We Can't Change the World

Attempts at a perfect world

There was quite a big trend in the 1800s for Utopian communities.

Separatists communities that lived by strict organization and rules designed to promote a community that was free of the things that hurt and separated societies.

The most wellknown Utopian group was the Shakers, who at their peak had more than 4000 people across the eastern US.

The Shakers were and interesting experiment

Deeply religious and pious.

Women and Men we equals and there was a total restriction on pre-creation and marriage.

With no babies being born, the only way to become a Shaker was to join from outside.

Though they were quite successful in the 1800s, you won’t find Shakers around today (outside of 1 small community in Maine who had only 2 members as of 2020).

All those experiments trying to create societies void of the struggles, injustices, and disparities we know and live with all failed, but why?

Even in our modern day, there are people all over the world fighting for freedom, fighting against injustice, fighting against evil groups and corrupt governments.

Those things still exist. And when we feel like we get through one struggle another one seems to take its place.

There is something at the core of all of this that is broken.

Last week I talked about how our rebellion against God is what spoiled God’s good creation.

The world we live in is broken and we are the ones that broke it. In fact, we are also broken.

So what are we to do?

Covenant Making God

Genesis 3:15 ESV

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.”

I shared last week how God made a promise to Adam and Eve and all humanity in His declaration over the serpent.

This statement has been labeled God’s first covenant with man.

A covenant is basically a promise, but much bigger.

The history recorded throughout the bible can be broken down into these kind of promises, covenants, that God makes with man.

The most well known are the Abrahamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant. Let’s briefly look at them.

Abrahamic Covenant

Genesis 12:1–7 ESV

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

God chooses a man named Abram (later changed to Abraham) as the Father of a nation of people whom He will bless and multiply and through whom He will use to represent Him to all the other Nations of the world.

Notice God’s promises to Abraham:

A great nation, a blessed people, a bountiful land.

This promise represents a reversal of the curse from Genesis 3. We have rebelled against God and become His enemies, but through Abraham there will be a huge group of people who will know God and be His people once again.

Following the line of Abraham, we see this very thing begin to come together.

Abraham and Sarah have Issac even though they are old.

Issac and Rebecca have Esau and Jacob. Jacob becomes the one who continues the promise.

Jacob has 12 sons and is renamed Israel, which becomes the family name.

Jacobs 12 sons have many children, one is Judah, who is very important for the later part of the story, and one is Joseph who through some rough spots in life ends up as a second hand man to Pharaoh king of Egypt.

At the end of the book of revelation, Joseph has successfully navigated Egypt through a famine and his brothers come to ask for food.

He brings the whole family to Egypt and for several 100 years they are well fed and blessed in Egypt, until a new Pharaoh comes into power.

In Exodus 1 we are told the nation of Israel has grow significantly and became a threat to Pharaoh so he enslaves them.

Remember the covenant, “don’t mess with my people” says the Lord.

So Moses is born and God calls him to go to Pharaoh and demand he let them leave.

After the Plagues and the splitting of the red sea, the people are free from Egypt and God begins to lead them toward the promised land.

Mosaic Covenant

In Exodus 19, we come to the next important covenant that God makes with His people, the Mosaic Covenant or the Sinai Covenant.

Exodus 19:3–6 ESV

3 while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

This is different than the Abraham covenant, it is a conditional covenant, meaning God’s part of the covenant is conditional on the Israelites keeping their side.

The Abrahamic Covenant was unconditional, unilateral since it was God saying to Abraham “I will make you into a great nation.”

We know the Moses covenant as the Ten Commandments, but it was made of many more laws/rules/expectations than just those 10.

There were dietary laws, cleaning laws, and many others.

Also God gave the people the sacrificial system within this covenant.

How they were to pay the penalty for their sinful deeds against God.

Pointing back again and again to the consequence of their rebellion.

When the Mosaic covenant was formed, the people of Israel responded to God's reminder to obey with the words "All that the LORD has spoken we will do" (Exodus 19:8).

However, the rest of the biblical history of that nation shows that they never obeyed Him for long.

They were hopelessly unable to accomplish the requirements of the Law.

Sacrifices and offerings were prescribed for sins, but even these were done incorrectly or halfheartedly.

The rest of the book of Exodus, and the rest of the OT, is like a roller coaster.

The people of God turn away from the Lord and are punished.

They repent and recommit to the Lord for a season, but it doesn’t last long, and they wander away again.

Even when God brings a mighty king in to lead the people and establish a powerful and important kingdom, they still wander, even that mighty king falls into sin.

By the end of the OT, the entire nation is split, scattered, and seemingly hopeless.

God had promised to make them a great nation, to bless and multiply them, but now they lie in ruins.

They had not held up their end of the covenant and now, it seemed, all hope was lost.

But God’s purpose for the Mosaic covenant was never intended to be the endgame, it was a way for Him to expose to His people, and in fact, us even this far removed from the story, that we can’t fix this broken world on our own.

I want to point out 3 things we can learn from the history of God people.

Learning from the Past

1) We can’t fix the WORLD OURSELVES.

I have pointed out over the past several weeks our natural human urge to for a better world.

We all desire it and we all have ways we are trying to create it for ourselves and for others.

Many of us put a lot of faith in politics and government to create TWWAW.

If we have the right party, the right politician, the right policies…then we would be able to create TWWAW, or at least get closer.

So we rail against the opposing party and blame them for much of the struggle we face.

Many of us give a lot of attention to social and cultural platforms as ways for us to create TWWAW.

Whether it is something like racial equality, how to deal with refugees and immigrants, poverty and economic issues, healthcare, or foreign affairs.

All of which are important issues.

But we naively believe these issues are what is keeping us from TWWAW, but it is something much deeper.

On a personal level, all of us are, to some degree, seeking to create TWWAW in our own personal or familial world.

It could be through money and possessions. (getting enough in order to make our world better).

It could be through being successful and accomplishing things.

Or it could be through experiences and opportunities.

Subconsciously, or maybe even consciously, thinking we can make OUR own personal world TWWAW even if the rest of the world stays broken.

But just like the people in Israel, every endeavor, every try we take and creating TWWAW fails.

2) We can’t fix OURSELVES OURSELVES.

The reason all our efforts in creating TWWAW fail isn’t because we didn’t try hard enough or the right political party or governmental system wasn’t in place.

The problem is US.

The problem with a better world is that the minute we become a part of us we will screw it up.

We are broken and broken people can’t fix a broken world.

David understood our brokenness

Psalm 51:5 CSB

5 Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

Psalm 58:3 CSB

3 The wicked go astray from the womb; liars wander about from birth.

Paul also describes who we are apart from Christ:

Ephesians 2:1–3 CSB

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also.

Our brokenness is too deep to fix with human means, it requires a change in the very root system.

A change of character, a new creation all together.

3) God is a COVENANT KEEPING God.

Don’t forget God’s promises to Abraham and Moses:

Genesis 12:2–3 CSB

2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

Exodus 19:5–6 ESV

5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

Did He make these promises before He knew how screwed up we really were?

Or did He just toy with us and build us up only to watch us wander around hopeless?

No that isn’t the God of the Bible!

Just like the promise He made to Adam and Eve in the garden that He completed in the death and resurrection of Jesus, He didn’t forget or forsake His promises to Abraham and Moses.

God knew we were incapable to fix the world or ourselves by ourselves.

There needed to be a deeper change.

So as the people of God were being held captive in Babylon, God spoke to the prophet Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 36:24–36 ESV

24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. 30 I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel. 33 “Thus says the Lord God: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. 34 And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. 35 And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ 36 Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the Lord; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.

Notice God’s promise in 24-27

He will rescue us out of our exile.

He will wash us from our sinful deeds and our worship of false gods (all the things we hope will make our lives better but never will).

He will give us new hearts, hearts not broken by sin and rebellious toward Him.

Hearts able to listen and be molded, rather than hard and calloused.

He will give us a new Spirit, which is actually Himself, the Holy Spirit, who will cause us to walk in God’s statues and follow His rules (Mosaic Covenant).

And then He goes on:

vs 28 “You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers,”

vs 29-30 “I will clean you up and you will never be hungry again.”

vs 35 “I will make these broken places all around you like the garden of Eden once was.”

Yes, God will fulfill His promises. He will heal this broken world.

But first He will heal us, restore us, give us new hearts, and a new Spirit.

And that very Spirit is the one who speaks to our hearts and may be speaking you your heart this morning.

A wise pastor once told me, the gospel can be summarized in three realizations.

I am broken and need of a Savior.

I cannot save myself.

Jesus can.

For many people, the one thing keeping them from coming to Christ is feeling like they could never do it.

“I can never do it. I could never do it. I can’t measure up. I’ve read enough of the Bible to know you’re supposed to love your enemies. And you’re supposed to put to death the deeds of the body, like lust, and I can’t.”

You would never be able to do what Christians are supposed to do.

So hear me when I say this: you can’t!

But God can and will

You can’t clean up you act, get right with the Lord, or get yourself ready for salvation.

You are broken, and your only hope is Jesus.

So come to Him, and let him do the work you could never do.