The Story of Man
Notes
Transcript
Ever since my youngest daughter Tenley began talking - she has ALWAYS - LOVED - Stories.
*In the car (Dad - can you tell me a story?)
*Random times at home
* EVEN on the toilet (she would ask me if I’d tell her a story)
And EVEN NOW - in the car - she asks for a story - except now - I stream youtube into my car radio and put on Kid Stories...
But most often - the STORIES that get the most attention from my kids - are the STORIES where I talk about MY OWN LIFE - when I was little…things I used to do.
I think it’s fun for the kids to be REMINDED that we ADULTS - USED to be kids.
TODAY - in our text - we’re going to READ of Hezekiah - YET - see a BIGGER STORY WOVEN throughout.
Let’s go ahead and read thru it and then circle back...
1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’ ”
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying,
3 “Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him:
5 “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord,
6 and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.”
As we come closer and closer to the end of this book - there’s been a consistent theme that has run throughout it’s STORY...
And it’s THIS...
The depravity of man....
What does depravity mean?
SLIDE:
Depravity: Moral corruption
THIS is what we’ve seen throughout this time of the KINGS...
King after king - after king - DOING what was EVIL in the eyes of the Lord.
AND EVEN when a good king would come along… we STILL saw the depravity of man ALL around them…and EVEN in THEM - at times.
As we circle back around to our text today - we’re going to see THE STORY of MAN - woven throughout this passage...
AND AGAIN - if you remember that question I began asking myself when I started walking through the OT - and it was this:
What is God trying to teach mankind - about God in this passage?
..about MAN in this passage?
And so - ALONG the way - we’ll stop and chew on these truths a bit - and hopefully EXAMINE ourselves in the process.
1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’ ”
NOW - who was this man - Hezekiah?
Do we remember?
Just 2 chapters earlier - we read this...
2 He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.
3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.
4 He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).
5 He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him.
6 For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses.
7 And the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him.
WOW - right?
This GUY - was the DUDE!
He did what was RIGHT in the Lord’s eyes.
He REMOVED the high places!
One of the FEW KINGS to do that!
He was a GOD-FEARING MAN!
He did his best to OBEY the LORD!
AND YET - back to our text today...
1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’ ”
Here’s what this text REMINDS US OF - in relation to the STORY of MAN!
SLIDE: The Fall of Man: And the Judgment of God
The Fall of Man
The Fall of Man
Now - where do I see the JUDGMENT of God - in this verse?
1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’ ”
THUS says the Lord - you - HEZEKIAH -
YOU - God-fearing man
You - MAN WHO OBEYED Me!
You who DID what was RIGHT in MY EYES...
YOU - Hezekiah - shall DIE!
WOW - a GOOD KING comes along - and God here says - NOPE - your TIME is UP!
And what does this remind us of?
SLIDE:
Death is not partial. Death respects no one.
Death doesn’t care WHO you are!
Death doesn’t care how NICE you are...
How much MONEY you have...
How much INFLUENCE you have...
How many kids you have...
It SIMPLY - IS.
AND - as the point states - it’s a JUDGMENT of God.
HOW SO?
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
Well - as we know - THEY ATE of the tree of knowledge of good and evil - and they DIED!
Physical death came to man...
AND - spiritual death came to man!
Paul speaks to this in Romans...
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
So we see DEATH here - both physical and spiritual - was a JUDGMENT of God that came to MANKIND.
And it says - CAME TO [ALL] MEN...
Not - CERTAIN men - or ONLY - criminals
But ALL men!
And so - in THAT sense - Death is NOT PARTIAL!
I’m sure we ALL know -
Good people - who have died
Good - YOUNG people - who have died
Children - who have died
Aunts / Uncles / brothers / sisters /
Parents
Death - doesn’t care...
AND Hezekiah - in our text today - was a GOOD man...
In the sense that he did what he could to PLEASE the Lord!
He wasn’t PERFECT!
But - he did what pleased the Lord ...
YET EVEN SO - - God decided - Ok - it’s time for you to come home!
And so - How do we handle that?
We TRUST God - - TO BE GOD...
And we trust that He knows what’s BEST!
AND - we TRUST that God is in CONTROL - and NOT surprised by the circumstances!
Knowing that God is in control - helps to ease the tension....
The PAIN - of thinking - OK - God doesn’t understand the PAIN this caused!!
He doesn’t GET IT!!
NO - He gets it!
He understands -
Our text continues...
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying,
3 “Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
So - Hezekiah just found out that he was going to DIE...
And IN THAT - we saw that the FALL of MAN - leads to the DEATH of ALL MEN ...
YET - here we see - something...
SLIDE: The Hope of Man: The God of Israel
The Hope of Man
The Hope of Man
Where the FALL of man led to DEATH for all MEN…including you and me...
THE HOPE of MAN - rests in the God of Israel - the God of the Bible!
What did Hezekiah do after hearing He was going to DIE?
2 Kings 20:2–3 (ESV)
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, 3 “Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Hezekiah was speaking to - - His only HOPE!
NOW - Could Hezekiah have accepted his impeding death - and just been telling GOD _ don’t FORGET ABOUT ME in glory?
Possibly.... but - its also very likely - that Hezekiah was PLEADING for a LONGER life…!
Either way - we see God being- Hezekiah’s HOPE!
And that’s what God IS for US!!
He’s our ONLY HOPE!!
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
Listen - GOD WANTS US to HOPE in HIM!
When LIFE hits the FAN!!
When you find yourself - IN THAT VALLEY AGAIN!!
God is SAYING to us - HOPE in ME!
I have - OVERCOME!!
When we LOSE that job...
When we’re UNSURE about the NEXT STEP...
God is saying - HOPE in ME! - MEANING - TRUST Me!!
When it seems the WORLD is caving in around you...
God is SAYING - Hope in ME!
I have OVERCOME!!
God WANTS us to HOPE IN HIM...
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation
Why are you CAST DOWN - soul?!!
Why are you in TURMOIL - WITHIN.ME.?
What’s the ANSWER? - HOPE in GOD!
FOR I SHALL AGAIN - PRAISE HIM...
Who is “HIM”…?
He’s MY SALVATION!!
Think of it - Who ultimately wrote Psalm 42:5?
GOD DID!
And God is telling us to HOPE in GOD!
And it’s a continual CALL for us to PURSUE HOPE in God...
4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
And so - YEAH - hope is a great thing...
But why such a push in the BIBLE for it?
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Why does God DESIRE that we HOPE in HIM?
There’s a CONNECTION between -
the things we HOPE FOR...
AND - Faith itself!
SIDE NOTE - I Hope - the Browns win a superbowl in my lifetime...
I think that would be cool.
NOW - I can HOPE AS MUCH AS I WANT...
BUT - the question then becomes - what’s my ASSURANCE level that that will happen?
And SINCE my assurance level is - so small - that means - I have LITTLE - - FAITH - that they will win a superbowl.
HOW Confident are YOU - that Jesus is REAL - what He said is REAL - and that YOU’LL spend eternity with Him in heaven?
THAT answer - if your level of FAITH!
FAITH and HOPE - are connected.
And God WANTS US - to anchor our HOPE in HIM!
Not in our bank account
Not in our possessions
Not in our comforts
Not in our PERCEIVED talents
Not in our bible knowledge
But HIM!
WHY? Because...
SLIDE:
When we hope in God, God comes into focus, and he becomes the target of our faith.
THEREFORE - as God would say - HOPE in God!
Which leads us right into our next point…back to our text...
4 And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him:
5 “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord,
So NOT ONLY - have we seen...
The Fall of Man: And the Judgment of God
The Hope of Man: The God of Israel
SLIDE: The Life of Man: Faith Alone
The Life of Man
The Life of Man
5 “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord,
Hezekiah had just PRAYED to God...
Pleading with God to REMEMBER his IMPERFECT life of faithful service...
And God responds - I have...
HEARD your prayer
SEEN your tears
BEHOLD - I will heal you!
And 15 years were added to his life.
BACK to WHAT HE DID....
God - - HEARD the prayer…
Hezekiah CONFESSED
God - - SAW the TEARS...
HEZEKIAH BELIEVED in his heart...
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Hezekiah PRAYED to God (his only hope) - CONFESSING of who God is
Hezekiah WEPT - and the tears flowed from a place of BELIEF!
Knowing he was speaking with his maker - and yet grasping that his time on earth seemed near!
In doing these things - Hezekiah was - HEALED by God’s choosing.
For US TODAY - on this side of the cross...
The Bible tells us what Romans 10:9 says to us!
Confess and BELIEVE and you’ll be saved!
NOW - most people in the world - believe that in order to get to God - to go to heaven - we have to - BE GOOD ENOUGH to get there!
NOW - That’s actually...
the WHOLE TRUTH
AND - an absolute LIE
HUH?? - - how can it be both?
Here’s HOW - the REQUIREMENT to get to GOD is - - Perfection.
And the REASON we KNOW that perfection is the requirement - is because of WHY Jesus came...
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
JESUS CAME - in order to - ACCOMPLISH the law.
Which means -
He came - in order to fulfill the REQUIREMENT to get to GOD...
PERFECTION>
Jesus LIVED THAT OUT!
Jesus obeyed the LAW perfectly!
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
This verse MEANS - when it comes to RIGHTEOUSNESS (goodness) - Jesus is the END of the LAW...
He accomplished the LAW - - FOR - - Righteousness.
PERFECT righteousness - IN the LIFE of a man - was ACCOMPLISHED by Jesus...
And notice HOW this verse ends - Jesus is the END of the LAW FOR - who?
Those who - - believe - HAVE FAITH in Jesus!
16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
We see it here - OVER and OVER again...
JUSTIFIED - in this verse - means - SAVED...
It says - we’re NOT saved by WORKS...
We’re not SAVED by what we do.
NOW - filter that through Catholicism…thru Islam...
Thru Mormonism
Thru Jehovah’s Witness teaching...
EACH of THOSE religions says - YOU are SAVED - in part - BY your WORKS.
That you must DO THESE THINGS - in order to GET TO GOD.
But - as we see - the Bible teaches us that we are SAVED - NOT by works but by - - FAITH in Jesus!
NOW - a cool thing about this verse = is that if you look to the original language… we find this...
SLIDE: FAITH OF JESUS
And so if we were to look at Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible...
we read this...
SLIDE:
Gal 2:16
16 having known also that a man is not declared righteous by works of law, if not through the faith of Jesus Christ, also we in Christ Jesus did believe, that we might be declared righteous by the faith of Christ, and not by works of law, wherefore declared righteous by works of law shall be no flesh.'
Now - this RENDERING can be translated in different ways - But it’s interesting to think through...
the ULTIMATE FAITH that saves us - is the PERFECT faith of Jesus.
Jesus lived BY FAITH...
The bible tells us...
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Obedient to the point of DEATH...
FAITHFUL - to the point of death.
Jesus had FAITH - perfect faith!
And so when we PUT OUR faith in Jesus - the RIGHTEOUSNESS (goodness) of Christ that is imputed to us - INCLUDES - the perfect faith of Jesus!
But that’s not all we see in our text...
SO far we’ve seen...
The Fall of Man: And the Judgment of God
The Hope of Man: The God of Israel
The Life of Man: Faith Alone
But now we jump back to our text...
4 And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him:
5 “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord,
6 and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.”
The end of this passage reflects the overall AIM of ALL of existence - INCLUDING US.
What does it say -
GOD says - I will DELIVER YOU (Hezekiah) - AND this city out of the hand of ASSYRIA - AND I will DEFEND this city - WHY?
God says - For MY OWN sake...
In this - we see...
SLIDE: The Future of Man: For The Glory of God
The Future of Man
The Future of Man
Question:
- Why did you come to church today?
Why do you get up in the morning?
Why do you go to work everyday?
Why WE do things may differ from why OTHERS do thing...
WHY I do ‘THIS’ may be different from why I do “THAT”
BUT for God??
KNOW THIS - All that God does - He does - FOR HIS OWN Glory!
Which means - the REASON God does whatever He does - is FOR HIS GLORY - that He be glorified!
NOW - that might sound very “Christian” - but where is that in the Bible!??
It’s ALL over the place...
QUESTION: Why were you created?
6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth,
7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
So why were you made?
For God's glory
Why does God forgive?
25 “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
We are forgiven, for God's sake.
We are forgiven, for His glory.
Matthew 6:9–10 (ESV)
9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
The first petition on your lips when you pray is that God's name be made great...in the world.
...and Jesus is teaching us to pray this way.
Therefore, God is teaching us to pray for the glory of God.
Why does God supply us with strength?
11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
If you serve, you are to serve in the strength that God supplies, so that He gets the glory....not you.
- The Giver gets the glory!
Why does God lead us?
3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
And in case it's not sinking in...
Ephesians 1:11–12 (ESV)
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
So take the first part of verse 11 (He works all things) and the last part of verse 12 and you get:
...He works all things...to the praise of His glory.
God is God-Exalting!
If we miss this, we'll miss everything.
God does all that He does, to display His glory for the full and lasting enjoyment of all who embrace Christ as their highest treasure.
So then, the question now turns to you:
Why are you here?
Maybe you’re here punching a clock
Maybe you’re here to feel better about yourself
OR - maybe you’re here to MEET THE KING!
AND BOW...
God - IS God-centered!
God WROTE the Bible...
And the Bible CALLS for us to - WORSHIP GOD!
Worship ME - God says!
PRAISE ME - God says!
Is THAT LOVING?
Or is God just selfish - with the biggest EGO in the universe?
NO - God being God-Centered - is the most loving thing He could be!
- WHY?
Because - listen - God is the ONLY thing - in all of existence - that can - SATISFY US - the longest!
Only GOD can satisfy us for the longest period of time - ETERNITY!
And SINCE that is true - If GOD WITHHELD Himself from us...
And DID NOT offer us - HIMSELF...
He would be the most EVIL being in existence!
The reason God calls for us to LOVE HIM...
PURSUE HIM...
COME to HIM...
is because ONLY God can satisfy us - FOREVER.
For those who have put their FAITH IN JESUS - ALONE - for their salvation...
For those people - God will be their satisfaction - for eternity!
The FUTURE of MAN: Is FOR the Glory of God!
Are we living this way?
Are we living for the glory of God??
Not perfectly - but are we striving toward that end?
Are we running TO God when we mess up?
He is glorified in our obedience...
AND He is glorified when we REPENT of our mistakes!!
Today in our text - we’ve seen the STORY of MAN...
SUMMARY:
The Fall of Man: And the Judgment of God
The Hope of Man: The God of Israel
The Life of Man: Faith Alone
the Future of Man: For the Glory of God
Let’s pray (Fender Ending)
