TENSION: THE PROMISE OF PEACE & THE REALITY OF LIFE

GOD TRULY WANTS US TO KNOW HIS PEACE

JESUS LEADS US IN THE WAY OF PEACE

THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF GOD GIVING HIS BLESSING

(Numbers 11-25) God’s people will reject God’s plan (again), so God initiates an undeserved, intentional blessing to move His plan of redemption forward - through the next generation.

THE GOSPEL-RICH PROVISIONS EMBEDDED IN GOD’S BLESSING

(6:25-26) Make His face shine on / turn His countenance to you - how? Grace (v5) Peace (v6)

THE LIFE CHANGING REALITY OF RECEIVING GOD’S BLESSING

(6:27) “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

We humans crave benediction; it is a driving force in all of our lives:

a) To have the subject we most value (god) put a name on us: give identity, value, peace

b) To have the subject we most value (god) bless us: give us security, provision, joy

THE PROCLAMATION OF THE GOSPEL

v11-12) “Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’

Salvation is in no one else, there is no other name under heaven by which we are saved.”

THE INTIMIDATION FROM THOSE WHO REJECT THE GOSPEL

(v16-17) “Everyone knows they performed a notable sign - we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further, we must warn them to no longer speak in this name.”

THE PRAYER FOR BOLDNESS TO SHARE THE GOSPEL

AND THE HEALING POWER OF THE GOSPEL

(v29-30) “...enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

Stretch out your hand to heal…”

PRAY TO BE STRENGTHENED BY THE SPIRIT

“strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being” (16)

PRAY TO BE RULED BY CHRIST

“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (17)

PRAY TO BE FILLED WITH GOD’S LOVE

“rooted and grounded in love” (17)

“strength to comprehend…and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge” (18-19)

GOD’S VISION FOR UNITY FLOWS FROM HIS NATURE

v11) “...that they may be one as We are.”

OUR BASIS FOR UNITY & CONFIDENCE IS GROUNDED IN

THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL

v17) “Sanctify them by your truth. Your Word is truth. As you sent me, I have sent them.”

THE UNITY & LOVE OF CHRIST’S CHURCH IS TANGIBLE

WHEN OUR AIM IS TO BE FAITHFUL NOT TRIBAL

v23) “that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that you sent me

WHAT DOES “GLORY” REVEAL ABOUT GOD’S NATURE?

Δοξάζω “Glorify” - to praise, adore, consider weighty, ascribe real substance.

Our triune God of eternal love is not needy; He created from love, for love.

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF GLORIFYING CHRIST “IN HIS HOUR”?

The cross reveals that God’s love spares no expense: there is no greater glory than to give up your glory for those you love. Christ’s “glory” is not seen after His suffering, but through it.

WHAT DIFFERENCE CAN THESE TRUTHS MAKE IN OUR LIVES?

We were created in God’s divine image. As we put off sinful ways and put on our new nature in our true image, our identity is properly grounded, our loves reordered, we become resilient in suffering and joy becomes an increasingly buoyant force in our lives.

GOD MOVES IN GRACE TO CALL AND REDEEM JOSEPH

GOD MOVES IN GRACE TO TRANSFORM AND REDEEM JUDAH

GOD’S GRACE TO REDEEM THE WORLD IS FORESHADOWED

IN THIS ACCOUNT OF JOSEPH’S TECHNICOLOUR DREAMCOAT

WHAT IS GOD DOING & WHY DOES HE CHOOSE THIS TERRIBLE FORM OF SACRIFICE AS HIS TEST?

Worship to the gods of Abraham’s homeland, and the land is currently in are all practicing child sacrifice. This text is a polemic against child sacrifice. While testing Abraham’s trust in Him as the God of Creation, he simultaneously, intentionally separates Himself as the God unlike all gods.

WHAT HAS GOD GIVEN TO PREPARE BOTH ABRAHAM & ISAAC FOR THE TEST?

By orchestrating Isaac’s miraculous birth - born of a dead womb - God has already revealed to both Abraham & Isaac that He is the God of creation & re-creation who brings life from death.

HOW DOES THIS HEART WRENCHING TEST FORESHADOW VERY GOOD NEWS?

Isaac was 37 - this is a willing sacrifice. The father was willing to go through the pain of sacrifice and the ‘son of promise’ laid his life down as a willing sacrifice.

GOD’S PLAN FOR REDEMPTION IS A PROMISE

(v1,5) “I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward … Look toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them. So shall your descendants be.”

GOD’S POWER FOR REDEMPTION IS A GIFT OF HIS GRACE

(v6) Abram believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

GOD’S PROMISE OF REDEMPTION IS INEVITABLE

BECAUSE HE IS THE PROMISE KEEPER

(v17,18) there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram.