God and Us: Knowing and Covenant
Notes
Transcript
Slow
Why do we exist? What’s our purpose?
Big Idea: We exist to know and enjoy God. We do this by faith and by growing in understanding of ourselves.
Being mistaken for someone else
1. Our Purpose: to Know and Enjoy God
1. Our Purpose: to Know and Enjoy God
God’s ultimate purpose in creation is not our performance but our coming to know Him
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.”
1 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’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,
3 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.’ ”
4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 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.
7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
3 different ways we seek to determine what’s good for us = Will it lead to what I want? I want to determine what is good for me and how to achieve that good for myself.
What if what we think is good for us isn’t? Retirement account, job promotion, kids behaving, good grades on a test,
When we stop doing what God wants because we don’t think we’ll get what we want, we get actual evil: parents not loving kids, oppression at work, not seeking to do good with our lives but harm
The temptation
Genesis 2 - God is saying trust me to know what’s ultimately good for you. In Psalm 23 language he wants to be your shepherd.
You must know God by faith.
2. Know God by faith
2. Know God by faith
What do we mean by knowing God by faith?
Covenant = Reestablished Relationship
What God will do, what man will do, The intended result (protection from judgment)
You can’t say you know someone if you don’t know how they fulfill their commitments
You can’s say you know someone if you don’t know what their most important commitments/values are
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.
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
You can’t say you know God now if you don’t trust Jesus and what He has done.
You can’t know God without then trusting Him with your life and death.
Analiesa
You can’t grow in that knowledge without knowing yourself.
3. Grow in Integrity
3. Grow in Integrity
Knowing yourself
Knowing your desires
Ever tried to have a relationship with someone who never knew what they wanted?
Knowing your “shadow side” - Shame
Quality - Control hurts others
Help = Rejection/ Inadequacy
Achievement - nothing significant
Uniqueness - not special/ uniquely flawed
Safety - exposes others to danger
Fun - avoidance of sadness makes you lose friends
Courage- maybe you’re a coward that can’t do anything good
Peace - hides destructive conflict
Grace is God moving in covenant toward you. God doesn’t shame Adam and Eve. He covers them.
Will you trust that? Will you walk with God by faith?
Young people, deciding college/job/ spouse
Older people, navigating job/relationships/family
Seniors, navigating health/ family/ purpose
Those who haven’t trusted in Christ, Do you want to navigate life without the promises of God to you in Christ?
Community Group questions:
How have you come to know God through His Word?
How have you come to know more about God by taking steps of faith when you can’t know/control the consequences?
Have you ever shared stories with your children about those steps of faith?
Where do you feel challenged in your faith as it comes to decisions you face?
How have you seen God grow your integrity (promises you keep to your family, being forced to figure out what you really want in a situation, making commitments in difficult situations)? What value in having integrity and being integrated as a person do you see to knowing God Himself better?
How can you grow in faith and integrity this month?
How can you trust God’s promises in the decisions you will make this week?
