Sermons on Genesis
For the next several weeks, we’re going to be focused on the redemptive story of Scripture that was fulfilled through the incarnation of God the Son in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, who was born into this world as a baby and grew to be a man who would die on the cross to…
This week, we continue to observe the lives of “Heroes of the Faith” in Hebrews 11. In today’s passage, we come to Abraham–the Father of the Jews–and his descendants. But why do we refer to Abraham in this way? And why is he held in such high regard in this passage? How does his faith speak to the lives of the recipients of Hebrews and to our lives today? Discover these answers and more as we look to Abraham to learn what it means to live in light of the promise of God.
In our passage today from Hebrews 11, we will begin to observe the ways in which these “Heroes of the Faith” lived their lives. The three men mentioned in this passage are part of the same family—a family of faith, but as we examine the correlating passages in Genesis 4-6, we will be able to contrast these three men with men with another family—a rebellious one. In each case, legacy and heritage played a role in the ultimate outcome.
Paul wrote to the church of Thessalonica and urged them “to aspire to live quietly, and to mind [their] own affairs” (1 Thessalonians 4:11). If we look at our lives honestly, that is not who we are nor is it how we live. Richard Foster wrote, “We crave things we neither need nor enjoy. ‘We buy things we do not want to impress people we do not like.’” He went on to say that, “Simplicity is freedom. Duplicity is bondage. Simplicity brings joy and balance. Duplicity brings anxiety and fear.” Jesus explained it this way: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24).
As we continue to study the Essential Elements of Life in Christ, we will continue once again this week to consider a spiritual discipline that, while essential, it is not something that we practice every day. In fact, this particular element is practiced on a weekly basis by design. Of course, the element that I am referring to is the spiritual practice of Sabbath. I’m sure that many of you are aware of what the Sabbath is in a Jewish context, but today, I want us to realize that celebrating Sabbath is not just a Jewish thing! God intends for all followers of Christ to practice Sabbath rest.
In the Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, the author writes, “When we are preoccupied with our own concerns, much of the world is simply invisible to us. Service is rooted in seeing—in seeing others as God does. God cares about productive and nonproductive people, poor people and rich people, educated and non-educated people. God cares about everybody.” God wants us to see people as He sees them. He wants us to have the same mindset as Christ—in humility He put the needs of others before His own. As Foster explained, “More than any other single way, the grace of humility is worked into our lives through the Discipline of service. Humility, as we all know, is one of those virtues that is never gained by seeking it. The more we pursue it the more distant it becomes. To think we have it is evidence that we don’t… Of all the classical Spiritual Disciplines, service is the most conducive to the growth of humility… a deep change occurs in our spirits” as a result of true service.
To avoid becoming a deformed disciple, Dr. Eugene Peterson suggests that we need a framework—and that framework should be worship. As we gather together week-by-week to worship God in this place, we experience this framework through the systematic teaching of God’s Word, through the people of God “sharpening” us and encouraging us, through lifting our voices in praise and adoration for who God is and for all He has done. Worship is that weekly reminder that provides us with a working definition for life.
It did not take long in Scripture before God clearly communicated His plan for the salvation of the world. We cannot forget that the Bible says that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22b). And that is where we want to pick up in the Book of Genesis today, to see God reveal to His chosen people what His plan was for their salvation.
The overall theme of this psalm is the promise of God to protect those who have trusted in Him—in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. Next week, we will focus on what these promises are and how they relate to life in a world threatened by a global pandemic, but the questions that we want to consider today are: “How do we understand God’s promises in Psalm 91? How do we interpret these promises in light of the teaching in the rest of Scripture?”
