Back to the Future

Intro series

I had a mix relationship with the Bible for most of my Christian life. Knew I was supposed to read it. Pretty sure I was supposed to like it and get something out of it. I had a good memory and memorized lots of it. But when all said and done it felt like someone had given me a bag of puzzle pieces from dozens of different puzzles. I couldn’t figure out the image I was supposed to make, and none of it really fit together anyway.

I was also told some unhelpful ways to think about the Bible.

A love letter from God - though God’s love is revealed in its pages. But as a young man, reading a love letter from God honestly felt kind of weird.

The acronym: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth - though there are certainly instructions in there. Reading the Bible as a rule book to follow was about as exciting as reading the owners manual for a blender.

I’m guessing I’m not alone feeling this way. Jay’s revelation from Hindu friend. The Bible is a story! To borrow from the Bible Project, the Bible is the unified story that leads us to Jesus. When we begin to understand it as a story, all the sudden the puzzle pieces begin to fit together. So over the next four weeks leading up to Christmas we’re going to look at the four main movements of the biblical story that come together in the manger - Creation, Fall, Redemption, and New Creation. We will see that it’s More Than a Manger.

I think this series will be helpful for:

Bewildered Bible reader. You’ve been a Christian for a while, but you struggle with how to make sense of it all. For you, the Bible often feels like a bunch of disconnected stories and events. For you, this series will help you find continuity in the Bible.

Baffled newer believer. You’ve found yourself more recently on this journey, and as you’ve read the Bible you struggle to understand the point of it all. Why did Jesus even need to come? For you, this series will help you find clarity in the Bible.

Cynical skeptic or searching. You’ve wondered how a 2,000 year old book can have any relevance for today’s problems. Yet maybe you’ve also come to see that the solutions the world offers doesn’t satisfy. For you, this series will offer a more compelling hope than what the world can give.

So as we begin this new series I hope you will stick around for all four movements of the grand story we’re living in.

I’ve called this first message in the series, Back to the Future. Are you familiar with the movie starring Michael J. Fox? This has nothing to do with that. It has to do with something I think we can all relate to. It’s the familiar ache of knowing things are not as they should be. That something has been lost. When we look at the world, how people treat creation and one another, we sense that there is something that feels false about it.

The last few weeks Brooke has been having us sing a song called Is He Worthy. In case the lyrics aren’t familiar, the first stanza goes like this:

Do you feel the world is broken? (We do) Do you feel the shadows deepen? (We do) But do you know that all the dark won't Stop the light from getting through? (We do) Do you wish that you could see it all made new? (We do)

I think this song captures something of the existential crisis we all feel at times that the world - and our own lives - are broken. We want to seem them made right again. Especially at Christmas we look to capture, at least for a little while, that hope and happiness we’re looking for. We spend time looking for the perfect gifts, we try and plan the perfect family gathering - where NO ONE talks about politics! BTW, for those of you who want to try and slip politics into your family gathers I found this charcuterie board you might be interested in (pic).

Anyway… the point is that we search for that perfect feeling of nostalgia. But after the wrapping paper is thrown away and the credit card bills arrive, we are still left with an aching gap.

I want to suggest that this gap is the memory of Eden. Before there was a Fall, before striving became the norm, before things became “not good”, God placed humanity in a perfect place. We begin our series this morning by going back to the Garden, not to be reminded of what was lost, but to rediscover the future that the baby in the manger intends to restore.

Because the manger is more than a manger. The manger is God‘s big move to satisfy your ache for Eden. It is how he is restoring our world to what it once was. The manger is how God brings us back to the future.

Pray …

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This morning we’re going to do a flyover of the first movement of the Story - Creation. We don’t have time to read it all, so let me give you some context in case the details are fuzzy.

Genesis 1 & 2 could be understood as a macro- and then micro- view of creation. In Genesis 1 we see God creating the world out of nothing. In the West we get hung up on whether or not it was 6 literal days. I think that misses the author’s point: he is introducing us to WHO made everything and WHY. And the first chapter of the Bible ends with God describing everything he had made as “very good”.

“God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31, NRSV)

It’s worth pausing to think about what this means for how we understand the world. It’s tempting to look at the mess the world is in and think that God somehow wanted it this way. The word translated “good” is the Hebrew word tov. Tov carries a wide meaning, but it is used to describe something that is pleasant or beautiful, something that is right and in order, things that make the heart merry or happy, and that which is morally good and kind.

When the Bible says that God declared everything he made good, it’s saying that everything he made was in its right place, functioning as it was supposed, and was a delight. The Bible declares that not only is God good, not only did he make a world that was good, but that ALL of his plans and intentions for you are GOOD. The first place you may need to challenge the story you believe is about what God is like.

Theologians spill a lot of ink writing about the reality of original sin - how everything went wrong in the Garden and how that still affects our lives. The problem of sin is a serious thing, and we’ll get to how it all went wrong next week. But they don’t often spend time focusing on what came before. Because Before there was original sin, there was original blessing. And the manger is the promise that there will be blessing again.

We see his good plan of original blessing described in the next chapter. Let’s look at a few things this good God originally planned for us. As we look at this remember we are looking back to the future.

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Original purpose

It might be a shock to you, but God’s original good plan always included work. God’s plan for Adam and Eve wasn’t sitting around all day eating fruit and skinny dipping. He created them with purpose.

“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” (Genesis 2:15, NIV)

God’s original design included his human creation working with him to expand the boundaries of Eden. It’s hard for us now to imagine, but this was GOOD work. It checked all the boxes of being pleasant, merry, and beautiful.

Contrast this with our modern struggle of burnout, meaninglessness, and the pressure to perform. We need to know that life - our life - has purpose. This sense of the purposelessness of it all almost drove the great Russian author, Leo Tolstoy, to commit suicide. He wrote in his book called A Confession, “Is there any meaning in my life that the inevitable death awaiting me does not destroy?” He is dramatically capturing our common ache for Eden. We know we were made for more than mere existence. The manger is God’s plan to restore us to our original blessing of dignity and purpose.

We also see that God’s original blessing included...

Original contentment

As we continue to look at the story we see that God custom made a world for humans to inhabit where they could thrive. They had all they needed.

“The LORD God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis 2:9, NLT)

What the author is describing is abundance. More than enough. Everything that was a delight to look at, touch, and eat. And he gives this broad permission:

“You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”” (Genesis 2:16–17, NLT)

With the exception of one thing, the entire garden was theirs to enjoy. This was a place designed for perfect contentment.

Again, it’s easy to contrast this with our modern reality of consumerism and discontentment, especially during Christmas season when we’re bombarded with things to buy. It seems like the more we have, and the more we have access to, the less content we become. We keep buying into the secular lie that “more” will finally satisfy us.

Describe contrast when returning from Kenya the first time… We have all this abundance, and we’re miserable.

This discontentment only underscores that we were made for Eden. The manger is God’s way to bring us back to contentment and delight.

Last, we see that God’s original blessing included...

Original intimacy

The biggest revelation in the first two chapters of Genesis is that we were created for relationship; relationship with God and relationship with one another. This is how the author describes our original state:

“And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:25, NRSV)

The author is describing more than just the state of their clothing choices. He’s describing perfect intimacy and vulnerability. Of being in a place where you can be fully known, fully exposed, and fully loved without judgement or rejection.

Our experience is often the complete opposite. We are afraid to let our guard down and to trust others. Complete transparency is a rarity. We often show others an avatar - the image of ourselves we want others to see. We are afraid of being truly known, and the result is isolation. The Dept of Health and Human Services now classifies loneliness as an epidemic.

We were made for intimacy, we ache for it, and yet we are afraid of it and often look for it in illegitimate ways. Every woman who has an emotional affair with a guy at the office, every man who surfs for porn, is looking for Eden.

The manger is where God begins to restore our relationship with him and others. But it’s more than a manger. It is God‘s big move to satisfy our ache for Eden. It is how he is restoring our original blessing. It is how he will bring us back to the future.

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We look at the garden, not to feel depressed, not to get nostalgic, but to understand why the incarnation was necessary. The garden reminds of of why we needed the manger. But it’s more than a manger. When we look at Jesus, We understand that the manger is not a decoration; it is a declaration that God WILL restore us to his original blessing.

The Bible describes Jesus as a new Adam, reversing and restoring what was lost by the first Adam. Listen to how The Message describes it:

“If death got the upper hand through one man’s wrongdoing, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand setting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides?” (Romans 5:17, MSG)

Jesus has succeeded for us where Adam failed. Adam was tested in a perfect garden, where there was perfect provision and perfect community, and he failed. Jesus, the second Adam, was tempted in a fallen wilderness, with lack and isolation, and succeeded. Through the manger, God has begun to unwind the mess and bring us back to the future.

In Jesus,

God restores your identity as a sacred image bearer with a sacred purpose. We now spread Eden - aka the kingdom of God - everywhere we go.

He satisfies you with the contentment and peace your soul craves. Access to the tree of life is restored.

He is healing relationships that have been shattered by sin - with him and with others. Separation and isolation won’t gave the final word.

As we close this morning, and as we approach Christmas, what are you desperately trying to buy, to achieve, to acquire in an attempt to satisfy an ache that can only be satisfied by a return to Eden? Where is God telling you it’s OK to cease striving, to trust that he is enough for you?

Let me offer a couple of ways to response to the message today:

Gratitude audit - Every day this week, write down three things that are sufficient and good in your life (food, warmth, relationships). This will help silence the voice of the enemy that tells you you need more.

Anti-consumerism pledge - Intentionally say "No" to purchasing one non-essential item they feel pressured to buy this week.

Where are you looking to the world to tell you the story you live in, which is a secular story, and where is God inviting you to embrace his sacred story for your life? You step into this sacred story through repentance and faith... If you’ve never surrendered your life to Christ and want to do that today, I want to invite you to pray with me this morning.

Heavenly Father, I know I have done wrong. I know I deserve the suffer the consequences of my actions. But I believe Jesus died to take my place, and that he suffered death for me so that I won’t have to. I am making the decision today to surrender myself to you and making Jesus my Lord. Please forgive my sin and make me your child forever. Amen.

If you prayed that today for the first time, then welcome to God’s family. I want to encourage you to let me know of your decision (mention various ways) and let’s move toward baptizing you fully into your new family.

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Invite people to stand.

Invite Communion/ministry team forward.

Every Sunday we close our time by receiving Communion together. This symbolic meal reminds us of Jesus’ sacrifice. It proclaims the gospel that Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again. It is the source of our spiritual nourishment. We believe Jesus is present with us as we receive his body and blood.

We think Jesus invites everyone to this table. If it’s your first time, or you’re not even sure yet where you stand with Jesus, we think he would welcome you here. If you would like to participate, after I pray step into the nearest aisle. Someone at the front will take a piece of bread dipped in wine and offer it to you as the body and blood of Jesus. If you prefer not to have wine, close your hands together and that will be the sign for them to give you a sealed container with grape juice and a wafer.

What is the Spirit doing this morning?…

As we go into our time of Communion let’s rejoice with all God’s people in God’s promises found in Jeremiah:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11, NLT)

Thank him that through the blood of his cross he has washed our sins away. Through his victorious resurrection he has guaranteed us eternal life. Through his ascension and the outpouring of the Spirit he has made us one with you.

We remember Him who for us and for our salvation, on the night that he was betrayed...

Come Holy Spirit and overshadow these elements. Let them be for us your body and blood so that we can participate in your redemptive work for us. May we find mercy, healing and salvation through the finished work of the cross. Amen.

Invite the worship team to receive Communion first.