Sermons – Grace Evangelical Free Church // Wyoming, MN

Genesis 2:8-17 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14 And the name of the third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

INTRODUCTION

To this point the scope of Genesis has been the whole created universe, with a particular focus on earth. In this passage the focus narrows even more to a particular garden. There are three main things I want to draw your attention to in this text. First, I want to help you see the nature of the garden and life in it (vs.8-9). Second, I want to help you see a bit of what’s around the garden (vs.10-14). And third, I want to help you see the divine commission and command for man in the garden (vs.15-17). All of this together, I believe, will help us understand our place on this earth and even in the new heavens and earth. Let’s pray that we’d gain all there is from this passage concerning this life and the next.

THE GARDEN IN EDEN

As we saw last week, Genesis 2:4-7 expands on the sixth day of creation (Genesis 1:24-31). In particular, it focuses in on the creation of the man, Adam. Our passage for this morning picks up where that passage left off. Thus, having made man in His image and having filled the earth with everything man needed, we’re left wondering where God would place man. On all the earth, where would man live? The answer comes quickly in our text. Adam (and as we will soon see, his wife Eve,) would live in a garden in Eden.

This was no ordinary garden, though. It was a very special garden. Vs.8-9 mention three key features of it.

Planted by God

The first is that it was planted by God. Look at v.8.

8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east … 9 And out of the ground [in the garden] the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food…

We don’t know exactly what it means that “God planted” the garden, but the change in creative language is undoubtedly significant. God had been described as a potter in his creation of man (2:7). Here he is portrayed as a gardener in his preparing a dwelling place for man. Before God created from nothing by his Word. Here he plants and makes grow in an unnamed manner.

The main point for us to see, the key feature here, is that the garden in Eden was the work of God. It was the direct handiwork of God. Everything in it was chosen and shaped by God and it was good.

For Man

The second key feature of this garden, according to this text, is that it was specifically planted and designed for man to live in it. Look again at vs.8-9.

8 the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.

Again, this garden was not a divine afterthought.

Genesis 2:4-7 These are the generations

     of the heavens and the earth when they were created,

     in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up- for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6 and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground- 7 then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.

INTRODUCTION

There is a lot going on, on the surface of this passage. There’s a lot more going on below the surface. For the glory of God and for help for us to live as God intends, we’ll consider some of the specific issues raised by this passage, the heart, and then the implications of the passage. The heart of this passage, I believe, consists of three key truths: (1) God is not one god among many, (2) God sovereignly rules over every aspect of creation, and (3) Mankind has a special place in creation. And the main takeaway, I believe is this: If we are to live lives of significance and satisfaction we must learn to live with God in a manner consistent with who He is, who He made us to be, and the reality of the world He made for us to live in. I hope to help you all see those things in the text over the next few minutes. That’s a lot of ground to cover. Let’s pray that God would help us cover it well and that it would result in greater worship and obedience.

SPECIFIC ISSUES WITH THIS PASSAGE

As I mentioned a moment ago, I want to begin by highlighting some of the specific issues raised by this passage. Good biblical scholars are all over the map on certain aspects of these few verses. Many hold differing positions on the things I’m about to point out; some even contradictory. I don’t want us to get lost in the weeds, but I do want to draw your attention to some of this passage’s issues as a means of strengthening your faith in the reliability of the bible and of helping you to recognize the sinfulness of your sin—both as a means of turning your eyes to Jesus. To that end, let’s quickly look at three issues raised by this passage.

The Form of the Passage

The first issue concerns the form/structure of the passage. When it comes to understanding the bible well, it is often a mistake to read too much into the literary features of a book or passage (like genre and structure), but it is also often a mistake to read too little into them. As I’ve mentioned more than once, God inspired both the content and the structure of the bible. For that reason, we need to do our best to gain a firm grasp of both.

Concerning the form of this passage there are two items of particular significance. The first is something I noted in my introductory sermon on Genesis, but just now shows up in the text; it is the toledot structure of Genesis.

The basic structure of Genesis consists of 10 sections indicated by a single Hebrew word: toledot (which means “generations” or “account”). It has been said that the toledot formula is “the very fabric around which the whole of Genesis has been constructed” (Ross, CB, 74).

This passage, as you can see, begins with the toledot phrase, “These are the generations”. This issue with this aspect of the structure of this passage is that scholars are divided over whether it should point backward or forward. That is, is v.4a a conclusion to the creation week (belonging with 1:1-2:3) or is it the introduction to what is to follow (belonging with 2:4b-4:26)? Although the term refers to the generations of a person in every other Genesis instance (Adam, Noah, Jacob, for instance), it also points forward in every other instance.

Genesis 2:1-3 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

INTRODUCTION

Let me ask you a question: If you were to write the ending to the creation week, how would you have ended it? I think my ending would probably be God presenting himself to Adam and Eve like Gandalf in The Two Towers. He’d be coming over a ridge with the sunrise at his back and an army of angels flanking him. He would introduce himself in power and declare his authority over and love for the world he’d made. There’d be majesty and glory, kindness and kingliness, holiness and honor. In fact, if I were to write 100 conclusions to creation week, none of them would have ended with God resting. And yet, as you can see, that’s exactly what happened.

While it isn’t what I would have thought up, it’s infinitely better. It’s what God did and what God does is always best. What we have here is a truly remarkable passage; a truly remarkable end to the creation week. As we work through the text we’ll see three awesome aspects of this seventh day: (1) God finished making new kinds of things, having done so (2) God rested from his work, and (3) God blessed the seventh day of the week and made it holy. In the end, I mean to offer a handful of implications and applications for us to take home. Ultimately, my charge to you all from this text is to learn spend your days working in the strength of Jesus for the glory of Jesus and then to come to Jesus for the rest your body and soul need. Let’s pray then that we’d understand and apply this passage for God’s glory and the good of the whole world.

Day seven: Rested and Blessed

As you can easily see, the seventh day of creation has a very different feel than the first six. It breaks from the six-day pattern of wording, creating, and judging. The point of this dramatic change in style and content is undoubtedly to signal something significant. I hope to help you see that over the next few minutes, beginning with God’s announcement of completion.

Everything Finished

The first words of Genesis 2 grab our attention. Vs.1 and 2 tell us that after working for six days to bring the heavens and earth into existence—illuminating, forming, and filling them according to his design—God was finished with that work.

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done…

But what does it mean that God finished the work that he had done? It certainly does not mean that God would add nothing to the world from that point on. It did not even mark the end of God’s creative work in the world. Every new leaf and sunset and flower and kitten and moment are the result of the continual creative work of God. Even though God blessed mankind with the ability to reproduce, for instance, every baby is a newly created person intended to glorify God (Psalm 102:18). Even more important is the fact that God’s creative work continues in the world with every new Christian, “… if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). God’s creative work is certainly continuing on even to today.

If not these things, then what does it mean that God finished his work? It means that God had finished his initial creative work in such a way that it had everything it needed to continue on in God’s blessing. It means that he had finished creating new kinds of things such that the objects of his blessing would continue on through procreation.

It means that God had finished the work of illuminating and forming the heavens and earth,

Genesis 1:28-31 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

INTRODUCTION

Good morning. Welcome back to Genesis. And welcome back to day six. Last week we looked at the beginning of day six—the creation of land animals and mankind. In regard to mankind we saw (from vs.25-26) that man was the crown of God’s creation; that everything in creation was moving toward the creation of human beings. We also saw, for the eighth and final creative time, that God created man by his word. More impressively still, we saw the first allusions to the triune nature of God, as well as the divine-image-bearing, dominion-wielding, and male/female nature of mankind.

This morning, then, we’re on the final sermon of the final day of the final act of creation week. In our passage (vs.28-31) we’ll learn even more about God’s design for his people. In particular we’ll see three aspects of God’s blessing on mankind, a bit more of God’s commission (the dominion mandate) to mankind, a bit more about God’s provision for mankind, and God’s final verdict on all that he had made. Please pray with me that God would help us to understand and love and live in light of all that is in this passage. And please pray with me that we’d see how this passage fits within this chapter, how this chapter fits within Genesis, and how Genesis fits within the whole of God’s story of salvation.

DAY SIX: BLESSING

As we consider the end of chapter one and the end of God’s initial creative work, I want you to see three specific (even if familiar) things. First, I want you to see that our God is a God of blessings (he loves to bless his people). Second, I want to help you see the three specific blessings of God mentioned in this passage. And third, I want you to see God’s final verdict as he looks upon his creation. And all of this is meant to help us grow in our understanding of God, ourselves, the world we live in, and how to live in a manner pleasing to God and truly satisfying to our souls in light of all of that. Let’s begin with the God of blessings.

The God of Blessing

28 And God blessed them…

This is the second time Moses has spoken of God as one who blesses. The first time was in v.22, on the fifth day of creation. In that passage God blessed the fish of the sea and the birds of the air with the ability to reproduce. The first stated blessing of God upon his creation was the ability to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters [and the sky]”.

In a few moments we’ll get to the specific blessings that God gave to man, but before we get there, would you consider again with me the simple fact that God loves to give blessings. Our God is a God of limitless and unceasing blessing. In the day 5 sermon I reminded you that God’s “disposition to those who are in Jesus is exclusively one of blessing.” And then I asked you, “Do you believe that? Do you think like that? Does you feel that day in and day out? Is that conviction the basis of your prayers? Is that conviction the basis of your disposition throughout the day?

Genesis 1:24-27 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds- livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

INTRODUCTION

We’ve made it to the last day of creation, day six. Because there’s so much critical glory in it, I’ll take the next two weeks to unpack it for you all. God’s original creation was dark and so He created light; first to shine from his own glory (day one) and then from the sun, moon, and stars (day four). His original creation was without form and so he created the sky, the dry land, and bodies of water (days two and three). And God’s original creation was empty and so he created vegetation (day three), fish (day five), birds (day five), and as we will see today, land animals and people (day six). God illuminated and formed the world in such way that it could and would be filled with life—especially human life—for his glory.

We’re going to cover a lot of ground this morning. We’re going to consider God’s creation of the land animals. Insodoing we’ll see again the power of the word of God, new distinctions within God’s creation, and the goodness of God’s creative work. We’ll also consider the beginning of God’s creation of mankind. And in that we’ll see a hint concerning the triune nature of God, the uniqueness of mankind among creation, part of man’s purpose, and part of man’s nature. That’s a lot to take in and a lot to apply to our lives. Let’s pray for God’s help in both—for ourselves and one another.

DAY SIX: CREATION OF LIVING CREATURES

Welcome, once again, to the final day of creation. It’s interesting to me that God so clearly chose to highlight the uniqueness of mankind among the rest of creation, but at the same time did so on a day shared with the land animals. God did not give mankind his own day of creation. I couldn’t find any legitimate explanation as to why that is. Perhaps it is to keep us humble even in our supremacy. Regardless of the reason, God began his work on the sixth day of creation with living land-creatures and finished with the creation, commission and blessing of mankind.

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds- livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

I want to briefly draw your attention to a few aspects of this marvelous work of God. First, for the seventh but not for the final time, God is said to have created by his word. The living creatures of this passage were brought forth once again by the familiar phrase, “And God said…and it was so”.

Second, again once again, God created the living creatures “according to their kinds”. Four times in vs.24-25 this fact is highlighted. God created things and distinctions within those things. God’s created distinctions matter as much as his created things. In particular, 1:24 tells us that God made three kinds living creatures: ...

Genesis 1:20-23 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

INTRODUCTION

Having originally created the heavens and earth in darkness, formlessness, and emptiness, we’ve already been able to consider four days of God’s work to illuminate, form, and fill. On the first day he created light. On the second day he created the sky. On the third day he created dry land, bodies of water, and two types of vegetation. And on the fourth day God created the sun, moon, and stars. To each of these things God assigned a name and a purpose. And God pronounced each of them “good”.

This morning, then, we’ll consider the fifth day where God continues to fill the heavens and earth with his glory. In particular we’ll consider his glorious filing of the seas and the sky. Insodoing I mean to draw your attention to eight quick snapshots of this passage. And a result of all of this I hope you are filled with a fresh sense of awe and wonder as we consider the creativity of God. I hope you’re filled with a renewed desire to share that wonder with the whole world. I hope that you are filled with an increased desire to order your life according to the world as God has made it. And I hope that you are filled with joy in God’s immeasurable blessings for his people in Jesus. Let’s pray that all of this would be so.

Day Five

In reading and praying and thinking and studying carefully through this day, once again, I often sat in awe at the creative work of God. And once again my biggest challenge was in deciding how best to help you understand and appreciate the glory that is in this text. As I mentioned in the introduction, I settled on an approach that I mean to do just that. Instead of diving really deeply into any one aspect of the passage, I want to give you eight quick snapshots of glory. The first is a familiar one.

And God Said

God’s creative work on day one began with the phrase, “and God said” (1:3). God’s creative work on day two began with the phrase, “And God said” (1:6). Twice in the course of day three God’s creative work began with the phrase “and God said” (1:9, 11). God’s creative work on day four began with the phrase, “and God said” (1:14). And now, for the fifth consecutive day of creation, God’s creative work begins with the phrase,

20 And God said…

There is no other way by which God is said to have created. What’s more, the unmistakable point of this repetition is to highlight the simple fact that while some gods are said to create by spells and magic and sacrifices and rituals, the God of the Israelites, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, creates merely by his word. Our God needs only to say the word and his will is done.

This awesome reality serves as a backdrop for the rest of the biblical story as well. That’s the reason I’ve chosen to highlight a different aspect of it in every sermon. The entire bible is a testimony to the fact that when God speaks, nothing can stop or even slow his plans.

Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God proves true

Isaiah 55:10-11 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,

Genesis 1:14-19 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights- the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night- and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

INTRODUCTION

You may recall one of the first sermons I gave in Genesis. It was from 1:2-5, it was on the first day of creation, and it was called, “Let there Be Light”. On that day, God created the first light and it came from his own Triune glory. On this day, the day described in our passage, day four, God put that light into and onto the newly created sun and the moon. Why did God do this? Why add additional sources of light? And what do these things teach us about God and his plan for the world?

To answer these questions we’ll briefly review Genesis 1:1-13 and then consider from the text the unmatched authority of God, the specific act of creation described, the purposes of God in this act of creation, the plan of God inside of which day four fits, and then the goodness of all of this.

The main thing I hope we all take away from this passage is this: God made all that has been made and he made it all good. Therefore God is king of all that has been made and so we must order our entire lives—our thoughts, words, and deeds, our affections and priorities, and our relationships and interactions—accordingly.

Please pray that the Holy Spirit of God would illuminate (pun intended) this passage for us in order that we’d draw from it all that God means his people to have.

Genesis 1:1-13 in Review

Because we’ve had some larger gaps between Genesis sermons recently I’ve needed to give longer-than-normal reviews of what we’ve already covered. Lord willing, having just come off of the last Genesis sermon gap for a while, this will be the last such review for a while. That said, consider with me once again what has already happened in Genesis.

So far in Genesis (1:1) we have seen that God created the heavens and the earth. We saw that his original creation was formless, empty, and dark (1:2). God continued working, therefore, by ordering, filling, and illuminating his creation (1:1-13).

To that end, first came light (1:3-5). God created light and determined that it would initially shine forth from his own glory—the glory of the Father, Son, and Spirit. He said “let there be light,” and there was light; good light. What’s more, God gave names to the light (“day”) and the darkness (“night”). From all of this we first saw God’s unmatched power to create, name, and assign purpose.

Then, on the second and third days, God began to form the now-illuminated-universe (1:6-10). That is, he began to bring shape and distinction to the heavens and earth. Specifically, he made and named the sky, the dry land, and the gathered waters. To these things too he assigned purpose and value and limits and they were good.

And finally, we’ve seen that on the third day God also created some of the earth’s vegetation (1:11-13). Specifically, God made “plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit.” God sovereignly made distinctions between the different kinds of vegetation, according to their kind. And all of that was good.

Kids, who made the heavens and the earth? Who made the light? Who made the waters? Who made the sky and the dry land?

Mark 10:17-45 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Good morning it’s good to be with you this morning. Pastor Dave is off this week, they were able to go to Michigan and visit his family. Dave’s father, Dave Sr began chemotherapy for cancer this week. Please keep the VanAcker family in your prayers.

For a number of reasons we have been in and out of Genesis a lot thi...

Mark 10:17-45 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Good morning it’s good to be with you this morning. Pastor Dave is off this week, they were able to go to Michigan and visit his family. Dave’s father, Dave Sr began chemotherapy for cancer this week. Please keep the VanAcker family in your prayers.

For a number of reasons we have been in and out of Genesis a lot thi...

INTRODUCTION

John Piper is often quoted as saying that when it comes to missions there are only three choices for God’s people: go, send, or disobey. (I looked for some time to find the origin of that quote but could not do so. The quote is everywhere—even on DG’s website—but the original source is not.) That’s a fairly clever way of framing the issue, but it is not unique to missions. Wherever God has given us a command to bless others we will do it directly or indirectly, or we will be in sin.

This is as true, then, for orphan care as it is for missions. As I hope to make clear in this sermon, God has commanded all of his people to join him in fighting for the cause of the fatherless. For that reason we will take in, support, or disobey—take in the fatherless, support those who take in the fatherless, or disobey God. Those are our only three options.

With that, let me welcome you all once again to Orphan Sunday at Grace Church. Our primary aim is to help you see God’s call on your life to join him in fighting for the cause of the fatherless. To accomplish this aim I mean to do three things in this sermon. First, I mean to guide you through all of the major passages of the bible that address this issue. Insodoing we’ll see six main principles. Second, I mean to briefly share a bit of my personal engagement in this cause; not because I’m a great example, but precisely because I’m not. Third, then, I mean to offer five specific ways in which you might begin to or grow in your fight for the cause of the fatherless today.

Let’s pray, therefore, that God would be pleased to help us see his heart and mind for the fatherless, to see his heart and mind for his people for the fatherless, and respond in ways that are for his glory and the orphan’s good.

ORPHANS IN THE BIBLE

Once again, in order to help you see God’s call on your life to join him in fighting for the cause of the fatherless, I want to begin by taking you through a scripture-saturated journey. God’s word is the place where we find God’s mind and heart for all things, including this. By my count there are around 20 key passages in the bible from which we learn the will of God for the fatherless. And from those 20 passages we learn six main principles.

1. We Are All Orphans

This is the central principle. Everything else we might know about orphan care finds purchase in the fact that adoption is at the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Consider Paul’s words in Romans 8 in this regard.

Romans 8:14-17 …All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs- heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ…

In Ephesians 1 Paul makes this even more clear.

Ephesians 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Be amazed by this, Grace. Sin severed our union with God. Sin made us fatherless with respect to God. But God caused his Son to die as a ransom for our sins and his Holy Spirit to fall upon us to bring life and forgiveness and adoption. By grace through faith God welcomes us back into his family as true sons and daughters. Really consider this, Grace. Being a Christian means that you have acknowledged yourself as an orphan...