What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
All the great religious leaders of history have one thing in common: they are dead. Only one man has risen from a grave never again to taste death. Jesus Christ died, was buried, remained in the grave for 3 days, then was raised to life again.
Jesus is unique. He is the only one proven to be the Son of God because God validated His Kingship and accepted His payment for our sins all with one incredible stroke: He raised Jesus from the dead!
Paul opens his letter to the Romans with this evidence about who Jesus is:
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which He had promised before by His prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Romans 1:1-4
Because Jesus Christ is very much alive, five things are true right now that wouldn’t be true if He were just another dead religious leader like Confucius, Mohammed or Buddha.
Because Jesus was raised from the dead and is alive…Prayers are answered, We can talk to Jesus 24/7
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Hence God's command. That same ancient pagan concept will come into play once again with the Mark of the Beast because of Leviticus 1928 because it's part of the law, because it's part of Torah. Satan knows there is no chance any devout Jew will take the Mark. It's just one more way that he will try and sift through the populace to expose the Jewish people so that he can kill them. Verse 16 mentions free and slave, and as we've pointed out before, slavery will apparently become mainstream.
Again. Guess what major world religion allows and even encourages slavery? It's Islam. And my guess is that along with Beheading, those who refuse to worship Antichrist, they'll also be at the center of a revived slave trade in the Antichrist Empire. The Mark of the Beast is yet one more facet of eschatology that was widely considered to be allegorical until less than 50 years ago.
Because think about it for almost all of history, the idea of a Mark being the difference between you being allowed to buy ourselves seemed crazy. But today none of us are scoffing at that notion. We have tiny RFID chips that can be easily implanted and read by scanners on every street corner to track our every movement. Small QR codes can be tattooed on skin and read by scanners. In fact, hundreds of people are already using both technologies for their COVID passports.
If you have a smartphone, you're already being tracked. Where you go, how long you stay there. The audio of your conversations and surroundings. It's all being tracked, and we all know it. It's not a conspiracy theory.
That's actually how Facebook figures out which ads to show you for as long as there have been societies, people have been adjusting their appearance to emulate people they admire. When I was a kid, I had a passion for tennis. And in the world at that time, in the tennis world, specifically, Andre Agassi was it. He was it, and he would wear spandex like biker shorts almost, but without the padding underneath his regular shorts. And so I did the same thing.
Unfortunately, people will show their allegiance to Antichrist by taking his Mark on their forehead or hand. Now think with me for a moment which parts of Antichrist body are left scarred by the assassination attempt on his life? It's his eye and it's his arm. Now it could be that there's some sort of connection there, and the location of the marks is a type of tribute to Antichrist resurrection scars. But here's the trajectory I find most compelling.
Just as Satan will construct a false Trinity during the Tribulation, I believe there's something similar going on with the Mark of the beast. Revelation Seven three told us the 144,000 will be sealed with a Mark placed on their foreheads by God. In Ephesians 113, Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit in us is God's seal upon us, marking us as his property. In multiple Old Testament texts, the Lord told Israel to physically place his law upon their foreheads and their hands. Orthodox Jewish men still do this today using filthy, which are little leather cases that contain little Scrolls that contain verses from the Torah and are bound to their foreheads and hands.
In the Tribulation, let me assuage the fears that I know some of you have regarding the Mark of the Beast.
Make a note of this. Nobody who desires to follow Jesus will take the Mark unintentionally unwittingly or against their will. I hope that makes some of you feel better. Nobody who desires to follow Jesus will take the Mark unintentionally unwittingly or against their will. God will go to extraordinary lengths to ensure everybody understands the gravity of taking the Mark.
In Revelation 14, verses nine through ten, it's on your outlines, we're told. A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice, if anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its Mark on their forehead or on their hand, they too will drink the wine of God's Fury which has been poured full strength into the cup of His wrath, they will be tormented with burning sulphur in the presence of the Holy Angels and of the Lamb. Now, please don't miss this. Don't miss this. Have you seen an angel flying around the sky declaring those things?
Has anybody has everybody on the Earth seen that? No. Do you know why? Because it hasn't happened yet. But the Bible says it will happen before the Mark is implemented by the Antichrist regime.
When that time comes, there will be no confusion about what is happening. Nobody will take the Mark in ignorance. Nobody. There's so much misinformation regarding the Mark of the beast. And if I'm honest, what drives me crazy about it is that it's only three verses in the whole Bible.
It's three verses and it's infuriating that people will make whole videos. They'll go on long Facebook rants. They'll make images to share on social media about. This is the Mark of the beast that's happening right now, but they won't even read the three verses about it in Scripture. And they end up saying things and drawing conclusions that are so completely wrong.
If they would just read the three verses, they wouldn't say those sorts of things. So please note what these three verses tell us. They tell us the Mark has nothing to do with class warfare. It has nothing to do with the Illuminati or a global elite. What does it say?
Because it says the Mark is required of all both small and great, rich and poor. So it's not some conspiracy by a global elite to control them. That's not what's going on. Everyone is required to take it. Secondly, these verses tell us that it bears the seal or symbol or name of the beast.
And we'll find in a minute or his number Antichrist. It's his symbol. It's his name. It's his number. And what's implied is that everybody knows that they know they're pledging allegiance to Antichrist.
That's the idea with the Mark of the beast. The text also tells us that taking the Mark is irreversible. We just read that in Revelation 14, if you take the Mark, it's over there's no going back. Some suggest that this points to some type of genetic modification which could be true. But I personally think it's a spiritual issue because if you've lived through the first half of the tribulation, you've seen the signs and wonders you've seen and heard the Angel's warnings and you still choose to follow the beast, then you've reached the spiritual point of no return.
If everything you've seen up to that point is still not enough for you, nothing will ever be enough for you. You're rejecting Jesus with your eyes wide open. The verses also tell us that the Mark is physical, physical. Okay, it's an externally visible Mark on or in your forehead and hand. So abstract statements like, well, Islam is the Mark of the beast.
Don't make any sense. In the context of the Bible. We could also tell here that the Mark is not a number. We'll learn about that in a minute. It's not a number.
It's his number. Okay? And people know that it's his number. Since the 1980s, people have been freaking out over any identifying Mark related to numbers. People freaked out about credit cards, they freaked out about being assigned Social Security numbers.
You name it. But they all missed the fact that the Bible specifically tells us it's the Mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. The Mark is not a number that identifies people individually. It's a number associated with Antichrist. Those who take the Mark, take his number.
The verses also tell us that the evidence points to computerized data recognition of some sort. Why? Because we're told you cannot buy, sell, or conduct business without the Mark, it seems clear that it will be connected to one's personal data and finances. And if you've ever visited a store that doesn't take cash, that's the type of scenario that we're talking about with the Mark. We're talking about a time where all stores are cashless and they only take the Mark as a method of payment.
Cash disappears from society. So even if you find another person who's willing to trade with you, who has the Mark or doesn't, you can't move money because all money is digital. Finally, it could be something the Mark that we can't imagine because it doesn't exist yet. Technology is progressing so rapidly. At this point.
People will be using tech just ten years from now that we can't even imagine today. Please understand. Here's my point. We have to look at everything the word says about the Mark of the beast. Just because a program or initiative fulfills one or two of the characteristics of the Mark doesn't make it the Mark.
It must fulfill all of the characteristics. And speaking of the number of the beast, here is that infamous verse. It's verse 18. It says here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast for it is the number of a man.
His number is six.
It can be in sort of any language, but it's an alphanumeric code where a numerical value is assigned to a name, a word, or a phrase based on its letter. So usually every letter will have an assigned number value to it. And so the value of a word is calculated by the sum of the numbers associated with the letters in that word, and some suggest that Antichrist name will add up to 666 using Demetria Alternatively, and I think more plausibly 66 is meant to be the numeric representation of fallenness of ultimate fallenness.
Really? In the Bible in biblical numerology, six is the number of man, but specifically sinful fallen, broken man.
Six is the number of the flesh and repeating something three times may simply be for emphasis as we sing the phrase Holy, Holy, Holy. And so it could be that six six six is simply emphasizing the Great Tribulation and the Antichrist Empire as the culmination, the pinnacle of evil and fallenness on the Earth. People have been trying to guess the Antichrist using this method for decades. They've also driven themselves crazy using various other forms of numerology. Wait a minute.
Barack has six letters or Ronald Wilson Reagan six, six and on and on and on and on. I hope by now we all remember that our brother Paul told us Antichrist will not be revealed until after the Church has been raptured. This is why we don't play guess the Antichrist because it's impossible to guess his identity if you're part of the Church. So please don't try. Don't forward that message.
Don't share that post. You're better than that. You're better than that. The number of the beasts will be helpful to those who are searching the Scriptures in the Great Tribulation and to them the meaning will be clear and obvious. Well, if you're worried about the Mark of the beast, listen, you don't need to become an expert in understanding it so that you can identify it.
When it happens, you need to be saved. That's what you need to do. You need to give your life to Jesus. If you're on the Earth when it happens, identifying the Mark of the beast won't save you. Only faith in Jesus will save you, just as only faith in Jesus will save you today.
And if you'll put your faith in Jesus, then you don't need to fear Antichrist or the Mark of the beast. You don't need to fear a one world government. You don't need to fear death or hell. You need the perfect love that casts out fear in every circumstance. And his name is Jesus.
I know many have questions and concerns regarding COVID-19, the vaccines and things like vaccine passports and how they might relate to the things we've been looking at in this study. I don't want to speak to that a little bit. I hope that looking into the specifics of God's word has provided us with at least a measure of clarity, because if you were paying attention, it should be really obvious that the vaccines are not the Mark of the beast, just in case anyone thinks that if that's not obvious to you, please go listen to this message again when it's posted later this week one.
We've seen the development of infrastructure and logistics to facilitate the global rollout of vaccines. When the Mark of the beast is implemented, these things will need to be in place and ready to go. And thanks to COVID, they will be. We've seen the implementation of health passports around the globe. Once we digitize data.
The next logical step, please hear me on this. The next logical step is to digitize our health records, our driver's license, our passports, et cetera, into one sort of multi pass. And you'll get that reference on a different level. If you're familiar with the Scifi classic, the fifth element, our society is becoming increasingly cashless. All financial transactions are going digital.
That's significant because it means all financial transactions can be tracked and they can be interfered with. By the way, did you know I looked this up today? The world's most cashless society is Canada.
If you don't know what the trusted news initiative is, you really need to look it up. You can go to BBC's website actually and read about it because it was their idea. They rolled it out in 2020. It's an agreement between the world's major news organizations and social media companies to censor what they consider to be misinformation. And on the flip side of that to promote stories that they feel are in the interest of the public.
Good. So we have today. Right now, the world's media openly colluding to censor information they deem harmful and promote information that they feel is helpful. This is happening right now. Mass surveillance and tracing of the public continues to increase in the name of safety, against terrorism, against battling climate change.
And in the name of stopping the pandemic. Here's a fun bit of news that came out on Christmas Day, just a week or so ago, a couple of weeks ago. Reading from the news article, Canada's federal government admitted to secretly surveilling its population's movements during the COVID-19 lockdown by tracking 33 million phones. For a point of reference, the population of Canada is 38 million. The Public Health Agency of Canada clandestinely tracked the devices to assess, quote, the public's responsiveness during lockdown measures, the agency acknowledged.
But perhaps the most compelling development we've witnessed over the past several years, at least in my opinion, has been the rise of the sociological phenomenon known as other rain. Let me explain. I've shared before that I'm a World War II buff. It's fascinating to me because of the infinite stories and subplots that unfolded. It's a seemingly infinite field of study.
But the part of World War II that I find most interesting is this question, how did ordinary German citizens go from living next door to Jewish people and viewing them as neighbors, to casually watching them and their families be executed, their bodies dumped into mass graves? How did that happen? And the answer is othering. It's uttering. It's what happens when we begin to view a group of people as other, not part of our group and not playing for our team?
And that type of thinking quickly develops into viewing them as less than human, as subhuman in some way which we tell ourselves, and it frees us from our obligations to treat them with human dignity. I don't have to show you basic respect. I don't have to value your life because you're subhuman you're other. You're not even like me. That's what happened in Germany with the Jewish people.
That's what happened in Sarajevo in the early and mid 90s. Ethnic groups and different cultures clashed and one group othered the other. They turned them into caricatures in Germany and the Reich. They turn Jews into creatures rather than people. They created these cartoons depicting them as trolls and golems.
They othered an entire people group all the way to concentration camps and gas Chambers. So let me tell you what othering sounds like and please know this is not endorsing our perspective. I'm doing this because right now, at least in Canada, there's one issue where the overwhelming majority of people have one view and they're othering the people who have a different view. This is what othering sounds like. We shouldn't let unvaccinated people have access to the health care system.
We should put the unvaccinated in camps. It's understandable if nurses are abusing and offering a lower standard of care to the unvaccinated, they don't deserve it. This is what othering sounds like. We need to put restrictions in place to punish the people who aren't being vaccinated. Or how about this?
I couldn't care less if an unvaccinated person dies good riddens and listen. Listen.
I hear Christians talk the same way and other people who don't share their political beliefs. They're too stupid, they're too dumb. They're other typical fill in the blank. I hear Christians, other people all the time. It's one more reason why we don't slander and mock people who have different views to us.
We don't slander and mock anybody. The reason is because we cannot follow Jesus and engage in othering because we will not love anyone that we have. Otherwise we won't love them, not the way Jesus wants us to. But we see othering all around us. And here's my point.
It's reminding us that the day is coming soon when the world will say we need to get rid of these subhumans who follow Jesus and refuse to worship Antichrist. He's leading us into a glorious new age of humanity and we can't be held back by fools any longer. Christians have been uttered since the days the Church was born in around 32 Ad. Christians were uttered by Nero when he blamed the great fire of Rome on them. Christians are othered in countries where they are the religious minority.
It's unbelievable. Do you realize that the Overwatch? I think at least half probably of the society that I live in here in Canada would be fine with sending the unvaccinated away to camps? No problem doing that. It's unbelievable to hear people that you think are normal people saying, well, you know, I hope the unvaccinated die.
They deserve it. It's unbelievable how quickly othering can affect a population. When you add a charismatic leader to the mix, pumping it up and stoking the fire of othering man, things can move very, very, very quickly and they will when Antichrist steps onto the stage. So in summary, COVID vaccines are not the Mark of the beast. Let me say that one more time, but there are many things going on right now that are preparatory for the coming Antichrist regime.
But praise God because for you and me, our situation never changes every day. When we wake up, His mercy are new. Every morning, every day, our hope, peace and joy and fulfillment are found in the same place abiding in Jesus. But the Lord help us to never forget that. Let's pray.
Would you bow your head and close your eyes?
Lord, thank you for your word. Even when the content is heavy. When the content is dark. And Lord, I pray that we would just be encouraged by the example of our brothers and sisters who have come before us in the Church age.
It is true what your word says that we are. We are a peculiar people. We are Sojourners and pilgrims on the Earth. This is not our home. We are in the world, but we're not of the world and we are different.
Lord, we are Lord. I pray for us first of all, that we would not other anyone for any reason. Because when you had every right to exclude people from your Kingdom, you came and laid down your life so that you could invite everyone into your Kingdom. We're in your Kingdom because that was your heart. So, Lord, help us to love like you love.
Help us to not entertain any type of malice or slander or insult or hatred in our hearts. Help us not to tolerate it. Help us to be your hands and feet. In the way that we love in your name on the Earth as we bear your name and thank you that your mercies are new every morning you're the same yesterday today and forever you're firm foundation and our strong power Jesus we love you we bless you it's in your mighty name we pray Amen.
A hypocrite is someone who claims to have moral standards or beliefs to which his or her own behavior does not conform. Of course, hypocrites are everywhere, but their existence in churches does cause a definite problem. Isn’t the church a place where people go to have their hearts and lives changed?
We could give many examples of hypocrites. Let’s do a little brainstorming. Here’s are examples of hypocrites in church
The Bible study leader who teaches moral purity but walks out on her husband and kids and into the arms of another man.
A churchgoing, Bible-quoting boss who cheats on the sales figures “just a tad” to get a better market rating for his company.
A respected minster or priest, trusted by their congregations, who preaches piety but covers up his s*xual abuse of children.
A charismatic youth minister who calls young people to s*xual purity, but then is caught in a secret life—one checkered with illicit sex and illegal drugs.
The perfect soccer dad who sits in the church pew every Sunday and never misses a service, but goes home to a hidden habit of alcohol abuse and violence toward his wife and children.
The religious neighbor who pretends in front of others that “every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before,” but in reality is filled with fear, anger, resentment and jealousy.
These are just some of the common examples of hypocrisy. I think every one of us could try our own experiment. Ask some non-Christian friends, “Have you ever encountered a hypocritical Christian?” Most likely you will hear lots of stories such as, “My daughter’s playground friend keeps correcting her behavior saying ‘Jesus wouldn’t want you to do that,’ but her family is doing things I know Jesus wouldn’t want THEM to do either.” Or, “That politician claims to be a Christian, but look at how he treats his wife!” Or, “My coworker has a Bible on her desk and Christian bumper stickers all over her car, but she has never even once offered to help when someone is sick and out of the office.”
Unfortunately, statistics seem to bear out the perception that many Christians often fail to live out their stated spiritual ideals. David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, authors of the book unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity, have done research showing that there isn’t much measurable difference between people who claim to be born-again Christians and the rest of the world. Here’s what they found: “Born-agains were distinct on some religious variables, most notably owning more Bibles, going to church more often, and donating money to religious non-profits. However, when it came to non-religious factors—the substance of people’s daily choices, actions, and attitudes—there were few meaningful differences between professing Christians and non-professing Christians.”
Isn’t the church supposed to be a hospital for sin sick people? No one would expect to go into a hospital and find that all of the patients occupying beds were in good health, would they? Churches have people who are struggling and far from perfect. And we can’t neglect the fact that there are some people in churches who are very committed. Most of the churches in America are really very small. Pastors sometimes work two or three jobs. Some farm, some drive school buses to supplement their income.
And I think some people come to church for the wrong reasons. Perhaps they come just for social reasons. People in some of the larger churches go to church because that’s where they can find business opportunities. Some bring their sons and daughters so that they will marry someone who is the son or daughter of a city official.
Lee Strobel, the atheist who turned Christian apologist, described the negative impact hypocrisy had on him before he was saved.
I think when our friends condemn the hypocrisy in churches, we need to remind them that they are on Jesus’ side. Many people who use this issue to blame God or to resist Christianity need to be reminded that Jesus agrees with them. He is their ally. He condemned religious hypocrisy in no uncertain terms.
We also need to remind people that Jesus Christ is our only perfect example. He won’t disappoint us. Everyone else will.
And this is not to excuse hypocritical church members. The Bible claims moral perfection for only one person, and that was Jesus Christ. According to Hebrews 4:15, Jesus is our perfect example. He faced all the trials and problems that we face, yet He did so without ever sinning.
The late Ruth Bell Graham, Billy Graham’s wife, told a story about Pashi, a young college student from India. Pashi once told her, “We of India would like to believe in Christ. But we have never seen a Christian who was like Christ.” So, Ruth Graham said she spoke to a Christian doctor, a man from India, and asked what should her response be. He said, “I would tell Pashi, ‘I am not offering you Christians. I am offering you Christ.’” A wise statement. We preach Christ, not Christians.
Don't let your worries get the best of you; remember, Moses started
out as a basket case.
Some people are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited until you try to sit in their pews.
Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisors.
It is easier to preach ten sermons than it is to live one.
The good Lord didn't create anything without a purpose, but mosquitoes come close.
When you get to your wit's end, you'll find God lives there.
People are funny; they want the front of the bus, the middle of the road, and
the back of the church.
Opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on your front door forever.
Quit griping about your church; if it was perfect, you couldn't belong.
If the church wants a better pastor, it only needs to pray for the one it has.
God Himself does not propose to judge a man until he is dead. So why should you?
Some minds are like concrete, thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.
Peace starts with a smile.
I don't know why some people change churches; what difference does
it make which one you stay home from?
A lot of church members who are singing "Standing on the Promises"
are just sitting on the premises.
We were called to be witnesses, not lawyers or judges.
Be ye fishers of men. You catch them - He'll clean them.
Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous.
Don't put a question mark where God put a period.
Don't wait for 6 strong men to take you to church.
Forbidden fruits create many jams.
God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
God grades on the cross, not the curve.
God loves everyone, but probably prefers "fruits of the spirit" over "religious nuts!"
God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.
He who angers you, controls you!
If God is your Co-pilot - swap seats!
Prayer: Don't give God instructions -- just report for duty!
The task ahead of us is never as great as the Power behind us.
The Will of God never takes you to where the Grace of God will not protect you.
We don't change the message, the message changes us.
You can tell how big a person is by what it takes to discourage him.
The best mathematical equation I have ever seen:
1 cross + 3 nails = 4 given.
~Author Unknown~
FORREST GUMP goes to HEAVEN
The day finally arrived when Forrest Gump dies and goes to Heaven.
He met at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter himself.
However, the gates are closed, and Forrest approaches the gatekeeper.
St. Peter said, "Well, Forrest, it is certainly good to see you. We have heard
a lot about you. I must tell you, though, that the place is filling up fast, and
we have been administering an entrance examination for everyone. The test
is short, but you have to pass it before you can get into Heaven."
Forrest responds, "It sure is good to be here, St. Peter, sir. But nobody ever
told me about any entrance exam. I sure hope that the test ain't too hard.
Life was a big enough test as it was."
St. Peter continued, "Yes, I know, Forrest, but the test is only three questions.
First: What two days of the week begin with the letter T?
Second: How many seconds are there in a year?
Third: What is God's first name?"
Forrest leaves to think the questions over. He returns the next day and sees
St. Peter, who waves him up, and says, "Now that you have had a chance to
think the questions over, tell me your answers."
Forrest replied, "Well, the first one -- which two days in the week begins with
the letter "T"? Shucks, that one is easy. That would be Today and Tomorrow."
The Saint's eyes opened wide and he exclaimed, "Forrest, that is not what I was
thinking, but you do have a point, and I guess I did not specify, so I will give you
credit for that answer.
How about the next one?" asked St. Peter. "How many seconds in a year?
Now that one is harder," replied Forrest, but I thunk and thunk about that,
and I guess the only answer can be twelve."
Astounded, St. Peter said, "Twelve? Twelve? Forrest, how in Heaven's name
could you come up with twelve seconds in a year?"
Forrest replied, "Shucks, there's got to be twelve: January 2nd, February 2nd,
March 2nd... "
"Hold it," interrupts St. Peter. "I see where you are going with this, and I see your
point, though that was not quite what I had in mind....but I will have to give you
credit for that one, too.
Let us go on with the third and final question. Can you tell me God's first name"?
"Sure," Forrest replied, "it's Andy."
"Andy?" exclaimed an exasperated and frustrated St Peter.
"Ok, I can understand how you came up with your answers to my first two
questions, but just how in the world did you come up with the name Andy
as the first name of God?"
"Shucks, that was the easiest one of all," Forrest replied. "I learnt it from the song,
"ANDY WALKS WITH ME, ANDY TALKS WITH ME, ANDY TELLS ME I AM HIS OWN."
St. Peter opened the Pearly Gates, and said: "Run Forrest, run."
Give us a sense of humor, Lord.
Give us the ability to understand,
And put humor in our life,
And -- pass it on to other folk.
~Author Unknown~
Series: Flourish............................Speaker: BJ Chursinoff
We open this message miniseries by examining God’s original design for the relationships He created for us to enjoy. It’s a study that takes us back to the beginning, and Genesis 1 & 2…
Alright. We're taking a few weeks to talk about relationships here at Gospel City Church, and before we jump right into this new series, I want to share four presumptions that I have about you and relationships. Okay. Presumption number one, you want every single one of your relationships to flourish. You want healthy, blessed, fruitful, peaceful relationships.
And you want these with your parents if they're still with you. You want this with your spouse if you have one. You want this with your kids if you have any. You want this with your extended family, with your friends, with your co workers, with strangers, even with your enemies. Because at the end of the day, who wants enemies in their life?
You want your relationships to produce smiling, laughing, productivity, satisfaction, purpose, and meaning in your life. You want your relationships to be full of the Hebrew word Shalom. Shalom is a word that means a feeling of contentment, completeness, wholeness, wellbeing, and harmony. Presumption number two, you have more brokenness in your relationships than you would like to admit. All of our relationships have the opposite of Shalom in them to some degree.
We know firsthand the realities of betrayal, abandonment, abuse, gossip, slander, division, assault, discrimination, loneliness, regrets, and dishonor. This is true of everyone, and that's why I can presume that it's true in your life. Presumption number three, you'd be open, at the very least, to hear some teaching that could lead you to experience more health in your relationships than you currently have. And presumption number four, you're going to be triggered by some aspect of this series and this first message in particular. You're going to hear some things in this series that go against the grain, and some of these things are going to rub you the wrong way.
You're going to hear some things that go against what our culture tells us about relationships and how they're supposed to work, and that can be uncomfortable. You're going to hear some things that might go against what you personally think and feel about relationships. And there's a part in all of us that's not in tune with God. The Bible calls that part of us the flesh. And when this part of us hears what God's Word says about a subject, sometimes this part in us gets riled up.
Some of the stuff I'm going to share with you is not only unpopular outside the Church, but there are Jesus loving brothers and sisters inside the Church that will not agree with everything that I share about relationships in this series. And the potential to get triggered goes beyond simply agreeing or disagreeing about doctrine. You might have some relational wounds that might get opened up a little bit when we hear about how amazing God designed our relationships to be, and then we look at the current reality of brokenness in our various relationships. You might feel it a little bit. I'll be delivering this series to you in light of these four presumptions.
The first thing we're going to do is look at God's design for relationships. We're going to look at the plan and the problem and the solution. We'll take a couple of weeks to look at all three of these. So this weekend, next week, then in week three, we're going to dedicate a message entirely to singles. And we'll look at how to live within the framework of God's design for relationships as a single person living in our world today.
Every part of God's creation is intricately designed to function a certain way. It's designed in a way that would produce flourishing at every level. And this includes flourishing in the various relationships that mankind was designed to enjoy. There's a direct correlation between God's design and flourishing. I'd like you to take apples for an example.
Apples are designed to function a certain way. They're designed to flourish. Now, what does an Apple seed need to flourish? Good soil, enough sunlight and water. And what happens if an Apple seed gets enough of these three things?
Well, it takes roots, it sprouts, it grows, it produces apples. And these new apples have seeds in them. And the seeds in these new apples will produce new Apple trees. If these new seeds receive the same thing that the original seed received good soil, sunlight, and water, one Apple seed will flourish to become many Apple orchards, producing many healthy apples. If the one seed exists within the parameters it was designed to flourish in.
But what if you were to change the parameters? And what if you were to even change just one of them? What if, instead of good soil, you place the Apple seed on hard ground? What if, instead of sunlight, you place the Apple seed in a cave where no sunlight could reach it? What if, instead of water, you poured salt on the Apple seed?
Will the Apple seed flourish? If you do these three things to it hard ground, darkness, and salt, will the Apple seed flourish? If you do even just one of these three things to it, it will not be healthy. It will not grow the way that it's supposed to. And no flourishing will take place for the Apple seed.
Why not? Because that's not the way Apple seeds were designed by God to flourish. And like he did with apples, God designed human beings and their relationships to flourish. And there are things that we need to have in our life things that we need to embrace in our life. If we're going to flourish in our relationships the way that we were designed by God, too, the more we have the things that we need, and the more that we live our lives according to God's good design, the more we're going to be able to experience flourishing.
But the contrary is true too. The more we reject God's design for human relationships, the less flourishing we will experience. Does that make sense? And where would a person go if they wanted to begin a journey to discovering God's design for human relationships? The Bible.
Yes, good one, you've been around Gospel City before, but the Bible is a big book. Where would we even begin to start?
You guys peek at my notes. This is good. The first and most logical and the very best place to start is in the very beginning. And that's what we're going to turn our attention to the Book of Genesis, which means the Book of Beginnings, specifically the very first two chapters, Genesis One and Genesis Two. In the first two chapters of the first book of the Bible, God gives us the foundational pieces of information that we need to paint a picture of what he had in mind for our relationships right out of the gate.
Every part of God's creation is intricately designed to function a certain way. It's designed in a way that would produce flourishing at every level. And this includes flourishing in the various relationships that mankind was designed to enjoy. There's a direct correlation between God's design and flourishing. I'd like you to take apples for an example.
Apples are designed to function a certain way. They're designed to flourish. Now, what does an Apple seed need to flourish? Good soil, enough sunlight and water. And what happens if an Apple seed gets enough of these three things?
Well, it takes roots, it sprouts, it grows, it produces apples. And these new apples have seeds in them. And the seeds in these new apples will produce new Apple trees. If these new seeds receive the same thing that the original seed received good soil, sunlight, and water, one Apple seed will flourish to become many Apple orchards, producing many healthy apples. If the one seed exists within the parameters it was designed to flourish in.
But what if you were to change the parameters? And what if you were to even change just one of them? What if, instead of good soil, you place the Apple seed on hard ground? What if, instead of sunlight, you place the Apple seed in a cave where no sunlight could reach it? What if, instead of water, you poured salt on the Apple seed?
Will the Apple seed flourish? If you do these three things to it hard ground, darkness, and salt, will the Apple seed flourish? If you do even just one of these three things to it, it will not be healthy. It will not grow the way that it's supposed to. And no flourishing will take place for the Apple seed.
Why not? Because that's not the way Apple seeds were designed by God to flourish. And like he did with apples, God designed human beings and their relationships to flourish. And there are things that we need to have in our life things that we need to embrace in our life. If we're going to flourish in our relationships the way that we were designed by God, too, the more we have the things that we need, and the more that we live our lives according to God's good design, the more we're going to be able to experience flourishing.
But the contrary is true too. The more we reject God's design for human relationships, the less flourishing we will experience. Does that make sense? And where would a person go if they wanted to begin a journey to discovering God's design for human relationships? The Bible.
Yes, good one, you've been around Gospel City before, but the Bible is a big book. Where would we even begin to start?
You guys peek at my notes. This is good. The first and most logical and the very best place to start is in the very beginning. And that's what we're going to turn our attention to the Book of Genesis, which means the Book of Beginnings, specifically the very first two chapters, Genesis One and Genesis Two. In the first two chapters of the first book of the Bible, God gives us the foundational pieces of information that we need to paint a picture of what he had in mind for our relationships right out of the gate.
And here's the first one, and it's going to be the first filling on your outline. Mankind is binary. Mankind is binary. If you're not sure what that word means, binary. Here's a definition from the dictionary.
Binary means relating to, composed of or involving two things. Mankind is binary. Mankind is dual. Mankind is both female and male. And we read this in Genesis chapter one, verse 27.
So God created man in his own image. He created him in the image of God. He created them, male and female, man and woman, two sexes and two genders. And in God's design for humanity, sex and gender are synonymous. A man is male, both anatomically and intrinsically, both on the outside and on the inside.
And a woman is female, both anatomically and intrinsically, both on the outside and the inside. Nor in the scriptures are we given even the slightest hint that there are any more sexes or genders than the two that were created by God in Genesis One. Please believe me. I'm not saying this to trigger anyone in this room or anyone in our culture today. I'm saying this because if we're going to learn how human beings are designed to relate to one another, the first step is to establish who the players are in the game of life.
After we can establish this first basic premise that God made mankind as man and woman, we can go into the next step in learning how man and woman are to relate to one another in a relationship. I don't need to tell you that this is not a popular position to hold in our world today. This biblical position on manhood and womanhood gets bombarded with opposing points of view of all kinds and from all directions and time won't allow me to address all the differing voices in this conversation in this message, but I feel like I need to address one of them. There are some people who will argue against the biblical claim that mankind is binary by pointing out the fact that some people are born with a condition that they claim makes a person neither male nor female. This condition is known under the umbrella term of intersex.
What's intersex? Here's a helpful quote from author Preston Sprinkle in his book Embodied, a book which he addresses transgender identities, the Church, and what the Bible has to Say. He says this intersex does not mean neither male nor female. More than 16 different conditions are classified as intersex, also called differences of sex development or disorders of sex development. These conditions include atypical features in a person's sex chromosomes, reproductive organs, or anatomical sex, or two of the three or all three, depending on which conditions are being considered.
The prevalence of intersex conditions ranges anywhere from zero point 22% of the population to 1.7%. Not all intersex conditions are the same. End Quote now for everyone's sake, I'm not going to pretend that I'm a medical expert or an authority of any kind when it comes to the discussion about intersex people, but I am going to offer some thoughts in light of the subject that I'm attempting to address in this sermon. First and foremost, when we are talking about intersex people, we must never forget that intersex people are people. They cannot be used as pawns in this conversation.
And they drop the mic and they walk away, thinking that they just completely dismantled the conservative position on sexuality and gender with one ultra-convenient fact that intersex people exist. If an intersex person was present when you're using them as a pawn in the defense of your position on sexuality, how do you think that would make them feel to be used like that? Probably not great. First, we always have to remember that when we're talking about people, we're talking about people, not stats or arguments. Second, there are a number of different conditions that are considered intersex.
Most intersex people are not ambiguously male or female, but some are. There are some cases when a person is born with both chromosomes and or both sets of reproductive organs. Third, Christians cannot have their heads buried in the sand when it comes to discussions like this. We can't do what some Christians do when the topic of dinosaurs comes up into conversation, because I don't know if you know this, but some Christians and no offense if this is you, but some Christians bury their head in the sand and try to pretend that dinosaurs didn't exist. It's life worthy because it's ridiculous because everybody knows that they existed.
But if the reality of dinosaurs causes your worldview to crumble, then you need to revisit and probably augment your worldview a little bit. And we can't bury our head in the sand. When someone brings up the existence of intersex people, we can't pretend they don't exist. We have to consider them. In light of what the Bible teaches about sexuality, how do we reconcile the fact that some people are born intersex with the fact that mankind is binary, that there are only two sexes and genders, male and female?
Well, it's not that hard to be honest with you. Intersex people do not constitute a third category of sex or gender. Some intersex people are simply a blend of the only two sexes and genders that exist. Fourth, I did something this week that helped me to sympathize with intersex people. I spent time this week trying my best to put myself in the shoes of an intersex person.
And I have to tell you, I got a little bit emotional in the process. I tried to imagine what it would be like to grow up with a secret like that, assuming that for most intersex people, only their parents and doctors would have known about their condition. I tried to imagine how alone an intersex person would feel for pretty much their whole entire life, how it would feel to keep a secret like that, or to wrestle with questions about why they were born that way, or why God made them like this. I tried to imagine the unfounded guilt and shame that would possibly be carried throughout their life. Even though they didn't do anything to feel guilty or ashamed about, they didn't have a say in how they were born.
I tried to imagine what it would be like to be an intersex kid in elementary school and then high school. I tried to imagine what friendships looked like and how sleepovers at their friends look like. Probably keeping this secret the whole time. I tried to imagine the pressure and the fear involved with keeping a secret like that. I tried to imagine what it would be like if that personal information about their condition ever got out against their will and what kind of bullying and abuse might have occurred.
That's a personal matter. But if you ever did develop enough trust with one or two people in the Church and you chose to reveal to them that you had an intersex condition, we would not reject you. Love doesn't work like that. So this is a safe place. And so aspect number one in our discussion about God's design for relationships is this.
Mankind is binary number two, and this is the next filling on your outline. Man and woman have the same value. Man and woman have the same value. I'm going to read Genesis, chapter one, verses 26 to 28 for us, if you like to underline things in your Bible underline the words "they" or "them" every time they come up in these three verses. Okay.
Starting in verses 26, then God said, Let us make man in our image according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the seas, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole Earth, and the creatures that crawl on the Earth. So, God created man in his own image. He created him. In the image of God, he created him male and female.
And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, fill the Earth and subdue it. Rule the fish of the seas, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the Earth. In verses 26, we can see that God put Dominion of the animal Kingdom under both man and woman alike. In verse 27, we can see that both Amen and women are made in the image of God. What's the image of God Or, also known in Latin as the Imago Dei?
Here's a quote from author Ray Ortland. He says this taken in the whole of Scripture. I think it's probable that the image of God in man is the Soul's personal reflection of God's righteous character. To image God is to mirror His Holiness. Other interpreters construe the image of God in a more general sense, including human rationality, conscience, creativity, relationships, and everything.
We are as human beings. But however one interprets the Imago Dei, God shared it with mankind alone. Mankind is unique, finding his identity upward in God and not downward in the animals. End quote. And then back in our text in verse 28, we can see that God blesses both man and woman, and he gave both man and woman the same Commission to be fruitful and multiply, and he reiterates their shared call to have Dominion.
When you look at these three verses, can you see the equality of the two sexes emanating from this passage? Amen. And women have the same value. What this means is that every single person in the world today, all men and all women, the almost 8 billion of them, has the same value simply because they exist. Every human being bears the image of God upon their life and that alone is the source of their value.
A person's value is not connected to what they do or don't do. A person's value is not connected to what they have or don't have. A person's value does not depend on whether they are rich or poor, young or old, white, Brown or black, man or woman, single or married, employer or employee. All people everywhere for all time have the exact same value in God's eyes because everyone has been made in his image. Take a second and turn to someone next to you and tell them we have the same value.
Try it again like you mean it.
This truth destroys the foundation that any kind of pigheaded chauvinism is built upon. Man is not greater than woman just because he is a man. Why not? Because both man and woman are made in God's image. This truth destroys the foundation that any kind of militant feminism is built upon.
Woman is not greater than man just because she is a woman. Why not? Because both woman and man are made in the same image of God. Man and woman have the exact same value in God's eyes. You need to have this concept ingrained in your minds before we move on to the next aspect of God's design for human relationships because this is your next feeling.
Man and woman have different roles. Man and woman have different roles. Some people's heads might begin to explode at this point. I thought he just said that man and woman are the same and now he's saying they're different. Which one is it?
I said that men and women have the same value and now I'm saying that man and woman have different roles and there's no contradiction in those two statements. It's possible for two people to have the exact same value and have different roles simultaneously. It isn't a logical contradiction. A person's role within a relationship does not affect their value as a person. I'm going to give you a couple of examples that I hope make this point exceptionally clear.
The relationship between parents and children. For one, are parents more valuable than their children or our children more valuable than their parents or parents and children have the exact same value? You remember why? Because each of them is made in the image of God. But do parents and children have the exact same roles within their relationship?
Of course they don't. Is a small child going to work and pay the bills? Is a small child going to go grocery shopping and prepare dinner for the entire family? Is a parent to be disciplined by a small child? No.
And no to all of these questions, right? No. Right. We know that the role that a family member has in the family doesn't affect their value as a member of the family, even if their roles are different. Here's another example.
Maybe the single best example that I can give to illustrate this truth is seen in the example that we have in God. God is Triune in nature. He is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Each member of the Trinity is equally and fully God. There is no member of the Trinity that is more valuable or less valuable than another.
They are each infinitely valuable because they are each perfectly God. But do each of them have the exact same roles within the Trinity? No, they have different roles. Here's a quote from theologian Wayne Grudom. He says this, in both creation and redemption, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit all had distinct roles.
There is total and perfect equality, and there's also a distinction between them and the roles they were designed by God to fill. Before I tell you what the role distinctions between man and women are, and before I attempt to persuade you from the scripture that these role distinctions between man and woman are true and biblical, let's just take just a moment to acknowledge that there are several different positions that a person can take when it comes to understanding the role distinctions between man and woman. I put a diagram on your outline to show you the four general positions along this ideological spectrum, and everybody will find themselves gravitate to one of these four. A radical form of feminism will claim that women don't need no man, and women can and should do anything a man can do and probably do it better if we're honest.
Hey, wait a second, all right? You just outed yourself. Hey, you're welcome. At Gospel City Church, no matter where you land on this spectrum, Egalitarianism is a philosophy that says that men and women are in virtually all respects interchangeable and that their roles ought to have no relation to their s*xual orientation or Constitution. In complementarianism, men and women are absolutely equal in essence, dignity and value, but are distinct by divine design.
As part of God's good creative order, men and women are to have different yet complementary roles and responsibilities in the home and the Church. And here's a quote about hyper patriarchy from author Kathleen Brown, and she says this. What this means, referring to hyperpatriarchy, is that male figures, both in the home and in major societal institutions maintain dominance. The father figure exercises control over labor and property, s*xual access to his wife and the other woman of his household, and maintains the power to punish. So which one of these four positions do you find that you gravitate towards the most important rhetorical story but good.
It's important to note most local churches in the Tri cities where we live and where Gospel City Church exists. Most local churches and the TriCities would fall under the Egalitarian camp. Most churches at Gospel City Church, we believe the Bible teaches the complementarian position. And if you're ready, here are the rule distinctions. We believe the Bible teaches God designed man to lead and God designed woman to help.
And it struck me that if I was preaching this in the medieval times at this point is when I get rotten cabbage thrown at me in old tomatoes, when I would suggest such an idea. But we can see this truth consistently throughout all of the scriptures. But we're going to keep our eyes fixed on our first two chapters in Genesis. The first thing I want to show you in Genesis One and Two is actually a comparison between Genesis One and Two. In Genesis One, we already saw that God put Dominion of the animal Kingdom under both man and woman.
It's going to be Genesis, chapter two, verses four to nine and then 15 to 25. Back in our Genesis 126 to 27 passage, I had you underline the words they and them. If you want to keep your underlying game going strong, I'll get you to underline the phrase the man every time it pops up in these verses, I'm going to read, okay, Genesis, chapter two, starting to verse four. These are the records of the heavens and the Earth concerning their creation. At the time that the Lord God made the Earth and the heavens, no shrub of the field had yet grown on the land, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted.
For the Lord God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, but mist would come up from the Earth and water all the ground. Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he planted the man he had formed. The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We drop down to verse 15.
The Lord God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. And the Lord God commanded the man, you are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for on the day that you eat from it, you will certainly die. Then the Lord God said, It's not good for the man to be alone. I'll make a helper corresponding to him. The Lord God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky and brought each to the man to see what he would call it.
And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal. But for the man, no helper was found corresponding to him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place.
Then the Lord God made the rib he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. And the man said, this one at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. This one will be called woman, for she was taken from man. This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh. Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.
Okay, some observations. First, Adam was made. First, God could have made them both at the exact same time, but he didn't. And that alone, I think, is something just worth meditating on this week. Second, Adam was commissioned by God to do work before Eve was on the scene, Adam was placed in the garden by himself to work it and watch over it.
Adam was given the one given the charge to name the animals God had made. This was a task reserved only for Adam, and Adam even named the woman after she was formed. Third, Adam was given a revelation from God that we didn't see given to both Adamant and Eve back in chapter one. Back in chapter one, both Adam and Eve were commissioned by God to be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth and subdue it. But in chapter two, we see that only Adam was given the prohibition.
As far as I can tell, there are only two options. Either God reiterated it to Eve after he made her and it's just not recorded for us in the scripture, or Adam shared it with her, shared that information with her after she was made. And that's just not recorded for us in the scripture either. Can I tell you what I think? Okay.
I think Adam told Eve about the forbidden tree and they were not allowed to eat from it, and here's why. When they both ended up eating from the tree, who did God come to talk to about it? Did he come to both Adam and Eve because they both ate it? No, he only came to Adam. He didn't address Eve initially about it.
Why not? Because Adam was given the prohibition by God, and therefore Adam was the one who was responsible to make sure that Eve knew about it and that neither of them ate of it. It was Adam's job and responsibility primarily. He was to lead both himself and Eve in this way. Fourth, Adam was given a helper corresponding to him, not the other way around.
Eve was made to help Adam fulfill the task they were both given to accomplish. The scripture says that she was made by God specifically to be Adam's helper. Amen and women were perfectly designed to complement each other lead and help, and there is no indication that they were at odds over this role of distinction in the slightest. It's important to note that this leading and helping distinction exists specifically in the marriage relationship, and we know that Adam and Eve were married because of Genesis 224. But these role distinctions of leading and helping are also general parameters that should influence the way that men and women relate to each other in various nonmarital relationships, that we're all in, that men are designed to lead to influence the way that they interact in all of their various relationships between both men and women, and that women are designed by God to help should influence how they interact in all of their various relationships between both women and men.
We'll talk some more on how these role distinctions should affect our various relationships in the messages to come, and so we've seen some simple observations from Genesis one and two, remembering throughout it all that these two chapters record the only time period in mankind's existence when there was no sin in the world. This was sinless perfection. We see and learn things about God's design for the role of man and woman in creation in the sinless setting. And if we had the time, we could also look at the whole of Scripture and see that this role distinction between man and woman is maintained throughout the Bible is consistent regarding this topic. Different roles between man and woman is not an old, outdated cultural phenomenon of the Middle East from thousands of years ago.
Role distinction has no bearing on a person's value. Second, some people have experienced a gross distortion of the lead help dynamic between man and woman that was never meant to be experienced. Male domination is not Godly leadership. Women who hand feed men grapes and fan them in the heat of the day and do their bidding at their every whim is not Godly helping.
Sinful humanity has twisted God's good original design. All right, let's move on to our next filling. Number four. Family is God's plan for relationships that flourish. Family is God's plan for relationships that flourish.
We're going to Daydream a little bit here, okay? We're going to dream about what life would have looked like if Genesis Three never happens and sin never came in to fracture God's good design for relationships. Okay, Daydream time. Adam and Eve are married. In Genesis Two.
They would have lived in perfect harmony together. Perfect even with the role distinctions within marriage, believe it or not, then they would have had kids. Lots of kids. Remember? God told them to be fruitful and multiply.
That original family that began with just the two, with just Adam and Eve would have grown and grown as that first family grew. How would their sons learn what it meant to be a man? Well, they'd watch how dad led mom and the rest of the family. They'd watch dad as he led the whole family and fulfilling the mandates God gave them. They would watch how their dad treated their mom, and that's how they would learn how to be a man.
And how would their daughters learn what it meant to be a woman? They'd do the same thing. They'd watch how mom helped dad and the rest of the family. They'd watch how mom she helped their brothers and sisters in fulfilling the mandates that God gave them. They would watch how their mom treated their dad, and that's how they would learn how to be a woman.
And then the family would grow and everyone would be involved in completing the things that God gave them to do. Everyone would have a role to play. It would be all hands on deck. And because there would have been no sin in the world of Genesis Three never happened. The family would never get jacked up.
There would have been nothing in that first family that plagues all of ours. There would have been no betrayal, no abandonment, no abuse, gossip, slander, division, assault, discrimination, loneliness, regrets, divorce, foster care, orphanages. Nonexistent. In Genesis One and Two, there would only be Shalom. And this is what I meant earlier when I said that this could be triggering because it can be sad to imagine how awesome family was supposed to be and then look at some of our relationships in our own family and know how bad some of them are for us.
Back to daydreaming, according to God's design for relationships. The family wouldn't stay together forever. It would break apart, but in a perfectly good way. There would have come a time when a son or a daughter left the family. And why would a son or daughter ever leave the family if it was so good?
Don't freak out. We're daydreaming. Genesis One and Two this is a Genesis one and Two dream. But when you think about this dream, who is ever alone in this design? No one.
You are always a meaningful part of your biological family and experiencing God's blessing in it. Or you leave to start your own new family and your new family might only consist of you and your spouse. But guess what? You're not alone. There's two of you.
God rigged everything so that people were never to be alone. I'm personally convinced that when he said when God said in Genesis Two that it's not good for man to be alone, he wasn't saying that marriage was the solution for every single person's loneliness. Adam was the only one who existed at the time God said those words. But if things played out the way God perfectly designed them to, the first marriage between Adam and Eve would guarantee that no one would ever be alone again because everyone would be a part of a family according to God's design. Can you imagine that not one single person on the planet today ever experiencing loneliness?
God's design for relationships is not just good, it's perfect. Our fifth and final feeling is going to verse is a segue to next week's message. And it's this. You'll see this on the screen behind me. God must be at the center of our life if we want our relationships to flourish.
God must be at the center of our life. If we want our relationships to flourish. This is how God has designed everything in the world to work, and our relationships are no exception. The designer placed himself in the center of his design. If Adam and Eve kept God at the center of their life, if they honored him and trusted him and believed him and obeyed him, then our Daydream about how relationships would have been back then would have been our reality today.
All of our relationships would be perfect, and no one would ever be alone. But they didn't keep him at the center, did they? They rejected and rebelled against the designer, and the design fell apart. Genesis three eventually came after Genesis Two, and the fracturing of relationships ensued, the fracturing that all of us have experienced up to this very day. We're going to look more at what went wrong in our relationships next week, and we'll look at how God made a way that we can reverse some of the stuff that's gone wrong in them.
And so with that, I'm going to invite Jeff to come back up. We've covered a lot of ground in this first message tonight about relationships, and in this, I hope you weren't triggered too much. I hope you were able to see that God is good. I hope you're able to see that his design for relationships is good. I hope you're able to see that his design for everything is only ever good.
And I hope that you learned or were reminded how valuable you are as a person who's been made in the image of God. Bow your heads when you pray with me, God. We call you Father, because that's who you are. You revealed yourself that way, and all of your design is built around family. And then in the weeks to come, as we learn how we can experience what it means to be a part of your family and how that revolutionizes our life.
And it's true that everything is going to be okay in you. It might happen in this life, but it might happen in the life to come. But you are going to right every wrong. You're going to dry every tear. You're going to bring comfort and wholeness and belonging to everyone you adopt into your family.
And it's going to be perfect. And not for a short amount of time. It's going to be perfect forever and ever and ever. But until that time comes, Lord, today hurts sometimes so would he comfort us and I also pray, Lord, would you make Gospel City Church a kind of Church that embraces the broken amongst us that we pray with and we support and we listen sometimes more than we speak and we're just there to cry with each other. And while all that's happening, let us also not celebrate the good things that you are doing in our relationships and that we'd be quick to turn all glory and all praise and all credits and honor to your name for working those good things in our relationships.
And so whether they're good or challenging, Lord, just be glorified in it all. Speak that to us, Lord, as we spend these next moments in prayer and worship and praise to you and all God's people said Amen.
Series: Flourish...Speaker: BJ Chursinoff
God designed our relationships to flourish, and yet we all experience brokenness in our relationships. What happened? Why is there such a big gap between what God intended for us and what we experience in our relationships today? In this message, we’ll look back at where it all went wrong, and see some of the ways we’ve been experiencing the fallout in our relationships ever since. But don’t worry - we’ll also discover that God has always had a plan to fix everything.
We're taking a few weeks to look at and think about God's good design for our relationships. Quick show of hands. I just want to make sure that I'm preaching to the choir here. You want your relationships to flourish, right? Raise your hand.
Okay. That's what I thought. I just want to make sure that we're tracking together. We're going to pick things up from where we left off last week. If you missed part one of this series, you can catch up by watching last week's sermon online.
But since you don't have time to do that now, here are the Cole's notes from last week. God created the heavens and the Earth, and he designed them with the intention that every aspect of his creation would flourish. Every aspect. This means when it comes to our relationships, God designed them with flourishing in mind. We looked at five aspects of God's design for human relationships.
In Genesis one and two, we saw that mankind is binary, both male and female. We saw that man and woman both have the exact same value because both are made Amago day in the image of God. We saw that man and woman have different roles. That man was designed by God to lead and woman was designed by God to help. We saw that the family is God's plan for relationships that flourish.
And we daydreamed what our families and relationships would have been like if the events of Genesis Three never happened. And finally, we saw that God must be at the center of our lives if we want our relationships to flourish. The designer designed it so that he had to be in the center of everything he designed in order for flourishing to occur. And that brings everyone up to speed. And now we can ask this question, what happened?
Where did it all go so wrong? When did everything begin to fall apart? Why don't our relationships flourish today? Well, God pinpoints for us in his word, the exact moment in human history where we threw away God's perfect design for our lives and for our relationships. Remember, everything was perfect in Genesis One and Genesis Two.
It's in Genesis Three where everything goes sideways. So if you have your Bible with you, go ahead and turn with me to Genesis chapter three, verses one to six is where we're going to start. And we're going to see that Adam and Eve, we're going to see what Adam and Eve did that jacked up everything so badly for us. So let me read that passage for us. Genesis three, starting in verse, is now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, Did God really say you can't eat from any tree in the garden? The woman said to the serpent, we may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden, but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. God said, you must not eat it or touch it or you will die. No, you will not certainly die, the serpent said to the woman. In fact, God knows that when you eat it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
God commanded them not to eat from that one single tree. The serpent came and deceived Eve, and then they did what God commanded them not to do. Eve ate first, and then she gave some to Adam and he ate too. And it was from that exact moment in human history that everything began to fall apart. If you're new to the Bible, you might be hearing this and thinking to yourself, that seems like a little bit of an overreaction on God's part.
You're telling me that they ate one piece of fruit and the penalty was that the whole creation was consigned to ruin? Yes, because eating a single piece of fruit wasn't the issue. The issue was that when they dismissed God's command, they dismissed God. They Dishonored God, they didn't trust God. They rebelled against God, they committed crime against God, they sinned against him.
They rejected him as the center of the design for their lives. And like when you pull on a loose string on a sweater, everything began to unravel. Adam and Eve's rejection of God broke something in them, and that brokenness has been inherited by every single human being since then, with one glaring exception, of course. And though our first parents were the conduits that ushered sin into this world and into our lives, we can't blame them. Only we can choose to have our lives revolve around God.
But when we don't choose that, we suffer the same kind of consequences that Adam and Eve experienced in their life and relationships. There was relational follow that came as a result from this episode in the Garden of Eden in Genesis three and four. We can see four specific ways that rejecting God has affected our relationships, not just back then. We can see how we experienced the same follow in our relationships to this very day. And so here's the first silly on your outline.
Because of sin, we experience shame in our relationships. Because of sin, we experience shame in our relationships. Here's what the dictionary has to say about shame. It says Shame is a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior. Can I ask you a question?
If you ever felt painful humiliation because of something that you did that was wrong or foolish. Would you want other people to know about what you did? Of course you wouldn't. Your first instinct would be to hide the thing that you did from others. I think it's very interesting that this is the exact course of action that we see Adam and Eve take after they sinned in the garden, they hit themselves.
So let's pick things up. In Genesis three, starting in verses seven, just in the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze. And they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, Where are you? And he said, I heard you in the garden. And I was afraid because I was naked. So I hid. We see Adam and Eve hide in two ways.
First, we see them hiding from each other. They did this by hiding their nakedness from each other when they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. And second, we see them hiding from God. They did this by hiding behind some trees. Adam and Eve hid from each other and they tried to hide from God too.
So what does our hiding from each other look like? Well, we can hide from each other in a literal sense. We do this when we isolate ourselves and stop physically interacting with people in our lives. We reason like this. I don't have to feel ashamed around other people if I'm never around other people.
Now, we can hide from each other figuratively too. We may still put ourselves in positions where we are around other people on a regular basis, but we will hide the specific details about our life that we don't want anyone else to see. We just won't talk about it. We won't bring it up on our own, and we'll deflect or downplay or deny. If someone ever asks us about the thing that we're ashamed of and why do we do it?
Why do we hide when we're ashamed? Well, we believe a narrative that plays in our head over and over, and it sounds something like this. If anyone ever found out about this thing I did, then they would finally know what kind of a person I really am. And then no one would love me or accept me. I'd be rejected and alone forever.
We believe that narrative, and so we hide. And our hiding has a negative effect on our relationships. If we hide from everyone in our life, we won't have meaningful relationships with anyone in our life. The people in our life will get a version of us that we feel safe enough to project to them. They get the Instagram version of our life where everything is shiny and glossy and filtered and perfect.
They get half truths about us, but nobody gets the whole truth. The truth that includes my failures and struggles. No one gets that. The truth that the things I'm ashamed of actually affects me on a daily basis. They don't get that either.
And here's the irony. We're scared we'll lose relationships, that people know what's really going on in us, but because we're hiding all the time, we don't have any real relationships to begin with. I'm going to wrap up this point with a necessary nugget of wisdom when we're talking about hiding and sharing. I'm not suggesting for a second that we share all of the hardest parts of our life with every single person we know or to come into contact with. That wouldn't be wise.
That would be foolish. There needs to be a healthy level of trust with the people we share these parts of our life with. So I'm not saying to stop hiding everything from everyone. But what I would be curious to know, though, is that there is anyone who you share any of these things with, or do you hide at all from everyone? It's because of sin we have shame, and shame has negative ramifications on our relationships.
Here's the next filling on your outline. Because of sin, we play the blame game. Because of sin, we play the blame game. Whenever we blame someone for something, what we're doing is assigning responsibility to them for a fault or wrong that we have done. We've done something wrong, we're at fault.
But instead of accepting the responsibility for my actions, I'm going to try and pawn that responsibility off to someone else instead. And again, we see this play out in Adam and Eve's relationship in Genesis Three. After they sinned, we'll pick things up in verses eleven, then he God asked, who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? The man replied, the woman you gave to be with me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate.
So the Lord God asked the woman, what have you done? And the woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate. So there are three examples of blame we can see in these verses. In verse twelve, Adam blames God. I hate the fruit, but guess what?
So it's you and it's her. But this is not me. Don't put me on the stage, on the spotlight here. And then in verse 13, Eve gets in on the action and she blames the serpent. What have you done?
No, not me. The serpent. So God, each other and the serpent, but none of it is pointing at us now. It doesn't matter how they got to this place where they have forbidden fruit juice dripping down their face and the skin of forbidden fruit stuck in their teeth. It doesn't matter how they got here.
The fact remains, nobody forced them to sin against God. It was a free will decision of theirs. No one else was responsible for their actions. Satan didn't put the fruit in their mouth and physically forced their jaws up and down so that they chewed it and swallowed it. They made the choice to eat.
They chose to disobey, but then they tried to pass the buck after the fact. So what does blame reveal in a person's life? How does blame impact our relationships? Well, blame reveals a denial of the truth and refusal to own our parts in the problem. It's my fault.
But I don't want to admit that it's my fault, because if I can somehow show that it's not my fault, then I have nothing to be ashamed about and I have no responsibility to make things right. The person who's at fault is the one who has to make it right. And that person isn't me is you or someone else. We tell ourselves, and blame has a negative impact on us and our relationships because blame divides us. If the problem won't be acknowledged and owned up to whatever the problem is, then the problem can't be addressed and then the problem will never go away.
Now you have a problem in the middle of your relationship that's causing a divide, and you have a relationship that is constantly marred by division. When blame is the go to coping mechanism after sin, there could be no fixing a problem when there is no acknowledging the problem. Adam and Eve started playing the blame game after they rejected God in the Garden, and we've been playing the same game in our relationships ever since. Okay, here's your next feeling on your outline. Because of sin, we claim roles for ourselves that aren't ours, or we claim the right role in the wrong way.
This particular example of the follow from The Sin in the Garden takes place specifically within the confines of the marriage relationship. In a couple of weeks, we're going to spend a whole message on marriage. So I'll keep this point simple and focus on what we can see in only one verse. Really, only half of a verse is the last half of Genesis, chapter three, verses 16. After Adam and Eve sinned, God pronounced curses upon them in relation to their role in the sin.
He pronounced curses upon them in this order, the serpent, and then Eve, and then Adam. But we're going to focus our attention on what God spoke to Eve. So here's Genesis 316. It reads like this. He which is God said to the woman, I will intensify your labor pains.
You will bear children with painful effort. Your desire will be for your husband, yet he will rule over you. What does it mean that Eve's desire would be for her husband, but he would rule over her? God is not saying that she would have positive feelings toward him. Honey, I desire you so much.
I want you and I like you and I just want to be. I desire you. He's not saying that, and God is not saying that he would rule over her in a good general way as the head of the family. What God is saying in Genesis 316 is that one of the consequences of sin is that there would now be tension in the marriage relationship that wasn't there before the fall.
She's going to try and claim a role in the marriage that isn't hers, and he is going to try and claim the role in the marriage that is his, but go about it in the wrong way. John Piper weighs in on this discussion in a clear and concise way. Speaking on Genesis 316, he says this, this is a description of the curse. It's a description of misery, not a model for marriage. This is the way it's going to be in history where sin has the upper hand.
But what is really being said here? What's the nature of this ruined relationship after sin? The key comes from recognizing the connection between the last words of this verse, Genesis 316, and the last words of Genesis four seven. In Genesis chapter four, verses seven, God is warning Cain about his resentment and anger against Abel. God tells him that sin is about to get the upper hand in his life.
Notice at the end of chapter four, verses seven, Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. The parallel here between Genesis 316 and 47 is amazingly close. The words are virtually the same in the Hebrew, but you can see this in English as well. In Genesis 316, God says to the woman, Your desire is for your husband, and he shall rule over you.
In Genesis four seven, God says to King Sin's, Desire is for you and you shall rule over it. Now the reason this is important to see is that it shows us more clearly what is meant by desire. In Genesis 47 says that sin is crouching at the door of King's heart and that his desire is for him. It means that sin wants to overpower him, it wants to defeat him and subdue him and make him a slave of sin. Now, when we go back to Genesis 316, we should probably see the same meaning in the sinful desire of woman.
When it says, Your desire shall be for your husband, it means that when sin has the upper hand in woman, she will desire to overpower or subdue or exploit man. And when sin has the upper hand in man, he will respond in like manner and with his strength subdue her or rule over her. So what is really described in The Curse of Genesis 316 is the ugly conflict between the male and female that has marked so much of human history. Maleness as God created has been depraved and corrupted by sin. Femaleness as God has created, it has been depraved and corrupted by sin.
The essence of sin is selfreliance and selfexaltation, first in rebellion against God and then in exploitation of each other. End Quote It was a long one. It was a long one, but it was a good one. You ever wonder why there could be so much tension in marriage? Well, it's a result of the rejection of God that took place in the garden and it is plainly shown to us in Genesis Three, verse 16.
I hope it's obvious. I chose this word name because it rhymes with the other three words. And so here's a dictionary definition. If you don't know what name means, it means to wound or injure someone so that part of the body is permanently damaged. Again, we see this play out in the early pages of Genesis.
We can see this dynamic playoff between the first two brothers, Cain and Abel. Let me read this next passage for us. Genesis, chapter four, starting in verse, is the man was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, I have a male child. With the Lord's help, she also gave birth to his brother Abel.
Now, Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. In the course of time, Cain presented some of the Land's produce as an offering to the Lord, and Abel also presented an offering, some of the first born of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but he did not have regard for Cain in his offering. Cain was furious and he looked despondent. Then the Lord said to Cain, Why are you furious?
And why do you look despondent. If you do what is right, won't you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. His desire is for you, but you must rule over it. Cain said to his brother Abel, let's go out to the field.
And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Cain maimed his brother Abel. He maimed him so bad that he killed him. Why? Because his brother's actions were righteous and his weren't.
What was praiseworthy and able highlighted what was dishonorable in Cain. But why kill him over that? Well, if I look bad when compared to someone verse is have at least two options. I can change and do the right thing to like them. Or I could eliminate that other person and then I won't look bad compared to them anymore.
Now it's rare and extreme that a person would kill someone else like Cain killed Abel in Genesis four. So in what ways do we name each other in our relationships today? What would it look like for us, for any of us to be like King? Well, it would mean that anytime some weakness or bad habit in our lives is exposed by contrast to someone else's goodness, instead of dealing with our weakness or bad habit, we keep away from those whose lives make us feel defective. We don't kill them, we just avoid them.
Or worse, we find ways to criticize them so as to neutralize the part of their lives that was making us feel convicted. We feel like the best way to nullify someone's good point is to draw attention to their bad point. And it's in this way that we name each other. I will tear you down so that I can be lifted up.
Shame, blame, claim, name. We see these things affect human relationships immediately after mankind rejected God. We see this in just the third and fourth chapters of Genesis. And by the time we get to just Genesis six, we read this in Genesis chapter six, verse five. When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the Earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, the Lord regretted that he had made man on the Earth, and he was deeply grieved.
And that's the fallout from the problem. God diagnoses it for us in his would he reject the designer and the design falls apart. So what's the solution? I want you to think about this with me. If the problem can be pinpointed to the time in human history when mankind rejected God and then everything began to fall apart, then the solution should be the reversal of that event, shouldn't it?
If when we rejected God and our relationships began to fall apart when he was no longer at the center of our lives, then if we can somehow be reconciled to God and he is once again placed in the center of our lives, our relationships can begin to be put back together again. It's got kind of a Humpty Dumpty feel to it, and that's the solution. It's the beginning of it anyway. Mankind needs to be reconciled to God. So how do we do that?
How do we get reconciled to God? We're going to jump from the Old Testament and we're going to jump into the new and listen to what the Apostle Paul says about reconciliation in Two Corinthians, chapter five, verses 17 to 21. I put this passage on your outline. Here's what the Apostle Paul says to us, speaking of reconciliation starting to verse 17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away and see the new has come. Everything is from God who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the Ministry of reconciliation that is in Christ. God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ. Since God is making his appeal through us, we plead on Christ's behalf be reconciled to God.
He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Now, a couple of observations from this passage. First, God is the one who reconciles us to Himself. We see this in verse 18. We don't reconcile ourselves to God.
He reconciles us to Him and thank God he offers us this reconciliation because when we rejected Him, he could have just let us have what we wanted. All of us wanted a life without Him at the center of it. And he could have said, Fine, do it. And even if we came to our verses and wanted to come back into a relationship with God, we couldn't do it if he wasn't a willing participant in our reconciliation. We can never demand that or force that from Him.
Hey, God, I'm back. Hey, remember me? I know I messed up pretty bad before, but can we try this relationship thing out again between me and you? I want you back at the center of my life right now. And if God was like, no, I don't think so.
You already had your chance. We'd be hooped. We couldn't make him take us back if he didn't want to. So good thing. Our reconciliation with him is his idea.
God knew we would reject Him when he made us, and he made us anyway. He made us with a plan already in place to reconcile us to Himself after we rejected Him. And that plan was Jesus Christ. Which brings me to the second observation from our passage in Two Corinthians five. And it's this we are reconciled to God through Christ and in Christ.
He never had any of his own sin to deal with, but he did end up taking the blame of others upon Himself. See, we are to blame for our own sin. But Jesus took upon Himself the sin that we all should have been blamed for. He took our sin when he was on the cross, and Jesus never wrongfully claimed a role that wasn't his as a kid, he honored the authority of his parents and submitted to them. And all throughout his entire life, Jesus submitted to the authority of his Father in heaven, even though Jesus was fully God too.
Listen to how Jesus describes the way that he lived in submission to the Father. John, Chapter 519 Jesus replied, Truly, I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Sun likewise does these things. And John 1249 Jesus goes on to say this, for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said. Jesus only did what he saw the Father do.
Jesus only said what the Father told him to say. It wasn't beneath Jesus to take the role of submission and to defer to the Father in everything. He embraced the role of submitting to the Father, even though that submission meant him going to the cross. We hear Jesus's famous words uttered in the garden of Gethsemane on the night he was betrayed. In Luke 22 42, Jesus said, Father, if you are willing to take this cup away from me, nevertheless not my will, but Lord, I'm going to submit to your will.
Yours be done, Father. And when Jesus came to the Earth the first time, he didn't come to maim anyone, even though humanity deserved to be punished for its sin. He didn't come to condemn the world, but to save the world. The world deserved to be maimed for its sin. We rebelled against the Holy and eternal and awesome God.
We deserve to die for our sin, but Jesus let himself be maimed in the world's place. We rejected God and deserve to be cut off from relationship to Him, both now in this life and forever in the next. But God loved mankind so much that he didn't want to give us what we deserved. So instead, the Son of God was given as a substitute for us. He was cut off so that we could be brought back into a relationship with God on the cross.
All of our rejection of God, all of our rebellion, all of our crime and treason against him was placed upon Jesus, and Jesus suffered the punishment for all of it in our place. Two Corinthians 521 says he speaking of Jesus became sin, and when he did, the Father Port out his righteous wrath against our sin on his Son, who stood in our place. Jesus was maimed to death on the cross, and he was buried. And on the third day he rose to life. Anyone who receives the resurrected Jesus into their life will be reconciled to God through him.
Jesus is the means of our reconciliation to God, and we can see how awesome he is against the backdrop of shame and blame and claim and name. Those things plague us, but against the backdrop, Jesus shines so bright. So how do you receive Jesus into your life if you've never done this before? Well, you believe on him. You turn your entire life over to Him, all of it.
Do you want him like that? Then receive Him. Tell him your sorry for rejecting him and ask him to forgive you. And he will. And then spend the rest of your days learning how to follow Him.
This is how a person is reconciled to God the very first time. This is how someone becomes a Christian. But what if you're already a Christian and you're still experiencing some of the relational fallouts from the sin that took place in the Garden of Eden? What if you've been a Christian for a while now and you still experience some measure of shame and blame and claim and maim in your relationships? Well, a couple of things to consider if this is you first.
When Christ reconciles us back to God, God is placed in the center of our lives, and we begin to heal and our lives begin to come back into the rhythm that God has designed for them. It takes a lifetime to align ourselves with God's way of life. We can and we will experience a certain level of flourishing in this life. But we won't experience his life perfectly and fully until we get to heaven. We can have some now, but the full meal deal is still to come.
And second, when God takes his place at the center of our lives, our life is not set to autopilot. We have to choose to walk with him. We have to daily decide to do life his way. This is what the Bible calls abiding in Christ, and we don't always do this well as Christians. So what happens if God is in me?
But I choose to do some things in my relationship, so he says not to do. Will I experience blessing as a Christian if I don't obey Christ? Of course not. And if you find yourself in a season like this in any of your relationships, the solution is not to become a Christian all over again. The solution is to repent and turn that area of your life over to God's care and control.
And then we can begin to experience health there again, maybe for the first time in some instances. So how does receiving God into your life impact you and your relationships? Whether you're becoming a Christian for the very first time or you're coming back to him after some wandering? Well, here's a snapshot of how a reconciled relationship with God can influence how we deal with shame, blame, claim and meme. See, with God at the center of our lives, we have nothing to be ashamed about anymore.
Why not? Because everything we should rightly be ashamed about was taken by Jesus and paid for on the cross. We've been made clean, spiritually. My sins are gone, Christian. Your sins, they're gone.
Yes, I did those things in my life, and yes, I'm not proud of them. But those things aren't on my life anymore. They're gone. Praise God. This leads me to being able to share those things in various relationships that I'm in.
I used to hide that part of my life from others, but now I don't have to hide it from anyone anymore. I can be truly known by other people. That's one of the impacts of the gospel. With God at the center of my life, I don't ever have to blame anyone for my sins ever again. Why not?
Because the sins that I've committed have been forgiven, and any sin I commit in the future already has forgiveness secured for it. All I need to do is bring it to God and he's, like I got that one too. Dealt with it at all, with the it's covered all your sins in the past, all your sins in the present, and all in the future were put on the Son of God and he paid for them. All this means that I don't have to blame anyone in my relationships for the things that I do wrong in them. I can own my own stuff and receive forgiveness from God for it.
And with God at the center of our lives, we would never have to maim anyone in any way in order to make us feel better about ourselves. Why not? Well, because now we have a new identity in Christ. I'm not perfect, but this is so great. We have a perfect person living inside all of us.
I have a perfect person living inside me now and his name is Jesus and his perfection makes me right in God's eyes. I don't have to compare myself to anyone anymore. God accepts me perfectly on the merits of what Jesus has done and now I'm good in God's eyes all because of Jesus. And not only do I not need to tear others down so I can be lifted up because of what Jesus did for me, I can turn around and now do the same thing for others. He offered himself up to be maimed for my sake.
He was torn down so that I could be lifted up and blessed in my new relationship with God. Now I can choose to sacrifice myself in certain circumstances within my relationship so that those around me can be blessed. I can walk in Jesus footsteps. I can go low so other people can be lifted up. When mankind rejects God shame and blame and claim and maim are sure to follow.
But when mankind is reconciled to God, shame and blame and claim and name are redeemed in a way that glorifies God and blesses us in the relationships that we have with others, isn't that amazing? But this reconciliation doesn't end with our vertical relationship with God. Believe it or not, when we get reconciled to God, the reconciliation party is just getting started. Getting right with God is the first and most important reconciliation that we need. But just because we're made right with God doesn't mean that all of our other relationships are automatically fixed.
They aren't. The damage that exists in our relationships horizontally needs to be addressed. And the way that God provided vertical reconciliation in Him with Jesus or with him in Jesus serves as the way we can experience reconciliation in our horizontal relationships, too. Sin fractures our relationships. But Jesus is the means to reconciliation in our relationships.
So, here's the pattern that we see in our own reconciliation with God. See, God initiated the reconciliation process with me, and he initiated it with you too. God forgave us, and then we receive his forgiveness, and then we're reconciled. And if we want healthy relationships, we need to be the ones to initiate reconciliation where it's needed, like God initiated it with us. I need to forgive others when they've wronged me, and I need to be the one to ask for and receive their forgiveness when I've wronged them.
We need to be the ones to initiate reconciliation in our relationships where there is a fracture. This is what Paul instructs us to do in Romans chapter twelve, verse 18. Concerning this matter. He says, if possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
In Matthew in The Mount, Jesus also says this. He says, Blessed or happy are the peacemakers, not just the ones who enjoy peace. He's the ones who give themselves to constructing peace and bringing about peace. To initiate peace, you'll be the blessed ones. You'll be the happy ones if you pursue that end, but be prepared.
You pursue reconciliation if possible, as far as it depends on you live at peace with everyone. And we've just scratched the surface here. How to forgive and how to receive forgiveness really needs its whole, entire own message. I think we'll need to come back to this at some point in the future and spend more time here, because I am convinced utterly that unforgiveness lies at the root of so many of our personal problems today in the Christian life. But we just keep justifying our unforgiveness, and then we keep having brokenness Mark our life and our relationships.
So we'll have to talk more about that some other time now, because we're in the final stretch of this message, I'm actually going to invite Jeff to come back up. We need to be reconciled to God. We need to be reconciled to each other, and lastly, we need to reconcile others with God. This is the outworking of our text. In Two Corinthians, chapter five, halfway through verse 19, Paul says, and he, the Lord has committed the message of reconciliation to us.
Therefore, we Christians, we are ambassadors for Christ. Since God is making his appeal through us, we plead on Christ's behalf be reconciled to God when we see brokenness in other people, especially in people that we have a relationship and in the people that we love. And we know that the solution to their problem is that they need to be reconciled with God. If they haven't had that happen yet, what should we do? We should let ourselves be used by God to point them to the reconciliation they so desperately need.
We should share the gospel with them. We should share with them what God has done to make reconciliation with Him possible. We should tell them about Jesus and invite them into relationship with Him so that they, too, can enjoy him at the center of their life and so that his life can begin to flow through them into all their various relationships as well. That's the pathway to relationships that flourish. You bow your heads and pray with me, Father?
I call it the Christian life. Life, the way that you designed it, it really is simple. It's just not easy at all. It's like impossible. It's simple.
You're everything, period. You're worth everything. You're the point of everything, Lord. Everything exists because of you and through you and for you. You're the designer, and you design this whole thing.
You rigged this whole thing for you to be the nucleus of it, the center of it, where everything revolves around you. And when it does, there's Shalom, there's peace and prosperity and blessing and honor and joy and purpose and meaning. It's really simple, but it's just not easy, Lord, because there's something in us that is broken. And we reject you. And we just think we know better.
We think we could do it without you or on our own way or on our own timetable, with our own methods. And we reject you. And then we wonder why things are such a mess.
I pray, Lord, for the supernatural work that has to take place in any of our hearts, in all of our hearts that says that our hearts begin to awaken and cry out to you and for you, Jesus. I want you at the center. Whether you've been at the center of my life for five decades, I want you to still stay there. Whether I've wandered for five minutes, Lord, I wander wander back to you where you're the center, whether I don't even know you yet. I have heard about Christianity and Jesus my whole life.
Maybe I've never turned my life over to you, Lord. Do that in someone's life today.
And then give us the Grace that we need in order to walk and to live and to plan and to order our lives around you as the center. And open up the windows of heaven and give us the blessings that we so desperately want to experience with you. And in the relationships that you've given us in our life. Heal those relationships, Lord, we pray. Bless them.
Fix them and show us how to be used towards that end. Glorify yourself in all of these things. Jesus we pray. Amen.
Series: Flourish...Speaker: BJ Chursinoff
In this message we’ll identify 4 lies many people believe about singleness, and then tackle a question for the ages: How can I know if God has called me to be single or to be married?
As a Christian, I absolutely love the Bible. I know it as God's word and I love it as God's Word. I love what the Bible says. But you know what? I also love what the Bible doesn't say.
Take, for example, Jesus words recorded for us in John chapter ten. In John chapter ten, starting in verses seven, we read Jesus said again, Truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers. But the sheep didn't listen to them. I am the gate.
If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and out and go out and find Pastor, a thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. So here's what it says. Here's what Jesus is saying. Jesus has come so that they in verse is may have abundant life.
Now who is this they that Jesus is referring to in this passage? Well, verses seven and eight tell us that they are of the sheep, and a sheep in this context is anyone who comes to Jesus. They in this passage is referring to Christians. So Jesus came so that all Christians can experience abundance in their life. Or if we use the title of our sermon series, Jesus came so that all of his sheep, every single one of them, can have a life that flourishes.
That's what Jesus is saying in John chapter ten, and it's awesome. But now I want you to notice very importantly what Jesus doesn't say in this passage. He doesn't say at the end of verse ten, I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance, except if they're single. If they're single, they can't have a life of flourishing and abundance and they are relegated to a second-class type of Christian life. Jesus never said those words.
Aren't you so glad that Jesus never said those words? He never said them in John ten. He never said them in any other part of the Bible. Jesus came to give abundant life to everyone, and this includes you even if you're not married. The abundant life that Jesus came to give us is not out of reach for the person who has known singleness their whole life up to this point and who will continue to know it the rest of their life.
The abundant life that Jesus came to give us is not out of reach for the person who has been married before, but now finds themselves single again, either because of a divorce or due to the passing of their spouse. However, which way a single person has come to be single, whether they have always been single or whether they have become single again after having been married, Jesus is not limited in fulfilling his words to them in John ten, where he States, I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. We're in part three of our verse is relationships. And if you haven't figured it out by now, we are addressing the topic of singleness in this message. I'm going to expose four lies that many people believe about singleness.
And then I'm going to try to answer one big question that many, if not most, single people have. And the question is this. How can I tell if God is calling me to singleness or to marriage? But first, before we jump into those, I have some preliminary thoughts that I want to share with you on the front end. I'm not going to just be talking to singles in this message.
And there's a couple of reasons why you need to have a good grasp on both. I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but there is the very real possibility that if you are currently married, you may not remain married for the rest of your life. That's not guaranteed to anyone who's married. And if you find yourself single again one day, you need to have a biblical vision for your singleness. And even if you are married until the day you die, you need to have a biblical grasp on singleness so that you know how to love and encourage and understand your single brothers and sisters in the truth.
And the flip side is true, too. If you are currently single, you may not remain single for the rest of your life. And I can hear the single people through the audio saying a big Amen. You may not remain single for the rest of your life. So it will be good to have a solid vision for what God's design for marriage is, if that is what he calls you too.
And even if the Lord doesn't call you to be married one day, you still need to have a biblical view of marriage so that you can encourage and support your married brothers and sisters in the truth, too. The whole Church needs to understand both singleness and marriage because we are all doing this thing called life together, and every one of us is either single or married. I always try to keep everyone in mind when preaching a message, both believers and those who are still exploring what the Christian faith is all about. But you need to know that in this message I'll be speaking primarily to believers about what the Bible teaches us about singleness. Some of the stuff shared here will get you laughed at if you're going to bring it up in the lunchroom at work this week.
Because Christianity, if you didn't know this by now, is weird in the world that we live in. It goes against the grain of what our culture believes and teaches. But unlike the culture that we live in, we're not taking our relational cues from what we see on TikTok or watch on Netflix. So with the Bible as our guide, we're going to cut through a lot of the noise surrounding singleness. If you're watching this message and you're not a Christian, I'm so glad that you are watching this message.
Just don't be surprised if you hear some very different ideas than the ones you're normally used to hearing when it comes to singleness. It's not lost on me that singleness can be a painful reality at times for a lot of people, both inside and outside the Church. It isn't always an easy topic for everyone, and social media hasn't exactly alleviated the situation. So I'm going to do my very best to be aware of that reality. As I talk about this subject with you, I want you to know that I am painfully aware that this message on singleness will be inadequate on a couple of levels, and that has weighed on me this week as I prepared it's impossible for me to address every single angle and every single aspect that exists surrounding this topic.
I want to talk about it all. I just don't have the time to do that in one message. And even the stuff I do talk about with you can't be exhausted the way that I would like it to be. So that means we're going to be flying pretty fast over some parts of this discussion. And if, as you're listening, the thought hits you, hey, he didn't mention this or he didn't address that part, trust me, I know that I'm missing it.