Skit - Clover Sites



| |

Part 4: Experiencing God's Tough Love.  God's unconditional love is powerful but it creates a dilemma: some people take advantage of it.  What's the balance?  How do we offer unconditional love knowing that some people will abuse it?  This message looks at how God made two covenants with his people: Abraham's and Moses'.  The first is "one-way" (unconditional), the second is "two-way", that is, bringing definition to the first covenant with expectations (Ten Commandments).  This file also includes extensive scriptural support for the Bible's BIG Story. 

Part 5: Experiencing God's Power.  The Bible's Big Story all comes together at the Last Supper.  We see that God enters into a new covenant with his people at this meal.  But the stakes have been raised.  God no longer allows animals to be cut as with Abraham or Moses.  The sacrifice of this covenant is Jesus.  If you've ever wondered why you have trouble obeying God you'll want to read this.

Series: The Bibles BIG Story

This document contains:

• Part 4: Experiencing God’s Tough Love

• Part 5: Experiencing God’s Power (page 15)

(Part 4) Experiencing God’s Tough Love

By Remy Diederich

Copyright 2005, all rights reserved

Throughout this series we’ve been learning that the Bible’s BIG Story is about God’s unconditional love for his people. To help us understand this even better, let’s watch this…

Drama: Only Child[1] (Script is at the end of this message)

That’s a powerful story. But you might think it’s a bit contrived. I mean, how could that ever happen? Who would do that? But it’s actually based a true story. On December 23, 1982, two days before Christmas, Elizabeth Morris[2] sat in her kitchen waiting for her 18 year old son to get home from his job at the shopping mall. But instead of her son returning home, she got a phone call from the hospital at 10:40 p.m. telling her that her son had been in an accident.

A young man, by the name of Tommy Pigage, was driving with a blood alcohol level that was three times the legal limit. He crossed the center line and hit the other car head on, killing Elizabeth’s son, Ted. Elizabeth and her husband’s first reactions were anger, hatred and revenge. Elizabeth even admits that she fantasized about running Tommy down with her car and pinning him against a wall until he died. But as serious followers of Jesus they opened their heart up to what God wanted them to do and God changed their heart. He gave them his love and forgiveness for Tommy. And as you saw, it changed all their lives.

It’s a great modern day story of what I’ve been talking about the last two weeks: God’s unconditional love. If you’ve been here, you know that I’ve used both the story of Abraham and the story of the Gibeonites to describe God’s covenant love. We learned that God’s covenant love is three things…

▪ It’s Unconditional – that is, it’s not based on our performance.

▪ It’s Irrevocable - that means that it can’t be taken away.

▪ And it’s Relational- that means that our natural response to God’s love is to enter into relationship with him.

But in spite of these positive aspects, most of us know that there’s another side to unconditional love. The reality of unconditional love is that some people take advantage of it, don’t they? Not everyone is like Andy in this skit. Not everyone responds with gratitude and devotion.

You might know that from personal experience. Maybe someone important in your life has taken advantage of your unconditional love. Or maybe you’ve seen someone justify their sin because they say that they know God will forgive them. So, we wonder how to bring balance to this dilemma. How can we confidently offer unconditional love when we know that some people might abuse it?

Well, God brings the balance as part of the Bible’s Big story. And that’s what I want to look at today. As I mentioned, God made a covenant with Abraham expressing his unconditional commitment to him. There was nothing that Abraham could do to lose God’s favor. But then God created another covenant with Moses. It didn’t negate Abraham’s covenant but it did add some definition. It was with the second covenant that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.

"I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.”

It’s interesting that God begins the commandments with this statement. He’s saying that “Since I have saved you, this is the kind of people I have saved you to be.”

1. Do not worship any other gods besides me.

2. Do not make idols of any kind, whether in the shape of birds or animals or fish.5You must never worship or bow down to them…

3. Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God.

4. Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days a week are set apart for your daily duties and regular work, 10but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. …

5. Honor your father and mother.

6. Do not murder.

7. Do not commit adultery.

8. Do not steal.

9. Do not testify falsely against your neighbor.

10. Do not covet your neighbor's house. …or anything else your neighbor owns." Exodus 20:2-17

What God was doing here was to lay down boundaries or expectations for their relationship. I know expectations might sound like they contradict unconditional love, but they don’t. God loves us no matter what we do. That’s the unconditional part. But he still has expectations for the relationship and how we ought to live our lives. One doesn’t negate the other.

Parents understand this. Just because they love their children unconditionally doesn’t mean they let their children do whatever they want. They set limits. They have rules – not to punish their children or as hoops to earn their love. They simply want to create a sense of respect, order and safety in the family.

The Ten Commandments had similar purposes; I’ve listed three here;

▪ one, to define how to relate to God,

▪ two; to define how relate to other people and

▪ three; and probably most importantly, to set God’s people apart as a sign or showcase to the world.

In other words, God was offering the Israelites the chance to be his showcase on earth. The whole world would come to know God through the example of the Israelites. God told them…

You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Exodus 19:3-6

God called them to a very special role. The Ten Commandments weren’t meant to be a burden to bear but an opportunity to seize. So, how did the people respond to the terms of the covenant? Let’s read what it says…

He [Moses]got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the LORD… Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, "We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey." Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words." Exodus 24:4-7

"We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey." That’s a pretty bold statement to make. The honest person would have slipped away knowing that they could never live up to the covenant. But I’m sure the peer pressure was pretty strong. So they agreed to the terms. Then Moses sealed the deal by sprinkling them with blood. The blood was symbolic of saying, “May we die if we break this covenant.”

Now you’d think that a sober scene like this would have stuck with them for life…certainly a few decades, and at least a few months, before they fell away from their commitment. But they couldn’t last 40 days. Moses had gone back up the mountain to meet with God and while he was gone the people grew impatient.

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him." Exodus 32

Surprisingly, Aaron agreed. I don’t know what his problem was. He was Moses’ co-leader. He should have known better. But he had them give him their gold jewelry and the Bible tells us that he melted it down to make a golden calf that they worshipped.

Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."

When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD." So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry. Exodus 32:2-6

From that time on, God’s people showed a consistent pattern of disobeying God. It was almost as if the Ten Commandments brought out the worst in them rather than the best. Let me list just a few of the lowlights from their history.

After the golden calf fiasco, Moses sent spies into the Promised Land to see what it was like.

When the spies returned with their report, the people cried and begged to go back to Egypt.

That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt." Numbers 14:1-4

They eventually got over their pity party and entered the Promised Land but they had to wait 40 years. God didn’t like their attitude so they wander in the Sinai Wilderness until that generation died off, including Moses. Then Joshua finally led them into the land. But after Joshua died, the people decided that they didn’t have to drive out the Canaanites like God had instructed. They lost their accountability (when Joshua died) so they married the Canaanite women and worshipped their gods. God told them…

I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.' Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you." Judges 2:1-3

After this, the nation grew and had a number of kings. When Solomon was king, the Bible tells us that even Solomon worshipped a number of gods, even gods that required child sacrifice.

As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done. 1 Kings 11:4-6

And finally, after Solomon died and the kingdom split into two countries, Israel and Judah seemed to almost compete in who could sin the most. It was like sibling rivalry.

In the book of Hosea, God presents his case against his people, listing their sin. They had broken every one of the commandments and more.

▪ There was no knowledge of God in the land.

▪ There was swearing, deception, murder, stealing, and adultery.

▪ They turned to worship wooden idols.

▪ The men had sex with temple prostitutes.

▪ They gave lip service to God, acting religious when their hearts were far from God.

▪ Their leaders led them astray.

God had had enough and so He let the consequences of their actions take effect. He basically said…

“If you don’t want me to be your god, I won’t be. If you want to worship these fertility gods, go ahead. Then let them protect you too.”

Listen to how God speaks through the prophet Jeremiah.

Like a wife who commits adultery, Israel (the northern kingdom) has worshiped other gods on every hill and under every green tree.  I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me. But she did not come back. And though her faithless sister Judah (the southern kingdom) saw this,  she paid no attention. She saw that I had divorced faithless Israel and sent her away. But now Judah, too, has left me and given herself to prostitution. Jeremiah 3:6-8

God likens the people worshipping other gods to prostitution and adultery. They broke covenant with God and so God called it what it was; a divorce. He didn’t leave them. They left him. And when they did that the bottom fell out. As I’ve been telling you each week with my graph, first, the Assyrians came in and took over Israel in 722 B.C. and then 150 years later the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and took away their leaders into exile.

God’s people experienced God’s tough love. And they were shocked. They never thought God would let them suffer. They thought that they could break every commandment and God would still bless them simply because of Abraham’s one-way covenant. But they thought wrong. He didn’t stop loving them. He didn’t abandon them. But he did stop protecting them.

The only way God could get their attention was to let them reap what they had sown. I read a modern day story recently that was very similar, only it was about a husband and a wife. In the book, Love Must Be Tough, Dr. James Dobson tells about a woman who wrote him explaining how her husband had an affair. She said…

I bought a book…in which the author promised if I’d obey my…husband, God wouldn’t allow any wrong to happen so long as I was submissive. Well, in my panic, I thought I would lose him forever, and I agreed to let the other woman come into our bedroom with us. I thought it would make Paul love me more, but it just made him fall deeper in love with her. Now he is confused and doesn’t know which one of us he wants.

You see, this woman was trying desperately to love her husband unconditionally. To her, unconditional love meant that she couldn’t require anything from her husband. She thought that if she could only love her husband enough then he would love her back. And when he didn’t love her she saw it as her fault not his. She bore the guilt for not loving him enough.

She was at a loss and looking for answers. Dr. Dobson answered by saying that, rather than show her love by letting his girlfriend into their bedroom, her love needed to be expressed by laying down some boundaries and enforcing consequences. So he suggested that she write her husband a letter that went like this…

It is incredible just how foolish I have been since you decided to leave. I have tolerated your unfaithfulness for almost a year and was even so naïve as to permit your girlfriend to come into our bedroom. I can’t believe now that I did that. I guess I just loved you so much that I was willing to do anything you demanded, just to keep you from leaving me.

But I’ll tell you, Paul, those days are over! I doubt if I can ever trust you again or feel for you as I once did…You violated my trust – not once but repeatedly for all these months. I’m no longer special to you – I’m just one of a crowd. I can’t live with that. I’d rather face life alone than as a member of your harem. If Susan is the one you want, I hope the two of you will be happy together…I’ve been doing some intensive thinking, and believe you should pack up and leave…What we both need is some time apart. I think you should find another place to live…If in the future you decide that you want to be my husband, then we’ll talk about it. I make no promises, however…God bless you, Paul. The kids and I will miss you. (Love Must Be Tough, page 72,73)

Dr. Dobson was telling this woman that some times love has to be tough if there is any hope of saving the relationship.

And that’s exactly what God did with his people when they took advantage of his love. His showed them tough love by giving them consequences for their behavior. You see, boundaries and consequences are what bring balance to the dilemma of unconditional love. It’s amazing what happens when people experience tough love! Their hearing gets better and their eye sight improves.

Hosea records the people’s response…

Come, let us return to the LORD.      

He has torn us to pieces

but he will heal us;       

he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.

After two days he will revive us;

on the third day he will restore us,

that we may live in his presence.

Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him.

As surely as the sun rises, he will appear;  

he will come to us like the winter rains,  

like the spring rains that water the earth." Hosea 6:1-3

I know that I’m telling the Bible’s big story today. You can treat it just like a history lesson if you want to. But somehow I think that I might be telling a few people’s personal story as well. Maybe you’ve turned your back on God and suffered the consequences. And now you are wondering if there’s a way back to God. The good news is that God always takes us back. Always. Listen to the words that God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah to his wayward people…

The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, "Have you heard what people are saying?--`The LORD chose Judah and Israel and then abandoned them!' They are sneering and saying that Israel is not worthy to be counted as a nation.

But this is the LORD's reply: I would no more reject my people than I would change my laws of night and day, of earth and sky. I will never abandon the descendants of Jacob or David, my servant, or change the plan that David's descendants will rule the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, I will restore them to their land and have mercy on them." Jeremiah 33

These are covenant words! God is saying that the laws of nature would have to be suspended before he’d break covenant with his people. In other words, IT AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN! Just because he let them endure the consequences of their choices doesn’t mean that He’s against them and he won’t take them back.

He said, “I will restore them to their land and have mercy on them.” These were his words 3,000 years ago to his people and these are his words to us this morning as well. So, if you are in that situation – if you have drifted from God and want to come back – the door is open and God’s hand is reaching out to you. But you have to accept his offer. Let me pray for you.

Prayer: Father, thank you that we can reduce the Bible to one big story. It’s obvious, as we read the highlights, that you are passionate for your people. But Father, some people here are unsure of their status. They aren’t so sure that they are one of your people. They’ve either never known you or have known you and walked away. I ask that you’d open their eyes to see that you are quick to welcome them back. Might your Spirit persuade them of your covenant love for them. And might they find the Spirit’s courage to follow you more closely than ever. Amen.

Drama: Only Child

Scene is a family room. Mom is standing by the kitchen table cutting vegetables.

ELISE: (offstage) Anybody home?

MOM: C'mon in Elise!

ELISE: (offstage, then appears with knapsack and UPS package in hand) OK.

MOM: (busy with vegetables) Andy just called and said he'd be a few minutes late.

ELISE: Figures. (sets the package on kitchen chair, knapsack on floor)

MOM: His replacement at work showed up late. Are you guys going to the library again tonight?

ELISE: Yep. Our paper is due Friday. I'll be so glad to get it finished!

MOM: Would you like something to drink?

ELISE: No thanks. I'm fine.

MOM: You're sure?

ELISE: Yeah.

MOM: (bringing vegetables to the table, making conversation) So, you still like Harper?

ELISE: It's okay. But I really like the junior college I went to in Florida. It was nice, I had a lot of friends ...but my parents wouldn't let me stay there.

MOM: Why not?

ELISE: We just moved here in May. They want me at home...I guess to help them adjust. It's not fair. They gotta let go sometime.

MOM: It's a hard thing to do.

ELISE: Yeah, I know...but I mean, I've been with them almost 19 years ... most marriages don't even last that long.

MOM: (smiling) So, you want a divorce?

ELISE: A separation would be fine.

MOM: (pause) Were you born in Florida?

ELISE: Lived there my whole life.

MOM: Well, being here you're in for a real treat...there's nothing like a white Christmas.

ELISE: Yeah, I guess that will be kinda neat. In Florida Santa brings presents by speedboat! (she goes to sit, but almost sits on package) Oh, this was at your front door. (she sets the package on the table)

MOM: Thanks. I wasn't expecting ...(goes to look at it, reads the name is visibly shocked)

ELISE: What's wrong? (gets up and looks at the package) Who's Jason?

MOM: (pause) My son.

ELISE: I thought Andy was an only child.

MOM: Jason died six years ago.

ELISE: Oh, I'm really sorry Mrs. Hollander. How old was he?

MOM: Fifteen... He was hit by a car on his bike. He died two days later.

ELISE: (beat) Was it a drunk driver?

MOM: (surprised) How did you know?

ELISE: No wonder Andy wanted to do our paper on that ...(notices Mom looking at package) What do you think it is?

MOM: (puzzled) It's from our insurance. (opens letter on top of package and begins to read) Dear Jason, Happy Birthday in advance! Since you are turning 21 you will no longer be automatically covered on your parent's policy ... I will be calling you soon to discuss the possibility of you purchasing your insurance from us ... in the meantime, enclosed is our gift ... (beat) it's a highway safety kit.

ELISE: I'm so sorry...

ANDY: (enters) I'm home. Hey Elise, sorry I'm late.

ELISE: (trying to sensitize him to the situation) A package came for Jason. (Mom looks at Andy, then crosses to him, touching him gently. Then she leaves. After a pause) Why didn't you tell me about your brother?

ANDY: I don't know... (visibly upset)

ELISE: What happened to the guy who hit him? Did he walk away from it?

ANDY: Yeah, he did.

ELISE: Figures...Killing a fifteen-year-old kid and walking away! That's so unfair!

ANDY: Would it have been better if he had been killed too?

ELISE: Yeah, I think it would! Somehow I think it would! Your brother was killed because some low-life idiot got drunk! What happened to the guy? I hope he got life.

ANDY: He didn't go to prison.

ELISE: What? Why?

ANDY: They didn't press charges.

ELISE: Why not? Your parents let him walk away?

ANDY: Not exactly.

ELISE: "Not exactly?"

ANDY: (trying to end the discussion) He was just a messed-up guy with lots of problems, okay?

ELISE: So what happened to him?

ANDY: They were gonna press charges but they changed their minds when they saw this kid in court, when they got to know him. He didn't know that he was doing. He didn't mean to kill anyone. He was just a stupid ... lonely ... kid. They saw that and forgave him.

ELISE: Wow.

ANDY: There's more. They got to know him, really know him, and eventually they fell in love with this kid and they adopted him.

ELISE: Wait, your parents ... ?!

ANDY: Jason's not my brother. I never knew him...(she looks at him in surprise) I'm the drunk driver, the low-life idiot...

ELISE: What? (very confused) I don't get it...They adopted you?

ANDY: Yeah...me. (pause) Listen, give me a moment will you, I need to go see how she's doing. (he exits, Elise sits, stunned )

(fade out)

Supplementary Scripture

The Covenant

10 Then the LORD said: "I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you. 11 Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 12 Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. [a] 14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. … 27 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." 28 Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments. Exodus 34

The Fall of Israel

5 The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes.

 7 All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods 8 and followed the practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. 9 The Israelites secretly did things against the LORD their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns. 10 They set up sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. 11 At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the LORD had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that provoked the LORD to anger. 12 They worshiped idols, though the LORD had said, "You shall not do this." [b] 13 The LORD warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: "Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your fathers to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets."

 14 But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who did not trust in the LORD their God. 15 They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their fathers and the warnings he had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the LORD had ordered them, "Do not do as they do," and they did the things the LORD had forbidden them to do.

 16 They forsook all the commands of the LORD their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. 17 They sacrificed their sons and daughters in [c] the fire. They practiced divination and sorcery and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

 18 So the LORD was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left, 19 and even Judah did not keep the commands of the LORD their God. They followed the practices Israel had introduced. 20 Therefore the LORD rejected all the people of Israel; he afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers, until he thrust them from his presence.

 21 When he tore Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat their king. Jeroboam enticed Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a great sin. 22 The Israelites persisted in all the sins of Jeroboam and did not turn away from them 23 until the LORD removed them from his presence, as he had warned through all his servants the prophets. So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria, and they are still there.

 24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took over Samaria and lived in its towns. 25 When they first lived there, they did not worship the LORD; so he sent lions among them and they killed some of the people. 26 It was reported to the king of Assyria: "The people you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria do not know what the god of that country requires. He has sent lions among them, which are killing them off, because the people do not know what he requires."

 27 Then the king of Assyria gave this order: "Have one of the priests you took captive from Samaria go back to live there and teach the people what the god of the land requires." 28 So one of the priests who had been exiled from Samaria came to live in Bethel and taught them how to worship the LORD.

 29 Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods in the several towns where they settled, and set them up in the shrines the people of Samaria had made at the high places. 30 The men from Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the men from Cuthah made Nergal, and the men from Hamath made Ashima; 31 the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 They worshiped the LORD, but they also appointed all sorts of their own people to officiate for them as priests in the shrines at the high places. 33 They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.

 34 To this day they persist in their former practices. They neither worship the LORD nor adhere to the decrees and ordinances, the laws and commands that the LORD gave the descendants of Jacob, whom he named Israel. 35 When the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites, he commanded them: "Do not worship any other gods or bow down to them, serve them or sacrifice to them. 36 But the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, is the one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices. 37 You must always be careful to keep the decrees and ordinances, the laws and commands he wrote for you. Do not worship other gods. 38 Do not forget the covenant I have made with you, and do not worship other gods. 39 Rather, worship the LORD your God; it is he who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies."

 40 They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. 41 Even while these people were worshiping the LORD, they were serving their idols. To this day their children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did. 2 Kings 17

Thornbushes as Judgment

 4 I will not show my love to her children,

       because they are the children of adultery.

 5 Their mother has been unfaithful

       and has conceived them in disgrace.

       She said, 'I will go after my lovers,

       who give me my food and my water,

       my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.'

 6 Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;

       I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.

 7 She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;

       she will look for them but not find them.

       Then she will say,

       'I will go back to my husband as at first,

       for then I was better off than now.' Hosea 2

The Fall of Jerusalem

3 For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day—the word of the LORD has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.  4 And though the LORD has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention. 5 They said, "Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the LORD gave to you and your fathers for ever and ever. 6 Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not provoke me to anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you."  7 "But you did not listen to me," declares the LORD, "and you have provoked me with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves."

8 Therefore the LORD Almighty says this: "Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon," declares the LORD, "and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy [a] them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. 10 I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Jeremiah 25

Hebrews on Discipline

7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12

The Power of the Covenant

31"The day will come," says the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife," says the LORD.

33"But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day," says the LORD. "I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their family, saying, `You should know the LORD.' For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will already know me," says the LORD. "And I will forgive their wickedness and will never again remember their sins."

35It is the LORD who provides the sun to light the day and the moon and stars to light the night. It is he who stirs the sea into roaring waves. His name is the LORD Almighty, and this is what he says: 36"I am as likely to reject my people Israel as I am to do away with the laws of nature! 37Just as the heavens cannot be measured and the foundation of the earth cannot be explored, so I will not consider casting them away forever for their sins. I, the LORD, have spoken! Jeremiah 31

19Then this message came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 20"If you can break my covenant with the day and the night so that they do not come on their usual schedule, 21only then will my covenant with David, my servant, be broken. Only then will he no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. The same is true for my covenant with the Levitical priests who minister before me. 22And as the stars cannot be counted and the sand on the seashores cannot be measured, so I will multiply the descendants of David, my servant, and the Levites who minister before me." Jeremiah 33

 1But now, O Israel, the LORD who created you says: "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. 2When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. 3For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I gave Egypt, Ethiopia,[a] and Seba as a ransom for your freedom. 4Others died that you might live. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you.

    5"Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will gather you and your children from east and west 6and from north and south. I will bring my sons and daughters back to Israel from the distant corners of the earth. 7All who claim me as their God will come, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them." Isaiah 43

13Sing for joy, O heavens! Rejoice, O earth! Burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on them in their sorrow. 14Yet Jerusalem says, "The LORD has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us." 15"Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for a child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! 16See, I have written your name on my hand. Ever before me is a picture of Jerusalem's walls in ruins. 17Soon your descendants will come back, and all who are trying to destroy you will go away. 18Look and see, for all your children will come back to you. As surely as I live," says the LORD, "they will be like jewels or bridal ornaments for you to display.

19"Even the most desolate parts of your abandoned land will soon be crowded with your people. Your enemies who enslaved you will be far away. 20The generations born in exile will return and say, `We need more room! It's crowded here!' 21Then you will think to yourself, `Who has given me all these descendants? For most of my children were killed, and the rest were carried away into exile. I was left here all alone. Who bore these children? Who raised them for me?' " Isaiah 49

1"Sing, O childless woman! Break forth into loud and joyful song, O Jerusalem, even though you never gave birth to a child. For the woman who could bear no children now has more than all the other women," says the LORD. 2"Enlarge your house; build an addition; spread out your home! 3For you will soon be bursting at the seams. Your descendants will take over other nations and live in their cities.

4"Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. The shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood will be remembered no more, 5for your Creator will be your husband. The LORD Almighty is his name! He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth. 6For the LORD has called you back from your grief--as though you were a young wife abandoned by her husband," says your God. 7"For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will take you back. 8In a moment of anger I turned my face away for a little while. But with everlasting love I will have compassion on you," says the LORD, your Redeemer. 9"Just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again let a flood cover the earth and destroy its life, so now I swear that I will never again pour out my anger on you. 10For the mountains may depart and the hills disappear, but even then I will remain loyal to you. My covenant of blessing will never be broken," says the LORD, who has mercy on you. Isaiah 54

18Where is another God like you, who pardons the sins of the survivors among his people? You cannot stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing mercy. 19Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean! 20You will show us your faithfulness and unfailing love as you promised with an oath to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob long ago. Micah 7

A New Covenant

46"Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters in the north. Your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters in the south. 47But you have not merely sinned as they did--no, that was nothing to you. In a very short time you far surpassed them! 48As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, Sodom and her daughters were never as wicked as you and your daughters. 49Sodom's sins were pride, laziness, and gluttony, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door. 50She was proud and did loathsome things, so I wiped her out, as you have seen.

51"Even Samaria did not commit half your sins. You have done far more loathsome things than your sisters ever did. They seem righteous compared to you! 52You should be deeply ashamed because your sins are so terrible. In comparison, you make your sisters seem innocent!

53"But someday I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and Samaria, and I will restore you, too. 54Then you will be truly ashamed of everything you have done, for your sins make them feel good in comparison. 55Yes, your sisters, Sodom and Samaria, and all their people will be restored, and at that time you also will be restored. 56In your proud days you held Sodom in contempt. 57But now your greater wickedness has been exposed to all the world, and you are the one who is scorned--by Edom[b] and all her neighbors and by Philistia. 58This is your punishment for all your disgusting sins, says the LORD.

59"Now this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will give you what you deserve, for you have taken your solemn vows lightly by breaking your covenant. 60Yet I will keep the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. 61Then you will remember with shame all the evil you have done. I will make your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, to be your daughters, even though they are not part of our covenant. 62And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD. 63You will remember your sins and cover your mouth in silence and shame when I forgive you of all that you have done, says the Sovereign LORD." Ezekiel 16

Covenant Love in the New Testament

35Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death? 36(Even the Scriptures say, "For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep."[l]) 37No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

    38And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. 39Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8

The Prodigal Son: See Luke 11

Series: The Bible’s BIG Story

Experiencing God’s Power

By Remy Diederich

Copyright 2005, all rights reserved

The Bible’s BIG story is about God calling people into relationship with himself. It’s that simple. But the story is played out in the Bible over a 2000+ year timeframe.

Review: Covenant

Now, if you’ve been here the last few weeks you’ve heard me talk a lot about covenant. When God called his people into relationship it was always in the context of a covenant. Unfortunately, most of us don’t know what a covenant is. That’s not our fault. That’s just not a word that we use or a concept that we understand today. So a lot of the Bible’s Big Story is lost simply over the difference between our culture and the culture that the Bible was written in. But I think it’s worth taking the time to learn all we can about covenant in order to better understand the Bible’s Big Story.

Simply put, a covenant was a binding contract or agreement between two people or two tribes. In a world where you weren’t sure who was for you or against you, covenants were very important for survival. (Remember, nomadic tribes didn’t have a judicial system with lawyers and judges and police to enforce laws.) If you entered a covenant with another person, you trusted them like family – they “had your back”. But if they ever betrayed you – if they ever sold you out (or vice versa) - the punishment was death.

So we aren’t talking about a simple business contract here where you get your hand slapped with a few fines for breaking an agreement. The penalties were severe and lasting. When God used the concept of covenant, he was speaking in very serious and permanent terms. Both the rewards and the penalties associated with covenant were greater than we understand in our relationships today.

Now, so far we’ve talked about two covenants: Abraham’s and Moses’[3]. Abraham’s covenant established relationship with God. What’s most notable about Abraham’s covenant was that it revealed that God’s love for us is unconditional and irrevocable. That is, we can’t do anything to earn God’s love (unconditional) and we can’t do anything to lose God’s love (irrevocable). (Although a person can walk away from God’s love. But from his side of things, he’s fully committed to us.)

Then Moses’ covenant defined the relationship with God. The most notable aspect of this covenant was the Ten Commandments. God said that if his people would obey him that they would be a showcase to the world of what it meant to know God.

The Problem: No Power

But there was a big problem with Moses’ covenant: the people lacked the power to obey the Ten Commandments. We saw last week that it took the Israelites less than 40 days to abandon their commitment to obey God. So, simply being in relationship with God wasn’t enough to help them obey. Something was still missing.

Now, I’ve been saying all along that The Bible’s Big story is our story. This isn’t just some history lesson about ancient people. The Bible tells a story about how God entered into a relationship with his people and many of us have experienced the same dynamics with God as the Israelites did. Many of us have tried to draw close to God only to realize that we lack the ability to sustain a relationship with him.

We are like the Lion, the Tin Man and the Scare Crow in the Wizard of Oz. We have the desire to be different but we lack the power to change. I think we’ve all been there. We’ve all been in a place where we wanted to do good – to seek God and obey him – but no matter how hard we try we only fail. In fact, you may be in this place today. You may be one breath away from giving up on following God.

The apostle Paul said that he had this problem himself…

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do...for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out…For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Romans 7:15,19

(That’s a complicated way of saying, “I don’t have the power to obey God!”)

A New Covenant…with power

I think coming to this place of powerlessness is a part of everyone’s spiritual journey. So, if that’s where you are at today, don’t despair. But when we are at our lowest - when we are convinced that we’ll never succeed with God -God always speaks a word of hope. That’s what God did with Israel. When God’s people had been wiped out by Assyria and Babylon, Jerusalem had been decimated, and exiles were sitting in Babylon, God spoke through Jeremiah and Ezekiel about a day when he would make a new covenant with them…

"The day will come," says the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife," says the LORD.

"But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day," says the LORD. "I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their family, saying, `You should know the LORD.' For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will already know me," says the LORD. "And I will forgive their wickedness and will never again remember their sins." Jeremiah 31:31-34

The prophet, Ezekiel added to this idea. He said…

"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 with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command. Ezekiel 36:25-27

Let me summarize the New Covenant. The New covenant would be four things.

1. It would be different in nature. God said, “This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors…”

2. It would be internal and not external. Instead of writing the Ten commandments on clay tablets, God said, “I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts..”

3. It would deal with sin once and for all. God said, “And I will forgive their wickedness and will never again remember their sins." And , "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away.”

4. It would empower people to obey by filling them with God’s Spirit. God said, “I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart and I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.”

So, Abraham’s covenant established the relationship with God. Moses covenant defined the relationship with God. And now, the New Covenant would empower the relationship with God. Each covenant brought out a new facet of our relationship with God. Our relationship with God isn’t complete until we understand all three covenants.

You can imagine the hope that this produced in people. Jeremiah spoke to the remnant of Israel and Ezekiel to those in exile. Their faith had been shattered. Their hope had been crushed. But to hear these words must have brought great relief. The idea of a new covenant was what they longed for but never thought was possible.

Unfortunately the promise wasn’t immediately fulfilled. Nothing happened for 500 years and disillusionment settled on the people. They wondered if God had forgotten them. But first came John the Baptist and then came Jesus both preaching the same message.

Turn to God because God’s kingdom is here.

It was through Jesus that the new covenant would be established. But no one could have guessed how much different the new covenant would be from the other covenants- not just in the benefits that it offered but in how it was transacted.

The Last Supper: A Covenant Meal

It was at the disciples last supper with Jesus that it all began to unfold.

As they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and asked God's blessing on it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, "Take it and eat it, for this is my body." And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, "Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which seals the new covenant between God and his people. It is poured out to forgive the sins of many. Matthew 26: 26-28

Now there are four things we need to understand about this meal. (And hopefully everything will come together for us and we’ll see how the Last Supper is the climax of the Bible’s Big Story).

1. The Last Supper is a covenant meal celebrating a new covenant with God. It symbolized the ancient covenant ritual that involved cutting animals in two, laying them along a path and then the two parties walking down the path of blood together. The dead animals symbolized that if either party betrayed the other, they deserved to die. After the ritual the two parties cooked the animals and had a banquet, celebrating their new relationship.

Here, Jesus lifts the bread, breaks it in two and says, “This is my body, this is my blood”. What’s he saying? He’s saying “Guys, does this remind you of anything? This is a covenant ceremony – the new covenant - and I am the covenant sacrifice!” This is the covenant that the Jews had been longing for but it wouldn’t be inaugurated with the blood of animals. It would be inaugurated with the blood of God himself. And the covenant feast – celebrating the new alliance between God and humanity – feasted on Jesus. (Is communion suddenly taking on more meaning right now?)

I’d love to have been in the room when the pieces came together for the disciples and the light bulbs went off. What a moment!

2. So Jesus is the sacrifice of the Last Supper. Which leads me to the third point…

3. The Last Supper celebrates full forgiveness. The covenant ritual lays down the law that the covenant breaker deserves to die. Well, we are the covenant breaker. We have failed to obey the terms of the covenant, so we deserve to die.

But instead of us dying, Jesus died for us. He took our place. So we don’t have to pay the price for breaking covenant. The book of Hebrews says it this way…

It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins… 12But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God…[therefore] there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. Hebrews 10:4, 12

In other words, when God is the sacrifice, you have a perfect sacrifice. Once a sacrifice is done perfectly, you don’t have to offer sacrifices any more. When the Jews offered animal sacrifice, they were imperfect sacrifices so they had to offer them over and over again. But when God offered his sacrifice, he only had to do it once because it was perfect. Every sin was covered. And when every sin is covered, you are perfect in God’s eyes. Hebrews also says…

“By one sacrifice he has made perfect forever, those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:14)

Let’s just stop and let that soak in for a minute. A lot of people struggle with feeling forgiven. Since Jesus was a perfect sacrifice, his death on the cross did two things: First, it made you perfect in God’s eyes, forever. No matter how often you sin, Jesus’ death will always pay the price perfectly. And two, the process is set in motion for you to be made holy. In other words, you’re not just forgiven, you’re being changed into a new person. God sets you on a conveyor belt, so to speak, and begins the transformation process. First he declares you perfect and then he begins the work of making you perfect – conforming you into the image of his Son[4].

4. The Last Supper celebrates a new life in the Spirit. You might say, “But it doesn’t say that in Matthew 26.” But it does. You just don’t see it. That’s why we need to know the Bible’s Big Story. To a Jew, the phrase “new covenant” automatically triggered something in their brain. They knew their Bible and they knew what Jeremiah and Ezekiel had said. Every Jew was waiting for the day when God would reveal his new covenant. Every Jew was looking for the day when God would empower them to obey his commands.

And so when Jesus used the words, “new covenant”, he didn’t have to spell it out for them. They knew what he was talking about. They knew that Jesus was talking about the day when God would write his laws on our hearts and empower us to obey with his Spirit. But we often miss this point because we don’t know the background.

Living Water for You

If you had been with Jesus, you would have heard him talk about the Spirit all the time. You would have known that the presence and the power of the Spirit was part of what it meant for Jesus to be the Messiah and what it meant to be a follower of Jesus as well.

Let me give you just one example. In the book of John, it tells us that Jesus went to the Feast of Tabernacles (or tents). The people would camp out in tents for eight days and remember how God provided food and water for their ancestors as they wandered in the Wilderness on their way to the Promise Land. But they also looked to the future to a time when the Messiah would provide living water.

On the first morning of the festival the priest would read from Zechariah 14:8,

On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem.

Living water meant a river. But it didn’t mean a literal river, it was referring to a time when the Messiah had come and God’s Spirit would flow out of Jerusalem and fill[5] the earth. (This was really a fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him. But the blessing wouldn’t be material as much as it will be spiritual.)

Finally, on the eighth day of the festival – the closing day - the people prayed for rain. It was almost as if they were saying,

We don’t have the faith of our fathers and we don’t have the vision of Zechariah.

We’d just be happy for some rain!”

That’s how we pray sometimes, isn’t it? We might read in the Bible about how God did something wonderful for his people or we might know someone at church that God blessed. But when we pray, we mumble a weak prayer like, “Oh God, help me to just make it through the week.” Or, “Oh God, help me to not get fired this week.” Isn’t that true?

A woman I know stopped me this week and asked me to pray for her. But she said, “Last week I told people that I just wanted any job so I could make some money. But I felt that that was a weak prayer so now I’m asking God for a great job that makes great money!” I liked that! That’s how we need to pray too. But the Jews lacked that kind of faith when they prayed here at the Feast.

Okay, that’s the background for Jesus entering the story. Jesus has been celebrating this festival right along with the Jews. And this is what John tells us…

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. John 7:37-39

Jesus was telling the crowd that he was the fulfillment of their festival. They didn’t have to settle for mere rain. They could have the river of life that Zechariah referred to because Jesus was the messiah that Zechariah was talking about! And the Spirit wouldn’t be flowing out of the temple; it would be flowing out of them.

Can you imagine what this meant to these people? They had been waiting for centuries for the coming of God’s Spirit. Their heart must have leaped inside of them as they realized that God’s messiah was standing in front of them. And all their disillusionment and despair began to melt away.

Enter the New Covenant

This is what it means to enter into God’s new covenant. It isn’t simply about being forgiven, it’s about being filled with God’s Spirit - filled with God’s power - filled with the abundant life that Jesus promised his followers.

So, as we share in communion today I want to invite you into this new covenant. Maybe you’ve only experienced the love of Abraham’s covenant, but had no power. Or maybe you’ve been living under the burden of Moses’ Covenant with no love or power. Today I want you to receive all that God has for you in his new covenant. I don’t want you to leave anything at the table, so to speak.

Don’t just come for forgiveness.

Don’t just come to thank Jesus for dying for your sins.

Come for the power to live a new life.

I think this is one of the greatest oversights in the church today. You see, thanksgiving and forgiveness look backwards. That’s fine and good. But it’s not enough. Covenant always looks forward to what God is going to do. When you come for power, you are looking forward. You are looking into the future and thinking about how you can fulfill God’s purpose for your life.

So, when you take the bread and the juice, you are saying that …

▪ I receive God’s unconditional and irrevocable love for me.

▪ I receive God’s full forgiveness for everything I’ve ever done or will ever do.

▪ I receive God’s Spirit to obey him and live a new life.

When we receive God’s Spirit, we don’t have to throw up our hands in futility at the thought of obeying God. We now have the power to obey. That’s why Jesus could confidently tell his disciples to “Go into all the world and make disciples…teaching them to obey all that I’ve commanded you.” [6]

The Bible’s Big Story reaches its climax in the person of Jesus. Jesus is the focal point. Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Old Testament promises. If someone tells you the Bible’s Big Story and Jesus isn’t at the heart of it, they’ve told you a lie. Even if Jesus is part of the story but he’s only a marginal character, it’s still a lie. As Paul said, “All the promises of God are ‘Yes’ and ‘Amen’ in him”[7]. And Jesus said himself, “I am the Alpha and the Omega[8], the beginning and the end.”

Prayer: Father, we are humbled that you have not only covenanted yourself to us but Jesus was the covenant sacrifice. We are privileged to be a part of this story. Might it transform our lives and might we be a showcase of your love to our friends, family and community. Now, as we share in communion, might we embrace your new covenant, not leaving any of the blessings behind. Amen.

Additional verses about God’s Spirit from the Old Testament:

 1 "But now, listen to me, Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one. 2The LORD who made you and helps you says: O Jacob, my servant, do not be afraid. O Israel,[a] my chosen one, do not fear. 3For I will give you abundant water to quench your thirst and to moisten your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit and my blessings on your children. 4They will thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank. 5Some will proudly claim, `I belong to the LORD.' Others will say, `I am a descendant of Jacob.' Some will write the LORD's name on their hands and will take the honored name of Israel as their own. Isaiah 44

20"The Redeemer will come to Jerusalem,[a]" says the LORD, "to buy back those in Israel[b] who have turned from their sins. 21And this is my covenant with them," says the LORD. "My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children's children forever. I, the LORD, have spoken!

1"Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all the nations to see! For the glory of the LORD is shining upon you. 2Darkness as black as night will cover all the nations of the earth, but the glory of the LORD will shine over you. 3All nations will come to your light. Mighty kings will come to see your radiance. Isaiah 59:20-60:3

18"When the people return to their homeland, they will remove every trace of their detestable idol worship. 19And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their hearts of stone and give them tender hearts[b] instead, 20so they will obey my laws and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God. 21But as for those who long for idols, I will repay them fully for their sins, says the Sovereign LORD." Ezekiel 11

1The LORD took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the LORD to a valley filled with bones. 2He led me around among the old, dry bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground. 3Then he asked me, "Son of man, can these bones become living people again?"

   "O Sovereign LORD," I replied, "you alone know the answer to that."

    4Then he said to me, "Speak to these bones and say, `Dry bones, listen to the word of the LORD! 5This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Look! I am going to breathe into you and make you live again! 6I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.' "     7So I spoke these words, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as they had been before. 8Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.

    9Then he said to me, "Speak to the winds and say: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so that they may live again.' "     10So I spoke as he commanded me, and the wind entered the bodies, and they began to breathe. They all came to life and stood up on their feet--a great army of them.

    11Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, `We have become old, dry bones--all hope is gone.' 12Now give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the LORD. 14I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I am the LORD. You will see that I have done everything just as I promised. I, the LORD, have spoken!" Ezekiel 37

   

-----------------------

[1] © Copyright, Willow Creek Community Church, 1993. Written by Donna Lagerquist. Edited by Steve Pederson and Directed by Mark Demel. Available at

[2] This story is related in the book, God’s Outrageous Claims by Lee Strobel, Zondervan, pages 12-14.

[3] For the record, there were two more covenants of import: Noah’s covenant in Genesis 9 and David’s covenant in 2 Samuel 7. But neither impacts the Big Story as the others do.

[4] “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son,…” Romans 8:29

[5] The prophet Joel speaks of this day as well…"And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” Joel 2:28,29

[6] Matthew 28:19,20

[7] 2 Corinthians 1:20

[8] Revelation 22:13

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download