Advent 1 2023
Advent 2023 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Good morning Life Church
Good morning Life Church
Today and next week are going to be a little different.
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Two weeks of the Cosmic haunting story of advent.
Two weeks of the Cosmic haunting story of advent.
Cosmic in that the coming of Jesus was promised before the foundation of the world.
Cosmic in the sense that Advent is the salvation of all creation.
The story of Advent is also haunting.
It inhabits the minds, hearts, and imaginations of every human in unexpected ways.
The Advent story has haunted the hearts of those apposed to Yahweh for 6,000 years.
The advent story has haunted the imaginations of those who have cried out - Come Lord Come!
ADVENT IS A COSMIC STORY SPANNING ALL HUMAN TIME.
IT IS A STORY OF HOPE.
Now there were shepherds nearby living out in the field, keeping guard over their flock at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were absolutely terrified.But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”Suddenly a vast, heavenly army appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among people with whom he is pleased!”
When the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord has made known to us.”
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ADVENT STARTS AS A PROMISE OF HOPE IN THE MIDST OF DEATH, CHAOS, AND DECAY.
ADVENT STARTS AS A PROMISE OF HOPE IN THE MIDST OF DEATH, CHAOS, AND DECAY.
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THE STORY STARTS
THE STORY STARTS
IN THE GARDEN AND FLOWS TO THE KINGS
Adam and Eve - call - rule with me
name animals
fill the earth with God’s reign
rule over creation in the holiness of God.
One rule - don’t eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
knowledge they were not ready for.
Satan - did God say - You can be like God
You can choose for yourself what is good and evil.
From that fall comes the entire story of Israel and Humanity.
From that fall comes the entire story of Israel and Humanity.
And the start of the advent story.
And the start of the advent story.
The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you will go,
And dust you will eat
All the days of your life;
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
Fall of the Sons of God and the flood.
Fall of the Sons of God and the flood.
The world was filled with evil and violence.
God floods the world and starts over with a man and a woman.
Noah and His Wife are given the same call as Adam and Eve.
Noah and His Wife are given the same call as Adam and Eve.
Fill the earth - rule in holiness
Yet, Noah falls not by eating a fruit but through the fruit of the vine.
His children spread out and carry with them the fallen appitites of their father.
Babylon is built and a Tower is raised.
Babylon is built and a Tower is raised.
As humanity grows a ruler conquers and creates slaves
Slaves to build Him a city
Slaves to build a mountain - tower
A tower that they Hope God will come and live on and then maybe he too can be conqured and manipulated.
God does come but he comes to confuse their language and to stop the slavery.
Man is dispersed
GOD HERE CHOOSES TO DIVORCE HIMSELF FROM HUMANITY.
GOD HERE CHOOSES TO DIVORCE HIMSELF FROM HUMANITY.
In Deut 32 God gives Humanity over to the Sons of God.
He then decides He will create a new people for himself.
GOD CHOOSES A MAN AND HIS WIFE
GOD CHOOSES A MAN AND HIS WIFE
We know them as Abraham and Sarah
A friend of God - A man who believes God -
A call to fill a land and from there His people will bless the nations.
While Abraham is better than most he too was fallen.
Lied about his wife, sex with a slave, exiled his child and mistress.
A friend of God and a man of Faith but not the one who can set the world to right.
A CALL A FALL AND THE ADVENT PROMISE - THE PATTERN CONTINUES.
A CALL A FALL AND THE ADVENT PROMISE - THE PATTERN CONTINUES.
Moses
Delivers God’s people
But fails to judge rightly and in anger he falls and he too is rejected.
The Judges -
The Judges -
The judges remind us that humanity is still trying to decide good from evil for themselves.
Think of Samson - a violent sex craved man with no conflict resolution skills - he dies in blood and glory as he finds revenge against his enemies.
Finally we reach the Kings.
Finally we reach the Kings.
Saul - starts well but like all humanity, he believes He knows better than God. He chooses sacrifice over obedience.
David - a man after God’s heart but also a man with perversion in his heart. A murderer and a man of blood.
Solomon - He starts so well and He ends with a marriage to a pagan, a temple filled with idols, human sacrifices, and temple prostitutes, all in the house of Yahweh.
The Kingdom is divided into two.
of the 40 kings to follow only five did good in the eyes of the Lord.
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THE STORY OF MAN IS ONE OF BEING CALLED TO RULE AND REIGN WITH GOD IN HOLINESS.
TO A STORY OF FALLEN, MEN WHO SEEK TO DO WHAT IS GOOD ONLY IN THEIR EYES.
From a garden of peace and eternal life to chaos and death.
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Yet Hovering over all this human decay is a promise from Genesis through the prophets.
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The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you will go,
And dust you will eat
All the days of your life;
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
“I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near;
A star shall come forth from Jacob,
A scepter shall rise from Israel,
And shall crush through the forehead of Moab,
And tear down all the sons of Sheth.
“Edom shall be a possession,
Seir, its enemies, also will be a possession,
While Israel performs valiantly.
“One from Jacob shall have dominion,
And will destroy the remnant from the city.”
“I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,
And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
‘You shall break them with a rod of iron,
You shall shatter them like earthenware.’ ”
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;
My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the nations.
“He will not be disheartened or crushed
Until He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”
“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.”
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As you listen to the story over the next couple weeks, see yourself in the story.
Allow the story to point out your own failure to rule rightly.
Allow the story to remind you of your sins, lusts, and desire to go about life your own way.
And then allow the promises of God - The ADVENT OF THE KING OF KINGS to haunt your imagination as it did humanity and Israel for 6,000 years.
Allow the Hope of Advent INHABIT your heart and imagination.