Exodus 23-28. The promise-keeping God of justice and mercy

Exodus 23-28  (Read Exodus 23:20-25:22)

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On the 26th May 2018, just eight days ago, Ireland voted to remove the last remaining restriction they had against abortion. It was hailed as a great day, a day of rejoicing, a day for women’s rights, a day when women stood up and were counted. On Wednesday NRK celebrated 40 years of abortion in Norway praising Grete Irvoll, an Arbeiderpartiet politician, as a hero who stood up for women.

It was fascinating to read these articles with God’s laws ringing in my ears: the 10 commandments and then the book of the covenant in chapters 22 and 23. Because God’s laws protect the weak. Our abortion laws do not. Our abortion law does not protect women, but exposes them to abuse.

We are fooled by being shallow. The abortion campaign won by telling stories, personal stories, about women who had backroom abortions and how things went wrong and they nearly died and oh my goodness isn’t that terrible, we need to protect women from this.

And then you read the Bible and it’s all like Ex 22:16–17 “If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged to anyone and has sex with her, he must pay the customary bride price and marry her. 17 But if her father refuses to let him marry her, the man must still pay him an amount equal to the bride price of a virgin.

Isn’t that terrible! Oppressive! Misogynistic! That’s what our gut reaction says. But is it? Look closer. Think. What kind of woman is it who would be seduced by the type of man that a father would forbid? A weak one. The strong can stand up for themselves, stand up against even their father. “No father, we’re in love”. But I regularly see in the news stories of women being fooled by a man seducing them, pretending to love them, and then making off with hundreds of thousands of kroners. Where was their protector? God’s laws protect the weak.

But the abortion laws protect the strong. The stories we hear are of the strong. Those who were strong enough to take that stance. Yes, things went wrong but then they made a big noise.
We don’t hear of those forced to kill their babies because it is an inconvenience to others. They are still silent in fear and in shame. “Why wasn’t I strong enough to save my baby?” “Why couldn’t I stand against my boyfriend or father or mother?”
No-one speaks for the babies, conscious of pain, being torn apart in the womb. They have no voice.
And very few speak up for the disabled who are quietly being eradicated. We are two-faced, celebrating the disabled with front page articles while supporting the laws which make sure we don’t have any more of their kind here because, really, that’s not a life worth living.

God’s laws protect the weak, those who can’t pay back. It is undeserved mercy. His laws are an expression of his heart. And that is fully seen in Jesus. He died on the cross for us in our weakness. He cries out Father forgive. He defends the cause of the fatherless and upholds the widow. He fulfils the law, and as Christians we are called to do the same. In fact, we are called to go beyond. Fulfilment and freedom. We are to act in love to protect the weak and to love the unlovable.

1. God will defend his people, so trust Him

2. God has mercy on his people, so draw near to Him

3. God is with his people, see Him

1. God will defend his people, so trust Him

20 “See, I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you.

Remember where we are in the story. The people of God are standing before the mountain of God. They have just experienced a miraculous rescue. Just a few weeks prior they were slaves in Egypt, being beaten and mercilessly worked. Then God stepped in. He rescued them through an incredible show of power. 10 plagues, ending in darkness and then death. Death of the first-born of everyone whose house was not marked by the blood of a lamb. It was a swap – the life of the lamb for the life of the firstborn. Everyone who believed God’s word, God’s way out, was saved!

And they were set free. Sent out with great rejoicing! And then Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his army after them. And they were trapped between the army and the sea. Oh no! Many wanted to turn back: “let’s go back to Pharaoh, at least we were safe”. “Did God bring us out just to kill us?”

Of course we know what happened. God showed his power by parting the sea and they walked through as if on dry ground – and when Pharaoh’s army tried to follow them – bam! The waters flooded back and wiped them out. “Hooray!” said the Israelites.

And now Israel are facing the next task. To believe God’s word that the land promised to Abraham is theirs. God said to Abraham in Genesis 15:13-16 “400 years from now your descendants will march out to take the land”. And that is now.

For them then they were to trust the Lord that he would do what he said. Bring them to the promised land. Despite the significant challenges! They needed to remember that they were no longer slaves in Egypt. God had rescued them, had given them a new identity. They were not to be like everyone else around them. They were to be different. Holy. 24 You must not worship the gods of these nations or serve them in any way or imitate their evil practices. Don’t compromise. Fight! V24 continues Instead, you must utterly destroy them and smash their sacred pillars.

For us now: we too were slaves, slaves to sin. We have been rescued. We have a new identity: God’s people. A holy nation. Our sins are wiped clean. We are righteous in his sight!
But like Israel when we are under pressure we are tempted to go back into the old life, into slavery. Blend in. Do what everyone else is doing. It’s easier. Take the old shortcuts. Tell a few lies. Cheat a bit. Go back to old sins. Open the browser to look at porn. Pick up the bottle. Grab the syringe. Old habits. Old sins. We know where that leads, and it does not lead to joy.

We need to keep our eyes on Jesus! Just practically, going to church – this – helps greatly. It is a means of grace. It is no surprise to me when people who have been away from church for a while are struggling. Relationships are difficult. Sin is easy. God seems far away. Use what He has given you. Keep your eyes on him. For we are not alone in this battle. In fact, we don’t even really fight the battle.

Because did you notice v27-30 that it is the Lord who will drive them out. V27 I will send my terror ahead of you v27 I will make them run v28 I will send my terror v30 I will drive them out. It wasn’t the Israelites who had to drive them out. Oh yes, they had to pick up the sword. But the battle was the Lords. Oh, they may swing the sword, but it is the Lord who brings victory. Remember Jericho, that huge walled city? They walked around it and shouted, and the walls fell! God was with them. And then they went off by themselves and tried to defeat the little village of Ai without God – and were soundly beaten.

That’s us. With the Lord, we are victorious. On our own, we are lost. So keep your eyes focussed on him in your fight against sin. Do what is right and trust him.

And when we look at what’s going on around us in the world, at the battlefield of our culture… it’s easy to despair. To feel weak. As we watch people celebrating their sin, mocking God. It can be daunting. Like a little tribe wandering in the desert going to do battle against this big and strong and powerful people!
But the Lord is with us!
We need to swing the sword by proclaiming the gospel. It seems so weak. We might feel like grasshoppers when we open our mouth at work to talk about Jesus. But God is with us! And people need him. They desperately need the gospel, Good News.

Like Israel, we need to remember what God has already done, and not disobey him, but trust Him.

God will defend his people, so trust Him.

2. God has mercy on his people, so draw near to Him

24:8 Then Moses took the blood from the basins and splattered it over the people, declaring, “Look, this blood confirms the covenant the Lord has made with you in giving you these instructions.” 9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. 10 There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. 11 And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!

So this is the actual covenant between God and the people. This why they have been brought here out of Egypt – to worship God. To be his people. Not just rescued from slavery, but to freedom. Likewise with us – we’re not just saved FROM sin, but saved TO righteousness.

So the Lord calls the leaders of Israel forward, and then Moses obeys God by doing what God has just been talking about. He builds an altar (with unhewn stones and no steps I would presume (20:24-26)). He substitutes dead animals for live people – because any unholy person who sees the Lord must die. So instead of the people dying, the oxen die in their place, and he splatters the blood on them symbolically. They are made holy through the sacrifice. The death they deserve has been taken by another.
And then he reads the book of the covenant – this is how you are to live as God’s holy people.

Great. But why? Why can they see God and not die? Why can Moses go and talk to God and not die? It’s not because he is righteous in himself. I mean, he was a murderer for goodness sake! So it can’t be his own righteousness.
And the elders and Aaron. In chapter 32 they show themselves to be completely unrighteous when they make a Golden calf to worship. So why can they see God and not be destroyed?

And why so much blood? And why does the blood work – I mean how can an ox take the place of a man?

We need to be asking these sorts of questions when we read the Bible.
For we are not worthy to see God. The people are afraid, at a distance, because of God’s holiness. They can only come near at his invitation. Without his invitation, they will die. It is like light and darkness – you turn on the light and the darkness is destroyed! It’s the way things are. God is a holy God and we are unholy. To meet him is to die – unless He makes us holy. So the blood. But how can ox blood make people holy?

Remember that the Old Testament speaks about Jesus. He’s the key to understanding. God’s mercy, God accepting sinners, and the blood sacrifices are all clues for us to see Christ.

God can forgive sinners because of Jesus’ death. All the sins of God’s people were poured out on Jesus on the Cross, including Moses and Aaron and the Israelites. They didn’t know how it worked – we do! They just had to trust God’s word that somehow the blood of the animal would be enough.

We trust God’s word that all who put their faith in Jesus will be saved. Our altar is the Cross. Our blood sacrifice is Jesus. He is our substitute, the one who dies in our place. And we are covered by his blood. This is what we remember in communion. This is what Jesus means when he says in John 6:53 “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you.”
Just as they ate the sacrificial offerings and had the blood splattered on them – ew – so we too eat and drink in memory of what Jesus has done for us. We remind ourselves that we are unholy sinners. We cannot approach the holy God without dying. And then – o glorious truth – our death he has died, his life we have received – and so we remember his body and blood as we at the bread and drink the juice. We remember who we are.

And that means we have direct access to the Father. As Father. That was unthinkable for the Israelites. Even Moses did not experience what we experience now. They saw the Lord as King. They ate with him. Moses spoke with him in the glory cloud. But everything said “Danger! Danger!” v11 And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them.
V17 To the Israelites at the foot of the mountain, the glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a consuming fire.

But we! We have access to the very throne room of heaven, not because the king extends his sceptre of mercy, but because he is our Dad! We run in to him and babble to him our prayers, and snuggle up to him, and say “Dad can you help me with this” and “Sorry Dad I was so rude” and all the other things children do. That is what Jesus did for us. We call him Abba, father. We have the same status as Jesus.

It is a swap. He took our status upon himself, and gave us his. 1 Jn 3:1 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!
I like the King James version here: 1 Jn 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!

More than Moses even experienced. That’s what you and I have! Do you see how what we have in Christ fulfils and goes beyond anything we read about in the Old Testament? It is so familiar we don’t see it. But wow! Thank you Lord God, thank you Jesus for what you have done. Thank you Father that we can call you Father! Praise God! Praise you Holy Name! Praise you for your mercy! Amen!

God has mercy on his people, so draw near to Him

3. God is with his people, see Him

25:8 “Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them.
22 I will meet with you there and talk to you from above the atonement cover between the gold cherubim that hover over the Ark of the Covenant. From there I will give you my commands for the people of Israel

Wow. Again, we miss the significance of this. We are so used to God being with us that we forget what a privilege it is. That God, the Holy God, should live with his people. That’s crazy! Who are we?

Think about them then. You pitched your tent. That’s my tent. And that’s God’s tent. Over there. He is with us. What a symbol! God with his people. And you could go to his tent, and meet with him. Admittedly through a lot of sacrifices and blood spattering and the priests doing their thing – but you could meet with GOD!

That’s how amazing the Tabernacle is. And later the Temple – which was a Tabernacle made of bricks. That was a place where God and man could meet.

But we have something so much better. Because Christ is the fulfilment of the Tabernacle. He is the perfect meeting place between God and man. He is the blood sacrifice which opens the way. He is the great high priest who mediates between us and God. He is even the Word of God, a better Moses who doesn’t just bring us the law but fulfils the law. He is the law. Love personified. So we follow him, his way of love, not the letter of the law.

He is now our Tabernacle. Imagine if we had to go to a special place to talk to God. Travel to Mecca to touch a rock? To Jerusalem to wail at a wall. As Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well: John 4:23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.
In Christ we meet God. Only in Christ. There are no holy places!

But be more amazed. Because not only is Jesus the Tabernacle/Temple, but then he declares us his Temple, and comes to live within us. Eph 2:20–21 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. When we come to church we don’t come to a holy building, but we see holy people. We are the Temple of God. Made holy by his mercy.

God will defend his people, so trust Him
God has mercy on his people, so draw near to Him
God is with his people, see Him

What does that mean then. How should this affect us? Let’s spend a few moments applying this passage.

Because I don’t know what you’re struggling with. But dear friends, God is with us! So whatever it is do what is right and trust the Lord.

Maybe it’s relationship issues?
You’re single and tempted to date a non-Christian. Trust the Lord. He’ll look after you. Don’t take shortcuts!
Maybe you’re married and struggling - starting to look away. Don’t! Love the one you’re with. Get your strength from God and decide to love them.
Maybe you seek refuge in porn because its easier than fixing your relationship (or starting one!). Flee from sexual sin. Trust that the Lord’s way is best.
Or maybe you run to a fantasy world of your perfect wife or husband. Don’t. Live the life you’ve been given. Trust the Lord.

If you need help - get help! Sin withers and dies when exposed. It’s the only way to kill sin. Sin hidden GROWS. We’re all here for you. Christian keeps me accountable. And Debby. I know I can speak to them about my sin and not be judged, not be crushed, but helped. Who can you speak to?
And remember that if someone confesses their sin to you – forgiveness and mercy. They already know its wrong! That’s why they’re confessing. We all need help, not judgement. For none of us are perfect.

Maybe your struggle is with money. You may be tempted not to give because “we don’t have enough”. Obey the Lord and trust him for the result.
You may want to lie or cheat to get yourself out of a situation. Tell the truth and trust the Lord.
You may be greedy! Spend less. And be happy. Things own us. They don’t provide happiness! See the glory of the Lord. The shiny things fade compared to his beauty!

Or ill health. Hard to trust the Lord when your body is failing. But look to him for strength. Ask him to show you how you can glorify him in your weakness.

Or time. Time for Bible study or church. It’s so easy to go naa. Trust the Lord. I have never regretted making church a priority. Since 1995 I have gone to church nearly every Sunday. It has kept me alive, growing. Do what is right, and trust the Lord!

Draw courage from the Israelites. They were small and weak. And they had to walk in faith through the desert and fight massive armies. And God was with them.
We walk in faith through life, and fight our own battles. But the Lord is with us. He is already victorious. So let’s live out the gospel and share it with people, so more can be saved and bring glory to God. Let this church be filled more and more with the praises of those who were lost but now am found. (Uncover)

Exodus 20: Fulfilment and freedom

Exodus 20

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Last week Petter said “When non-Christians want to embarrass Christians they use the Law in the Old Testament.”

It’s true isn’t it! “Haven’t you read” they say with a sneer. “Shouldn’t you be stoning the gays, not just voting against them?” or “Why do you wear clothing of two types of fabrics” or “why do you eat bacon or eat shellfish?”

And we mumble something like “We’re in the New Testament”.

But we’re confused. What IS the relationship between the Old and the New Testaments. Why DON’T we have to stone people? Why can we eat pork? Why doesn’t God kill the priest who doesn’t wear his holy underpants? Important questions. And yes, holy priestly underpants is a requirement of the law! Ex 28:42-43

To most of us the Law, God’s Law, the Law given by Moses, is a mystery. We sort of dip in when we need it, quote a bit of “thus saith the Lord” when it suits us, and we think maybe the 10 Commandments are quite important – but apart from that we just don’t know what to do with it.

And that’s a problem. Because the Law given through Moses is a massive chunk of the Bible! Not just big parts of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy but the Wisdom literature like Proverbs and Psalms unpack the Law. And the history of Israel from Joshua to 2 Kings is in large part about Israel forgetting or disobeying or even obeying the Law. And the prophets are all talking about the Law.
The Law is a big deal!

So how are we to understand the Law?
Now there’s two mistakes we can make: we either ignore the Law. We say “doesn’t apply to us”. We’re Christians, not Jews.
Or we apply it directly to us. It’s God’s word. He spoke it, I believe it, and I’ll obey it. Now hand me those holy underpants so I can go to church without God killing me.

We can neither ignore it nor apply it directly. For there is both a continuity (continues to us) and a discontinuity (a break) with us and Old Testament believers.

A continuity because this is God’s Word to his people. (diagram1) It is his revelation of himself. To ignore this is to get a skew picture of God. And many Christians today have a warped view of God because they haven’t read the Old Testament. They don’t know Him. This, God’s Law, is written to us.

But there is a massive discontinuity: Jesus. (diagram2) We are here – on this side of the incarnation (God becoming man) and the cross and resurrection. Jesus is the complete revelation of God. This side is partial, but this side, after Christ, is complete.

So as we look at the Law, and indeed any Old Testament text, the questions we need to ask are: (diagram)

1. What did this mean for them then? Because there is a continuity between us and the Old Testament believers. We are God’s people, listening to God’s word.

2. How does Jesus change that? Discontinuity.

We read the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament. We put on our New Testament “glasses” as it were. The New helps us understand the Old through Jesus.

2 points today.

1. What does the New Testament say about the Law?

2. Do the 10 Commandments apply to us?

So let’s put on our “glasses”: as we think about the Law, how does the New help us to understand it?

1. What does the New Testament say about the Law?

Well, we don’t need to go any further than the words of Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 is a study on the law of God. Turn to Matthew 5:17 “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.” Or as other translations put it “I came to fulfil the law”

He did not come to abolish it, but to fulfil it. How? In what way is there continuity and in what way discontinuity?

Well, there is discontinuity because it can’t mean that we as Christians must keep the law! Like not eating pork and keeping the Sabbath and wearing priestly underwear. Jesus fulfils the law. He kept it perfectly. And so, Romans 8 in him there is now no condemnation…. 8:3 God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son…and declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.

We are no longer under the law. In Christ we no longer have to obey the law.

Woah! That sounds a bit extreme, Daniel. Sure you’re right? Well, remember from reading Acts: this exact question was a big argument in the early church! Should the new non-Jewish converts be required to obey the law of Moses? (And should Jewish Christians). And the answer was no. No. Christ has fulfilled the law. It purpose is completed in Him. Christians are no longer required to obey the Mosiac law.

That is the discontinuity. Where is the continuity? Ah, we do not obey the law, but we do not abolish or nullify the law. In fact, we are called to go beyond the law. As Jesus continues in Matt 5:18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved.…
20 “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!”

In the rest of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus extends the Law, saying it’s not just the outward but the inward that counts.
Our righteousness needs to exceed that of the Pharisees – and those were the most holy of holy people. They even went around cutting 10% of their herbs to give to God. And Jesus says that kind of fastidious (fussy, particular, detailed) legalism isn’t enough.

And that’s where the title of this series comes from: fulfilment and freedom. Fulfilment, because in Christ the righteous requirements of the law are fully satisfied for us (Rom 8:4). And freedom, because in His power we are free to be what we were born to be: more and more like Jesus. (Rom 8:29 we are called to be conformed to the likeness of his Son)

Not for us the letter of the Law – but now in every situation the Law of love: what would Jesus do in this situation? What will give him the most glory?

But that’s impossible! We cry! How are we supposed to be better than the Pharisees? How can we be like Jesus? That’s impossible!

Yes! Yes! Yes! Didn’t we get that sense last week as Petter unpacked chapter 19 and the first parts of 20? That our God is a holy God. Our God is a holy God and we are called to be his holy people.
Jesus says in Matt 5:48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Feeling distraught? Feeling worried? Don’t be. That’s why Jesus came. He fulfilled the Law. He kept it so you don’t have to. He has given us his righteousness. So you have already perfectly kept the law of God. In Christ you are perfect. So now live like it. Live out your new identity. We’re not called to obey the Law – we’re called to go beyond it, to exceed it, to not just keep the letter of the law but the Spirit of the Law.

Turn back to Exodus 20 and read v2. I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

2 comes before 3. They were rescued before they were given the Law. They didn’t keep the Law to be rescued. It was God’s mercy. And with us. We don’t obey in order to be saved. We obey because we are saved. By nature we do what the law says because we have a new nature.

So our New Testament glasses say: the Law is fulfilled in Christ. And we go beyond it.
But what should we obey? How do we then understand the Law? What about the 10 commandments? Surely they apply?

2. Do the 10 Commandments apply to us?

I want to propose a hypothesis – a way to understand the Law of Moses – that we can use over these next few weeks. And we’ll test it out today on the most important part of the law: the 10 commandments.

And this is it: fulfilment and freedom. Because the law is fulfilled in Christ, and we have his righteousness imputed to us (given to us) – we have already perfectly kept the 10 Commandments. We are free in regard to the Law of Moses! Free to even exceed the requirements of the Law!

So let’s test that out. And see if it works with continuity/discontinuity. Is it in line with God’s word to his people?

Ex 20:1 Then God gave the people all these instructions: 2 “I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. 3 “You must not have any other god but me.”

Seriously? You think we are free from “you must not have any other god but me”. We can have more gods? Where’s the continuity?

Well, no. Because freedom from the law is not freedom to indulge our sinful nature. We too have been freed from slavery. Not slavery in Egypt, but slavery to sin. So now we are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves of God, slaves to righteousness as Rom 6 puts it.

But more fundamental than that – we have been reborn. As Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3 “You must be born again of the Spirit”. Or one of my Dad’s favourite verses 2 Co 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

This is called regeneration. When you believe in Christ the Spirit changes you from the inside out. We are given a new heart. A new nature. We are recreated. We are not the same. On the day the called me to him I died and then I was reborn. The old sinful me died, the new me who wants to live for Christ was born.
As Christians our heart now cries out for God. Whereas before we at worst hated him, at best ignored him – now we long for him. We want to be with our Father. We want to know God. We long to stop loving all these other things that cry out for attention and we want to love him.

So, yes, we are free from the command to have no other gods, because our deepest longing is now to be with him. The Spirit within cries out to the Father. We have a new nature.
How can we have any other gods if we are the very children of God?

It is not law that keeps us from idolatry. It is identity. We need to remember who we are!

4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. 6 But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.

Are we free from this? Can we make images or pictures of God to worship? What about icons, holy relics, statues of saints, Mary, etc..?
Well, as the Unfortunate Incident with the Golden Calf in chapter 32 shows, making an image of God quickly turns to idolatry – we worship the thing instead of God. That quickly becomes our God, rather than the true and living God. Freedom from Law is not licence to sin!
But anyway, for us as Christians, why would we make an image of God when we already have the perfect representation of God in Jesus Christ? As Jesus said “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” (John 14:9). Or Col 1:15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

As Petter pointed out last week, this is not about drawing a picture of Jesus or even movies – but it is about worshiping things instead of God, and trying to get power over God by reducing him to a thing that you can put away in a cupboard or something.

That’s why we need to get our view of God from the Spirit’s words to us in the Bible, so that we see Jesus more clearly. Not from artwork or films or memes or other “pictures” of God. We need to know the true God as revealed in the Living Word.

Just a note on v5. Why does God punish the third and fourth generations? Think about how sin affects people. I know a man whose father was a drunkard, who beat up his mom in front of him. That affects you. He bears scars which have affected his relationship with his own kids. He is a Christian so much of that has healed, but there are still issues. And his kids in turn will pass it on. Sin has a generational impact.

But God’s mercy is greater than our sin. 6 But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.

7 “You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.”

The third “word” in v7 is about how we speak about God. Yes, we are free from the law, so we can misuse God’s name, speak badly about him, drag his name through the mud. But can we?
That is the name we ourselves bear. It’s like me tearing down my father’s name – “that Jack Garratt, he’s a terrible man, an awful person, like all the Garratt’s”.
Why would I do that? I bear my father’s name. I love him. Therefore my words will honour him and respect him.

Likewise we bear the name of God. We are his children, his ambassadors, his priestly representatives on earth. Why on earth would a child of God misuse the name of Jesus?

Again, it is not Law, but love, our new nature, our identity, that compels us to do what the Law requires. Fulfilment in Christ, free to exceed the law!

8 “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. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. 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.”

Ooh. Here we have a nice juicy topic. Maybe we’re happy that the laws about holy underpants don’t apply to us, but the Sabbath? C’mon. That applies, surely? Many of us grew up with that. No dancing on a Sunday. No card playing. No movies. No non-Christian music. That kind of stuff. By the way, do you know why you can’t have sex on a Sunday? Because it might lead to dancing.

But seriously, there’s a big problem with claiming the Sabbath as LAW.
Firstly, then why do you eat bacon and shellfish? In other words why are you being inconsistent and not keeping the other 637 or so laws?
Secondly, we’re not Jews.
Thirdly, Sabbath was a Saturday, not a Sunday. So if we’ve understood enough to change the day we honour God from the day the Jews had to the day when Jesus rose to life from the dead – surely we should understand that that desire to set aside time to honour Him comes from love and not from law.

Our key way of thinking about the Sabbath comes from Jesus himself. Mk 2:27 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!” 3:1 Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. 2 Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies watched him closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.” 4 Then he turned to his critics and asked, “Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?”

The Pharisees had reduced the Sabbath to not working. Jesus points out that the purpose of the Sabbath is honouring God. We rest in order to spend time with God. The Sabbath is made for us, to help us to honour God. Not us made to conform to the Sabbath.

So as Christians we are not required to keep the Sabbath. That’s why we don’t stone our medical people for working on Sunday! Because love for those who are sick takes precedence.
And if you think that preaching is “resting” – it isn’t. I’m certainly working on a Sunday!

Now there is a timeless principle in here – did you see it? In v11. We are part of creation, and therefore we need to rest. So resting is a wise. A day of rest for the nation is a good thing. The Soviets tried a 10 day week and it failed. 6 days work, 1 day rest is the way God has designed things.

But I need to make sure I take some time to rest, to not work, recognising my limitations as a created being. Needing rest reminds me that I’m not God. And I need to set aside time to be with the Lord, and be with his people.
That’s keeping the Sabbath, exceeding the Sabbath.

As Christians we are in Christ, right at the heart of that God-given rest, that perfect relationship. That’s what we long for. So we honour God not just on a Sunday but every day. And we set aside time to rest and time to be with Him and His people, at church, at Bible study and beyond.

We don’t keep the Sabbath. We go beyond it. And yes, you can dance, and even play cards on the Sabbath as a Christian. In fact, on any day. Just be sure to honour Christ in everything you do!

Do you see why now Paul says in Romans 3:31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. (ESV)

We uphold the law because we follow the law of the Spirit, the law of love. And that love compels us, because of our new nature, to honour God in all that we do. We go beyond Sabbath, beyond clean lips, beyond merely avoiding idols, to the very heart of God, the relationship between Father, Son and Spirit. By faith we are there. That is the arena of grace in which we now stand.

Now I had planned to go through the rest of the 10 words from God boomed out from the top of the mountain, but our heads are probably spinning now. So we’ll leave that to next week, along with the delightful prohibition against having steps up to the altar because people might look up your robe! Holy underpants alert! And we’ll think about what that could possibly mean for us today.

Dear friends, if we are in Christ we are no longer under the law. It has been fulfilled for us. We are caught up into the very relationship the Son has with the Father.
The Son does the Father’s will, not because he is obliged to (Law), but because his love for the Father is such that he cannot do otherwise. It would be to deny his very nature. (Gerald Bray).
And we have that same nature now within us. We do the Father’s will, not because of obligation, of Law, but because we love Him. We love Him and to act otherwise is to deny our nature.

That’s why before you meet Christ sinning comes naturally.
After Christ you are reborn and it grates to sin. As my Dad’s friend said “you can’t sin properly anymore”. It’s now against our fundamental nature! No law – it is fulfilled – but instead the freedom to be what we were reborn to be through the Spirit who gives life. Fulfilment and freedom!

Let’s pray.

Rom 1:18-2:5 God abandoned us to our shameful desires…

Rom 1:18-2:5

Listen to MP3

Am I a Christian if I refuse to accept parts of the gospel, the parts of the Bible I do not like?

Everything that looks Christian is not necessarily Christian. Many things are dressed in Christian clothes which are not Christian at all, but pagan and atheistic.

Be sceptical of anything that puts us in the centre. Of "theology" where God does everything that we want him to, and where we get power and wealth and health and the American Dream! That’s why we’re going through Romans: because here the gospel is clearly and systematically laid out. What the gospel is, what it contains and why we need it. This is what we believe.

From 1:18 to 3:20, we are in the "Why do we need the gospel" part of Romans. And we immediately crash into something we struggle with in our culture: that God is God! He is sovereign over all things, he judges us, and his judgment is right. Akk! No!
So we’re tempted to say, “but how can a loving God be like that? I can’t believe in such a God”.
What we’re upset about is not that he is sovereign, but that I’m not. Because when everything’s going our way, we love thinking of the sovereign God, ruling on high, smiling down on us and taking care of things. But when he does something that goes against our will, when we disagree with his choice – that’s when we suddenly have problems with his sovereignty.

And the biggest problem with his sovereignty is his judgment - and we struggle with it! Try telling one of your friends. See what reaction you get. “But God is a God of love! What's important is if we've tried”

Really? When you hit your sister in your face, did your parents say, “Doesn’t matter, we're full of love!” Ha! That’s not love, that’s unfair! That’s injustice. If God is really is a God of love, He will judge us for what we have done. He must judge, otherwise he is not good! But like children caught in the act of doing something wrong, we choose to close our ears and eyes and pretend that the parent isn’t there.

Will we believe the word of God, or will we 25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. A tame God for the "modern" Norwegians? Do we believe in Jesus or Jusus? The fake copy, or the real thing?

In today's text, the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, is teaching us that we all, without exception, have sinned. It is not that there are "good" people and "bad" or "evil" people – that’s the worldly, humanist, atheist way of thinking and it’s not Biblical. Ro 3:23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. says 3:23.

We are stuck the quicksand of sin. And the more you struggle and try to save yourself in quicksand, the faster you sink.
We need the gospel because we have all sinned and are under the right judgement of God, and face his anger.

1. We see God’s judgement in our thinking.

2. We see God’s judgement in our sexuality

3. We see God's judgement in everything that we do

4. How can we understand God's judgement and anger as Christians?

1. We see God’s judgement in our thinking.

18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

Because we are sinners, we suppress the truth. What truth? The truth about God: that he exists, that he created us, that he is King. We must suppress this truth, for how can we pretend to be God if God is there?

19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Look around you. Look at Creation. See its design. Look at yourself, your morals - why do you say “this is wrong” when you do the same thing? For example, we all “know” that lying is wrong - but we all lie. It’s as if we know that there is a Standard beyond us, above us.

God has made it obvious that He is there. And we have chosen to ignore him. We choose to rather believe that everything is just random, that order came out of chaos - something that never happens - except in evolution! Why? Because we'd rather believe in something so ridiculous than believe in God. We suppress the truth and therefore everyone is without excuse. Not one person can say to God “I did not know you existed”. We are all guilty.

21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. 25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

We exchanged the gospel in all its glory with something else, something less. Instead of Jesus and his immense love, we put ourselves and our desires in the centre. Seek first your own interest. Follow your heart. Look out for number 1. Me, me me. What kind of world does that create?

And it affects us as Christians too. We are always tempted to make God less, a little more tame, a little more manageable, a little less sovereign, a little less full of anger, a little less God - and make ourselves a little bigger. But the truth is the greater we make ourselves the less we become in reality. We become limited and full of fear. To acknowledge the truth that God is sovereign that my salvation is based not on what I do but what Jesus has done, and that God works in me in the power of the Holy Spirit, that same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead - then the possibilities are endless. Then I'm really free!

This isn’t just theory, we’ve seen it time and again just in these five years at Rock Church. We have seen people being saved, healed, released from prison, and Satan's power crushed. God is sovereign! Our God is sovereign! And then the possibilities are endless, unlimited. Then we are free to experience all that God can do.

Let's not be tempted to make God small, because that is God's judgment: that he abandons us to dark and confused minds.

We see God's judgement in our thinking.

2. We see God’s judgement in our sexuality

26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

This Homosexuality thing is nothing new. In Roman times, homosexuality was the old, worn out and backwards sexual morality, and it was Christian sexual ethics that was revolutionary and new! Homosexuality is not new and modern and evolved. It’s older than Christian sexual ethics. We haven’t evolved in our understanding. We’ve gone backwards!

That we think now as a society that being gay is a good thing and must be praised says a lot about us and what we think about God and his creation order. We take what he says and do the opposite. We twist it - we will not be women and men, but we’ll decide for ourselves what we’ll be. We won’t have sex with those whose genitals fit - no we’ll choose our own way, our own truth. We won’t have sex in marriage, but out of marriage! But all of this only damages us because it's not the way we’re created. As v27 says they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

When we commit sexual sin, we punish our own body. We inflict suffering on ourselves. Duh! Whether we are heterosexual or homosexual, sexual sin brings with it a lot of "gifts": a whole bunch of sexually transmitted diseases that can kill us with cervical cancer, make us sterile, destroy our sex drive, or "just" give us sores and an itchy crotch.... And if we’re engaging in gay sex or imitating porn, we can quickly ruin our, let's say, 'rear end'. (Not so sexy to wear a nappy the rest of life).

Homosexuality is no solution. Transgender (pretending you are another gender) is no solution. Saying: “God you’ve made a mistake, I’ll make my own choice, I’ll decide my own reality” when it comes to our gender or our sexual orientation is to really only hurt ourselves. It's no way out, no guarantee of happiness.

That’s not to deny that we can have big feelings, overwhelming feelings that “I'm a girl” or “I want to sleep with men” - but that should not define who we are. That should not be our identity. Our identity is A son or daughter of God, loved by God. And so the question is, will we let God be God and trust what he says? Do we want to live by faith? V17. The righteous shall live by faith. Trust in the goodness of God and his faithfulness. Yes, it may well be difficult, but the alternative is sin - and that only hurts us.

Now, if you’ve been listening and are thinking “Well, this has got nothing to do with me, just those disgusting gays” then the Holy Spirit has a word for us: 2:1 You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things.

When you judge someone else for their sin, you condemn yourself. It's too easy to mock gays and wag your judgemental finger at "them" while we heterosexuals divorce and live together and watch porn and destroy our own lives and society. Heterosexuals ruined the world long before gays organized!

Paul writes very cleverly here, gets us judging and saying - "yes, yes, that's completely wrong" - before he nails us with the next verses 29-31 covering all sorts of sin - because all of a sudden we’re all grouped together with homosexuals! We condemn ourselves with our own condemnation! Brilliant!

Because it’s true that gays have been bullied by the church. When we rage against homosexuality but don’t say a word about adultery, pornography, or cohabitation, or other “heterosexual” sins – that’s bullying. That’s discriminating against a small, vulnerable group. So, I would like to apologise on behalf of the church to my brothers and sisters who are gay: sorry. Forgive us for what we have done wrong. Forgive us because we came with judgement and turned our back on you, closing the door so that it was difficult for you to accept Jesus.

Brothers and sisters let me just say something quite clearly: in this church there is no room for hatred. Here there is no room for judgmentalism, for an attitude of “I'm better than you”. We are all in the same boat, equally sinful, no-one better than another. And if we have accepted Jesus as Saviour and Lord, we are equal in Christ, all children of God, loved equally as dearly by our Heavenly Father.

So this church is for homosexuals and for heterosexuals because we are all sexual sinners. We are all lawbreakers. And we all need Jesus. Jesus accepts us as we are. Remember what we have learned: that the gospel is something God does, not us. So if you're a homosexual you're not disqualified from knowing God because of your sin. And if you’re heterosexual, you’re also not disqualified from knowing God because of your sin. We can both come to Jesus, and be washed clean, whether we are gay or not. Come to Jesus and receive forgiveness, and receive the power of the Holy Spirit, to repent of . - turn away from the sin that comes so naturally, so easily, to us. Whether it's porn, or infidelity, or cohabitation, or fantasies about people you're not married to, or if you're violent or abusive during sex. Repent! Stop doing such things! Or you may refusing to have sex with your spouse, you’re rarely together. Again, by the Spirit’s help, let’s repent.

We need help, and that’s why we have a church. I’d like to challenge us to help each other here. That we can share our struggles with sin with each other, including sexual sin, so that we can pray for each other. And we do not judge each other, no matter what, because we are all sinners, and the only solution is to expose our sin to the light in order to deal with it. If you’re struggling with something difficult or you are too scared to share with someone in the church, feel free to talk to me or to Debby and we'll be happy to help you fight your sin and grow in godliness.

Just before we leave this point I want to clearly state God’s position on sex. Christian sexual ethics is easy. Are you married to the person: have lots of sex, often. If you are not married to the person: Do not have sex, and that includes all kind of sex, including pornography.

We see God’s judgement in our thinking.

We see God’s judgement in our sexuality’

3. We see God's judgement in everything that we do

I’ll just spend a few minutes on these verses.

28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking (sin begins up here, in our minds. Beware your thoughts. Be careful what you put in - what you watch, what you listen to. Does it help you to fight sin and obey Jesus, or not? Cut out whatever draws you towards temptation and so to sin. The battle begins here.) and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed (we’re fat because we eat too much and drown in debt because we buy too much. We need to eat less, exercise more, and give money to the gospel to be set free from the tyranny of greed!), hate, envy (advertisements! They’re built on envy. And jealousy in the church – she’s prettier than me, they have a bigger house, they... Instead turn to thanksgiving and praise. Thanks God for what you do have instead of looking at what you don’t. Praise Him. It kills envy and jealousy), murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. (Christian gossip starts with "just so we can pray but have you heard". Love ruins gossip and backstabbing. If you want to share something about someone else, stop and ask yourself “Why do I want to say this? Is it to bless and help them - or is it for me?” 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.

they piss out evil
Oh, that's us! And if we think we’re better because “I don’t do all that (well, maybe one or two small things)” then the next verses nail us. Just look at 2:3 Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things?

Naughty, naughty, don’t lie, we say – and then we lie. Naughty, naughty, we say, you gossip – while we’re watching porn. Naughty, naughty, don’t be violent we say – but then we quarrel and use our words like weapons.
Every time we point our finger at someone else’s sin, we judge ourselves because we show that we know right and wrong! And then we choose to do what's wrong anyway!

We see God’s judgement in our thinking.
We see God’s judgement in our sexuality
We see God's judgement in everything that we do

4. How do we understand God's judgement and anger as Christians?

We have spent a lot of time seeing ourselves as we really are: sinners without hope. But how should we understand this as Christians? Why do we still sin? Why do we experience God judgement in our own lives as he allows us to sin? Why does he allow sin in the church and in the life of his children?

That was the question the prophet Habakkuk asked. Why am I suddenly talking about Habakkuk? Because the quote in v17 “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” is from Habakkuk and his book forms the basis of the argument in chapters 1 and 2.

So in these last few minutes I want to give us a framework for how we can understand God's wrath, his anger, as part of his salvation!

See, Habakkuk’s complaint to God is this: everyone is sinning, the law has no power - what are you doing O God? Save us!
And God says, “I will save you by judging you. I’m sending Babylon to destroy Israel.”
“What?!” said Habakkuk, “that’s not a solution! They’re even worse! Why does allow that?
And God answer to him is “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” Actually in Habakkuk 2:4 it says “the righteous person will live by his faithfulness”
Trust me, God is saying. Be patient and you will see my faithfulness.

The Babylonians swept in like a flood and destroyed Israel, just like we sometimes experience sin - our sin or other's sin - like a flood. But we must stand firm. We must have faith in God's faithfulness.

When we look around, we look at the church, we look at Christians – oh dear. There’s so much disappointment, so much heartache. And that’s God's judgment. He has abandoned us to our shameful desires... but in that judgement there is salvation, for we who have faith. Have faith in his faithfulness. Stand on Christ as everything else fails and crashes about you – and you will stand firm.

There’s a famous scene from 1928 with Buster Keaton where a whole wall falls on him - but because he's standing just where the window is, he is not be hurt. He’s standing exactly where he needs to be, and he has faith that everything has been correctly calculated so that when the wall falls, he will not be smashed, but will stand tall.

That's how we should be. Stand firm. Have faith, trust, in God's faithfulness. Even though we are in the storm of his anger, his judgement, we who trust in Him will stand.

What about those who keep sinning, and God seems to do nothing – just keeps allowing their sin? Breivik and Hitler and Mugabe and others who just ruin everything around them? Well, we’ll find out next week – but here’s a little foretaste. God’s judgment will fall on them like a wall on a man, and smash them into pieces. Their sins will catch up with them. 2:6 He will judge everyone according to what they have done…11 For God does not show favouritism.

We see God’s judgement in our thinking, our sexuality, in everything that we do! But do not be afraid. Stand firm. Have faith in God’s faithfulness, and as everything crashes around you, you will stand, for salvation comes from the Lord.

Easter Sunday 2016: An Indestructible life

MP3 link…

Luke 23:33-24:12

A friend of mine asked me this week how I could believe in God. He said it is absurd. He challenged me: how can God allow all these terrible things that are happening in the world? Why, if he is so loving, does he allow all the evil?

It’s a good question. But he didn’t like the answer I gave him. Because I didn’t sugar-coat the truth! I said this world is under judgment. I said we are at war with God.

He pushed back and said but you believe God could stop it all?
Yes, but that would be judgement day.
Then all this, this is just a play, a wild and meaningless game for God. We all just go through the motions so that God can have his glory? I can’t believe in a God like that.

Well, you know what, it doesn’t matter what we believe about God. It doesn’t change whether God exists or not. Whether I think God is a raving lunatic or the best thing ever doesn’t change who he is because God is not a figment of my imagination or yours. He is not a creation of the church. He is not ours to edit into a more suitable picture of who God is – or who we would like him to be.

What we know about God is only what he has revealed to us. We don’t know what God hasn’t told us. He does not tell us why he allows the amount of suffering he allows. He doesn’t not tell us why he doesn’t allow much more evil and suffering. He limits the evil we do. Why? We are not told. Perhaps we cannot understand? Perhaps only when we are renewed, with a new body and a new mind can we understand the weight of the truth. Perhaps now our minds would explode! Who knows?

But we do know what God HAS revealed. What he has told us. We know what God WILL do. We know that he has set a day, judgement day, when all suffering and evil will come to an end. And we know what he HAS done. And this is the heart of the matter, and the real answer to the question my friend had “How can you say that God is loving when faced with all the suffering?”

And the answer – the huge, amazing, loud answer echoing throughout history is: the cross. The cross of Christ is God’s answer. It is at the cross we see the heart of God. It is at the cross that we see that he is not at a distance playing with us, uncaring, unfeeling. At the cross he enters our world, in poverty, in being hungry, thirsty. He experiences injustice and betrayal. Everything we’ve been through he has known. He even knows what it is to sin, not because he sinned but because he took our sin, my sin, your sin, upon himself.

It is the cross which speaks loudest about who God is. And it is the cross we celebrate today.

Because what hope is there otherwise. This is a cruel and evil world. It is terrifying, it is war, it is bloodshed. It is bombs and terrorism and evil. It is broken promises and broken homes. Even in our own homes there is violence, there is shouting, there is cheating, betrayal, hurt. Some of us are parents and making massive mistakes. Some of us know we’re not doing enough but we don’t know what to do? We can’t change ourselves to find a way out.

The Cross of Christ offers hope. For there Jesus took all our failings upon himself.

Haven’t you ever wished that you could start again? Haven’t you ever wished that you could simply hand over your life to someone else to fix.

Well, the cross says you can. Why? Because on the cross Jesus swapped places with us. He took our life, so that we can get his.

He deals with our failings and gives us his righteousness. And that righteousness, that goodness starts to work its way through our lives. We are changed from the inside out.

It’s like an old, run-down dive of a restaurant. Then one day you see the sign “new owners - under new management”. Hm. And you start to hear rumours that the food is really good. And then you see the windows are cleaned, and the floor is gleaming and the tables shining. Wow. And then there’s a fresh coat of paint on the outside. And before long the restaurant is completely different. The new owners have taken over and set about transforming the place.

That’s what coming to Christ is like. A complete transformation. That is what is on offer this Easter.

1. Jesus can save anyone, even you

39 One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!” 40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” 43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

All of us know a time when we’ve messed things up. Some things big, some things small. But you know you’ve really messed things up when you’re such a terrible criminal that you’ve been sentenced to death by crucifixion – through hanging on a cross. This was for murderers, terrorists, that kind of person. Think Breivik. Or the guys behind the bombings in Brussels. Those type of people. Down the totally wrong path.

And that’s the type of man who turns to Jesus and asks for mercy “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom”.

What would you say if you were Jesus? “No, you don’t deserve forgiveness!” Any other religion would give the answer “but you have not done enough good things, and you cannot do any before you die. There is no hope for you”. Humanism would say “It’s too late, you have made your choice. You have a mental disorder or something.”

But Jesus? Jesus says this “Today, you will be with me in paradise”.

Amazing words. Ridiculous words. Words which my friend reacted to: “So I will go to hell but you won’t? Just because I don’t believe in Jesus?”

Yes. Because all of us deserve Hell. But Hell isn’t fire and pitchforks and hehehe. Hell is simply the absence of God. We get what we want. We reject God. All of us are hell-bound, and without Christ that is where we will all end up. Because we want to be there. We want there to be no God. That’s the amazing thing which God does. He comes down to his enemies, and dies in order to save them. That’s not fair. It’s not fair that good people go to Hell along with bad people – but it definitely not fair that bad people go to Heaven. No it’s not fair. The gospel is spectacularly unfair. The innocent dies for the guilty. And the guilty go free.

That – is love.

Not namby-pamby ooo, I looove you, sentiment. But love. Brutal, heart-wrenching, go through fire and mud – that kind of love. Hard as steel. It is love which looks people like us in the eye, people who have rejected God, people who have messed things up, people who are not good like God, perfect, holy… compared to Him we are all like the criminal on the cross next to Him.. that love looks us in the eye and says “today, you will be with me in paradise”.

All you’ve got to do is ask.

Because we’re all a bit thick – really, could God really forgive me. No, I’ll have to sort myself out a bit, do a few good things, put on my best suit, wash my face – stupid stuff like that. Because we are a bit thinck and think that God can’t really mean forgiveness forgiveness, forgiveness for everything – Luke, the writer, tells us two more times that yes, this is really true.

33 When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

Forgive the guys who used me as a punching bag, spat at me, mocked me whipped me, stripped me naked, and then hammered nails into my hands and feet causing me agonising pain – those guys, Father, forgive them.

And if we haven’t got the point yet from Luke points out that the most unlikely person responded: the Roman Centurion. The man in charge of the crucifixion!
47 When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent.”

Jesus can save anyone. Even you.

2. Jesus died, really died, so that you can live

44 By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 45 The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. 46 Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.

It went dark, a symbol of judgement, as Jesus hung on the cross. He is being judged for our sins. He’s taking our place. Then Jesus shouts his innocence – Father... – because he is not a sinner and he will be vindicated. And then he dies. Death came because of sin. And so Jesus, carrying our sin, dies.

The soldiers think job done. The Roman officer is amazed and wants to know more “Who is this Jesus”. The crowds were sad. And Joseph comes and asks for his body. We know from the other gospels that when the soldiers checked to see if Jesus really had died, they also stabbed him in the side. Yes, this dude’s dead.

His friends, his disciples, women and men - they saw Jesus die. All went away sad. There was no cunning plan, no oh, don’t worry it’s actually Judas with a changed face on the cross. (We know it wasn’t Judas because we know how Judas died - He tried to return the money after Jesus’ death on the cross – pretty difficult if HE was the one on the cross. And then hanged himself.)
There was no big conspiracy. Everyone was depressed. The baddies won. The goodies lost.

53 Then he took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a long sheet of linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb that had been carved out of rock.

I think the most damning evidence is this in verse 1 of chapter 24 24:1 But very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared – they went to the grave with burial spices. Not with party packs to welcome him back – hurray you’re alive! Not even with medical stuff – bandages etc. No: burial spices. Spices for dead people. Nobody thought Jesus was alive. He was dead. Dead, dead, dead. They’d seen it happen with their own eyes, heard his cry of agony, carried his dead body to the tomb. Dead.

And that is a very, very GOOD thing. It is the reason we call Good Friday Good Friday! Because if Jesus did not die, then our sins are not paid for, and there is no way back to God. We are at war with him, we have rejected him, and we are hellbound. An eternal existence without God.

But because Jesus DID die. Well, our sins are dealt with, and the way to God is open. Jesus is the way. Because he died, we can live forever, eternal life – which is life with God.

Jesus died, really died, so that you can live.

3. Jesus rose, really rose from the dead, so that you can live.

5b Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? 6 He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”

Ah, now we get to the part that many of us struggle with. Rising from the dead? Really? But this the heart of the matter. Everything hinges on this. Because if Jesus did not rise from the dead, then everything else is lost. His death is meaningless, just another death. Christianity is a cruel joke if he did not rise.

So of course. Much nonsense spoken about this. I read recently that that we can’t really know. That we just have to have faith. The humanists love to prance around shouting about how rational they are, and how irrational Religion is. Well most religion is. But the resurrection of Jesus is not irrational. It is rational. It is based on evidence, not faith. There is a reason why many of the top scientists – rational people - in the world even today, are Christians. Science itself was birthed out of Christian thinking, out of the Christian worldview. People who say the resurrection is irrational know nothing about rationality or about history.

Because we have the eyewitness accounts. We know that their lives were changed by this. We know that within about 10 years this new religion, based on the resurrection of Jesus, spread across the whole known world, coming to the attention of the Roman Emperor. This brand new religion had huge growth – but it had an enormous weak spot. The message they went out with was that Jesus had risen from the dead. It’s a stupid, hard-to-believe message now. It was a stupid, hard-to-believe message then. People weren’t dumber then. In fact, with all the nonsense posted on the Internet, I think we’re dumber now!
But, back then, they would have checked out the story. Spoken to people. Looked for the body. Just like today, people reacted to this ridiculous claim, and set about to prove it wrong. And nobody could, and many, like, many today, looked at the evidence and had to say “I believe”. The evidence was so strong that they continued to believe it even as they were arrested, beaten tortured, and killed. The reaction to Christianity was very harsh – yet people still flocked to the new faith in numbers.

Now, you don’t have to believe in the resurrection – but then you’ve got to come up with another explanation as to why thousands of people who could easily disprove the resurrection rather died than give up their faith in Jesus.

The most rational explanation is the one the eyewitnesses give us: Jesus rose from the dead.

And if he rose from the dead, then you and I can live forever.

Jesus can save anyone – even you.

Jesus really died – so that you can have life.

And Jesus really rose again so that you can live forever.

So, what does that mean for me?

First there is hope. Evil and suffering is not the end. It will not be victorious. Death does not have the last laugh. Jesus has beaten death. Life has overcome – and is offered to you.

Second. No matter what you’ve done there is forgiveness. No matter how bad you are, or have been, or even will be – his grace is bigger, his blood has paid the cost, his love can cover you. You are forgiven.

Third. You have to deal with Jesus. You have to humble yourself, and ask for forgiveness. Ask to come under new management. There were two criminals on either side of Jesus. One went on to eternal death. The other two eternal life.

Which one are you?

No more fear

I have noticed more and more that people are afraid. On Facebook. In conversation. And the more we have, the better life is, the more we seem to be afraid. Norway is one of the safest countries in the world to live in. And yet we are afraid. Afraid of everything. Afraid of the smallest little thing that could possible upset our “perfect existence”.

Just have a scroll through Facebook. Fear! This threat or that threat you need to be aware of. Look at the newspapers – fear pours out of them constantly – look at this terrible thing, look at that terrible thing, look at this to be worried about. Newspapers discovered long ago that fear sells. And they’ve been using that tactic ever since.

Why? Why does fear sell? Why do we seem to want to be afraid?

All of us have different presenting fears. If I went around this room and asked each of you what you are afraid of, really afraid of, and if you were honest, I’d get a number of different answers. Especially our unspoken fears. Fear of death, fear of being sick, fear of losing a job, fear of a secret being discovered, fear of Islam, or the oil price falling, fear of the future, fear of losing a loved one, fear or of failure, or of looking like an idiot, and probably one of the biggest fear of rejection – fear that people will see through façade to who I really am – and they won’t like it. And we never seem to get rid of fear entirely. We can’t shake it off. When we deal with one fear – another rises in its place. It’s like the mythical Hydra monster – you cut off one tentacle, and two more grows in its place.

Why do we like scary stories, thrillers, horror movies? Why do we like scaring our kids? Why do we have this need to be afraid? Even when there’s nothing to fear – like here in Norway – we are afraid!

It’s as if a festering boil or a poisoned heart pumping out fear into us. There is a root cause to our fear. And when we turn to God’s Word we find out why. The Bible exposes that root cause.
The root of our fear is this: we are enemies of God, cut off from our Creator, from our Father, alone in the world. And so we are afraid. We are afraid of everything around us. Things that threaten us, because we are alone. But the big fear which we never speak of – the elephant in the room which everybody ignores – is this: what if we are cut off from God forever?
The fundamental underlying cause for our fear of everything is our separation from our Creator. It is a deep scar in our souls. A festering wound of fear. We are separated from God, cut off from our Father. And so, like a young child lost alone in the forest, we are afraid. And what if we can’t find our way back home? That’s why we fill our lives with things to be afraid of – because that covers up the real fear that we want to ignore – what if we can’t get back to God?

But it’s Christmas! Why all this talk about fear and death. Lighten up man!

Well, Merry Christmas! Because this Christmas message brings not fear but comfort and joy. Because CHRISTmas is about the Christ: our Lord Jesus, who came to earth as a baby, grew up as a man, and died to take our place in order to bring us back to God. Christmas means that we never have to be afraid. The gospel, the Good News that we celebrate at Christmas, is the antidote, the cure, to fear.

To kill our fear, to be unafraid, we need two things: truth (or revalation), and love. Because our fears land in two groups: we fear the unknown – something unexpected coming in – and we fear the known – something expected actually happening. The gospel deals with both the fear of the unknown and fear of the known. The gospel is revelation – that is telling us the truth so the unknown becomes known.
The gospel is love – that is telling us that the known does not need to be feared because our Father loves us.

So this morning we’re going to deal with our fears! First we’ll see how the gospel we celebrate at Christmas deals with our fear of the unknown by revealing the truth about God and about us. Secondly, Christmas teaches us to be afraid of only ONE thing (instead of everything): God Himself. And thirdly, Christmas teaches us to not be afraid of God, because he loves us.

1. The gospel we celebrate at Christmas reveals True Truth

Lk 1:1–4 Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. 2 They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples. 3 Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write a careful account for you, most honourable Theophilus, 4 so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught.

The Christmas story, the beginning of the gospel, and beyond, everything Jesus said and did – I just want to remind us that the Christmas story is true truth. It really did happen. Because revelation is worthless if it’s a lie.

If it’s a lie, if it’s not true, then it’s useless to combat fear – it just makes us more afraid! “What if it’s all a lie?” Shudder.

I want to blow fear out of our hearts this morning. Brothers and sisters in Christ, we do not need to be afraid! We stand on truth. True truth. Luke, the doctor, carefully researched everything, finding out what Jesus really said and really did. And he says “you can be certain of this truth, the truth about”.

But to see this we cannot start on Christmas morning – who would really believe the story of the virgin birth. Nice one Joseph – you had sex with her before marriage and now you’re claiming a miracle from God to avoid being stoned. Yeah likely story!
No, we need to start with Jesus being crucified, dying, and then rising from the dead. Because without the resurrection, well Christmas is just a fairy-tale.

But Jesus’ death by crucifixion, and his resurrection, is the event in history which has more historical evidence than any other. Non-Christians like Suetonius, Roman historian (120AD), Pliny the Younger, Roman governor (110AD), and his friend Tacitus, Roman historian (100AD), Mara bar Serapion, prisoner (70AD), Thallos, Roman historian (55AD), Josephus, Jewish historian (60AD) – they tell us Jesus had an unusual birth, that he did great miracles, that he was killed by the chief priests and sentenced by Pilate, that within 12-20 years of Jesus death and resurrection Christianity had spread across the whole known world. So much so that the Emperor of Rome began persecuting the Christians. Something huge, momentous, happened in Jerusalem in 38AD. People gave their lives for that something. They would rather die than give up their faith. What other than what we read in the gospels could make people do that?

The evidence from non-Christians, biased against Christianity, is so strong. If Christ did not rise from the death, what then happened? It must be something equally momentous. And no-one can explain it away.

Also we have to be very, very careful of standing two THOUSAND years later and saying to Matthew and John, Jesus disciples “you didn’t see what you saw and wrote about – you were mistaken!”. How do we know? This changed their lives. And Mark and Luke carefully investigated the facts soon after they happened. And we’re going to come years later, from thousands of kilometres away, and say, naah, not true. Based on what? No investigation. No travel. No eye-witness reports. All the things the Bible writers did.

The Christmas story is not a fairytale like Father Christmas. Jesus showed by rising from the dead that he was no ordinary child. That he was in fact, as we heard last week, the God-Man, the Messiah, the promised rescuer King. He really was born of the Virgin Mary. Joseph wasn’t just lying! Jesus really was a miracle child.

These are facts, facts that you can build your life on. If your life is built on Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, your life is unshakeable. It is true truth.

As Colossians 3:3 says “our life is hidden with Christ in God” and Eph 2:6 “we are seated in Christ in Heaven”. Our life is secure. We are in Christ, in heaven, right now. There is no safer place. Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid. Our faith is true truth, and our lives are secure.

The gospel we celebrate at Christmas is True Truth.

2. Christmas teaches us to be afraid of only one thing: God

Luke opens his gospel with the miraculous birth of the prophet John the Baptist, followed by Jesus. John, the one promised who would prepare the way for the Lord. This fulfils the last words of the Old Testament found in Malachi 4:5 “Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the LORD arrives. 6 His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

As we’ve seen through Isaiah, God getting involved with us doesn’t always end well! In Luke 3:7-9 we read John’s warnings to the people: When the crowds came to John for baptism, he said, “You brood of snakes! Who warned you to flee God’s coming wrath? 8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. 9 Even now the axe of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.”

The coming of Jesus brings fear. Because the elephant in the room has made himself known! He’s broken through. When we are confronted by God it can be very scary indeed. We’ve gone along pretending to ourselves that “I’m God” – scary when the real God comes along!
John Chapman, an Australian minister, was being shown around the Houses of Parliament in London by a friend of his. As a joke, he sat down on the Queen’s throne – his friend went absolutely white “Get OFF before someone sees you otherwise we’ll BOTH be in serious trouble”.

As we read through the gospel of Luke, those of you in the Bible studies will know - we see a truly remarkable man. One with awesome power, truly terrifying power. We see the demons, evil spirits, trembling before him, so afraid. We see even his own disciples, dearly loved friends, terrified after he speaks to a storm and it obeys him. Who is this man?

This is the power of God on display. Only God is feared by the evil spirits. They would not fear an angel – they too are angels, fallen angels. But their Creator? Yes. They fall down at his feet screaming in terror “What do you want with us Jesus, Son of God.”
Only God can command creation to obey him. Only God has power over death. All this Jesus does. And he does it just with a word. No magic formulae, no incantations or hubble bubble toil and trouble. He speaks. It happens. He doesn’t even call on God the Father, he does not cry out “O Great Jehovah”, he does not say “in the name of… “. It is his power, his authority. Only God has that power.

It is unsurprising that when people understand who Jesus is, they are afraid. Turn to Lk 5:4–9 When he [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.” 5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” 6 And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. 8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.”

Who is Jesus? He is the Messiah, the Christ, the Saviour (Rescuer).
He is the one who should be feared, the one with great authority, because he is Almighty God, holy and perfect.

Proverbs beings with these words “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. The song Amazing Grace has these words in the second verse “It was grace that taught my heart to fear”.
We must be afraid of the only thing that we need to fear, and that is God. Nothing else matters. He has control over all other things – our future, reputation, health, time of death, finances, everything. The only thing that matters is our relationship with him.

So if you’re not afraid I pray that the Holy Spirit by grace will teach your heart to fear. Not the the little distractions that we fear – but the almighty holy God, a consuming fire. He is what we must fear. Amazing grace. It was grace that taught my heart to fear God.

Christmas means we need to be afraid of only one thing: God.

3. Christmas teaches us to not be afraid of God, because he loves us

Those of you who know the song Amazing Grace will know what comes straight after Twas grace that taught my heart to – and grace that fear relieved. God has come looking for us – but there is good news. He did not come as the warrior King on his white battle horse, sword flashing out of his mouth, robe dipped in blood, crowns upon his head, ready to strike down all who are not with him, wipe out sin and evil once and for all. No, that is how Jesus will return. That’s coming. But he came as a baby, in poverty. Not in power, but weakness. Not in judgement, but in salvation.

And the great, momentous news of Christmas is that the way to know him is open, and open for everyone. Because in announcing Jesus’ birth each time an angel appears he says these words “Don’t be afraid”. Don’t be afraid. This is good news!

Lk 2:8–15 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Saviour—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

This is GOOD NEWS says the angel. The Saviour, the Messiah is born. Jesus is the Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek) which means the Promised Saviour. He is the one promised in the Old Testament, the first part of the Bible, the one who will rescue us all from sin and death. Christ is not his surname but his job description. Jesus: saviour of the world! If he had a business card, that’s what it would say.

And look at v14: this saviour has come to bring peace. Peace, not first peace between people groups – that’s by product of the gospel – but peace between us and God. Peace. No fear.

As we read through Luke we see this terrifyingly powerful man – meeting the demon-possessed and rescuing them, allowing a prostitute to touch him at a dinner party and forgiving her sins. Calling a tax collector down from a tree and saying to him “Zaccheus, today I will eat at your house”. The crowds hated these sinners, but Jesus shares in their shame, indeed he takes their shame. He stands in front of them, before the crowds, and lets the crowds hate him instead. Remarkable. He takes our place, takes our shame, our blame.

This is the message of Christmas. God loves us, and seeks us out. If we are lost children in the forest having run away from home, God is the Father who seeks us out searching through every bush and rock until he finds us. We do not need to be afraid!

And if you are afraid, look to the cross! 1 Pet 3:18 For Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.

What love is this! Here is the promise of Christmas fulfilled. Our Saviour has come to rescue us. He has dealt with our sins. The way is open. Come as you are, to Jesus.

Brothers and sisters. Do not be afraid. You are secure in Christ. God is not angry with us. Peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased says v14 – and he is very pleased with his Son, and all who belong to him.

We allow ourselves to be afraid. Do not give in. Talk to yourself. Remind yourself of the gospel. Fill you mind with Christ. Know that he loves you as you are. Even when you sin. Even when you fail. Even when you fall short. He loves you as you are.

I just want to end with a story that Immanuel told me. He had a terrible time travelling through the Sahara desert, he broke his leg, he was in such pain, and he was almost set alight – murdered – because he was slowing everyone down. I asked him if he was afraid. He said “I was not afraid, God was with me.”

Merry Christmas!