The Big Story: Redemption
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Redemption
Redemption
We have been in a series entitled “The Big Story”. We have been talking about the meta-narrative of scripture which just means that the Bible is telling one story and its the story of Jesus. 2 weeks ago John talked about creation, and its this idea that God created the world and humans and it was good, he created man and woman to be in relationship with him, but as Kelsi Lynne taught last week, man chose to sin against God and it fractured their relationship with God. But, God did not give up on humans, he was determined to make a way to have relationship with them despite their sin.
This is the story of scripture as we will find out today. God want’s to be in relationship with His people. He wants to dwell with his people.
And we can see this thread throughout scripture of God’s presence dwelling among his people.
Garden
We see the garden is a picture of what God’s intention was, for God to dwell with man.
Dwell = live in or at a specified place
We see that in the Garden God was walking among the earth with Adam and Eve.
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
This is the presence of God dwelling with His people.
However, when sin enters the picture, Adam and Eve are sent out of the Garden and God is no longer waking among his people, God is no longer dwelling with His people.
A holy God cannot be in the presence of Sin
Tabernacle
Time moves on and we see the presence of God show up in different places, he wrestles with Jacob, we see him in a burning bush, but there is not the same sense of God dwelling continually with his people.
That is until the Tabernacle. So God rescues his people from Egypt and he is taking them to the promise land. We see in Exodus, that God gives instructions for the people to build the tabernacle.
Tabernacle in Hebrew is “Mishkan,” which means dwelling place
The tabernacle is going to be this tent structure that the people of God can carry with them.
There are different sections to this, the holy of holies being the literal place where the presence of God will dwell with his people.
Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
Temple
Then once they reach the promise land, a while after they reach the promise land, Solomon builds the temple, which is very similar to the Tabernacle, still this separation where the presence of God resides.
As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
Silence
Then something unfortunate happens. The presence of God leaves the temple in response to the people’s continued disobedience. The presence of God is no longer dwelling in the center of his people.
Even further, years after this, we hear the last words uttered from a prophet of God in Malachi.
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
This ushered in 400 years of silence. Nothing. The people of God heard nothing from God. It was as if the presence of God was nowhere to be found.
SO it went from the presence of God dwelling with his people, to silence.
Jesus
Then… 400 years later in the town of Bethlehem, a child was Born. He would grow up and John the Baptist who Jesus said was elijah in Matthew 11:14
and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.
Elijah, John the baptist, Comes and declares prepare the way for the Lord
That is Jesus, and Jesus Grows up and this happens.
So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
Recap
Jesus is declaring that he is the Temple. The dwelling place of God with his people.
The presence of God is no longer in the temple. it hasnt been there for 100s of years
But now, God in human flesh, Jesus Christ, is walking among his people once more, Christ is the dwelling place of God with his people.
Holy Spirit
Jesus also says, it is better that he go away, even though he is the dwelling place of God with his people.
Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
We see him send this helper in Acts 2
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
You are now the dwelling place of the presence of God. If you are a believer in Christ Jesus, God dwells within you through the Holy Spirit.
So what is the point of all of this? The story of the bible is the story of God getting closer and closer to His people.
The story of the Bible is God seeking relationship with His people.
And there were a lot of different seasons of this, the garden we broke that, the tabernacle, the temple, silence, and in all of it we See God pursuing His people.
Yet sin was always in the way. Even in the tabernacle and the temple, the presence of God was help behind a curtain where the priest could only enter in once a year. If anyone entered any other time they would surely die a sinner in the presence of a Holy God.
But God, desiring to be in close relationship with His people, wanted to make a way for there to be no separation between him and his people, and that’s why he sent Jesus John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
It is on the cross that we see the a great picture of just how far God is willing to go to be with his people
Core Scripture:
And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.
Remember Jesus saying that, and now they are coming for him like if you could destroy the temple, if you really are the messiah why don’t you come down from the cross.
They are still thinking he is talking about the actual temple when he’s talking about himself, they are destroying the temple that is jesus and he will raise it up in 3 days.
And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”
In this passage we see Jesus crying out “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
The people around thought he was crying out to Elijah, wrong again.
Lets look at Psalm 22.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
He’s pointing to this psalm. Why>
it was in this very psalm that we see David prophesy about Christ, look at this in verses 16 through 18
For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
That’s talking about Jesus. roughly 600 years before Jesus.
Listen folks, the bible is one story, and its the story of Jesus and how far God is willing to go to dwell with his people
And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Jesus on the cross, veil was torn, the veil was what separated the holy place from the most holy place. The place where the priest could only enter once a year. Remember it from those images?
And so in this moment Jesus breathes his last, and the curtain of the temple is torn in two.
This is God saying, there is no longer a divide between me and my people. Why?
Because sin is what divided God from his people and Jesus’ death on the cross paid the price for His people’s sin, so now anyone can enter into the presence of a Holy God fully forgiven and fully loved.
There is no longer any separation
Do you see how the story of the Bible is that God wants relationship with his people.
And Jesus is this picture of God god saying not even sin, not even death, not even shame, not even satan himself will keep me from being in relationship with MY people.
Jesus came defeating death, sin, and the Grave so that nothing would stand between God and you
Yet for some reason, a lot of y’all are just fake with God
And I love you all so much, I want more for you.
a lot of y’all think God wants a certain list of things out of you and as long as you are doing pretty ok then God loves you and ur fine.
Like be honest with me, is this your life: You say you are a Christian, but you doubt it sometimes, you go to church cause your parents make you but you don’t really like it, you pray when things get hard, and you maybe read your bible once every few months if that, you don’t spend much time thinking about God.
Or maybe that’s not you, maybe you love God and you go to church cause you want to, and you try to pray and read your Bible, but you don’t feel really connected to God
I get it Ive thought both of those ways before.
You think God wants your reluctant submission.
You think God just wants some things out of you and as long as you do those things ur fine.
I hear y’all talk and I walk with y’all and I wonder what do you think it means to follow Christ.
I have to think that if we polled the room right now y’all would say you do not feel connected to God most of the time. You do not feel like you have a relationship with God.
Like you know, logically, that you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and savior but you don’t feel like you have a relationship with him.
Do you ever wonder, is this how its supposed to be?
It’s not.
Maybe the reason you don’t feel connected with God is because you are playing games with God instead of being WITH God.
Like my heart is broken, where did we begin to think this way.
Are you feeling doubt? Are you doubting God?
Have you told him?
Are you feeling anger? Are you angry at God?
Have you told him?
Like God why in the world would let that happen? God I don’t even know if you’re real?
Have you told him?
You think he doesn’t know?
You go to him and you say....
You dont think he can see straight through that to the doubt and the anger
But you keep showing up with what you think God wants to hear.
No wonder you don’t feel connected with God, you aren’t even being honest with God.
do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Are you feeling shame? Are you feeling hurt? Lonely? Sad? Guilt?
Do not be anxious about anything...
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.