Bible, Redemption

Covenant

Have you ever heard the expression that rules are meant to be broken? It seems that wherever there are rules, they will be broken shortly thereafter. Many of us think of the Bible has being a religious book that’s full of rules that God wants us to keep, but that’s not at all what God intended the rules for. In this week’s message, Pastor Sean talks about the rules that God gave mankind after Creation was for them to understand what holiness looked like and to show them that no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t keep all the rules. But instead of leaving them hopeless, He made a way for them to be made right with Him despite their inability to obey all the rules.

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MESSAGE NOTES

Genesis 12:1-4 – God gave Abram a choice to eat from the right tree.

  • Abram had to decide if he believed Hod enough to trust God.
  • Romans 4:1-3 – it was this act of faith that made him right with God.
  • God initiated a covenant (contractual agreement) to guarantee a pathway back to God.
  • God uses this family and their descendants as a picture
  • Slavery to Egypt, sacrifice so Death Angel would pass over.
  • He gives instructions to guide/shape their heart  Exodus 20

 

Think you’re not THAT dirty? God says let me show you what clean looks like.

Even though we fail, God offers himself, with condition.

Leviticus 16:2-3 –  don’t walk in with the scale out of balance

  • Lamb takes away our guilt and debt
  • God includes everyone in covenant relationship Leviticus 16:20-24
  • Sin is transferred to the animals and banished
  • Another animal must then make the payment for that sin.
  • The rest of the Old Testament is Israel sinning, consequences, repentance, sacrifice, forgiveness, and restoration.

BUT over time, the emphasis was moved from heart to actions.

  • They went through the motions that indicated hearts had changed without any actual changes of heart.
  • The animal was good enough to take the guilt away but not enough to give us what we needed most, holiness.
  • Why? The lamb couldn’t keep the law. Neither could we.

Isaiah 1:10-19 

  • Their sacrifices disgusted God because their hearts were unchanged. (vs 15-17).
  • They had reduced their faith to a list of dos/don’ts.
  • They redefined holiness from a matter of the heart to the keeping of lists and rituals.
  • They found out what Paul said in Romans 8:3

Hebrews 10:1-4 – the law couldn’t solve our problem,.

  • The animal was good enough to take the guilt away but not give us what we needed most, holiness.

Long Story, Short…. God gave us a picture of holiness, not because we could match up but so that we would see how far we fell and would be turned back from the Tree of My Own Way.

 

APPLICATION: Aren’t we still making “sacrifices” in an attempt to cover our wayward hearts?

Have you ever heard the expression that rules are meant to be broken? It seems that wherever there are rules, they will be broken shortly thereafter. Many of us think of the Bible has being a religious book that’s full of rules that God wants us to keep, but that’s not at all what God intended the rules for. In this week’s message, Pastor Sean talks about the rules that God gave mankind after Creation was for them to understand what holiness looked like and to show them that no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t keep all the rules. But instead of leaving them hopeless, He made a way for them to be made right with Him despite their inability to obey all the rules.

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