Celebrating God's faithfulness

Ever feel like you need a reboot in your Christian life?

slow Computer

computer that after couple of years got really slow, and would crash, so had to restart. For a while this worked, but over time would become more and more clogged up with cookies, and virus’ got to stage where needed a factory reset. Once returned to its original settings, worked smoothly again for a while.

Sometimes wonder in Christian life, whether we continually need a reboot or factory reset. To get back to basics.

Last week thought about remembering his goodness. Look to past, in scripture, in our lives. Look to Jesus and his work on the Cross securing our salvation. Look together, encouraging each other.

Perhaps look at sin in lives - why hasn’t got taken it away? Start to get clocked up with doubts and guilt and shame

Perhaps look at situation, why hasn’t God made life easier? Srtart to get bogged down by circumstances.

Perhaps we have found ourselves with a wrong exectation of Christian life, trapped in this cycle of being dissappoiinted at God, but then guilty over it.

This morning see answer. Reset our Spiritual systems - continually coming back to God’s faithfulness.

Keep coming back to God’s faithfulness

Why pause in narrative to go into such depth about circumcision. Answer is that this is a new era for God’s people, and in a way what is happening here is system reboot. They are returning to the basics of what it means to be the people of God by responding to and declaring God’s faithfulness.

There is tension point in v6:

Joshua 5:6 (NIV)

The Israelites had moved about in the wilderness forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the Lord. For the Lord had sworn to them that they would not see the land he had solemnly promised their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Don’t if you experienced the little spinning icon (spinning wheel of soom) on computer, basically when something has stuck, or its about to crash.

But kind of what see God’s people doing, looked so promising coming out of Egypt, approaching promised land but then they freeze. Crash. End up stuck, spinning for 40 years.

Is God faithful to his promises or not?

In this second circumcision get the answer - YES.

Because what does God do in the face of the disobedience, failure of his people? He keeps his promises entact by bring them to fulfilment for their children. Joshua and this new generation experiemce the reboot. Start of a new era of of God’s eternal faithfulness. Perhaps why does another Exodus type miracle at Jordan - resetting their hearts, to see his faithfulness. Before they were living in the wilderness under the sin of their Fathers, uncircumcised and lost, but now they are have through faith recieved what God has promised.

This is purpose of circumcision - God is renewing his covenant with them, his promises, They are the proof that the disobedience of their Father has not got in the way of God’s plans or promises. Here they are being fulfilled. A people set apart as God’s own, in the land he promised, under his blessing. God is faithful.

See through history, through bible. The LORD is unchanging in character and unwavering in his faithfulness to his promises, but that the peoples experience of those promises is frustrated by their sin.

Why did the people wonder around the wilderness for 40 years? Was it because God had forgetten his promise? No -

Joshua 5:6 NIV

The Israelites had moved about in the wilderness forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the Lord. For the Lord had sworn to them that they would not see the land he had solemnly promised their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

So what does God do? Does he give up on his promises or his people? No - he raises up a new generation with a new leader and fulfils his promises to them.

Throughout OT see this pattern - God faithfully working to fulfil his promsies, and these moments where everything seems to be running smooth, until leader, or people fail - let sin clog up system, stop operating in God’s plan, so their experience of God’s promises of land and people and blessing are pulled away, until God’s people are scattered and broken - like a complete system meltdown.

But God in his faithfulness hasn’t finished with us. Promise remains. because at end of OT, God promises to send someone to deal with the root problem.

And in the gospels we read how he came in the person of Jesus to deal with our sin, so that we might enjoy the benefits of his promises forever. That we might be his people, that we might experience his blessing, and one day we be in his perfect Kingdom.

God is faithful. Yet how often our experience of that faithfulness is warped by wrong expectations or sinful hearts.

water damaged computer

likely to void warrants

We expect things that God never promises, like wordly riches or a comfortable life now.

In our sin we twist what God is like, making him out to be a hard taskmaster or a grumpy teenager - who asks to much and falls out with us when we don’t get things right. We let our feelings of being distant lead us to believe that he is distant. We let our feelings of powerlessness lead us to believe that he isnt powerful.

When don’t experience the peace that he promises because don’t trust in his sovereign rule and try and get control wherever we can.

We don’t experience the joy he promises because we go searching for it in the things he made rather than in him.

We dont experience the power he promises because we push on in our own strength instead of depending on him.

We don’t experience the hope he promises because we want everything now

What is solution. We regularly if not daily need a system reboot - come back to the core - God’s unchanging faithfulness. And let this truth penetrate every area of our lives, every circumstance we face.

illustration about lens through which we see the world

What might it look like to live under and enjoy faithfulness of God? 3 applications of faithfulness of God for us. 3 R’s

Rely on God’s faithfulness

What was the failure of previous generation? Why didnt they enjoy the promise land - because they failed to trust God to do what promised he would do. Spies sent to Canaan, seeing the size of the enemy, they forget who is on their side, and cause peopel to fear. Fail to trust God. They were relying on their own strength, and it wasn’t enough.

When all they needed to do was same trust in the God who parted the sea.

When we feel weak, or tempted, or condemned, distant, or whatever it is, instead of letting our view of God be warped, we need to look at these things with a lens of God’s faithfulness, so that we might rely on him more.

That is the purpose of the signs the LORD has given us. Thankfully not circumcision, but baptism. An permenant symbol of God’s faithfulness in bringing us from Spiritual death to life through our unity with Christ.

Why we have the Lord’s supper - a continually reminder of God’s faithfulness in the Lord Jesus - his sacrifice on our behalf, that we might be acceptable to God.

What are these but visual demonstrations of the faithfulness of God, but also reminders of our need to rely on that faithfulness, and not on ourselves.

Tragic irony of previous generation is that they had the sign, mark, but forget what it.

1 Corinthians 10:1–5 NIV

For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

Right heritage but wrong hearts. They failed to rely on God’s faithfulness, shown by their disobedience.

Danger for us to - might have been baptised, may share in the LORD’s supper, but in our day to day lives to we too quickly turn back to self reliance, to comfort, and as result fail to experience peace, love, joy, power and hope for our Christian lives that God promises.

Let us reset our lens, and look at our lives through God’s faithfulness, and not turn from it. Because as we rely on it, it will also bring us rest.

Rest in God’s faithfulness

Rest from enemies

Joshua 5:8 NIV

And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed.

Take note. Think about where they are. Just crossed in to enemy territory. Nations know they are coming. Stories about them have spread everywhere. Is this the best time to have surgery?

What has God done, in his faithfulness, as His peopel have relied on him. Caused all their enemies to fear - such that they wont even face them. No armies are marching out. So right before they even begin they are resting. And what is really amazing is the word healed in verse 8 has same root word in Hebrew as verb TO LIVE.

Here on plains of Jericho, people have been brought to Spiritual life in new land. and will continue to enjoy life as they rest in God’s faithfulness.

How much more is that true for us. As we rely on the faithfulness of the risen LORD JESUS, we need not be restless in worry or fearful about future. The enemy is alredy defeated, and can do no harm to us, as long as we remain in Jesus. It’s in this truth that we start to experience the peace that surpases all understanding.

Because whatever life may bring, we are secure in Christ. We have life in him.

Joshua 5:9 NIV

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal to this day.

As God renews his covenenat with this new generation theres not just physcially healing but identity healing. Sense in which previous generation, though free from Egypt still carried the shame of their enslavement. But here as this new generation are circumcied, given new life in the new land - what is God doing but rolling their shame away.

Isn’t that exactly what God has done for us in rolling away the stone exposing an empty tomb.

He has rolled away the shame of our slavery to sin and death. It no longer bears a shadow us. We are a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.

We are no longer defined by our sin, but are children of God. What a truth to bring us joy. What a truth to free us from guilt. We are liberated by his love.

As we rely on God’s faithfulnes, we experience rest in his faithfulness, as we see all his promises applied to us, and experienced Spiritually now, and physciually in the new creation. We can rest in God’s faithfulness, knowing that through Christ we are loved, accepted, secure, free, valuable, purposeful.

To help us do that, we do what we thought about last week, we remember and we

Reflect on God’s faithfulness

Joshua 5:11–12 NIV

The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.

Notice circumcision is reintroduced, so is passover. System reboot - return to the core programs that help everythign run smoothly - symbiol sof God’s faithfulness to be continually running.

That is what we do in the sacrements of baptism and LS. Baptism is symbol that we have a new heart - that we have been reborn. A new operating system, Jesus is our maker and Saviour and Ruler. LS we reboot - return to core truth together of his faithfulness. About remembering as we thought about last week.

Something else significant here: 2 things writer includes. details.

First that the manna stopped.

This is so significant, could so easily overlook this. And miss out on something God has been doing all the way through the wilderness experience, showing his faithfulness. Even in their sinful state, God has fed them. They havent had to go hunting, or searching. From just after Exodus, for 40 years God has provided bread from heaven every day. Extraordinary provision.

Joshua makes this note, so that reader doesn’t overlook God’s extrodinary work the ordinary every day of the wilderness life.

(picture of rich produce.

But then he also notes why the manna stops - bevcause they don’t need it anymore.

I was thinking about reflecting on need to remember God’s faithfulness in obvious evidence of his work and every day provision of what we need - and that is true - but there is somethign more going on.

We are in the wilderness experience. And in the ordinary everyday how easy it can be to forget, or fail to see God’s extroniary provision of grace - the spiritual manna that keeps us alive. What do we experience every day but heavenly bread. As we open his word, as we rely on him, his mercys are new every morning, his grace is sufficient for every passing day. Every day Spirit produces in us hope, love and faith - to keep us going, more than that, tasty morcels - taste and see that he is good. Until we reach the land, and manna will stop - because we will enjoy the rich banquest of the Kingdom.

How do we keep Spiritual walk runnning smoothly - conintually reflecting on his faithful provision, resting in his faithfulness for our peace, and relying on his faithfulness for our salvation.

System reboot

Spiritual system reboot. Has weight of sin, or emotional struggle or circumstance clogged up your Spiritual life. Reboot. Come back to see God’s faithfulness. Rely on it, rest in and reflect on it, let it be the lens through which you see your life and the world, let his mercys renew day by time.