Do we feel like we're in exile?
In the southeastern United States that's a strange question to ask. I live 5 minutes from Trinity, but it's the sixth church i see on my commute. But despite the proliferation of buildings Sidney Greidanus is right when he says the church in the states is undermined with materialism.
Even if we don't feel exiled culturally, we should feel exiled personally. Exiled from our home, not so much by individual sins, but by the constant coldness of our hearts towards our saviour. But the good news is that the Lord is a God who works in exile.
At the start of Genesis 29 we meet Jacob travelling to the people of the east. Just like Adam and Eve's sin drove them east of Eden, so Jacob's drives him east of the land God had promised. We're on the look out for a serpent crusher, on the look out for descendants who will fill the Earth, and even though God's promised from chapter 28 are ringing in Jacob's ears, we still have the right to be worried about the future as Jacob walks to Paddan-Aram.
First, we see God's providence. Abraham's servant was lead by angles and prayers, Jacob, grabbing the stone as he grabbed the heel is lead by providence. Both are lead by God. He sees Rachel, meets Laban, and falls in love. So much so that seven years seems like a few days to him. What a love story. To be sure soon he'll be on his way home with his wife, children shortly to follow.
But when he wakes up the morning after the wedding feast, behold, it's Leah! And here we see God working in deception. You can almost hear the irony in Laban's voice when he tells Jacob, in my house, we don't dishonour the firstborn. Jacob is hopelessly outmaneuvered, he wants Rachel, and he's promised to serve seven years for her, so he does.
But these seven years probably don't seem like a few days. Strife with his uncle, who to this point has acted much more like a master, and strife at home between the lovely loved Rachel, and her weak-eyed sister. It feels, again, like the Lord has forsaken Jacob doesn't it? The ladders and the vows on chapter 28 seem like a long time ago. And yet, we have four women who can give Jacob the offspring we so long to read about.
The first four children come from the unloved, unlovely one. Rachel was barren, but Leah gives birth to Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah.
Judah, the last born son of an unloved women, but the sceptre will never depart from between his feet.
Judah, the last born son of an unloved women, who goes up first to fight when Joshua is gone, and gives Israel her kings.
Judah, the last born son of an unloved women, from whom Christ comes.
And with Christ offspring who fill the world, as the water fills the oceans.
God's work goes deep into our seemingly hopeless situations, and keeps God's promised with a quiet, reliable power. Even in exile.
Showing posts with label Genesis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Genesis. Show all posts
Monday, 23 June 2014
Friday, 11 April 2014
God Speaks Life
I think one of the signs you're growing as a Christian is that your duties become your joys. You have to read the Bible, but, hey we get to read the Bible! We have to go to church, but guess what, it's Sunday, we get to go to church today! We have to get baptised, but yes! I get to be baptized, and identify with Christ and His people.
Duties slowly become joys. I'll be honest, i'm never excited when my alarm goes off at 515 four or five days a week. But marrying a teacher means early mornings and long days, and if i don't start in the Word, i'll never get there. So i get up, stumble to the coffee machine, locate my Bible, and the Valley of Vision, and off i go. I have to get up before dawn and read the Bible, but i get to wake up before dawn and read the Bible. A Christian duty becomes a delightful joy. The back yard is dark, the house is quiet, and God is speaking.
And when God speaks; life!
God speaks in Genesis 1, and there's life. God speaks and there are trees, and fruit, and seas teeming with fish, and Adam and Eve. And it's good. try it for yourself, try speaking out and creating life. I just did, it didn't work. But God speaks, and it does! Isaiah tells us that God's Word is like rain falling to the ground. It waters the crops and they grow. Life!
In Luke 7:11-17 Jesus is walking to Nain, and He passes a funeral procession. The boy is dead, the mother is wailing, the Nain City Nuggets Major League Mourning team are turning in an all-pro performance. But God is about to speak. 'Young man, i say to you, arise.' And he does. Because God spoke, and there was life. The mother rejoiced, the Nuggets trudged off the field, last minute winner- probably offside.
(As an aside, this is another one in the eye for people who tell us that 'Jesus never claimed to be God.' Jesus hardly did any else but claim He was God.)
And onto 2 Corinthians 4:4-6. What happened when we got saved? God turned the light on and we saw Christ. We saw Him, not as a 'good teacher,' not as an irrelevance, but as God Himself. The lights came on, and we worshiped. Just like 'in the beginning.' We see the glory of God in Christ. As we read the Gospel, the letters, the prophets, the history, we see God's glory in Christ.
We have to, and we get to. It's a duty and a joy. We have to because in the cultural wasteland of post Christian America, it's the only we to survive. We get to, because we meet a loving God, who would feed us with the finest of wheat, and honey from the rock.
Duties slowly become joys. I'll be honest, i'm never excited when my alarm goes off at 515 four or five days a week. But marrying a teacher means early mornings and long days, and if i don't start in the Word, i'll never get there. So i get up, stumble to the coffee machine, locate my Bible, and the Valley of Vision, and off i go. I have to get up before dawn and read the Bible, but i get to wake up before dawn and read the Bible. A Christian duty becomes a delightful joy. The back yard is dark, the house is quiet, and God is speaking.
And when God speaks; life!
God speaks in Genesis 1, and there's life. God speaks and there are trees, and fruit, and seas teeming with fish, and Adam and Eve. And it's good. try it for yourself, try speaking out and creating life. I just did, it didn't work. But God speaks, and it does! Isaiah tells us that God's Word is like rain falling to the ground. It waters the crops and they grow. Life!
In Luke 7:11-17 Jesus is walking to Nain, and He passes a funeral procession. The boy is dead, the mother is wailing, the Nain City Nuggets Major League Mourning team are turning in an all-pro performance. But God is about to speak. 'Young man, i say to you, arise.' And he does. Because God spoke, and there was life. The mother rejoiced, the Nuggets trudged off the field, last minute winner- probably offside.
(As an aside, this is another one in the eye for people who tell us that 'Jesus never claimed to be God.' Jesus hardly did any else but claim He was God.)
And onto 2 Corinthians 4:4-6. What happened when we got saved? God turned the light on and we saw Christ. We saw Him, not as a 'good teacher,' not as an irrelevance, but as God Himself. The lights came on, and we worshiped. Just like 'in the beginning.' We see the glory of God in Christ. As we read the Gospel, the letters, the prophets, the history, we see God's glory in Christ.
We have to, and we get to. It's a duty and a joy. We have to because in the cultural wasteland of post Christian America, it's the only we to survive. We get to, because we meet a loving God, who would feed us with the finest of wheat, and honey from the rock.
Monday, 31 March 2014
Genesis 4: Resurrection.
As we turn the page to Genesis 4, our eyes should be on the look out for the serpent crusher. For the one who will put right what Adam put wrong. As Eve holds Cain in her hands, we can forgive her for thinking that she's found him.
I've gotten a man with the held of the Lord. Another Adam, one unsullied by sin, one who could crush the serpent. Is he the one? We very quickly learn the answer is no. His offering is not by faith, it's not a fatty animal, it's just a token. Abel gave God the best of his flock, Cain just picked some fruit off the floor and showed up with it. Man sins with fruit.
Sin crouches once more, and we lean forward to see what this second Adam will do? He opens the door, walks to the field, and kills his brother. He is cursed, and sent to wander, seven generations later, the chaos of the fall is perfected, as Lamech is avenged seventy seven times.
Through this all, Abel is silent. He never speaks. Passive, he doesn't fight back. That's the fate of the faithful, isn't it? The Israelites on the wrong side of the Jordan would have thought. We're faithful, but we're lambs to the slaughter. We're faithful, but what hope do we have? And we can think the same. The church is faithful, but outnumbered, the church is faithful, but outgunned. The serpent has been crushed, but it's death throes are so powerful, how can we keep going? How can we keep trusting?
Because at the end of Genesis 4, we see resurrection. As in the rest of Genesis, Moses get's the unimportant out of the way before returning to the seed of the woman and the progression of the story. Cain's family are evil, Abel lays dead in the ground, but God appoints another, Seth, to carry on his line. And in the time of Seth's son Enosh, people begin to call on the name of the Lord.
Resurrection.
JC Ryle said that without the cross the Bible is a dark book, and without the resurrection, the cross is the darkest of days. Without Seth, Genesis 4 is nothing but doom and despair, without Sunday, we can't face Saturday.
But there is Seth, there is Sunday, there is an empty tomb. So even in this day of legislated and celebrated immorality, we don't need to say with Elijah that we alone are left. Instead we remember, because Jesus walked out of the tomb, that God will always provide what He promised. One to crush the serpent, in the past, now, and forever.
I've gotten a man with the held of the Lord. Another Adam, one unsullied by sin, one who could crush the serpent. Is he the one? We very quickly learn the answer is no. His offering is not by faith, it's not a fatty animal, it's just a token. Abel gave God the best of his flock, Cain just picked some fruit off the floor and showed up with it. Man sins with fruit.
Sin crouches once more, and we lean forward to see what this second Adam will do? He opens the door, walks to the field, and kills his brother. He is cursed, and sent to wander, seven generations later, the chaos of the fall is perfected, as Lamech is avenged seventy seven times.
Through this all, Abel is silent. He never speaks. Passive, he doesn't fight back. That's the fate of the faithful, isn't it? The Israelites on the wrong side of the Jordan would have thought. We're faithful, but we're lambs to the slaughter. We're faithful, but what hope do we have? And we can think the same. The church is faithful, but outnumbered, the church is faithful, but outgunned. The serpent has been crushed, but it's death throes are so powerful, how can we keep going? How can we keep trusting?
Because at the end of Genesis 4, we see resurrection. As in the rest of Genesis, Moses get's the unimportant out of the way before returning to the seed of the woman and the progression of the story. Cain's family are evil, Abel lays dead in the ground, but God appoints another, Seth, to carry on his line. And in the time of Seth's son Enosh, people begin to call on the name of the Lord.
Resurrection.
JC Ryle said that without the cross the Bible is a dark book, and without the resurrection, the cross is the darkest of days. Without Seth, Genesis 4 is nothing but doom and despair, without Sunday, we can't face Saturday.
But there is Seth, there is Sunday, there is an empty tomb. So even in this day of legislated and celebrated immorality, we don't need to say with Elijah that we alone are left. Instead we remember, because Jesus walked out of the tomb, that God will always provide what He promised. One to crush the serpent, in the past, now, and forever.
Thursday, 16 January 2014
The Hero of Genesis
Any way you cut it, the story of Noah is odd.
A man who has never seen rain, much less a flood, spends decades building a boat, because God told him to. When it starts raining God shuts the door, and Noah and seven of his family are safe from the water. Then, when Noah arrives back on dry land, or maybe better, when dry land arrives back on Noah, he builds an altar, then plants a vineyard, get's drunk, gets naked.
I mean, what now? It's another part of Genesis that would never pass the censors as a tv miniseries, and if it did, would suffer the ire of noisy evangelicals.
So what's going on? Well, naked man sins with fruit, we've been here before right? In fact that's how the story started to go wrong. Adam and Eve took the fruit, it opened their eyes and they knew that they were naked. Blood was shed to cover them, and they were promised that one would come from their union who would crush the serpent, so it's with expectation we meet Cain and Abel...but no, and Seth...but it wasn't him. And then things get worse and worse, until the moment the LORD regrets making man. That's pretty serious.
But along comes Noah, a righteous man. Maybe Noah will crush the serpent, maybe he is crushing the serpent under the weight of the waters. But then we end up just where we started, the head of the human race sinning with fruit.
Why? Because Genesis isn't a story about Adam or Noah, or Abraham or Joseph, it's a story about Jesus. As we read of the misadventures of these men, it should make us look beyond them, beyond ourselves, to Jesus. He really is our only hope. The LORD started everything all over again, decreation, flood, one man. And look what happened, exactly the same thing.
The answer to the world's problems isn't in human leadership, it's not in human ideas, it's not in human strength. That's gets us sinning with fruit. But Jesus was faithful in the face of temptation, Jesus came out the water and obeyed God. Don't look at Noah, or Shem, Ham and Japheth to crush the serpent. Look at Jesus.
And also, when you look at each other, don't make room for judgement or jealousy. Adam's fruit sin caused him to put clothes on, Noah's caused him to take clothes off. Sin doesn't treat John the same as Jane, it doesn't look the same in everyone's life. Don't be jealous of the man with clothes, he's got his own struggles. Don't judge the naked man, you're no better.
A man who has never seen rain, much less a flood, spends decades building a boat, because God told him to. When it starts raining God shuts the door, and Noah and seven of his family are safe from the water. Then, when Noah arrives back on dry land, or maybe better, when dry land arrives back on Noah, he builds an altar, then plants a vineyard, get's drunk, gets naked.
I mean, what now? It's another part of Genesis that would never pass the censors as a tv miniseries, and if it did, would suffer the ire of noisy evangelicals.
So what's going on? Well, naked man sins with fruit, we've been here before right? In fact that's how the story started to go wrong. Adam and Eve took the fruit, it opened their eyes and they knew that they were naked. Blood was shed to cover them, and they were promised that one would come from their union who would crush the serpent, so it's with expectation we meet Cain and Abel...but no, and Seth...but it wasn't him. And then things get worse and worse, until the moment the LORD regrets making man. That's pretty serious.
But along comes Noah, a righteous man. Maybe Noah will crush the serpent, maybe he is crushing the serpent under the weight of the waters. But then we end up just where we started, the head of the human race sinning with fruit.
Why? Because Genesis isn't a story about Adam or Noah, or Abraham or Joseph, it's a story about Jesus. As we read of the misadventures of these men, it should make us look beyond them, beyond ourselves, to Jesus. He really is our only hope. The LORD started everything all over again, decreation, flood, one man. And look what happened, exactly the same thing.
The answer to the world's problems isn't in human leadership, it's not in human ideas, it's not in human strength. That's gets us sinning with fruit. But Jesus was faithful in the face of temptation, Jesus came out the water and obeyed God. Don't look at Noah, or Shem, Ham and Japheth to crush the serpent. Look at Jesus.
And also, when you look at each other, don't make room for judgement or jealousy. Adam's fruit sin caused him to put clothes on, Noah's caused him to take clothes off. Sin doesn't treat John the same as Jane, it doesn't look the same in everyone's life. Don't be jealous of the man with clothes, he's got his own struggles. Don't judge the naked man, you're no better.
Monday, 11 November 2013
Elimelech
Elimelech was a good man. A responsible member of society. Never missed synagogue, and his sweet wife Naomi was always at his side, always helping with the nursery, always willing to fill in for a missing kids worker. So people understood when he took his family to Moab. There was no food in the land remember, and everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes. Even though his friends indulged in a sharp intake of breath when he shared their plans, it all made sense. It's Elimelech you see, God is his King.
But what happened in Moab hardly bares repeating. His sons married pagan girls, well, surely there had been saved by Naomi's prayers...right? The stories kept coming back to Bethlehem. No children. Barren women. Then the worst of all news. Elimelech dead, his two sons left standing over a hole in the ground, and then, surely not, but a few months later came still worse news, Mahlon and Chillion had died too. Whether in an accident or from an illness, the reports weren't clear. All they did agree on was that Elimelech had chosen himself as King, not God, and it had led, as it always does, to separation.
Just like Adam and Eve. They wanted to be their own king, and it looked sensible. We've got all the other trees, surely we can have this one, and this friendly snake makes such a good case. And they, like Elimelech died. When you're your own king, however sensible it looks, you'll always die. When you skip church to work, or play, or sleep in, however good it feels, and however sensible it looks, you'll die. When you leave the house of bread to get bread, when you do what is right in your own eyes, you die, no matter how sensible it looks in the moment..
And sin looks sensible, it looks reasonable, it looks good. We know we probably shouldn't, but what's the harm. And if it doesn't ruin your union with Christ, it will ruin your communion with Him. Where there used to be a fire, now a rock, where there used to be joy only duty, where there used to be service only shirking.
The Jews cried out, 'we have no King but Caesar,' and my heart cries amen all the time. It looked sensible at the time. Why choose this redneck carpenter over the imperial machine. And what did it lead to? Separation, Mahlon and Chillion, burying and then buried.
When my heart cries no King but Caesar, for whatever good or bad reason, the Spirit replies, no King here but Jesus. When the guerrilla forces in my life take ground, the real King fights them back. Aslan is on the move, and it's certainly not safe. The real King, not Caesar, but Jesus claimed you by dying for you, by bleeding for you, by removing His grave clothes and humming Psalm Two, early in the morning on the first day of the week. The first first day, of the rest of the weeks.
Because what we need is not to say, 'God is my King, and i'm going to make it.' We won't, it'll be death by a million paper cuts. What we need to say is 'Jesus is my King, and i only have hope as i hold tight to Him.' If Jesus is your king, yes, there are serpents in the garden, but they'll be crushed, yes there are holes in the ground, but they'll only be filled until He calls, yes there are sins we struggle, but they've been bled for.
Whisper it with humble confidence, and ask God for help...elimelech...God, be my King.
But what happened in Moab hardly bares repeating. His sons married pagan girls, well, surely there had been saved by Naomi's prayers...right? The stories kept coming back to Bethlehem. No children. Barren women. Then the worst of all news. Elimelech dead, his two sons left standing over a hole in the ground, and then, surely not, but a few months later came still worse news, Mahlon and Chillion had died too. Whether in an accident or from an illness, the reports weren't clear. All they did agree on was that Elimelech had chosen himself as King, not God, and it had led, as it always does, to separation.
Just like Adam and Eve. They wanted to be their own king, and it looked sensible. We've got all the other trees, surely we can have this one, and this friendly snake makes such a good case. And they, like Elimelech died. When you're your own king, however sensible it looks, you'll always die. When you skip church to work, or play, or sleep in, however good it feels, and however sensible it looks, you'll die. When you leave the house of bread to get bread, when you do what is right in your own eyes, you die, no matter how sensible it looks in the moment..
And sin looks sensible, it looks reasonable, it looks good. We know we probably shouldn't, but what's the harm. And if it doesn't ruin your union with Christ, it will ruin your communion with Him. Where there used to be a fire, now a rock, where there used to be joy only duty, where there used to be service only shirking.
The Jews cried out, 'we have no King but Caesar,' and my heart cries amen all the time. It looked sensible at the time. Why choose this redneck carpenter over the imperial machine. And what did it lead to? Separation, Mahlon and Chillion, burying and then buried.
When my heart cries no King but Caesar, for whatever good or bad reason, the Spirit replies, no King here but Jesus. When the guerrilla forces in my life take ground, the real King fights them back. Aslan is on the move, and it's certainly not safe. The real King, not Caesar, but Jesus claimed you by dying for you, by bleeding for you, by removing His grave clothes and humming Psalm Two, early in the morning on the first day of the week. The first first day, of the rest of the weeks.
Because what we need is not to say, 'God is my King, and i'm going to make it.' We won't, it'll be death by a million paper cuts. What we need to say is 'Jesus is my King, and i only have hope as i hold tight to Him.' If Jesus is your king, yes, there are serpents in the garden, but they'll be crushed, yes there are holes in the ground, but they'll only be filled until He calls, yes there are sins we struggle, but they've been bled for.
Whisper it with humble confidence, and ask God for help...elimelech...God, be my King.
Thursday, 5 September 2013
God's Commitment To His Mission
God is totally, eternally committed to bringing glory to Himself by bringing people to Jesus.
God’s first concern is His own glory. It has to be, because God is not an idol worship, and God is the only being in the universe for whom this is not idol worship. The best news, the Gospel news, is that God’s is glorified on Earth primarily by the salvation of sinners, that’s you and me. Remember in John 17:1 Jesus prays ‘father glorify your son that your son may glorify you.’ That is, send me to the cross, that the whole world may look to me an be saved, and as they are saved they will glorify you.
Since this is the story of God, and the story of the church, we should expect it to be the story of the Bible. And it is. From Genesis to Revelation we find a God bringing glory to Himself by bringing a people to Jesus. It’s a lifetimes’ study to unpack all of this, so we’re going to land in four different places this evening, Genesis 3:9, 2 Samuel 7:13, Habbakuk 2:14, and of course, Matthew 28.
Look at Genesis 3:9. The Lord called out to Adam and Eve. He came looking for them. He knew what they had done and He knew they were hiding, but it didn’t stop Him. He came out looking for them. And so must we. He came looking for them in their sin, He came looking for us in our sin, now He sends us to look for others.
In 2 Samuel 7:13 we read ‘He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever.’ What’s happening here? David wanted to build a temple for the Lord, but God told Him that He was going to do something instead. And what was that something? One of David’s sons would sit on David’s throne forever. Who is this son? Jesus! That’s why Mathew’s Gospel starts with a long list of names, so that we know who Jesus is. David’s Son who sits on the throne. And if He sits on the throne as our King, shouldn’t the greatest ambition of our lives be to serve Him and honour Him and extend His kingdom? We are ambassadors of the King, we have to tell people that He reigns!
And this King really will reign over all the Earth. Look at Habakkuk 2:14. ‘For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters fill the seas.’ Habakkuk was depressed and confused about God’s plan, and how did God remedy that? By showing Him a glorious vision of the future. God’s glory filling the whole earth, as the waters fill all the sea. This is why in Revelation 21 we learn that the Heavenly city is 12,000 stadia cubed, that was the size of the known world back then. Jesus says something similar in Matthew 24:14, this Gospel will be preached to all kingdoms of earth, and then the end will come. So the challenge is, get involved in the great commission, or waste your life. There’s no need to wait and see which team will come out on top and then join in. the church comes out on top. So join in!
And that brings us to Matthew 28:18-20.
What is Jesus calling us to? To be a witness. To tell people about Him. We all know how to witness. In a few weeks the parents among us will be witnessing about new class schedules and morning routines, by the end of the month, the college football fans among us will be witnessing about that pass, or that catch, or that tackle. Psalm 45:1 teaches us that our hearts will overflow with whatever our hearts find pleasing. Lets hope it’s Jesus most of the time.
Where does Jesus tell us to go? Everywhere! Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and the outermost part. Across the street, across the state, across the world. Acts ends when the Gospel had reached Rome, the outermost part in those days, the world will end when the Gospel reaches the outermost part of this planet.
And why should we go? It’s scary isn’t it? Moreso to cross the street that to cross the state sometimes. But look at the two promises Jesus makes to us. Firstly, He has all authority in Heaven and on Earth, so we’re never on enemy territory, or even neutral territory, and secondly because He’ll be with us as we gfo. He’ll be with us as we preach, disciple and baptize.
God’s first concern is His own glory. It has to be, because God is not an idol worship, and God is the only being in the universe for whom this is not idol worship. The best news, the Gospel news, is that God’s is glorified on Earth primarily by the salvation of sinners, that’s you and me. Remember in John 17:1 Jesus prays ‘father glorify your son that your son may glorify you.’ That is, send me to the cross, that the whole world may look to me an be saved, and as they are saved they will glorify you.
Since this is the story of God, and the story of the church, we should expect it to be the story of the Bible. And it is. From Genesis to Revelation we find a God bringing glory to Himself by bringing a people to Jesus. It’s a lifetimes’ study to unpack all of this, so we’re going to land in four different places this evening, Genesis 3:9, 2 Samuel 7:13, Habbakuk 2:14, and of course, Matthew 28.
Look at Genesis 3:9. The Lord called out to Adam and Eve. He came looking for them. He knew what they had done and He knew they were hiding, but it didn’t stop Him. He came out looking for them. And so must we. He came looking for them in their sin, He came looking for us in our sin, now He sends us to look for others.
In 2 Samuel 7:13 we read ‘He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever.’ What’s happening here? David wanted to build a temple for the Lord, but God told Him that He was going to do something instead. And what was that something? One of David’s sons would sit on David’s throne forever. Who is this son? Jesus! That’s why Mathew’s Gospel starts with a long list of names, so that we know who Jesus is. David’s Son who sits on the throne. And if He sits on the throne as our King, shouldn’t the greatest ambition of our lives be to serve Him and honour Him and extend His kingdom? We are ambassadors of the King, we have to tell people that He reigns!
And this King really will reign over all the Earth. Look at Habakkuk 2:14. ‘For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters fill the seas.’ Habakkuk was depressed and confused about God’s plan, and how did God remedy that? By showing Him a glorious vision of the future. God’s glory filling the whole earth, as the waters fill all the sea. This is why in Revelation 21 we learn that the Heavenly city is 12,000 stadia cubed, that was the size of the known world back then. Jesus says something similar in Matthew 24:14, this Gospel will be preached to all kingdoms of earth, and then the end will come. So the challenge is, get involved in the great commission, or waste your life. There’s no need to wait and see which team will come out on top and then join in. the church comes out on top. So join in!
And that brings us to Matthew 28:18-20.
What is Jesus calling us to? To be a witness. To tell people about Him. We all know how to witness. In a few weeks the parents among us will be witnessing about new class schedules and morning routines, by the end of the month, the college football fans among us will be witnessing about that pass, or that catch, or that tackle. Psalm 45:1 teaches us that our hearts will overflow with whatever our hearts find pleasing. Lets hope it’s Jesus most of the time.
Where does Jesus tell us to go? Everywhere! Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and the outermost part. Across the street, across the state, across the world. Acts ends when the Gospel had reached Rome, the outermost part in those days, the world will end when the Gospel reaches the outermost part of this planet.
And why should we go? It’s scary isn’t it? Moreso to cross the street that to cross the state sometimes. But look at the two promises Jesus makes to us. Firstly, He has all authority in Heaven and on Earth, so we’re never on enemy territory, or even neutral territory, and secondly because He’ll be with us as we gfo. He’ll be with us as we preach, disciple and baptize.
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