Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Hey, guys, this is naive. And you've reached the Mosaic Church podcast. So excited that you're part of our listening community and I'd love for you to be even more connected. So check out our website. There's more content there and there's more opportunities for you to get connected in our ministries and events as well. Also, love for you to share this content if this has blessed you. I know that God wants to use you to bless other people with it. So share this podcast.
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[00:00:59] Good morning.
[00:01:01] Hello. Hello. Good to see you guys. Good to see you online as well. Can you just make some noise for people joining us online?
[00:01:08] Hello. Hello.
[00:01:10] Glad you're here. You guys have the best host, so make sure you say hi.
[00:01:14] So we are in a series, right? We've been doing this all summer. So if you're just joining us, what we're doing is basically going to Old Testament stories and. And just talking about who God is, because it seems like. It seems like that sometimes God seems to be very different in the Old Testament versus the New Testament. So we go talking about these stories and I think it's been really exciting because for me, I've been able to actually talk through, like, man and see the character of God consistent in the Old Testament and the New Testament, even though it doesn't seem like he is.
[00:01:45] So we've been learning how God is, like, who God is. Last week we talked about who is God when life doesn't make sense, right? When stuff happens, when tragedy happens. Is God really punishing you Today? I want to talk about this God that I believe. He is a sacrificial God. So can you say that? What is he? He is a sacrificial God. Now, when I say that for some of you, you're like, I know, I know, I know. Because he wants us to what?
[00:02:10] He wants us to sacrifice. Now, there's so much more to that, because when I say when God, sacrificial God, I mean something much more. Let's talk about sacrifice, though. How are you guys when it comes to sacrificing? Like, have done something that you did not want to do. You went along with it just because.
[00:02:28] Just because did you ever do that? Who's really good at that? Anybody good at sacrificing stuff?
[00:02:34] Yes. We're not, right? I feel like I should be because I'm a pastor and I should be better than everybody. I don't know why. I don't know what. I don't know why. I think that have a better attitude at least. And, man, it's so tough. We went on vacation this in May, and my son, he just loves the. The nature, and I.
[00:02:53] He just loves nature. He loves nature, right? I grew up in the desert, and the first time people like Americans told me to go camping, I was like, why?
[00:03:00] Like, why? Why would I leave a house and go outside in the dirt? Like, I've been trying to get into a house my whole life. Like, why am I trying to go out there? I cannot sleep in nature. Anybody can sleep in nature.
[00:03:13] No.
[00:03:14] Are you guys awake? Anybody awake here? Do we need coffee? Okay. Okay. Okay. So he wants to hike everywhere. And so we were one day going through this, and Ashton remembers it because I was having such a hard time with it. We're going through this. It is hot. I don't mind hot. I like dry heat.
[00:03:33] What I don't like is, yes, people. Yes. Okay. Which we've experienced this summer. And so I'm, like, sweating and I'm nasty and I'm going through this jungle of a thing, and we're supposed to see animals and I don't see anything.
[00:03:48] And the tour guide is like, hey, look at this tree. I've seen all the trees. I don't care about this guy, okay? He is so old. I know. I am getting older, too. It doesn't matter. Age is not impressive. You know what I'm saying? Everybody gets old, okay? No, you don't need talent to get old. You just get old. And so I'm walking through this and Ashley's looking at me and I'm like. And my kids are like, you having a good time? And I'm like, yeah, yeah. And my face is like, no, I am not having a good time. And I try to hide it, but I can't. Because self sacrifice is hard, isn't it?
[00:04:22] It's tough. So today I want to talk about a sacrificial God. The question, though, is. The question is that are we good? Do we need to get better at sacrifice? Is that the message for today? Because I'm going to talk about a story that talks about sacrifice, but it's not a Disney version of sacrifice. It's the horror HBO version of sacrifice. Okay, you know what I'm talking about? I'm talking about human sacrifice. Hello, Human sacrifice. Anybody know the story that I want to talk about?
[00:04:50] The story that almost happened? Okay. Someone actually raised their hand. Did you just raise your hand, sir? Yes. You can say it out loud if you want to.
[00:04:58] Yes.
[00:05:00] Isaac. And Abraham gets brownie points. Okay? So if you got a Bible, get into that. If you got the app you can download, you can follow along. We're in Genesis 22. The story starts off and it reads like this. It says, sometime later, God tested Abraham. What did he do? He what? He did what?
[00:05:18] He tested Abraham. Which I think, again, as we look through scriptures, what we're saying here also, and you guys know this, if you've been to Mosaic, is that when I look at the scriptures, I'm looking at it in a very different way. I'm not looking at Western eyes. I'm looking at the fact that this is an Eastern story. This is not written in English. And so there's so much more into the scriptures. And. And that's what we need to keep asking. What is God saying about the scriptures when we read them? So did he really want to test him, or does he want to show him something? He's not trying to grade Abraham. He's trying to show him something. And then he said to him, he said, abraham, Abraham, here I am. He replied. Then God said, take your what? Take your who? Take your son. Your what? Your only son, whom you love. Very intentional. The writer here writing this story is very intentional. Three like your son. Okay, which one? The only one. Which one? Yeah. Not the one you don't like. The one you what?
[00:06:12] Love.
[00:06:13] Love. And what's his name? His name is Isaac. And go to the region of. Of Moria, sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on the mountain. I will show you. That's the story. That's where we start off. Now you're like, what is going on? If you've never read this story, you never heard of the story. You're like, hold up. So the Old Testament God is definitely.
[00:06:34] Hello, what is it? This guy likes to murder people. Like, what? What. What's happening here? That's why people say, I'm going to go Old Testament on you.
[00:06:42] What's happening here? What's happening? Is God doing that human sacrifice? Is God telling his dad telling a father to go and kill and murder his son and. And then burn him up?
[00:06:58] Like that's what it's saying.
[00:07:00] Because sometimes when we read these, we know these stories, we're like, Ah, yeah, we know the Disney version of it. And everybody lived. Everything was good. But when you stop and go, whoa, what kind of God tells his dad to go murder his son and then burn him?
[00:07:17] Whew.
[00:07:18] Wow.
[00:07:20] Okay. What kind of guy does that? And what's this? What is. Is it the Old Testament, God? Or are we missing something here? And I believe we are missing something here. We got to go back into the story, because before Abraham was called Abraham, he was called Abram. Yes. You're like, okay, not a big difference. Well, in Hebrew, the word Abram is exalted father. Which is ironic because he never had a kid till he was, like, you know, in his 90s.
[00:07:51] But the word Abraham means father of many, father of nations.
[00:07:58] So God changed it to this idea of who a father would be to an actual father that generations would pass down. What God was doing that when he changed Abraham's name was. He was telling him, I'm about to start something here that is gonna go on for generations and generations. See, what God's doing in your life is not about now, even though now might not be great. It's moving, and what you're going through is gonna impact generations to come. And so he changes his name to Abraham. So when we go back to the story, how did it start? It started in Genesis 12:1, where the Lord said to Abram, he says, go from your country, your people, and your father's household to the land. I will show you, and I will make you a. What a great nation.
[00:08:46] His name was still exalted Father, and I will bless you.
[00:08:50] I will make your name great, and you will become a blessing. You will bless those who bless you. And whoever curses you, I will what?
[00:08:58] Curse. All the people of the earth will be blessed through you. This is so important, friends, to understand the Old Testament, New Testament. The Old Testament comes with an old covenant. So when people go, you know what Israel is the chosen nation, they were.
[00:09:13] They were Old Testament, very clear, very clearly. And there was a.
[00:09:19] Like a covenant that he made. This is a covenant. This was. This was a covenant where God was saying. Speaking to one nation and said this. He says, I'm going to bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.
[00:09:31] That is not us.
[00:09:33] That is not us. That is not for us. This guy. You think I'm starting something with this nation that's gonna lead up to Jesus. As for right now, this is the covenant.
[00:09:44] It's not the covenant forever.
[00:09:46] That's why we call it the Old Covenant. And then Jesus comes in and Says, this is the cup of the new covenant. So you can't take this and go, oh, no, God's gonna bless who I bless and curse people? No, no, no, no, no.
[00:10:00] He says, and all the people on earth will be blessed through you. This is about you, meaning Abraham and the Jewish people. It changed, friends. It changed. That's why we're going old school, to understand what's happening right now. So what happens here? What happens here is that he leaves. It's huge. It's huge because he leaves, not just home, and he comes back for the weekend or he comes back for Thanksgiving. No, no, no. He leaves his household. He's gone. He is gone. He starts a new life, and there's things start happening. He gets successful and all that. And then he's getting old in his 90s or so, and he's like, okay, okay, okay. God just blessed me, and I got all this stuff, and I'm rich and all that, and I got no one to pass it down to. And he's like, okay, I gotta start figuring out who I'm gonna pass this down to. God did say he's gonna make me a great nation. I do have a lot of, you know, servants. I do have a lot of things, but I don't have a son. But you know what? I think maybe God was just kind of saying, hey, I want to bless people through your finances and this and that and this going to be great. So he goes, you know what? I'm just going to give my inheritance to a guy who works for me. He's a good guy, integrity and all that. And God gets wind of it, and he says, hey, hey, hey, hey. That's not that. You're not supposed to do that. So what happens then? The Lord, it says here, Genesis 15. It says, Then the Lord.
[00:11:14] Sorry, the word of the Lord came to him. This man, he's talking about that guy. He says, this man will not be your, what, Heir. But a son of your own own flesh and blood will be your heir. He took him outside and said, look up at the sky and count the stars, if indeed you can. What? Count them.
[00:11:35] And then he said to him, so shall your offspring be.
[00:11:42] Abram believed God the Lord, and it credited him as righteousness. See, the beautiful thing about writing a story when it's already happened, because this was written after it already happened, is that the writer can make a point here to again foreshadow what is to come. He says that this point was a point where God was like. God's like, you are A guy who believes in me and trusts me more than you seek to understand who I am. You just believe.
[00:12:16] See, the problem that we face in our lives is not the continual issue of sin in our lives or disobedience in our lives or the fact that we just miss the mark all the time and we try and be better. Honestly, the issue is really about belief and trust.
[00:12:35] Like, if you and I just believed God more today, this week, things would change. Not if you just sinned less, but you, if, if you believed more of who God is, if you felt closer, felt more gratitude, could understand and see God more. That solves everything else. We just think, no, no, no. We, no, no, no. That's why God says, for God so loved the world that he gave his son. It's not like because God so hated sin, he gave his son. No, no, he loved because love changes it. Believing and trusting, because you know and I know relationships don't work when there's no, what, trust. There's no trust. So right here, it created him righteousness. Which means there was a right standing with God. Not like Abraham all of a sudden stopped cursing. No, that was not a thing. No, there was a right standing. He kind of understood what God was doing. And God was like, I can work with this guy. And so when you hear all that that's happened and then all, then you jump back into the story that we first read when, where now you've got Abraham because God changed his name and says, okay, now I've given you the son, I've done this, but now I want you to do this. I want you to go and sacrifice him. And the story we always hear in this when this is preached is, are you and I willing to sacrifice our Isaac? Are we willing to heal or sacrifice or would give to God what's most important to us because the story is sometimes God feels more worshiped when you sacrifice a lot for him.
[00:14:23] God's ego is boosted when you go, I will even murder my kid for you.
[00:14:30] That, my friend, is very dangerous. Because religions all over the world have said in God's name and murdered people.
[00:14:39] And in their twisted mind, they believe that that kind of God is glorified by murdering another people group because God will, oh, I will murder for you. I will kill for you.
[00:14:53] No, But Jesus saying, I need you to die to yourself, well, that's a lot harder rather than just kill someone.
[00:15:02] Because anger is easier, right, to control than humility.
[00:15:07] So what happens? Early next morning, Abraham got up and loaded his donkey and he took him, took him, two of his sons, his servants, and his son Isaac.
[00:15:19] He had cut enough wood for the burnt offering. He set out for the place God told him, told him about.
[00:15:27] And on the third day, which is again, interesting because three, the number three, is always interesting in this way, you know, something cool is going to happen after the third day. Okay? So third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. This is Mount Moriah.
[00:15:43] Mount Moriah is interesting because after a couple of generations passed, you got Solomon, who builds the first temple, right there on that spot.
[00:15:55] And it's near Jerusalem. So now, all of a sudden, this mountain is setting the stage to become something so significant. In fact, Jesus was crucified not there, but close to there. This is all now playing. It's called. The story is getting bigger and bigger and bigger.
[00:16:12] And so here's what happens. He looks up, he looks at this place, and he said to his servants, he says, stay. What? Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there, we will worship, and then we will come back to you. Now, he has not told anybody what he's about to do, right? I'm sure the donkey. Because we have talking donkeys in the Bible. The donkey's like, I know what's happening. I know exactly what's happening. Apparently, no one else. Isaac is clueless. Apparently. He's like, oh, what are we doing? What are we doing? Oh, this is fun. This is fun. Okay. And then what happens? The story continues. Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac.
[00:16:56] And he himself carried the fire and the knife.
[00:17:02] And the two of them went on together.
[00:17:05] Very interesting symbolism here. Isaac carries the wood, the wood for the sacrifice to Mount Moriah. Foreshadowing, Jesus carries the cross.
[00:17:17] The son carries the instrument of his own sacrifice.
[00:17:23] Very, very interesting. But Isaac has no clue. Isaac's like, what are we. What are we doing now? What are we doing now? Okay. Why do you have a knife? Well, you know. Okay, Everybody's got to carry a knife, right? We're in the woods. Everybody carries a knife. Right pocket knife. No. No. Okay.
[00:17:37] Then he says, Isaac spoke up and he's like, yeah. He says, and said to his father Abraham, father. Yes, my son. Abraham replied, the fire and wood are here, but where's the lamb?
[00:17:51] I just realized that just came to me for the burnt offering.
[00:17:56] Where? Who do you think?
[00:17:59] What is? Okay. And Abraham answered, my sweet son, not so bright. God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. And the two of them went on together.
[00:18:17] No Actually, I don't know. If Isaac did not know, I'm not quite sure. The story doesn't tell us what happened.
[00:18:26] What tells us is that Abraham just does what he is called to do.
[00:18:35] He reaches there, and I'm not quite sure exactly what was going through his mind.
[00:18:40] Because if you don't know. If you don't know, in that context, burnt offerings, human sacrifice was not uncommon.
[00:18:53] The gods, for example, the Canaanites. Have you heard of the Canaanites in the Bible? They believed in human sacrifice. That's one of the things.
[00:19:02] The gods wanted you to sacrifice your son. I mean, they wanted you to sacrifice a lot of things, but your son, your firstborn.
[00:19:12] Huge firstborn. Oh, my gosh.
[00:19:15] Yeah, son. Yeah. Because you're sacrificing. Not just you're a kid, you're sacrificing your destiny.
[00:19:23] You're sacrificing.
[00:19:25] Yeah.
[00:19:28] So this didn't seem like an odd thing.
[00:19:33] The gods wanted that, and we did that. That's what we did. Okay?
[00:19:39] But here he's about to find out that this God who called him out back, back years ago to leave his home, to leave a world of gods and pagan worship, which means many gods, and to leave and start following him.
[00:19:59] Abraham was like, okay, what's happening? I have left this polytheistic religion. I'm moving towards, and I'm listening to this God. And to Abraham, he was just one of the gods for a long time. I want you to know that.
[00:20:14] Because they had been gods. But then he was like, no, no, I am the God. God. I am the one. I'm the one. Which was very hard for him to understand. He was like, no, you're one of the ones.
[00:20:25] That's why they say, you shall have no other gods. You know why? Because they were.
[00:20:31] Because they were. That's why the commandment exists.
[00:20:35] So here, Abraham's like, ah, okay, I'm gonna follow this God. And then he goes, and he's gonna do exactly what the God tells him. And nothing is out of character of this God. The gods were brutal. The gods demanded a whole lot. They were temperamental.
[00:20:48] They changed their minds. And they wanted you to prove allegiance to them. So he understands, okay. The one thing I wanted, the one thing I prayed for, the one thing you promised you want me to kill. And for some reason, we believe this, even now, that we love a God. We sing worship songs to a God who. Who wants to kill the very thing we love.
[00:21:13] We think that. We think that we're gonna be awesome if we kill the thing that we love, that God finds pleasure in our loss.
[00:21:23] Oh, man. He sacrificed and he's about to find out that is not the God that he knew. It is not the God of his ancestors.
[00:21:34] Yeah, the Babylonians believed all kinds of things.
[00:21:39] The Egyptians believed all kinds of things. But no, no, no. So what happens, it says here, when they reach the place God had told them about, Abraham built an altar there, like you do, like everybody does, and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son, Isaac.
[00:22:01] The binding of his son in the Jewish culture is very important. They don't talk about the almost sacrifice. They call it the binding. And it's actually Rosh Hashanah. They actually tell the story because the binding, they call it the binding of Isaac is very symbolic because it's the first step you take when you sacrifice an animal. The binding of it, which is really interesting, with Jesus on the cross, there was a binding, but then there was also a brutality of the Romans with the nails. It's pretty horrific.
[00:22:34] So he bound him and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. When he reached out his hand, and all this time, Isaac is like, either clueless or he's like, this is what the gods want.
[00:22:47] He took the knife to slay his son, and then what happens? But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven.
[00:22:56] Okay. Abraham.
[00:22:58] Yo.
[00:23:00] What are you doing?
[00:23:01] Abraham. I'm here. Here I am. Hey, hey, look at me.
[00:23:06] Do not lay a hand on your boy.
[00:23:10] He said, do not do what, anything to him. I mean, I know. I know you fear God.
[00:23:19] You fear the gods.
[00:23:22] But I want you to know. But you will have not withheld him from your son, your only son. I know that. I know that. But you can't do that. You can't do that.
[00:23:35] And this, friends, I don't know if you understand this. This is where Abraham kind of understood.
[00:23:43] Hold on now. I know you are not like the other gods.
[00:23:50] Oh, oh, oh. What? What?
[00:23:55] As if he just understood that God was really saying, I take no pleasure in human sacrifices.
[00:24:02] I am not like the other gods.
[00:24:05] I don't want you to sacrifice what you love.
[00:24:08] I don't find joy. And my ego doesn't get boosted. When I see you crying in pain.
[00:24:15] When I see you grieving your son, I find some kind of worship. I am not like the gods of your forefathers. I'm not that kind of God. I am not the God. Friends, this story is not about man. Oh, my gosh. Will you live a life proving. Proving that you love God? This is about A life trusting in God's promises.
[00:24:41] This is not about us trying to prove that we are sacrificial friends. This story is about a sacrificial God who will sacrifice one day for us.
[00:24:54] Because if this is symbolic, which it is, it's happening.
[00:24:59] It has happened here with Jesus. And so what happens? The rest of the story? Well, Abraham looked up, he goes like, okay, okay, okay. He looks up and there in a thicket, he saw a ram caught by his horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it and a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the place the Lord will provide Jehovah Jireh.
[00:25:24] And to this day, it is said on the mountain of the Lord. It will be what provided here we see is a.
[00:25:36] There's so much symbolism here. So much symbolism.
[00:25:40] You see, I've read this and I've struggled in my faith going, oh, man, am I that guy? Would I do that? Would I sacrifice?
[00:25:51] No, I just want you to be very clear about this. God wants you to have a character that you do put aside your stuff, you put aside your pride, your. What you want to do. You.
[00:26:02] You have a healthy dose of self sacrifice. And you do this because you learn from God, you learn from the Holy Spirit, you learn through the life of Jesus in which he did that. But what we don't learn here is it's okay to kill humans and to sacrifice other people. And what we are going to miss if we don't understand this, we're gonna miss is that this story is about God revealing who he is. He says, I am the God who, who sacrifices for you.
[00:26:33] I'm the God who's gonna sacrifice much more than you, Abraham. And he couldn't understand this. Abraham, you almost gave up your son. I did.
[00:26:45] I did do that. And as if. As if he was trying to see. The thing is, we live in a very modern world. We don't think of crosses and, you know, a lot of stuff in the scriptures. We don't think of persecution in that sense. We don't live in, you know, blatant slavery. I mean, there's definitely human trafficking going on. But this age understood God and saw God in a very different lens. And so when Jesus comes in and begins to do something that is so profound, he's linking the Old Testament to the New Testament and he's showing them that once and for all, this idea of God sacrificing and bloodshed and all that, it is done. It is done. And he reveals a New Testament, a new covenant with us. So Here, if we go. Okay, okay. Help me understand. What do you mean? It's a God who sacrifices? You see, you know, I don't know about you, but, like, it's okay for me to sacrifice when I believe in what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, and who I'm doing it for.
[00:28:02] It's very hard for me to sacrifice anything. My opinion.
[00:28:06] So hard. It is so hard. It is my Isaac. No, it's so hard to not, like, want to get your own way. You know what I'm saying? It's just. It's just. It's tough, but it's easy when you do it for people you love.
[00:28:25] It's extremely hard for people you don't like.
[00:28:29] And you will not do it for people you dislike.
[00:28:32] But you'll do anything for people you like. You'll do anything for people you love.
[00:28:37] You see, the question is not, are you a person who sacrifices or is easy for you to sacrifice? No, the question is, are you this person who loves this other person?
[00:28:48] How much do you love this person? How much do you love what you're doing?
[00:28:52] How much do you believe in why you're doing what you're doing? Sacrifice doesn't matter.
[00:28:57] It's how much you love them, how much you believe in them. And so you go, okay, Naeem, what does that mean when it comes to God being sacrificial? Well, Paul says it the best way. He explains it the best way. Paul was a guy who grew up in the Jewish faith. He knew all these stories. He was a teacher. He was a student of this. Okay. He was a religious leader. He was. He knew his stuff. So he knew the Old Testament. And that's why when Jesus started his teachings, he had really opposed it. Why? Because he just wanted to go Old Testament, a lot of people. And that's why he actually, in fact, plotted and helped murder some of the early Christians. Paul. This is Paul. Yeah, the guy love everybody. You know what I'm saying? He. Yeah, the verse, you know, love is patient, love is kind. Yes. He used to also stone people to death. Like, this was very interesting to see him turn.
[00:29:50] Paul is the guy who writes this passage. And I'm gonna read to you in a paraphrased version of the Scriptures. It's called the Message. And the reason is because I just want you to feel like the struggle that he's having. So there's a passage in Romans where he's talking to the Greeks about this, the Roman Christians, and also that culture. He's talking about this Idea of like wanting to be a certain kind of person, wanting to be a good person, wanting to not be consumed with addiction and, or consumed with, I don't know, just habits and yet finding it very hard to kind of overcome them. And he basically has a moment in the scriptures, this is rare, of self loathing. He's like, I just don't know if I like myself. I just don't know what's wrong with me. Like I really wanna do what I want, do what is.
[00:30:40] I just can't. I just can't. Can't, can't, can't do this. And so here he writes this, he writes Romans 8:25. And he says, he says, I think the answer, answer, the answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does.
[00:30:55] He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but I am what I am, what I am pulled by the influence of what sin to do something what totally different. Who can relate to that? We all can.
[00:31:17] We all can.
[00:31:19] And then he says this, he says, because he's talking to a group and he says, so what do you think? What do you think?
[00:31:28] With God on our side like this, how can we lose? Because he's wrestling through, he's writing to like what God's Holy Spirit is doing inside of him. And then he says this line which is so important and this is powerful in every translation. He says, if God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us.
[00:31:51] In some translations it says, for if God did not spare his own son, he says, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly. And what freely do for who?
[00:32:13] For us?
[00:32:15] See, this story challenges us to ask ourselves this question. What is keeping you and me from trusting a God that would sacrifice his son for you?
[00:32:31] See, things in our lives that we struggle with.
[00:32:35] It's because we don't trust, we don't believe the story of Isaac and Abraham, the story of a sacrificial God is a story about a God who will one day send his own son to be sacrificed for you to redeem, to change the game.
[00:32:57] This story is not about how much can we. It's not about us. See, when we make it about, okay, how much are you willing to sacrifice? How much are you willing to sacrifice? We center ourselves, this is not that passage.
[00:33:09] I pray that I reclaim this passage. This passage is not about how much are you willing to sacrifice. This is not about you. My friend, the passage is, how much is God willing to sacrifice?
[00:33:22] And he said he sacrificed and he put everything on the line for us.
[00:33:29] And he knew the chance he was taking.
[00:33:33] So you know what God did before? We did a lot of things, but the first thing God did and has done seems to be because we started this series talking about the fall. From day one, this God, same God, Old Testament, New Testament, same God. From day one, this God has believed in humanity more than humanity has ever believed in him, has believed in the potential and the power humanity that he did not spare his son. He embraced our conditions, knowing full well.
[00:34:10] In some translations it says, before, while we were in one sense enemies of him, he died for us.
[00:34:18] Why? Because he was willing to sacrifice. Because he believed in us.
[00:34:24] He believed in you. And so you're like Naeem, but I struggle with sin. I struggle. Yes. And that's why Paul says, thank God, it's Jesus.
[00:34:33] Thanks God. Thank God it's Jesus. So today the question is, yeah, we just need to trust in what God has done for us, is doing in us and will do for us, because this God is going to sacrifice a whole lot more.
[00:34:53] Do you know what's interesting? The last thing I'll say when Jesus before he left, right? This is fast forward. Jesus is leaving. He tells, he prays, a prayer.
[00:35:05] And the prayer he prays is so interesting because part of it is basically this big idea. Pray that God's will be done as it is done in what, heaven?
[00:35:21] Meaning?
[00:35:23] Meaning that God's will is not being done.
[00:35:27] God is going, sitting around going, I'm not getting my way at all, but I'm believing.
[00:35:35] I'm believing and trusting that humanity would know me, follow me and turn, and make this a new kingdom and new earth.
[00:35:45] And so as we kind of close here, what do you think God is? What is, what is.
[00:35:54] What is God saying to you? Is he saying, oh, you need to offer up your dream and sacrifice?
[00:36:01] Maybe.
[00:36:02] I think the big question is, why are you not trusting God who sacrificed so much for you? Why are you not trusting him with your finances when he tells you to give or support or be generous or to be a better steward? Why are you not believing that he has the best for you when he says, hey, you should not be doing this, you should not be doing this?
[00:36:32] Why do we have a problem believing a God that we claim to love?
[00:36:40] That's what you have a hard time sacrificing.
[00:36:43] God doesn't have a hard time sacrificing for us because he fully loves us.
[00:36:49] So that's my prayer over us, that we would be challenged by that today. Let me pray for us.
[00:36:55] Lord God, thank you so much for your love for us, reminding us once again, God, that you are a sacrificial God. You are not the gods.
[00:37:07] You're not one of those gods who are waiting around for humanity to prove, to prove our love for you.
[00:37:16] You are not that kind of God. You are not those kinds of gods. You are not trying and waiting for humanity to prove that humanity loves you. No, no, no, no. You are the God who sent proof in Jesus, proof that you love us.
[00:37:35] So, God, I pray that that would change our mindset as we lead our teams, our families, as we serve the people around us. As we live our lives, God, may sacrifice be easy because we believe, we love, we trust God. Have your way in us. I pray God, as we respond as we go light a candle or receive communion, maybe go to the cross, speak to us in Jesus name.
[00:38:16] Thanks for listening to this message from Mosaic church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
[00:38:22] For more audio and video content, visit us at MosaicChurch TV.
