Restoring Humanity's Calling
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
I have been wrestling with the question of what the LORD requires of us. I came across this verse in Genesis 1:28 and it hit me, How many ways are we as a culture trying to fight against this Command? Then I looked closer and saw that it is not a command, per se, but rather it is a blessing and a calling for all of Humanity. Or at least it was. Then the world was broken because of our sin, and death entered, and then we had a problem.
Then I saw a connection between this passage and this week’s Torah portion. So, I will try to piece this all together and hopefully leave you with some action items.
Made in God’s Image
Made in God’s Image
Let’s start by reading Gen. 1:26-30
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness! Let them rule over the fish of the sea, over the flying creatures of the sky, over the livestock, over the whole earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the land.” God created humankind in His image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them. God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the land, and conquer it. Rule over the fish of the sea, the flying creatures of the sky, and over every animal that crawls on the land.” Then God said, “I have just given you every green plant yielding seed that is on the surface of the whole land, and every tree, which has the fruit of a tree yielding seed. They are to be food for you. Also for every wild animal, every flying creature of the sky and every creature that crawls on the land which has life, every green plant is to be food.” And it happened so.
This passage encapsulates our perfect calling as humanity. We were called:
To reflect the image of Adonai
To rule over the created creatures
To reproduce and fill the land
We were supposed to bring glory to Adonai through everything we put our hands to. Just as the creation was a beautiful picture of peace and prosperity, so we were to reflect that in all that we did.
Adonai had entrusted humanity with the management of all that He had created. We were not the owner, but were entrusted with the responsibility of management. David said in Ps. 24:1-2
A psalm of David. The earth is Adonai’s and all that fills it— the world, and those dwelling on it. For He founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers.
And finally we were called to have lots of children and to populate the Earth. From this passage, we see that Adonai treats this as a great blessing. Solomon wrote in Ps. 127:3-5
Behold, children are a heritage of Adonai —the fruit of the womb is a reward. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they speak with their enemies at the gate.
These three areas still reflect the original calling and blessing that is over all of humanity. Unfortunately, all three of these areas of our calling were marred and defiled by sin.
Adonai’s Judgement of Adam
Adonai’s Judgement of Adam
When we come to the judgements that Adonai meters out in Gen. 3 we find that, while the calling has not changed, it has now been made much more difficult. Adonai dealt with each of areas of our calling and addressed it in reverse order. In Gen. 3:16
To the woman He said, “I will greatly increase your pain from conception to labor. In pain will you give birth to children. Your desire will be toward your husband, yet he must rule over you.”
Now the calling to reproduce would be painful. Not only this, but instead of men and women co-ruling the world, as a result of sin, men would now dominate women. Please understand that this is not the way it was supposed to be, but simply the way it was because of sin.
Next we see that the ruling over the created world would be a burden as it says in Gen. 3:17-19
Then to the man He said, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate of the tree which I commanded you, saying, ‘You must not eat of it’: Cursed is the ground because of you— with pain will you eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles will sprout for you. You will eat the plants of the field, By the sweat of your brow will you eat food, until you return to the ground, since from it were you taken. For you are dust, and to dust will you return.”
Have you ever dreaded to go to work? Work has become known as a four letter word, a necessary evil and something that is dreaded. Maybe this is part of the reason why 20% more suicides occur on Mondays than on any other day of the week. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/aug/26/health.medicineandhealth1
Again, work was our calling, and was supposed to be the foundation of a fulfilling life. Managing the planet, tending the garden, looking after the animals; these things were supposed to be a joy. But now because of sin, the management had now becomes painful and burdensome.
The final judgement that Adonai placed on both Adam and Eve is explained in Gen. 3:22-24
Then Adonai Elohim said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. So now, in case he stretches out his hand and takes also from the Tree of Life and eats and lives forever,” Adonai Elohim sent him away from the Garden of Eden, to work the ground from which he had been taken. And He expelled the man; and at the east of the Garden of Eden He had cheruvim dwell along, with the whirling sword of flame, to guard the way to the Tree of Life.
Humanity was called to reflect the glory of Adonai, but reflect God’s glory we need to be close to Him, the source of life, love and light. Now, because of sin, we were removed from the presence of Adonai. And the further we are from Him, the worse it is, and the less fulfilled we feel. We find ourselves walking in darkness, attempting to light our path by ourselves. We attempt to love, but are so far from the source of love that we get in our own way and end up loving ourselves more than others. We attempt to make a life for ourselves, but find that our lives become meaning less and unfulfilled.
So this is the problem of brokenness and misery produced by sin, that brings us to this week’s Torah Portion.
Substitutionary Atonement
Substitutionary Atonement
There was one verse that I skipped over in Gen. 3:21 that is actually very important. It represents the beginning of death in the world, and life-for-life substitution.
Adonai Elohim made Adam and his wife tunics of skin and He clothed them.
An innocent animal died, and literally covered Adam and Eve. The word for covering in Hebrew is Kippur. It is the meaning of atonement, to be covered. The sin of Adam and Eve was covered by the death of an innocent life. This week’s Torah Portion is Achrei Mot which means “after death”. It starts in Lev. 16:1 where the passage starts, “Then Adonai spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they approached the presence of Adonai and died.”
The passage in Lev. 16 goes on to describe in detail the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. This was the one day in the year when Adonai would “cover” the sins of the nation through the substitutionary sacrifice of an innocent animal. Adonai explains in great detail how the High Priest must offer a bull for his own sin, and then place the sin of the nation on 2 goats. Lev. 16:5-10
“Then he is to take from the congregation of Bnei-Yisrael two he-goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. Then Aaron is to offer the bull for the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and his house. Then he is take the two goats and present them before Adonai at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Aaron will then cast lots for the two goats—one lot for Adonai, and the other lot for the scapegoat. Aaron is to present the goat on which the lot for Adonai fell and make it a sin offering. But the goat upon which the lot for the scapegoat fell is to be presented alive before Adonai, to make atonement upon it, by sending it away as the scapegoat into the wilderness.
Now the Rabbis of today would like to say that blood sacrifice is no longer required, but they can not point to a single passage of scripture where all of these commandments were done away with. In fact the last verse of Lev. 16:34 says the following about Yom Kippur.
“This will be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for Bnei-Yisrael once in the year because of all their sins.” It was done as Adonai commanded Moses.
But the Torah Portion does not stop there. Adonai goes on to describe some general commandments around offering blood sacrifices throughout the year. Adonai then states an absolute principle of the need for blood to cover sin. Lev. 17:11
For the life of the creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives—for it is the blood that makes atonement because of the life.
This statement is central to the entire sacrificial system. Blood makes atonement because of the life. Life-for-life. Sin must be dealt with, and when we break Adonai’s commandments, the penalty is death. Death is separation from the source of life, love and light; separation from God. And just like Gen. 1 dealt with humanity’s calling to reproduce, the Torah Portion in Lev. 18 goes on to describe may sexual relationships that are forbidden. These forbidden relationships include: incest with your primary family, adultery, bestiality, homosexuality, marital relations with your wife when she is on her period, and child sacrifice. Adonai then says this, Lev. 18: 27-30
“For all these abominations were done by the men of the land who were before you, and the land became defiled. If you defile it, the land will vomit you out as it vomited out the nation that was before you. For whoever does any of these detestable things, the souls that do them are to be cut off from the midst of their people. Therefore you are to keep My charge, so that you do not practice any of these detestable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am Adonai your God.”
So just like the land was cursed because of the sin of Adam, the Promised Land would become defiled because of all these sins, and would vomit Beni Yisrael out.
Now before we get to high and mighty, are we as a nation guilty of the same sins? Deep down we know that these things are wrong, which is why we rename all of these sins and try to play a war or words. We call it an Affair instead of Adultery, we say that someone is Gay (a word that used to mean happy) instead of calling the actions Homosexuality. We say call it a “termination of a pregnancy” instead of saying that it is child sacrifice. We allow the destruction of the world for the sake of economic progress. There are even political parties that are running on the platform that every family should have 1 less child, because children are considered a burden. No longer is Motherhood or Fatherhood considered as the most honourable calling that a person can have.
We are just as sinful today, as at any other time in history. Even the war in Ukraine is just another example Cain killing Abel, brother killing brother. In once sense, every war is a civil war between different family members.
Need for a Greater Sacrifice
Need for a Greater Sacrifice
Year after year the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies with the blood of an innocent sacrifice to cover the sins of the people from the previous year. And year after year the people of Israel would fall back into sin. The story repeated itself almost every generation, from Egypt to the Wilderness, from the Prophets to the Kings. This is why many of the prophets longed for a greater atonement, a greater cleansing of peoples hearts. The prophets echoed the heart of Adonai who called for a greater cleansing. Adonai spoke through Jeremiah saying, Jer. 31:30-33
“Behold, days are coming” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not like the covenant I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they broke My covenant, though I was a husband to them.” it is a declaration of Adonai. “But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days” —it is a declaration of Adonai— “I will put My Torah within them. Yes, I will write it on their heart. I will be their God and they will be My people. No longer will each teach his neighbor or each his brother, saying: ‘Know Adonai,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.” it is a declaration of Adonai. “For I will forgive their iniquity, their sin I will remember no more.”
The covenant had to be written on our hearts, but this covenant had to include a blood sacrifice that would cover all the sins of the people, not just once a year. This is why Adonai speaks through Isaiah saying Isa. 53:1-12
‘Who has believed our report? To whom is the arm of Adonai revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, nor beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, One from whom people hide their faces. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our pains. Yet we esteemed Him stricken, struck by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities. The chastisement for our shalom was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us turned to his own way. So Adonai has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, like a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. Because of oppression and judgment He was taken away. As for His generation, who considered? For He was cut off from the land of the living, for the transgression of my people— the stroke was theirs His grave was given with the wicked, and by a rich man in His death, though He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased Adonai to bruise Him. He caused Him to suffer. If He makes His soul a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the will of Adonai will succeed by His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul He will see it and be satisfied by His knowledge. The Righteous One, My Servant will make many righteous and He will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the spoil with the mighty— because He poured out His soul to death, and was counted with transgressors. For He bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.
We desperately needed a greater blood sacrifice, but there was no one who was perfect, and therefore there was no one who was qualified to pay our sin debt. Mankind had sinned against God, therefore we were responsible to pay the penalty, but all of us, like the High Priest in Lev. 16, had to pay for our own sins, and could not therefore pay for anyone else’s sins.
Messiah Enters the Heavenly Holies
Messiah Enters the Heavenly Holies
This is where Yeshua the Messiah enters the scene. The author of Hebrews, in explaining the ultimate Yom Kippur says the following: Heb. 9:11-28
But when Messiah appeared as Kohen Gadol of the good things that have now come, passing through the greater and more perfect Tent not made with hands (that is to say not of this creation), He entered into the Holies once for all—not by the blood of goats and calves but by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Messiah—who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God—cleanse our conscience from dead works to serve the living God? For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that those called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—since a death has taken place that redeems them from violations under the first covenant. For where there is a covenant, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a covenant is secured upon the basis of dead bodies, since it has no strength as long as the one who made it lives. That is why not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Torah, he took the blood of the calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and he sprinkled both the book itself and all the people. He said, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” And in the same way, he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. And nearly everything is purified in blood according to the Torah, and apart from the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Therefore it was necessary for the replicas of these heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices—but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Messiah did not enter into Holies made with hands—counterparts of the true things—but into heaven itself, now to appear in God’s presence on our behalf. And He did not offer Himself again and again—as the kohen gadol enters into the Holy of Holies year after year with blood that is not his own. For then He would have needed to suffer again and again from the foundation of the world. But as it is, He has been revealed once and for all at the close of the ages—to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this judgment, so also Messiah, was offered once to bear the sins of many. He will appear a second time, apart from sin, to those eagerly awaiting Him for salvation.
And so we eagerly await the second coming of Yeshua!
Application for Today
Application for Today
So coming back to our initial passage in Genesis. We were called:
To reflect the image of Adonai
To rule over the created creatures
To reproduce and fill the land
But sin separated us from God and filled all of these things with pain and suffering.
But..... Yeshua has paid for our sin, and in Him, through trusting what He has done for us, we can be set free from sin. We can once again live to reflect the image of Adonai, to rule over the created world with righteousness and justice, and to reproduce and fill the land with the love, light and life that Adonai intended!