CHAOS

amen and amen this week was a heartbreaking week for me. variety of reasons Wednesday was the 20th anniversary of the tragic death of one of my closest friends and all of life. 20 years ago in a one of those three in the Morning phone calls that you never want to get.

A 10 on Wednesday morning. I woke up and it was like it was yesterday.

all the pain all the grief all that anger all the the wise The what ifs the all of it came flooding back? Heart was broken Friday when Jen passed my heart was broken.

If you're here this morning, and your heart wasn't broken this week. I'm so happy for you. But keep on living it's coming. I don't say that to be funny and I don't say to be mean. I said because it's reality. We live in a broken world. And as I was laying out this sermon series and planning this morning what I had planned to talk about weeks ago was death and chaos.

And the fact that that we just had one of our own pass away, that's not going to change it. I'm going to talk about death and Chaos this morning because we need to hear from God's word some hope and some truth and some reality. And we need to trust in the sovereignty of God together this morning.

We've been working our way through Genesis. We've been really looking at the fundamentals of a biblical worldview. We seen so far in Genesis chapter 1 and chapter 2 and chapter 3. We seen the first issue of worldview the issue of environment. Where are me, where are we? Where did this world come from? What is this world? Like what's the point and purpose of it? And then we looked at the question of essence or identity. Who are we what does it mean to be a man or a woman made in the image of God? the last couple weeks we've started dealing in wrestling with one of the major components of a worldview and it's the issue of evil. What's wrong? How did it go wrong? Why is it wrong? Can it ever not be wrong again?

And in many ways when we think about the the message of Genesis in the message that's being conveyed. This is in many ways the easiest one because I don't have to convince any of you that this world is broke.

Like we spend a great deal of our time and energy. Just trying to deal with the reality of that broken this. Some of us just try to stuff it all inside some of us try to ignore it some of us wallow in it. But the reality is whatever we do. We're all just trying to deal with the reality. That there's something very very wrong with this world.

And let's not just leave it out there. There's something very very wrong in this world.

The scriptures unpack for us. They don't they don't shy away from the reality of evil. but the scriptures I would argue and we'll argue look head-on to evil face it in a way that no one and nothing else ever has The last couple weeks we talked about.

the satin the enemy impersonal evil powers and forces of evil in the Heavenly realm that that's not all the evil that there is there's just the evil of a broken world. natural disasters cancer

car accidents in forest fire We live in a world that is full of Chaos. and Evil and we can't blame it all on the devil. We need a bigger understanding. And unfortunately, the scripture gives it to us up. We're going to be in Genesis chapter 3, but before we get there, let me let me set the stage. For where we've been the last several weeks leading up to this conversation. In Genesis chapter 1 were given a functional creation narrative. We see God forming all that is and when he forms all that is chaos exist. But God takes that chaos and imposes his will upon it and creates order Cosmos from chaos to Cosmos. This is Genesis Chapter 1. What makes it unique Contra all of the other ancient near Eastern creation narratives, is that God created all

God creates that off every other ancient near Eastern had had a God or gods and then a power of payoffs that they had to battle out. That's not the story of the Bible are God does not have an internal enemy called evil or chaos or send that. He's in a constant battle with our God is the creator of all and that that may make some of you uncomfortable as there's a lot of passages that make us uncomfortable. Isaiah 45 verse says it really really clearly God says I create light and I create Darkness I make well-being and I create Calamity I make order and I make chaos. I am the Lord who does all these things.

We can't have a superficial view of evil. We need to have an understanding of past within the context of God's creation because that's in the text. In the beginning the Lord made the heavens and the Earth. The Earth was formless and void in the spirit of God was hovering over the DAP.

We have right in the beginning. The reality the God is the ultimate author and creator of all that is.

And within that there is an allowance for chaos.

Famous paintings in chapter one. We're giving seven words for chaos. 7 different Hebrew words that are all coming out of his theme and idea of chaos. We got without 4, and we've got void. We've got Darkness we have the Deep. We have the waters. We have the Seas and we have the great sea monsters seven words deal right in the beginning with the reality that there is chaos in this world.

It's interesting to me that there's seven words it. In fact when we begin to really look at Genesis chapter 1 especially in the Hebrew and we see it as a work of poetry which it is. It's a song we see how intentional the author was in his choice of words 7 pops up all the time and Chapter 1:7 words from chaos. There's there 7 Days in the creation narrative seven times. God says it was so seven times. God says it was good or very good. Earth is mention 21 * 7 * 3 the word 35 * 7 * 5 symbolic pattern in Genesis chapter once that's expressing intense and design and in the midst of all that goodness. There's chaos.

At the end of it. Says, it's good. It's very good.

I tried to explain several weeks ago when we looked at this as bad as a functional declaration. Not saying this will work for my purposes. Those three words. They're really important for my purposes idea. This will work not for your agenda. This will work for God's agenda. This is going to work for what I want to do and accomplish.

I don't think we read it that way very often. I think we read Genesis chapter 1 we go. Oh, God said, it's very good. I must have been perfect question was the Earth at the end of Genesis chapter 1 perfect.

What's the Earth? At the end of seven days of creation. After God declares as good as good as good. Very good. What's it perfect. I know nobody wants to answer right now. But I think that many if not, most of the people that I talked to you about this have an assumption an idea that yeah, it was perfect. I hear it all the time before the fall before Adam and Eve ate the fruit before all this it was absolute perfection. There's no. There was no sorrow there was no pain there was no end and you know, what else there isn't any of there's none of that in the text.

There's none of it in the tax. And in fact, the text doesn't make sense if that's your interpretation of what's going on in this the answer is no. Think about this let us create man in our image in the image of God. He created them male and female he created them and God bless them and told them be fruitful and multiply spread over the Earth rule it and

subdue it.

If the Earth is in a state of perfection at the end of Genesis chapter 1 God telling his people to go and spread and Rule and subdue the Earth doesn't make any sense at all.

The reality of Genesis chapter one is not God creating a complete perfected Cosmos know God creates the orders he sets up the system's he sets up his images. He picked up his Beastie Chris responsibility the orders and and in and gives them a job in a reality perform and he says, alright this is going to work and now he says alright guy, let's make it happen.

Before we continue into this in Genesis chapter 3, we got to get this straight in our mind. God created us for a purpose and the purpose was not to sit naked in a garden eating fruit forever and ever I'm in.

The purpose was also not to live die and then flowed off and sit on a cloud and play a heart for the rest of Eternity.

I got us a much greater. Much more beautiful and important purpose in that for his creation.

Not when we get to chapter 2 we are introduced to Eden and Eden was perfect. God creates the world he orders that he structures he creates mankind then he comes and he creates even to be his Temple Place his dwelling-place the place where God's hand is divine Council will meet with his human cancel where Adam and Eve is his Prophet priest in Kings will then go from

from Eden will spread the rain and the rule and the beauty and the glory of God. They're not made to sit and stay in Eden even is the starting points their home-based. It is the place and source of life. What we read Genesis chapter 2 and the Ant and the description of Eden as a temple. It's all about life. The rivers of life you got to Four Rivers to the four Compass points. That ideas at Eden is this mountain Terrace Gardens were God's well stand from this place comes life the Earth. At the center of the garden is the Tree of Life. Did the beauty and realities of Eden and Eden is the place where God's will is done on Earth as it is in heaven perfectly. It's perfect. It's meant to be perfect.

And it's from that. Man was to spread the rule of God. to the rest of the world

when we get to Chapter 3 The Fall, what does the fall do? It brings chaos into Eaton into the man. Not placed the man got placed the woman within the garden there in the garden dirt. There is perfection there. They are called and mandated to spread that Perfection to the rest of the Earth. But what happens in Genesis chapter 3 is it chaos entered into the garden and interest into the man?

They have a volitional choice. They make the wrong one. They choose themselves over God. They choose the serpent over God's they choose Freedom over freedom in God.

It's the place Eden which is to be the absolute place of perfect order. Chaos is brought into it. the simple Rebellion the serpent the man and the woman but more than that the fall brought the man out of Eden. and into chaos

what happens in the fall? Is that we are removed from that place of perfection and we are removed from that source of life. Death is now the absolute reality of life in a chaotic world without any hope of redemption. Like what's in the dark now, Adam and Eve can give birth to our sons of death Daughters of death.

Now they are under the authority of the lord of the Dead.

Walmart chaos in the garden Because of that Mankind's picked out of garden in the chaos, that's the world in which we live. I know that goes against so much. Of the progressive utopian mindset of our world that says in spite of all the evidence. Absolutely diametrically opposed to it that this world is naturally getting better. And if we just keep trying harder with a little bit more education with a little bit more technology with a better law or a better system of government or a better this or better that we are going to get better.

The Smith and it is nothing more than a man this myth of progress has its its claws so deep into our cultural underbelly that we don't even recognize it. But it comes out all the time. I've heard it coming out of my mouth. I've heard it coming out of your mouth something bad happens and we say that is just not acceptable. What are we saying? When we say that we're saying that we live in 2019. So we were supposed to have evolved and progressed and move to such a point that that kind of evil shouldn't happen. We've been blessed so abundantly so amazingly that went evil happens when chaos rears its head. We don't know what to do with it. Most of us are shocked when evil happens now. That's not been true for most of history of the world and the absolute majority of every person that's watching the time. They've lived with the reality of weed insulated ourselves. We pretend proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand we say no it's not going to happen to me. We we divinized and in and worship youth in our culture because we're terrified of death.

But we're all done. Why why do we worship and obsess over sex because sex is laughing in the face of death?

You were worth we do everything we can in our culture to avoid the reality of chaos and death to pretend and convince ourselves enough. We're all basically good people if we just try a little bit harder if we just worked this summer, we're going to make it something great.

and underneath That mess of progress.

The Temptation Of The Serpent you don't need God.

God's holding back on you you can do this better than him. You can make it better all by yourself. You can be like God. You can determine right now on you can say what's good and what's not you can be in control.

eating fruit

As a dog returns to its vomit. So a fool returns to his folly. Was shocked when evil comes we go. Oh, that's terrible. Let's drop some bombs on it. We're shocked when he will come.

We need to take guns away all we needed. That's all we got to build a while. I just shot two shot the shotgun. We're constantly responding naively and immaturely to the reality of evil because of the fact that there's actually evil.

By one of my favorite just definitions of all time or culture is insane. We keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.

We got to face evil chaos squarely.

How about we look up a tax Genesis 3/8 to 13?

Does after the Temptation in the eating or say they heard the sound of the Lord God Walking In The Garden in the cool of the day? And a man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God Among the Trees of the garden, but the Lord God called them and said to him. Where are you? He said I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid. Cuz I was naked and I hid myself he said who told you that you were naked. Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat Romance.

But now you did it the woman you gave to me.

She gave me the fruit of the tree and I just tap it just fell into my mouth. But I didn't inhale so it's okay.

then

then the Lord God said to the woman. What is this that you have done? The woman said you could get it.

the reality of this tax is that Everything's changed right? God creates Mankind and blesses them. blesiv the fruit Multiplex Brad rules to the blessing of God is all about the things that help us. Achieve Dominion that promote vitality and victory in what God has asked us to do. So God blesses us to do what God asks us to do what he wants. But now they're going to experience a completely different side of God. I said this last week, I think don't mistake the kindness of God for weakness.

Don't mistake the patients in the kindness and the generosity of God for weakness all the experience of God up to this point was his creativity was his Beauty wasn't generosity wasn't now they're going to experience the justice.

the righteous anger of God Now they're going to experience cursing. Now if the blessing of God is that which enables and Empower us empowers us to do what God has asked us to do. It makes sense that we're going to find in the cursing of God that which inhibits and limits and makes it difficult for us to do what God has asked us to do.

When that's what we find got starts with the serpent. And I I love irony. And I actually I love irony so much that I almost feel guilty about it until I really spend some time in this chapter and realize that God is way more ironic than I could ever. Hope to be. This this this is so full of irony. I mean everywhere and there's there's two major types. There's retributive. Irony. We got turns everything upside down. And then there's restorative irony. What turns everything back up right in a way that nobody would expect. The listen to text says the Lord God said to the serpent because you have done this accursed. Are you above all the livestock know if you remember there was a play on words between naked and crafty remember that it was a room and I'll roam now there's a play on words again. It it gets completed here at the end of chapter 3 the beginning that he was crafty a room and says now you are cursive of her is it it's just it's just a literation poetic play on words in the Hebrew language. You can't miss it when you speak at your oil. He goes from this to that. The most crafty of all the animals faster top The Shootist the most clever the most wife now, he is cursed below all of them.

On your belly. You should go and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman in between your Offspring and her Offspring. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. Do we have an irony of degree battle? To your Offspring serpent between The Offspring of the woman and there's going to be a battle. There's no doubt that the serpent is more powerful than the woman and her Offspring. There's no doubt terms of power Divine Beast much more powerful than human being that's just reality. But here in this ironic payments. Yes, you're going to bruise his heel, but she's going to bruise your head.

Even if dogs is cursing even as God is pronouncing judgment. She's putting Grace right in the midst of it.

There's something ironic that's going to happen. As a result God is going to do something that nobody expected. Continue to the woman. He said I was surely multiply your pain in childbearing. I'm so sorry.

your fault I will multiply your pain in childbearing in in in pain. You shall bring forth children women you are so much tougher than we are.

And yet here's the irony in The Curse the condemnation of a woman. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you. So instead of naked and knew no shame instead of complementary support and upholding an intimacy and transparency and vulnerability. Now, there's going to be conflict between the Sexes if you haven't noticed conflict between the sexes in our culture.

I got nothing for you. I got nothing for you, and it's nothing new. It's nothing new. Right. It's if it's an irony of contrast you're going to want this. But you're not going to get it.

And he speaks to the man to Adam. He said because you listen to voice of your wife Novena of the tree of which I commanded you should not eat of her person is the ground because of you in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you and you shall eat the plants of the field by the sweat of your face. You shall eat bread till you return to the ground for out of it you were taken for you are dust and to dust you shall return.

Here's the irony. God makes man out of dust. The dust says I don't need you anymore. God I'm going to be you and eats the fruit. And God says you're going to be dust again.

irony of consequence

the story continues it says a man called his wife's name Eve because she was to become the mother of all living and the Lord God made for a demand for his wife garments of skins and clothed them in the Lord. God said behold. The man has become like one of us and doing good and evil now lest he reach out his hand and take also the tree of life and eat and live forever. Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the Garden of Eden to work the ground when she adjust Hurst. I'm which he was taken. You drove out the man in at the east of the garden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. I want to see that sort.

This judgment Grace all over this past. I judge you want to make skins to cover you? I'm going to cast you out not as an act of hatred or Vengeance, but as an act of Grace to protect you because if you keep eating the Tree of Life in this pollen State, that's what you will be forever Fallen. And that is not God's desire for his creation. That is not God's desire for mankind to stay in a fallen State forever.

So we're kicked out of perfection. We're removed from security. We are removed from the safety of Eden and Eden is removed from us.

And now we live and well in the land of dust and death. Under the power of an enemy far stronger than we are. as mortal broken keep on welcome to planet Earth.

She in this. In this reality. God doesn't give up.

The judgment on Adam and Eve the Judgment upon us is not an eternal judgment. Is not how God is going to let things spend thank God he didn't give up on us and move on to plan B. Does not have a plan B. I will establish his kingdom in partnership with Humanity.

He's going to be so sneaky. It really is. And I love it. Cuz how's the serpent do it? Crafty sneaky?

I'm a mess you up so bad. I'm going to do things that you could never imagine that what Paul said 1st Corinthians 2 e says we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God. The gospel is a secret hidden the wisdom of God, which God create before the ages for our Glory because none of the rulers of this age understood this for if they had they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. Same here if Satan if the Satan had a clue. the power of God's Redemptive irony They never would have crucified do they thought in crucifying Jesus they were winning cuz I got you.

Only the wisdom of God to the point death as the way to life. The ultimate irony of the cursed transformed into a blessing it was by the death of Christ the last Adam that the serpent of old encounter death and the first atom found life. The nails that pierced the feet of Christ would bruise the heel that they would crush the head of the serpent Jesus the last Adam undoes what the first Adam did.

The last Adam Jesus wore the Thorns of the first Adam, but by these wounds he was stealing his people.

Christ knew the nakedness of atoms but by this shame he was clothing his people in righteousness Galatians 3. For the first Adam the tree of knowledge brought death for the last item Christ new death upon the tree bringing life out of that.

Adam made a grave out of a garden. Jesus made a grave into a guard.

Oh how I love the irony the secret hidden wisdom of God. Only God could take what looks like the greatest defeat and make it into his ultimate victory. the in Jesus in his death and his burial and his resurrection. We are given a legitimate hope that it will not always be this way sin will not have the last word death will not be final.

Jesus we have our ultimate. Hope the end of Chaos.

Jesus is our ultimate. Hope the end of cast it out for you for a minute here. I'm a Biblical theological nerd. I started talking about chaos in Genesis chapter 1. There's a purpose in chaos. God's purpose nnnn chaos is personified and chaos is symbolic. It is Route the scriptures. In the metaphor of the sea, the sea is wild and unpredictable. The sea is powerful. It is chaotic and it's dangerous. It's risking soap the city. It's used as a symbol and a metaphor in his personified as evil and Chaos throughout the scriptures Genesis chapter 1 out of the deep out of the chaos out of the darkness. Creates lights in order. Cosmo The next encounter the sea in Genesis chapter 6 when God and His righteous anger Against The Incredibles raises the sea god uses to cleanse the Earth. But even while he does that he's preserving Noah and Noah is given the same mandate that Adam would be fruitful and multiply rule the Earth and subdue it. Just like Adam Noah failed. We need to see you again when in Exodus. In Exodus, the Waters of chaos are right at the beginning when Pharaoh threatened by the fertility and abundance of the Israelites demands that all of their infant boys be thrown into the river the Waters of the Nile.

God responds by throwing pharaoh and his army into the Waters of the Red Sea while Moses leads his people safely on dry land through the myths of sea. God walks them through the midst of the sea at the symbolism sink in when we come across the next one. after wandering through the Wilderness Joshua

Yeshua leads his people through the Jordan the priests 1 men from each tribe, They when they when their feet touch the water of the Jordan it stops running in the middle of the wet season. And God leads his people through the waters on dry land into the promised land the land flowing with milk and honey. There is chaos. There is evil. There is wickedness. And God is the God above it. All he is the god that walks his people through the water.

What shows up a whole bunch of songs? Shows up again big time and Daniel chapter 7 significant passage in terms of eschatology got prophetically reveals. What's going to happen these powers that are going to rise up in opposition not just to God, but to destroy the Saints of the righteous God and where do they come from? Where do these weird powerful images and monsters come from they come up out of the sea to wage war upon the Saints.

fast forward two strange weird dude wearing itchy camels

eating locusts and honey Duncan people in the Jordan River

Jesus shows at the John the Baptist. I said you got a baptizing John's like no way dude. I know this is fitting why is a fitting?

What is it fitting for Jesus to be baptized? Because he is the last Adam. I just asked the first one was brought out of the chaos of the primordial Waters. Now Jesus enters its goes underneath the water symbolize in chaos, and that's and comes up out of the water. And what does God say when Jesus comes out of the water my son. listening

Did any surprise them when we see Jesus doing his ministry, he rebukes the wind and waves just as easily as he rebukes sickness.

Did Jesus walk on the water cuz it was more convenient. Well, if you want to ignore the whole story of scripture little miracle. When you think about what the C represents in the history of redemption the fact that Jesus can casually stroll across the waves of the sea.

Is an indication that he indeed is the Lord of all.

And then we come. Revelation 21 that's a verse that I always found so weird because I never understood in the context of the whole story. Revelation 21 says this then I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth.

This whole crazy American gospel that Jesus came and died so that you don't have to go to hell and you can float off to some place called Heaven someday is not in the Bible.

Jesus did not die so that you can escape this Earth Jesus died so that this Earth might be renewed and recreated. It's a new heavens and a new Earth. That's not giving up. There's no plan B. I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first time in the verse the Earth had passed away. And that doesn't mean he crumples it up and throws it away means it's transformed.

Senators last race and the sea was no more. That bug me when I was a kid, I think I love you.

In the context of the history of redemption The Narrative of scripture. What is that? Text Faith Our Hope? Is of a future with chaos is on done with her is no more broken. That's where we can experience a day a week a year on eternity without our hearts being broken what Jesus has accomplished in his death? Burial Resurrection will be brought to fulfillment in the eschaton and there will be no more seats. There will be no more chaos. I saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming out of Heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a loud voice on the throne saying the hold the dwelling place of God is with man. He was well with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God it is the new Eden. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death will be no more. Neither. Shall there be morning nor crying nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away and behold he was on the throne said I am making all things new.

Sorrow May last for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

The hope of Jesus over the power and Chaos of evil is not an immediate quick fix.

But it is an ultimate complete fix.

So we join in with the long line of saints? Same how long oh Lord. How long? It is no wonder that the text ends even so come Lord Jesus come.

Sunny here this morning. You don't you don't really want Jesus to come back? Cuz you've been diluted. by the pleasures the temporary pleasures of this world show me this morning or like I was for much of my life Jesus and now I'm supposed to want you to come back, but that's going to be an inconvenience for my plans.

The only way we can think and feel that way as if we blind ourselves to the realities of pain and Injustice and broke in this in this world. When we with eyes wide open look and see the reality of chaos the pain of evil the Brokenness and the suffering across this planet.

the only natural prayers Even so come Lord Jesus come. Calm the sea. Take away the power of death. and bring around the perfect ordered Cosmos but you designed from the very beginning.

Evil has its day. But it's days are number. and we we do not grieve as those who have no hope Because our hope is insecure. In the resurrection of Jesus from the death. Amen.