When Death Became the New Normal
Notes
Transcript
Because He Lives
Connecting Sunday school with this series
Tis so sweet
Such a happy day to remember the welcoming of the Messiah in Jerusalem. And we look forward to the even better celebration next weekend and we remember Him coming out of the tomb!
But what a hard week in between! He went to Jerusalem knowing He would die. He accepted the hosanna’s knowing He would die. He allowed the crowd to cheer as He rode into town knowing they would all turn on Him, and He would die. But His death was not in vain! Through it He would bring many sons to Glory!
The death Jesus faced when He went to Jerusalem had been the new normal since the fall of man. Before the fall, death wasnt even a thing on this earth. After the fall, everything living thing on this earth faced death. But Jesus also knew He was about to finish death. Put an end to it. Kick it to the curb! Jesus knew He was ushering in ETERNAL LIFE! And just so we keep the right perspective:
3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
When salvation comes, eternal life begins!
Today we will look at Palm Sunday through the lens of . Palm Sunday as seen in light of the fall of man. Sin entered the perfection of Eden. God made payment for that same sin.
Here’s the universal truth that drives this our topic today. God is just. Justice says sin requires some sort of punishment, some form of payment. Damage someone’s property? Pay to have it fixed. Take what doesn't belong to you? Consequences.
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.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”
23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
The problem we have in is when sin was chosen, death entered. The relationship died. And some creature died.
Death entered when sin was chosen. Make no mistake about it, original sin was a choice. There was a long ramp leading up to that jump, but ultimately there was a choice.
Death of the perfection of the garden
It put mankind against one another - the woman made me do it
It put mankind against nature - the serpent made me do it
It put mankind against God -next
Death of the relationship between God and man
You see sin will always put us being where we should not be, doing what we should not do. We see that here when God asked “where are you?” and when He asked “what have you done?”.
Death came by way of one man, Adam. But it was Eve’s fault! Well not really...
Salvation came by way of one man, Christ. He took all the punishment and wrath for all the sin that followed the original one. Took it all for us.
The hard part of the creation story is that sin broke everything! It broke creation itself. Every part of nature and all beings are broken.
God told Adam he would return to dust because he came from dust. Because of sin, everything in creation is headed to the same end. Leave a nail in the weather? It begins to rust. That’s the nail returning to what it is made from. Leave a board in weather? It will rot. That’s the wood returning to what it was made from.
So how do we push back against the brokenness of this old world we live in?
Believe God - Trust Him
He has your best interest at heart - Like you want what is best for your own family, He wants what is best for His children. When you have the choice to trust God, it’s not a trap! Adam and Eve thought it might be. Hosea wrote in ch 6 ‘there they dealt faithlessly with Me’. God saw their taking of the fruit, falling to temptation, as a faithless act.
and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
Adam was not deceived? No, he had heard God’s word directly from His mouth. So he knew better. He chose rebellion. Eve’s curse was within her. Adam’s curse affected the rest of creation! So the ground itself, which was said to be so good that it brought forth seedbearing plants (which were for the good of man and beast alike) began to produce thorns and thistles. Anything else you get from it will be hard to come by!
Some of us are in the same boat: we know exactly what God’s word says about us, our life, our money, our family time, our kids and WE CHOOSE REBELLION.
Resist Temptation - Trust Him
Know the Word -
But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
1 Timothy
In a moment of temptation it is possible to be deceived. Eve had heard God’s voice. She had seen Him. She knew Him and was known by Him. But she was deceived in a moment of temptation.
When we are deceived we always believe this lie: The payoff for <insert sin here> is better than God’s plan.
I normally would say: Deception is the ornately wrapped package, adorned with ribbons and bows, but containing a roll of toilet paper. But these days TP is about the best gift you could give!
When we trust Him, we never fall for the lie.
Know the Word - Trust Him
Let’s allow God to say what is good. He did when He created the world. Eve may have stepped in it when she began to determine what was good for herself. See that in v.6? If we let the Word be the standard of good, we are much better off. But we have to know the word for that to be who we are.
If you will choose Him, His way, His will, He can take the darkest circumstances and work them out for good.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
In the past few weeks you have been sharing encouraging scripture with one another. You have reached out to friends and neighbors to ‘spur one another on’. You have thrilled your pastor’s heart as I see and hear of your love for God and each other!
Thursday’s food pantry distribution story: Hiway Dept. Crew
We said there was a great problem in . Let me point you to THE great solution we find in the Gospels. Jesus! His life, death and resurrection ushered in THE solution to sin. His ascension and impending return will usher in the renewal, redemption of all sin has damaged.
Remember this is Palm Sunday after all! God took the obedience of His son in the darkest of circumstances and brought hope and life and salvation for mankind!
Winston Churchill had planned his funeral, which took place in Saint Paul’s Cathedral. He included many of the great hymns of the church and used the eloquent Anglican liturgy. At his direction, a bugler, positioned high in the dome of Saint Paul’s, intoned, after the benediction, the sound of “Taps,” the universal signal that says the day is over.
But then came a dramatic turn: as Churchill instructed, after “Taps” was finished, another bugler, placed on the other side of the great dome, played the notes of “Reveille”—“It’s time to get up. It’s time to get up. It’s time to get up in the morning.”
That was Churchill’s testimony that at the end of history, the last note will not be “Taps”; it will be “Reveille.”
The worst things are never the last things.
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Easter Service - Drive In Church!