
a parochial sense in Jesus'
day about: "I am loving my
00:46:19.40\00:46:21.84
neighbor, and my neighbor
is my people... the people
00:46:21.94\00:46:23.95
I live next door to. " And
Jesus said: "Let Me tell you
00:46:24.05\00:46:25.40
a story about a
Good Samaritan. "
00:46:25.50\00:46:27.18
He takes the whole
thing... He takes the apple cart
00:46:27.58\00:46:30.33
and He just turns it over and
all the apples go everywhere.
00:46:30.43\00:46:32.99
"Yeah, there was this
guy and he'd fallen down
00:46:33.09\00:46:34.57
among thieves and a
Levite walked by... "
00:46:34.67\00:46:37.25
Hmmm, a Levite walked by...
"and a priest walked by... "
00:46:37.45\00:46:39.28
Hmmm, a priest walked...
"and then a Samaritan came
00:46:39.48\00:46:41.39
and took care of him
and healed up his wounds
00:46:41.59\00:46:45.23
and put him on his
horse and took him to the inn
00:46:45.43\00:46:46.83
and paid for him. Now
which one of these guys
00:46:46.93\00:46:48.11
is the neighbor? "
And they were stuck
00:46:48.22\00:46:50.20
because their parochial
little view of what it meant to
00:46:50.60\00:46:53.71
really love humanity
had just been overturned.
00:46:53.91\00:46:56.61
He was basically
saying "All of these regional,
00:46:56.81\00:46:59.42
racial, religious distinctions
that you are making between
00:46:59.62\00:47:03.86
you and other
people... AWAY WITH IT! "
00:47:03.96\00:47:05.73
We are not only solving
the problem of Genesis 3
00:47:06.03\00:47:09.20
which is love
between God and man,
00:47:09.40\00:47:10.47
the covenant solves the
problem between people groups
00:47:10.77\00:47:15.00
on earth: black
and white and yellow
00:47:15.03\00:47:19.41
and red and all of the
different... male and female.
00:47:19.61\00:47:22.78
God said: "Put that
in the most holy place. "
00:47:24.20\00:47:26.50
And so what we have here
is a picture; it's a drama.
00:47:26.90\00:47:30.55
Some of us are verbal learners
00:47:30.86\00:47:34.29
and others are
more visual learners.
00:47:34.39\00:47:35.93
And God gives a play
basically - a divine play -
00:47:36.14\00:47:38.95
that happened 359
days out of a Jewish year.
00:47:39.05\00:47:41.09
And then on that 10th day of
the 7th month the high priest
00:47:41.29\00:47:43.58
this is not this series but
the point is he goes in to the
00:47:43.89\00:47:46.80
most holy place, into
communion, into at-one-ment
00:47:47.00\00:47:50.62
with God. And that
at-one-ment, that love...
00:47:50.73\00:47:53.18
That what? Love. That
love and that appreciation
00:47:54.69\00:47:58.04
and that trust is
founded on this right here:
00:47:58.24\00:48:01.58
"Love the Lord your God
with all your heart, mind,
00:48:01.78\00:48:03.61
and soul... " 1, 2,
3, 4 commandments...
00:48:03.71\00:48:05.47
and love your
neighbor as yourself... "
00:48:05.67\00:48:07.09
5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
10 commandments...
00:48:07.30\00:48:10.24
And that right there
is the heart and soul
00:48:10.44\00:48:13.49
of the covenant. So far so good?
00:48:13.69\00:48:14.99
Except the rest of the
New Testament is basically -
00:48:15.29\00:48:18.55
Old Testament rather - is
basically an uninterrupted
00:48:18.65\00:48:21.34
history of
breaking the covenant.
00:48:21.44\00:48:23.31
God extends His
covenant hand to Adam
00:48:28.55\00:48:31.18
and Adam breaks the covenant.
00:48:31.48\00:48:34.34
God extends His
covenantal hand to Noah.
00:48:34.54\00:48:36.00
Noah keeps part,
breaks most of the covenant.
00:48:36.30\00:48:38.87
God extends His
covenantal hand to Abram
00:48:39.07\00:48:40.94
and Abraham gets the basic idea.
00:48:41.14\00:48:43.97
"Wait a minute. God's
making me a lot of promises
00:48:44.37\00:48:47.64
And God's God and He's awesome
and He's big and He's gracious.
00:48:47.84\00:48:51.07
I believe Him! " Amen.
00:48:51.27\00:48:53.61
And God just: "That's
it! That's exactly it.
00:48:53.81\00:48:56.45
That's it; that's it; that's it!
00:48:56.65\00:48:57.81
You believe. I will
do and I will and I will
00:48:58.01\00:49:00.08
and I will and I'm going to
do this and it's going to be
00:49:00.28\00:49:01.83
awesome. I'm going to do this! "
00:49:01.93\00:49:03.14
And Abram said: "Yeah,
He is going to do this. "
00:49:04.45\00:49:06.23
And he waits a few
years and it doesn't happen
00:49:06.43\00:49:07.79
so he sort of goes the
Hagar route. And God says
00:49:07.99\00:49:10.47
"We need a
reminder about this. "
00:49:10.67\00:49:12.01
You with me? "We
need a reminder about that
00:49:15.35\00:49:17.85
so that for every generation
- generation to generation
00:49:18.16\00:49:20.92
to generation -
there would be a reminder
00:49:21.02\00:49:22.62
that the essence of the
covenant is not about what I do
00:49:22.82\00:49:26.04
to fulfill my promises to God.
It's about what God has done
00:49:26.24\00:49:28.55
to fulfill His promises to me.
00:49:28.65\00:49:30.09
Amen. So far so good?
00:49:30.22\00:49:31.69
And yet, you
read the Old Testament
00:49:31.89\00:49:33.80
broken covenant after broken
covenant after broken covenant
00:49:34.00\00:49:37.57
God extended His hand.
00:49:37.67\00:49:39.42
Don't get me wrong. There
were some that were faithful
00:49:39.72\00:49:41.70
for a time. There
were some that got it
00:49:41.90\00:49:42.96
but on the whole
Israel and later Judah
00:49:43.06\00:49:46.14
broken covenant. So
much so that when we get to
00:49:46.35\00:49:49.13
the book of Daniel...
Right, we've just fast-forwarded
00:49:49.23\00:49:51.15
through huge
amounts of history here...
00:49:51.25\00:49:54.01
when we get to the book of
Daniel, Daniel is on his knees.
00:49:54.21\00:49:56.51
Daniel 9... check it out.
00:49:56.61\00:49:57.64
And he's praying this
prayer because... man...
00:49:58.23\00:50:02.83
the Bible is such an
intertwined tapestry of truth
00:50:03.03\00:50:06.51
that you can't talk about
one thing without talking about
00:50:06.71\00:50:08.33
another. And the
difficulty with a preacher...
00:50:08.43\00:50:11.52
the problem that
a preacher faces...
00:50:11.72\00:50:13.01
is to keep the line of reasoning
without talking about everything
00:50:13.21\00:50:15.93
that could
possibly be talked about.
00:50:16.03\00:50:17.41
And I mostly fail, but today
I'm going to try and succeed.
00:50:17.71\00:50:20.16
Here's Daniel and
you have the exile.
00:50:22.57\00:50:26.06
The Israelites have
not been "punished" by God
00:50:26.47\00:50:30.03
so much as God has
honored their choice
00:50:30.23\00:50:31.77
to live apart from
Him. Did you get that?
00:50:31.97\00:50:34.65
By the way, I run a school.
The school is called ARISE.
00:50:35.18\00:50:37.25
I run it with
James and Ty and Jeffrey.
00:50:37.45\00:50:39.27
And the school that we
run... over the years we've
00:50:39.57\00:50:41.54
had hundreds of students
come. And occasionally -
00:50:41.74\00:50:44.16
very occasionally - we
have to kick a student out.
00:50:44.36\00:50:47.99
The thing is that
we don't kick them out.
00:50:48.62\00:50:50.11
Never... never.
00:50:50.31\00:50:51.96
We've had hundreds of
students; we've had maybe eight
00:50:52.58\00:50:54.47
that have had to leave.
And when we sit down with them
00:50:54.57\00:50:56.20
they say: "Oh, I'm real sorry,
" you know, or whatever it might
00:50:56.50\00:50:58.31
be. "I hope you're not
going to kick me out. "
00:50:58.45\00:51:00.05
And we say: "Whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa. Slow down there
00:51:00.15\00:51:01.67
partner. We're
not kicking you out. "
00:51:01.87\00:51:04.09
"Whoo... good. "
00:51:04.29\00:51:05.73
We say: "We are simply
honoring your choice to leave.
00:51:05.93\00:51:08.94
We're certainly not kicking
you out. We wanted you to come.
00:51:14.43\00:51:16.59
We invited you to be here;
we accepted your application.
00:51:16.80\00:51:19.52
We are glad you're here.
We're not kicking you out
00:51:19.82\00:51:23.40
as if the
initiation is on our part.
00:51:23.60\00:51:25.98
We are honoring
your choice to leave.
00:51:26.18\00:51:28.70
You have made decision
after decision after decision.
00:51:28.90\00:51:30.49
We have spoken with you; we have
spoken with you; we have spoken
00:51:30.60\00:51:31.88
with you and we now are
forced to honor your choice
00:51:31.98\00:51:35.09
to not want to stay here. "
00:51:35.19\00:51:36.53
"No, no, no,
no... I want to stay.
00:51:38.67\00:51:40.04
I want to stay. " But at
that point we have to say
00:51:40.14\00:51:41.46
"Hey look. Actions
speak louder than words
00:51:41.56\00:51:43.84
and you're welcome to come
back next year. " Which by the
00:51:44.04\00:51:45.10
way is a standing
policy at ARISE. If you are...
00:51:45.20\00:51:47.67
If we honor your
choice to leave this year,
00:51:47.87\00:51:49.31
you are welcome to come
back the next year for free.
00:51:49.51\00:51:51.27
That's pretty
gracious of us, isn't it?
00:51:51.47\00:51:53.28
"You can come back. You
go back; you sort things out,
00:51:53.58\00:51:55.47
you get all those details.
We'll have you back for free
00:51:55.67\00:51:57.31
because we want you here.
But this year we've got to honor
00:51:57.41\00:52:00.06
your choice to leave. "
That's what God did with
00:52:00.17\00:52:02.52
Israel and with Judah. He
said: "Look... what can I do? "
00:52:02.62\00:52:04.84
You see a little picture
of this when Jesus, with great
00:52:05.24\00:52:08.32
lamentation and
pathos, in Matthew 23 says:
00:52:08.42\00:52:10.95
"Ah Jerusalem, Jerusalem.
00:52:11.15\00:52:12.61
How often I wanted
to gather you together
00:52:12.91\00:52:15.61
as a hen gathers her
chicks but you wouldn't let Me.
00:52:15.71\00:52:17.60
What more, pray
tell, can I do? "
00:52:18.00\00:52:20.13
And much of the
history of the Old Testament is
00:52:21.22\00:52:23.75
the descendants of Abraham in
unfaithfulness to the covenant
00:52:24.05\00:52:27.35
keeping themselves
further and further and further
00:52:27.55\00:52:29.99
outside of God's
protective parameters.
00:52:30.09\00:52:32.39
And finally God says:
"OK, but what can I do?
00:52:32.59\00:52:34.22
What can I do? An army will come
00:52:34.42\00:52:37.65
from the north and
it will be terrible. "
00:52:37.85\00:52:39.56
And Daniel was in the
thick of that. And here's Daniel
00:52:39.76\00:52:42.45
in Daniel chapter 9
praying one of the most
00:52:42.55\00:52:44.36
emotive prayers
in all of scripture.
00:52:44.56\00:52:46.64
Perhaps THE most emotive prayer.
00:52:46.85\00:52:48.49
And look at the
very first thing he said:
00:52:48.89\00:52:51.64
Daniel chapter 9 verse 4.
00:52:52.53\00:52:54.02
"I prayed to the Lord
my God and made confession
00:52:54.81\00:52:57.69
and I said: 'Oh Lord,
great and awesome God... '
00:52:57.89\00:53:01.46
OK, that's the introduction...
00:53:01.66\00:53:03.45
'who... ' What does He do?
00:53:03.75\00:53:07.33
What does the
great and awesome God do?
00:53:07.43\00:53:08.96
'who keeps His covenants. ' "
00:53:09.13\00:53:12.58
And then he goes on
to say: "We have sinned;
00:53:14.48\00:53:16.49
we have failed; we have
fallen; we have not... "
00:53:16.69\00:53:19.68
So what you have here is
just as C.A. communicated
00:53:19.81\00:53:22.22
the other day a
covenant takes two.
00:53:22.32\00:53:24.64
And God extended His
hand in covenant faithfulness
00:53:24.84\00:53:26.99
to Adam: rejected.
00:53:27.29\00:53:28.97
Extended His hand in
covenant faithfulness to Noah:
00:53:29.17\00:53:30.97
largely rejected.
Extended His hand in covenant
00:53:31.17\00:53:32.82
faithfulness to the
descendants of Abraham
00:53:32.92\00:53:34.29
over and over and
over and over and over
00:53:34.49\00:53:37.64
and over and over
again... so much so that Daniel
00:53:37.84\00:53:40.58
cries out to God and he
says: "Oh God, here we are in
00:53:40.79\00:53:43.14
the midst of the 70
years that You had promised.
00:53:43.24\00:53:45.96
The great army
from the north has come.
00:53:46.06\00:53:47.85
You have honored our decision
to separate ourselves from You.
00:53:48.05\00:53:50.41
You keep the covenant
00:53:50.72\00:53:53.70
but we have
sinned... we have sinned. "
00:53:54.10\00:53:57.16
And whoo, Daniel
doesn't leave us hanging.
00:53:57.30\00:53:59.39
Because just two chapters
later in Daniel chapter 11
00:53:59.69\00:54:03.25
there's this promise. And I
do not pretend to understand
00:54:03.28\00:54:05.25
Daniel chapter 11
very well, but I understand
00:54:05.35\00:54:07.14
the main parts of it.
00:54:07.34\00:54:10.11
My friend James Rafferty
knows more about Daniel 11
00:54:10.31\00:54:12.22
than I know about anything.
00:54:12.32\00:54:13.55
And look at what it says
right here in the heart of
00:54:13.96\00:54:16.28
Daniel chapter 11 verse 22:
00:54:16.38\00:54:19.26
"With the force of a
flood they will be swept away
00:54:19.49\00:54:22.54
from before him and be
broken. And also the prince
00:54:22.74\00:54:26.71
of the covenant. "
00:54:26.91\00:54:28.72
Daniel is built on the
edifice of the covenant.
00:54:29.22\00:54:32.52
In fact, many of you would
be familiar. John Dinzey just
00:54:32.62\00:54:34.45
preached the other
morning about the 70 weeks.
00:54:34.55\00:54:36.84
"Seventy weeks are
determined upon your people
00:54:37.14\00:54:39.55
to... " And it says: "He
will establish His covenant. "
00:54:39.75\00:54:45.07
And here's one of the
coolest verses on this.
00:54:46.04\00:54:48.76
It's in Isaiah
42. Check this out.
00:54:48.99\00:54:51.91
And we are perfectly set
up for our last presentation.
00:54:52.04\00:54:54.56
Check this out.
00:54:54.76\00:54:56.37
Isaiah 42. We all there?
00:54:56.67\00:54:59.79
This is one of the
Messianic promises...
00:55:00.19\00:55:02.35
one of the Messianic
prophecies about the Messiah
00:55:02.55\00:55:04.66
who would come.
This is so awesome.
00:55:04.87\00:55:07.35
Verse 5. Isaiah 42 verse 5.
00:55:07.55\00:55:08.91
I want everybody
there. You've got to see this.
00:55:09.01\00:55:10.53
By the way, Will... get
ready with that last slide.
00:55:11.47\00:55:13.12
I need that last slide.
00:55:13.32\00:55:14.37
The next slide.
Verse 5... look at this:
00:55:15.41\00:55:17.22
"Thus says God the Lord
who created the heavens.
00:55:17.52\00:55:20.73
Who stretched them out.
Who spread forth the earth
00:55:20.83\00:55:22.86
and that which comes from it.
00:55:23.16\00:55:24.74
Who gives breath
to the people on it
00:55:24.94\00:55:26.31
and spirit to those who
walk on it. " That's creation.
00:55:26.41\00:55:28.28
Verse 6: "I the Lord have
called you in righteousness.
00:55:30.23\00:55:33.89
I will hold your
hand. I will keep you
00:55:34.09\00:55:36.75
and give you... " Now
this was Israel the servant
00:55:36.95\00:55:40.26
but it later becomes
Jesus the Messiah, who
00:55:40.46\00:55:42.35
was the true Israel... "I
will give you as a covenant
00:55:42.55\00:55:46.58
to the people, as a
light to the Gentiles. "
00:55:46.78\00:55:50.05
What? The Messiah comes not
merely to keep covenant with
00:55:50.29\00:55:55.50
God but God here in
prophecy says: "The Messiah
00:55:55.60\00:56:00.80
IS the covenant. "
00:56:01.10\00:56:03.19
Well how so?
00:56:03.49\00:56:04.62
Because He lived in perfect
relational integrity before
00:56:04.82\00:56:07.19
His Father. "I do always
those things that please Him. "
00:56:07.29\00:56:09.36
And He lived in
perfect harmonious love
00:56:09.56\00:56:11.75
before His fellow man.
00:56:11.86\00:56:13.20
Failure failure failure failure
failure failure failure failure
00:56:13.40\00:56:16.41
failure... And
here the promise is:
00:56:16.52\00:56:19.40
"Someone will come.
Someone will come...
00:56:19.43\00:56:22.38
and it will be a
descendant of Abraham
00:56:22.58\00:56:25.29
and He will keep
covenant with God. "
00:56:25.59\00:56:29.61
Look at the statement
that we've got right here.
00:56:29.91\00:56:31.51
We should have it up there,
and if not I'll just read it
00:56:31.61\00:56:33.07
for you.
00:56:33.17\00:56:34.22
Friends, God has
extended His hand in covenant
00:57:07.60\00:57:10.74
as God over and over again.
00:57:10.84\00:57:12.84
And in our last presentation
00:57:13.04\00:57:14.40
we'll see that He Himself
has kept covenant as man.
00:57:14.60\00:57:19.14