Sermon Tone Analysis
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! Ready or Not…
Don't you love it when toddlers play peek-a-boo" And it's always fun to watch kids play "Hide and Seek."
Well, now that we are grownups things really haven't changed much.
We still play games with God.
Sometimes we try to hide from His righteous ways and chase after our own desires.
Other times the guilt of sin overwhelms us and we hide from His presence.
Well ready or not, Jesus is coming to find us.
This Sunday with opening of the Christmas Season we begin to think about the birth of Jesus.
I want to remind you that the birth of God in human flesh is the first scene in the last act of a dramatic theatrical-like tragedy.
In this tragic performance there were several acts
!! Act I – Paradise is Created… and Lost
!! Act II – The Patriarchs build a Nation
!! Act III – A People are Chosen
!! Act IV – The Promised One Comes
!! Act V – All People are Chosen
!! Act VI – The Promised One Returns…
!! /And Paradise is Regained/
This drama played out over thirty-three years.
It’s most memorable scene was when Satan attempted to destroy all that God had created - by destroying Jesus.
But not only was Jesus not destroyed - he was victorious.
Jesus took all that Satan could dish out and then crushed him.
It was all a part of a promise - the promise from God that Jesus is coming.
Today we begin… at the beginning.
Act I; Scene 1. Let me recap it for you.
!
Act I; Scene 1 – Paradise Created
!! In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
!! Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
!!! Genesis 1:1-2
We see God in the beginning.
He is Elohim.
This is the plural form for the mighty God.
It is majestic and stately.
This is the Almighty Creator.
There is the Father God – Jehovah or Yaweh – The “I AM” God of Abraham and Moses
There is the Creator God – who formed the universe and fashioned the earth.
He is the son of God.
Holy Spirit – Shinina, Glory of God.
This is the closest God comes to the Star Wars idea of “The Force” with Luke Skywalker and Yoda his teacher, except the force doesn’t even come close to an accurate description of the spiritual presence of God.
The force is impersonal.
God is the originator of personality.
The force can be used by men for good or evil.
God is good and his very existence demands that we fall on our knees and bow before him.
No, like the presidential debate so many years ago, I’ve met the Spirit of God.
He’s my friend and the force is no “Spirit of God”! It’s a sham and pretense.
This is the God who created paradise.
!
Act I; Scene 2 – Paradise Shared
!! So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
!! God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.
Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
!!! Genesis 1:27-28
A sunset is not nearly as beautiful when you are alone as when you share it with someone.
And a beautiful sunset is a radiant memory when it’s experienced with someone you love.
God made a beautiful universe – a spectacular world – and it is meant to be shared!
The Grand Canyon is just a big ditch until you look at it with awe and wonder – standing next to your children.
A shooting star is just a flicker, a quick flash and a streak of light – unless you are looking at the sky with your mate and you both shout in wonder at the same moment.
God made the world to be shared – not only with one another but with Him.
And God didn’t create the world to show off his skill as a creator craftsman.
He’s not like me when I show you the work I did on my house… No God’s work was done for our benefit.
He made the world for us!
Now that’s just stinking cool.
!
Act I; Scene 3 –Stewards of Paradise
!! 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
!!! Genesis 2:15-17
Adam & Eve created by God for the pleasure of both God and Man.
The world was made for us to enjoy!
We were given dominion and told to care for it…
Dominion is stewardship by the way.
That doesn’t give us the right to take the world and trash it.
How would you like it if you gave an $400 Xbox 350 magnum 3qrlz fuzzy womp your child for Christmas and a few hours later you find it broken, smashed, and in pieces because they used it for second base in a game of softball?
Huh?
You’d probably be ticked.
God gave us the world to take care of and watch over – it’s ours – no restrictions – no rules we have to follow – no limitations – well there is one.
That one tree in the far corner of the garden with the little sign in front of it, “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil” – you know that tree?
Don’t touch it and don’t eat its fruit.
It’s noxious, poisonous, and you will die.
That sets up the next scene – conflict between man and God.
!
Act I; Scene 4 – Paradise Lost
!! 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
!!! Genesis 3:1
His strategy… is clear and easy for us to see.
First, the serpent appealed to Eve when she was alone.
Temptation is always first entertained in isolation and separation.
Second, the serpent questioned God’s words and in so doing he opened up a variety of possibilities and questions.
What did God really say?
And what did God really mean?
This is the beginning of temptation.
This is the seed.
It is not the end.
If the serpent had handed her an apple right then – she would have handed it back and stomped off into the garden – offended and angry.
But the serpent is crafty.
He didn’t ask that anything be done… He just asked a simple question…
What did God really say… ???
!
Act I; Scene 4 – Paradise Lost
!! 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’
”
So she told him – quite accurately what God had said.
And the serpent went into full bore action.
!
Act I; Scene 4 – Paradise Lost
!! 4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.
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