Religion of Man
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Intro
Intro
AG: Humanity is arrogant.
TS: We last looked at the aftermath of the global flood
Why did God send the flood?
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
After the flood:
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
They were to repopulate and spread across the Earth
Sadly, wickedness traveled with man on the ark and they once again rebel against God.
This will be a consistent theme throughout Scripture.
Rebellion is tied to our sin nature.
RS: We must admit, we too are prone to doing things our way and not God’s way.
Arrogance of Man
Arrogance of Man
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
Gen 11:
God had told them to spread out and fill the earth.
They choose to stick together under Nimrod.
Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man.
He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.”
The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
In arrogance, they choose to attempt to build a tower to heaven.
In arrogance, they choose to attempt to build a tower to heaven.
So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.
Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
This was a man made religion
They were making a memorial to themselves
They were glorifying themselves.
Some have suggested an attempt to actually reach heaven
this is less likely, but possible
Probably more a focus on themselves with little to no thought of God
They were attempting to make a name for themselves
It was false and apostate,
They worshiped themselves rather than God
because it wasn’t the way God wanted to be worshipped.
They refused to move on and were thus in defiance of God.
In making this monument to themselves, they were attempting to steal God’s glory
Judgment of God
Judgment of God
And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.
And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.
Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
They were united in defiance and would do all they choose to do.
Gen 11:5-9
They would continue to defy God.
Their wickedness would grow.
Wickedness was still in the heart of man and God would not tolerate it.
To accomplish His will, God confused their language and drove them apart.
This account explains why people groups were scattered and how languages grew so diverse.
Love in any language
Right to left, left to right, up and down.
Different sounds and dialects.
Not even the same number of sounds used.
God forced them apart.
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned
What lessons can we learn from the tower of Babel.
1. Human efforts will never reach heaven.
This was about convenience, not obedience
Man made religions are always about our convenience
We think we find a better way
We think we have it figured out.
We are inadequate and can’t seem to figure it out.
Nothing we can invent will ever take the place of obeying God
We are saved God’s way
For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
We live God’s way
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.
But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.
God calls us to put away our old lifestyles
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Rom 12
God calls us to no longer conform to this world, but be transformed.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2. This is also a lesson on the power of unity.
God mentioned that in His judgment
nothing will be impossible
God knows the power, for good or evil, of unity
God wants the church unified
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.”
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
1 cOR 1:12-13
We can work wonders with God’s power as a unified body.
However, divided, we will be much like the men of Babel.
It will all fall apart.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Live for God’s glory by living God’s way.
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