CASKET EMPTY (Intro)
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
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Today we begin our journey of seeking out God’s redemptive story that unfolds throughout the Old Testament, and culminates in the New Testament with the Christ.
I’ve already shared with you the acronyms that we will be applying during our journey of the Old Testament CASKET in CASKET EMPTY
C - Creation
A - Abraham
S - Sinai
K - Kings
E - Exile
T - Temple
What I haven’t shared is the dates in these, and I’m only going to take a moment here for these, we’ll comeback to these again and again so that we will be able to connect it with historical times that you might be more familiar with.
Creation - ???? - 2100BC
Abraham - 2100BC-1450BC
Sinai - 1450BC - 1050BC
Kings - 1050BC - 586BC
Exile - 586BC - 539BC
Temple - 539BC - 430BC
Something happens in our minds when we recognize that we can legitimately apply time periods to the teaching of the Bible. It ceases to be simply a story and we recognize that it has a place in history that we can track and relate to.
This morning we’re beginning with Creation.
I’m going to move quite a bit faster through this section as we spent a good deal of time on the first three chapters of Genesis last year. Those sermons are available online at
https://faithlife.com/missionwoodschurch/
https://faithlife.com/missionwoodschurch/
and on our Facebook page.
So, let’s think about Creation
CREATION
CREATION
We know those words, “in the beginning, God...”
Think about those words for a minute. God initiated all that we see and all that we have. It was God who said, let there be light; It was God who made day and night, Sun and Moon, land and sea; Within this creation God put both life in the form of plants - and these put down roots and established themselves where they were. But he also gave those plants the ability to reproduce in the form of seeds, and so they would continue to fill the garden and indeed the earth with all kinds of life.
God’s not done though, he adds to this symphony of creation animals. Now, not only does life put down roots and establish itself it can roam and run about, and frolic and play, and … yes,… and reproduce.
Then we’re introduced to the creation of humans on the earth. We’re told in chapter 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
We’re not told of this as being just one man and one woman as it is commonly understood, yet in chapter 2’s version we get a different and more elaborate picture.
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
This is God’sWord to us, and many have complained that there are two different versions of the Creation story, but this is really one and the same story.It’s important that we recognize that the chapters and verses were added much later than the original texts were written. We should never give them priority but seek to understand what it is the Scripture is telling us.
And so we find that both Genesis 1 & 2 should be read together, not separately. And we see this relationship that the first man and woman have with God. One in which they speak directly with God.
As we get to chapter 3, as many of you know so well is that we get to sin entering the world. The story of temptation coming from the outside.
The serpent challenges the woman on what God said.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
“Did God actually say...”
Dangerous words. Because they tempt us to consider, wonder, question and too often what we do is rely on our own opinions or those of our friends instead of going to the source.
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
Where are you, perhaps a greater question of God’s graceful relationship has ever been stated.
Where are you?
God knows precisely where they are. God knows precisely where you are. Do you?
That is the question for us.
As we move through the Creation Narrative and indeed through the entirety of the Old Testament we’re going to see God be the initiator of relationship again and again, and again as humanity continues to promise allegiance to God and turn away, promise love and demonstrate a lack of it, promise obedience and openly rebel.
God’s continual pursuit.
God’s continual pursuit.
That’s not only Adam and Eve’s story, it’s not only Israel, but it applies to you and I as well.