2025.03.09 CALLED: by God

Genesis 2:15–17 NLT

15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

Genesis 3:1–9 NLT

1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’ ” 4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” 6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. 8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

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CALLED: by God

We just finished a series about God restoring us to the relationship we had in the Garden of Eden. So, it may be no surprise that we’re going to start there again with this series.

What was humanity’s first call? [non-rhetorical]

Humanity’s first calling was to obedience…

Adam and Eve were privileged to be with God in the Garden of Eden, and were given unbelievable freedom. The one limitation was the first calling of mankind!  Be obedient!

 Since that day, God has been calling us away from sin!

 Lent is a period where we celebrate and answer that call away from sin.

If you weren’t at our Ash Wednesday service, you may be wondering why Lent is 40 days long (plus Sundays).

Lent is 40 days in remembrance of Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness prior to his public ministry. Let’s look at that part of this narattive for a minute.

Matthew 4:1–11 NLT

1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. 2 For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. 3 During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, 6 and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’ ” 7 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’” 8 Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.” 10 “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” 11 Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.

I've seen several online videos of conversations between police and citizens. The police can’t just barge into your house without your permission, a warrant, or suspicion of an emergency circumstance. In many of these videos, the police know their limits, and the homeowner knows their limits, but it doesn’t stop them from asking questions trying to gain permission.

In this encounter in the wilderness, Satan continues to ask Jesus questions in the hopes that he will switch teams and bow down to the Devil. Satan has no power over Jesus. He has no jurisdiction. But he continues to tempt him. Satan overtly calls even Jesus to follow him.

While some well-meaning Christians may tell you that Christians don’t have to worry about Satan. Do you think if he calls Jesus to follow him, you will somehow be immune?

When Satan called Jesus to follow Him, the Lord replies with incredible focus, quoting Deuteronomy each time, and finally rebuking Satan one final time, again with Scripture … “Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.”

AW Tozer The Eternal Worth of the Soul: God Calls--”Be Ye Reconciled.”

“Yes, man has a soul to save, and amid all the creature noises around us, there is the still, small voice within man, saying, ‘Be reconciled to God!’  That is the real ‘you’ under the camouflage—it is that ‘you’ that will take you to heaven or hell!”

In the early 2000s, Rob Bell was a famous “emergent” pastor with a well known video series. The he released a book, and a video promoting the book, where he defended a perspective that is very popular in our world today, but is NOT Christian at all.

Universalism

The concept that God’s love for all of humanity will eventually drive Him to forgive even the unrepentant. 

FALSE DOCTRINE ALERT!

God calls … “Be reconciled”, and the Bible teaches that reconciliation is the ultimate determining factor to your eternal destiny.

Tozer We Ride a Sick, Fallen Planet—But God Still Calls

“If we were not lost, there would be no voice behind us saying, ‘This is the way, walk … in it.’”

“It is the distraught heart of God seeking His lost race.”

In the Restoration series, we saw that after the Fall in Genesis … God called, ‘Adam, where are you?’ Tozer declared: “that voice has never died out!”

God is still calling today, “Chris, where are you?” …

You see, the issue is not God’s lack of calling … it’s our lack of listening.

We don’t believe He is or would ever be calling us/ME!

Our first calling was to obedience!

Since the Fall, our primary call is to reconciliation … ”Adam, where are you?”

In biblical times, teachers didn’t teach in a lecture hall, or a classroom. They taught in the open air, and when some people decided they wanted to follow a certain teacher, or “rabbi”, they would start traveling with the rabbi. The more detailed teachings would be taught as they walked.

So the followers (or disciples) would clamor to get to the front of the students so they could hear the rabbi’s teaching. Out of this tradition, a Jewish blessing continues to this day: “May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi!”

Romans 8:28–30 NLT

28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.

God called his people to come to him. No one comes to the Father unless the Son draws him.

Our first calling was to obedience, our second calling was to reconciliation, but today, the important part is to recognize that we are CALLED BY GOD! Sometimes it’s a booming voice or an unexplainable event. Other times it’s a still small voice or a preponderance of evidence placed around us. Either way, we begin this Lenten series with the simple statement, that the calling we should seek is God’s calling … and that God is calling all of his people to come to him and follow.

What is God calling you to this morning?

Let us pray?