Colossians 3:16-21 ALL of life: at home.

Colossians 3:12-4:6

How do we “live in community” together? What does a Christian community look like? What does it mean to be a Christian Dad or Mom? Or a Christian child? Or a Christian worker? Or a Christian boss? How do we relate to each other in the church? Our neighbours? Non-Christians? What about people of other faiths? Muslims? Hindus? Bahai? Christians who don’t know Christ (“churchians” or “religionists”)? Outsiders?

Last week we looked at the answer to some of those questions, particularly about relationships in the church: in vv13-15 we see that we are to make allowance for each others’ faults, be quick to forgive, live in peace – it’s pretty clear that the Lord is not fooled by outward appearance! He knows that there will be conflict. He knows that within the church people will upset each other and offend each other and step on each others’ toes. It’s not all fluffy bunnies and ice cream in the church! So instead of pretending that we’ll never sin against each other (ha!) we’re called to work hard at forgiving each other, making allowance for each others’ faults – basically being thick skinned, not getting easily offended, not looking for ways to cause problems – and to live in peace. Above all LOVE each other.

That’s hard. And that’s why we remember that we are in chapter 3, not chapter 1! How does chapter 3 begin? Since you have been raised to new life with Christ. It’s something that happened. The call to obedience in chapter 3 is because of chapter 1 and 2: we have been saved by God’s power, by God’s grace, alone. He is supreme. He holds us. He gives us his power and strength to serve him. Remember 1:11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He enables us to live as Christian people. He gives us his power, his strength to serve him.

And most of all, he gives us his love.

As I said two weeks ago, love can’t be faked. We must be given it by God. Our hard selfish hearts of stone need to be swapped out with hearts of flesh, hearts filled with the love of God. Because, you see, we are called to act like vv12-17 (in fact like ALL of chapter 3), not just for a couple of hours on a Sunday, and maybe the occasional special event where we all dress up nicely and put on our fake smiles, or pitch in for a dugnad and pretend to like it… but all the time.

All. The. Time. Every minute of every day, wherever you are, whatever you are doing: you are to be tender-hearted, full of mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. And so on and so on and so on. The whole chapter!
All the time. Full of love. Full of truth. Full of peace.

“You demand the impossible”, we say to God!
And he replies “now, you’re starting to understand.”
The life of a Christian is impossible…without Christ. Without his Spirit, his power, his heart, we will fall short.

Think about it. Changing nappies – be like Christ. In church – be like Christ. When someone offends you – be like Christ. When your husband or wife wounds you deeply – be like Christ. When your kids are driving you crazy, pushing your buttons and making you MAD – be like Christ. When you’re at work, bored out of your mind – be like Christ.

17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

We’ve looked at our relationships in the church, now Paul briefly turns his attention to our relationships outside the church: wife and husband, children and parents, (both of which we’ll look at today) then slave and master, and outsiders (which we’ll look at next week).

So, how are we to be like Christ at home: in our marriage, with our children and parents?

1. Wives and husbands v18-19

18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly.

What do you feel when you hear v18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord.?
Anger? Approval? Fear? Dismissal?

But this is the word of God, isn’t it? Jesus commissioned his apostles to write his words, to tell people about him and to explain the fullness of his teaching, through his Holy Spirit. Paul was specially commissioned as the Apostle to the Gentiles. Peter speaks of Paul’s letters as Holy Scripture. And what’s written here is certainly not contrary to the created order in Genesis 1 and 2 which Jesus himself quoted as being the very Word of God.

So we cannot just dismiss what we don’t like. So let’s put our initial reaction aside, and examine this more closely.

What’s interesting with this list of wives/husbands, children/parents, slaves/masters is the equality of all. The husband and the wife are to obey the Lord. Masters and slaves are equally addressed, as are parent and children. Those without power (or with less power) (wives, children, slaves) are addressed as equal citizens of heaven, being called to live in a way that pleases the Lord. Those with power (husbands, parents, masters) are reminded that their power is given under God, to be used as HE sees fit: in love, for the good of those under your power. This is no justification for abuse of power – it is the opposite!
It’s very clear that these couplets are to be read together. There is no justification for someone quoting v18 without taking v19 – despite the fact that some have done that in the past to justify their bullying behaviour. Ironically, many “modern” women are doing that today to justify their rejection of God’s word. First of all, who are you to stand in judgement over God? How arrogant! Second of all, why do you not read v19?

In v18 God says, yes, wives, submit. Why? Because it is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. Submission is fitting.
But what is submission? What’s interesting is that the word in the original Greek was not used to describe the marriage relationship in those days. Paul wasn’t just taking something from the old 1^st Century culture and dressing it up a “Christian”. The word for submit here is something uniquely Christian, and has to do with order. We submit because it is the way that God has ordered creation.
The word is also very closely linked to humility. So the mark of a Christian wife is not pride and arrogance, but humility, a glad and willing servant heart. In other words, she is a wife…like Christ.

Likewise the “love” of the husband is not familial love or erotic love but the love of Christ, which is a self-sacrificial love. He is also called not to pride and self-sacrifice, but to deny himself and use his God-given authority for the good of his wife. In other words, he is a husband…like Christ.

Our society is interesting because we have no problem with v19. Of course, we say, husbands should love [their] wives and never treat them harshly. Everybody knows that!
Well, of course everybody knows that because we’ve had the Bible drummed into our heads and affecting our culture for over 1000 years here in Norway. Ask the women in Syria how they are being treated now. Islam gives women very little respect. They are not equal with men. And they are treated as such. The treatment of women in the Islamic world, particularly now under ISIS, is horrific. I was going to share some stories but I decided not to do so, as they were too disturbing.
In Hinduism, women and men are not equal. In traditional African religion the man is the head and the woman his servant, and he is the head for his own good pleasure, not for the good of others.
In feminism the woman is the head, for her own good pleasure. Any thought of serving her husband is ridiculous. It’s all about me, my needs, my wants being met.

Why, then is Christianity so different to every other religion or philosophy? Why the equality of men and women? Why does leadership and headship mean servanthood and selflessness instead of power and glorifying myself?
Because that’s what Jesus is like. Because our relationships are modelled on his.

In the Trinity, the Son lovingly submits (same word) to the Father, and wants to glorify him and magnify his name. The Father loves the Son, and wants to glorify him and magnify his name. There is an order there: the Son submits to the Father, the Father loves the Son. And our marriages are to reflect this. It is joyful voluntary submission, and joyful, servant-hearted headship.

This means, ladies, that if you do not respect your husband, if you are always bossing him about, if you are always pushing for your way to do things, if you are making decisions and controlling everything – you need to repent. You need to apologise to him. You need to say, please, take the lead. I have taken your place.
And husbands, you might need to do the same. Apologise to your wife because you’ve not loved her like you should. You have not taken responsibility for your marriage, for your relationship, for your wife. If you have a bad marriage, it is YOUR responsibility to fix it. It will be painful, it will be hard, it will involve a great deal of confessing sin, and putting yourself, your own interests and desires aside. You will need to spend time with your wife. You will need to talk about feelings, and emotions (!). You will need to listen to her and try to understand her. You will need to confess your sin to her. You will need to read the Bible with her and pray together. You need to watch over her life and show her her sin and help her repent (always easy!) – and listen to her when she points out your sin and repent of your sin (always easy!).

You need to look out for each other, seeking each others’ good, and always pointing each other back to the gospel, back to Christ. We are two sinners, but we will obey the Lord by his grace.
Husband, please lead like Christ. Wife, please submit like Christ. And then as people look at your marriage they will see the gospel pictured. Hey, there’s how Christ loves his church, there’s how the church responds to Christ.

If you want to know more, why not download or read the sermon on Ephesians 5:21-33 “Christ and the church”. And ask those of us with a bit more experience living as a Christian couple “how do you deal with this, or “do you have advice here” and so on. And watch us. And if what we’re doing seems to line up with the Bible, then do that! That’s part of the reason we are in a community together, so that we can show each other how to live. We learn from each other, from those a little further along the road. Oh that’s how to do it. I have learnt a great deal about being a husband and father from two good friends of mine, just by watching them with their wives and children. Seeing Christ at work in people is really helpful.

So, wives, respect your husband’s authority, and husbands, love your wives unselfishly.

2. Children and parents v19-21

20 Children, always obey your parents, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged.

What’s fascinating here is that Paul addresses children directly in his letter. Children? Why bother talking to children? Why give them a motivation for obedience? They must obey or be punished.

But, no, our Lord is the one who rebuked his disciples for treating the children as unworthy of coming to him. Children are people, people made in the image of God. And so they are given responsibility just like everyone else. They are to “obey their parents”.

Note the stronger word now. It is not submit, but obey. They are called to listen and obey. That’s what my Dad used to say to my sister and I “you will listen and you will obey”. How I hated those words. They struck right at the heart of my self-centredness and pride. And oh how those words are what I needed to hear. I’m so glad I had a Dad (and Mom!) who called me to OBEY. Because this “pleases the Lord” says v20.

Why? Because the family relationship reflects God’s relationship with us. He is our Father, and we are to obey him. It is much easier to understand our relationship with him if we’ve had a good earthly father who loved us, cared for us, and called us to obedience.

The modern “kids can raise themselves” philosophy is simply an excuse for laziness and uninvolvement. Kids don’t know what’s best. They are not little adults. Their understanding of the world is limited. They don’t understand the dangers in the world, in other people, and in themselves. Their mind, emotion and wills are immature. They need to be protected, nurtured, cared for. Given a safe environment to grow and be who they were created to be. That’s our job as parents. Not to stifle, not to ignore – but to inspire, guide, lead, show, and love.

That’s why v21 says , do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged.

As parents we have the power to demand obedience from our children – and that for their good, not for our convenience. Our goal is to model Christ to them, and I think that’s part of the reason v21 says specifically fathers rather than parents. It reminds us that the role we are playing is the role of our Heavenly Father, God Himself. God “parents” us out of his deep love, doing what is best for us. He uses his power for our good. We are to do the same, and the greatest good is to point them to God. We show them that they are sinners who need the gospel of grace. We show them that we are sinners who need the gospel of grace. Debby and I make sure that we apologise to our children when we have sinned against them (maybe by losing our tempers, for example!) – and we call our sin, sin. And we say we need Jesus to forgive us. And when they argue and fight and do the things kids do – we call their sin, sin, and don’t make excuses for it but remind them that the Bible says their hearts are corrupt, so of course they will sin – don’t be surprised or despondent about it – but there is hope: God has made a way to be made right, through Jesus. In Christ we can ask for forgiveness and receive it. So we model both the seriousness of sin and the joy of forgiveness.

Children must obey their parents, for it pleases the Lord. It is part of their obedience to him. Fathers, do not discourage the children by aggravating them.
I think there’s another reason Paul says “fathers” here: it is to remind the father that as the head of the home he has the final responsibility for raising his children. It’s his job. He can’t just delegate to his wife and be done with it! He must be involved! Fathers, you model God to your kids – and he is not absent.

Again, if you want to know more or you got any questions – ask! We are a community. We do life together. And you can download the talk on Ephesians 6:1-4 called, simply “Fathers”.

20 Children, always obey your parents, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged.

17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

As Christians we are not free to live how we please. We belong to the Lord. Our lives belong to the Lord. Our relationships belong to the Lord. And so we are to submit to our husband, for this is fitting. We are to love our wives and never treat them harshly. We are to obey our parents, for this pleases the Lord. And we are to parent our children like our Heavenly Father, with love, with deep involvement, and acting for their good, and always sharing the gospel.

Why is Jesus the only way to God?

 

Who is Jesus?

Merry Christmas

Isn’t Christmas wonderful? It’s the time to celebrate the birth of sweet baby Jesus. The only person ever born with a halo, Christians or not we all put out our nativity scenes. Shepard’s, angels, oxen, donkeys, Mary, Joseph, baby-Jesus.

It’s so nice, it’s so inoffensive, it’s so harmless. It’s a socialists dream!

What happened to the sweet baby Jesus?

But then Jesus had the audacity to grow up, and just like all children growing up He wasn’t so sweet anymore. As a child but especially as an adult, He started running around fulfilling prophecies about Himself. Making even the most so-called God-fearing Christians in church choke on their tea. With what He had said and done. He starts making outrageous statements like the one in today’s passage.

I am the way, the truth and the life

What is so outrageous?

You might think, well open your bibles on John 14:6-7 and see for yourselves, Page 648 in the back of the church bibles.

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

Where has all the niceness gone`?

It was so nice ,the miracle of Immaculate Conception (Mary getting pregnant without ever having sex) Jesus teaching wise and good things, Jesus dying for us. If we give the gospel, a quick a shallow browse I think most people would agree that: This Jesus is remarkably easy to digest. He is downright likeable, He is nice, and He is so good with children. He teaches people to not be naughty but play nice.

So WHY did He have to go ahead and say something like that, He was doing so well; riding donkeys handing out fish and walking on water, why did He have to go and ruin it all? Jesus was the perfect mascot for niceness.

Until we actually READ WHAT HE WAS LIKE, what he actually said. And then we are forced to conclude either this man is out of His mind. Or He speaks truth.

Jesus existed. He was historical. We know what he said and did.

Jesus is either of vital importance or of no importance at all. And just like that, our one politically correct human right of being neutral is pulled away like a rug under us. We cannot stay neutral to Jesus; we are either for Him or against Him.

He said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

The context it was said in

These words are being spoken during the last supper. He told the disciples plainly that He was the Messiah. He was the Savior who had been promised by God as early as the fall of man. Jesus had told His disciples that He was going away and that they could not follow Him there.

Just imagine the tension. The disciples got more and more confused, and agitated. They knew something was going to happen, but they did not know what. Although Jesus kept telling them that, He was going to die, and rise again. I bet Jesus could feel the tension too, He basically said, I am going to my Father’s House preparing places for you to stay in; I will come back for you when everything is ready. When I do, we will never be apart again. So don’t worry about me, you know by what way I travel and where I am going.

It must have perplexed the disciples hearing what Jesus said. Thomas was the one voicing their concerns when he said “No, we don’t know, Lord,”, “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus replied; “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”

We’re going to have a look at what the bible says about Jesus, and if His claims stand the test of time.

I Am the WAY

Jesus said I am the way. He did not claim to know or teach a secret cure, He IS the cure. He is the only man who has ever had a perfect intimate relationship with God. By that I mean; Jesus was the only person who didn’t sin, He lived a perfect life. Jesus’s relationship with God, and His knowledge of God was not corrupted by sin, since he had none. There is no other way to God. I am the way is not everyone gets through Jesus eventually – He is not an idea, He is a person. Only by KNOWING Jesus can we come to God.

I Am the TRUTH

Jesus said I am the truth, He said to those who believed in Him “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Being the truth Jesus heals the sick, He heals possessed by casting out demons, He brings people back from the dead, He saves people from sin-controlled lives simply by speaking the truth. Jesus is the truth. He said to Philip that anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. Jesus is the true image of the Father. Jesus tells us that if we are faithful to His teachings, the truth (Jesus) will set us free from our slavery under sin.

Jesus is THE truth. No there is no other truth Hut him. He is the revelation of the Ultimate Reality. Being the truth, Jesus is the Centre of the universe.

I am the LIFE

Jesus said I am the life. Jesus is life, because He was never subject to death, He made death, His subject to. Why because when we read in the gospels, Jesus always had power over death. Jesus brought a young girl back to life after dying, He brought Lazarus back from the dead, being dead for several days. Lazarus had already started to smell. Even more awesome is that when Jesus died, God raised him from the dead.

Which proves that even as dead, death had no hold on Him. It would have ended ironically if He weren’t God. The man who brought Lazarus and the little girl back from the dead, would meet His end at death. It would have med it quite clear that it was all a fraud, and what we believe is be wrong. And all of us who work in ministry would have wasted our lives teaching rubbish. However, we see that it’s contrary, Jesus did rise, so that those who are in Him (those who repent of their sins and seek Him (God)) will be risen to eternal life. That is why He said, I am the resurrection and the life.

HE is not just the life bringer but he is life. He sustains all things, He gives us every breath – but he is also our eternal life. Only because what Jesus did for us on Calvary can we have eternal life.

A personal savior, a personal cure.

Jesus is the cure to our Human condition, only by knowing Jesus can we get to God. We can’t achieve it through, sitting with our legs crossed going ahmmm. We won’t achieve it facing a certain direction, praying. We won’t get to God our own way if we make up our own gospels and rules, giving ourselves the opportunity to become God’s and saviors of other planets. We can’t even do like the scientologist and try to pay our way to enlightenment. Jesus is personal ,and we must know Him in that way.

He is the Truth not ideas about truth!

Being the truth Jesus, heals, cast out demons. He does this because He Is who He Is. The truth is realized through Jesus, not trough us realizing ourselves. Whether it is trough money, spirituality, sex or the Eurovision song contest. We are not the Centre of the universe, Jesus is, and only by getting to know Jesus can we know the truth. And only the ultimate truth that Jesus is can set us free from sin, our cruel and horrible master.

Marked for death!, but granted life

We are marked for death, because of our sin. We are so corrupted by our sin that, God can smell it, it’s actually so evident that sometimes we can almost smell it ourselves. Only trough turning to Jesus, repenting of our sin can we experience His resurrection, into our eternal life. Only His blood can clean the stench of our sin, and rise us from the death. To get to God we must live the same perfect life, and die the same perfect death Jesus did. And the only way to do that is to have a personal relationship with Him! We won’t have a chance for a new life in my name, not even in the name of love. Only in the name of Jesus, can we experience a new life. In this life and the next.

The theoretical other way

Jesus said that He was the only way to God, but there is actually another…. Be perfect. Before God sent His son Jesus to the earth to die for our sins, the only way to be right with God, and to have a relationship with God was to obey the Law given by God. The Law consists of 613 laws, among others the 10 Commandments. So to be perfect per definition would be to always obey the Law of God. To make it even clearer, to be perfect you can NEVER have broken any of His laws, from the beginning, you must have kept all 613 of them.

When an expert in religious law asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment, He replied.  “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

If our love was perfect, we would obey the law.

Ironically if we loved God perfectly we would keep His Commandments, but we don’t. We follow our own sinful hearts, we don’t trust God. And that is evident when Christians try to be righteous according to the Law by their own strength. We have all met them; either the think they are better than everyone else, or they are so down trying to carry the Law by their own strength.

Be perfect like your Father in Heaven is perfect.

Jesus even tells us to be perfect just like God, and if there is one thing that is sure; it is that we’re not perfect. It’s one of the most common excuses when we mess up isn’t it; “give me some slack I’m not perfect!” We’re not even perfect like our better halves, how then can we be perfect like God, it is impossible. That means that we can’t deserve salvation.

We’ve effectively sawed off the branch we’ve been sitting on, by trying to come up with a clever way to deserve God’s grace. It is impossible. Simply because we are sinners, we don’t even measure up to our own expectations. How can we measure up to Gods, when fulfilling all His commandments is the absolute minimum of what He expects of us. And if we do not even meet His lowest expectation. What happens, well if we break God’s commandments, we are sinners. And if we are sinners we are perishing! For the wages of sin is death, and everyone has sinned. We have all fallen short of God’s glorious standard, we can’t meet God’s standard. So is that it then, are we doomed?

Well as always, there is more! We cannot meet God’s glorious standard, but… wait for it… Jesus can, because He alone, carried the full weight of the Law !

We’ve looked at the passages showing us who Jesus is, and through this we’ve seen that Jesus really is the way, the truth and the life. And now we’ve seen that we cannot according to the bible make our own way to God. There is but one way left, there is but Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life, no one can come to the Father but through Him! So isn’t it arrogant claiming this about Himself? Well… no, not if it is true.

I am Johanna’s husband.

I am Chris, Johanna’s only husband. Is that not arrogant of me to claim, well yes it is, if it isn’t true, if I can’t prove it.

To prove that, I have a certificate of no impediment, which is an official document from Norway and Northern - Ireland confirming that neither Johanna or I are married to anyone else, I have a certificate of marriage confirming that on Wednesday July 21. 2010 Johanna and I was lawfully declared husband and wife. I also have a ring to show people I am married, but the best part is that I have Johanna my wife that I can physically show you, to prove that I am Johanna’s husband.

What the bible says about Jesus.

The same way we have the bible, the word of God. We believe that it is true, because of faith, because of the evidence, and because of the experience of the holy spirit. And if the bible is true, then what it tells us about Jesus is true. Jesus was the only son of God, He came from Heaven to earth. He lived a perfect life, a life without sin. He came to earth to die for our sins, and that is what He did on Calvary. He took our sin, our punishment and our diseases with Him up on the cross. He lived a perfect live, and He died a perfect death. Because He had no sin of His own, death could not hold Him, Jesus conquered death. So when we die, if we are in Christ. We will die a perfect death, after living a perfect live.

Why you might ask? Because of Jesus, when we repent and turn to Him. His death for our sin is made valid for us, and though we sin, it doesn’t kill us because Jesus has already dealt with our sin on the cross.

So does that mean that Jesus died for everyone?

Yes, Jesus did die for everyone who has ever lived, and for everyone who is ever going to live!

Does it mean that everyone is going to be saved?

Everyone who repents and turns to Jesus (believes in Him, that He is who He says He is) will be saved.

What about other religions; Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Baha’i, Mormonism?

Only those who put their faith in Jesus will be saved.

What about our church?

Our church does not have an exclusive cross over our threshold and you will be saved deal with God. Only those who put their faith in Jesus will be saved.

So what are you going to do?

So turn to Jesus He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, nobody comes to the Father but trough Him! To know Jesus is not to sit in a bench and hear someone talking about Him, to know Jesus is as to know any other person. I know Daniel because I spent time with him, I know that he likes star trek better than star wars, I know that he’s not very fond of sugar. I also know that he is man who is really truly burning for Jesus. I don’t know this because I’ve heard someone say this about him. I know this because I have spent time with him, and talked to him, and experienced him. And it is the same way to know Jesus, we need to spend time with Him. Not just hearing what, me or anyone else says about Him. We need to pray (talk with Him), read the bible (get to know who He is, and His persona) Jesus is personal, He is not some lame theory, nor is He made up person. He is real and He wants to have relationship with you. I don’t know what you do or don’t believe. Whether are here looking or want to prove once and for all that there is no God. For many it is helpful to believe in something, it makes our lives easier. Whether it saying we all have to find our own way to God, or my way is the only way. Or even there is no God I believe in science. The truth is that there is only one way to God, and there is only one way to be forgiven for your sins. And that is trough Jesus Christ. So we’re going to finish with a prayer now. I am going to pray out loud and you can pray this silently to yourself, if you want to become a Christian. This is the day the Lord has made. And He has made it so that we have another chance to repent of our sins, turn to Him and believe.

Dear Jesus,

Thank You for dying for my sins, and making a life with you possible. I know that I am a sinner, and that I am lost without you. Forgive me, my sins, and help me believe in you. Turn my heart towards you, and help me to be more like you every passing day. I believe in You and want to be Yours, in your glorious name I pray Amen.

If you have prayed this prayer and want to become a Christian, or if you just want to know more about Jesus. Come see either Daniel, Jack or myself after the service. We’re going to stay for coffee and have time for you and your questions.

Genesis 1:1-2:4 The God who rests

Gen 1:1-2:4

Do you want to know the future?

Yes! We say. But what if it was terrible – what if awful suffering was waiting for you just around the corner? Would you still want to know?

Probably – at least you could prepare, maybe. But it would certainly be difficult to enjoy life now, knowing what is to come! It would always be in the back of your mind, and anxious gnawing thought, leaving you no peace.

But what if there was a way to change the future? Change the suffering to rejoicing, the sadness to happiness, the gnawing thought which saps your energy to something which fills you with hope and purpose.

Well, it is. We know the future. All of us.

We know that we are made by God.

And we know that our relationship with him is broken. We feel it in the depths of our being. Like when you’ve said something horrible to your parents or your husband or wife and you haven’t made right – you feel the break in relationship. You may try to cover it up with drink or loud laughter or entertainment or drugs or whatever else we use – but it’s there. The relationship is broken, giving us no rest, no peace.

This is how we live. With this deep, gnawing guilt that we are separated from God, and there is nothing we can do to get back to him.

But Genesis gives us hope. Even here, right in the beginning there is hope. V1 says “in the beginning” – and that which has a beginning has an end. And as we saw last week, the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) are carefully structured to keep our focus on what is soon to come. What God has done points to what God will do. The last things will be like the first things. And that gives us hope. It is good news for us. The Bible does not stop after Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve disobey God – no, it continues, there is hope, God will restore all things.

There’s a pointer to that here on the seventh day: it doesn’t end. Notice all the other days – what comes at the end of the day: “and there was evening, and there was morning, the x day”. The seventh day does not have that – it does not end. God’s perfect rest does not end. We’ll explore that idea in more detail in a few minutes.

“The last things will be like the first things” – and today we’re going to get an idea of what those last things will be like. What is coming is what has been: living on new Earth without sin, without evil, in perfect harmony with God, each other, and our world. That is the promise we look forward to, the prize won for us by Jesus on the cross. That is our hope. What does this puny life matter with its small crude pleasures and its passing and light suffering: we have all of eternity to rejoice with our Heavenly Father!

It will be like it was in the beginning: Adam and Eve at peace with God, at peace with each other, at peace with the world, ruling over the world with wisdom, meeting with God as he walked in the garden in the cool of the day. Naked, and without shame. Knowing and being known intimately, completely, and being fully loved.

Our future is marked by these two words: rest, and relationship. Along the way we’re going to examine the Trinity: that God is three Persons in One. So, like last week, get your thinking caps on, because this is solid food for the mind!

1. Rest and relationship

Ge 2:1–3 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

God had finished his work of creation. Everything was completed. Everything was “very good” (1:31), because everything was as it should be. It was all in accordance with his plan. So God rested. And we get an idea of what God was doing with his rest in chapter 3:8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden.

What a beautiful picture we have painted here. God walking in the cool of the day in the garden he had created, with the people he had created. Until one day they weren’t there – they were hiding from him because they broke his word. But we’ll look at that in 2 weeks time. For now just notice that everything was at peace. Rest means at peace in our relationships – with God, with each other, with creation. Everything was as it should be. And it was “very good”

Think about your best rest. It’s not being unemployed, or being a layabout, or so rich you have nothing to do. That’s not restful, because we were designed to work, like God. The best rest is when all hard work is done, when everything is as it should be, nothing hanging over you – that is rest. Satisfaction. Or a holiday, when you finally spend some uninterrupted time together, nothing pulling you away. Just time to enjoy each other’s company. We had that this summer when we took the kids on Pirate boat trip to Denmark. So fun just to relax together. Enjoy being together, hanging out.

But when relationships are broken – when you are out of relationship with someone – there is no rest. Conflict, arguing – that’s not restful. War. Not restful. Manipulation, gossip, back-biting – not restful. Rest and relationships are linked.

The theme of rest is a huge one found throughout the Old Testament. We are not at rest, our rest was broken – we broke it when we disobeyed God. But God has made a way back! The last things will be like the first things. We’ll see now that God’s rest is linked with God’s rescue of his people. God’s rest is linked to relationship. And then we’ll see that God’s relationship with his people is a reflection of himself. He is one God in three persons.

Let’s look at relationship first, and then finish off looking at God’s rest which will take us through the Bible, through God rescuing his people Israel, to the Cross of Jesus Christ, and beyond the Cross to the glorious hope of the Heavenly City filled with the glory of God.

2. Perfect relationship

Why did God make people? The Bible’s answer is “God made people because God wanted to make people”. God is God and does what he wants, and what he wants, happens. He is God!

But have you heard “God made us because he was lonely” or “God wanted some friends”? Probably! And it’s nonsense. There is never any hint at all in the Bible that God made us because he was lonely. That’s the kind of simple made-up answers some well-meaning Sunday school teachers tell their children. “God was all alone and was sad. So he made his friends. We are supposed to be friends with God. And God gets sad when we ignore him.”

It’s rubbish. And although it often comes from good motives it is a dangerous lie. It reduces God to the level of a lonely old man, with a bit of magical powers – and it makes Him dependent on us. And the child begins to think “Well, I’ll sulk, and manipulate God into doing things for me just like I do with Mom and Dad”.

If God needs us – who’s God?

No, the reality is much better, much wilder, much more mind-blowing. God is not, was not, and has never been lonely. God is in a perfect relationship with himself.

And we are a reflection of that. Ever wonder why we are made “in God’s image”? Why we are made male and female. Why two different beings? Because that reflects God: the Father, and the Son, the Spirit the love-bond between them. Like a husband and wife and their undying love for each other. So united, they are as one. That’s kind of like the reflection of the Trinity. God is Three Persons in One.

Makes sense? No! But it’s true. The marriage illustration is a good one, but no illustration is really good enough to explain the Trinity. I have heard of water: one thing, but three forms ice, liquid, steam. But that sounds like God is just changing himself from one thing to another – and we know that Jesus prays to the Father while the Spirit comes upon him – all three are separate persons. So that doesn’t work.

Or we get an idea like the three-headed ogre. But the Father, Son and Spirit are three independent persons, bound so strongly in their perfect love that they are as one. Jesus said “I choose to lay down my life and to take it up. My Father loves me because I lay down my life.” (John 10:17.18) “Father, not my will but yours” (Mark 14:36). Perfect love, perfect submission. No compulsion here. They are not forced to work together because they share the same body. They are not three parts of a whole. Each is fully God. Jesus, the Son, is God. Fully God. “All the fullness of the deity dwells in Him” (Col 2:9). The Holy Spirit is God, fully God “I will send you my Spirit, and I will live in you” John 14:17 (For the Spirit to live in us means Jesus lives in us).

God is Three. God is One. This is simply true. God the Father is God. God the Son is God. God the Holy Spirit is God. God is Father, Son and Spirit, One God.

This is solid food. But you didn’t expect knowledge about God to be simple, did you? When is reality ever simple? Look at light. Easy enough. But then you test light and sometimes it acts like a waveform, and sometimes like a stream of particles. It’s those two things at the same time. Woah. How? Nobody knows. It’s a mystery. The reality of God is a glorious, curious mystery.

But the Trinity is vital to understand. From before time in all eternity God has been at rest within himself. He is in perfect relationship with himself. He needs no other. The glorious message of the Bible is that he made us to share in that perfect relationship – to be at rest with him. As Jesus says in John 14: 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.

In Christ we can know God. In Christ we become what we were made for: to be in relationship with God.

Ge 1:26–27 (NLT) Then God said, “Let us (Trinity) make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” 27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

The creation of man is different to all the other acts of creation. God’s command in v26 is not “Let there be …” (impersonal third person) but rather the more personal “Let us make.”
The other animals are made “according to its kind” or “of the same kind” – the man and the woman were made “in our [God’s] image”. Man’s image is not simply of himself; he also shares a likeness to his Creator.
Another difference is that the creation of man is specifically noted as “male and female” (v.27). We are made as relational beings, made for each other - emphasised again in chapter 2 with the woman being made for the man as a suitable companion. We are made for relationship. And in that we reflect the Godhead. He is in perfect relationship. We are designed for perfect relationship.

We have also been given responsibility for God’s creation. We are to reign over all other living creatures: sky, sea, and land creatures. Like God, we have a relationship with creation. We are designed to be in relationship with Him, with each other, and with our world.

Isn’t that what we want to experience – harmony with all of life? At peace. At rest. Rest reflects the relationships in the Trinity. So let’s now look at the theme of rest as it unfolds throughout the Bible, starting here in Genesis 2.

3. Perfect Rest

Gen 2:2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

God rested on the seventh day, and, as I said earlier, the seventh day never ends. The day of rest, of perfect harmony in relation to God and his creation – that day is never-ending. There is no “and it was evening, it was morning, the seventh day”. Thankfully, even after Adam and Eve sin against God, the text does not say “and it was evening, it was morning, the seventh day” – instead we’re promised in 3:15 that a saviour will be born to crush evil and restore the broken rest.

I’m going to give you now a brief Biblical Theology of rest – tracing this idea of rest through the Bible.

In Exodus 20:8-11 (pg47) this idea of rest comes up again, in the Ten Commandments. Listen “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God.” Why should God’s people rest one day out of seven? Listen to the reason “11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.”

We are to rest on the seventh day to remind us that GOD rested on the seventh day. It reminds us of his rest. It reminds us that we are out of relationship with him and that we need that relationship restored. It reminds us that in Christ we can enter his rest. It reminds us of our hope for the future: the world restored to its former glory, all of us together, united, at peace with God, with each other, with nature.

In Deuteronomy 5 (pg112) the Ten Commandments are repeated – but this time the reason for keeping the Sabbath, that is remembering the day of rest, is different. Listen carefully. Dt 5:12–15 “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. 13 You have six days each week for your ordinary work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God.” And here’s the reason: 15 Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the LORD your God brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.

God’s rest is now linked to God’s rescue. Because the real problem in remembering God’s rest is that we remember that we’ve been thrown out of it! We’re no longer at rest in the Garden of Eden, but we are outside the Garden, outside Paradise, in a world filled with conflict and broken relationships and unrest. So God says “Remember the Sabbath day, remember that I am a rescuing God”. God’s rescue plan is linked to his rest.

In Deut 12:10 we read that in the Promised Land God will give his people rest pointing forward to the rest we will have in Heaven.

So how will God achieve his rest? How will God bring sinful people – we who are the cause of all the un-rest – how will He bring us into His rest? Through a great rescue, the great rescue that the Exodus pointed towards: Jesus, the Christ, on the Cross, giving his blood so that we sinners could be made right with God.

That is why Jesus said “I am the Lord of Sabbath”. Mark 2:27–28 (pg 600) Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

The Sabbath was made for man. It reminds us we need our relationship with God restored, and it points to our rescue in Christ! Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath both because he is the creator of the Sabbath and because he is the fulfilment of the Sabbath. We find Sabbath rest only in Christ. Through his death we have been reconciled to God. We are at peace with Him. Our relationship restored. 1 Pet 3:18 (NIV) For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

In Christ, we can enter God’s rest, through faith in Him. Hebrews 4 (pg728) reminds us that His “rest has been ready since he made the world. 4 We know it is ready because of the place in the Scriptures where it mentions the seventh day: “On the seventh day God rested from all his work.” (Heb 4:3-4) and in v7 it says God set [a] time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.”

Don’t harden your hearts, because then the future is one of broken relationships in all eternity – something the Bible calls Hell. Imagine being cut off from God forever.

But today, today we are being invited to experience the love God has within Himself. That same love the Father lavishes on the Son, he will lavish on those who are in Christ. Eternal rest. Eternal peace.

And if you are a Christian, that is our destiny! So be encouraged – no matter what suffering or hardship you endure in this life, no matter what you are called to give up to follow Christ, no matter how many hours you spend serving, or money you give, or ridicule you endure, or friends you lose for Christ – our rest awaits. Perfect harmony.

I’ll let the Bible have the final word on rest. The last book of the Bible, Revelation, where we see that the last things are like the first things (only better). The promise given in Genesis, now fulfilled.

Rev 21:1-5 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” 5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!”

He will live with us, and we will be his people. Perfect relationship. Perfect rest. What a merciful and glorious God we serve!