Original Blessing

Double Blessing—Week 1

“Original Blessing”

Genesis 1:26-28

Series Slide

Good morning and welcome to worship on this amazing day that the Lord has made! It is so good to be back with you today. Renee and I had a great vacation and time away, and then we both hit the ground running on Monday. The last couple of Sundays you have been blessed to hear Dustin and Jarod share from their hearts about the fundamental, foundational aspects of our faith and the importance and power of who Jesus is. I am so proud to be working with this amazing team here at First.

Today, we are diving into a new 3 week series. We are going to be looking at the Double Blessing we have as followers of Jesus Christ. And yes, this is our stewardship series… but don’t think that every sermon the next 3 weeks is going to be about guilting you into giving more money. As Les shared in his video, we are considering the blessings of God that we have received and the responsibility to share those blessings with others. In fact, the pledge cards you will receive don’t even have a place for you to put a dollar amount on them. Next week, you will receive a card that has a place for you to share the percentage of what you gave last year and a pledge of what you will give this year as you work toward the biblical standard of the tithe, the 10% that we give back to God… but that’s for next week. Today, we are looking at the Original Blessing. And as we get started, would you pray with me…

<Prayer>

Sermon Slide

There is the psychological and problem-solving principle called Ariadne’s String, or Ariadne’s thread. Its origin is in Greek mythology and an inescapable labyrinth that had a fearsome half-man, half-bull beast called a Minotaur wandering inside. Every 9 years the King of Crete demanded 14 tributes from the Athenians be identified to enter the labyrinth to be offered as a sacrifice to the Minotaur.

One year, Theseus, the prince of Athens volunteered himself. When he arrived, the beautiful Princess Ariadne who was in charge of the Labyrinth fell in love with him. She gave Theseus a sword and a thread. As he entered the maze, he tied one end to the outside, then went to find the beast. After slaying the Minotaur, he followed the thread back and found his way back to where he started.

I know, it’s a myth… but how many of us see life as this labyrinth of relational twists and occupational turns that we have to navigate. It seems that every decision, every zig and zag leads us deeper into the labyrinth that we can never get out of… then there are the big hairy beasts that threaten us along the path of life.

We weave our way through difficult seasons of life…. Addiction, depression, grief… they can all seem like a labyrinth that traps us inside and we can never escape… but I want you to know… there is a way out. We have been given our ball of thread that leads us back to the original blessing that so many of us missed.

Really, we have to go back to the beginning… back to the Garden… back to Adam and Eve to remember that original blessing. We have heard our passage read to us today.

Genesis 1:26-27

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.” Notice the plural pronoun—let us make man in our image. This is, you and I are, a collaboration between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

“So God created mankind in His own image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

There is a double emphasis on the image of God. We can’t miss this… YOU were created in the image of God. In YOU is the likeness of God. That also means that person you don’t like… your neighbor… your student… your boss… that candidate you despise - when you see their commercial your blood starts to boil…. That person… we all need to remember that they are also the image bearer of God. You may not like someone, but you’re called to love God’s likeness in them!

In his sermon, The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis said,

“There are no ordinary people.”

“You have never talked to a mere mortal.”

“The dullest most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship.”

Then Lewis concludes that “Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.”

We are made in the image of God… all of us. Then, we get to verse 28

Humanity has just been created and what is the very first thing God does?

“Then God blessed them.” Did you get that? The first Gift of God is a blessing.

Before original sin, there was original blessing.

This series is about rediscovering God’s heart toward you.

Often we preachers can be the travel agents of a guilt trip… especially when it comes to our stewardship sermons… but that is not our focus. This isn’t about guilt… this is about rediscovering who we are as children of God. You are blessed… Blessing is what God does!

Blessing is God’s most ancient instinct.

Blessing is God’s first and foremost reflex.

Blessing is God’s default setting.

And no… I’m not talking about Prosperity Gospel. I’m not saying if you live right and do right and follow these 5 steps then God will bless you with wealth and health… but Scripture is clear, God wants to bless you beyond your ability to ask or imagine.

Some of us struggle with this idea of blessing… we look at our life and see more curses than blessings. Each time we mess up we hear curses heaped upon us rather than grace and forgiveness… the narrative that plays through our mind is sin and death, not blessing and life. And there’s a reason. We call it original sin, we have all fallen short of God’s glory… but that isn’t the end of the story! We serve a God who has given us Ariadne’s String to guide us back to the beginning.

Let me get theological for a moment before we get into the practical aspects and wrap up this message.

In the second century AD, a Bishop by the name of Irenaeus was a key player in resisting heresy and defining orthodoxy. Irenaeus was the Bishop of Lyons, but he was originally from Smyrna, one of the seven churches referenced in the book of Revelation. The bishop of Smyrna was Polycarp… and Polycarp was a disciple of the Apostle John. Irenaeus is one generation removed from the original Disciples who walked with Jesus.

It was this Irenaeus who first alluded to original sin. Augustine expounded on the idea of original sin in the fourth century, but in a less optimistic, more deterministic fashion. The protestant reformers, Martin Luther and John Calvin among them, picked up on this idea of original sin, took it to the nth degree, and I think that’s when it really began to overshadow the idea of original blessing.

That is the beauty of Jacobus Arminius, where John Wesley’s theology came from. Rather than allowing the guilt of sin to overshadow the blessing of God, we as what we call Arminian or Wesleyan Christians focus on the grace found in the blessing.

Please hear me. I don’t doubt original sin. I have children! But children need to know that they are blessings first and sinners second. If they see themselves as sinners first and blessings second, it’s a death blow to self-esteem, it’s a killer of holy confidence. I don’t doubt the sin nature—all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But sin is secondary, blessing is primary… God’s grace is more.

Why am I making such a big deal about Original Blessing and differentiating from Original Sin?

In Aristotelianphilosophy, there is something called a first principle. It’s a basic assumption. It’s a foundational truth. Aristotle said a first principle is “the first basis from which a thing is known.” Reasoning from first principles is how you break down complicated problems, how you come up with innovative solutions. It is also what, in many ways, defines us.

Let me double back to the beginning.

You’ve got to tie one end of Ariadne’s Thread to original blessing. Again, blessing is God’s most ancient instinct. That means that blessing is our earliest memory as a human race… it is our first principle.

If you were to ask Adam what his earliest memory, what his first gift of God was… he would say “Blessing… God blessed me.” That Blessing sets the tone for who he was and who we are.

The problem is, so many of us have focused on the sin as the first principle… Oh, Adam ate the Apple that Eve gave him… that makes us sinners! But that’s not what Scripture tells us. Scripture tells us that we are made in the image of God and we are blessed first, then we sinned. We aren’t sinners, we are beloved children of the most high God who have been blessed!

Sermon Slide

Blessing is our earliest memory, and that’s why, blessing is our deepest longing. There is a longing within each of us to be blessed—to be celebrated for who we are, to be accepted for who we’re not, to be loved with no agenda, no strings attached, no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

You are loved as is.

You are loved not because of anything you’ve done or not done.

You are loved because of who you are and whose you are.

You are the image of Almighty God.

You are God’s workmanship.

You are the apple of God’s eye.

The blessing of God isn’t easy to quantify or qualify. It is tangible and intangible, timely and timeless. It is universally offered to everyone, but the blessing of God is as unique as your fingerprint. Some blessings are as simple and straightforward as the sunrise. Others are more difficult to discern, like the blessing of brokenness. But of this I’m certain: the blessing of God is the solution to your biggest problem, the answer to your boldest prayer, and the fulfillment of your bravest dreams.

Let’s make it personal: I can’t not love my kids.

It doesn’t depend on the day of the week. It doesn’t depend on how they’re doing. It’s not contingent upon their accomplishments. And it’s not compromised by the mistakes they make. There is nothing that can change my default setting: I love my kids!

And here’s the amazing thing: the way we love our children as earthly fathers and mothers doesn’t even begin to compare to the God who loves us more than we could ask or imagine.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul said it this way:

Romans 8:38-39

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In his letter to the Corinthians at the end of chapter 13, Paul says, “These three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” In other words, love is the first principle. Love is our default setting. Love is our fallback position. I can’t not love my kids. Even more, God can’t not love you.

You are loved. You are blessed.

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Let me take a minute to talk about what the blessing is and what the blessing is not.

1. Blessing is not good luck.

It’s not a good luck charm. It’s not winning the lottery or hitting it big at Bingo.

God doesn’t bless us to raise our standard of living, God blesses us to raise our standard of giving.

If all we do is raise our standard of living, the blessing can become a curse. Your greatest asset will become your greatest liability if you don’t use it for God’s glory! That’s the lesson in the parable of the Rich Young Ruler and the poor man Lazarus.

2. Blessing is not health, wealth, and prosperity.

Along with that here is the 3rd thing Blessing is not:

3. Blessing is not zero gravity.

Being blessed doesn’t mean nothing bad will ever happen to you. Jesus told us that “In this world we will have trouble.” (John 16:33) Bad thing happen to good people… Life is not fair, but one thing I am certain of… God is always good.

The wealth and health and all that stuff may be the byproduct of the blessing, but that is not and cannot be the focus. Some of the most faithful people in the world are some of the poorest.

Blessing is joy unspeakable.

It’s peace that passes understanding.

It’s the things you can’t put a price tag on.

It’s knowing that your past mistakes do not define you because your sin is forgiven and forgotten.

It’s not knowing what your future holds. It’s knowing Who holds the future.

It’s knowing the fact that God is preparing good works in advance.

In other words…

4. Blessing is right relationship with the God whose image we were created in. It is God with us, God in us, and God for us.

Carl Jung once said, “All the greatest and most important problems of life are fundamentally insoluble.” Typical of Psychologists right… tell us how bad it is, depress us more… But then Jung have us one more nougat.“They can never be solved, they can only be outgrown.”

The circumstances you want God to change may be the circumstances God is using to change you. What you perceive to be a curse may turn out to be a blessing in disguise because it’s the catalyst for spiritual, emotional, and relational growth.

One last observation.

5. The blessings of God will complicate your life.

The reward for good work in the parable of the talents was not an early retirement or extended vacation. The reward for good work was more work. Sin will complicate your life in ways it should not be complicated. Blessing will complicate your life in ways it should be complicated.

I was talking with another pastor the other day. Often, we will have pastors that come to us and say, “Oh, you have it made… you’re at a larger church… you’ve got staff to do the work now… you’ve got a nice salary and a nice house…”

But what they don’t realize is that with these “blessings” of serving a beautiful old church is the complication of keeping the building running.

With the blessing of a staff is the complication of having to manage a staff.

With the blessing of a “nice salary” is the administration of a hefty budget.

Yes, I miss the uncomplicated life of serving a little church in the country, but I wouldn’t give up the blessing of being here with you either.

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Sermon Slide

Why are you blessed? To be a blessing.

Like we said before, as we follow Ariadne’s thread back to the beginning… you were made in the image of God… and if God’s nature is to bless, then your nature as one created in the image of God is to bless. We are at our best when we are a blessing... that is who we are because that is who our creator is.

I want to end reminding you of what I believe is the most powerful statement of today’s message… Before there was Original Sin, there was Original Blessing.

It kinda reminds me of Paul’s words in Roman’s 5:8…

“While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”

The blessing of God’s Prevenient Grace happened before we knew it. The blessing came regardless of what we did or would do.

Maybe you have never accepted that Grace… maybe you have never acknowledged that blessing… I hope you will today.

<Invitation and prayer>