God's Divine and Human Family

So when the second day of our, I mean the second Sunday of our series on the supernatural, I introduced this to you last week and I was trying to encourage you and basically the whole goal of this is to help us understand and to see the world the way in ancient Israelites, all the world. The reason I want you to do that is because it will help you understand the Bible, it will help you understand the strange passages in the Bible. Those passages that we tend to like, as pastors anyway. Our preachers, the kind of skip over or like, you know, not in precise too much. They're not even in the lectionary. Like, they just like bypass a lot of them cuz they're kind of hard to understand. The way to understand though is by understanding the complete story of the Bible. In other words, to understanding the Bible, the way in ancient Israelite saw it and my hole. Is also not just to like give you a history lesson about how the ancient people of Israel understood the world though. Hopefully we'll be part of it. But my real point is to help you connect with this Impala, this incredible story of the Bible. It is powerful. It is so powerful that it has the potential to completely alter your life. It has done. So for billions of Christians, over these past two thousand years and many, many more people over. Even more thousands are more Millennia into the past. This story has the power to impact you today. This week to help you see the world differently. And it's hard because they saw the world so differently. If one of the things that makes it challenging to understand how Ancient Israelites saw it is all of the baggage that we bring to our reading of scripture and fox will see scripture through our lens, my glasses there, like I'm like getting really old today. Like I like have increased and age by like 10 years to my eyesight just like, is not working very well or to sweat, it's kind of getting in my eye. But anyway, we all have glasses that work or in this case kind of are not working for me. Today, we have lenses that we see the world through and that she has that. We always always have we come to an ancient texts. I mean, get into your mind like and some of those like Raiders of the Lost Ark, you know, those really anxious and taxed if they open up, he's usually reading like Latin tax. But those ancient texts me. It is so foreign to us and we are so familiar with it or at least we think we're so familiar with the Bible that we failed to remember just how boring this book is. It is first and a contact that is very different than ours and it is using an image has from that context. There's probably one of the oldest cities known, where we were worship of God, or a Transcendent happened, was called Brett and it send you like Siri is region. It's a very old city and a lot of the images that come from or that you see in scripture are drawn from that culture that that ancient the ancient near East is what we call it the ancient near East had certain images and certain stories that were floating around in their brain is just like we have an h. And so when we come to those images and those stories we see them trying to Put two words something that cannot be put into words. We see them. Trying to describe something that is Indescribable. We see them trying to help us understand this reality.

That we can't, that's really on a fundamentally. We cannot understand. And so, like, in Christianity, we use a knowledge, he's all the time and I don't know what you got to introduce last Sunday, to you was. What if I told you that there was a tiny, tiny creature? So, small, in fact, you could not see it, but it does stuff like you. It moves around a breeze and eat it, it reproduces. It does the things that you do as a living creature, but you can't even see it. And would you believe that? And of course you would because such a creature exists even though we can't see it. And so I introduced you to the paramecium Knology. This is a creature with that's one cell. Just oneself does everything that a living thing does and it's one sell my middle school students. When we look at these under the microscope they're just like amazed. They're they they stare at it for a long time. And I'm like I got other people. I got to get you through here. Come on. Stop staring but there's this Wonder like holy cow. I can't believe that thing exists. The microscope in general has uncovered. This really, really strange world that creature belongs to a world called Kingdom Protista. That is really, really weird things.

There is an Unseen World that we absolutely as our scientific brains can comprehend. Now believe in what the people of scripture, the ancient near East believed and an Unseen World as well. And it is impossible to describe They are trying to describe it. And so we use the analogy of a mosaic. So if I'm trying to describe that creature to somebody, that has never even heard of paramecium, never even heard of a microscope or the microscopic world. What would I be doing? Well I would say something like what's got this? Like seeing what kind of it looks like a little opening time on the side. There's this there's like maybe this like a group of things is like a ball. Looks like a song kind of or maybe there's this like on the edges like a strange sort of colors of these. Little protruding deals are sticking out and waving around in the air. I would not do a very good job showing you that and trying to describe that. Right, that is what you need to think about scripture ice. You need to think about scripture as people who have had a revelation but they don't see it fully, right? They don't understand it fully. But what you see in the Bible is pieces Mosaic describing this thing here, describing that thing they're trying to say it's kind of like this kind of like that and in order to help us because obviously there's not like these images, these pictures that they're showing people, they're describing with words and the words that they use are really strange. And in fact it's very strange and our translations don't even help us real. See how strange it is because all point of a translation is not make it strange for you to kind of try to help you grasp it. But when we do that we lose things until last Sunday. We talked about Psalm 82 verse one. Where translators are going to reword this all the time in ways that will make it more comprehensible to people are try to. But anytime you put a translation into new words, you are interpreting it. And so the interpretation takes us away from what the actual word say. I showed you got in that verse 18 talks about Elohim. So God, and the Elohim. The gods. So it's hot verse God Elohim Elohim. Twice in diverse. And so you see like interpreters trying to like help you like not freak out or is he talking about like a Pantheon or they're little more than one God, what's going on there? But in scripture the Elohim and Elohim is more of a description of that reality, the paramecium. That heaven, that God space, where things are that we can't quite comprehend. But we try to, or is the Apostle Paul. We see in a glass Darkly, we're not like completely one-hundred-percent. Crystal clear on what's going on here. What is that song? Those two words are. Put to get the same word is put together in the same verse. So what's going on there? And so, I tried to suggest to you, that these descriptions that you see in the songs all the time like the host of Heaven, have you seen that or in the message? You'll see it translated. And you can actually in Translation that we use in here the NLT you'll see God of Heaven's armies, God of Heaven's armies. Or we looked at a passage from xecul and Elijah opened up his servants. I want a video, but from Kings Elijah opens up his servants eyes and he saw these Chariots of Fire Write it. So we see if you ever spend any time like really trying to piece out with a spa arms or saying, or if you ever spend time in like the prophets like Ezekiel, which is way out there or Isaiah or Jeremiah or these like the sections where thus says the Lord, the profits are using this. They have these pieces that are trying to help you see, the trying to get you to see this, or at least they see this part of it. And eventually, you'll start to pee stuff together. And even though as Paul says, where I could see fully now, We'll have a better picture and so I'm not trying to tell you that I'm about to describe to you, heaven or what Eden is. But I'm going to tell you that what we're doing here is we're creating or trying to pick out these little pieces of a mosaic and it truly is Mosaic. It does fit into a larger picture. We will see a lot of that picture, but not all of it, we have to keep that in mind. And so I suggest it to you last week, we need to lower the skepticism a little bit and increase our humility. We have this ancient text using ancient images using things from their world in order to make descriptions of something that cannot be described. God is ineffable. We cannot comprehend the fullness of God. That makes sense. Doesn't it? If we think God is creating everything that is seen and unseen, then how are we? As part of that creation, supposed to believe that we can comprehend the mind of the creator? And so we need to mail it to you, but we come to scripture always and. So today, what I want to do is Advance the story a little bit. We talked about these Elohim or as a described and Joe the bnei Elohim. The sons of God, we talked about how they're part of this heavenly Council. And you're going to see that our passage today. Because now what I want to do is add you into this picture. So we have these sons of God, estranged, not gods, and terms of like equal footing of God. With some house Servants of God, that are part of this Council that God uses in order to do what God wants to dine in creation. But that's not the only part of the Divine Council, you are part of that. And so we get to Genesis chapter 1.

We're going to actually buy Genesis chapter 2. We're going to get to something that is called Eden, really. Look at Genesis chapter 1, the end, but it takes us into. And this is like a image. I want you to have in your brain while we're talking about this whole section because the story starts off With this concept is idea that heaven on the top Circle and Earth that bottom Circle are overlapping. And the Bible calls that Eden uses the image of a garden because everybody knows that Gardens, especially Hanging Gardens. For example, on high places are like where you beat the Divine or Gardens or mountains, or where you go up to heaven. And so, mountains are very important in scripture or Eden is described as a garden because it is a place of life. It is a place. We're having an overlap, right? So, The Divine, I mean, yeah, the Divine and the right are there together in the garden. So we think we're reading the Garden of Eden story. In Genesis chapter 2. We said was only one there, but it's not true. There are other characters and their describe and ways that evoke the Divine like a snake. For example, a way to comprehend this creature with a creature but also not functioning like a preacher. So we have this overlap of Heaven and Earth and part of who is and not overlap. So the sons of God, the Divine people and then Earthly people Adam and Eve. Okay, don't want you to take this. Literally people get into a lot of trouble when they do. They start saying things that don't make any sense at all. And so, this is kind of the one of the like, Difficulties of being a pastor's, son being my van. I got some better way to put it. It's an argument with his friends and he was like, you should not read the Bible, like a science textbook. And you shouldn't you should not read the Bible, like a science textbook. Cuz if you do, and the way he was, the reason he knew that is cuz one day and he was asking me about this stuff, I was like, all right, go get your bike and he opened it up and we started going through, line-by-line Genesis chapter one. And I told him I was like, we're going to be very very literal here, okay? And I want you to draw what we say, and how we go through it. And so he's making a drawing. And by the end of the drawing, what we get is a flat world. Cat not round flat, world covered and a dome. Like there's a dumb and then all around that Dome and underneath that world that land is water. Okay. And he's like, that's not right, I might know, it's not right? It's so we're not reading the Bible like a science textbook. And that's really important because you don't want to say stupid stuff, like the World is Flat. You just don't okay and the church has made that mistake for a long time to say things like that but we don't need to if we keep in mind with the Bible is doing is giving you a magician, a little piece of the Mosaic and they're trying to put into words what it is that's going on and that picture of the World. By the way, is exactly the same picture that we read from other ancient, near East text, like the Epic of Gilgamesh and other Uber Riddick test text pictures of their world, like I'm taking the paramecium of our world, and they're trying to describe something. And that something is much more wonderful and much bigger than Are we got to somehow believe in creationism and say the World is Flat. Okay, we get, that's a modern like this. I'm in a weird discussion that happened at the turn of the 20th century and it's like invaded our brains. And so in America, we are weird Christian. They Don't Really deal with this and other parts of the world where we are just like Tae tend to like seven days of creation and we got to like it's a literal thing and literal Adam and Eve don't have to do that because if you do then you won't take this story seriously. And you won't see the power because this story is going to tell you who you are and it's going to tell you what you should do. So let's go to Genesis 1:26 will keep eating this overlap of Heaven and Earth and mind. So Genesis chapter 1, starting with verse 26. This is the ends, right? It's the 6th day and we're about to create the Pinnacle of creation, the ultimate imager. And I want you to pay attention to the words that are here then God said, let Who. Us. Make human beings and what our image you ever noticed that. you've read scripture, if you ever seen how strange that is, Let us in our image. If you're taking that sounds like there are multiple gods there then, you're right. It is those sons of God, those Benet Elohim that are there. The Divine Council that is already present if I drove 38 this connection when he scolding Joe, where you there at the creation of the world, when the sons of God, when they all he and the morning Bright Morning Star was coming up. I forgot. I worked a bit where you there with the b'nai, all he, that's the Hebrews that's in. That passage Were You There When We Were creating? So, the kind of the idea here is, this is a great little kind of way to think about it. That I got from dr. Michael Heiser. It says, Like this. When if I said to you, let's go get some pizza. Let us, okay, I'm talking to you a group. That's how it is in this verse. Let's let us make human beings. Now what's the deal though? Are we being made in the image of some weird Divine Son of God? No we're not. We are being made in the image of God cuz it's switches to the singular. So let us make human beings in our image to be like us, they will reign over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky in the livestock and all the wild animals on earth and the small animals that Scurry along the ground. So did they create us? No, this is singular now so God created God is saying let us make human beings a creature. That's different than you a mud person. Hummus person, right? Human let us make a human being adamah is the word they're in our image, okay? So somehow these creatures us are in the image of God. Now I took a whole class on what's the image of God and entire semester on what is the image of God. And I can tell you I'm going to summarize it for you, okay? It's not imagination. It's not intelligence. It's not any attribute whatsoever that you think you have that nothing else in this world has They just like a lot of old-time theologians with talk about intelligence. Well, no, because there's no pretty intelligent animals out there. That we're discovering all the time. It's not something you have, it's something you're given. And that's important for you to understand some things that you are giving out of God's grace. It's something that you have and can lose something you're given. So you are the image of God and that has profound profound implications, you are the image of God, God, created human being and his own image, and the image of God, he created them male and female he created them. So that's your identity. What's your purpose? Then. God bless them and said be fruitful and multiply fill the Earth and govern, it's raining over the fish of the Sea and the birds of the air and all the animals that Scurry along the ground. That's your purpose. You are a ruler. You are part of the Divine Council that you the human part of this whole heavenly host that is given the task of Eden eyes in the world. I just made that off. I like it. so, that image right there, We are in this Garden this place we're having an Earth are overlapping the garden image. By the way, is really important cuz in the Tabernacle or the temple that is made, what kinds of images are in there?

Plants. Fruits Garden images. And that's not, that's very, very intentional. And so this thing Eden, it's a metaphor that the biblical authors are going to use again and again and again to stay and help you understand what the world is all about. And what your task is all about and who you are and what you should be all about your role and verse 28, here is to basically eat a nice ride. Eden out to complete this overlap of Heaven and Earth. So that everything in this world on this planet Is. Connected to and with Heaven Among Us. So instead of talking about super natural which can be time to turn off work and kind of be like, interesting, some people get really into that. I don't really like Supernatural cuz that's not really what they're trying to say. Here super that prefix, I'm such a nerd is above So above the natural. That's not really. What's being described is really like Tara, which means in and through the natural. It's this idea that somehow and you can't imagine, don't even try. This is just, this is like a little thing too. Kind of the signpost. We're trying to like create hear the authors are trying to describe a place where Heaven and Earth are in the same Dimension at the same time. To use. Language of the modern mathematician. It is, you can't even imagine that. It is literally the same space is occupied by two things, Heaven and Earth. Heaven, penetrating, and with, and through surrounding Earth. I was reading a book. That was pretty good. And you, by the way, this idea is developed a lot in the Eastern Orthodox, tradition. And so, this guy was writing a book and he had a place called Lefty's and he was trying to, he was like a young adult fiction kind of book and he was trying to get at the idea that these is actually the same Space Heaven and Earth at the same time overlapping and stuff that's going on. There is the same stuff that's going on here and the stuff we do here, affects stuff that happens there. It was his little attempt to try to describe this reality. Something that is hard to describe, but everytime, I try to, I can't really until these authors are creating these images for us and the image. But being created, here is a garden. You want to know what happened in Earth overlap is like, it's like a garden, you know, Gardens were the places that Kings went. They had the Leisure and the resources to be there. So, gardening is what your task on Earth is like, you're supposed to cultivate your supposed to care for your supposed to make thrive. This space because when you do that in some way you are tapping into this. Having an earth having on Earth kind of space. Got it. Questions. Questions questions. But I don't want to take a nap now. So keep this in mind. Your task is to Eden eyes or if that's the original past to make eaten the rest of this world. And so when we get to all kinds of different passages in Scripture that will help us to understand who we are, we are created in God's image, which means we are created as Sons of God. So we get to passages. I just want to have a few passages to help the show you how strange this is. I'm not read them through, I just want to reference them. So we start to understand that God wants us to see ourselves as part of this Council. But rather a part of this family is a better way to, maybe you would say it. We start to understand how the Bible, why the Bible refers us refers to us, as children of God, sons of God as daughters. Cuz it's actually there's that both feminine and mail as daughters and sons of God, like in John and chapter 1 and chapter 11 and Galatians and 1st John. We also start to understand why Believers are described as being adopted into a family again be incorporated into this family, like in Galatians and Romans, Paul use that image a lot or we understand why were called Heirs of the kingdom of God, Galatians and Titus, and James gets at that idea why we're call partakers of the divine nature. See if you really think about it. Partakers of the divine nature that 2nd Peter 1:4 also, 1st John uses that image. We understand why. After Jesus returns, we are said to be granted to eat of the Tree of Life tree of life, which is in this Garden that we hear about in Chapter 2 is that what does that even mean? And we are to be with him in Paradise, Revelation 27, why we are also promised to share the rule of the nation's with Christ and even his own Throne, that also comes from Revelation 2. So these things that are are are said that we are that are playing out or or like teasing out what it means to be an actual child of God. An actual child of God created by God part of God's family to understand what that actually means. If you actually took that. Serious. How do you think it would change your life?

How would that change? How you approach life? How is that change how you approach other people or deal with other people? Have you took seriously this idea that you are a child of God? A sign of god. Daughter of God. And you are part of this larger family, this Heaven and Earth, family, and that you were made, and given an image. Not something that you achieved on your own. Something graciously given to you. I want to change how you talk to other people. How you treat other people, how that change? What you tolerate and our society would you tolerate racism? Would you tolerate people going hungry? Would you tolerate destroying the garden? How would it change your actions, saying? Everybody needs to become a farmer? But they're actually the most spiritual people know, because what we see here, is once you grasp, your identity is going to change your purpose. Or rather help you to live out your purpose. Your purpose is to eating eyes the world. That's your purpose to reclaim the world and say this little corner of the Kingdom right here. But I am in Kingdom of God that's being used in the New Testament. This space right here, we're claiming it and we're eating izing it. We are going to be people who won't tolerate racism. Won't tolerate. Injustice won't tolerate treating people badly. Or try to feed people to help them partake of the abundance of this. Very good world that God has made. We're going to work to keep the doors open. Literally today to allow people to come, and be a part of a safe space where they can encounter God and they see God and one another. My challenge to you guys is really. I'm trying to think about how I want you to do. This is so in my brain, I'm like I want them to reprogram their brain. To see themselves as Sons and Daughters of God, part of God's family and I want them to connect with their purpose. So I'm like, how can they reprogram themselves in order to really start to take that seriously? I so what I want you to do is create some kind of like trigger and I suggest it be the first time you look at yourself in the mirror each day. And so, what I want you to do is that first moment when you look at yourself in the mirror after you you know the horror wears off you like so old. Take a breath and I want you to stay. I am a child of God and if you're really bald name at yourself, Brian you're a child of God. I really want you to do that because we need to help you reframe everything. We need to like work on the lenses, right? Help sharpen them up, polish them off so that you can start to see with the eyes that Elijah was giving his servant to see with Brian, you are a child of God. Luther juice to do this when he was like taking out like bath or we was washing off, he would say you're baptized you're baptized. So I want you to try to get looking in the mirror like if you never look at yourself in the mirror which that's kind of cool actually. But if you never do then get some other kind of trigger. Something that you do right away in the morning, maybe it's up first spoonful of cereal. That's my favorite thing to make. And say, I'm a Child of God. I'm a Son of God. I'm a daughter of God and then I want you to connect with what that means. Today. I am going to be claimed this part of creation for God. I'm going to do my best to create a space that is Eden eyes. I eaten eyes recreating, bringing eaten into here. And now because the end of the story guys is what we read and not Revelation Passage This is how the Bible ends, the new Heaven and a new Earth, come down. And once again, it's not just a small overlap, it's a complete overlap. Have an end are once again all together. That's the end of the story. And so when you do this, when you were firm in the morning, I am a Son of God. I'm a child of God and you start to live in two and take. Seriously what that means and claim your calling whatever you're doing. What you're dealing drugs, whatever you're doing that be used and refrained as important for the work of the kingdom of God. everything you do, have your phone call, you make everything, you say, the people you reach out to the people, you feed the people that you encounter the way, you talked to, your husband, the way you talk to your wife, the way you talk to your kids, Everything you do and be be framed in terms of living out what it means, to image God to the world, to be a son or daughter of God. What in there, there's more to be said, so come back in two weeks and we will talk more about this whole Strange World of the Bible to God, be all the glory now and forever.

So, I want invite you to Stanton to join me and a worship response.