Jacob Forms a Relationship With God

Jacob Forms a Relationship With God

Pastor Ed Evans

November 18, 2018

Genesis 28:10-22 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁰ Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. ¹¹ And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. ¹² And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder^[a] set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! ¹³ And behold, the Lord stood above it^[b] and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. ¹⁴ Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” ¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. ¹⁹ He called the name of that place Bethel,^[c] but the name of the city was Luz at the first. ²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, ²¹ so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, ²² and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”

          Let us pray:

          Father, we t hank You for the time and place, and ask  for Your blessing on each one here, and upon those mentioned here this morning, and those unable to be with us.

          Father, the challenges of this life can be overwhelming and we often don't know the way out. In the face of heartbreak and disappointment, we turn to you even as we study Jacob’s relationship with You and how he was dealt with.  We want to look beyond our situation to the One from whom our help comes, searching the Scriptures, finding Your promises that relate to our situation, praying them, trusting You to bring them to pass in our lives. Help us, Father, to learn how to pray Your promises, for we have experienced that human contracts fall short when compared to Your covenants.

        Lead us, Lord God, to believe in Your promises, and to confess them, even as the scriptures in 2^nd Corinthians 1:20 testify: “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through Him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.” Amen.

          To quickly recap last week’s lesson, Rebekah and Jacob have schemed to steal his twin, Esau’s, blessing from the blind and ailing Isaac.  Esau’s reaction is to threaten to kill Jacob, so Jacob is sent off to find a wife, hiding him from Esau’s wrath.  But Esau does show some restraint.  He vows he will wait until after the period of mourning for the deceased Isaac, before he rips Jacob’s head off.

          Where Jacob has been sent is to Rebekah’s brother, Laban, taking Jacob about a month in travel.  One of the places Jacob stops overnight is just outside of the small town of Luz.  There Jacob uses a rock for his pillow, or maybe for his protection, it’s not clear, and there he has a dream that changes his life.

          In this dream he sees angels going up and down a ladder, and atop the ladder Jacob sees God.  Remember the only time previously that Jacob has mentioned God it was to use His name disrespectfully, and even then, speaking to his father, Isaac, Jacob referred to God as “your God.”

          But God has a plan that involves Jacob, and God’s plan is going to move forward in spite of Jacob’s disrespect and sinful scheming. 

          Now, the more you know about Jacob and his scheming, the more  you will wonder, why does God bother with his guy?  But God now gets Jacob’s attention by making seven unconditional promises to Jacob.

          The first one is an extension of a promises made to Abraham and Isaac about the land.  Second has to do with a long line of descendants.  Third, that Jacob and his descendants would become a means of blessing to “every family of earth.” 

          By the way, can you think of some of Jacob’s descendants who blessed the world?  What did they do to bless “every family of earth”?

o   From within scripture we could point to Joseph, who foresaw a seven-year famine and convinced Egypt to prepare accordingly (Genesis 41:53-57).

o   There were Paul and Barnabas, who proclaimed the gospel (Acts 15:12).

o   And of course, Jesus, through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s lifelines.

o   In history generally, we had the scientist Albert Einstein; the musician, Felix Mendelssohn; the person who helped develop antibiotics         , Selman Waksman, and many more.

          In the fourth promise, God said He would always be with Jacob; fifth, that God would protect Jacob wherever he went; sixth, that God would bring Jacob back to this land; and seventh, God told him “I will not leave you.”

          In verse 16, Jacob awakens with a start, realizing he has had a direct and personal encounter with Yahweh, with the Lord.  Next, he realizes that encounter has happened “here”, which was really nowhere.  What Jacob apparently did not know was that this was the same general area in which Abraham in years previous to this had a direct and personal encounter with God.

          As the reality of the dream sinks in, Jacob is initially terrified.  We today might protest that a proper response to an unplanned encounter with God should not be fearful, but scriptural history would say differently.  In Genesis and Exodus, such encounters are wrapped in human fear of the Godly.

          In the song, “Asleep on Holy Ground,” Michael Card captures the precise moment when Jacob, “the deceitful seer”, was “confronted by the friend that we most fear.”

          Well, Jacob now determines this site was “none other than God’s house … the entrance to heaven.”  So Jacob anoints with oil the rock that was by his head through the night, and names the place “Bethel”, which means “house of God.”  In later times, while in trials, Jacob will return to Bethel to renew his vows, and perhaps renew the memory of his encounter with God.

          It’s always good to have a point in time, and in geography, to which we can return, a time when we felt closest to God, a place and time we can renew ourselves and draw nearer to Him.

          Finally, Jacob responds by making a solemn promise, which in your lesson begins with “IF God is with me and protects me on this trip I am taking, and gives me bread to eat and clothes to wear, and I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord will be my God.”  If, if, if … doesn’t sound like Jacob is yet convinced, does it?  Or maybe he’s bargaining with God?  But, the Hebrew word translated “if” can also mean “because” or “since.”  That would put a more solemn light on Jacob’s promise.  But, we’re going to see that even though God has promised to always be with Jacob, care for him, and protect him, Jacob loses sight of that time and time again. 

          But I think we’ve got the picture by now that Jacob was not exactly a paragon of virtue.  Crafty, yes, a master of deceit, and even willing to throw his own family members under the bus if it would gain him an advantage … yep.  Not a particularly likable fellow.

          And yet, God honored Isaac’s blessing of Jacob, even though that blessing was illicitly obtained.  And God even established a seven part covenant with him.

          Think about this, now.  God’s willingness to bless Jacob forces us to come to grips with the fact that God’s salvation has little to do with our morality and everything to do with God’s mercy.  That doesn’t mean that morality doesn’t matter, but it acknowledges that our morality will never be good enough to place God in our debt.  So, instead of depending on our goodness, we had better just cling to God’s grace and be grateful for God’s mercy.

          About now, perhaps, we begin to see that this lesson is not about a conniving Jacob who eventually got even God to bless him.  It’s about a God who is big enough to be able to love even someone as unlovely as Jacob, coming to him, undeservedly, in a dream.

          There are times when our dreams appear meaningless to us. 
There are other times when our dreams could get us into trouble.  There are still other times when our dreams offer us a way beyond our troubles.  Jacob’s dream offered him hope at a moment when he must have thought he was out of options, on the run, separated from family, with no future.

          Has that happened to anyone here?  Anyone recall a dream that deeply influenced you?  Did the dream seem to convey some sort of divine message?  And if so, what led you to think that?  Did you feel alone, or comforted by the dream?

          Let’s go back for a moment to Jacob on the road, traveling for weeks, forging ahead on this 500-mile trek from Beersheba to Haran. 

          Were any of you ever off by yourself, like that?  Maybe you were on your way to college, or to take a job in another state, or maybe you had decided you just needed to get away.  Have you ever been in Jacob’s shoes, leaving home with little understanding of what waited for you at the end of your journey?

          If so, do you recall the emotions you felt when you first left home?  What were you feeling?  Suddenly orphaned?  Afraid?  Maybe empowered?  Can you understand how Jacob must have been feeling?

          And although Jacob left behind family and familiar places, some of what he was running away from stayed with him.  You own brother has announced he’s going to murder you.  How do you put that behind you?

          Your student book mentions several phrases, such as “Forget it!”, “Put it behind you,” “It’s over and done.  Let it go.”  Many phrases capture the advice we’re given by well-meaning friends, but they and we know it is not that easy.  So we, like Jacob, keep on running, even if that running takes place within our own minds.

          Have you ever had conflicts that caused you to run away, literally or figuratively?  Why did it seem preferable to you to avoid the conflict and those involved, rather than stand and try to resolve the issue?

          The 19^th-century German theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher said that John 1:14 is the most significant verse in the Bible  because of all the world’s religions, only Christianity believes and claims triumphantly that God – not a spokesperson, not an angel, not a messenger – came to earth to live with us and among us.  And even the frightened liar, cheat, and coward named Jacob discovered and experienced this fully during that night in the wilderness.

          So we come to the question:  Have you ever experienced the presence of God in your life?  How have you felt God’s closeness challenging, lifting, loving, and calling you? 

          - - - - - - - -

          Well, you and I have probably never had an experience quite as dramatic as Jacob’s.  Yet God is with us in a variety of ways and speaks to us through a variety of means.  We belong to almighty God, and we are called and equipped just as the renegade Jacob.

          There is a chorus from a song, “Holy Ground”, that’s one of my favorites, and I sing it and hum it often to remind me.  The lines go: “We are standing on holy ground.  And I know that there are angels all around.  Let us praise Jesus now.  We are standing in His presence on holy ground.”

          Wherever you go, whatever you do, whatever you are up against, always remember as a child of God you are standing on holy ground.  

          Oswald Chambers, in his book “My Utmost For His Highest,” writes, “It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us.  If we are not looking for halos, we at least want something that will make people say, “What a wonderful man of prayer he is!” or, “What a great woman of devotion she is!”  If you are properly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the lofty height where no one would ever notice you personally.  All that is noticed is the power of God coming through you all the time.” 

          Even as you are standing on holy ground.

          Any comments or questions about today’s lesson?

          Let us close with prayer.....

          Ever present and ever grace-filled Lord and God, let us sense and know Your presence with us as You were with Jacob.  Let us know Your nearness and love, despite our failure to live according to Your will.  Give us the courage and the tenacity to live by Your way of love, even in the midst of a world that seems to trust power, wealth, and status instead of trusting in Your presence.  We ask this in the name of the Word made flesh, Christ Jesus.  Amen.

         

Why I Write, by Ed Evans

            By observation, dying is something best not done alone, and yet, it is lonely walk.  When that moment arrives for me I can only hope to have a flesh and blood hand to hold onto as I slip away.            In the Ridley Scott movie “Blade Runner,” actor Rutger Hauer, playing the robot replicant Roy Batty, has his opponent dead to rights atop a building in the year 2019, in the falling rain, and as his own measured life span runs out, he sits down in front of this cornered opponent.  Hauer’s last lines as the dying robot are spoken here, in the rain: “I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”  And he dies.            The most meaningful part of all of this, for me, is that Ridley Scott’s original script had other words for Hauer to say.  Hauer rewrote his script.  When that scene was filmed, as it ended, it is recorded that the crew applauded.  Some cried.

            Those words, “All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain,” those sentiments touch every human being, melting right into the core of who we are.  We have all seen things we wish we could preserve and share.  We have seen things, heard things, thought things gone in the wisp of a moment that no one else will ever see, hear, think, but still carry the scent of eternity with them, and yet they die with us, lost in time, like tears in rain.  More’s the pity.

My Political Meme Under Fire, by Ed Evans

            Perhaps you, like me, have been appalled at the anti-American behavior advocated and taken up by liberals and political members of the Democratic Party as the mid-term election approaches.  Apparently, having lost an “managed” election for President, and a steaming, riotous, lying effort to keep a President’s nominated judge from taking his place on the Supreme Court, the Democratic Party has further blackened its reputation by riot, upset and thoroughly uncivil behavior toward those of opposing political opinions.

            To make it worse, the leadership of the Democratic Party has publicly urged that Americans be mistreated, that Democratic supporters “get in their face,” be thrown out of restaurants, and declared “civil behavior” on their part will only be restored when they win.

            This is a story of one man’s efforts to stand up to that, to refuse to knuckle under to bullies and demagogues.  It’s a story with a good ending, even though not thoroughly understood by its author.

            You see, I spent 30 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, then upon retirement 17 years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a federal civilian.  That got me to four battlefields.  I then was called into the ministry as a Pastor.  Besides my own service to the nation in uniform, there is that of my father, grandfathers, uncles, aunts, lifelong friends that constitute a solid investment in the freedoms and liberties of this grand experiment we call the United States of America.  Some of those investments still lie in foreign soil around the world, gone but not forgotten.

            Although every American has the right to be appalled and angry at this decidedly un-American activity taking place in our society, and being egged on by the Democratic leadership, I feel a special commitment to my nation to stand tall and declare “not on my watch!”  Perhaps some of you feel the same.  If so, surely you are aware you have every God-given right to express yourself in a legal and civil response to this travesty being advocated by liberals and the Democratic Party.  This is not the America we fought for.  Our citizens, our duly elected politicians, and our police men and women should not be put in harms way by this over-the-top behavior.  That is NOT the American way.

            Liberals and Democrats, masked and as individuals, have made a mockery of America, to us and to our enemies around the world.  They have talked about blowing up the White House, been photographed carrying a mock severed head of President Trump.  A Broadway Play depicted the assassination of President Trump that asked publicly, “How long has been since an actor assassinated a President?”  Music videos have been released about assassinating President Trump. Conservatives and Republicans have been attacked as individuals and shot to death at a music concert, and seriously wounded at a baseball game.  A Hollywood actor goes on television and announces “somebody needs to take out Trump”. They ask "Where's John Wilkes Booth when you need him?"  A Republican Party Office was set on fire.  The Trump family members received suspicious packages depicting poison in the mail, along with death threats to Secretary of Defense James Mattis.  No less than Democratic Senator Maxine Waters said “you get up in their face at the mall, in restaurants, at gas stations and you tell them Republicans they’re not welcomed anywhere”.   Republican spokesperson Sarah Sanders and her family were harassed at a restaurant, instructed to leave and chased down the street.  Republican Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was harassed and chased out of a Mexican restaurant.  Trump adviser Stephen Miller’s life was threatened and he was chased out of a restaurant. Attorney General Pam Bondi was harassed and chased out of a theatre.  Republican Senator Rand Paul was attacked and beaten up in his own yard.  Two Republican senators, Rob Portman of Ohio and John Boozman of Arkansas, were harassed in their own yards and on their own doorsteps.  A 71-year-old female staffer for California Representative Dana Rohrbacher was knocked unconscious by an angry group of liberal protesters.

            Is this the America we fought for, the America my friends and family members died for?

            My response, and the reason for this missive, was a fairly quiet and determined one.   Besides “liking” in support every post I saw on Facebook that took issue with this behavior, I wrote a short meme that I began to share everywhere.  As one with nearly the cap of 5,000 “friends”, I have access to many, many pages, as do they.  And so I shared, liberally.

            The meme said simply: “Violence, verbal and physical, has long been the hallmark of the Democratic Party. Reject such un-American behavior.”  I began to post it far and wide.  But then a funny thing happened.  As I pasted it as a response to the like posts of others, I would get a red exclamation point and the message “This could not be posted.  Try again.”  Trying again was a joke.  It could not be posted.  Okay, I went on, posting in other pages.  Same red exclamation point.  Unable to post.  Try again.  It went on and on like that.

            Now, many probably know the Marine Corps’ official motto is “Semper Fidelis”; Always Faithful.  And we are, to our God, to our nation, its Constitution, our Corps and to ourselves.  But there is another motto among Marines, a grittier motto, a “git’er done” saying that carries us forward despite ambush and treachery: “Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome.”

            And so I continued on.  In an ambush Marines don’t stop, lay down a base of fire and stay there until the enemy is gone.  We fire and maneuver through that ambush.  I continued page by page, red exclamation point after red exclamation point.  Until suddenly, it stuck.  It published.  What happened?

            Now, I know that Facebook hires a vast array of minions who operate by constructed algorithms to “police” the conversations and posts.  (And I’ve already told you more than I know about that.)  I’ve had some of them send me a message now and then that I was “taking advantage of the system.”  Of course I was, that’s what it is there for, whether they agree with my opinion or not.  I would not want you to think I am attacking Facebook, because in a democracy, the voluntary airing of free speech is vital to our continuance, just as a free press is vital, although I think the current incestuous news media is endangering that.  But that’s a discussion for another day.

            Actually, I much rather believe that somewhere “out there” in the vastness of Facebook there remain those minions still true to the principles of the original creator of Facebook, dedicated to providing a free platform for opposing ideas and conversation, a growing electronic discussion that allows people to blow off steam and yet remain a cohesive family of Americans.  And that, perhaps, is why the red exclamation points stopped.  There may well be a much more complicated, and perhaps truer explanation, but if so I’m not aware of it.  All I know is that I was given back my “right” to free speech.

            So to end I simply want to encourage each of you to exercise your American rights to speak up, to improvise, adapt, and overcome efforts to make you sit down and shut up.

            I’m not advocating embarrassing people in restaurants, or disrupting peaceful meetings, or any of the treachery-laden activities the Democratic leadership has been advocating.  I don’t believe fighting fire with fire gets you anywhere but burnt.  The current ashen status of the Democratic Party is a fair example.

            My Lord Jesus Christ tells us to love our enemies, those who oppose us, for thereby we heap coals on their heads.  And I do believe the Democratic Party is on fire.  I pray for them.  Without prayer, without my Lord I’d have a hard time loving such hate-filled people.

            March on.  Make yourself heard.  America is worth it.

God Created the Heavens and the Earth

God Created the Heavens and the Earth

Pastor Ed Evans

Genesis 1:1-13

1 When God began to create the heavens and the earth — ² the earth was without shape or form, it was dark over the deep sea, and God’s wind swept over the waters— ³ God said, “Let there be light.” And so light appeared. ⁴ God saw how good the light was. God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God named the light Day and the darkness Night.

There was evening and there was morning: the first day.

⁶ God said, “Let there be a dome in the middle of the waters to separate the waters from each other.” ⁷ God made the dome and separated the waters under the dome from the waters above the dome. And it happened in that way. ⁸ God named the dome Sky.

There was evening and there was morning: the second day.

⁹ God said, “Let the waters under the sky come together into one place so that the dry land can appear.” And that’s what happened. ¹⁰ God named the dry land Earth, and he named the gathered waters Seas. God saw how good it was. ¹¹ God said, “Let the earth grow plant life: plants yielding seeds and fruit trees bearing fruit with seeds inside it, each according to its kind throughout the earth.” And that’s what happened.¹² The earth produced plant life: plants yielding seeds, each according to its kind, and trees bearing fruit with seeds inside it, each according to its kind. God saw how good it was.

¹³ There was evening and there was morning: the third day.

Prayer

          Father, we enjoy Your presence, and we look forward to shining the light of knowledge on the Scriptures You have kept alive for us.  We offer prayers and concerns for those unable to be with us this day, and thank You for the time and the place to come together in Your presence.  We know Father that for You a thousand years is as a day, while we struggle to understand the how and why of that which You are capable.  So in faith we put our trust in You, and thank You for Your patience and Your love, and the opportunities to share them with others.  We thank You, Father, and ask these things in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Introduction

          Some of you may be wondering why we are starting back at the beginning, and this is because the tradition here is to go through the Bible every six years.  So as our banner says, “We Are Going Back Home”, we’re starting over In Genesis.

          I do think that regardless of what we believe about Genesis, or what we have been told, that we will benefit from a fresh reflection on these Scripture passages.

          We get a close-up picture here of what the hymn-writer calls the “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise”, in action.  Especially in this first Chapter, it is only us and God, and we can focus directly on Him.

          For example, have you ever wondered about the fact that God created a day and a night before he created the Sun and the moon and the stars?  Where did that light come from?  We’ll find the answer to that next Sunday.

          And how wild is it that God speaks things into being?  And we will see this goes beyond being limited to light or plants or human beings. 

          Genesis is the first book of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible). Genesis means beginning. Moses, who lived 120 years, was the one called by God to write this book for a four-fold purpose:

          1. To teach Israel that there was only one living and true God, the One who had created and purposed all.

          2. To teach Israel its roots, that they had actually been chosen by God Himself through Abraham appointed to be the chosen line of God’s people.

          3. To teach Israel that the promised seed, the Savior was to be sent into the world through them. Salvation—the Promised Seed—was to come through Israel.

          4. To teach Israel that they were to receive the Promised Land, the land of Canaan, and that God would be faithful to His Word and give them the Promised Land. Hebrews 11:3 "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."

          Now, often we read Scripture to learn about God’s nature or to hear our Savior speak.  As we meditate on a passage, we listen expectantly for a word of counsel, we seek insight into the purpose of life, or we try to fathom the fickleness of the human character.

          How curious is it, then, that often when we open our Bibles to the early chapters of Genesis, especially to the account of Creation in Genesis 1, we lay aside our normal reasons for reading Scripture.  Instead of listening for a word about God, we regard Genesis as if it were a modern scientific treatise.

          What might we learn about God and His Creation if we once again tried to read Genesis 1 as a religious – rather than scientific – text?

          In Genesis 1:1, the beginning of the beginning, we find there are eight actions attributed to God – create, say, see, separate, make, name,  put and bless.  God does all those things.  But perhaps the most intriguing is the first.  In the Old Testament, only God is able to create.  Human beings can make, we can produce, shape, cast, form, prepare, craft, and so forth.  But we cannot create.

          Still there in Genesis 1:1, we find that the term “Heavens and earth” refers to more than just the divine and human abodes.  Just as we pair together a couple of contrasting nouns (night and day, east and west, north and south, Republicans and Democrats) to imply everything or everyone, so did the Hebrews.  So we find that “Heavens and earth refers to the entirety of creation; the universe; all that is; the spiritual and the physical – literally everything.

          The Nicene Creed puts it this way, God is the “maker of heaven and earth (in other words), of all that is, seen and unseen.”

          Now, the translators of the Common English Bible – as used in these lessons – made significant changes to the traditions King James Version rendition of the first two verses.  First, they replaced the tradition “In the beginning” with the pedestrian-sounding word “When.”  Then they changed the verbe from the simple past tense (“created”) to the continuous past tense (“began to create”).  These two changes are grammatically defensible, but signify a changed theological stance that will become apparent in the translation of verse 2.

          In the second verse the two words “without shape or form (shapeless and formless) also appear in tandem in Jeremiah 4:23.  They describe an inhospitable, trackless, featureless expanse, similar to what one would experience at sea, in a desert or wilderness, in a howling blizzard, or,( to use a more contemporary metaphor) in the aftermath of a devastating bombardment.

          If we take it at face value, the phrase “it was dark” describes a landscape devoid of light.  Yet when linked to the preceding an succeeding phrases, “dark” evokes a sense of perilous foreboding and heart-stopping dread.  When in Exodus 10:21 the ninth plague is introduced, a similar use of the word “darkness” names something more tangible than a mere absence of light, “a darkness that you can feel.”  Is something out there?

          The phrase “the deep sea” refers to the fathomless ocean depths.  Since God had not yet separated water from land, the waters covered everything.

          Still in verse 2 we have Hebrew and Greek words such as “ruach” and “pneuma” for wind, breath, and spirit.  And only the context helps one determine which word to use.  The fact that God’s wind “swept over,” “was hovering over”, or “moved upon” the waters suggests God was keeping attentive watch on it.

          We see that what happens in verse 2 follows the actions of verse 1.  That is, since God existed prior to Creation, God created the universe “out of nothing,”  And yet we have dashes at the beginning and end of verse 2 suggesting that it is describing the situation God happened upon “when God began to create … that is, God fashioned the universe out of already-existing matter.  But what?

          In verse 3, we have included all the events in verses 1 – 5 as Day One.  The more common understanding of other translations has viewed the events of verses 1-2 as occurring sometime prior to verse 3, with Day One including only the events in verses 3 – 5.

          Which is correct?  Since we weren’t there, we don’t know.  Another question to ask Him when we see Him.

          Here in verse 3 God the Creator is revealed to be also God the Speaker.  Most of the acts of Creation in Genesis 1 were commands spoken into existence by the word of God.  Isaiah 55:11 suggests that God has never stopped speaking things into existence.  Into a world that was ominously, dreadfully dark, with no sign yet of life, God spoke light into being.  It provided a glimpse, literally, of things to come.

          The simple correspondence between God’s words and the resulting act – “God said … And so light appeared” – is easily to overlook.  Yet it offers a stark difference between God and us.  How rarely to our actions correspond to our words!

          If I tell my wife I’m going to feed the dog, I’ve got to get up, open the dog food bag, fill the bowl, give it water, etc.  I can’t just say it and sit there.  And of course, later I’m going to have to take that mutt outside, too.

          In verse 4, we have the action of “God saw.”  The notion of God standing back and taking appropriate pride in a job well done is one we can appreciate, and one that should bring a knowing smile to our face.

          The only one whom Jesus said can justifiably be called “good” evaluated the creation of light and judged it to be like its Creator: “good.”  God acknowledged the otherness of the newly-created light when He “separated” it from the darkness.  Whether this separation was a mental classification or a physical act, its full import becomes apparent in the next verse.

          Verse 5, having completed the first Creation project, God identified the work of light by giving it the name “Day.”  That which was not light (or darkness) God named “Night”.  Still today, the ability to name an item correctly requires wisdom and implies authority.

          So now we have our first “day”, an evening and a morning, and we are led to believe other acts of creation will follow.

          But there is an unspoken mystery here associated with this first day.

          Anyone know what it is?  For thousands of years people have wondered ….. how can you have a “day” before you have created the sun and stars?  And we’ll get to that in Lesson 2 next Sunday.

          In verses 6 and 7, God speaks a second creative act into being.  Having separated light and darkness, God now addresses the water covering the earth.  God calls into creation a dome which He names “sky” to separate the upper and lower waters. 

          In verse 8 now having a second morning and evening, God labels this one the second day.

          Verse 9, God sets boundaries for the land and water.  The waters are called into one place in order that the land may appear.

          Verse 10, God names the dry land earth, and the lower waters the seas. 

          Verse 11, God focuses His attention on the newly formed dry land, called Earth, and spoke into being “plant life”; vegetation and grass.  These included two types of self-sustaining plant life.  The first that God instructed to grow were plants yielding seeds.  The second were fruit trees, with each type capable of reproducing “according to its kind”.

          Verse 12, as God had commanded, two kinds of plant life began to spring from the earth.  And these plants, herbs, and fruit trees were replete with seeds that would guarantee their continued existence.

          Martin Luther suggested that God’s good work should cause us to marvel at the results.  Said Luther, speaking to us from the 14^th Century, “The first creation without seed was brought about … as a result of the power of the Word.  However, the fact that seeds now grow is also a work of creation full of wonderment.”

          Verse 13, once again God has brought about an evening and a morning, when He immediately labeled it “the third day.”

          Well, what about it, have you heard anything yet that surprised you?  Something you didn’t know or hadn’t thought about?  Your Study book asks the question, “What questions or concerns have always puzzled you about Creation?”

          When I was a child, my favorite book was Hurlbut’s Book of the Bible, with lots of color pictures of the stories of the Bible.  And the story of Genesis was filled with the wonder of green plants and new animals, and Adam and Eve sitting around naming the animals.

          What about you?  Did any of you attend Sunday Schools that captured your imagination with the stories from Genesis and God’s creation?

          You may remember that at the beginning of this class, I that God demonstrated this ability to speak things into action, and yet it went beyond being limited to plants and animals.

          God sometimes speaks truths into us that make us new.  Have you ever had a set belief about someone or something and suddenly – you don’t know where it came from – but you are aware of a truth you had not considered.  You mind is changed.  Something new has happened to you.  It’s like a new day!  It’s happened to me so many times I’m just not surprised at what He can and will do within a life.  Has that happened to any of you?

. . . . .

          Throughout the Bible, the writers of Holy Scripture are consistent regarding their use of the word “create.”  Only God can create.  You and I, we can craft, we can manufacture, reproduce, but not create.

          You and I can smear colors on a white canvas and have it approximate boats in an blue ocean dock, or green vines climbing up a white fence, blossoming with multicolored flowers.  But that’s just reproducing. 

          What does the distinction mean to you that God has the ability to create, even with His spoken voice, and you and I, His creation, do not have that ability?  Is there a reason for that distinction, do you think?

. . . . .

          In the handout I gave you from the Sunday School Lesson Editor, Jan Turrentine, she talks about light and dark, and she makes the statement, “New life starts in the dark.  Whether it is a seed in the ground, a baby in the womb, or Jesus in the tomb, it starts in the dark.”

          She goes on to say, “I have learned things in the dark that I could never have learned in the light, things that have saved my life over and over again, so that there is really only one logical conclusion.  I need darkness as much as I need light.”

          What about you?  How do you feel about light and darkness?

          Good or scary?

          Any other questions, comments, discussion?

          

          Lord God, we understand so little and speculate about so much.  Forgive our arrogance in believing that we can have all the answers.  Help us instead to trust You completely.  We pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Practicing Justice

Practicing Justice

Pastor Ed Evans

Scripture: Colossians 3:5-17

⁵ Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶ On account of these the wrath of God is coming. ⁷ In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. ⁸ But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.⁹ Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. ¹¹ Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

¹² Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, ¹³ bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴ And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

          In verses 1 – 4, prior to our lesson today, Paul is telling the Colossians, if you have been raised with Christ, then seek those things which are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God.

          In Colossians 2, he had been telling them that man-made religion appears to be wise, but has no value against fleshly indulgence. Their dependence should be on a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The believer’s life is a life risen with Christ.

          Our modern world has as strange an idea about heavenly deities as did the early men and women.  I’m reminded of the woman who claimed the world rested on the back of a gigantic turtle, which then stood on the back of an elephant.  When asked what the elephant was standing on, she replied, “Oh no you don’t, it’s turtles and elephants, all the way down.”

          Well, if those of us who believe the world is still where God created it, are then risen with Christ, we are a product of dual citizenship. The things on earth will fade away, but the things above are eternal. Now is the time to seek, pursue, search for, and desire those things which are not earthly, but are above. Christ sits in the seat of authority on the right hand of God, so being raised from the dead, in Him then we conquer death, and are raised to new life because of being in Him.

          Then in verse 4, Paul tells them that Christ is now our life, and He gives us power to help us live; and He gives us hope for the future. This is where our real lives are lived—through Him.  And one day, Christ will be returning to earth. And if you are a Christian, whether your body died or was "raptured", you will return with Him. You will be revealed in glory, even as He is.

          So that lays the groundwork for today’s lesson…..

3:5  Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

          We’re talking here about sins of the body and its members:

          · Put them to death quickly.

          · Fornication: illicit sexual intercourse between unmarried partners; similar to, but not identical with adultery.

          · Uncleanness: impurity in thought and speech, dirty mindedness, indecency.

          · Inordinate affection: depraved passion, uncontrolled lust, an evil desire.

          · Evil desires, strong sexual desires; wicked craving and sensualness beyond natural expression.

          · Covetousness: greedy desire to have more; entire disregard for the rights of others.

          · Idolatry: the worship of false gods, putting things in place of God.

          Since we have died with Christ, we need to consider our bodies as unresponsive and dead to the idolatrous pursuit of evil (the things I’ve just  listed). The flesh must be kept in the place of death. It must be kept nailed to the cross. This is never easy, so we must make a conscious, daily decision to live according to God’s values and to rely on the Holy Spirit’s power.

          Therefore consider the members as alive to God and dead to sin. The point is: There is the fleshly nature, and there is the spiritual nature. The contrast is easy to understand. The fleshly nature causes sin to rise. God does not regard sin with indifference. Sin is sin whether we call it "little" or "big" sin.

          The spiritual nature is where the Spirit urges us to put to death, "sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry."

3:6  On account of these the wrath of God is coming. — Paul is talking about those things described in verse 5 that are not to just be looked over. They are to take notice that the wrath of God is coming upon those unbelieving disobedient children (unbelievers) that don’t want to listen; giving way to wrong passions.  It is because of these things that come from the old flesh nature that the wrath of God will come upon the children of disobedience (unbelievers). The Greek word for “wrath” means anger associated with punishment. The verse is clear that God will punish the children of disobedience.

3:7   In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. -- Yes, they once walked in and practiced being immoral and greedy, lustful and impure. But now as Christians, they are not to be present in their lives. Does this mean that you are not tempted?  That your body doesn't have immoral desires?  That your mind isn't tempted by money?  Not at all! However, your response to those temptations should be very different than they used to be.  Choose to put them to death (cut them away).

          They are to be destroyed and do not entertain them!

3:8   But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth

          Now we’re talking about sins of emotions and the tongue:

          · Anger: uncontrolled temper, a deep seated emotion of ill-will, a settled feeling of habitual hate, revengeful resentment.

          · Wrath: boiling agitation, fiery outburst of temper, violent fit of rage, passionate outbreak of exasperation.

          · Then there is malice: vicious disposition, depraved spite, willful desire to injure, cruel malignity which rejoices in evil to others.        

          · Blasphemy: slanderous talk, reviling, evil speaking, railing insults, reckless and bitter abuse.

          · Filthy communication: obscene speech, shameful speaking, foul-mouthed abuse, dirty epithets, unclean stories.

          Whoo!  I feel like I need a shower after all that!

          The sins we had to put to death in verse 5 were of the body. Now, we have the sins that are done with spiteful actions toward others. Paul urges them to "put off, lay aside, and rid themselves of" the sins that they now practice and he lists these sins as follows: temper, angry outbursts, ill-will toward fellow Christians, malicious gossip, and vulgar speech coming out of their mouths.

          If you just refuse to watch the nightly TV news you shouldn’t have any problem.

          This list is a bit different from the one Paul gave directly before it. Paul was appealing to the commitment the believers had made in their baptism and urging them to remain true to their confession of faith. The point is: these Christians had already put away many sins in their lives, but they still had many sins in their lives that they still needed to give up.

          The picture is that of putting off or stripping off clothes; taking off dirty clothes and throwing them aside. Paul's point is that we are in the new man of the last Adam, which is Christ. We have already put off the old man, which of course is the old self, which represents the body of the first fallen Adam. In salvation, we are in the one new man which is the body of Christ, that Christ established in Himself.  

3:9  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices  —  Now, some of us might be tempted to say Paul has left off preaching, and he’s gone to meddling.  One temptation that we find so easy to give into is to lie to one another.  We lie for many reasons: to protect our reputation, to make things easier for ourselves, or to stay out of trouble.  Paul is calling this to the attention of the Colossians, telling these Christians to stop lying to each other, since they had put off the old man or the old nature.

          The Colossian Christians were to tell the truth in every situation. If we slip and tell a lie, we are convicted by it; we are to repent and get cleansed by the Holy Spirit.  Some Christians today will tell a lie without the slightest feeling of guilt.  Many Christians do not even comprehend that lying is a grave sin.  “Oh, it’s okay, he knew I was lying to him.”  Or,”well, I didn’t want to tell her truth and hurt her feelings!”  But, the truth of the matter is, when we lie to one another, we're really lying to God. There is no difference in a little lie or big lie, a lie is a lie.  We have to put on the new man.  In Christ, there is no lie.

3:10  and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.  — In addition to "putting off the old man", the Colossians had also "put on the new man", which is a reference to the new life in Christ. The new man is the person you are, after being saved.  The new man is received from Christ, at the time of the second birth, and is the regenerated man, the new nature.  The new man is the nature of Christ and must be renewed in knowledge in the believers who have decided to follow Christ.

          "Renewed" speaks of a continuous action. Salvation leads to the process of sanctification. It affects both character and conduct to be fashioned after the image of Jesus Christ. It requires perseverance and tenacity to realize the salvation of the soul, and it is not complete until the point of death or rapture. This battle of the new man occurs in our minds.

          That is why your mind must be renewed in the full knowledge of the New Covenant in Christ.  When we renew our minds with God's revealed knowledge, we hold our heads up high and dwell on heavenly things; we practice, review over and over His Word; and we learn and obey His Will.

          The “new man” does not lie but speak the truth. It is the old man or the old flesh nature that causes us to lie. The new man that is being conformed to the image of Christ is trustworthy. You can count on Him to speak the truth. Becoming more like Christ will take a lifetime. No Distinctions: We Are All One Body in Christ

3:11  Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

          As a Christian becomes conformed to the image of Christ, all distinctions or differences disappear.

          · Race and birth (neither Greek nor Jew) — No National distinctions.

          · Religion and ritual (circumcised or uncircumcised) — No Religious distinctions.

          · Education and culture, neither one (neither Barbarian nor Scythian) — No Culture distinctions.

          · Social class and wealth and property (bond servant or free) — No Economic or social distinctions.

          Jews referred to all people outside the nation of Israel as Greeks. We are all one when we walk in Christ. National, religious, cultures, economic and social distinctions disappear when Christians become conformed to the image of Christ. It is important to understand that Christ is absolutely everything.

3:12   Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, These are the attire; the garments of the new man.

          · Bowels of mercies refers to a heart of compassion, mercy in action, and heartfelt sympathy for the less fortunate.

          · Kindness: thoughtfulness of others, unselfishness, sweetness of disposition, gentleness, and graciousness. This is the fruit of the Holy Spirit and refers to the inner attitude.

          · Humbleness of mind: This refers to the outward expression of that inner attitude. Humbleness is modesty, it places self last, and regards self as least (Eph.2:8).

          · Meekness: not weakness, but lowliness; delicate consideration for others.  It is the opposite of arrogance and self-assertion.  Pride has no place in the Christian life.

          · Long-suffering: patient under provocation. This denotes the restraint which enables one to bear injury and insult without resorting to retaliation. It accepts the wrong without complaint. Long-suffering is an attribute of God (Rom.2:4) and a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal.5:22). The new man must not be left naked; he must be clothed, so, he puts on his spiritual wardrobe of practical righteousness.  There were eight commands in verses 12-13: mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, and love. These garments are now true of all who come to faith in Christ under the New Covenant.

          Notice that the same way we're to put off those negative things, we are to put on the positive ones.  Paul urges the Colossians as born-again believers who have been set apart and loved by God, to “put on” the “bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering.”  The “bowels” spoken of here are, of course, the intestines, the heart, the lungs and the liver, and the Hebrews considered the “bowels” as the seat of the more tender affections of kindness, benevolence and compassion. These affections are not automatic upon spiritual rebirth, but they must be “put on” as a Christian would put on new clothes that are fresh and clean.

3:13  bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

          · Forbearing one another is to put up with things we dislike and get along with those who disagree.  Christians can disagree without being disagreeable.

          · Forgiving one another: the word forgiving is built on the same Greek root as the word grace and means to bestow favor unconditionally. The Christian not only forgives, he forgets.

          · When the verse speaks of disagreements, we’re talking about a cause of blame, a ground for complaint.  He thinks himself angry. The key to forbearing, forgiving others is remembering how much God has forgiven you.  With these two garments of love and forgiveness upon us, there would be no room for quarreling, instead we hold back under His control, imitating Christ’s merciful, forgiving spirit.

3:14  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.  If these are merely things that we are trying to follow without being saved, then they are just outward expressions of a written commandment, and so Colossians 3:12-14 just becomes another law list to follow in the lost flesh.  “No Parking – No Speeding – No Bad Language.”  They appear like the real clothing, but they are fakes.  But, for us who have put on the new man in the Spirit, to put these things on in Christ is to put on Him, and so the key to what Paul is saying is that which ties all this together as the main outer robe, that is, like the layers of clothing that people would wear in the time of Paul.  On top of these things, like an outer garment, put on charity, love.  Love is the basis and cloak of all the graces.  Love is the bond that binds the others together; the bond of completeness; full grown and mature.  The love of Christ is that beautiful outer robe that covers all the other manifestations, and brings it all together. This kind of love is not an emotion. This is action love, of commitment, and caring, stronger than any emotion. It keeps on going even when emotions die or change.

          To often we think of love as some magical emotion.  Like the little girl playing in Mommy’s make-up, and Mommy walks in on her.  Mommy says “What are you doing!?”  And the child whirls around with a face full of lipstick and eye shadow and says, “I love you, Mommy.”  No, the love of Christ is no emotion.

3:15   And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 

          Jeremiah 17:9 tells us the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked….desperately wicked.  But now we’re going to consider three things about a heart when the peace of God rules in it.

          First, it is a choice that the heart is ruled by love.  And the reason is because we are one body.  The body does not war against itself.  And finally the response to this is that we are to be thankful.

          The Christian who has the love of God ruling in his life also has the peace of God ruling in his heart.  The choice of peace is up to the believer whether he lets the peace of Christ rule or not. He has to be willing to lay aside all the differences and circumstances, and let Christ handle them through the rule of His peace.  For again, we are one body.

3:16   Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 

          The heart where the peace of God rules is rich with the Word of Christ.  Again, it’s a choice—let the Word of Christ dwell, to teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, evidencing in us a singing spirit.

          The Word of Christ is to feel at home in believers. We are to allow it, make room within the heart by making that choice.  "Let" the Word of Christ saturate us and remain in us as a rich treasure, and by doing so, we teach and admonish one another not in man-made traditions, but in songs from the book of Psalms, hymns and other songs of praise, and in spiritual songs that affect your spirit by faith.

          We can’t teach what we don’t know. That’s why we have to dwell richly in all wisdom.  Together, we give praise and thanks to our great and glorious God. We do all of this as the one body, operating the way we should--connected—in unity—and focused.

          And finally, verse 17   And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

          The point is that a heart ruled by the peace of God does all in the name of Christ, and again, it’s a choice—do all, giving thanks.

          Paul sums up the point by telling the Colossians that whatever they speak or do, they should do it in the name of the Lord Jesus.  This means that every word and act of a Christian should be said or done in the power and authority of Jesus Christ.  This Christian does not speak and act in accordance with his flesh nature, but he speaks and acts in accordance with the Holy Spirit and the nature of Christ.  

          Our example to follow would be in the footsteps of Christ. Our new nature reaches toward God’s Spirit. If we find there’s no love, no peace, we still have some growing to do, until its right.

          Questions?  Comments?  Do Paul’s words make sense to you?

          If no questions, let us close by reciting together the prayer in your lesson book on page 96.

          O God, what a vision You offer for our life with You!  Grant us the grace and the strength to give ourselves away and to be filled and clothed with Your gifts and grace.  We pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.