Genesis 15 Faithful God

Genesis 15....

This week, we will look at God speaking to this man, Abram, and he’ll be left with a decision and that is whether or not he can trust God.

This is the question for us all.

Beginning in Genesis 15:1. “After this” – and what he’s referring to here is in Chapter 14, Which Dan shared with us last week.

Abram went off and fought a great battle to release his not so intelligent nephew, Lot. And what Lot was doing there I don’t know...

He also met Melchizedek, who was priest and king of Jerusalem.  So after this great battle and meeting this great man, ( download the message)

This is where we pick up the story, where God is again speaking to Abram. And when God speaks it means He has something to say.

(Tiger and canary)

 vs 1 “the word of the Lord came to Abram” –

I want say this about God. God is free to reveal himself and communicate in any way that he determines is most effective, beneficial –  it is his right.

God can speak to us, the Bible says, through creation. Psalms,

through what he has made.

God can speak to us (Romans 2 says) through our conscience.

God can speak to us, obviously, through his Word.

God can speak through an angel.

God can speak through circumstances.

God could speak through a dream. He does that with Joseph at the end of the book of Genesis.

And here, God’s going to reveal himself through a vision.

God will speak in any way that he desires to people that he wants to reach.

Maybe we could ask God to speak to and .....

Surprise Ebenezer in jail in Eretria to meet his needs....

God will surprise Ta ha...

Know anyone else? Shout out their name.....

I personally never had a vision or a dream.

And these things happen today.

I was reading that in some closed countries under different religious rule where Christian missionaries are not allowed to go.

Now there are reports of Muslims coming in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ because they will go to bed and have a dream, and in that dream, they will die and they will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ to give an account for their life.

And they wake up and realize that Jesus is real and they become Christians. Why? Because God know where people are at and He can surprise them knowing....

He gets their attention....

So God breaks through in a vision and here’s what he says. Abram....He . “Don’t be afraid,” 

The shepherds we hear about at Christmas Don’t be afraid!!!!

Mary at the tomb Don’t be afraid....!

 “Abram....Don’t be afraid.” “OK I’ll try not to be...”

But doesn’t the Bible tells us to just fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. (1 Sam 12:24) and he does....But its not be scared of the Lord...

C. S. Lewis describes; Numinous" taken from the Latin. It is a fear as to filled with awe, in which you "feel wonder and a certain shrinking" or "a sense of inadequacy to cope with such a visitation". It is a fear that comes forth out of love for the Lord.

I'm FEARFUL OF MY WIFE!!!!

I'm full of fear of hurting her. "Filial fear" (the fear of offending someone whom one loves).

But of course get a visitation from God or and angel and there is bound to be a surprise...imagine Mary in the kitchen and suddenly and Angel!!!  Fear Not Mary!!!...You Scared the life out of me!!!

Now, Abram at this point is an old man.... in his 90s.

Starting to become  Anxious about his time left on this earth.

And so, what God is saying here is this: “Abram, pay attention to me. Don’t be afraid of what’s happening in your life and circumstances.

I have a plan for you. If you trust me, everything’s gonna be just fine. There’s nothing to worry about.”

And then he gives two beautiful images about himself.

First, “I am your shield,” and second, “I am your very great reward.”

Two beautiful images...Dan last week told us of the battle he had just fought and won.

Already proved that he is a shield Because Abram with his 318 men went up against this huge war machine.

“Abram, you know why you won that war....Because its all about me not you!!!! Because I’m your shield.. I protected you. I defended you. I gave you a victory.”

And this picture of God being our shield is continued through scripture.

Ephesians 6 in the New Testament where it tells us that as God’s people we are in a war. It’s not just against people but against powers, domains, and spirits.

I'm a labourer, teacher mechanic, student...what do we know about the spirit world. Principalities and powers--But He does.

What this means is we, as a little church, are up against a real enemy that’s spiritual.....Jesus believes and encountered a literal Satan.

With real demons. With Real spiritual attacks.  This is a real enemy who really wants to do us harm.

He doesn’t want us to love each other. He wants us to be bitter, angry, unforgiving, mean-spirited, and divided.

Recognize some so called Christians you know?

He doesn’t want us to be devoted to the Lord Jesus he wants us to be lazy.

He doesn’t want Christian marriages last. He doesn’t want the children to be raised in loving Christian homes.

Satan doesn’t like you !!!! So what do we do? 

As one of my friends used to say; get under the spout where the glory runs out....we hang out under the shield.  God is our protector. He’s our defender.

And he says, “Abram, I’m your shield. I know everything about you now ......

It’s like Hebrews 12:2 says. Fix your eyes on me trust me...

Stay under my protective covering.

Hang out with me.. Let’s have this ongoing relationship. Let yourself be mentored, be disciples so you can grow in knowledge of me and tell people of what you know about me... I’ll will fight for you I will protect you.”

Abram had just won a war in Genesis 14. He had all the spoils of victory he could’ve taken for himself, a large fortune, made himself very wealthy. Did he take any of his money?

And God is reminding him that HE is his very great reward.

Job 22:21-27 Read .....Is the Lord you r gold and silver...

Chapter 12.....God said Leave your country....

Chapter13. So Abram left...

But now in 15: He hesitates! he is feeling worried.

This man of faith is struggling...

vs 2. BUT BUT BUT.....

He’s confused, and the question is whether he can trust God!

God takes him outside and looks toward heaven...your descendants will be as many as the stars...

do you know what Abrams doing..?

He is looking back toward a wife who is following him in Zimmer frame...Im really old now....God I think you got it wrong!!!

He is stressed with the largeness of the promise and he says to himself...IMPOSSIBLE...

Luke 18:27          Listen to the words of Jesus...

Amplified Bible (AMP)

27 But He said, What is impossible with men is possible with God.

 But there are times when you read the Word of God, you read the promises of God, “I’ll forgive all your sins. I’ll never leave you. I’ll never forsake you. I will bless you. I will protect you. I will do you good, not harm.

I will work out all things for the good of those who love me and are called according to my purpose.” You read all those promises ...but then you look at your life and you say, “God, I just don’t see it. God,

You like Abraham have left your land...but life at times tough in this freezing land of Norway!!

Ab says you’ll never leave me, but I feel alone.

You say that  you’ll work everything out, but it just seems like it’s not coming together....the language is difficult, I cant find a job at all.

I don’t have all my culture and family or even the food I'm used to .

God, I don’t understand.”

This is the place that Abram finds himself in.

God is right there with him and he is saying BUT BUT!!!

HOLD ON!!! IS He is doubting God to His face?

YES...DOUBT IS NOT unbelief...

But doubt and unbelief are two different things....

Faith is big enough for doubt. Doubt can be positive.

Its what we do with or doubt that matters...Im your shield your reward......therefore we take the Doubt to GOD JUST LIKE ABRAM.

Take the BUTS to Lord I'm struggling, I don’t understand, I don’t see it, I don’t taste it I'm frustrated with all that is going on or not going on. Help me understand it?

Doubt is absolutely part of faith and growth.

Unbelief is when you walk away and say, and we turn our back on God and basically say that God is a lying.

Where does he take his doubt, He takes it to God.

 “O Sovereign Lord,” – what he can see is that it is not all abut him and tired little body Its about Sovereign Lord!!!!

So many people treat God as like a free Amazon.

By pushing the buy now button we can push God into doing it my way in my time.  

Ab has tried that! When he and Sahrah decided to help God out with His promise...

Genesis 16:15

And Hagar (servant) gave Abraham a son: and Abram called his son's name, Ishmael.

Genesis 21:2-3

For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son is his old age .... And Abraham called him Isaac.

Here’s the problem. Jack Garratt is not Sovereign.

I don’t have a throne, I’m not the king of kings, lord of lords,.

Faith is knowing who the Sovereign Lord.....is.

This is not a guy who’s turned his back on God. This is a man who wants to know God more deeply and fully.

He’s in a hard place, but his heart is in the right place of wanting to push into God so that he might move forward in a right relationship.  The depth he now goes into God is the depth he can go into this great reward of people and land.

Genesis 14 Amazing Grace

Genesis 14

What is a Christian? Is it someone who goes to church on Sunday, pays their tithe, and is generally a nice person? Or is it someone who causes riots wherever they go, gets thrown into jail. I mean, the apostles fall into the second description! And perhaps we need a few more of those types of Christians, riot-causing-for-the-sake-of-the-gospel-Christians in this country.

But neither of those descriptions are correct. Because what makes a Christian is not what we do, or even what we are – what makes a Christian is God. If his favour rests upon you, you are a Christian, you belong to him, you are His. No matter what.

This was Abram’s experience. He was called by God. His favour rested upon Abram. His promise was given him. Nothing could shake that promise – not even Abram’s own sin! And you too, if you are called by the Lord Jesus – you belong to Him, His favour rests upon you, and nothing can shake His promise “you will always be with me where I am”.

So let’s dive in to this chapter where we see that Abram is undefeatable, those with him are blessed, Abram is Lot’s saviour – and Abram is a mere shadow of the great high priestly King of Jerusalem who is still to come.
1. God keeps his promises
2. A mysterious blessing
3. The Priest-King of God Most High

1. God keeps his promises

8 Then the rebel kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (also called Zoar) prepared for battle in the valley of the Dead Sea. 9 They fought against King Kedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Babylonia, and King Arioch of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 As it happened, the valley of the Dead Sea was filled with tar pits. And as the army of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into the tar pits, while the rest escaped into the mountains. 11 The victorious invaders then plundered Sodom and Gomorrah and headed for home, taking with them all the spoils of war and the food supplies. 12 They also captured Lot—Abram’s nephew who lived in Sodom—and carried off everything he owned.

Oh Lot. You threw your lot in with the wrong crowd! He cut himself off from Abram, who has now become the centre of God’s blessing on earth – and he faces the consequences. His eye for the “easy life”, seeing the well-watered land, and ignoring the fact that 13:13 the people of this area were extremely wicked and constantly sinned against the LORD. – well, Lot pays the penalty for his decision. War ravages the land, and he is carried off as prisoner.

Now I’ve been conditioned to thinking of Lot as righteous. You know, from the Sodom story a bit later “Oh Lord, if you find 50, 20, 10 righteous men”… But in reading carefully through this story - Lot is never presented as righteous. In fact, his story is the opposite –an unrighteous man, who keeps being rescued by God’s man on the ground: Abram. When I first read this story when I was planning the preaching program, I thought this story was about the fact that bad things happen even to good people – you know, the good man Lot was just living there, minding his own business, when war came and swept up everyone – the good and the bad – kind of like what has happened to some of you in your countries. Or just the general sufferings of life that sweep over us. As Christians we are not immune – after all, we will all one day die! But God has promised that he will be with us through the ups and downs, and Christ will meet us on the other side of death, clothe us in his robes of righteousness, and say “it’s alright, he’s with me”.
If I’d been reading my thoughts into the passage, that’s what I would have preached on – that’s what I’d planned to preach. But this passage is not about that. And my job is to lay GOD’S thoughts before you, not my own (or what I think God ought to be thinking at this point). So, after working on last week’s text I realised my initial ideas in reading this week’s passage was wrong.

The theme here continues from chapter 13 of the promise of God to Abram of land, people, blessing. He is the bearer of God’s promise. God’s promise is centred on him. So when Lot separates from Abram, he separates from the land, he separates from the blessing – and ultimately separates from the people, as he gives rise to the Amonnites and Moabites, a thorn in Israel’s side in the future, and enemies of God.

So the author carefully places this story here, directly after chapter 13, to highlight what happens when you separate from the blessing of God: destruction, slavery, destitution.

Now, by rights, that should have been the end of Lot. But because Lot is Abram’s nephew, he is not forgotten: immediately Abram rises up and gathering 318 men sets off after the enemy army.

Now we need to set the scene a little bit here. This army is an alliance of four kingdoms. It is huge. It has just swept through the whole area, from the east, down the whole side of the Jordan valley, down south near to Egypt, then up to Sodom and Gomorrah – absolutely destroying anything and anyone standing their way. An army of FIVE kings – that of Sodom etc, was soundly beaten– as v10 As it happened, the valley of the Dead Sea was filled with tar pits. And as the army of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into the tar pits, while the rest escaped into the mountains. Fleeing for their lives, falling into the tar pits. Getting stuck, getting shot by arrows – absolute mayhem and destruction. Kedorlaomer’s army was a victorious war machine.

And here comes Abram with around 300 guys. Not professional soldiers, although they’d had a bit of training. This was no standing army – these were farmers, hunters, tanners, ordinary guys. And off they go in pursuit of this mighty army. Like boys with sticks against tanks.

But there is one more thing they have. They have verse 3 of chapter 12. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt.
Abram carries with him the blessing of God. And my word what a turnaround from the failures of the previous chapter! In bold faith Abram rushes out, secure in the Promise of God to bless him and keep him safe.

Think what this would have meant for the people of Israel at the time this was written. As they stood on the outskirts of the Promised Land, looking at the mighty city of Jericho, worried about all the powerful tribes and people-groups living there – mighty armies. Don’t lose heart – you may be small, but God is strong. You are one nation vs many – but Abram was one man vs four kingdoms.
You might be like boys with sticks against tanks - but God keeps his promises. Your God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He keeps his promises.

14 [Abram] pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with them at Dan. 15 There he divided his men and attacked during the night. Kedorlaomer’s army fled, but Abram chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 Abram recovered all the goods that had been taken, and he brought back his nephew Lot with his possessions and all the women and other captives.

A great victory. God keeps his promises.

What promises does he keep for us? Should we pick up the sword and rush out and attack… Sweden? Well our Man of Promise is Jesus. Our land is Heaven. Our people is the church (not the buildings, not denominations, but the body of Christ, true Christians all over the world, throughout time and history – our brothers and sisters, saved by grace). And the blessing of the Holy Spirit, and the gospel of grace.

When we speak the gospel, people get saved, people grow. Trust his word. We don’t need anything else. The gospel may seem like a stick against the tanks of people’s beliefs – but it is the power of GOD for salvation for all who believe.
Keep telling people about the gospel of grace: our Lord Jesus, who gave up his divine majesty in order to take our place, and deal with our sin once for all, so that we can be free, and know him forever. We can know almighty God, and live as his beloved children.

It is a message that has changed the world, is changing the world, will change the world. It is the most powerful message in the history of mankind. Because it is God’s message, a message of miraculous rescue. Trust his promises. Because God keeps his promises.

2. A mysterious blessing

So, Abram comes back victorious, meets the king of Sodom, and the strange figure of Melchizedek (who we’ll talk about in a moment). Sodom tries to give Abram his riches – like Satan, offering Abram what he already has been given by God – Abram refuses, and instead gives a tithe to Melchizedek symbolising “all I have comes from God. My riches are provided by him. All I have belongs to Him.” But he does, in verse 24, ask that his allies be blessed 24 I will accept only what my young warriors have already eaten, and I request that you give a fair share of the goods to my allies—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre.

This picks up the theme that those who are connected to Abram are blessed. Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre receive the spoils of war (and a great victory). Lot is rescued from slavery.
And those who are against Abram, are cursed. Kedorlaomer faces Abram in war and suffers a huge defeat. Last week we saw Pharaoh suffer God’s anger because of the way he treated Sarai, Abram’s wife. It is the fulfilment of what God promised Abram in 12:3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt.

In one sense, how they treat Abram is how they treat God. I (God) will bless those who bless you (Abram) and curse those who treat you (Abram) with contempt. Not I (God) will bless those who bless me (God). Or I will bless you (Abram) when you do the right thing. No. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. It seems to me that the way that people treat Abram, God sees that as the way they treat Him. Weird, isn’t it?

Or is it?

Israel – those who fought against Israel were destroyed or punished. Those who sought shelter in Israel, like Rahab, like Ruth, were blessed.

Abram is God’s representative on earth. How people treat him is how they treat God. Israel was God’s people: how people treated them was how they treated God.

Why? Because it foreshadows Jesus. Jesus is God’s perfect representative on earth. As he says to Philip “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9). Or in Col 1:15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

Abram and Israel were playing the role of Jesus in this great act of God to reveal to us his glory, reveal to us who He is and how great He is. Their role was to tell us about Jesus. “All of scripture is about me” Jesus said. If we are with Jesus, we are blessed - against Jesus and we are cursed; just like Abram.

The way we treat Jesus, is the way we treat God. They are the same. There is no way to know God outside of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, the Son of God. Because to try to do that – to ignore Jesus – is to treat him with contempt. And those who treat him with contempt will be, as 12:3 says “cursed”.

There’s another little indication of this in verse 3 of chapter 12: when God says All the families on earth will be blessed through you – the wording is actually “in you” all families will be blessed. Through Abram the blessing flows. In him the blessing is found. Because his descendant is Jesus. And to be in Christ, in Jesus, is to be blessed.

And that brings it to us. Because we are in Christ. We are all the families of the earth (many nations) blessed. And his favour rests upon us, like it rested upon Abram.

Now I had a problem when preparing this: how far do I apply this point? It’s risky, you see, because of the danger of triumphalism – God on our side, etc. Can lead to arrogance (like in Israel where they thought that they could do whatever they wanted because God was on their side. Like a pet dog).
But, there is also great comfort in this. We don’t have to fight our battles – the battle is the Lord’s. We don’t have to take revenge – God will deal with that. He takes it personally. Attacks on his children – he takes personally. Those who bless us will be blessed. Those who treat us with contempt will be cursed. This isn’t “ha-haaa. You will be judged by God you HEATHEN!!” But the conflicted and vengeful heart being quieted knowing that God, in his perfection, will deal with people rightly. Some will be completely turned – like Saul who became Paul, the great apostle.
Isn’t it comforting? We are under his protection. We belong to him. Those who bless us will be blessed; those who oppose us are not opposing us but ultimately God himself! And we can leave it in God’s hands.

It is a mysterious blessing. Which finds its fulfilment in Christ. And we too are blessed, knowing that his favour rests upon us – and that is, by his mercy, unshakeable.

So don’t be afraid for he is with you. He is with us.

You know, when my son Kaleb and I are together he is totally unafraid. “I’m with Dad. I’m safe. His favour rests upon me.” Kaleb knows I will protect him. If people treat him badly, I will stick up for him. He knows that if things get out of his control, he can simply hand over to me, and I will sort it out. Kaleb is happy with his Dad.

Our Heavenly Father is with us. What a mysterious, glorious blessing!

Let’s end by fixing our eyes on Jesus.

3. The Priest-King of God Most High

18 And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram some bread and wine. 19 Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And blessed be God Most High, who has defeated your enemies for you.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.

This fellow Melchizedek is a weird one isn’t he? Totally unannounced, he arrives on the scene, blesses Abram, receives a tithe from him, is described as a king and a priest of God Most High...and is never seen again. He simply appears, does his thing, and vanishes, almost like an angel, some eternal creature. In Hebrews chapter 7 the writer there picks up on this: in v 2-4 he says The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.” 3 There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God. 4 Consider then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle.

See, this book (Genesis) was written during the time of the priests. Only those from the tribe of Levi could be priests or even serve in the Temple (Jesus was of the tribe of Judah). But here we see that there is another type of priest. A priest who is also a king. A priest without beginning or end. A priest who is greater than Abraham.

In Psalm 110 Melchizedek is referred to again – only the second time in the Old Testament. Psalm 110 begins A psalm of David. 1 The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honour at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet. And in verse 4 The LORD has taken an oath and will not break his vow: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

The Lord (Yahweh) says to King David’s Lord – but that’s God. So God says to God You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. Jesus is that type of priest. Not a Levitical priest (from the tribe of Levi) serving in the Temple – but greater than the priest of Israel, greater than the Temple.

And more than that: this Psalm was sung to the king sitting on the throne of Jerusalem. Melchizedek was the King of Salem, later called Jerusalem. David’s throne, in Jerusalem, is the throne of Melchizedek, the great priest-king. And David’s great-great-great-etc grandson is: Jesus. Jesus, the King of Jerusalem, the priest of the Most High God, the king of justice and the king of peace, displaying his justice and peace as he hangs on the cross to satisfy the demands of justice in order to offer peace to all who come to him.

Melchizedek points directly to the Lord Jesus: the King who is our great high priest, greater than Abram, the one who can bring us before God.

In Christ, God keeps his promises.

In Christ, we have this mysterious blessing: God’s favour rests upon us.

In Christ, we have this great High Priest, this Everlasting King, greater than Abraham: the king of justice and peace. Like Abram, let us come to our King, and acknowledge that we belong to him.

Genesis 12:8-13:18 Abram’s unrighteousness and God’s mercy

Genesis 12:8-13:18

If you are a Christian you’ve probably experienced this: a moment of great deep spiritual experience – a time when you feel so close to God. He is with you and you are his. Maybe it was some great act of service. Or a moment where your changed character shone through – you acted holy! Or just an amazing experience at church or out in nature or just in your bedroom reading the Bible. Whatever it is – you’ve had this fantastic experience – only to be followed by some massive sin. And you think: can God really still love me? I’ve just had this amazing experience and then I go and do THAT or say THAT or think THAT and trash it all. I’ve really messed it up this time.
Ever had that experience?

Well, you’re not alone – Abram had exactly that experience in today’s story. The heights of being called by God, given an everlasting promise – followed by the lows of immediately disbelieving that promise, lying about your wife to protect your own skin, and then almost giving away the land God had promised you. Oops.

Today we’re going to follow two stories that teach us about Abram, about Lot – an ultimately a lot about God. Abram is unrighteous, Lot is a fool – and God will judge the wicked and God will save his people.

First, the journey to Egypt, which I have called:

1. Faithless Abram, faithful God

V10-13 At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner. 11 As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, you are a very beautiful woman. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife. Let’s kill him; then we can have her!’ 13 So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.”

Last week we looked at the great promise God gave to Abram, this promise which will dominate the Bible until the coming of Jesus who fulfils this promise. God promised Abram 3 things: have a look at v1-3 of chapter 12. V1: 1 go to the land that I will show you. He is promised LAND, the land of Canaan; v2 I will make you into a great nation. PEOPLE, that from Abram would come a great nation; and v3 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you. BLESSING, he would be protected by God, and ultimately the whole world would be blessed through his descendant (Jesus, if you weren’t here last week!).

So why was Abram so afraid?! He’s terrified, so terrified he makes a plan to lie to protect himself. And, what a hero, doesn’t seem to care too much about his wife – what could happen to her if she’s passed off as his sister and therefore able to be married! What would have happened to her if God had not intervened, sending plagues on the house of Pharaoh? Our “hero” Abram didn’t seem to care – as long as he was safe!

It’s worth pointing out just at this moment that we must never, never fall into the trap of believing that God chooses people because they are “better” than other people. The holy heroes of old are often very, very unholy people. They are ordinary – Abram’s response to danger is perfectly human isn’t it? Do whatever you can to protect yourself.

He seems to have forgotten God’s promise to him, doesn’t he? It is ironic: “the man of faith” acting without faith, acting as if God’s Promise doesn’t exist.

We might be being a bit harsh with Abram, though. He doesn’t know God like we do. In his culture, like many cultures today, gods belonged to different nations or different areas. Remember how the story started: Abram being forced away from “God’s” land, and into the land of Egypt. v10 At that time a severe famine struck the land of Canaan, forcing Abram to go down to Egypt, where he lived as a foreigner.
He probably thought that he was now out of God’s zone, and so had to fend for himself.
How wrong he was! Despite Abram’s faithlessness, God is faithful to his promise to bless and protect Abram.
17 But the LORD sent terrible plagues upon Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai, Abram’s wife…20 Pharaoh ordered some of his men to escort them, and he sent Abram out of the country, along with his wife and all his possessions.

This rescue showed Abram very clearly that God, his God Yahweh, is not limited by geography. He is not limited by the power of other gods – like the great gods of Egypt, the sun-god Ra and the god Osiris. His power is supreme, His word is law.

Our God is the God of the whole universe. All of time and space is his to command. How terrible for those who face his judgement! How blessed are those on whom his favour rests!

In this story, Abram nearly wrecked the Promise God gave him, didn’t he? He let his wife be taken by Pharaoh. He acted faithlessly. He sinned against Pharaoh – Pharaoh and his household suffered because of Abram’s lies. And Abram had sinned against God.

But God is faithful. His mercy is everlasting. No matter what Abram does, God will bless him. Why? Because God has said he will do this.

What about you? How often do you think “I failed. I’ve sinned. I’m far away from God. I don’t deserve his blessing”? Often, if you’re anything like me. And this is the point: we DON’T deserve God’s blessing. We never have. But he has CHOSEN to shower us with his blessing, to commit himself to us, to bless us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms – to show his great mercy and compassion. We are his trophies of grace – and nothing – not even you – not even your sin – not even your wilful, decided, “I’m going to do this trrrrbt to you God” sin, not even that can change who we are in God’s sight. He has seen all we will do, and has forgiven us, bearing our burden of sin on the cross.

If there’s one thing to learn from today’s passage it is this: that God is faithful even in the face of unfaithfulness. Just like with the people of Israel in the desert, and time and time again in the land – and just like with us. We are faithless, weak – he is faithful, strong. God keeps his promises. We may stumble and fall, but he will carry us safely to the Heavenly city. Why? Not because of us, but because in his great mercy he has called us his children. Like Abram, we are often not the best, or the most moral, or the cleverest or the nicest – we do not deserve God’s mercy. But we have it, by his grace! Isn’t that amazing?

There’s one more thing I want us to notice before we go on to the next story. Did you notice that Pharaoh faced God’s anger, even though he had acted “righteously”?
Our own righteousness counts for nothing – what counts is knowing God. You see, Pharaoh’s righteousness (acting right) was nothing more than cultural – he did what was culturally acceptable. There was no love for God, no fear of the Lord, in his actions. Here in Norway many are righteous with the righteousness of our culture. We have a lovely country, blessed with lovely people, righteous people. But there is no love for the Lord, no fear of God. And that righteousness counts for nothing, because they do not know God.

We are saved not because of our righteousness – but because of his. Our righteousness cannot save us – only Christ can.

If you are in Christ, then be at peace, brother – God is powerful to save, and faithful even when we are faithless.

If you are not in Christ – that is, you do not know Jesus personally – then your righteousness is like the righteousness of Pharoah. A thin cloak which will be blown away by the winds of God’s judgement. Turn to Christ while there is still time. Ask him for mercy, and he may hear your cry.

Because as we see in the next story, God will judge the wicked, and save those who seek refuge in him.

2. Two faithless choices

On the face of it, it’s a simple little story about two guys with too much stuff treading on each other’s toes. 5 Lot, who was travelling with Abram, had also become very wealthy with flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and many tents. 6 But the land could not support both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds living so close together. 7 So disputes broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot.

It’s too crowded for both of them! So when the older guy (Abram) says to the younger guy (Lot) “take whatever land you wish, and I’ll move to the land you don’t want” – we think, hey, problem solved.
But hang on a minute – what was the first part of God’s promise to Abram? Land. Where are they? In the land of Canaan. They are in the land of the promise. Look at v4 This was the same place where Abram had built the altar, and there he worshiped the LORD again. And in v7 we’re reminded again where we are At that time Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land.

Now, Lot. Lot knew which land had been given to Abram, which land was the land of God’s promise: the land of Canaan. But Lot it says in v10 Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the LORD or the beautiful land of Egypt.
Lot had an eye for the easy life – and did not think spiritually about the consequences.

He was not looking with spiritual eyes at the land. He was not seeing the land through the eyes of faith, seeing what God had promised. He saw only ease and comfort. But look at v13 But the people of this area were extremely wicked and constantly sinned against the LORD.

Lot has thrown his lot in (ha-ha) with the wrong crowd. As Psalm 1 says Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.
Lot joins in with the sinners, and suffers the consequences later as Sodom is destroyed and he and his daughters flee for their lives.

But there’s more: the story of Lot separating from Abram, travelling eastward, and settling in the plains, in the city of Sodom is deliberately written to echo the story of the people after Noah separating, travelling eastward, and settling in the plain of Shinar, where they set out to build the tower of Babel, the city of Babylon.

The author, probably Moses, wants us to understand that Babylon and Sodom have the same destiny: destruction. The close parallels of the destruction of the “city in the east” drives home the point that God’s judgment of the wicked is certain and imminent (can come suddenly, at any moment.) Rebellion against God is short lived and has only one outcome. The easy life is not such a good life after all.

So Lot’s choice was faithless. But there’s another faithless choice in this story. And it’s found in vv8-9 Finally Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen. After all, we are close relatives! 9 The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.”

Abram knew which land God had given him, and yet at this moment if Lot had said “I’ll have Canaan” he had promised to walk away! The Promise is in jeopardy (danger!). What if Lot chooses Canaan?! From Lot came the Ammonites and the Moabites! At this moment Abram is about to hand the Promised Land over to the same people who throughout Israel’s history were a thorn in their side and an obstacle to the fulfilment of the promise of the land being Israel’s. Even the author Moses had significant problems with the Ammonites and Moabites (like in Num 22–25 with Balak and Balaam and his donkey). Thanks to Abram the promise seems to teeter on the whim of the father of the Moabites, Lot.

But such stupidity from Abram is no obstacle for God. Lot chooses to go east, Abram remains in the land. God’s promise is secure.

But why? Why is Abram blessed and secure, and Lot ends up in a heap of trouble? The narrative drives us to ask this question. And the answer is clear. Like Noah before, it is because of God. Because God’s promise was for Abram. Because in his mercy he had called Abram. There was nothing special about Abram except for this: God, for no reason except his own, called Abram.

Likewise, you and I are not special. We are not precious like a snowflake. We are not better than others, cleverer, more given to holiness, more righteous. There is nothing special about us - except this: God, for no reason except his own, called me, called you.
That is mercy, extreme mercy!

Lot was a fool, and chose to live the easy life in a wicked city. Abram was a fool, who did not value the promises of God.
But, as certain as God’s judgement on the wicked, is God’s salvation of those whom he loves. Lot, because of his connection to Abram, is spared by God from the judgement on Sodom (chapter 19). Abram, despite his foolishness, is still to be blessed by God. 14 After Lot had gone, the LORD said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west. 15 I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession. 16 And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted! 17 Go and walk through the land in every direction, for I am giving it to you.”

God reminds Abram again of his promise to him, and Abram walks through his land down from Bethel to Hebron, the land he almost gave away. In a sense he receives the land again, his land by faith, seeing with eyes of faith the promised land. Abram cannot lose this promise, not even through his own foolishness. The word of the Lord is secure, and not even our sin, our folly, can shake God’s grip.

But how can we be so sure that we can draw comfort from God’s dealings with Abram. Why will he deal with us in the same way? How do we know God will be faithful?

Well, didn’t the Egypt story strike you as very familiar – very Exodus-like? And the separation of Lot to the city in the east repeats the story of Babel, and foreshadows the rise and fall of Babylon. These stories are deliberately structured to remind us that as God was in the past, so he is now, and so he will be.
Abram flight to Egypt and subsequent rescue is deliberately written to foreshadow the Exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt: forced to flee to Egypt because of a famine; blessed by God, increasing in number; Pharaoh poses a threat; God rescues through mighty plagues; and Pharaoh says “Take your people and go!”.

Moses wants us to see that the past is not just the past: it tells us about the character of God, the way he deals with his people. We know God by how he has dealt with his people. What he has done with Abram, he will do for his people today and tomorrow.

As Paul says in 1 Co 10:11 (NLT) These things (these stories in the Old Testament) happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.

I’d like to end by reminding us of the fulfilment of the Abrahamic Convenat – the Promise given to Abram. Because these words are our promise, given to us by Jesus on the night he was betrayed. Jn 14:1–4 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”
You will always be with me where I am. His promises are secure. God’s word can be trusted. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away says Jesus (Luke 21:33) He is the only fixed point in all of eternity. He is our anchor point, our refuge in the storm, our shelter, our fortress. Even our sin cannot take away Jesus’ promise ; just like with Abram. He sinned. He was not righteous. He was forgiven, he was blessed. His sin did not shake the Promise. Our sin does not shake Jesus’ promise.

So let us learn from Abram and Lot. Let us learn what a glorious God we serve. Let us learn to see with eyes of faith instead of choosing the easy path of comfort and wickedness. Oh Lord, open our eyes to the need of Notodden to hear your gospel. Burden us with our friends and neighbours, our work colleagues and classmates at school – they need to hear your voice, hear your gospel through our lips. Speak O Lord, to save. Will you bless Notodden as you promised Abram so many thousands of years ago: that through his descendant Jesus, your eternal Son, we would be blessed to see many turn to Christ in repentance and joy.

Thank you that you are the rescuing God – as you have done in the past, so will you do in the future. Save us we pray Sovereign Lord, and exalt your name. Glory to God in the highest!

Gen 12: The Everlasting Promise

Gen 11:27-12:8

Do you ever despair over this world? Do you ever sit and think “what on earth will become of us? That this is an utter disaster”?
Abram probably thought that. The world he lived in was the world of Genesis chapter 11 – the Tower of Babel. And that was a disaster. The new generation of people descended from the “righteous and blameless” man Noah turned out to be just as unrighteous, just as wicked, and just as rebellious as those before Noah. Remember, those whom God described in 6:5 “everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.” Oh dear.
And in 11:4 we see them gathered together in rebellion against God, gathered not to worship Him but to worship themselves, gathered not to build an altar of praise to Him but to build a tower in to the heavens for their own glory. Arrogance, self-righteousness, no thanksgiving, no praise, no humility before the Creator and King.

By the end of chapter 11 we are desperate to find a solution. How can we solve this problem of evil? Left on our own, we just go from bad to worse. We need a rescuer. Will there ever be born a serpent-crusher, the one God promised in 3:15 who would crush evil? There is hope: life carries on, babies keep being born and maybe this one will fulfil God’s promise. Remember that genealogies (the list of names) in the Bible are signs of hope – each new baby a reminder that one day there is coming the Rescuer, Messiah, the Saviour.

And then we meet Abram. A man called by God out from his family, out from his land, out from his people, out from his culture – everything he knew and could depend on – and called to go where God sends him. And he goes.

Could this be the rescuer?

Well, the answer is no, but he is part of the Rescue Plan. Abram (or Abraham as he is later renamed) is the first BIG block in God’s paving the way for the Rescuer, his own Son. And the promise to Abram in 12:1-3 is the plot-line for the rest of the Bible. In fact, we sitting here today are part of the fulfilment of God’s promise to Abram made thousands of years ago. We are the people of God, blessed by God, heading for God’s promised land: the new Creation.

That’s where we’re going, so let’s start the journey of faith with Abram. And it begins, of course, with God. God speaks.

1. God speaks

Into the darkness, into the chaos of rebellion and confused languages, God speaks. There is no indication that Abram knew God or worshiped him in any way. In fact, he was an idol-worshipper. Probably worshiped the moon, as that was common amongst cultures in the area of that time. Josh 24:2 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River, and they worshiped other gods.
Abram was a pagan, far removed from God, living in darkness – until God spoke.

1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

Can you imagine it! You’ve been worshipping the moon all your life. Giving it sacrifices. Listening for its advice. Hoping it would bless you and watch over you. And then some other God shows up. Not only that, but, unlike your moon-god, actually speaks. Imagine the shock, the fear, the wonder. You are real. You are here. You are speaking to me. That is a life-changing encounter right there!

And that’s the way God works. Getting to know God isn’t like wandering past the “Get to know God” shop and then one day thinking “that’ll be nice” and then deciding to step in and have a bit of a chat and then if you like it come again the next day. No. It’s more like being a beggar, chained up in a filthy dungeon, scrabbling around in the dirt, screaming and yelling – when the door is flung open, the light floods in, a strong hand reaches down, pulls you to your feet, and a voice says “Come! You have been summoned to the King”. As we stand before the King, eyes blinking, hair matted, filthy, dirty, completely out of place – the King steps down off his throne, walks towards you, throws his arms around you and says “my son, whom I love!”. Suddenly servants surround you, your old clothes are stripped away, your body is scrubbed and washed, all the old dirt and filth gone, washed away forever. And new glorious clothes are provided and then a crown is placed upon your head and you are seated before the King. “But, but, I’m not, this isn’t, I’m not… your son.”
“My son,” he says, “these adoption papers say otherwise”.

And you look and see your name “adopted by the King” and signed by Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God.

That’s the way God works. He speaks. He rescues. He takes the initiative. Just like with Abram.

Abram was a “Chaldean”, as it says in 11:31 “Ur of the Chaldeans”. A Chaldean was another name for a Babylonian – someone who built the tower of Babel on the plain of Shinar. Throughout the rest of the Bible, Chaldeans or Babylonians represent the worst of pagan religion. They are a fierce and cruel race, bent towards evil. Babylon is the city of Evil, opposed to Jerusalem, the holy city, the city of God.

But God! God is able to call out a Chaldean to be declared righteous and to be used to fulfil his purposes. God calls Abram out of the city that in the Bible is linked so closely to Satan, so closely to the Enemy of mankind, that it is called the evil city. God calls Abram out of Babylon and towards the promise of Jerusalem, in the land of Canaan.

Abram was not a righteous man, whom God discovered while scanning men’s hearts with his telescope! No, he, like Noah before him, was an evil and rebellious man in the midst of a corrupt people – and God chose him, chose HIM to be the vessel through which he would save the world. Amazing.

There is hope for you and me. There is hope for our friends and neighbours. There is hope for those you look at and think “disgusting” or “God could never save them”. God saved a Chaldean. He can save them.

Now for some of us this will be a real struggle. The idea that God saves sinners. It’s difficult to grasp. Abram, Abraham a sinner? No, he was a man of faith! God chose him because he was righteous, we say.
Our mind rebels against grace. The idea of earning our salvation is so deeply ingrained in us. This idea is in every other religion: do this, perform this ritual, and you will get blessing. If you don’t do the ritual, or behave in the right way, you will be cursed.

But this, that God can look upon a sinful man, and for no reason whatsoever declare him righteous – that we struggle with. But that is the message of the Bible. That is our hope. If you are a Christian today, you are a Christian because God called to you out of the darkness “follow me”. And like Abram you could not do anything except obey. And like Abram you are being changed into a man of faith. Abram became Abraham, famous throughout history, because of the work of God in him.

God declared Abraham righteous before him, because Abraham’s sins would be dealt with on the Cross. You are declared righteous before God, if you have accepted Christ, because your sins have been dealt with on the cross.

God speaks. And the message is one of hope and rescue. Praise God.

Let’s now turn our attention to what God actually says to Abram. What is this promise he gives him?

2. God’s promise

The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” 4 So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed, and Lot went with him.

This is the second time I’ve read God’s promise in v1-3. Why? Because it’s critical to understand the rest of the Bible. In fact, it’s true to say that the rest of the Bible is simply unpacking how God will keep this promise. If you’re a Christian today, you’re only a Christian because God has kept this promise he made thousands of years ago to Abram!

It is so important that it’s repeated in chapter 15 and again in 17. It is so critical that from now on God’s name, Yahweh, the LORD, is so linked to this promise that he is known as “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”: the God of the promise to Abraham.

So, what’s so important? What does God actually promise Abram?

V1 Go to the LAND I will show you. And in v7 he makes it explicit “I will give THIS LAND to your descendants”. (LAND)

V2 I will make you into a great nation. (PEOPLE)

V3 I will bless you, and all the families of the Earth will be blessed through you (BLESSING)

There is a threefold promise: Land, People, and Blessing.
And note who is doing this. It is not simply foretelling the future. It is not “you will become a great nation” or “you will move to Canaan” – God says “I will do this”.
And the whole way through the story we see that God’s promise cannot be fulfilled – unless God works a miracle.

The first obstacle to God’s plan we’ve already been told. Did you see it there in 11:30 But Sarai was unable to become pregnant and had no children. How ironic that Abram - whose name means “father” – is childless. How can Abram be the father of a great nation if his wife can’t have children?

The land promised to Abram is the land of Canaan. The land is already occupied. How can Abram and his few people take possession of a land already occupied by nations?

And is God’s blessing only for Abram when he is righteous? Or does his blessing cover his unrighteousness as well? We’ll see next week as that’s put to the test as the first thing Abram does after being blessed by God is blatantly lie about his wife being his sister because he was afraid. So much for the man of faith! What part of “3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt.” did he not trust? God promised him protection. He disbelieved that promise. So Abram’s own sin is a problem!

So why does God promise things that seem impossible?
So that we will trust him! He promises Abram a land, a people, and blessing – and as Abram and those who follow in his line trust God they see his words coming true.

The first big problem is the lack of children. Abram has no son. Abram cannot have a son. And in fact you could argue that this whole story from chapter 12 to 25 is simply about Abram’s son Isaac. It is certainly structured that way. Even here at the beginning we get another extra genealogy in 11:27-32. But why tell us all this? We’d already got the genealogy in 11:10-26, the “godly” line from Shem through to Abraham, 10 names in all. Why another one? Why even tell us about Terah and Nahor and Milcah and Iscah? They’re totally irrelevant!

Well, there’s a hint in the number of names. There’s 8. There should be 10 (Adam to Noah in chapter 5 and Shem to Abram in chapter 11). Where are the other 2 names? Well, some think that it’s deliberately set up to point to Ishmael and Isaac, the sons of Abraham, the list of 10 ending with Isaac, the son of the Promise.
That’s also why Sarai’s barrenness is mentioned – she can’t have children. And why Nahor is mentioned – because the story of Abraham ends with Isaac’s wife Rebekah coming back from the land of Ur, from the household of Nahor.

This little introduction is pushing us towards the fulfilment of God’s promises. God keeps his promises.

Isaac is the child of the promise. Isaac’s wife Rebekah, it turns out, is also barren (25:21) – but miraculously God provides a son. Twin sons, in fact. Easu and Jacob. But unexpectedly God blesses the younger, Jacob, and not Esau the oldest. But that’s impossible, you would say in that culture – the blessing can only pass to the eldest. But God again does the impossible, picks the youngest, the weakest, and quite frankly the downright sneaky and manipulative Jacob to be renamed “Israel”, and from him come the 12 sons of Israel which make up the twelve tribes. Pure grace in action once again!

That family ends up in Egypt becoming a great nation (people), in fulfilment of God’s promise. But they’re not in the land, and they don’t seem very blessed: they are slaves under Pharaoh! But we know how that story goes: God calls another impossible rescuer, a runaway murderer hiding out in the desert, a stutterer who could not speak: Moses. And says to Moses “go to Pharaoh and tell him to let my people go”. And in mighty acts of power God rescues his people, blesses them, gives them the Law, the sign of the Covenant, and brings them in to the Promised Land (eventually).

Of course, we know how that ended up – how the people’s sin manages to ruin this great fulfilment and so we’re left wanting more, wondering how God is going to fulfil his promise to Abraham. Until we meet Jesus.

(If you want to know more there’s a great little book called “God’s Big Picture” by Vaughn Roberts which carries this theme of land, people, blessing through the whole Bible and helps you to get an overview of the whole story – see how it all fits together.)

Because it is when we get to Jesus that we see how his promise is truly fulfilled. Because Jesus is one of the descendants of Abraham. Mt 1:1 (NLT) This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham, and Matthew then goes on to list Abraham’s descendants, through David, and to Jesus. And so God’s promise made all the way back here in Gen 12:3 finally finds its fulfilment: All the families on earth will be blessed through you.

You see, in Christ, we are the true fulfilment of the promise to Abraham: our land is the New Creation, Heaven on earth, as we will stand together in the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, and the Lord will be with us, forever.

Our People is the Church, all people saved by Christ, people from all family groups across the whole world: the faithful remnant of Israel in the Old Testament, and all true Christians, Jews and Gentiles together, from the time of Christ onwards.
And here we see a small foretaste of that. Look around you. We will be together forever. And not as we are now but perfect, sinless – no egos getting in the way, no selfishness, no pride – each of us perfect, glorious, sinless beautiful to behold, shining with the very glory of God.

And finally blessing. Oh what blessing we have from God! And praise Him that, as it was with Abram, his blessing is freely given in mercy. That he can call you and me out of our pagan worship of false gods, speak into our darkness and say “follow me, I have called you righteous”. Our sin is dealt with!

Abram had tremendous faith – for he did not know how God could deal with his sin. He just knew that there was One coming who would fulfil God’s promises. He held out in hope of his coming. That is why Jesus said Abraham rejoiced to see my day (John 8:56). But we know him! We have seen him in action. We know what he did, what he said, how he did the impossible, how he took our place on the cross – the righteous for the unrighteous to lead us to God.

What little faith we need. We are more blessed than Abraham. We have it all before us. Let us respond like Abraham in joyful submission and give our lives, everything we have, to know this wonderful God.

God speaks.

God promises.

Will you listen and obey?

Genesis 1-11 Let there be light in the darkness

 

It’s a funny old world isn’t it. At times, so full of wonder and hope and good things. Debby and I just celebrated 14 years of marriage. Deep joy. It just keeps getting better!

But the world is also full of darkness. Think about some of the countries we come from. Evil heaped upon evil: Apartheid South Africa, the abuse of so many from the Phillipines who are promised good jobs which turn out to be something terrible, endless war in Sudan, Christians imprisoned and tortured in Eritrea. The world is dark.

We are a strange contrast, we and the world we live in. Capable of so much good and ruined by so much evil. Greatness and calamity hand in hand.

Well, this is the people and the world the Bible describes. God’s word is not all sunshine and roses. Some of what he exposes is not very nice at all. This is not the world of the Imaginary Jesus who simply smiles at everyone and blesses everyone and has tea with old ladies and NEVER CALLS ANYONE TO REPENT! The real Jesus, the real God is far wilder, far more dangerous, far more unlike us, far too unexpected, far too unreasonable in the demands he makes of us, than we would ever expect - as we shall see in the story of the life of Abraham over the coming months.
But as we shall also see, he is far more loving, far more full of mercy, far more gracious and compassionate and fatherly than we could ever imagine. He accepts us just as we are, flawed, broken, full of sin and mistakes. Just like he accepted Abraham.

Now it’s been a while since we left the book of Genesis, so this sermon is to set the scene, the backdrop, for the life of Abraham. We covered chapters 1-10 a few months back, so my first two points “From Light to Darkness” (dealing with Creation and Fall, chapters 1-4) and “Noah to Babel” (chapters 5-10) will get us up to today’s passage. Today’s passage I will cover in the last two points “Rebellion” and “Hope”.

1. From Light to Darkness

The Bible starts with the words “In the beginning, God” (Gen 1:1).
He is the Beginning. He is the Prime Source, the First Mover. All life is from him. He is everything, the Author and Sustainer of Life. He is the God who is there.

And he speaks. He is the God who speaks, who says “Let there be light!” (Gen 1:3) and there is light. What he says must happen, happens.
His word is powerful.
And his Word is personified in his Son Jesus. That is, Jesus is the perfect revelation of God. As Hebrews 1:1-2 puts it “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son”(ESV).

Jesus is the Word of God. And as we preach the word of God, we preach Jesus. That’s why we make a big deal of the Bible and of Jesus in this church. Because to preach Christ Jesus from the pages of Scripture is to meet with the same power that said “let there be light” – and if we are Christians we have experienced the power of his word to totally transform our lives.
In my dark heart God said “let there be light” and the sun rose and my life was transformed from the inside out. I was 19, in Drammen of all places(!), and the Lord commanded by the power of his word that my heart would be changed and from that day I would belong to him. Let there be light.

And this is the God who reveals himself to us in the opening chapters of the Bible. We see God. We see him in His glory. We see him powerful. Wonderful. Generous. Amazing. This is our God. Seated upon his throne he rules the world simply by the power of his word. Nothing is beyond his control. All of time and space is his to command. What a glorious King!

And then we meet us. In chapter 3, Adam and Eve, created as the pinnacle of God’s creation. Kings and Queens under God, eyes full of wonder, look to God…. and go “tttthhrrrbt!” and decide to choose for themselves the “best” way to live. Great. Good job guys.
The world has been pretty rubbish since then (chapter 3 of Genesis). Adam and Eve rebel against God, refuse to listen to his word, and in fact do the very opposite. And we’ve been following in their footsteps ever since. I won’t live life His way, I’ll live it my way. I will decide what is right and wrong. I will decide what is true for me. I will pretend to be God!

We see that attitude reflected immediately in Adam and Eve’s sons, Cain and Abel, deciding for themselves the best way to live. In chapter 4 Cain decided that Abel needed to die. Why? He was getting in the way of his worship of God! Abel was in his way, so he killed him. And things go from bad to worse.

Not surprisingly, then, God’s verdict on humanity in 6:5 is devastating. The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of every thought of his heart was only evil all the time. (NIV84)

From Light to Darkness. Once again, darkness covers the earth. We need a new word of Creation. We need the Lord to say once again “Let there be Light!”

2. Noah to Babel

The story of Noah opens in darkness. God decides to destroy the world. And He’s right. The world sucks!

And the judgement comes suddenly. As Jesus says in Matt 24:37–39 (NLT) “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.”

How long do you think our world will last? Child abuse. Abortion on demand. Slavery. Sex trafficking. Fathers abandoning their families. Mothers abandoning their children. Cheating and lying and corruption in business, in government. On and on it goes. How long do you think our world will last? How long will God be patient? How long before the Flood of his judgement washes us away?

How long would you last?
“Me? I’m a good person.”
Really? Let me ask you a question - a question I asked myself. How much would you need to be pushed before you revealed what was in your heart. A guy cuts you off in traffic – how quickly does anger rise up? You want the latest this or that and can’t afford it- Do you think “I deserve it”. Feel hard done by. Feel jealous of those who can. Maybe start planning ways you can cut a few corners here and there.
In the movie “Taken” a man’s daughter is kidnapped. But he has a certain set of skills acquired over a long career that make him a nightmare to the baddies. You know I wish I had those skills so I could go and blow the bad guys away. How easily that thought comes to me. How easily I can imagine killing people because they are “bad”. How easily such a “good decent man” could become a killer. You take my kids… you threaten my wife… you push me too far. What would it take. Just a slightly different set of circumstances. How much would you need to be pushed before you revealed what was in your heart?

In Rwanda people were pushed – and revealed what was in their hearts. Those of a different tribe were “the enemy” and after a few months of indoctrination the touch paper was lit, civil war broke out - Neighbours turned on each other. Doctors let their patients die, because they were the wrong tribe. Teachers hacked their students to death – because they were the “baddies”. Normal people, different set of cirmcumstances. What a thin veneer civilisation is.

Don’t believe me? It happened here in Norway 60 years ago. In Notodden, friends and neighbours betrayed each other to their death. Guys going around saying “don’t join up with the Nazi’s” someone reported them and sent them to their death. So easy.

Noah’s story is a warning, a clear warning ringing across time: you are on a knife edge. The sword of Damocles hangs over our heads by a thread. Judgement can fall in an instant.
Each breath is a mercy from God given to us for ONE REASON and one reason alone – to give us time to repent to cry out “mercy”! Before the hair is snipped and the sword plunges down, before the word is given and the earth is covered in fire and all that is unclean will be burnt up and the world will be remade. And your choice is: are you the firewood, or are you taking shelter in Jesus (Fireproof!)

Because that’s the other part of the story. The part where into the darkness God says “let there be light!” In in 6:8 But Noah found favour with the Lord.
New life, new hope, a new heart for Noah. And so He listened to the word of God. He risked everything, built a stupidly massive boat (the Ark) on dry land, endured ridicule, and probably a lot of self-doubt. But in the end, when the floods came, he saved the world. Through him creation was rescued, and started again.

Through him we have a clear picture of the work of Jesus. He is our Ark, our Rescue Boat, carrying us above the danger of God’s righteous judgement.

You see, God wasn’t taken by surprise by our ability to turn light into darkness. Our sin and evil was anticipated, and dealt with. On the cross. Already predicted in 3:15 as God says to the “snake” Satan “And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

When God said “let there be light”, he knew the cost of giving that command. Pierced hands. Wounded side. Carrying the weight of our sin. And yet he said “let there be light”. There will be light, light for all eternity, because Jesus has absorbed our darkness in his own body and defeated it.

You want to be saved? Come to Jesus.

The alternative is to face God’s wrath… – which brings us to the people of Babel, building their tower to their own praise and glory. They had clearly learned nothing from the Flood.

3. Rebellion

The people in Babel still have the same old problem. Look at verse 4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky (lit: heaven). This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.” Let us build our own way to heaven. Let us make our name great (famous).

Here in chapter 11 we meet a group of people richly blessed. They all speak the same language – all the people on earth united by language “the same words”. What bliss! Imagine that! Imagine we all spoke the same language, could understand each other perfectly. Fantastic!

But what do they do with this great privilege. Do they fall down in praise and thanksgiving of God? Do they thank him for his blessing? Do they build an altar to worship him. Of course not! They build an altar to themselves: a great monument to their own greatness! “Let us build a tower to heavens” they say. It will make our name great. Let us be like God. High. Lifted up. Great.

They are also disobeying God’s command to fill the earth. They’re all gathered together.

Such blessing – look what God says about them in v6 “nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them!”. So blessed. But instead they turn blessing into rebellion.

Ironically, it’s pretty pathetic. They are trying to reach up to heaven – but even with their mighty tower, God still has to look DOWN to their tower. 5 But the LORD came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building.

Our attempts to out-God God are that feeble. And their blessing turns to judgement, as God comes DOWN and reminds them who is God, and who is not. He confuses the languages. He scatters them across the earth, as he had commanded.

The fact that we here all speak different languages reminds us clearly of one thing: we are not God. He will not permit us to be united in rebellion. Our babble of languages is a mark of shame. We are rebels.

We here in Norway are particularly blessed. We are rich beyond our wildest dreams. We live in peace in a society shaped by 1000 years of Christianity (even though we’re busy chipping that away, it still has a huge influence). We are the Babylonians, rich, blessed, with great power. And in the 40 years since we really became very wealthy, what have we done? Turned away in droves from God. Turned our churches into a mockery of the gospel, with liberal drivel or soft weak watered-down “Christainty” that offends no-one and saves no-one. Turned our back on the word of God.
I see no-one leading our nation in praise for God’s blessing. Calling us to repent and worship God Most High. And that worries me. For God’s patience is not everlasting. A Day has been set for judgement. We are in severe danger. We must warn our fellow citizens of the danger of rebelling against God.
Let’s pray now, thank God for his blessing, and pray for our friends and neighbours who are in rebellion against him.

We can pray because there is hope!

4. Hope

In the Bible study we’re going through the book of Acts. Acts chapter 2 is the day of Pentecost – when the disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit and He gives them speech – speech that everyone can understand like their own language! It’s a reversal of Babel. United in Christ, under God, we are truly together, finally. Babel’s curse is not eternal.

The book of Revelation ends with all of God’s people not scattered, but gathered together in a great city – a huge multitude of people from every tribe, nation, language- and people-group. It is the fulfilment of the desire of Babel. To be together, united, one. But that is not found outside of God. Sin always fractures and destroys us. To reach the city of Revelation, we need someone to defeat sin. And that is the serpent-crusher, the one promised in Genesis 3:15.

That is why the hope in this chapter (11) is found in the boring verses from v10 to v32. A genealogy. A list of births and deaths. Wow. But hopefully now after going through chapters 1-10 you’ll know that when you see a genealogy you go “HURRA!” because it means God’s promise in 3:15 is still coming! Every new baby that was born carried the hope of the world: maybe this one will be the one to crush the serpent. Maybe he can free us from sin and death.

And although this genealogy doesn’t end with Him, Jesus – it does end with a very significant person: Abraham (or Abram as he was first called). God calls one man out of this sinful rebellious mass of people, and declares him righteous, and makes an outrageous promise to him: I will make you a great nation, and all the families in the earth will be blessed through you.

This is the promise he made right in the beginning, in fact: to create a world that is “very good” (Gen 1:31) . And when we rebelled and broke it, he renewed that promise in Genesis 3:15 that one day a man will be born who will crush evil forever, and creation will be restored. Abraham is not that man. But Abraham is part of the fulfilment of the promise of that man. Because from Abraham’s descendants came Jesus, the serpent-crusher, the one who defeated evil once for all on the cross, dealt with our sin, and flung open the gates to the new Creation. Come one, come all. The price is paid. The way is open.

He is the tower to God, the gateway to heaven. There is no other way.

So if you are like the Babylonians, trying to build your own way to God, or your own monument to your greatness. If your life revolves around you, your desires, your purposes, your dreams – repent. Turn away from living for yourself, and turn to Jesus. Start living for him. Get your small ambitions replaced with eternal ones.

And turn every area over to him. Perhaps you’ve kept a little part back. “This is mine”.
No. All belongs to him. He is the King. He is the Creator. There is nothing in all of creation over which he does not say “mine”. Give up your rebellion, and give it up to him. He is a good King.

From light to darkness, from Noah to Babel. From the rebellion of Babel to the hope of Christ.

Let there be light in the darkness! Amen! Come Lord Jesus Come!

The Intecessor

Letter to Philemon part 2: The intercessor

 

Have you ever been in a hopeless situation, unable to get out of it, unless someone helped you?

I have, in my last year at university I was horrible student. I didn’t show up for classes. And dragged my feet through the hospital internship. I was told that if I didn’t get my act together I would fail, and have to do the year over. I was moved to do my internship in a different hospital. I met my new instructor and,old her about my bad attitude .About me wanting to change it, and become a better student. My instructor there taught me more in 3 months than I had learned in 3 years. She told my teacher that my attitude had improved drastically, and that I was a hard worker. If it hadn’t been for that woman, I would have left university and never finished my degree.

 

Last week we looked at forgiveness and slavery, in Paul’s letter to Philemon. I talked about how hard it can be to forgive those who hurt us, because we don’t really want to forgive. We want revenge, and the only way we can forgive someone is to turn to God and ask for His help. We don’t want to forgive because we are, in fact, slaves: slaves to sin. Our default setting seems to be slave to sin. We are like Onesimus – we have run away from our true Master and chosen a worse one! We have chosen sin.

The theme of today’s sermon in intercession.

( TO intercede is to settle an argument between two or more people. It is to speak to someone, in order to defend or help another person. So to intercede is to stick your neck out for someone, with a real possibility that your head will be head blown off!)

Just like Onesimus we need someone to intercede for us.
We need someone to represent us before God and ask for His forgiveness, to ask for us to be brought back under His mastery.

And as we spoke about last week, if we belong to Jesus, though our hearts are mastered by sin, through Jesus we’re given the strength to forgive, and turn from the slavery of sin. And we can do like verse 6 tells us to: to put into action the generosity that comes from our faith.

One of the ways we do that is to stand up for those with no rights – just like Jesus does for us. That’s the major theme of Philemon, and so what we will look at today is.

1. The intercession of Paul…

2. The intercession of Jesus…

1.Paul intercedes on the Behalf of Onesimus.

Paul writes this letter to intercede on the behalf of Onesimus, Philemon’s runaway slave.

¹⁰ I appeal to you to show kindness to my child, Onesimus. I became his father in the faith while here in prison

Verses 17-19: ¹⁷ So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. ¹⁸ If he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to me. ¹⁹ I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it. And I won’t mention that you owe me your very soul!

 

This is only a starter, when it comes to the letter to Philemon.

Did you know that roughly 90 % of the letter to Philemon is intercession? 18 out 25 verses in the letter to Philemon, has an interceding quality.

Paul phrases his letter cleverly, and instead of demanding Philemon’s submission for the sake of Christ, and the authority of Paul. He request a favour, from his friend.

Though the are friends Paul understood that a slave that steal, and run away from his master is a useless slave. And therefor sympathize with Philemon on this, he continues the letter making it clear to Philemon, that Onesimus is no longer useless. But in fact so useful that Paul would prefer Onesimus to remain with him in Rome. He continues his letter telling Philemon that Onesimus is now more than Philemon’s slave. He is a Christian, a beloved brother of Paul and Philemon. Even more so Onesimus is now a part of God’s people. So Philemon must love him, not because Philemon is ordered to do so by Paul. But have a look at verses 4-5:

4 I always thank my God when I pray for you, Philemon, 5 because I keep hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people.

Philemon’s love for God’s people is evident, and now he must love Onesimus, who have become a Christian, one of God’s people.

So far Paul has gone quite easy on Philemon, he has told him of Onesimus becoming a Christian. How he now is very useful to the both of them. Onesimus has become a beloved brother to Paul and Philemon.

But this is where gloves come off, In verses 17 – 19 Paul basically says to Philemon, If you consider yourself a Christian, and if you’re my friend. You will receive Onesimus as you would receive me.

If Onesimus has done anything to you, or owes you anything. I ask you my friend: Please charge that to me. I will repay you. Not to mention that you owe me your very soul, I was the one who led you to the Lord! You were once, as lost and deprived as Onesimus remember? Pretty powerful stuff isn’t it?

Reading verses 1-2 we understand that the letter is a Public letter, and Paul also intends the church that meet in Philemon’s home to hear it. Should Philemon In spite of Paul’s argument no matter how elegant and logical it was, fail to submit to his request.

Then Archippus and the Colossian church would prove to be Paul’s representatives in Colossae. And they would apply the “pressure” needed to help Philemon do the right thing. As a church they also need to look out for each other’s godliness, and as you can imagine. Though Philemon might have needed a nudge in the right direction, he also needed support from his church. Because to not punish a runaway slave, when the law permitted it was unheard of. I can just imagine the way people talked about Philemon in Colossae:

Did you hear about Philemon? he didn’t punish an unruly slave because of a letter he received from a Jew named Paul. He must have lost his mind!

He might be have been the laughing stock of Colossae, so Paul knew that he would need the support from his fellow Christians.

Paul’s intercession on the behalf of Onesimus might be difficult to understand in today’s society. Especially since we don’t have slaves, and most countries don’t have as severe punishments as they did back then.

But let’s say you had been to Rema 1000, and while you were there you saw a chocolate. You really wanted this chocolate, but knew you couldn’t afford it. You only had enough money for eggs, milk and bread, so you slip the chocolate into your pocket and pretend like nothing. When getting to the till, taking out your money the chocolate falls out of your pocket. The lady at the till call security, and you are held back until the police arrives to question you.

The whole thing ends up in court where the Judge and the owner of Rema 1000 wants to make an example of you. You sit there while they try to accuse you of everything under the sun, in addition to stealing a chocolate bar. They say “he is a part of an organized crime-ring”.” While you sit there rendered speechless, with your head cradled in your hands thinking I’m in trouble. You hear a voice coming from beside you saying: “ Objection! This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard! Yes he stole willingly, but he’s not a gang member. He stole because he wanted chocolate, and that was a stupid thing to do. But there’s no reason to trial him as a part of a crime ring” You look up and there beside you is a man in long black cape. He is your lawyer, speaking and interceding on your behalf.

 

This is what Paul did for Onesimus, he acted as his lawyer. He spoke and interceded on his behalf. Telling Philemon that Onesimus was a changed man, who was no longer the useless slave, but trustworthy Christian.

2. Jesus the intercessor!

It must have been wonderful to have a friend like Paul. Imagine a friend who willingly paid, your debts, and interceded with anyone, wanting to you punished you for your actual crimes! The good things is that we have an intercessor like that, we have Jesus!

 

If we’re in Christ, He is our intercessor.

 

Have a look at verse 6:

^“And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ.”

That is what Paul writes in verse 6 of his letter to Philemon. Understanding and experiencing all the good things we have in Christ, what does that mean?

After reading the letter to Philemon, what feels like a hundred times, I realized that we are Onesimus! Upon realizing this. Paul’s letter of intercession became much bigger than a friend looking for a favour. To me it became the Gospel about Jesus Christ compressed onto a page or so. We see Paul taking on a Christ like role and interceding for Onesimus his beloved brother, offering to make right the wrongs he has made, and to pay off his debts. By doing so, he talks Philemon out of carrying out his lawful right. To punish his servant for running away from his responsibilities, and stealing from him. Onesimus deserved punishment. But Paul but intercedes, why did Paul do this? Because Jesus had done it for him first, Paul only showed Onesimus a fraction of the love and mercy Jesus had already shown him. Paul used to be a zealot Jew, persecuting the Christians in Jerusalem. In acts, we can read that he was present at the stoning of Stephen the first Christian martyr.

He took men and women out of their homes throwing them in to prison for being Christians. He went to the synagogues to get letters of approval to chase down and arrest Christians in Damascus, he was threatening and eager to kill the Christians (acts 9:1). It was while persecuting Christians Paul met Jesus, and had his life changed completely. He became one of the most noted and important people in Christianity. God forgave him: the murder and persecution of His people. So it’s no wonder Paul sticks his neck out for Onesimus. Paul has felt the generosity of Christ, and therefor he can show Onesimus the same generosity.

Just like Onesimus we’re in trouble! We are so guilty that it’s not even funny. Luckily, for you and me, I don’t know what you have done, and you don’t know what I have done. But we all know that we haven’t loved God perfectly, because we’re not able to keep God’s commandments. If we’re not keeping God’s commandments, we’re not keeping the commandment’s Jesus gave us.

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.”

So we are in trouble because! We have sinned against God, and awoken His righteous anger. We don’t measure up to the bare minimum of God’s expectations of us. We don’t love Him perfectly, we run away from Him saying: No God it’s my life, and I want to live it my way. It isn’t sin it’s my choice. We even try to steal His Glory, so that we can glorify ourselves! “Big” Preachers baptizing people in their own name, or people charging sick and desperate people hundreds of kroners to pray for them.

We are Onesimus. We have betrayed our master. We have run away, pretending to live our own life. Free as our own master – but we’re not free. We’re a slave to our own sinful desires. We need an intercessor. We need a Paul. And that is exactly whom we have:

He whom we wronged, God. He loves us so much, that He even gave us a way out. After all we have done to Him, and He knew from the start what we were like.

He sent us His own son, Jesus. So that He could intercede on our behalf. Jesus was born fully human and fully God, He lived a life experiencing the same joy, sorrow and other things we feel, including temptation. Jesus lived a sinless life, which means: He didn’t sin once, He loved God His Father perfectly. Fulfilling the law, living a perfect life. Then Jesus died a perfect death on the cross, where He carried all our sin and punishment. In Roman times the punishment for a runaway slave was crucifixion. We, like Onesiums, stand guilty, and the sentence is death by crucifixion. We deserve the complete and eternal separation from God.

But Jesus God’s son took it all on Him. So now when we sin, when we disobey God and awaken his fury. Jesus is sitting beside God saying: That is Christian, he is far from perfect in fact, and he is quite the sinner. Nevertheless, he is in Me, and I have died for his sins. Therefore, he is no longer a sinner but one of Your children. We have the best intercessor, In the words of v19 Jesus says: “Father charge it to me. ¹⁹ I, [Jesus], write this with my own hand: I will repay it.

 

Imagine that you’re Onesimus, you’ve ran away from you master. Stole from him, and dishonoured him. You come to Paul, you cry on his shoulder telling him everything: How you ran away and stole more money than you’ll ever be able to pay back.

You expect total and utter condemnation, but what you receive is mercy. Paul tells you that he knows Philemon, and just like you, he led Philemon to the Lord. He tells you he is going to write him a letter, and that he will settle you debt with Philemon. Can you imagine the joy you would feel, free of an impossible debt and forgiven. Through the works of one man!

 

That is how we should feel every day. In the same way Paul interceded on the behalf of Onesimus, pronouncing him no longer useless. But in fact extremely useful, and a beloved brother. Jesus is now interceding on our behalf, pronouncing us as no longer sinners but clean. Because of His death on the cross, if we are in Christ. We are pronounced God’s children, and no longer, strangers sentenced to an eternity separated from God.

I am Philemon

An introduction to Philemon: We are Philemon

Introduction

The letter to Philemon is written to a rich man in Colossae named Philemon, by the Apostle Paul. It’s also written to Apphia who more than likely was Philemon’s wife, Archippus who might have been Philemon’s son and a minister in the Colossian church meeting in Philemon’s house. The letter is also to be read aloud in the Colossian church.

Paul writes a letter to Philemon after meeting Philemon’s slave Onesimus in Rome. Onesimus ran away from his master Philemon, and to make sure he would be able to provide for himself. He might have stolen some money or things, from Philemon. Paul grows quite fond of Philemon, and they develop a friendship. Paul leads Onesimus to Christ, and he becomes a great help to Paul, whilst being imprisoned.

We don’t know how long Onesimus stayed in Rome, but we know that he told Paul that he had ran away from his master.

Philemon and Paul are old friends, Paul led Philemon to the Lord. Since Paul can’t go see Philemon he does the next best think. He Writes him a letter where he intercedes for his friend Philemon.

1 MINUTE ABOUT ROMAN SLAVERY.

1.State the point: Forgiveness is hard but it’s possible through Christ!

To forgive someone is one of the hardest things we do as humans, but it’s possible trough Christ. Especially if it’s someone we trust or love, are we able to forgive that. We will have a look at that now.

2.Show it in the text Forgiveness is hard but it’s possible through Christ!

If you open your bibles in Philemon, and have a look at verse 6.

“And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ.”

3.Explain the point Forgiveness is hard but it’s possible through Christ!

Forgiveness is painfully hard and, quite often it is because our pride has been wounded. And just like the Greco-Roman society , we find it exceptionally hard to forgive someone for wounding our pride, I bet Philemon felt that way too. Nevertheless, He was told to forgive those who sinned against him, as we are told to forgive those who sin against us.

Jesus states the importance of forgiveness on multiple occasions.

In Mark 11:25

“But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.”

In Matt 6:15

“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

A lot of us even say it ourselves when we get up or when we go to bed, when we pray The LORD’S Prayer. Remember somewhere in the prayer when you get to:

“and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.”

Just think about that for a minute, we actually pray. God forgive my sins, the way I forgive those whom sin against me. We should realize that the way we forgive others, effects how we will be forgiven. It is an eye opener, but it doesn’t make it any easier to forgive. So what do we do then, do we sit down in a lotus position and go aaahmmmm. Do we try to muster up the appropriate amount of forgiveness? No we don’t, we can’t forgive by ourselves. We are sinners, we don’t really want to forgive, we want vengeance. So the ability to forgive was not considered noble in the times of Philemon. And we still see it now, and we hear it as well. If someone is rude to you, how do you react? Do automatically think I forgive you beloved child of God. Or are you more like me, and wish you had been a bit better at thinking on your feet. So that you could either deck them or be really rude back?

You see whether we are Romans, Norwegians, British, and so on. To forgive someone is not attractive, REVENGE on the other hand is. So how do we then forgive those whom sin against us. Well, God has even given us the tools we need to forgive those whom sin against us.

When you become a Christian, you do so because you want to be in Christ. You realize that without Him you are lost, you need Jesus to save you from your sins. Moreover, speaking like a one who has been a Christian for a while, it’s still find it very easy to sin, and I do. However, the thing is that I feel so awful afterwards, sometimes I feel so bad it makes me sick! The guilt and sin that I carry, is too much for me to carry on my own. So I do the only thing I can do, I pray and ask the Lord for forgiveness. After having done this I feel the forgiveness, and I believe that God has forgiven me. Being forgiven is a great feeling, isn’t it? You know when you were younger, and had to walk to and from school every day. Do you remember the books in your backpack weighing you down Ugh! It was so heavy, wasn’t it? Do you remember the feeling of getting in the door and throwing off the backpack. I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders, I still feel like a sinner. Nevertheless, I know that I am a forgiven sinner.

Forgiveness is absolutely one of the good things we’ve been given in Christ. In Ephesians 1:7 we can read that God purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son, and forgave our sins. When we have received such wonderful gift, it’s only right that we repay it. It is required of us.

4.Illustrate the point Forgiveness is hard but it’s possible through Christ!

I know it’s not easy at all, sometimes it takes years to fully forgive someone. I have a friend named Anne, and her mother treated her really, really badly. I won’t go in to details, but it’s the kind of dysfunctional family stuff you see on TV. Anne hadn’t spoken to her mother for many years, and hated her passionately since she ruined her childhood. As Anne and I was talking I asked her if she had spoken to her mother lately, and she said no. I told her that it was important for her to forgive her mother, but if she didn’t want to see her she didn’t have to . She replied that she had forgiven her mother, but it was still hard for her. A few days ago Anne rang me, just to tell me that she had been to she her mother.

Now I have met Anne’s mother and I know that she is a peculiar woman at best, so I asked her how did it go? She told me that it had gone quite well, and that it actually was a nice visit.

The thought of receiving Onesimus as a brother, might not have been what was closest to Philemons heart But as we all now, brothers argue and fight. Sometimes they don’t even like each other. But most of the time brothers do love each other, even though it might take months, even years to fully heal from hurtful things said and done-

5.Apply the point Forgiveness is hard but it’s possible through Christ!

Forgiveness isn’t easy, but the good thing is that we don’t have to do it alone! When we’re in Christ, we have received the costly gift of forgiveness, and The Holy Spirit will compel us to forgive. God will give us the strength, and the will to do it. As I said It’s not something we have to do on our own. A part of putting the generosity that comes from our faith into action, is to forgive. Alexander Pope quite smartly put it like this:

“To err is human; to forgive, divine.”

All we have to do is to pray, and ask for the strength to forgive. I bet Philemon had to do the same. So when a master and a slave see each other as beloved brothers, how long do you think slavery could last?

1.State the point: We’re all slaves, either of Christ or sin

Earthly masters or not, we’re all slaves, either of Christ or sin.

2.Show it in the text: We’re all slaves, either of Christ or sin

When reading trough the letter to Philemon, I counted Paul mentioning his imprisonment five times on average every fifth verse in his letter to Philemon mentions his imprisonment. Just see for yourself:

v1: ”This letter is from Paul, a prisoner for preaching the Good News about Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.”

V9: “But because of our love, I prefer simply to ask you. Consider this as a request from me—Paul, an old man and now also a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus.”

V10: “ I appeal to you to show kindness to my child, Onesimus. I became his father in the faith while here in prison.”

V13: “I wanted to keep him here with me while I am in these chains for preaching the Good News, and he would have helped me on your behalf.”

V23: “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings.”

3.Explain the point: We’re all slaves, either of Christ or sin

Why does Paul go on, and on, and on about being in prison, does he want a fruit basket? By all means he deserves it. But that can’t be why he keeps bringing up his imprisonment. As the other letters in the bible, when something is frequently repeated, it is because it is important. Four out of five times, when he mentions his imprisonments; there is a reference to Jesus or the Gospel (the Good News) about him. Verses 1,9,13,23. Paul tells Philemon that he is in chains for preaching the Good News, and calls himself a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus. Because of his faith in Jesus Paul is taken places he does not want to go. He is put entirely at mercy of God, just as a slave is put at the mercy of his master. Paul refers to himself as a slave of Christ many times, e.g. Romans 1:1This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News.

Pauls letter forced Philemon in to deciding who he was. Was he a slave of sin or a slave of Christ? The way he received Onesimus when he returned would tell Paul, and the church who met in his house that.

We’re either Slaves of Christ or of Sin

So who are we, are we slaves of Christ or is sin our master?

The bible tells us that the wages of sin is death, and that we have all sinned, we’re not anywhere near Gods glorious standard.  What does that mean to us, well I won’t say the first thing that comes into mind, but we’re… eh IN TROUBLE. It seems out default setting is to be slave of sin, dead, and nowhere near how God wants us to be. Is that it then… should we all leave right now, and make up a more convenient theology, a theology that has a more relaxed view on sin and death. We could worship Prince Philip… hmmm, no that’s right there’s already someone doing that. Well… I have good news for you.

We don’t have to, we can stick with the real thing. Why drink diet coke, when you can have the real thing?

In John 8:34-6 Jesus says

“I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free”

When we become Christians, our chains of sin that we have dragged around with us a lifetime are broken. We turn to Jesus and repent of our sin, we wish to obey God wholeheartedly. We realize that we don’t have to go off and do something stupid, that only hurts us more, and leads into more sin. We see that we are no longer slaves of sin, but of righteous living. The Holy Spirit that that comes into us when we become Christians compels us to lead a righteous life. So as we see God even gives us the tools to lead a righteous life, and to no longer be slaves of sin. We’ve been given everything we need to be slaves of Christ and not of sin. So all we have to do is to turn to Jesus and repent of our sin.

4.Illustrate: We’re all slaves, either of Christ or sin

Did you know that a slave that ran away from their master in ancient Rome, and was caught had a FUG burnt into their forehead and a collar around his neck. Sometimes they collar had some kind of inscription like: “Hey my master is Tyranus Quintus, I have ran away. If you find me, kill me and bring my head back to my master. He will reward you ” Isn’t that what sin does to us? Luckily it most of the time doesn’t behead us but it hurts us. To be a slave of sin is to be at the mercy of the cruellest master there is. Isn’t it better to be the slave of righteous living, the slave of Christ. He who has freed us once and for all, He who takes the collar of around our neck, and breaks our chains of sin.

5.Apply the point: We’re all slaves, either of Christ or sin

As Jesus said:

“I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free”

If you don’t want to be a slave of sin anymore, turn to Jesus and repent of your sin. He will set you free, and give you all the tools you need to be a Christian and a slave of Christ.

Conclusion

Point 1: Forgiveness is hard but it’s possible through Christ!

Point 2: We’re all slaves, either of Christ or sin

God has given us tools to forgive each other, and lead a life of righteous living, as a slave of Christ. So all we need to do is to turn to Jesus and repent of our sins.