Crossing Over
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
“Remembering” in Canadian culture…and “remembering” in Jewish culture
WHAT DOES THIS SHOW US ABOUT…
I) The Stones that Help us Remember
I) The Stones that Help us Remember
A. What is Going On? A Summary of the Story
A. What is Going On? A Summary of the Story
i. The questions that confuse
1. It’s easy to get lost in a story like this: odd detail; is there a “narrative”?
2. Is this one event, or two from different POV’s?
ii. The Structure that frames this text: (vv. 1-9, 20-24)
1. Building 2 memorials: 1 by the river (12 tribes) 1 in Gilgal (priests)
2. At the center God exalts Joshua to the place of Moses (vv. 11-14)
B. The Urgency of Memory for God’s People
B. The Urgency of Memory for God’s People
i. Stones are memorials needed to help us remember (vv. 6-7, 21-24)
1. Stones invite inquiry, reminding future generations of God’s mighty acts
2. “Tell the story” and “Declare God’s might à nations fear God.”
ii. Remembering to Remember: Passing faith on is not just teaching morals
1. God understands our weakness – and gives us ways to remember
2. EXAMPLE: Communion? Sundays? Family rituals?
NOW THE QUESTION IS – WHAT ARE GOD’S PEOPLE SUPPOSED TO REMEMBER?
II) The River from Death to Life
II) The River from Death to Life
A. A Greater Passover for God’s People
A. A Greater Passover for God’s People
i. The people “Pass over” ….again. (vv.
1. They “pass over” (11x!) on dry land at the Red Sea (vs. 23)
2. A coincidence? No – look at the date. (vs. 19)
ii. God brings his people through death into life
1. Water often represents judgment – Noah, the Red Sea
2. But God spares Noah, Israel…by bringing them from death into life
B. Living Life from Death To Life (Rom. 6:3-4 )
B. Living Life from Death To Life (Rom. 6:3-4 )
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
i. Those in Christ have “passed” out of death
1. Sin isn’t our master: we “die to sin” and its power (Rom. 6:6-7 )
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.
2. Death isn’t our destiny (LD 16/Q/A 42)
ii. Those in Christ have “come up” into life with Christ (vv. 16, 17, 18, 19)
1. Living to Christ means offering ourselves to God (Rom. 6:11, 13 )
2. EXAMPLE: parenting, sports, school, work – you live for God
GOD WANTS US TO REMEMBER WHAT HE HAS DONE SO THAT WE WILL OFFER OURSELVES TO HIM. NOW, AT THE CENTER OF THIS STORY IS JOSHUA.
III) The Path to True Greatness
III) The Path to True Greatness
A. The Way Up is Down: (vs. 14)
A. The Way Up is Down: (vs. 14)
i. Joshua’s path to greatness: God did all the work
1. At the center, God honors Joshua such that he is esteemed in all Israel
2. But why? No strategy; no rousing speech; obedience àGod did the work
ii. A picture of greatness in an “influencer” world: serve
1. EXAMPLE: D. Brooks’ football player, fame (51% want to be famous)
2. Greatness: hiring someone out of prison; volunteering in community
B. Jesus Brings us into a greater Promised Land
B. Jesus Brings us into a greater Promised Land
i. Echoes & Shadows of greater greatness: Jesus
1. God exulted Jesus, a greater savior who humbled himself & was exalted
2. Jesus is our greater Savior:
i. When the waters of judgment drowned the world, a dove found no place to set her feet. Now, the priests set their feet on dry land so that Israel would be spared from judgment.
ii. Then, in time, Jesus would go down INTO the waters of the Jordan in order to identify with people deserving judgment
iii. The voice from heaven would “exalt” Jesus, in whom God was well-pleased, and the Holy Spirit would descend like a dove
iv. Jesus crossed from life into death, so that we might be brought through the waters of judgment into the hope of new life
ii. Echoes and shadows of a greater promised land
1. Abraham anticipated the land; Israel entered the land and used 12 stones to memorialize the land;
2. Those in Christ will, one day, be brought into a new and greater city built not on ordinary stones, but on 12 infinitely precious stones
Transition:
Conclusion
As we remember what God has done, we may anticipate what is yet to come.