God's promises to every living thing

Please get your Bibles open. It would be a great help.

We're going to look at Genesis, the story of Noah,

or what happens after Noah gets out of the ark.

But I don't know if you noticed it when Laurier was reading the text,

and we're going to start a little bit before that, just to give the context.

But for a lot of people in our culture,

especially for a lot of people for the last 50 years,

what Laurier read was deeply offensive.

It's deeply offensive to many people in our culture.

It basically goes against the grain of how progressive thought thinks.

And many people think that a text like what Laurier just read about 10 minutes ago

contributes to ecological catastrophes and raping of the earth.

And so it seems like a simple text at first,

but it's actually been the source of a lot of controversy,

especially over the last 50 years.

So open your Bibles.

We're going to look at this text,

and we're going to see if it's as bad as people think or what exactly it says.

And we're going to begin reading it to Genesis 8, verse 20.

Genesis 8:20

Genesis 8, verse 20.

Genesis 8:20

And the context is that those of you who have been following along,

we're going through the first 11 chapters of Genesis,

God has brought the pre-flood world to an end.

He has reset and recreated the earth through the flood

and his mighty miracle of the flood.

He has kept Noah and seven other people safe.

They've gotten out into this new, renewed earth.

And now the story takes place as to what happens when they get off the boat.

What happens when they get off the boat?

And it begins at verse 20 of chapter 8.

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord

and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird

and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Just pause there.

It's not really part of the sermon,

but it's really, really interesting

that the first thing that Noah did when he got off the ark

was to think of God.

And the sacrifice which he offers here is a sacrifice.

If you go and look in Leviticus,

Moses helps us to understand what Noah's intention was.

And it was a sacrifice of homage.

I don't know if I pronounced that word right.

He's acknowledging that God is God and that he is not.

He's acknowledging that God is the great deliverer.

God is the one who has saved him.

It's really, really interesting, you know,

because just think for ourselves

when something really good happens

or when we've just, like a lot of times

when things go really good in our lives,

we think about ourselves.

Like, you know, it'd be very easy

if I was Noah, I'd probably think,

wow, did I ever nail sailing that ark.

I'd be thinking of myself, you know.

Or maybe I'd be thinking of what I could eat,

you know, now that I'm off the boat

and I could eat fresh fruit.

I don't know.

I'd be thinking probably of myself or my family.

I'd maybe be filled with pride.

But it's very interesting

that the very first thing that Noah does

is think of God

and not only think of God

but do an act where he acknowledges

that God is the great deliverer,

that God is the only God,

that he belongs,

that Noah and his family ultimately are under God.

And then God reacts to this in verse 21.

And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma,

and that's like figurative language

that God was pleased.

Noah had done what is right.

It's right for us to be Godward in our thinking

and not take the credit and the praise

and the glory for ourselves

or just to be self-centered.

It's right to look up to God.

And then the Lord said in his heart,

I will never again,

notice this powerful language,

I will never again curse,

that's dishonor or,

yeah, dishonor the ground

because of man,

because of human beings.

For the intention of man's heart

is evil from his youth.

Neither will I ever again strike down,

notice that,

neither will I ever again

strike down every living creatures I have done.

While the earth remains,

seed time and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night,

shall not cease.

If you could put up the first point,

that would be really helpful.

This is one of the really big ideas in this text.

God has promised

that he will never let human beings

make the world uninhabitable for human beings.

That's what this text is saying.

God has promised

that he will never let human beings

make the world uninhabitable

for human beings

and for other living beings as well.

It's an actually astounding promise.

It's unilateral.

God does it by himself.

It's unprovoked.

It isn't that Noah has asked for this

or we human beings have asked for it.

It is unconditional

and it is completely and utterly unending.

And the text emphasizes that.

It makes us understand

how serious God is about this promise

that God will never allow human beings

to make the world uninhabitable for human beings

and that he himself will not destroy the earth

by a flood ever again.

If you just jump down a few verses

to chapter 9 verse 8,

it's made even clearer in the text.

It's emphasized time and time and time again in the text.

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with them,

Behold, I establish.

I establish my covenant with you

and your offspring after you.

That's us.

And with every living creature that is with you,

the birds, the livestock,

and every beast of the earth with you,

as many as came out of the ark,

it is for every beast of the earth.

In other words,

it's not just for the animals that come out.

It's for every single critter.

Every critter that's ever lived

and ever will live.

Verse 11,

I establish my covenant with you

that never again

shall all flesh be cut off

by the waters of the flood

and never again

shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.

And God said,

This is the sign of the covenant

that I make between me and you

and every living creature that is with you

for all future generations.

I have set my bow in the cloud

and it shall be a sign of the covenant

between me and the earth.

But just pause here for a second.

The text isn't saying

that there weren't rainbows before this.

It's just saying that God is taking something

which is very, very public

and there's all this other symbolism

that we could think about it,

you know, in a sense that it's in the sky,

that it covers a big distance,

that it encircles,

like it's pointing upwards,

you know, that it's his war bow set down.

There's all this imagery

and all that you can think of.

And we have to be acknowledging that,

you know, often now when we think of rainbows,

we think of the LGBTQI community,

but the Bible says that when we see a rainbow in the sky,

that is a sign that God has given,

a public sign,

whether you're in Kenya,

whether you're in China,

whether you're in Australia,

whether you're in Canada,

he's given this sign.

And every time we see this sign,

we are to remember

that God is making this solemn promise.

Verse 14,

When I bring clouds over the earth

and the bow is seen in the clouds,

I will remember my covenant

that is between me and you

and every living creature of all flesh,

and the water shall never again

become a flood to destroy all flesh.

When the bow is in the clouds,

I can't say that word,

is in the clouds,

I will see it and remember

the everlasting covenant

between God

and every living creature

of all flesh that is on the earth.

God said to Noah,

This is the sign of the covenant

that I have established

between me and all flesh

that is on earth.

So it's emphasized

time and time and time again.

God does this

on his own initiative.

There's no conditions

that never again

will the flood destroy the earth.

And not only will never again

will the flood destroy the earth,

is that God is going to guarantee

that the earth is inhabitable.

That's how this is all moved forward.

We're going to be fruitful.

We're going to multiply.

God will guarantee it.

Now, many, many, many, many people

over the last 50 years,

because there's been

a justifiable concern

about pollution,

they,

I mean, it's very, very common thought

that human beings

can destroy the planet.

That if we don't deal

with climate change

in a particular way,

it endangers all life.

That if we don't deal

with nuclear war,

it endangers all of life.

If we don't deal with this,

it endangers all of life.

It's a very, very constant theme.

If we don't deal

with overpopulation,

it's going to cause

all these problems.

It's going to endanger

human life.

It's a very, very, very

common belief

that the ability

to destroy all things

is in human hands,

and therefore we need

to take very, very drastic measures

to change it.

And when people see

texts like this,

they say,

good grief, George.

Like, if people actually

believe this,

it's going to mean

that they don't take

pollution seriously.

It means they're not going

to take this seriously,

an overpopulation.

It's going to permit

the raping of the earth.

It's going to,

it's, it's,

George, this is the most

unbelievably dangerous text.

people might say,

George, does,

does God not know

how evil human beings are?

And how they can take

promises like that

and just do all sorts

of unspeakable things?

Well, you know,

it's very interesting

that when God makes

this outrageous promise,

he makes it fully aware

of what human beings

are like.

I don't know if you noticed,

look again at,

at chapter 8,

verse 20,

and to 22,

how I began.

I don't know if you noticed,

it's, oh,

it's a bit jarring

if you read it slowly

and carefully.

Notice how jarring it is.

Okay, look again,

verse 20,

then Noah built an altar

to the Lord

and took some of every

clean animal

and some of every

clean bird

and offered burnt offerings

on the altar.

And when the Lord smelled

the pleasing Roman,

in other words,

he's pleased with it,

the Lord said in his heart,

and here's the thing,

I will never again

dishonor the ground

because of man.

And then does he say,

because I think

human beings

have a great future.

I think human beings

will be responsible.

I think human beings

are perfectible.

I think human beings

are good.

I think human beings

are wise.

I think human beings

are smart.

I think human beings

aren't selfish.

No,

he says,

for the intention

of man's heart

is evil from his youth.

He knows humans.

And yet,

right after that,

he says,

neither will I ever again

strike down

every living creature

as I have done

while the earth remains,

sea time and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night,

shall not cease.

And not only

is the beginning

of this,

before this promise,

but immediately

after the promise,

in fact,

God shows,

God shows,

the Bible shows

the depth,

like a really,

really,

really,

really terrible

example of sin.

Look at verse 18

of chapter 9.

This is a bit

of an X-rated sermon,

actually.

One of the problems

we have with reading

the Bible

is if they were

to really make the Bible

and put it in a movie,

it would be X-rated.

Lots of the Bible

would be X-rated.

Look at verse 18

of chapter 9.

So here,

you know,

the question is

how on earth

can God make this

unbelievable,

unconditional promise

that he is going to,

you know,

it almost sounds

as if no matter

what human beings do,

they will not be able

to destroy the planet

and we can say

to ourselves,

gosh,

with nuclear bombs,

with this,

with this,

with this,

with this,

does God,

is he off his,

like,

is he nuts?

Does he not know

what human beings

are capable of?

Look at 918.

The sons of Noah

who went forth

from the ark

were Shem,

Ham,

and Japheth.

Ham was the father

of Canaan.

These three

were the sons of Noah

and from these

the people of the whole earth

were dispersed.

Noah began to be

a man of the soil

and he planted a vineyard

and he figured out

how to make wine

and he drank the wine

and became drunk

and lay uncovered

in his tent.

And actually,

that's a bit mild.

It's sort of a funny

type of idea

but he somehow

exposed himself.

In other words,

not only is there

the sin of being drunk

but that somehow

even though he was

in the privacy

of his tent,

there was a type

of a drunken,

wanton exposing

of himself.

He's lost any sense

of type of modesty

even though he's

in his own tent.

And then verse 22,

And Ham,

the father of Canaan,

saw the nakedness

of his father

and told his two

brothers outside.

Now,

the problem

with this translation

and if you read

commentaries on it,

it's fairly literal

but it doesn't capture

the nuance.

And in the nuance,

saw the nakedness

of his father

is clearly homoerotic

and incestuous.

And the text

doesn't go into detail

about it

and so it leads

to a lot of other

speculation

but in the original language,

it's clearly

something evil,

something sexual,

something incestual.

Whether it's just

merely as a great

lusting and desire

after his heart,

whether it's connected

to something like

masturbation,

whether it's connected

to actual sexual

penetration,

the text

puts a veil

over that.

But remember

the point is

does God know

what human beings

are capable of?

Actually,

the Bible shows

that he knows

what human beings

are capable of.

Like in a very

shocking manner.

And then

we're not going

to read it

but after that

then Noah's

response

and actually

we'll just

continue on

with it actually

and then in

verse 22,

verse 23,

verse 22,

and Ham the father

of Canaan,

say that again,

saw the nakedness

of his father

and told his

two brothers

outside.

In other words,

not only does

Ham do something

which is of a

incestual,

sexual nature

and homoerotic

but he's proud

and evangelistic

about it.

He's not

repentant.

Doesn't think

he's done

anything wrong.

What happens

after this

is Noah

gives a

prophetic

prayer

where amongst

other things

he

in his

prophetic prayer

sees the future

of slavery

and he uses

Canaan as a bit

of a symbol

of that there's

going to be

whole parts

of the earth

which are given

over to evil.

So,

remember,

here's the point

God has promised

that he will

never let human

beings make the

world uninhabitable

for human beings.

It really is

quite an astounding

thing,

actually,

isn't it?

That God would

make such a

promise

we,

you see,

here's how we

naturally think

because in our

heart of hearts

we want to be

God.

So,

in our

heart of hearts

we want to

be God

and so

we really

think that

God,

I mean,

it's funny,

on one hand

we don't want

God to frighten

us,

but on the other

hand we'd

much rather

that God

said something

frightening

that this is

going to go

really bad

for you

if you do

certain things

or we'd

want to make

it a bit

of a quid

pro quo,

I won't

damage things

if you do

things the

right way

or whatever

it is.

We have a

hard time

with this

just pure

gift of

grace and

life that

God is going

to give to

the human

race.

evil.

But he

does it in

the context

of knowing

human evil

and he

does it in

a very,

very,

very interesting

way,

letting human

beings know

that he's

still going

to judge

and that

there's a

very,

very profound

humbling

limit.

And this is

going to get

even more

politically

incorrect.

It's going

to get

even more

politically

incorrect.

Just before

I get to

that,

you know,

one of the

things that

often get

snuck into

discussions

around the

future of

the earth

and the

danger of

human beings

destroying the

earth is

that we

human beings,

it's not

that we

sort of

remember what

God's word

says,

but we

start to

believe that

we can

create by

our own

efforts some

type of

utopia.

And it's

very,

very interesting

what often

happens in

the conversation

is that on

one hand,

we say,

how on

earth can

you trust

private

individuals to

not cause

damage,

or certain

rogue nations

to cause

damage?

But in

the very,

very next

breath with

the other

hand,

they say

what's really

needed is

people like

us to be

in control

to make

sure the

damage doesn't

happen.

And nobody

notices that

somehow or

another we

can't trust

all those

other people,

but we

can trust

me,

give me

the power.

But this

text, in

fact, the

Bible is

very, very

wise.

It's going to

say something

very, very,

very, very

politically

incorrect, but

it's very

wise.

And it's

the bit

in between

what I

first read

and what

I just

read.

Look at

verse 1

of chapter

9.

And God

blessed Noah

and his

sons and

said to

them,

be fruitful

and multiply

and fill

the earth.

The fear

of you

and the

dread of

you shall

be upon

every beast

of the

earth and

upon every

bird of

the heavens

and upon

everything

that creeps

on the

ground and

all the

flesh of

the sea.

Into

your hand

they are

delivered.

Every

moving thing

that lives

shall be

food for

you.

As I

have given

you the

green plants,

I give

you everything.

Now just

pause for a

second here.

This is

just a bit

of a time

out about

the text.

This is

really very,

very, very

interesting.

Those of

you who were

here last

week, I

tried to

show how

just before

the flood

in a very,

very simple

way, God

describes,

God's word

describes it as

almost as if

the earth

before the

flood had

become something

like Mordor.

One of the

things which

is really

interesting is

that God

uses the

flood, he

judges the

earth, he

kills, it

brings to an

end the

whole pre-flood

world, and

now we're in

the post-flood

world, and

there's just

these little

tiny bits of

suggestions, a

little bit about

what the life

and life was

like before the

flood.

It's sort of

implied here that

there used to

be a different

relationship before

the flood

between human

beings and

animals.

It's implied

that before the

flood, all human

beings were

vegetarians.

It implies in

chapter 6 that

there was a

different relationship

between spiritual

beings and human

beings, and the

whole age thing

shows that somehow

or another human

beings lived for a

far longer time.

time.

And as the Bible

text continues, it's

all just hinted at

here.

You know, if you

were a Christian

poet or a fantasy

writer, I guess

there's no reason

why you couldn't

write a fantasy

novel about life

before the flood

and what it would

be like to be in a

world where there's a

different relationship

with animals, and

who knows, maybe in

some way fantasy

writers and even

mythology is

somehow or another

tight, getting in

touch with the

real history of

what life was like

before the flood.

You know, because

it's not, it's

probably not the

case.

Like a lot of

people say that

what the Bible has

done is it's

making myth, it's

taking myth and

pretending it's

history.

But probably what's

really going on with

the Bible is that

mythology was

originally history.

And what the

Bible is telling

us is what really

happened.

And so here we

see in this

particular text,

we're not getting

into the politically

incorrect part, it's

going to get to it in

a moment, but the

Bible is saying to

human, to no one

as sons, remember

he's guaranteed, God

is guaranteed that I

will never let human

beings make the world

uninhabitable for human

beings.

And he's saying go

out there, be fruitful

and multiply.

Grow and fill the

earth.

And you human beings

still have dominion

over the earth, but

now there's going to

be a different

relationship with

animals.

Now animals are

going to fear you.

But you still have

responsibility for

them, you still are

to have dominion over

them.

And then he puts

this profound check

on human power and

this profound warning

to the abuse of human

power.

Look at verses 4, 5,

and 6 of chapter

9.

But you shall not

eat flesh with its

life.

But you shall not

eat flesh with its

life.

That is, its blood.

And for your life

blood, I will require

a reckoning.

Some of your Bibles

have another word,

which is a good

translation as well,

an accounting.

From every beast I

will require it, and

from man.

From his fellow man, I

will require a reckoning

or an accounting for

the life of man.

Whoever sheds the

blood of man, by man

shall his blood be

shed.

For God made man in

his own image.

Could you put up the

next point?

This whole funny type

of thing about blood

and life, you know

how the rainbow is a

symbol or a sign of

God's promise.

God is now saying

that when we see

blood, it's a sign

of life.

He's not making a

biological claim here.

He's not making

something so that

those of you who do

research in chemistry

or biochemistry now

have a clue about

figuring things out.

He's saying, I want

you to understand that

there's life, and

when you see blood,

you're seeing life.

And when he says

you're not allowed to

do certain things to

life, you're not

allowed to eat life,

you're not allowed

to eat blood, it's a

way of him making

this very, very, very

powerful, far-reaching

claim.

The living God is the

source of life, the

sustainer of life, and

sovereign over life.

Now, you know, I just

want to be honest with

you.

I don't wake up every

Sunday morning and

say, you know what?

Dang it.

I'm just going to be

really politically

incorrect and offend

most Canadians today.

So let's just talk

about this.

Yeah, let's talk

about incest and

homoerotic desire and

a text which basically

says that the whole

Canadian legal system

allowing abortion on

demand and doctor-assisted

suicide is deeply

wrong.

I'm just going to wake

up.

You know, one of the

things we do is we

preach through books

of the Bible, and it's

just so important for us

to become familiar with

what God's Word says.

And you might hear

people talking about

the sanctity of life, and

it's unclear exactly what

sanctity of life means for

many people, but really

what it is to mean, if it

means something biblically,

is what this text is

saying and what all the

rest of the Bible is

going to make more and

more clear.

The creed, when we say the

Nicene Creed, we say the

Holy Spirit is the Lord and

giver of life.

And what this text is

saying is that, okay,

human beings, you're to

be fruitful and you're to

multiply, and you're to

have dominion over the

earth.

But just remember two

really, really important

things.

You are not the source of

life.

You are not the owner of

life.

You cannot do with life

whatever you want.

All life is ultimately a

gift from me.

I am the only source of

life.

life.

And I give life, I

sustain life, and all

life is under ultimately

my account.

You have to account to me

for how you deal with

life, and you have to

account for me with what

you do.

And I am the source of

life, the sustainer of

life, and I am sovereign

over life.

If you could put up the

next point, and this is

even more shocking.

If we take this seriously, I

am the steward of my

life.

I am not the source or

owner of my life.

I'm going to talk about

this a little bit more in

a moment, but one of the

things is that a woman who

is pregnant does not own

the baby in her womb.

Neither does the state,

neither does the tribe,

neither does the

patriarchy, neither does

the matriarchy.

You see, this text, on

one hand, it undermines the

claim of every king, the

claim of every tyrant, the

claim of every ideology,

the claim of every state.

On one hand, it undermines

all of those things, but at

the same time, it actually

provides an unbelievable

dignity to human beings.

When the Bible is telling

us that I don't own my

life, I'm the steward of my

life, that doesn't mean that

the state can come in

therefore and say, ah,

therefore I own you.

No, no, no, no, no.

No, no, no, no.

God is the source of life.

He is sovereign over it.

And it's mine, in quotation

marks, but it's mine as a

steward, as a manager.

It means that it's been

given to me by God.

Life has been given to me

by God.

And since he's still

sovereign over it, it means

he has his purpose for

life.

And as a steward, not an

owner, I am to seek his

purposes.

And to manage in a well, in a

way, my own life, in a way

that when I have to give an

accounting and a reckoning for

it, I will hear well done.

It means when the Bible is

telling us that God is the

source and sustainer and

sovereign over life, it means

that we are to seek to call out

to God to understand the

structure of life and what will

lead to my flourishing and what

will lead to my being able to

ultimately have dominion over

other beings, other critters and

creatures that have the breath of

life.

And how, as a dad, I am to

understand how to not only manage

my life but have, in a sense, a

dominion with my wife over the

family in a way that causes their

flourishing and their growth and

their development because I am not

my own.

Now, here I just want to make a bit

of a pause.

This is a very, very difficult text

for several people in the room.

I'm just presuming that there's

several people in the room like

this.

For the single who wanted to get

married but were never able to get

married and have no children, it's a

very difficult text.

For the married who long to have

children but cannot seem to have

children, it's a very difficult text.

For those amongst us who've had

abortions or participated in

abortions, it's a very difficult

text.

For those who might be present who

came to church today and they are

considering an abortion because

they've gotten pregnant and they're

maybe even part of the church and

they can't imagine revealing to

everybody that they've gotten

pregnant.

How can they, if they're such a good

Christian, all those things going

through your minds, these are very,

very difficult texts.

And I know that I'm a guy and I'm

married and God has blessed me with

children and so I know that I don't

know really what's going on in your

hearts when you struggle with this.

But, you know, when we read this text

as Christians, we read this knowing

that God is going to send a Savior.

And what I know about Jesus is that he

is a man of sorrows, acquainted with

grief.

And any time the Bible says an

apparently hard word to us, it is

never to drive us away but to drive

us to him.

It is never to drive us away.

It is to drive us to him.

There is forgiveness and healing for

those who have done evil.

And for those of us who have longings

and yearnings that have never been

fulfilled, there are even deeper

longings and yearnings that can be

fulfilled in him.

And there is one who has known all of

our temptations only without sin and

all of our sorrow and all of our grief.

And we can pour our hearts out to him.

And one of the wonderful things in this

text is that just while on one hand it

is telling us something very politically

incorrect in Canada, a baby is not a

problem to be solved.

A baby is not a problem to be solved.

A baby is something to celebrate.

And that is very, very, very

countercultural today.

But at the same time, this text, by

reminding us that my life is a gift from

God, it has come from God, and he

sustains my life, and he is sovereign

over my life, this text is a profound

assurance of the integrity and of the

value of a person who never marries or

who never has children and all of our

sorrows.

It is a profound text of comfort about

the value we have in God's eyes who has

given us life.

Who has given us life.

You know, it's one of the things, if you

could put up the next point, Andrew.

Over the last couple of months, I've had

several conversations in coffee shops

around this.

In fact, just a little while ago, I had a

conversation with some Jehovah

Witnesses.

And one of the things I like to do with

Jehovah Witnesses is knock them off

their spiel.

And one of the things I tell them is

that one of the many weaknesses of their

thought is they have no ability to believe

that God is love.

This is Trinity Sunday.

Next Sunday, we'll do the Athanasian

Creed.

Those of you who are hoping for the Creed

for Dummies, we'll do it next week.

I love the Athanasian Creed because I'm

a dummy.

So it's so clear.

And, you know, one of the things about

the thing, only the Christian revelation

makes clear that God is love in a very,

very powerful way.

Because from all eternity, the Father

has loved the Son.

And from all eternity, the Son has loved

the Father.

And the Bible even describes

in some cases as if the Holy Spirit

is almost, one way to almost understand

the Holy Spirit is this constant motion

of love from the Father to the Son

and the Son to the Father.

And so,

God's love is never

need love

or compelled love.

And this is very frightening

to us.

You know, we get into a marriage

and we hope that in a marriage

that on one hand,

the reason we have this marriage

is that we're compelled by the beauty

of the other person.

Or, you know,

we have a friend

and we almost like it.

We don't want them to need us too much,

but we want them to need us a little bit

because it's something that we can control.

And the Bible says

that God doesn't need,

he didn't need to create human beings

because he needed somebody to love.

I said that to my Jehovah Witnesses.

I said, you know,

you don't have a God

when you say that God is love,

but that doesn't mean anything for you

because there's just one God.

There's no Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

three persons, one God,

loving each other forever and ever and ever.

And so, don't you worry

that God made human beings

because he needed to have somebody to love?

That somehow or another

then we have this hold on God?

But the Bible says

that God never has need love.

He is,

could you put up the next point?

God is love without need.

He loves us because he is love.

He loves us because he is love.

And on one hand,

this is unbelievably frightening

because we like love

that involves some need

or some compelling.

But when we come to God,

there is no need,

there is no compelling,

there is just pure,

unending,

self-giving,

holy,

merciful,

just,

true,

giving,

love

that we can never repay,

that we can never compel,

that we can never put him in our debt,

that we can never out love him,

or out give him.

There is on one hand,

this unbelievable challenge

for us to stand completely

and utterly naked before God,

understanding his unbelievable generosity

and goodness to us,

that we can do nothing to compel it.

He loves us because he loves us,

because he is love.

And because God is unchanging,

this,

while on one hand,

frightening us

because we want to put God in our debt,

is ultimately the only ground

for any hope,

that God is love,

that he is unchanging.

And for us as Christians,

in a powerful level,

this whole idea

that God is the source of life,

that he is the sovereign over life,

that he is the giver of life,

that ultimately all life comes from God,

that we, in a sense,

are just stewards over it.

The Bible tells us,

remember that text in John,

when Jesus is saying,

before,

to God,

in front of his disciples,

as he's going to be going to the cross,

he says that he's about to be glorified.

He's about to have his glory shown.

And what the Bible is saying

is if you want a snapshot of God,

if you want a snapshot of God,

if you want a snapshot of God is love,

if you want just one picture

or one image

of who the real,

true,

living God actually is,

you see that best

when you see God,

the Son of God,

dying upon the cross.

Because you see,

you know,

even in this sacrifice

that begins the book of Genesis,

you know,

where Noah gives a sacrifice,

when you understand

that all life ultimately comes from God,

that he is the source of life,

that life is his,

that really,

it's God's life

that dies in that sacrifice.

It's not something Noah does.

It's not even ultimately

something really

that the animal does.

that even in,

with every single animal sacrifice,

when you understand

that all life comes from God,

it's pointing that ultimately

his life

makes us right with him.

And then,

we see that most perfectly

and completely

in God,

the Son of God,

the source of life,

the giver of life,

sovereign over life,

for all life,

dying upon the cross

with pure,

unmerited,

unasked for,

unsought,

undeserving

love.

Final point.

in this is love,

not that we have loved God,

but that he loved us

and sent his Son

to be a propitiation

for our sins.

that's how we're to understand

this text in Genesis.

It's how we're to understand

our life.

You see,

this is the wonderful

news of the gospel

to the broken.

It's the wonderful news

of the gospel

for those of us

going through a dark night

of the soul.

It's the wonderful news

of the gospel

for those of us

who seem broken

and alone.

It is the wonderful news

of the gospel

who worry

about being unsuccessful,

whether it's in some

spiritual things

or other things.

It's not that God

is looking down at us

and counting up our love.

In this is love,

not that we have loved God,

but that he loved us

and sent his Son

to be a propitiation

for our sins,

the sacrifice

that makes us right with him.

See, that's why

we describe our mission statement here

as making disciples of Jesus

who are gripped

by the gospel.

And as the gospel grips us

and as it comes home

to us more and more deeply

who Jesus is

and what he did for us

on the cross,

that is the means

by which we start

to get an understanding

of where our true identity is

and where the true meaning

of our life is found

and how we can overcome anxiety

and all of the other types

of doubts and uncertainties

that our sins

and our idols cause us.

Please stand.

Just bow our heads in prayer.

Father, you know that there's

some of us here right now

that we're suffering

for some of those things.

Some of us are laboring under,

well, Father,

memories of maybe connected

to abortion or infertility

or miscarriages

or just other types

of failures in life, Father,

which are weighing us down.

Father, pour out

your Holy Spirit upon us.

Grip us with the truth

of this scripture

that this is love,

not that we have loved you,

but that you loved us

and sent your Son

to be a propitiation for us.

Father, grip us

with the gospel.

Father, if there are any here

who have not yet turned to Jesus

to trust him

as their Savior and their Lord,

Father, may you turn their hearts

even now

in a saving way.

They would understand

that he is the source

of their life

and their hope

for eternal life

and a hope

for a life

that is of you

even now.

So, Father,

make us disciples of Jesus

who are gripped

by the gospel.

We're coming to you

as the man of sorrows,

familiar with our grief,

so that we might be freed up

and live for your glory.

And all this we ask

in the name of Jesus,

your Son and our Savior.

Amen.