Love At First Sight

We return to Genesis

It’s been about a year since we’ve been in Genesis, and today we return to Genesis.

We will remain in Genesis until the end of November.

Just a heads up, we will be tackling larger passages of Scripture as we return to Genesis.

It won’t be 1 or 2 verses, but sometimes entire chapters of Scripture.

Genesis was written probably around 3,500 years ago.

An incredible amount of time.

Think of all the changes that have happened since then.

Technology has progressed.

Governments have grown.

And yet, the basic experience is the same.

The human experience remains unchanged.

We are born.

We age.

We grow old.

We die.

We have dreams

We have goals.

We have ambitions.

What I love about Scripture, even though we have all this time between when it was written and us today, it’s still written to normal people.

We share the same things in common.

It’s not written to a special class of people.

It’s written about ordinary people.

And it’s written to ordinary people.

It’s written about ordinary things.

So for you who come and you feel ordinary.

This is for you.

Scripture applies to you.

You don’t have to be a president, king, ruler, or some global leader.

It’s for ordinary people.

And it’s useful for you.

-17 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Today’s text is useful, profitable, and it’s something that you need.

So, please open your Bibles to .

I’m not going to read the passage, but I will walk us through it today.

What we will see is an ordinary man, growing old, and having ordinary desires.

We will answer the question, what is the ordinary Christian supposed to look like?

The first thing we see is that The Ordinary Christian Trusts in God.

If you would, look at verses 1-9.

Abraham by now is an old man.

He’s officially old.

When we first met him, God had promised that he would become the father of a great nation.

But if you remember, he and his wife Sarah, were childless.

But, miraculously, in their old age, they became parents.

Abraham became a dad at around 100.

Now he’s somewhere between 120 and 140 years old, but according to this passage he’s now old.

He wasn’t old before, but now he is.

Which mean

That promise of becoming the father of a great nation is still ringing in his ears.

Yet, there is a problem

… his son, the son that the promise is to go to, Isaac, is not married.

Meaning he doesn’t have any children of his own.

Abraham is experiencing something ordinary.

He’s nearing the end, he’s nearing his death, and what does he care about the most?

His family.

His son.

Will his son be taken care of.

I was with a lady as she was dying.

And there she was nearing death.

Cancer throughout her body.

And the only thing she was cared about was her family.

Who would care for her daughter?

Who would care for her granddaughters?

Would they be okay?

This is normal.

This is ordinary.

And yet, in this ordinary situation, how does Abraham respond? He responds by trusting in God’s promises.

Back in , God had made a promise to Abraham.

Then in , God had reaffirmed that promise.

God swore by Himself that He would fulfill what He had promised.

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So in , Abraham says, “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, ‘To your offspring I will give this land,’ ...”

The reality of God’s promises is so real to Abraham, that he sends his oldest and most trusted servant to find a wife for his son.

Probably a man named Eliezer, we met him in .

He sends Eliezer back to his homeland, to find a wife for his son.

And before he sends his servant away, he does something not ordinary, he makes his servant swear that he will obey.

Eliezer, takes his hand, puts it under Abraham’s thigh, and makes an oath, that he will return to Abraham’s homeland and find a wife for Isaac.

Those are the events, but now we pull out of it a truth.

Though God hasn’t promised you that you will become the father of a great nation,

There are truths that the ordinary Christian, that’s you and I, are to hold onto.

The ordinary Christian’s response is to trust in the Lord.

What does it mean to trust in the Lord?

Sometimes we throw that phrase around like how Obi Wan Kenobi tells Luke to Use the Force.

To trust in the Lord means to rest in the sovereignty of God.

It means to know that God is on His throne, and everything that happens is for a reason.

It means to know that God is on His thrown, and everything that happens is for a reason.

By now, you’re all to aware that 12 of us spent almost two weeks in the Czech Republic.

We were able to see the church active and alive in a very dark corner of the world.

We watched as Lojza pastored his church.

On Sunday mornings, not only does Lojza preach, but he also leads the music.

He sits at a little upright piano, that is badly out of tune.

He leads the congregation in songs.

One of the days, we were talking to Lojza and commented on how well he does at piano and his many talents.

He then said this, and it really struck me.

He reflected the complimented and instead praised God, and he said, that’s the sovereignty of God.

He said when he was a kid he learned how to play the piano.

But not because he was ever going to lead the church.

He did it just because he was a kid learning the piano.

He also reflected upon learning English.

He didn’t learn English because he was hoping that a group of really cool Christians from Temecula would come over and serve with him.

He learned English because he was made to learn a language.

Yet, he boasted in God’s grace.

Saying that it was God’s plan for him to learn the piano so in the future he could serve the church.

It was God’s plan for him to learn English so he could be a better servant for the Lord.

Lojza is where he is, and does what he does because of God’s plan.

And the same with you, when you trust in the Lord and you trust in His sovereign plan, then no matter what comes your way, you can rest.

In the middle of verse 7 Abraham says, “he -” that’s God” he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.”

Trusting in the sovereignty of God means that you can bravely march forward in life, and know that the Lord will take care of you each step of the way.

Why? Because of His sovereignty, His plan.

You will never encounter a situation where it will strike God by surprise.

And if you have a hard time grasping God’s sovereignty, go to the Word of God.

Abraham knew that God would provide a wife for his son because he dwelt on what God had revealed to him in the past.

Verse 7, “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me ...”

He remembered God’s Words.

He meditated on God’s Word.

Knowing that what God had spoken was true and accurate.

And for yourself, if you want to better remember the sovereignty of God, and His authority over history, then be in His Word.

As you read God’s Word, you find a recording of His actions.

This is a record of the evidence of God throughout history.

And it’s written so you would believe.

This is you, the ordinary Christian, trusting in God.

The next thing we see is that the Ordinary Christian Looks for God’s Glory.

In verses 10-27, we read about the servant’s journey to Mesopotamia, to Nahor.

Nahor was where Abraham spent some time at the end of .

The servant, who I think is Eliezer, is on a mission, to find his master a wife.

Eliezer is the original eharmony.com.

If he were in Fiddler on the Roof, he’d be singing Matchmaker, Matchmaker make me a match.

He takes with him some camels and gifts to give the lucky gal and her family.

He has a plan.

He goes to where all the ladies hang out in the evening.

It’s not the mall.

It’s a salon.

He goes to a well.

Because at evening time, the women will come to the well to get water for the evening.

He prays to the Lord that God will make it clear who the promised wife of Isaac will be.

He asks that the lucky bride will be made evident.

His plan is that the woman God has in mind will come to the well, and not only gather her own water, but also will fetch water for his camels.

Remember, he’s on a mission.

He has sworn to Abraham.

He put his hand under Abraham’s thigh, swearing to find a wife for Isaac.

He prays for a successful mission.

That part is normal.

We’ve all done that.

We pray for things all the time.

“God help me travel safely.”

“God help me feel better.”

“God help this person find a job.”

And it’s good to pray.

We should pray.

But here’s what sets his prayer apart.

Look at the end of verse 14.

“By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master.”

His prayer is not just that he would get something, or accomplish something.

He goes one step further.

His prayer is that he would know and see God’s love.

He is asking to see God’s glory.

The first question in our family discipleship book is, What is the chief end of man? And the answer is, The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Unfortunately, for the average person, this chief end of man, this driving force is not to glorify God or to enjoy God.

Instead, we spin our wheels for things that don’t last.

Cars that break down.

Homes that fall apart.

In , Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,”

Instead we are to pursue God’s glory.

In , Jesus prays to the Father about his coming death.

Listen to His prayer.

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” ...

Notice, Jesus doesn’t say, “Save me from what’s coming.”

He doesn’t say, “Spare me from this cross.”

He specifically says that He prays for God to be glorified.

For His saving nature to be known.

For His wrath to be accomplished on Christ.

For Him to draw all people to Himself.

When you pray, how do you pray?

Do you pray for yourself, or do you pray for God to be glorified??

In our passage in Genesis, in verse 15, it says, “Before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her water jar on her shoulder.”

That’s a quick response to prayer.

He’s in the middle of his prayer, and it’s answered.

And it all happens.

Rebekah volunteers to water the camels.

Eliezer is staring at her in silence.

Could this be the one?

He then gives her some jewelry and asks who her family is.

He then finds out she’s a relative of Abraham, from Nahor.

This is all working out perfectly.

Then look at verse 27, he thanks God for the response to his prayer.

But he doesn’t say, “Thanks for making my job easier.”

He says, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master.”

His prayer is answered because he has witnessed:

The steadfast love of God

The faithfulness of God.

The sovereignty of God.

The power of God.

That’s worth it.

So how is the ordinary Christian to pray?

We pray for God to be glorified.

For Him to be glorified in providing for us.

For Him to be glorified for demonstrating His attributes.

For Him to be glorified by revealing Himself by intervening in the lives of humans.

When you pray this way, you are praying for the sovereign God of the universe to reveal Himself to you … and for you to survive.

Do you ever think about what a dangerous thought that is?

Not many have survived an encounter with God?

Nadab and Abihu struck dead in their encounter with God.

Uzzah struck dead while moving the Ark of the Covenant.

When the high priests went into the holy of holies, they had a rope tied to their waist, because they were encountering God, and they might die. The rope was so that if they died they could be pulled out.

When Isaiah found himself before God in , he cried out, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

He trembled because he saw God.

And when we pray for God’s characteristics to be made known, we are praying for God to reveal Himself to us.

I hope this doesn’t sound high and lofty.

I don’t want this to sound like a cold, theological statement.

We are talking about praying for God to reveal His love and glory.

Something that causes the angels to tremble.

And for the ordinary Christian, we are praying for that great glory to be made known.

We finished Philippians a few weeks ago.

We saw Paul praying this way.

He was in jail.

But praying that His time in jail would serve to glorify God.

Disaster strikes

We pray that God would be glorified through your tragedy.

Success happens.

We pray that God receives glory for your victory.

The ordinary Christian is to look for God’s glory.

Then, The Ordinary Christian Acts.

After Eliezer, meets Rebekah, he tells her about how Abraham sent him to this area to find a wife for Isaac.

They then go back to her home, and he meets her brother and family.

The story is retold to them.

They are told of God’s promise to make a nation out of Abraham.

They are told of how the servant went to Mesopotamia to find a wife.

They are told how God answered his prayer.

They are told all these things.

He then asks if she will go back to Isaac to be married to him.

Laban, Rebekah’s brother would like for her to stay a little while longer.

But Eliezer presses him and says it must be now.

Finally, Laban says that Rebekah can make the decision.

Look at verse 58, “Will you go with this man?”

And what does she say, “I will go.”

The Ordinary Christian life requires action.

There is a sense of urgency in this passage.

Rebekah’s brother would like her to stay.

And yet, Eliezer, says he cannot delay.

There is no such thing as a stagnant Christian.

I think of the person who says he’s going to:

But they never eat like they’re on a diet.

And you ask them about it, and they say, “Well it starts tomorrow.”

Start his diet tomorrow.

Begin exercising tomorrow.

So

Finish that novel tomorrow.

That’s not how God has called us.

There are some who claim to be Christians, but there has never been any action.

They’ve never repented.

They don’t obey.

They don’t serve.

They say Jesus is Lord, but they don’t obey Him.

They say Jesus is their Master, but they don’t serve Him.

They say His law is good, but they haven’t repented.

This doesn’t make sense?

The Ordinary Christian life is one of action.

:14 addresses this type of person.

“What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?”

The true Christian has actions, has works that accompany the change that has occurred in His heart.

says, “You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;”

The Ordinary Christian has works that accompany the faith that he proclaims.

Rebekah said she’d go to marry Isaac.

But there is no way she’d marry Isaac if she remained in Mesopotamia.

They don’t have cell phones, they can’t text each other.

They don’t have Skype or Facetime, so no video chats.

She needed to go.

Some Christians, are still in Mesopotamia, they haven’t gone yet.

The Christian who acts, who serves, who repents, that is the Ordinary Christian.

This is the normal.

Unfortunately, for most Christians, what should be ordinary is extraordinary.

What should be normal, is seen as radical.

I was on a plane earlier this year, next to a friend who is a Christian, who was next to a girl who was not a Christian.

He struck up a conversation with her and shared the gospel with her.

Afterwards, a group of us were talking about his conversation with her.

Some said that he must be gifted with evangelism since he shared the Gospel with her.

My friend wasn’t so sure.

He said, “You are saying I have the spiritual gift of evangelism because I did what all Christians should already be doing.”

Do you see how if someone does what he’s supposed to do it suddenly seems extraordinary?

He did what all Christians are commanded.

That should have been the ordinary Christian response.

And in most of Christianity it’s this way.

It’s a few who do the serving.

in most churches, its a few who do the serving.

It’s a few who repent.

It’s a few who obey.

Let’s turn this around and be ordinary.

And should be ordinary.

What should be normal?

That we be men and women of action.

Men - lead your family.

Let’s be active.

Women - submit to your husbands.

Children - obey your parents.

Christians - serve.

Ordinary Christians act.

Additionally, The Ordinary Christian Rejoices.

Look at the response of those around Rebekah after she decided to go, they rejoiced.

Verse 60 says, “Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him!”

You know what that is? That’s a marriage toast.

After a wedding, you have the reception.

And sometime during the reception there’s the toast.

And someone holds up a glass, and says a blessing upon the marriage.

“May you live happily ever after.”

And everyone smiles.

And they raise their glasses and drink in agreement.

This is a toast.

It’s something to celebrate.

Only it’s also much more than a toast.

These people who bless Rebekah, are also affirming the promise given to Abraham.

Rebekah’s children will become a mighty nation.

Now this is important for us, because one of her descendants will be Jesus Christ.

He will one day come and He will rule on this earth.

He will have a throne that endures forever.

He is the alpha and the omega.

He is the beginning and the end.

Isn’t this what we celebrate?

The Book of Revelation is a song, celebrating Christ’s victory and rule.

The Ordinary Christian rejoices.

Rejoicing, praise and worship isn’t for the super special people, this is for the ordinary Christians.

And why do we rejoice?

The same reason those who blessed Rebekah did.

Because we know Jesus Christ.

We know that He died for sin.

We know that He rose again.

We know that He sits at the right hand of the Father.

We know that He will return again.

A life of worship should not be rare within the church.

It should be normal.

When these women sang these words to Rebekah, they weren’t true yet.

They were blessing her for something that was yet to happen.

But where are we in the place of history.

We are on the side where Jesus has come.

And Jesus has paid for sins.

And if you are a believer, you have affirmed it by confessing Him as Lord.

And if Christ has redeemed you, then let’s be the most joyful people on the face of the earth.

As we serve may we be joyful.

In fact, even if we are to suffer may we be joyful.

Because we have a king who lives in heaven above, and who has promised to bring us to Him someday.

And finally, The Ordinary Christian Rests.

Rebekah makes her way across the desert.

And she sees Isaac in the distance.

In verse 63, it says that he’s meditating.

He’s praying to the Lord.

Perhaps he’s thinking about the promise given to his father, and how a wife would be how God continues to be faithful to His promises.

Rebekah sees him, she covers her face.

After Isaac meets her, they are married.

It says that she became his wife, he loved her and that he was comforted after his mother’s death.

The affects of the Lord’s kindness in our lives is that He provides rest and comfort.

I realize that throughout this sermon I have said there are things we do.

We:

Trust

Look for His glory

Act

Rejoice

But these are all the affects of Christ’s work in our lives.

They are not what save us.

There are people who spend their lives trying to improve themselves.

They try to become better people.

They try to clean up their lives.

They try to leave a mark.

And yet, their lives are never satisfied.

Look at celebrities in our nation.

They each have a pet cause.

One tries to save the whales.

Another, to care for animals in shelters.

And another tries to raise awareness of some disease that I didn’t know existed.

And how many of these celebrities die lonely lives.

It seems like almost every week a different one commits suicide.

They look for meaning, but it’s empty.

The glory of the Gospel is that God gives us rest.

We are comforted from life.

How can this be?

These people are trying to find meaning through their efforts.

In the Gospel, we are freed from trying to find meaning by our efforts, and instead we find meaning through what Christ has already accomplished.

When you stand before God, it’s not your actions that are seen, but His actions.

This rest should be ordinary.

Because this rest is what happens when you have faith and trust in what Jesus has done.

If all Christians are to have faith, then we can make the conclusion that the Ordinary Christian has faith, that the Ordinary Christian has rest.

Perhaps you’re one of those people who is trying to make yourself a better person, listen closely to how you do it affectively.

Ready.

You stop.

Look to Christ.

Dwell on the Cross.

You have sinned.

But the good news, the Gospel, is that Jesus died for sin.

And if He died for sin, then you cannot be punished again for it.

Rest in Christ.

Trust in Christ.

Live a life that is satisfied in what has already been accomplished.

Imagine you are one of those lucky individuals who actually pays off your house.

You wouldn’t keep paying for it would you?

The bank would send those checks right back to you, because the account is settled.

Christ has already paid for you.

So rest in what He has done.

And live the Ordinary Christian life.

Trust in God.

Look for God’s glory.

Act.

Rejoice.

And Rest.

Pray