Sermon 6/25/2023

Intro

Good morning, welcome to Sycamore Hill Church

We are glad you are here with us today

For you who are visiting, you find us in a year plus long sermon series called Route 66, reading through the 66 books of the Bible and preaching the overarching story.

The past two weeks, those that are still reading, we’ve read through most of Job, and later this week we’ll start Ephesians, which, ironically, I’ll be in today

Today, is the last week of the Spirit series, 11 weeks we preached about the Holy Spirit,

My topic is the Spirit Leads in all Truth

And yet, I Feel it necessary to do a review

to, by the end of my sermon, to hand off the baton, moving us to the final leg of the race,

And what I’m here to say is that the Spirit has led of us all who have preached here during this series, we have all been led by the Spirit to preach the Truth

So, what I’m going to do today is start with a familiar passage to some, Ephesians chapter 2, so you can turn there now if you wish

But from there, I’m going to go back into the O.T.

I’m going to draw some things out, and then carry it forward to the N.T.

What I’m hoping is this, that something we may be aware of gets some new language, not to change it, but to bring some clarity

We all know people who we would call “late to the party”

Meaning, like when a joke is told, they don’t get it right away

Everyone else is laughing, and it takes them a minute, maybe getting another detail, then the joke comes together in their mind, and then they get it,

They go, AHHHHHHHH, and then they laugh

But for all of us, sometimes we just need to hear something a different way and then it makes more sense

That’s my goal today, I don’t think I’m going to teach a new concept, I’m just hoping to bring clarity for some, to concepts we have heard all sermon series

This concept is so relevant today, and is going to be pointed out again in the next leg of Route 66

For months we’ve been saying something, and we haven’t explicitly said it, but we’ve been saying we have too narrow a view of the words, sin, gospel, and salvation, and because of that, we have too narrow a view of what witness is.

Let me explain

Sin is more than the wrong things you do

that is how sin manifests itself

All action ultimately comes from what we believe

What we believe to be true of ourselves, our situation, our needs, what we believe to be true about God etc. all those beliefs motivate our actions

If our beliefs are wrong, then our actions will be wrong as well because we can’t help but to live from our beliefs.

So, the word sin, which is an artery term, means missing the mark,

If our beliefs are wrong, and wrong according to who God really is and how He’s designed the world to operate and us within it, if our beliefs are wrong, our actions will naturally be wrong, and therefore sinful, we will miss the mark

But our missing the mark started in our mind, in our beliefs, and then shows up in our actions, does that make sense??

That’s why not believing in the work of the Spirit in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is the unforgivable sin, it’s the only mark that ultimately matters

If you’re wrong there, you’ll be wrong everywhere, and that’s why we call ourselves “believers” and as believers, we should live a life accordingly, more on that in a minute.

How about the word gospel, or good news is how it’s translated, how is our view too narrow there?

Over the last month or so I’ve asked people “what is the gospel?”

I’ve posed the question like this, which I think is possible for us

We have a non-believing friend, they say something like, “I can see you’re a good person, I know you’re religious, I hear this word the gospel, what is the gospel?”

Most people hemmed and hawed, not sure of how to answer, what is the right answer I’m sure they were thinking

But most, in fact all but one, said something along the lines of, “well, we have all done things wrong, we’ve all sinned, and that sin separates us from a holy God,

That sin is punishable by death according to the word of God and there’s nothing we can do about that sin, we can’t fix it or make up for it.

But God, in His great love for us didn’t want us to be die and be separated from Him, so He sent Jesus to live the life we can’t live and then die the death we deserve

And by belief in that, and saying a prayer, you can have your sins forgiven and spend eternity in heaven with Him when you die.

And that is salvation, another word that we have to narrow

The gospel and salvation are almost synonymous in todays church vernacular

Therefore, the good news is that you’ve been saved from separation and damnation and are forgiven and are going to heaven when you die.

But both salvation and the good news are so much more than that, which brings me to our last word, witness

A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Jon spoke on witness, and alluded to the fact that we have too narrow a view of it

We, for so long have believed our witness was verbal, witnessing, is evangelizing or sharing the gospel of salvation we think

But our witness is greater than that, it also involves how we interact with the people, the world, and the circumstances we find ourselves in.

Our witness is also how we live, and I’ve already said, we live according to what we believe.

So, let’s now look at our passage in Ephesians chapter 2, starting in verse 1

Ephesians 2:1–3 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Now Paul here is writing about salvation, in verses 4-5 he’ll talk about the love, mercy, and grace of God, saving us

But I want to focus on what we just read in verses, specifically in verse 2, verse 1 into 2a we’ll say, states a fact about all humanity

You were dead, or doomed and hopeless, in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, you had no chance

but in verse 2b on he says why and how

Following the course of this world

Following the prince of the power of the air, saying he is the spirit, in the spiritual realm, that is, even now, at work in the sons of disobedience

Let’s look at that in reverse

Theres is a spirit that’s at work in the sons of disobedience

he is the prince of the power of the air,

and he is responsible for the course of this world

and all of humanity is following along with it

Do we all see that??

So, that begs the questions, how? Why? When did this happen??

I’m glad you asked that

Turn with me please to Genesis, chapter 1

I’m not going to spend time on each day or aspect of creation

But what I will say is this,

God brought order out of chaos,

He shined light into the darkness,

He separated and brought good spaces or realms out of the dangerous waters, and filled those realms with good things

Ultimately, He made a good world that could sustain and give life out of something that was dark, empty, dangerous, and uninhabitable, there’s a whole sermon there

Can we agree on that??

Now when we look at Day 6, specifically the creation of man, we something unique

Man is going to be made in the image of God, bearing His likeness, a spirit being with the capacity to relate to God

Later in chapter 2 Adam is naming the animals, there’s no helper fit for him, that’s 2 verse 20, he can’t relate to any of them

so God makes Eve

In both makings of man, we see God anthropomorphically, with human characteristics and features

He doesn’t just speak them into existence

In chapter 2, verse 7,

Genesis 2:7 ESV

then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

This hands on making of man, from the dust of the earth, then God breathes life into him, He’s so intimately involved in the making of Adam

But it’s the same with Eve, if we look at verses 21 and 22 of chapter 2

Genesis 2:21–22 ESV

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

God takes one of Adams ribs, closes up the opening, and then takes that rib and made Eve from it, or around it.

Not only is God intimately involved in the creation of mankind, they are image bearers, have His breath breathed into them, which makes them unique, some would say the pinnacle of creation

But we also see God bless them

Here’s some definitions of bless

filled with strength, praised, adored

This is what God does in Genesis 1:28, He blesses them, fills them with strength, praises them and adores them.

They are wonderful in His eyes

He then commissions them, telling Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply to fill the earth

To subdue creation, to work it and keep it beautiful, they way God made it

They were also given dominion over every aspect of it, ruling and reigning over it on God’s behalf.

Lastly, they will want for nothing, every green plant they’ll have for food.

At the end of chapter 2 it says, “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

Fully known by God and each other and fully loved.

God believed in mankind, affirmed them, empowered them and entrusted them with His good creation, this was their identity

They had no worry, no fear, no anxiety, no doubt about themselves, about God, about their life, no insecurities,

This was the initial worldview, a connected worldview, connected to God, connected to each other, no secrets, no shame, no hiding, no masks,

Connected Worldview

in the connected worldview they get their true identity, they have peace, contentment, and happiness

Connected Worldview True Identity, Peace, Contentment, Happiness

This worldview is founded on 4 pillars

Connected Worldview True Identity, Peace, Contentment, Happiness

Enough

1. Enough, they are enough, God said so, He made them, and called them image bearers, and He said they were very good, He believes in them etc. God is enough, they don’t have a thought or need of anyone else, His world is enough, perfectly made for them, so they could thrive and flourish, producing for them what they need, and giving them their purpose. They are loved, secure, accepted, and significant, just as they are.

Mystery

2. Mystery, they have no questions, nor do they need all the answers. They have no doubts or fears, they live, without even realizing it, completely trusting God, by faith and not by sight, in part because of enough.

No Failure

3. No Failure, how can there be, what is there to fail at, the job God gave them He created and empowered them to do. As they live in the mystery, trusting God, they walk by faith, and this is pleasing to God. They do what they do to honor and obey God, which is also pleasing to Him

Selfless

4. Selfless, this all makes them selfless, there is no shred of selfishness or self-absorption, they live for God and each other, loving God and each other, there is no negative characteristic in this world

now don’t think this was a marshmallow existence, they had to work the ground, subdue it, it could run out of control, but they had fulfillment in their work, satisfaction, pleasure, not frustration, not futility that was because of the fall.

Eve was always going to have pain in childbearing, but because of the fall her pain would be greatly increased.

But as for who God is and who they are, no issues

Let’s turn to Genesis chapter 3, this is where it all goes bad

Genesis 3:1–7 ESV

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.