Please get your Bibles open. It would be a great help.
We're going to look at Genesis, the story of Noah,
or what happens after Noah gets out of the ark.
But I don't know if you noticed it when Laurier was reading the text,
and we're going to start a little bit before that, just to give the context.
But for a lot of people in our culture,
especially for a lot of people for the last 50 years,
what Laurier read was deeply offensive.
It's deeply offensive to many people in our culture.
It basically goes against the grain of how progressive thought thinks.
And many people think that a text like what Laurier just read about 10 minutes ago
contributes to ecological catastrophes and raping of the earth.
And so it seems like a simple text at first,
but it's actually been the source of a lot of controversy,
especially over the last 50 years.
So open your Bibles.
We're going to look at this text,
and we're going to see if it's as bad as people think or what exactly it says.
And we're going to begin reading it to Genesis 8, verse 20.
Genesis 8, verse 20.
And the context is that those of you who have been following along,
we're going through the first 11 chapters of Genesis,
God has brought the pre-flood world to an end.
He has reset and recreated the earth through the flood
and his mighty miracle of the flood.
He has kept Noah and seven other people safe.
They've gotten out into this new, renewed earth.
And now the story takes place as to what happens when they get off the boat.
What happens when they get off the boat?
And it begins at verse 20 of chapter 8.
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord
and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird
and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Just pause there.
It's not really part of the sermon,
but it's really, really interesting
that the first thing that Noah did when he got off the ark
was to think of God.
And the sacrifice which he offers here is a sacrifice.
If you go and look in Leviticus,
Moses helps us to understand what Noah's intention was.
And it was a sacrifice of homage.
I don't know if I pronounced that word right.
He's acknowledging that God is God and that he is not.
He's acknowledging that God is the great deliverer.
God is the one who has saved him.
It's really, really interesting, you know,
because just think for ourselves
when something really good happens
or when we've just, like a lot of times
when things go really good in our lives,
we think about ourselves.
Like, you know, it'd be very easy
if I was Noah, I'd probably think,
wow, did I ever nail sailing that ark.
I'd be thinking of myself, you know.
Or maybe I'd be thinking of what I could eat,
you know, now that I'm off the boat
and I could eat fresh fruit.
I don't know.
I'd be thinking probably of myself or my family.
I'd maybe be filled with pride.
But it's very interesting
that the very first thing that Noah does
is think of God
and not only think of God
but do an act where he acknowledges
that God is the great deliverer,
that God is the only God,
that he belongs,
that Noah and his family ultimately are under God.
And then God reacts to this in verse 21.
And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma,
and that's like figurative language
that God was pleased.
Noah had done what is right.
It's right for us to be Godward in our thinking
and not take the credit and the praise
and the glory for ourselves
or just to be self-centered.
It's right to look up to God.
And then the Lord said in his heart,
I will never again,
notice this powerful language,
I will never again curse,
that's dishonor or,
yeah, dishonor the ground
because of man,
because of human beings.
For the intention of man's heart
is evil from his youth.
Neither will I ever again strike down,
notice that,
neither will I ever again
strike down every living creatures I have done.
While the earth remains,
seed time and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night,
shall not cease.
If you could put up the first point,
that would be really helpful.
This is one of the really big ideas in this text.
God has promised
that he will never let human beings
make the world uninhabitable for human beings.
That's what this text is saying.
God has promised
that he will never let human beings
make the world uninhabitable
for human beings
and for other living beings as well.
It's an actually astounding promise.
It's unilateral.
God does it by himself.
It's unprovoked.
It isn't that Noah has asked for this
or we human beings have asked for it.
It is unconditional
and it is completely and utterly unending.
And the text emphasizes that.
It makes us understand
how serious God is about this promise
that God will never allow human beings
to make the world uninhabitable for human beings
and that he himself will not destroy the earth
by a flood ever again.
If you just jump down a few verses
to chapter 9 verse 8,
it's made even clearer in the text.
It's emphasized time and time and time again in the text.
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with them,
Behold, I establish.
I establish my covenant with you
and your offspring after you.
That's us.
And with every living creature that is with you,
the birds, the livestock,
and every beast of the earth with you,
as many as came out of the ark,
it is for every beast of the earth.
In other words,
it's not just for the animals that come out.
It's for every single critter.
Every critter that's ever lived
and ever will live.
Verse 11,
I establish my covenant with you
that never again
shall all flesh be cut off
by the waters of the flood
and never again
shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.
And God said,
This is the sign of the covenant
that I make between me and you
and every living creature that is with you
for all future generations.
I have set my bow in the cloud
and it shall be a sign of the covenant
between me and the earth.
But just pause here for a second.
The text isn't saying
that there weren't rainbows before this.
It's just saying that God is taking something
which is very, very public
and there's all this other symbolism
that we could think about it,
you know, in a sense that it's in the sky,
that it covers a big distance,
that it encircles,
like it's pointing upwards,
you know, that it's his war bow set down.
There's all this imagery
and all that you can think of.
And we have to be acknowledging that,
you know, often now when we think of rainbows,
we think of the LGBTQI community,
but the Bible says that when we see a rainbow in the sky,
that is a sign that God has given,
a public sign,
whether you're in Kenya,
whether you're in China,
whether you're in Australia,
whether you're in Canada,
he's given this sign.
And every time we see this sign,
we are to remember
that God is making this solemn promise.
Verse 14,
When I bring clouds over the earth
and the bow is seen in the clouds,
I will remember my covenant
that is between me and you
and every living creature of all flesh,
and the water shall never again
become a flood to destroy all flesh.
When the bow is in the clouds,
I can't say that word,
is in the clouds,
I will see it and remember
the everlasting covenant
between God
and every living creature
of all flesh that is on the earth.
God said to Noah,
This is the sign of the covenant
that I have established
between me and all flesh
that is on earth.
So it's emphasized
time and time and time again.
God does this
on his own initiative.
There's no conditions
that never again
will the flood destroy the earth.
And not only will never again
will the flood destroy the earth,
is that God is going to guarantee
that the earth is inhabitable.
That's how this is all moved forward.
We're going to be fruitful.
We're going to multiply.
God will guarantee it.
Now, many, many, many, many people
over the last 50 years,
because there's been
a justifiable concern
about pollution,
they,
I mean, it's very, very common thought
that human beings
can destroy the planet.
That if we don't deal
with climate change
in a particular way,
it endangers all life.
That if we don't deal
with nuclear war,
it endangers all of life.
If we don't deal with this,
it endangers all of life.
It's a very, very constant theme.
If we don't deal
with overpopulation,
it's going to cause
all these problems.
It's going to endanger
human life.
It's a very, very, very
common belief
that the ability
to destroy all things
is in human hands,
and therefore we need
to take very, very drastic measures
to change it.
And when people see
texts like this,
they say,
good grief, George.
Like, if people actually
believe this,
it's going to mean
that they don't take
pollution seriously.
It means they're not going
to take this seriously,
an overpopulation.
It's going to permit
the raping of the earth.
It's going to,
it's, it's,
George, this is the most
unbelievably dangerous text.
people might say,
George, does,
does God not know
how evil human beings are?
And how they can take
promises like that
and just do all sorts
of unspeakable things?
Well, you know,
it's very interesting
that when God makes
this outrageous promise,
he makes it fully aware
of what human beings
are like.
I don't know if you noticed,
look again at,
at chapter 8,
verse 20,
and to 22,
how I began.
I don't know if you noticed,
it's, oh,
it's a bit jarring
if you read it slowly
and carefully.
Notice how jarring it is.
Okay, look again,
verse 20,
then Noah built an altar
to the Lord
and took some of every
clean animal
and some of every
clean bird
and offered burnt offerings
on the altar.
And when the Lord smelled
the pleasing Roman,
in other words,
he's pleased with it,
the Lord said in his heart,
and here's the thing,
I will never again
dishonor the ground
because of man.
And then does he say,
because I think
human beings
have a great future.
I think human beings
will be responsible.
I think human beings
are perfectible.
I think human beings
are good.
I think human beings
are wise.
I think human beings
are smart.
I think human beings
aren't selfish.
No,
he says,
for the intention
of man's heart
is evil from his youth.
He knows humans.
And yet,
right after that,
he says,
neither will I ever again
strike down
every living creature
as I have done
while the earth remains,
sea time and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night,
shall not cease.
And not only
is the beginning
of this,
before this promise,
but immediately
after the promise,
in fact,
God shows,
the Bible shows
the depth,
like a really,
really,
really terrible
example of sin.
Look at verse 18
of chapter 9.
This is a bit
of an X-rated sermon,
actually.
One of the problems
we have with reading
the Bible
is if they were
to really make the Bible
and put it in a movie,
it would be X-rated.
Lots of the Bible
would be X-rated.
Look at verse 18
of chapter 9.
So here,
you know,
the question is
how on earth
can God make this
unbelievable,
unconditional promise
that he is going to,
you know,
it almost sounds
as if no matter
what human beings do,
they will not be able
to destroy the planet
and we can say
to ourselves,
gosh,
with nuclear bombs,
with this,
does God,
is he off his,
like,
is he nuts?
Does he not know
what human beings
are capable of?
Look at 918.
The sons of Noah
who went forth
from the ark
were Shem,
Ham,
and Japheth.
Ham was the father
of Canaan.
These three
were the sons of Noah
and from these
the people of the whole earth
were dispersed.
Noah began to be
a man of the soil
and he planted a vineyard
and he figured out
how to make wine
and he drank the wine
and became drunk
and lay uncovered
in his tent.
And actually,
that's a bit mild.
It's sort of a funny
type of idea
but he somehow
exposed himself.
In other words,
not only is there
the sin of being drunk
but that somehow
even though he was
in the privacy
of his tent,
there was a type
of a drunken,
wanton exposing
of himself.
He's lost any sense
of type of modesty
even though he's
in his own tent.
And then verse 22,
And Ham,
the father of Canaan,
saw the nakedness
of his father
and told his two
brothers outside.
Now,
the problem
with this translation
and if you read
commentaries on it,
it's fairly literal
but it doesn't capture
the nuance.
And in the nuance,
saw the nakedness
of his father
is clearly homoerotic
and incestuous.
And the text
doesn't go into detail
about it
and so it leads
to a lot of other
speculation
but in the original language,
it's clearly
something evil,
something sexual,
something incestual.
Whether it's just
merely as a great
lusting and desire
after his heart,
whether it's connected
to something like
masturbation,
whether it's connected
to actual sexual
penetration,
the text
puts a veil
over that.
But remember
the point is
does God know
what human beings
are capable of?
Actually,
the Bible shows
that he knows
what human beings
are capable of.
Like in a very
shocking manner.
And then
we're not going
to read it
but after that
then Noah's
response
and actually
we'll just
continue on
with it actually
and then in
verse 22,
verse 23,
verse 22,
and Ham the father
of Canaan,
say that again,
saw the nakedness
of his father
and told his
two brothers
outside.
In other words,
not only does
Ham do something
which is of a
incestual,
sexual nature
and homoerotic
but he's proud
and evangelistic
about it.
He's not
repentant.
Doesn't think
he's done
anything wrong.
What happens
after this
is Noah
gives a
prophetic
prayer
where amongst
other things
he
in his
prophetic prayer
sees the future
of slavery
and he uses
Canaan as a bit
of a symbol
of that there's
going to be
whole parts
of the earth
which are given
over to evil.
So,
remember,
here's the point
God has promised
that he will
never let human
beings make the
world uninhabitable
for human beings.
It really is
quite an astounding
thing,
actually,
isn't it?
That God would
make such a
promise
we,
you see,
here's how we
naturally think
because in our
heart of hearts
we want to be
God.
So,
in our
heart of hearts
we want to
be God
and so
we really
think that
God,
I mean,
it's funny,
on one hand
we don't want
God to frighten
us,
but on the other
hand we'd
much rather
that God
said something
frightening
that this is
going to go
really bad
for you
if you do
certain things
or we'd
want to make
it a bit
of a quid
pro quo,
I won't
damage things
if you do
things the
right way
or whatever
it is.
We have a
hard time
with this
just pure
gift of
grace and
life that
God is going
to give to
the human
race.
evil.
But he
does it in
the context
of knowing
human evil
and he
does it in
a very,
very,
very interesting
way,
letting human
beings know
that he's
still going
to judge
and that
there's a
very,
very profound
humbling
limit.
And this is
going to get
even more
politically
incorrect.
It's going
to get
even more
politically
incorrect.
Just before
I get to
that,
you know,
one of the
things that
often get
snuck into
discussions
around the
future of
the earth
and the
danger of
human beings
destroying the
earth is
that we
human beings,
it's not
that we
sort of
remember what
God's word
says,
but we
start to
believe that
we can
create by
our own
efforts some
type of
utopia.
And it's
very,
very interesting
what often
happens in
the conversation
is that on
one hand,
we say,
how on
earth can
you trust
private
individuals to
not cause
damage,
or certain
rogue nations
to cause
damage?
But in
the very,
very next
breath with
the other
hand,
they say
what's really
needed is
people like
us to be
in control
to make
sure the
damage doesn't
happen.
And nobody
notices that
somehow or
another we
can't trust
all those
other people,
but we
can trust
me,
give me
the power.
But this
text, in
fact, the
Bible is
very, very
wise.
It's going to
say something
very, very,
very, very
politically
incorrect, but
it's very
wise.
And it's
the bit
in between
what I
first read
and what
I just
read.
Look at
verse 1
of chapter
9.
And God
blessed Noah
and his
sons and
said to
them,
be fruitful
and multiply
and fill
the earth.
The fear
of you
and the
dread of
you shall
be upon
every beast
of the
earth and
upon every
bird of
the heavens
and upon
everything
that creeps
on the
ground and
all the
flesh of
the sea.
Into
your hand
they are
delivered.
Every
moving thing
that lives
shall be
food for
you.
As I
have given
you the
green plants,
I give
you everything.
Now just
pause for a
second here.
This is
just a bit
of a time
out about
the text.
This is
really very,
very, very
interesting.
Those of
you who were
here last
week, I
tried to
show how
just before
the flood
in a very,
very simple
way, God
describes,
God's word
describes it as
almost as if
the earth
before the
flood had
become something
like Mordor.
One of the
things which
is really
interesting is
that God
uses the
flood, he
judges the
earth, he
kills, it
brings to an
end the
whole pre-flood
world, and
now we're in
the post-flood
world, and
there's just
these little
tiny bits of
suggestions, a
little bit about
what the life
and life was
like before the
flood.
It's sort of
implied here that
there used to
be a different
relationship before
the flood
between human
beings and
animals.
It's implied
that before the
flood, all human
beings were
vegetarians.
It implies in
chapter 6 that
there was a
different relationship
between spiritual
beings and human
beings, and the
whole age thing
shows that somehow
or another human
beings lived for a
far longer time.
time.
And as the Bible
text continues, it's
all just hinted at
here.
You know, if you
were a Christian
poet or a fantasy
writer, I guess
there's no reason
why you couldn't
write a fantasy
novel about life
before the flood
and what it would
be like to be in a
world where there's a
different relationship
with animals, and
who knows, maybe in
some way fantasy
writers and even
mythology is
somehow or another
tight, getting in
touch with the
real history of
what life was like
before the flood.
You know, because
it's not, it's
probably not the
case.
Like a lot of
people say that
what the Bible has
done is it's
making myth, it's
taking myth and
pretending it's
history.
But probably what's
really going on with
the Bible is that
mythology was
originally history.
And what the
Bible is telling
us is what really
happened.
And so here we
see in this
particular text,
we're not getting
into the politically
incorrect part, it's
going to get to it in
a moment, but the
Bible is saying to
human, to no one
as sons, remember
he's guaranteed, God
is guaranteed that I
will never let human
beings make the world
uninhabitable for human
beings.
And he's saying go
out there, be fruitful
and multiply.
Grow and fill the
earth.
And you human beings
still have dominion
over the earth, but
now there's going to
be a different
relationship with
animals.
Now animals are
going to fear you.
But you still have
responsibility for
them, you still are
to have dominion over
them.
And then he puts
this profound check
on human power and
this profound warning
to the abuse of human
power.
Look at verses 4, 5,
and 6 of chapter
9.
But you shall not
eat flesh with its
life.
But you shall not
eat flesh with its
life.
That is, its blood.
And for your life
blood, I will require
a reckoning.
Some of your Bibles
have another word,
which is a good
translation as well,
an accounting.
From every beast I
will require it, and
from man.
From his fellow man, I
will require a reckoning
or an accounting for
the life of man.
Whoever sheds the
blood of man, by man
shall his blood be
shed.
For God made man in
his own image.
Could you put up the
next point?
This whole funny type
of thing about blood
and life, you know
how the rainbow is a
symbol or a sign of
God's promise.
God is now saying
that when we see
blood, it's a sign
of life.
He's not making a
biological claim here.
He's not making
something so that
those of you who do
research in chemistry
or biochemistry now
have a clue about
figuring things out.
He's saying, I want
you to understand that
there's life, and
when you see blood,
you're seeing life.
And when he says
you're not allowed to
do certain things to
life, you're not
allowed to eat life,
you're not allowed
to eat blood, it's a
way of him making
this very, very, very
powerful, far-reaching
claim.
The living God is the
source of life, the
sustainer of life, and
sovereign over life.
Now, you know, I just
want to be honest with
you.
I don't wake up every
Sunday morning and
say, you know what?
Dang it.
I'm just going to be
really politically
incorrect and offend
most Canadians today.
So let's just talk
about this.
Yeah, let's talk
about incest and
homoerotic desire and
a text which basically
says that the whole
Canadian legal system
allowing abortion on
demand and doctor-assisted
suicide is deeply
wrong.
I'm just going to wake
up.
You know, one of the
things we do is we
preach through books
of the Bible, and it's
just so important for us
to become familiar with
what God's Word says.
And you might hear
people talking about
the sanctity of life, and
it's unclear exactly what
sanctity of life means for
many people, but really
what it is to mean, if it
means something biblically,
is what this text is
saying and what all the
rest of the Bible is
going to make more and
more clear.
The creed, when we say the
Nicene Creed, we say the
Holy Spirit is the Lord and
giver of life.
And what this text is
saying is that, okay,
human beings, you're to
be fruitful and you're to
multiply, and you're to
have dominion over the
earth.
But just remember two
really, really important
things.
You are not the source of
life.
You are not the owner of
life.
You cannot do with life
whatever you want.
All life is ultimately a
gift from me.
I am the only source of
life.
And I give life, I
sustain life, and all
life is under ultimately
my account.
You have to account to me
for how you deal with
life, and you have to
account for me with what
you do.
And I am the source of
life, the sustainer of
life, and I am sovereign
over life.
If you could put up the
next point, and this is
even more shocking.
If we take this seriously, I
am the steward of my
life.
I am not the source or
owner of my life.
I'm going to talk about
this a little bit more in
a moment, but one of the
things is that a woman who
is pregnant does not own
the baby in her womb.
Neither does the state,
neither does the tribe,
neither does the
patriarchy, neither does
the matriarchy.
You see, this text, on
one hand, it undermines the
claim of every king, the
claim of every tyrant, the
claim of every ideology,
the claim of every state.
On one hand, it undermines
all of those things, but at
the same time, it actually
provides an unbelievable
dignity to human beings.
When the Bible is telling
us that I don't own my
life, I'm the steward of my
life, that doesn't mean that
the state can come in
therefore and say, ah,
therefore I own you.
No, no, no, no, no.
No, no, no, no.
God is the source of life.
He is sovereign over it.
And it's mine, in quotation
marks, but it's mine as a
steward, as a manager.
It means that it's been
given to me by God.
Life has been given to me
by God.
And since he's still
sovereign over it, it means
he has his purpose for
life.
And as a steward, not an
owner, I am to seek his
purposes.
And to manage in a well, in a
way, my own life, in a way
that when I have to give an
accounting and a reckoning for
it, I will hear well done.
It means when the Bible is
telling us that God is the
source and sustainer and
sovereign over life, it means
that we are to seek to call out
to God to understand the
structure of life and what will
lead to my flourishing and what
will lead to my being able to
ultimately have dominion over
other beings, other critters and
creatures that have the breath of
life.
And how, as a dad, I am to
understand how to not only manage
my life but have, in a sense, a
dominion with my wife over the
family in a way that causes their
flourishing and their growth and
their development because I am not
my own.
Now, here I just want to make a bit
of a pause.
This is a very, very difficult text
for several people in the room.
I'm just presuming that there's
several people in the room like
this.
For the single who wanted to get
married but were never able to get
married and have no children, it's a
very difficult text.
For the married who long to have
children but cannot seem to have
children, it's a very difficult text.
For those amongst us who've had
abortions or participated in
abortions, it's a very difficult
text.
For those who might be present who
came to church today and they are
considering an abortion because
they've gotten pregnant and they're
maybe even part of the church and
they can't imagine revealing to
everybody that they've gotten
pregnant.
How can they, if they're such a good
Christian, all those things going
through your minds, these are very,
very difficult texts.
And I know that I'm a guy and I'm
married and God has blessed me with
children and so I know that I don't
know really what's going on in your
hearts when you struggle with this.
But, you know, when we read this text
as Christians, we read this knowing
that God is going to send a Savior.
And what I know about Jesus is that he
is a man of sorrows, acquainted with
grief.
And any time the Bible says an
apparently hard word to us, it is
never to drive us away but to drive
us to him.
It is never to drive us away.
It is to drive us to him.
There is forgiveness and healing for
those who have done evil.
And for those of us who have longings
and yearnings that have never been
fulfilled, there are even deeper
longings and yearnings that can be
fulfilled in him.
And there is one who has known all of
our temptations only without sin and
all of our sorrow and all of our grief.
And we can pour our hearts out to him.
And one of the wonderful things in this
text is that just while on one hand it
is telling us something very politically
incorrect in Canada, a baby is not a
problem to be solved.
A baby is not a problem to be solved.
A baby is something to celebrate.
And that is very, very, very
countercultural today.
But at the same time, this text, by
reminding us that my life is a gift from
God, it has come from God, and he
sustains my life, and he is sovereign
over my life, this text is a profound
assurance of the integrity and of the
value of a person who never marries or
who never has children and all of our
sorrows.
It is a profound text of comfort about
the value we have in God's eyes who has
given us life.
Who has given us life.
You know, it's one of the things, if you
could put up the next point, Andrew.
Over the last couple of months, I've had
several conversations in coffee shops
around this.
In fact, just a little while ago, I had a
conversation with some Jehovah
Witnesses.
And one of the things I like to do with
Jehovah Witnesses is knock them off
their spiel.
And one of the things I tell them is
that one of the many weaknesses of their
thought is they have no ability to believe
that God is love.
This is Trinity Sunday.
Next Sunday, we'll do the Athanasian
Creed.
Those of you who are hoping for the Creed
for Dummies, we'll do it next week.
I love the Athanasian Creed because I'm
a dummy.
So it's so clear.
And, you know, one of the things about
the thing, only the Christian revelation
makes clear that God is love in a very,
very powerful way.
Because from all eternity, the Father
has loved the Son.
And from all eternity, the Son has loved
the Father.
And the Bible even describes
in some cases as if the Holy Spirit
is almost, one way to almost understand
the Holy Spirit is this constant motion
of love from the Father to the Son
and the Son to the Father.
And so,
God's love is never
need love
or compelled love.
And this is very frightening
to us.
You know, we get into a marriage
and we hope that in a marriage
that on one hand,
the reason we have this marriage
is that we're compelled by the beauty
of the other person.
Or, you know,
we have a friend
and we almost like it.
We don't want them to need us too much,
but we want them to need us a little bit
because it's something that we can control.
And the Bible says
that God doesn't need,
he didn't need to create human beings
because he needed somebody to love.
I said that to my Jehovah Witnesses.
I said, you know,
you don't have a God
when you say that God is love,
but that doesn't mean anything for you
because there's just one God.
There's no Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
three persons, one God,
loving each other forever and ever and ever.
And so, don't you worry
that God made human beings
because he needed to have somebody to love?
That somehow or another
then we have this hold on God?
But the Bible says
that God never has need love.
He is,
could you put up the next point?
God is love without need.
He loves us because he is love.
And on one hand,
this is unbelievably frightening
because we like love
that involves some need
or some compelling.
But when we come to God,
there is no need,
there is no compelling,
there is just pure,
unending,
self-giving,
holy,
merciful,
just,
true,
giving,
love
that we can never repay,
that we can never compel,
that we can never put him in our debt,
that we can never out love him,
or out give him.
There is on one hand,
this unbelievable challenge
for us to stand completely
and utterly naked before God,
understanding his unbelievable generosity
and goodness to us,
that we can do nothing to compel it.
He loves us because he loves us,
because he is love.
And because God is unchanging,
this,
while on one hand,
frightening us
because we want to put God in our debt,
is ultimately the only ground
for any hope,
that God is love,
that he is unchanging.
And for us as Christians,
in a powerful level,
this whole idea
that God is the source of life,
that he is the sovereign over life,
that he is the giver of life,
that ultimately all life comes from God,
that we, in a sense,
are just stewards over it.
The Bible tells us,
remember that text in John,
when Jesus is saying,
before,
to God,
in front of his disciples,
as he's going to be going to the cross,
he says that he's about to be glorified.
He's about to have his glory shown.
And what the Bible is saying
is if you want a snapshot of God,
if you want a snapshot of God,
if you want a snapshot of God is love,
if you want just one picture
or one image
of who the real,
true,
living God actually is,
you see that best
when you see God,
the Son of God,
dying upon the cross.
Because you see,
you know,
even in this sacrifice
that begins the book of Genesis,
you know,
where Noah gives a sacrifice,
when you understand
that all life ultimately comes from God,
that he is the source of life,
that life is his,
that really,
it's God's life
that dies in that sacrifice.
It's not something Noah does.
It's not even ultimately
something really
that the animal does.
that even in,
with every single animal sacrifice,
when you understand
that all life comes from God,
it's pointing that ultimately
his life
makes us right with him.
And then,
we see that most perfectly
and completely
in God,
the Son of God,
the source of life,
the giver of life,
sovereign over life,
for all life,
dying upon the cross
with pure,
unmerited,
unasked for,
unsought,
undeserving
love.
Final point.
in this is love,
not that we have loved God,
but that he loved us
and sent his Son
to be a propitiation
for our sins.
that's how we're to understand
this text in Genesis.
It's how we're to understand
our life.
You see,
this is the wonderful
news of the gospel
to the broken.
It's the wonderful news
of the gospel
for those of us
going through a dark night
of the soul.
It's the wonderful news
of the gospel
for those of us
who seem broken
and alone.
It is the wonderful news
of the gospel
who worry
about being unsuccessful,
whether it's in some
spiritual things
or other things.
It's not that God
is looking down at us
and counting up our love.
In this is love,
not that we have loved God,
but that he loved us
and sent his Son
to be a propitiation
for our sins,
the sacrifice
that makes us right with him.
See, that's why
we describe our mission statement here
as making disciples of Jesus
who are gripped
by the gospel.
And as the gospel grips us
and as it comes home
to us more and more deeply
who Jesus is
and what he did for us
on the cross,
that is the means
by which we start
to get an understanding
of where our true identity is
and where the true meaning
of our life is found
and how we can overcome anxiety
and all of the other types
of doubts and uncertainties
that our sins
and our idols cause us.
Please stand.
Just bow our heads in prayer.
Father, you know that there's
some of us here right now
that we're suffering
for some of those things.
Some of us are laboring under,
well, Father,
memories of maybe connected
to abortion or infertility
or miscarriages
or just other types
of failures in life, Father,
which are weighing us down.
Father, pour out
your Holy Spirit upon us.
Grip us with the truth
of this scripture
that this is love,
not that we have loved you,
but that you loved us
and sent your Son
to be a propitiation for us.
Father, grip us
with the gospel.
Father, if there are any here
who have not yet turned to Jesus
to trust him
as their Savior and their Lord,
Father, may you turn their hearts
even now
in a saving way.
They would understand
that he is the source
of their life
and their hope
for eternal life
and a hope
for a life
that is of you
even now.
So, Father,
make us disciples of Jesus
who are gripped
by the gospel.
We're coming to you
as the man of sorrows,
familiar with our grief,
so that we might be freed up
and live for your glory.
And all this we ask
in the name of Jesus,
your Son and our Savior.
Amen.