Asbury Church

In Numbers 13, the Lord guides the Israelites to the edge of the Promised Land and sends twelve spies to explore the land He has promised to give them. When they return, ten of the spies focus on the challenges, the size of the cities, and the strength of the people. This causes fear to quickly spread through the camp. Only Caleb and Joshua trust that if God has promised the land, He will also give them victory. Instead of choosing to move forward in faith, the people let fear take over and refused to enter, missing out on the blessings God had prepared for them. This scripture challenges us to reflect: Could it be that sometimes we miss out on God's blessings or promises not because He is unwilling to give them, but because we find it hard to trust Him enough to step forward in faith? Where do you need to trust God today?

I believe we are living in the end times. We have been since the Day of Pentecost, 50 days after the Resurrection.

What does this mean? What do we need to do?

In light of the fact that we are living in the end times, Jesus gave us a two-word command:

“Stay awake!”

Leviticus is about the sacrificial system, which is why what happens on the Day of Atonement is so striking—the culminating event on the Day of Atonement isn’t a sacrifice, but a scapegoat.

On the Day of Atonement, the goat that bears Israel’s sins is sent away alive.

This is the concept of the so-called “scapegoat”—the idea that one bears the sins of the many.

Any modern person who has started to read Leviticus immediately wonders,

“What’s with all the blood?”

The sacrificial system is strange… and beautiful, once you understand it.

See, in the Bible, the sacrificial system was meant to teach Israel what it would take to come back into the presence and life of God.

The answer? A blameless representative who would die on behalf of sinful people.

“Ministry” is not something that just pastors or church musicians do.

Ministry is for all Christians.

The first person in the Bible said to be filled with the Spirit of God is not Abraham or Moses—it’s a man named Bezalel.

And in Exodus 31 we read that Bezalel is a craftsman! That is, the Holy Spirit gives him the ability to make things. It’s the spiritual gift of carpentry, you might say.

Now, because of the work of Jesus, the Holy Spirit has been poured out on the church. Which means every Christian has been gifted for ministry by the Holy Spirit.

This means that ministry is not something specialized or “over there.” Your life is your ministry.

How you live your life *is* the way you serve God.

Over and over again throughout the Bible, the same pattern occurs:

The Lord offers Eden, people rebel and live in Exile, but the Lord continues to offer Eternal Life to those who trust him.

Once you see the pattern, you see it everywhere.

The final section of Genesis (chapters 37-50) tells one of the most intricately-crafted, moving, and mysterious stories in the entire Bible—the account Joseph and his brothers.

In the second to last paragraph of the entire book, Joseph says something remarkable.

His brothers—who sold him into slavery years before—are worried that he will seek revenge.

But Joseph says, “What you meant for evil, God intended for good.”

And then Genesis ends.

In some ways, that statement from Joseph sums up the entire rest of the biblical story.

The Bible is difficult.

If you have ever read the Bible, you’ve encountered something puzzling or off-putting or mysterious.

Why isn’t the Bible easier? Why is the Bible so hard to understand?

The disciples actually put this question to Jesus.

His answer: God is trying to get our attention.

Do you have eyes and ears? Use them.

Even if you’ve never read the Bible, you probably are familiar with its first verse:

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

The problem with that verse is that…it’s *too* familiar. That is, we take it for granted.

But what if we didn’t have it? 

What If You Didn’t Know Genesis 1 Existed?

What If There No Creator?

What If Those Pages Were Ripped Out?

What is the point of reading the Bible? What does it *do* for us?

According to the Apostle Paul, the Bible makes us wise in a particularly important way:

It teaches us of the inevitability of our deaths and the reality that Jesus saves.

Paul calls this being "wise for salvation”.

What could be more important than growing wise with regard to the most important facts of human existence, namely death and life?

What else could possibly be worth spending our time on this year?