WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.020 Father, this is your word, not our word. 00:00:05.580 --> 00:00:08.439 This is a word that you ultimately caused to be written. 00:00:09.140 --> 00:00:15.480 And we believe that every word in the Bible that you wanted to be there is there. 00:00:16.660 --> 00:00:19.120 And so, Father, it's your word. We're your people. 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:27.359 And we ask that you would pour out your Holy Spirit upon us and teach us, lead us into all truth, help us to hear your word. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:35.420 May your word enter into us and have the forming and shaping power that you desire to have in our lives. 00:00:36.379 --> 00:00:43.739 And help us, Father, to know Jesus and realize what he has done for us, Father, as we hear your word. 00:00:43.859 --> 00:00:47.159 And all this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. 00:00:47.659 --> 00:00:48.379 Please be seated. 00:00:48.380 --> 00:00:49.380 Amen. 00:00:53.380 --> 00:00:58.740 Over the years, I've talked to lots and lots of people about God. 00:00:59.180 --> 00:01:10.879 And there's a very often, a very sort of common, simple type of objection that people have to the idea that to Christians and Jesus and God. 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:13.319 And it's a very, very common one. 00:01:13.399 --> 00:01:20.799 People will say to me, well, you know, if God really wanted us to know all about his existence and everything like that, why doesn't he just make it more obvious? 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:26.819 Like, why doesn't he make it more obvious in such like, in a way that, I mean, he just really appeared to everybody? 00:01:26.819 --> 00:01:39.959 Or that if we were doing the wrong thing or going away from him, there was some obvious thing that would happen to us just to make it very, very clear that he existed or that going away from him was going to have a terrible consequence? 00:01:40.939 --> 00:01:45.659 Like, why doesn't he do something like that just to make it more obvious that he exists? 00:01:45.659 --> 00:01:51.679 You know, why isn't the Bible just clearer and easier to understand? 00:01:51.879 --> 00:01:53.259 Why couldn't the teaching be better? 00:01:54.019 --> 00:02:05.459 And these are very, very common types of things that people have said to me over the years and even quite recently about the Christian faith and why they're not a Christian. 00:02:06.299 --> 00:02:11.479 So to network and sort of actually there's the passage that Ivan read and my passage as well. 00:02:11.519 --> 00:02:13.919 He actually has a lot of very interesting things to say about it. 00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:20.479 But we're going to go in a few moments sort of earlier on from where Noah, from where Ivan had read. 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:28.179 But first of all, just so you sort of have a bit of a sense why it is that I would use somebody like Noah to introduce the Christmas story. 00:02:28.599 --> 00:02:32.139 I'd like you to watch this movie, which and that sort of gives you a bit of an idea. 00:02:36.459 --> 00:02:41.659 That's the basic Christian hope of a basic Christian belief that the Bible, 00:02:41.659 --> 00:02:49.099 I'm holding a Bible here in my hands, that it's not just 66 different books not connected to each other, 00:02:49.180 --> 00:02:54.759 each book having lots of different parts, but that ultimately it's by one author. 00:02:55.719 --> 00:03:01.419 And ultimately it has one, it moves in a particular direction that God wants. 00:03:01.419 --> 00:03:05.979 And that everything in what we call the Old Testament, in fact, is pointing to Jesus. 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:10.959 And so that's sort of what we've been doing in this Christmas season here at Church of the Messiah. 00:03:11.239 --> 00:03:13.599 The series is called Unusual Introductions. 00:03:14.179 --> 00:03:16.819 Two weeks ago it was Adam and Eve and baby Jesus. 00:03:17.139 --> 00:03:20.579 And this past Sunday it was Cain and Abel and baby Jesus. 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:22.359 And today it's Noah and baby Jesus. 00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:27.660 So if you have Bibles, just look very briefly at Genesis 6. 00:03:27.920 --> 00:03:32.460 Earlier on, the part of the story, it's Genesis 6 verse 8. 00:03:33.160 --> 00:03:37.620 And the part that Ivan read was sort of towards the end of the story of Noah and the flood. 00:03:37.880 --> 00:03:43.320 And I'm going to read not quite the very beginning, but close to the beginning of the story of Noah and the flood. 00:03:44.180 --> 00:03:46.940 And here's how the story goes. 00:03:46.939 --> 00:03:53.479 By the way, I'm not going to talk tonight at all about issues of whether it's historically true or not. 00:03:53.819 --> 00:03:55.740 The book of the character Noah. 00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:03.259 As if you're curious, I talk a little bit about these issues in a blog that I put on the webpage, the church webpage, a couple of weeks ago. 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:08.960 The first question to ask of stories is, is there some significance and power in these stories? 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:17.160 And if there are, then that's when it really makes sense to go looking at issues of historicity and truth. 00:04:17.300 --> 00:04:21.400 To start with historicity without looking at the meaning is to get the cart before the horse. 00:04:22.019 --> 00:04:28.040 And a lot of us haven't even recognized the depth and the power of these old stories. 00:04:28.740 --> 00:04:29.819 So here's how it goes. 00:04:29.960 --> 00:04:31.680 Chapter 6 verse 8. 00:04:32.500 --> 00:04:35.100 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. 00:04:35.100 --> 00:04:39.000 And just sort of pause in the original language. 00:04:39.160 --> 00:04:42.240 This is a very, very unusual thing to be said about Noah. 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:49.660 It's one of only two people in the Old Testament where this particular Hebrew word of commendation is used about an individual. 00:04:52.200 --> 00:04:54.460 These are the generations of Noah. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:55.060 Verse 9. 00:04:55.060 --> 00:04:58.580 Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. 00:04:59.260 --> 00:05:00.420 Noah walked with God. 00:05:00.980 --> 00:05:04.920 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 00:05:05.100 --> 00:05:08.300 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight. 00:05:08.680 --> 00:05:10.439 And the earth was filled with violence. 00:05:11.140 --> 00:05:12.900 And God saw the earth. 00:05:12.960 --> 00:05:14.280 And behold, it was corrupt. 00:05:14.439 --> 00:05:16.680 For all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 00:05:17.080 --> 00:05:18.200 And God said to Noah, 00:05:18.439 --> 00:05:21.120 I have determined to make an end of all flesh. 00:05:21.580 --> 00:05:23.980 For the earth is filled with violence through them. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:26.480 Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 00:05:27.220 --> 00:05:29.800 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. 00:05:30.460 --> 00:05:33.800 Make rooms in the ark and cover it inside and out with pitch. 00:05:33.800 --> 00:05:36.120 We'll just sort of stop reading here. 00:05:39.060 --> 00:05:40.639 You know, why... 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:43.060 One of the questions that people ask is that... 00:05:43.060 --> 00:05:43.980 Is why... 00:05:43.980 --> 00:05:49.139 Why doesn't God send a really good person who just proclaims good news and goodness? 00:05:49.639 --> 00:05:54.540 Like maybe if there was just a really, really effective teacher who was not just... 00:05:54.540 --> 00:05:56.700 And there's no question at all that he was a hypocrite. 00:05:57.100 --> 00:05:59.060 But that he was a really, really good person. 00:05:59.580 --> 00:06:01.540 And he could teach really, really good things. 00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:03.860 Why doesn't God do something like that? 00:06:03.900 --> 00:06:07.420 And if God did something like that, maybe it would be more convincing to people. 00:06:07.460 --> 00:06:08.920 And more people would come to know him. 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:14.379 Like why doesn't he just send somebody who's that type of powerful speaker and has a powerful life? 00:06:14.379 --> 00:06:20.159 And many people, when they hear me maybe starting to say something like that, think I'm going to talk about Jesus. 00:06:20.420 --> 00:06:20.959 And I could. 00:06:21.500 --> 00:06:25.420 But in fact, actually, the first person to talk about is Noah. 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:34.819 Here in some of the other parts of the story, we see that Noah is described as being an uncharacteristically good person. 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:38.600 Not a perfect person, but a blameless person. 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:42.520 Not perfect or sinless, but a blameless person of exceptional piety. 00:06:43.260 --> 00:06:47.620 And later on in other parts of the Bible, it talks about how he was a herald. 00:06:48.120 --> 00:06:49.540 In other words, he went about... 00:06:49.540 --> 00:06:50.280 He didn't just... 00:06:50.280 --> 00:06:56.120 Not only did he personally live a very, very powerfully good life, but he actually went and spoke to people about it. 00:06:56.120 --> 00:07:05.320 And he spoke to people about how to live a better life and how to be a better person and how not to be corrupt and how not to be violent and how not to be a range of types of things. 00:07:05.319 --> 00:07:09.159 But here's the thing, is that the... 00:07:09.159 --> 00:07:13.899 Noah does all of these things, but we can ask ourselves, how does it work out? 00:07:14.500 --> 00:07:15.279 How does it work out? 00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:25.279 If you put up the next screen, how it's going to work out is that, in fact, the story of Noah shows that God sending a really good person who proclaims good news and goodness does not work. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:27.019 How does it show that? 00:07:27.019 --> 00:07:37.240 Well, what happens is immediately after this part, after we've described who Noah is, what in fact happens is that nobody at all responds to his teaching or his person. 00:07:37.859 --> 00:07:42.579 And so the judgment that God has said to Noah is going to happen, that it comes. 00:07:42.579 --> 00:07:53.839 And if you go on and read the rest of chapter 6 and chapter 7, chapter 6 describes how Noah believes God, that God is in fact going to judge the earth. 00:07:54.459 --> 00:08:00.000 And so he builds the ark and he trusts that God will seal him into the ark and that God will send the animals. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.160 And God does all of those things. 00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:13.540 And then, Lord, have mercy, the fountains from the water underneath the earth starts coming up and rain starts to fall. 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:21.000 And who knows what other types of things that happens, but God works it in such a way so that there's a flood that it goes... 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:23.680 There's water, water, water for days and days. 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:27.060 And then there's water covering everything for days and days and days. 00:08:27.280 --> 00:08:30.740 And all of the people die and all of the animals die. 00:08:31.180 --> 00:08:37.759 And now all that's left at the end of it is just Noah and his family and the living creatures in the boat. 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:51.060 You see, if people say, you know, if God was just to send like a really good person who could speak really well and could maybe do good apologetics and good philosophy and good ethics and good morals and just really convince people, 00:08:51.139 --> 00:08:53.100 then people would respond, why doesn't God do that? 00:08:53.100 --> 00:08:58.800 Well, the response is that right at the very beginning of the Bible is that God tries that and it doesn't work. 00:08:59.620 --> 00:09:03.659 Like, he tries it and it doesn't work. 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:11.340 But, you know, other people might say, like as I began this talk, some of the other things that people might say is that, well, why doesn't God... 00:09:11.340 --> 00:09:13.639 Maybe you can put this slide up, Andrew. 00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:17.200 Why doesn't God start over with good people? 00:09:18.759 --> 00:09:21.060 Like, why doesn't God just start over with good people? 00:09:21.059 --> 00:09:27.079 Okay, like let's get rid of all the bad people and we can just sort of start over with good people. 00:09:27.080 --> 00:09:34.780 Years ago, I used to be like a sort of a quasi type of Marxist and whenever I was trying to think about how we could have this type of classless society, 00:09:35.340 --> 00:09:41.000 sort of always bothered me that even if certain areas in a country or certain countries were to try to practice this, 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:44.440 it wouldn't work because all the other countries maybe wouldn't be practicing it. 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:45.540 How do you sort of have it spread? 00:09:45.539 --> 00:09:52.199 I know it sounds very naive and childish and people probably roll their eyes and, you know, for all of us, probably, 00:09:52.319 --> 00:09:57.079 if God could just show us tapes of things that we used to believe, we would all be horribly mortified. 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:02.939 But, you know, people say, well, you can say, well, why isn't God just sort of get rid of the bad people? 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:08.899 I've had people say this to me and just start over with the good people and then the world would be a better place and they'd all know God. 00:10:08.899 --> 00:10:14.059 Well, funnily enough, whenever somebody suggests that to me, they never include themselves amongst the bad people. 00:10:14.139 --> 00:10:16.259 They think they'd be one of the good people who would continue. 00:10:16.919 --> 00:10:24.679 But why doesn't God try just really revealing that he exists to us in such a way that it'd be impossible to deny? 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:31.319 Or why doesn't God do something so that it'd just be really clear that if you do these wrong things, 00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:33.519 that really bad things are going to happen to you? 00:10:33.819 --> 00:10:35.659 Or why doesn't he just try to be nice to us? 00:10:35.659 --> 00:10:40.360 Well, in fact, the rest of the story of Noah shows all of these particular things. 00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:48.620 God kills all of the flesh on earth, leaving only Noah and his close immediate family. 00:10:48.779 --> 00:10:52.539 Noah, this exceptionally good man who's an exceptional teacher. 00:10:53.419 --> 00:10:55.759 And that's what happens. 00:10:55.899 --> 00:11:00.959 And what else is how could anybody other than those seven people who are on the ark, 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:03.939 how could they not know that God exists after this? 00:11:03.940 --> 00:11:09.840 And how could they not know that serious consequences befall people who rebel against God? 00:11:10.160 --> 00:11:14.180 And the part that Ivan just read a few minutes ago, which talks about the covenant, 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:18.560 this God's promise to be in an unending relationship with people if they just, you know, 00:11:18.620 --> 00:11:22.760 they follow his laws and he will continue to bless them and cause them to multiply. 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:32.039 Like all of the types of things that we might say that God should try are all tried in the story of Noah. 00:11:33.259 --> 00:11:34.460 Put up the next screen. 00:11:35.539 --> 00:11:36.139 Here's the thing. 00:11:36.419 --> 00:11:38.340 I'm not going to read it because there's children present. 00:11:38.700 --> 00:11:40.340 And maybe I'll just say it very briefly. 00:11:40.340 --> 00:11:46.480 If you go and you read Genesis 3 through the story of Noah and the flood, 00:11:46.560 --> 00:11:48.860 it goes chapter 6, 7, 8, 9. 00:11:49.500 --> 00:11:56.180 And after, at the end of 9, the story cycle of Noah ends with Noah getting drunk 00:11:56.180 --> 00:12:00.560 and one of his sons sexually assaulting him. 00:12:00.559 --> 00:12:06.059 That's how the story of Noah ends. 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:09.799 They've lived through the flood. 00:12:11.219 --> 00:12:14.179 They've had unbelievable proof that God exists. 00:12:15.459 --> 00:12:20.299 They've seen unbelievable evidence that God can act in a way to judge. 00:12:20.299 --> 00:12:24.419 And that's how the story cycle of Noah ends. 00:12:26.419 --> 00:12:30.839 The story of Noah shows that God starting over with good people or intimidating us 00:12:30.839 --> 00:12:32.959 or being nice to us does not work. 00:12:34.219 --> 00:12:35.839 Like it does not work. 00:12:38.500 --> 00:12:40.839 Now you're all so glad you've come to church tonight. 00:12:41.319 --> 00:12:43.899 I've managed to completely and utterly depress everybody. 00:12:43.899 --> 00:12:50.559 So, let's show this next movie. 00:12:50.980 --> 00:12:52.039 Let's show this next movie. 00:12:59.319 --> 00:13:02.840 What the story of Noah does is it does three things. 00:13:03.539 --> 00:13:08.759 The first thing it does is it tries to bring before us the reality of a problem. 00:13:08.759 --> 00:13:14.279 Sometimes I'm not, I occasionally read books on management and leadership 00:13:14.279 --> 00:13:18.179 and often what they say, sometimes what they say in issues of leadership 00:13:18.179 --> 00:13:19.939 and even in terms of management, 00:13:20.519 --> 00:13:23.439 is that you have to sell the problem before you sell the solution. 00:13:23.539 --> 00:13:26.480 If people don't understand the problem, they won't appreciate the solution. 00:13:27.419 --> 00:13:32.139 And really what the story of Noah does on one level is it brings before us a problem. 00:13:32.899 --> 00:13:37.840 And it shows how, in fact, right within the warp, the story of the Bible, 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:43.139 that a very common type of, a set of common type of solutions that people would suggest, 00:13:43.680 --> 00:13:47.000 the story of Noah and the flood shows that, in fact, 00:13:47.500 --> 00:13:53.460 those solutions of God's clear judgment, of his clear reality, 00:13:53.780 --> 00:13:54.920 that they don't work. 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:57.980 It doesn't work in changing us. 00:13:58.820 --> 00:14:02.300 And the story of Noah then points, though, in two other ways 00:14:02.300 --> 00:14:05.019 because on one level the person of Noah is a promise 00:14:05.019 --> 00:14:10.559 and the person of Noah is also a bit of a, sort of a, 00:14:10.639 --> 00:14:15.639 it sets in contrast the surprising thing that God is going to do in the person of his son. 00:14:16.179 --> 00:14:19.000 If you have your Bibles and you turn to Luke chapter 2, 00:14:19.059 --> 00:14:24.939 I'm just going to read part of the Christmas story, verses 8 to 11. 00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:27.360 And in Luke chapter 2, 8 to 11, 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:31.240 in light of Noah and the problem which we see, 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:33.879 here's how Jesus is introduced. 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:36.840 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field 00:14:36.840 --> 00:14:38.779 keeping watch over their flock by night. 00:14:39.419 --> 00:14:41.379 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, 00:14:41.899 --> 00:14:43.940 and the glory of the Lord shone around them, 00:14:44.120 --> 00:14:45.360 and they were filled with fear. 00:14:45.980 --> 00:14:47.240 And the angel said to them, 00:14:47.779 --> 00:14:51.440 Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:53.500 that will be for all the people. 00:14:53.500 --> 00:14:56.759 For unto you is born this day in the city of David, 00:14:57.620 --> 00:14:58.200 what's born? 00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:02.940 A Savior who is Christ the Lord. 00:15:04.139 --> 00:15:06.659 And we're just going to have a look at the story again. 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:09.259 This is a very artistic way. 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:10.539 Some people think in images. 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:15.279 I think this is a very interesting series of images 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:17.620 to tell the story of Jesus. 00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:20.779 It's done with sand on lighted glass. 00:15:20.779 --> 00:15:38.959 I can barely draw a stick figure. 00:15:39.620 --> 00:15:41.079 When I see something like that, 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:42.500 it always just amazes me 00:15:42.500 --> 00:15:45.319 that somebody could just do that with sand in their fingers. 00:15:46.620 --> 00:15:47.339 Here's the thing. 00:15:47.480 --> 00:15:49.139 Andrew, if you could put this next slide up, 00:15:49.179 --> 00:15:49.759 that would be great. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:52.379 Noah was a righteous man 00:15:52.379 --> 00:15:54.980 who was spared God's judgment. 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:57.580 Jesus was a righteous man 00:15:57.580 --> 00:16:00.759 who came to bear my judgment and yours. 00:16:01.419 --> 00:16:07.159 That is why he is called Messiah, Savior, and the Lord. 00:16:08.439 --> 00:16:10.179 Noah was a righteous man 00:16:10.179 --> 00:16:11.879 who was spared God's judgment. 00:16:12.500 --> 00:16:14.080 Jesus was a righteous man 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:16.620 who came to bear my judgment and yours. 00:16:16.620 --> 00:16:21.940 And that's why he's called Messiah, Savior, and the Lord. 00:16:21.940 --> 00:16:26.180 Most people in Canada nowadays 00:16:26.180 --> 00:16:28.980 don't really believe that there's any worry 00:16:28.980 --> 00:16:31.680 about something like the judgment of God. 00:16:32.640 --> 00:16:34.220 At different times, I guess, 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:37.340 when I was a teenager and in my 20s 00:16:37.340 --> 00:16:38.420 and even into my 30s, 00:16:38.420 --> 00:16:41.880 there were many people who worried about a nuclear holocaust. 00:16:42.940 --> 00:16:45.420 And I think it's almost been a constant, 00:16:45.660 --> 00:16:48.060 a low-level fear of many people in the West 00:16:48.059 --> 00:16:51.579 of some type of environmental disaster 00:16:51.579 --> 00:16:52.839 that would befall us. 00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:56.000 I remember friends seriously 00:16:56.000 --> 00:16:58.959 not wanting to move to California in the 70s 00:16:58.959 --> 00:17:01.159 because they were worried that the earthquake would happen 00:17:01.159 --> 00:17:02.979 and California would slide into the sea. 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:05.679 Forty-some-odd years later, it hasn't happened. 00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:09.700 So we often don't think of the judgment of God anymore. 00:17:10.660 --> 00:17:15.100 But we do think that if there was some type of cataclysmic judgment, 00:17:15.500 --> 00:17:18.259 whether from God or just from our own actions, 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:20.299 that we would hope that we would be like Noah, 00:17:21.299 --> 00:17:23.880 that somehow we would be spared or delivered 00:17:23.880 --> 00:17:25.519 from the midst of that judgment. 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:30.100 Christians believe, or are called to believe, 00:17:30.099 --> 00:17:37.399 that our fear of dying or suffering some ecological judgment 00:17:37.399 --> 00:17:39.899 or whatever is a bit of an echo 00:17:39.899 --> 00:17:42.500 ringing around in our subconscious 00:17:42.500 --> 00:17:45.740 of a basic fear of God's judgment. 00:17:45.919 --> 00:17:47.559 It's one of those clues or riddles 00:17:47.559 --> 00:17:50.819 that the Bible says that God doesn't leave himself without a witness, 00:17:50.819 --> 00:17:53.000 that God continues to put little riddles 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:55.059 and little clues in human consciousness 00:17:55.059 --> 00:17:58.139 to warn them, to let them know that he exists. 00:17:58.140 --> 00:18:01.720 And ultimately, if we follow those clues or those riddles, 00:18:01.860 --> 00:18:04.000 that they point us to this truth 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:08.280 that only God, only God, only God can do something 00:18:08.280 --> 00:18:09.880 to rescue us or to save us. 00:18:09.940 --> 00:18:13.840 And all we can do is receive what only God can do. 00:18:14.500 --> 00:18:16.500 In a sense, then, we look at Noah, 00:18:16.600 --> 00:18:18.300 and for us, part of the story of Noah 00:18:18.300 --> 00:18:20.320 is not only establishing the problem 00:18:20.320 --> 00:18:21.960 that even if God was to come down 00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:24.720 and make it very clear that certain things would be wrong 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:25.620 and would be punished, 00:18:25.980 --> 00:18:27.920 that that would still not make us better people, 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:29.680 that we would still rebel against God, 00:18:29.740 --> 00:18:32.539 that that whole path does not possibly work. 00:18:32.940 --> 00:18:34.320 On the other hand, the story of Noah 00:18:34.320 --> 00:18:36.840 is a bit of a picture of what, if we're honest, 00:18:36.940 --> 00:18:39.240 we long would have happened to us. 00:18:39.720 --> 00:18:42.980 But the story of Noah is an even deeper riddle 00:18:42.980 --> 00:18:45.519 in that it's the story of Jesus, 00:18:45.720 --> 00:18:47.180 who is also a righteous man 00:18:47.180 --> 00:18:49.220 and also exemplary in his generation, 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:50.500 also a great teacher, 00:18:50.500 --> 00:18:55.220 but he does not come like Noah to escape judgment. 00:18:55.400 --> 00:18:59.460 He who does not have any reason to be judged by God 00:18:59.460 --> 00:19:01.759 comes to bear my judgment in yours, 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:04.900 so that I, by my faith and trust 00:19:04.900 --> 00:19:08.039 in Jesus' finished work upon the cross, 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:09.619 can be like Noah, 00:19:10.440 --> 00:19:12.220 can be like Noah. 00:19:12.220 --> 00:19:12.299 Noah. 00:19:14.759 --> 00:19:17.900 And we Christians believe that this is true, 00:19:18.019 --> 00:19:19.920 that what Luke is describing is true, 00:19:20.059 --> 00:19:21.440 that Jesus is historical, 00:19:21.660 --> 00:19:24.160 that it really fundamentally is true. 00:19:24.279 --> 00:19:25.519 It's not just rituals, 00:19:25.700 --> 00:19:26.759 and it's not just liturgies. 00:19:26.819 --> 00:19:29.000 This next movie helps to show that. 00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:40.160 Noah was a righteous man 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:41.839 who was spared God's judgment. 00:19:42.619 --> 00:19:44.279 Jesus was a righteous man 00:19:44.279 --> 00:19:47.440 who came to bear my judgment in yours. 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:50.259 That is why he is called Messiah, 00:19:50.980 --> 00:19:52.140 Savior and Lord. 00:19:52.259 --> 00:19:53.279 He's called Messiah 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:56.000 because he's the one that God promised. 00:19:56.140 --> 00:19:57.779 God promised someone, 00:19:57.779 --> 00:20:00.000 and that promised someone is the Messiah. 00:20:01.220 --> 00:20:02.819 And he's Savior 00:20:02.819 --> 00:20:04.920 because that's exactly what he does, 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:06.599 that he is the one 00:20:06.599 --> 00:20:08.539 who bears my judgment in yours. 00:20:09.240 --> 00:20:11.299 And by bearing my judgment in yours 00:20:11.299 --> 00:20:14.359 and offering instead his standing before God, 00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:15.940 he truly is Savior. 00:20:16.660 --> 00:20:17.859 And we believe he's Lord, 00:20:17.940 --> 00:20:20.059 not only in the sense that after he saves us, 00:20:20.119 --> 00:20:21.319 we are to follow him as Lord, 00:20:21.460 --> 00:20:23.599 but in fact in this particular case, 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:24.579 in Luke chapter 2, 00:20:24.680 --> 00:20:26.019 it's referring to the fact 00:20:26.019 --> 00:20:29.079 that God himself is the one at work. 00:20:29.660 --> 00:20:32.440 Jesus is God's son and our Savior. 00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:33.839 That's why he's called the Lord. 00:20:34.660 --> 00:20:36.519 You see, the story of Noah shows 00:20:36.519 --> 00:20:39.240 that only God, only God, only God 00:20:39.240 --> 00:20:40.660 can do something. 00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:43.400 And we need to be responsive 00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:45.279 and open to accept 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:47.240 what only God can do. 00:20:48.299 --> 00:20:49.559 And this last movie showed 00:20:49.559 --> 00:20:50.259 that in fact, 00:20:50.599 --> 00:20:52.579 it's not religion that we're talking about, 00:20:52.579 --> 00:20:54.039 it's not just mere stories 00:20:54.039 --> 00:20:54.980 that we're talking about, 00:20:55.119 --> 00:20:56.779 that all of these stories, 00:20:56.919 --> 00:20:58.119 all of the things in this book, 00:20:58.220 --> 00:20:59.799 that they point to a real person 00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:01.740 who really did live amongst us 00:21:01.740 --> 00:21:03.659 and he really did come to die. 00:21:03.919 --> 00:21:06.559 He was really the only baby 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:07.740 who was born to die. 00:21:08.879 --> 00:21:10.220 And he came to die 00:21:10.220 --> 00:21:11.199 to be our Savior. 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:14.980 And that's what Christmas is about. 00:21:15.659 --> 00:21:17.519 And just before I close in prayer, 00:21:17.579 --> 00:21:19.639 I'd like to show you one final movie 00:21:19.640 --> 00:21:22.580 that draws this wonderful connection 00:21:22.580 --> 00:21:24.820 between Christmas and Easter 00:21:24.820 --> 00:21:26.980 and helps bring out 00:21:26.980 --> 00:21:28.600 the true significance of Christmas. 00:21:29.080 --> 00:21:29.360 Andrew. 00:21:39.360 --> 00:21:40.520 Please stand. 00:21:40.519 --> 00:21:50.819 Today, in Starbucks, 00:21:51.720 --> 00:21:53.740 it was a very, very precious moment 00:21:53.740 --> 00:21:54.660 in a Starbucks. 00:21:55.059 --> 00:21:56.879 I was here finishing my talk, 00:21:56.980 --> 00:21:57.900 my sermon for tonight 00:21:57.900 --> 00:21:59.099 and my sermon for tomorrow. 00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:00.759 And there was a young woman 00:22:00.759 --> 00:22:02.039 who came into the Starbucks 00:22:02.039 --> 00:22:04.019 with an older woman. 00:22:04.539 --> 00:22:06.500 And they sat just two tables over. 00:22:06.599 --> 00:22:07.160 There was a table 00:22:07.160 --> 00:22:08.019 and then another table. 00:22:08.700 --> 00:22:09.019 And then they, 00:22:09.180 --> 00:22:10.079 you know, over here, 00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:11.500 bits and pieces of their conversation. 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:13.119 Before you knew it, 00:22:13.159 --> 00:22:13.740 I knew it, 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:15.939 the young woman 00:22:15.939 --> 00:22:17.039 had opened her Bible. 00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:20.399 And the two women 00:22:20.399 --> 00:22:21.319 were in a conversation 00:22:21.319 --> 00:22:22.480 because the older woman 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:23.299 was wondering whether 00:22:23.299 --> 00:22:25.000 the younger woman 00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:26.439 was urging the older woman 00:22:26.439 --> 00:22:27.679 to give her life to Jesus. 00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:30.379 Right in that Starbucks 00:22:30.379 --> 00:22:31.579 at Laurier and O'Connor 00:22:31.579 --> 00:22:33.799 this morning 00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:35.759 at noon. 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:39.180 And I felt so privileged 00:22:39.180 --> 00:22:40.279 to be there. 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:41.660 Two over. 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:43.019 And I knew that part of the reason 00:22:43.019 --> 00:22:43.460 I was there 00:22:43.460 --> 00:22:44.220 was not only to work 00:22:44.220 --> 00:22:45.160 on my sermon tonight, 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:48.299 but to pray for the two of them. 00:22:48.980 --> 00:22:50.140 Such a privilege. 00:22:50.759 --> 00:22:52.559 And so I would work and pray 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:53.379 and work and pray 00:22:53.379 --> 00:22:54.160 and work and pray 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:54.920 and then I left 00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:55.879 and they were still there. 00:22:56.119 --> 00:22:58.200 I could overhear the older woman 00:22:58.200 --> 00:22:59.799 asking the younger woman questions 00:22:59.799 --> 00:23:00.900 and the younger woman 00:23:00.900 --> 00:23:02.379 would open her Bible 00:23:02.380 --> 00:23:03.620 and show her things 00:23:03.620 --> 00:23:04.380 from God's Word 00:23:04.380 --> 00:23:05.900 about God's promises to her. 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:06.960 You know, 00:23:07.360 --> 00:23:08.900 there's no better time 00:23:08.900 --> 00:23:10.320 than to return to Jesus 00:23:10.320 --> 00:23:11.580 or to come to Jesus 00:23:11.580 --> 00:23:12.880 than on Christmas Eve. 00:23:13.840 --> 00:23:15.160 And it really is just 00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:15.920 a matter of saying, 00:23:16.040 --> 00:23:16.320 God, 00:23:16.460 --> 00:23:18.220 I realize that only you 00:23:18.220 --> 00:23:19.840 can do what is necessary 00:23:19.840 --> 00:23:20.980 for me to be with you 00:23:20.980 --> 00:23:21.740 for all eternity 00:23:21.740 --> 00:23:23.220 and for me to begin 00:23:23.220 --> 00:23:24.680 to know that eternity life 00:23:24.680 --> 00:23:25.960 here on this side of the grave. 00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:28.380 And I know and understand 00:23:28.380 --> 00:23:30.260 that it's come through your Son, 00:23:30.320 --> 00:23:31.180 it works through your Son, 00:23:31.180 --> 00:23:32.779 and Father, 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:33.779 only you, 00:23:33.940 --> 00:23:35.200 may it just only be you, 00:23:35.299 --> 00:23:36.279 may just Jesus do 00:23:36.279 --> 00:23:37.220 whatever it has to do 00:23:37.220 --> 00:23:37.880 in my life, 00:23:37.980 --> 00:23:39.100 that I might be his 00:23:39.100 --> 00:23:40.340 and that I might be yours, 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:43.740 that just only you, 00:23:43.820 --> 00:23:45.460 I receive what only you can do 00:23:45.460 --> 00:23:46.400 and have done in Jesus. 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:47.720 No better time than tonight. 00:23:47.840 --> 00:23:48.460 Let's bow our heads. 00:23:50.779 --> 00:23:51.180 Father, 00:23:51.620 --> 00:23:53.820 I think again of that young woman 00:23:53.820 --> 00:23:54.660 and the older woman 00:23:54.660 --> 00:23:55.660 in the Starbucks 00:23:55.660 --> 00:23:56.940 at Laurier and O'Connor 00:23:56.940 --> 00:23:57.940 and I ask your blessing 00:23:57.940 --> 00:23:58.759 on both of them. 00:23:59.019 --> 00:23:59.940 I don't know what the outcome 00:23:59.940 --> 00:24:01.140 of the conversation was, 00:24:01.180 --> 00:24:02.460 but I ask that your Holy Spirit 00:24:02.460 --> 00:24:03.440 would continue to work 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:04.060 in both of them 00:24:04.060 --> 00:24:05.220 and I ask that your Holy Spirit 00:24:05.220 --> 00:24:06.060 would work in us. 00:24:07.420 --> 00:24:07.820 Father, 00:24:07.960 --> 00:24:08.940 that for those of us 00:24:08.940 --> 00:24:10.400 who have trusted Jesus 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:12.100 as our Savior and our Lord, 00:24:12.220 --> 00:24:12.940 that you would draw us 00:24:12.940 --> 00:24:14.060 closer to him tonight, 00:24:14.860 --> 00:24:15.680 that you would draw us 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:16.420 closer to him 00:24:16.420 --> 00:24:17.779 throughout this Christmas season. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:18.920 And Father, 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:20.279 that if there are any here 00:24:20.279 --> 00:24:21.880 who are trying to consider 00:24:21.880 --> 00:24:23.039 and sort these things out, 00:24:23.120 --> 00:24:24.140 that your Holy Spirit 00:24:24.140 --> 00:24:25.160 would just work 00:24:25.160 --> 00:24:27.279 in the lives of those 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:28.460 who are here in our midst, 00:24:28.460 --> 00:24:30.799 that they would turn to you, 00:24:30.840 --> 00:24:31.400 that they would know 00:24:31.400 --> 00:24:32.299 that only you 00:24:32.299 --> 00:24:33.400 can do, 00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:35.200 that only you 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:37.180 can fit us for heaven, 00:24:37.319 --> 00:24:38.340 that only you, 00:24:38.460 --> 00:24:40.220 only you can deal 00:24:40.220 --> 00:24:40.860 with those things 00:24:40.860 --> 00:24:41.799 in us as human beings 00:24:41.799 --> 00:24:42.660 that we can't fix 00:24:42.660 --> 00:24:43.259 by ourselves. 00:24:43.480 --> 00:24:44.200 Only you. 00:24:44.779 --> 00:24:45.740 And help us, Father, 00:24:45.880 --> 00:24:47.220 to cry out to you 00:24:47.220 --> 00:24:48.019 and to trust 00:24:48.019 --> 00:24:50.460 what Jesus does for us 00:24:50.460 --> 00:24:51.220 and did for us. 00:24:51.340 --> 00:24:51.900 Only you. 00:24:52.500 --> 00:24:53.420 And all this I ask 00:24:53.420 --> 00:24:54.220 in the name of Jesus, 00:24:54.220 --> 00:24:54.860 your Son, 00:24:55.059 --> 00:24:55.700 and our Savior. 00:24:55.700 --> 00:24:56.759 Amen.