Pastor Jonah preached Ezekiel 36:22-27. He taught us that Christ has forgiven our sin, defeated spiritual oppression, and torn down the wall of hostility and division that keeps people separated. And we get to be partakers in that glory. Lector: Kristin Paine
Pastor Jonah preached Ezekiel 36:22-27. He taught us that Christ has forgiven our sin, defeated spiritual oppression, and torn down the wall of hostility and division that keeps people separated. And we get to be partakers in that glory.
Lector: Kristin Paine
Trying to answer, “what is wrong with the world?”
No simplistic answers, striving for the fullness both of what God has made and what has happened to it.
3 foundational stories from the OT, then several pictures of what this looks like
The Fall of Genesis 3: personal rebellion against God. the curse of creation
We have chosen the way of sin, breaking trust with God.
We are alienated from our home and our God on a personal level.
The Invasion of Gen. 6: evil spiritual forces invade, seeking to distort and deceive us to keep us from being who we were made to be. We are under spiritual oppression, attacked by unseen forces.
The Tower of Gen. 11: distorted and deceived, we reject God’s mission for our lives and instead sought to invade the spiritual realm. As a result, God handed over all nations but Israel to lesser spirit beings…he disinherited them. We are separated from God and each other on a national level.
What’s wrong with the world? It has been desecrated.
We are individually separated from God and each other.
Personally under assault from the spirit world.
Corporately separated from God and each other.
That’s what’s wrong!
For a gospel to be good news, it MUST deal with each part of the problem.
Fall: alienation.
Invasion: oppression
Tower: separation.
So…who is ready for good news? Let’s begin, then. Look at v. 22 w/me
I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it.
-Ezekiel 36:22
The gospel of God is good news first because it is a gospel of grace.
After our first parents sinned, 3 things happen:
They hide in fear
They cover themselves in shame
Adam blames Eve and God to escape his guilt
How much of our lives is spent in fear, shame, or guilt?
How do you try and deal with that? Does your solution usually begin with “I”…?
I need a better plan, I need to change this, I need to make up for what I did…
We have sinned, and we get trapped in this cycle of separation/alienation because we trust ourselves to get out of it.
But God, the one who was sinned against, decides to act.
He does not give requirements, but a promise. I WILL bring you back!
Not because you deserve it! What good news that is.
God’s rescue plan must begin with grace, because the promise is rooted in God himself:
I am doing it to protect my holy name
-Ezekiel 36:22
You and I bear the name of God. We are made in his image.
We are family, and because God is committed to his family, God will fix it
This is such incredible relief of pressure, church.
God alone is perfect, the almighty creator of all that is! If he is this committed to his holy name, he cannot leave his salvation into our desecrated hands.
The gospel MUST BE A GOSPEL OF GRACE because of God’s commitment to his holy name.
Now…what will he do? Another flood? Wipe us out?
No! Remember the desecration pattern: Garden, Invasion, Tower.
Now watch the promise:
When I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes…the nations will know that I am the Lord.
-Ezekiel 36:24
The nations, scattered and disinherited at Babel, will see that God is the Lord
This is a promise to re-inherit the nations!
Babel will be undone. Next:
Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you.
-Ezekiel 36:25
The distorting impact of spiritual invasion will be cleansed, no longer worshiping idols.
We won’t turn to things other than God, the primary way spiritual forces assault us!
Where our hearts were once twisted and distorted under evil influences, we are promised a new heart and a new spirit.
The invasion will be undone.
Now, just a bit further, listen to one last promise
When I cleanse you from your sins, I will repopulate your cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt. The fields that used to lie empty and desolate…will again be farmed. And when I bring you back, people will say, ‘This former wasteland is now like the Garden of Eden! The abandoned and ruined cities now have strong walls and are filled with people!’
-Ezekiel 36:35
The Garden will be replanted and restored.
Alienated at the Tower, God promises to bring us ALL home together.
Oppressed from the invasion, God promises to cleanse us and give new hearts/spirit
Separated from his presence, God promises to bring us back to Eden where:
You will be my people, and I will be your God.
-Ezekiel 36:28
Because God is committed to his holy name, he is committed to you who bear his name.
And because of this commitment, his Gospel, that means good news! His gospel is first and foremost a gospel of grace. It’s not about what you do or don’t deserve, it is about a God committed to you because he is committed to his holy name.
If you can put these 3 events, the fall/invasion/tower, at the front of your mind, learning to read the Bible through these 3 lenses, the scriptures will come alive.
And if the Scriptures come alive, you will see the beauty of Christ more fully and you will hear the invitations of Christ more clearly.
So, while I have you here, while those stories are on the top of your mind, I want to try this. I’m going to read three whole chapters of the Bible for you, please pay the closest of attention. This is the word of God for you, and I want you to hear what good news this truly is.
What will God do about alienation, oppression, and separation? HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD:
READ EPHESIANS 1-3
Nine weeks. Nine weeks we’ve looked at the root of sin and the face of sin.
We didn’t do this to just feel worse! Not to wallow in despair after 2 impossible years.
It’s because the prescription is only as good as the diagnosis.
If we understand the problem more clearly, we will rejoice in God’s cure more FULLY!
We want to see the WONDER of what God has done for us in Christ!
Having heard the beautiful, matchless, timeless, boundless, limit-less word of God, can you see it Christian?
Can you understand why Paul writes a letter amidst suffering but starts with PRAISE BE TO THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST?!
He can do that, we can do that, because ours is a gospel of grace, which re-unites the nations into the family of God, which subjects the spiritual forces of evil under the authority of Christ, and which will carry us all the way back home to God.
Now, having heard the word of God, see the word of God and experience Him:
COMMUNION