WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:01.090 I'm gonna invite you to Genesis. 00:00:01.640 --> 00:00:05.320 Chapter nine is where we're at together today, Genesis chapter nine. 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:12.910 And we're going to be talking about second chances because after a catastrophic flood, when you survived, that's what you talk about second chances. 00:00:13.200 --> 00:00:16.309 There's a purpose to your life and God wants you to know that purpose. 00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:22.640 And he is certainly a God of second chances, and we find him as a god of second chances, really. 00:00:23.040 --> 00:00:26.560 In how Chapter eight concluded as we get into Chapter nine. 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:32.100 So at the end of the flood, if you remember, as Noah comes out of the boat, he makes a sacrifice to the Lord. 00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:38.440 And in verse 21, at the end of Chapter eight, it says something interesting about the Lord and his response to humanity. 00:00:38.440 --> 00:00:42.450 It said, And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice that Noah made. 00:00:42.740 --> 00:00:48.100 And he said to himself, I will never again curse the ground because of the human race. 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:48.760 And look at this. 00:00:49.380 --> 00:00:56.380 Even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood, I will never again destroy all 00:00:56.380 --> 00:00:57.420 living things. 00:00:57.540 --> 00:00:59.340 So here's the Lord after the Noahic flood. 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:01.330 And I hope you've caught the pattern to this point. 00:01:01.720 --> 00:01:05.700 But God is reminding us like He's just brought a flood and that's still not even going to correct us. 00:01:05.700 --> 00:01:12.400 Like, what's wrong with humanity rests within us, which is different than we typically describe humanity in culture and our culture. 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:14.420 We like to say things like, Well, they're good. 00:01:14.420 --> 00:01:15.980 They just kind of do some bad things. 00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:18.320 But the Bible says actually the opposite of that. 00:01:18.320 --> 00:01:20.610 We're bad and anything good, good comes out of us. 00:01:20.650 --> 00:01:23.230 It's of the grace of God that makes that known. 00:01:23.340 --> 00:01:25.480 Our hearts are deceitful and wicked. 00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:32.620 What our problem is not just simply our behavior, but rather God needs to do a complete transformation within us so it transforms the life without 00:01:32.620 --> 00:01:34.120 us or beyond us. 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:34.520 Right? 00:01:34.520 --> 00:01:39.740 And so God is acknowledging that here, that the brokenness and humanity doesn't rest and simply our behavior. 00:01:39.740 --> 00:01:42.570 It's deep within our soul, that we need transformation in our heart. 00:01:43.020 --> 00:01:46.940 I know some people will look at that and simply say, well, what about religious people? 00:01:47.080 --> 00:01:48.100 Religious people? 00:01:48.100 --> 00:01:49.240 They do good, right? 00:01:49.240 --> 00:01:56.300 And I would just say, well, the motivation of the heart on the outside might look good, but on the inside, 00:01:56.320 --> 00:02:03.320 determining why they're doing things matters because what you find oftentimes is even in religion, the purpose for which motivates people 00:02:03.320 --> 00:02:07.600 to do anything is not ultimately about because I just simply want to give God glory. 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:13.020 But in the religious system that they operate in, they understand by doing certain things, helps them to motivate themselves. 00:02:13.420 --> 00:02:20.460 So even religion comes with this motivating purpose of elevating me and getting what I want and simply using God as a tool 00:02:20.460 --> 00:02:25.200 or a leverage so I can get ahead and get to the place that I desire to be. 00:02:25.460 --> 00:02:28.520 Even Jesus and Matthew Chapter 5 to 7. 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:35.620 When he gave the famous Sermon on the Mount Jesus is speaking to the most religious people on the planet, and Jesus is helping them 00:02:35.620 --> 00:02:39.780 recognize it's not just based on your performance, but what rests in your heart. 00:02:40.180 --> 00:02:43.340 And Jesus says, you have heard it said you shouldn't murder, right? 00:02:43.420 --> 00:02:44.940 And yeah, you shouldn't murder. 00:02:44.940 --> 00:02:52.120 But he also says he who has had anger in his heart has already committed murder, meaning the seed that produces murder is found in the anger 00:02:52.120 --> 00:02:54.400 of our own heart and destroying other people. 00:02:54.640 --> 00:02:56.780 So the problem isn't just simply on your behavior. 00:02:56.780 --> 00:02:59.920 And by the way, if you haven't murdered today, I'm happy you haven't murdered. 00:02:59.920 --> 00:03:04.940 But also, it's to understand that the motivation behind it is birthed out of anger. 00:03:05.340 --> 00:03:06.600 And all of us are guilty. 00:03:07.100 --> 00:03:14.100 And Jesus goes on and says, you may not have stolen, but if you've coveted the seed of being a thief, 00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:15.280 rest within your heart. 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:17.910 You may not have committed adultery, but you've lusted. 00:03:19.180 --> 00:03:23.460 And so Jesus is helping us understand that the brokenness of humanity rests within us. 00:03:23.960 --> 00:03:29.140 But one of the beautiful things we learn about the character of God here is that his character is in contingent on what we do. 00:03:29.160 --> 00:03:36.180 It's based on who he is, and God's going to remain consistent with his character despite humanity, and in that God provides for us 00:03:36.180 --> 00:03:42.800 opportunity that out of the chaos that is our self, God provides a place to continue to experience His grace. 00:03:45.420 --> 00:03:45.420 He is a God of second chances. 00:03:45.420 --> 00:03:52.620 Another verse to consider is Jeremiah 17 nine, where it tells us the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked 00:03:52.620 --> 00:03:54.600 who can know it? 00:03:54.640 --> 00:04:01.740 And in saying in Jeremiah 17 that we even surprise ourselves at the depth of our own depravity, that we need the grace 00:04:01.740 --> 00:04:05.150 of God in order for our lives to be transformed. 00:04:05.680 --> 00:04:10.930 And in this passage, God is bringing us to that place of reset, a place to kind of wake us up. 00:04:11.480 --> 00:04:19.279 It was the great philosopher and theologian Mike Tyson that once said, Everyone's got a plan till you get punched in the mouth, right? 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:21.040 And then it's out the window and you got to rethink it. 00:04:21.600 --> 00:04:29.000 And this is where we're at in this passage of scripture to help us understand the problem within our own heart, that we can approach God with 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:32.600 a proper understanding of who we are in light of who he is. 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:37.540 And one of the things that gives us that beautiful privilege is to know God is a personal God. 00:04:38.420 --> 00:04:42.440 One of the one of the beauties of Christianity is to see how personal our God is. 00:04:42.500 --> 00:04:46.270 It really sets him apart from any other religious teaching in this world. 00:04:46.500 --> 00:04:49.540 And in Genesis chapter nine, verse one, this is where God starts with Noah. 00:04:49.540 --> 00:04:55.020 And he says, And God bless Noah and his sons and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 00:04:55.780 --> 00:04:59.920 You would recognize in this passage, God is going all the way back to really the beginning of. 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:07.160 Genesis Chapter one to retell the story of why we were made and the opportunity of second chances that out of chaos, God 00:05:07.160 --> 00:05:09.780 would bring His grace and order to our world. 00:05:10.100 --> 00:05:16.980 That despite what's happening around us, we can still pursue God and honor Him and the life that we lead. 00:05:17.340 --> 00:05:19.400 And God didn't owe anything to us. 00:05:19.400 --> 00:05:22.010 But yet he's given us that opportunity to do it. 00:05:22.520 --> 00:05:24.180 And he demonstrates it through this word bless. 00:05:24.960 --> 00:05:27.900 God blessed Noah. 00:05:28.100 --> 00:05:32.080 This idea of blessing continues to speak to a personal God, right? 00:05:32.080 --> 00:05:38.530 The reason we have Scripture today is God desires to make himself known that you may know him and walk with him in relationship. 00:05:39.380 --> 00:05:46.440 And this was demonstrated by God from the beginning in the Garden of Eden, in Genesis chapter one, he creates with a purpose and 00:05:46.440 --> 00:05:50.610 we find that divine design in humanity when he creates us to know him in relationship. 00:05:52.080 --> 00:05:55.120 God made us in his image unique than any other creature God has designed. 00:05:55.120 --> 00:06:00.060 He has made you for relationship with him and even in being made in relationship. 00:06:00.060 --> 00:06:05.140 While mankind rejected God over and over, God continued to pursue us from the first sin. 00:06:05.160 --> 00:06:07.260 In Genesis chapter three with Adam and Eve. 00:06:07.460 --> 00:06:09.540 God didn't give up on Adam and Eve when they ran away. 00:06:09.540 --> 00:06:12.780 God pursued Adam and Eve and God continues. 00:06:12.780 --> 00:06:19.980 We see throughout these chapters of Genesis to pursue us that we may walk with him in relationship to the point when you get to the to 00:06:19.980 --> 00:06:24.400 the New Testament, we see that God becomes flesh and dwells among us. 00:06:24.420 --> 00:06:31.560 It tells us in John chapter one, verses 1 to 18 that the Word of God who is Jesus becomes flesh 00:06:31.560 --> 00:06:34.010 and dwells among us, and we beheld His glory. 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:39.520 In fact, in Colossians two nine, it tells us the fullness of God dwells in Jesus in bodily form. 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:45.540 Meaning if you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus because Jesus is God in the flesh and in seeing God in the flesh. 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:52.700 It's again God connecting to us personally that we can know him, see him, and not not just know him personally, but also we 00:06:52.700 --> 00:07:00.200 see how God, God gives his life for us, that we can find freedom from our sin and be able to enjoy that relationship with God for all of eternity. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:03.300 God is a is a personal God. 00:07:04.080 --> 00:07:08.340 In another way, God desires to make himself personally known is through humanity. 00:07:09.300 --> 00:07:16.680 And what I mean is you being made in the image of God become the expression, the reflection of God in this world, that 00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:21.960 as God has made you in his image, he's giving you character qualities, qualities to reflect the goodness of who he is. 00:07:22.780 --> 00:07:29.920 And when you align your life with the Lord, you get the privilege to do that, to live in light of that and respond in this world, to bless this 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:31.770 world, not to destroy this world. 00:07:32.060 --> 00:07:38.640 In fact, in Genesis nine, verse two and three, we're reminded of the strength of humanity that in your strength you're made dangerous. 00:07:38.640 --> 00:07:42.400 But what you do with that determines whether that danger is for good or for evil. 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:50.220 And Genesis nine two The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens 00:07:50.220 --> 00:07:55.240 and upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the flesh of the sea into your hand. 00:07:55.240 --> 00:07:59.100 They are delivered every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. 00:07:59.520 --> 00:08:02.240 And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:07.200 This is where you get to the end of this verse and you thank the Lord for bacon and tacos. 00:08:07.900 --> 00:08:08.480 Right? 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:09.420 Thank you. 00:08:09.540 --> 00:08:11.480 Thank you for this delicious food. 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:15.620 But here's what he wants us to recognize in choosing to respond in second chances. 00:08:15.700 --> 00:08:19.780 Point number one in your notes, consider your relationship with creation. 00:08:20.960 --> 00:08:28.340 You see, in verse two, it's reminding us now that the beast of the field have this fear of humanity, that God has called us to be fruitful and multiply and 00:08:28.340 --> 00:08:29.620 care for this world. 00:08:29.820 --> 00:08:32.020 But the beast of the field have this fear of humanity. 00:08:32.299 --> 00:08:33.520 And it's not misplaced. 00:08:33.520 --> 00:08:36.220 It's to understand that human beings left unto themselves. 00:08:36.220 --> 00:08:37.200 When they live for their glory. 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:42.220 They tend to treat other things like tools, whether it be other human beings or other things. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:45.900 In creation, we use things as tools for our glory apart from God. 00:08:46.020 --> 00:08:52.490 But when we connect ourselves to the Lord, we respond by living for God's glory in this world to the benefit of others. 00:08:53.340 --> 00:08:57.410 And so this idea of these living beings is a reflection that God has made you strong. 00:08:58.280 --> 00:08:59.750 And in being strong, you're made dangerous. 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:07.680 And how you choose to respond to that is a demonstration of what you're honoring, whether it be for yourself to the detriment of all other created things, or 00:09:07.680 --> 00:09:11.060 it be for God's glory, to the to the blessing of others. 00:09:11.760 --> 00:09:19.200 And in terms of these animals, as it's describing, it seems like in this passage, he's painting this dominance of humanity over 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:22.760 over the rest of creation and the animals to their destruction. 00:09:23.680 --> 00:09:30.400 But what you find as you read throughout the rest of this passage is not to dominate and destroy, but rather to bless and to live. 00:09:31.080 --> 00:09:37.240 And you see this communicated to you in verse nine and ten, verse 12, verse 13, verse 16. 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:45.020 I want to look at it for just a moment, but it says to us in verse nine, regarding regarding the rest of creation, the 00:09:45.020 --> 00:09:48.840 God's desire is for us to consider our relationship to the rest of creation. 00:09:49.220 --> 00:09:56.660 And in verse nine, he says, Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and 00:09:56.660 --> 00:09:59.440 with every living creature that is with you. 00:09:59.900 --> 00:10:07.020 And I know this isn't on the screen, but listen to this again in verse 12, to all of creation, God says, and God said, This is the sign 00:10:07.020 --> 00:10:13.780 of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you. 00:10:13.980 --> 00:10:21.040 He goes on in this passage in verse 13, he says, I have set my bow in the clouds and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me 00:10:21.040 --> 00:10:22.860 and all of the earth. 00:10:23.040 --> 00:10:30.180 And verse 16, when the bow is in the clouds, I will set it and remember that everlasting covenant between God and every 00:10:30.180 --> 00:10:34.420 living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. 00:10:36.140 --> 00:10:43.320 God's desire out of the brokenness and the sinful curse that is on this world is that you be a reflection of 00:10:43.320 --> 00:10:44.200 His glory. 00:10:45.280 --> 00:10:52.340 To understand your place in creation, to honor God and to connect personal Creator God 00:10:52.340 --> 00:10:56.980 to the world around you become the stand between between heaven and earth. 00:10:57.060 --> 00:10:58.840 When you understand your relationship with the Lord. 00:10:59.560 --> 00:11:03.400 And God is saying in this passage, He desires to make a covenant which will deal with in a minute. 00:11:03.620 --> 00:11:10.020 But through that covenant, it's not just humanity that's blessed, but rather all of creation. 00:11:10.020 --> 00:11:11.160 God desires to bless. 00:11:11.820 --> 00:11:16.020 In fact, even in the New Testament, in the Book of Romans, Chapter eight, Paul writes this. 00:11:16.020 --> 00:11:23.140 He says that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children 00:11:23.140 --> 00:11:23.440 of God. 00:11:24.420 --> 00:11:31.600 For we know that the whole of creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now, and not only the creation, but 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:38.720 we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for the adoption of sons, the redemption 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:40.100 of our bodies. 00:11:41.860 --> 00:11:45.020 I happen to think God did a wonderful job in creating our world. 00:11:45.020 --> 00:11:46.480 It is a beautiful world that we live in. 00:11:46.980 --> 00:11:48.500 I mean, you get to look at the mountains every day. 00:11:48.500 --> 00:11:49.780 It's like a postcard, isn't it? 00:11:49.780 --> 00:11:50.770 You just wake up and look outside. 00:11:50.920 --> 00:11:52.460 It's a beautiful sight. 00:11:52.640 --> 00:11:57.470 And then to think and this creation, as beautiful as it is under a curse. 00:11:58.440 --> 00:12:05.440 But he acknowledges that creation groans under this curse, that creation itself knows that this wasn't all it was intended for, 00:12:05.800 --> 00:12:07.370 that there needs to be freedom to creation. 00:12:08.260 --> 00:12:15.340 And he acknowledges in verse 23, So we as human beings, we groan within our being because we while we enjoy the life that we've been given the 00:12:15.340 --> 00:12:18.160 grace of God to us, that this isn't all that you were made for. 00:12:18.600 --> 00:12:25.700 And I think our deepest of groanings happens in death, that we, without even having to tell another human being that your life matters and that life 00:12:25.700 --> 00:12:26.280 matters. 00:12:26.280 --> 00:12:29.790 In death, we grieve deeply because we know we were made for more. 00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:32.960 But he also says something interesting in this passage. 00:12:33.020 --> 00:12:40.290 He says that you're the first fruits of the spirit, which means it's acknowledging what Jesus has done for us in his first coming. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:43.940 So that we live for his glory until he returns for his second coming. 00:12:44.580 --> 00:12:48.270 What it means in being the first fruits is that you're the first fruits of the promise of the resurrection. 00:12:49.060 --> 00:12:54.820 That in Jesus's first coming he gave his life on your behalf, that you could find freedom in Christ. 00:12:55.520 --> 00:13:00.180 And in so doing, the Bible promises us you've been sealed for adoption in Ephesians one. 00:13:00.180 --> 00:13:02.660 You've been sealed by the Spirit of God. 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:09.680 And that spirit of God is a promise and a guarantee that you will enter into eternity in relationship with the Lord, that you will be with him face to face forever. 00:13:11.220 --> 00:13:16.280 And so the Spirit of God brings us freedom until the return of Christ, when He redeems all of creation. 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:23.200 And at His second Coming, Jesus is bringing judgment over all of sin as he renews all of creation. 00:13:23.680 --> 00:13:27.100 The importance of his first coming was to bring you freedom from that judgment. 00:13:27.100 --> 00:13:34.160 Because if God came in His second Coming without offering you freedom in the first coming, you would have been caught in the judgment of God by coming to the 00:13:34.160 --> 00:13:35.660 cross and giving His life for you. 00:13:35.700 --> 00:13:40.070 You have the promise of the first fruits, because the spirit of God gives you freedom in Jesus. 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:42.250 For those who turn to Christ. 00:13:43.800 --> 00:13:48.940 And in that position now, it gives you this place between heaven and earth to reflect the goodness of who God is. 00:13:49.460 --> 00:13:56.220 This God who has made himself known personally to be a blessing because of your relationship with Christ. 00:13:56.900 --> 00:13:59.830 So, number one, he wants you to consider your relationship with creation. 00:14:01.100 --> 00:14:04.460 And number two, he wants you to consider your relationship with humanity. 00:14:05.640 --> 00:14:07.060 Consider your relationship with humanity. 00:14:07.060 --> 00:14:11.970 And verse four, he goes on and says, But you shall not eat flesh with its life. 00:14:12.040 --> 00:14:13.670 That is its blood. 00:14:13.800 --> 00:14:18.120 And for your life, blood, I will require a reckoning from every beast. 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:18.960 I will require it. 00:14:19.080 --> 00:14:24.720 And from man, from his fellow man, I will require a reckoning for the life of man. 00:14:25.140 --> 00:14:31.140 Whoever sheds the blood of man by man shall his blood be shed for God made man in his own image. 00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:32.760 Let me stop right there for a minute and say this. 00:14:33.520 --> 00:14:40.440 If you remember in these passages in Genesis particularly, these stories are being shared during the days of Moses. 00:14:40.540 --> 00:14:45.230 And Moses is seen how from Noah till till his time how things have transpired. 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:53.000 And one of the things that has transpired is this pagan idea of worship through through the 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:55.520 stealing of blood of other life forms. 00:14:56.080 --> 00:15:03.140 And what I mean is it was thought and even still practiced today, believe it or not, in the world, people people 00:15:03.140 --> 00:15:10.360 think in a broken system of pagan worship that by partaking of the blood 00:15:10.360 --> 00:15:15.330 of another living creature, you steal its power, you get its life force. 00:15:16.620 --> 00:15:23.640 And so what Noah is talking about here in the idea of the Lord and Moses is recording for us in Scripture, is they have this thought 00:15:23.640 --> 00:15:28.980 that if they take the life blood of another animal and drink its blood, they'll get the power of that animal, it'll become theirs. 00:15:29.460 --> 00:15:36.520 And then he moves on, not just from animals, but he also moves on to other human beings, that there is this belief that if they steal 00:15:36.520 --> 00:15:43.880 the blood from other human beings, that they get to capture its life force because they recognize I know science hadn't developed far enough in the medical field these days, 00:15:43.980 --> 00:15:47.830 but they recognize that when something lost too much blood, that it would die. 00:15:48.620 --> 00:15:55.680 And then the thought came, Well, if we take their blood and make it our blood, then it becomes our strength and we rob them of their strength and we use 00:15:55.680 --> 00:15:57.480 their life for our glory. 00:15:58.360 --> 00:16:04.080 And so they're leveraging their position of how God has created them rather than honor God. 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:07.060 They're honoring themselves to the destruction of others. 00:16:07.560 --> 00:16:12.280 And God is reminding us that he creates life sacredly and with purpose. 00:16:13.020 --> 00:16:16.580 I know it told us in verse two and three, You're welcome to eat animals, right? 00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:17.870 I think we live in the most. 00:16:18.560 --> 00:16:25.800 I don't know if you want to call it privilege, but opportunity in history where you get more of a meat in your diet regularly than 00:16:25.800 --> 00:16:29.120 most people that have ever existed In Noah's Day. 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:33.520 Moses's day animals were looked at as the source to sustain life. 00:16:33.560 --> 00:16:37.960 You got clothing from animals, you got nutrients from animals, milk from animals. 00:16:38.180 --> 00:16:40.880 They would sometimes eat animals, but not near what. 00:16:40.900 --> 00:16:41.390 We did today. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:46.580 If an animal died or was sacrificed, it's typically when they feasted on meat, but it wasn't in every meal. 00:16:47.260 --> 00:16:54.020 But he also reminds us the beauty of life, that God has made life for a purpose, not just simply to rob life. 00:16:54.640 --> 00:17:00.420 And particularly, he gets to human life because every human being is made in the image of God. 00:17:00.680 --> 00:17:08.099 And to depreciate human life or to take from human life is to attack creator God who has made everyone in his image. 00:17:08.140 --> 00:17:13.380 It's an affront to the Lord, but rather God is saying He wants us to guard the sacredness of life. 00:17:13.420 --> 00:17:20.440 In fact, some people go to this passage as saying this is the first passage in Scripture where really God has allowed human government to step in 00:17:20.440 --> 00:17:25.140 for the preservation of life, to take life if someone is killing other people. 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:31.490 And what I mean is this passage is saying to us, look, killing is not wrong, but rather murder is. 00:17:32.100 --> 00:17:39.340 And if you have someone that becomes a murderer taking other other people's lives, then in order to protect life, the removing of that life is a privilege 00:17:39.340 --> 00:17:42.030 given to government for protection. 00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:49.760 And so the right to defend yourself in our Constitution is birthed out of passages like this because life is sacred and we want to preserve 00:17:49.760 --> 00:17:56.840 life and honor life because the value of your life is not merited by your behavior, but intrinsically given to you by 00:17:56.840 --> 00:17:57.950 your creator. 00:17:58.620 --> 00:18:00.880 You matter because you're made in the image of God. 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:07.700 It doesn't matter where you've come from and what you've done and what other people have done to you to shape yourself in his identity. 00:18:07.700 --> 00:18:09.260 God has a purpose for your life. 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:16.940 And you see that honored in this book written by Moses, who was working with slaves, who had been treated like tools, 00:18:17.420 --> 00:18:22.720 who've been devalued and only seen as based on what they can do, not in who they are. 00:18:22.780 --> 00:18:30.170 But God steps into the difficulty of that circumstance and reminds them of the beauty of humanity being made in the image of God purposefully, 00:18:31.040 --> 00:18:33.840 intentionally to connect to Creator God and bless others. 00:18:35.480 --> 00:18:36.850 And so he reminds us in this passage. 00:18:38.620 --> 00:18:40.020 Of that sacredness of life. 00:18:41.460 --> 00:18:45.060 And how you choose to respond to it matters in the Lord. 00:18:45.900 --> 00:18:52.800 In fact, in verse seven, it goes on a little further and says, And you be fruitful and multiply and increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it. 00:18:53.320 --> 00:19:00.380 Again, God is repeating the same thing, He said in Genesis chapter one, verse 22 and verse 28, that we're not made just to not 00:19:00.380 --> 00:19:01.120 kill people. 00:19:01.280 --> 00:19:03.420 I mean, you get the end of verse six, and that could be your conclusion. 00:19:04.040 --> 00:19:04.600 I'm pretty good. 00:19:04.620 --> 00:19:05.460 I haven't murdered right? 00:19:05.460 --> 00:19:10.060 Like you might get to the end of verse six and think life is about what you're not doing. 00:19:10.100 --> 00:19:13.540 And rather, he's saying, no, it's not just about not killing people. 00:19:13.540 --> 00:19:20.620 It's not just about not depreciating the value of another human being, but rather it's about stepping into the purpose for 00:19:20.620 --> 00:19:27.730 which God has created you to live that out in this world, for His glory, to the benefit of others, to be fruitful. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:32.410 Multiply and bless that as you're connected to the Lord so you can live it out for that purpose. 00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:33.080 Right? 00:19:33.120 --> 00:19:36.760 You understand who you are in creation and understand who you are in humanity. 00:19:37.700 --> 00:19:44.880 You know, as a pastor, I get the beautiful privilege of walking life with people and just hearing your stories and how you got to where 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:48.280 you are today and how the hand of God's grace has been in your life. 00:19:48.740 --> 00:19:55.280 And as I hear those stories, sometimes I hear very dark stories of where God has brought you through. 00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:03.260 And I don't just mean things that you've done, I mean things that people may have done to you and how devastating that can be to the soul, 00:20:03.340 --> 00:20:05.560 to the to the to walk through those things. 00:20:05.560 --> 00:20:08.380 I mean, some some stories I know within our body are so difficult. 00:20:08.900 --> 00:20:13.020 I have a hard time even hearing it, let alone knowing someone else lived through it. 00:20:14.340 --> 00:20:17.430 But can I remind you, God is a God of beauty from ashes. 00:20:18.380 --> 00:20:25.700 This is why this story of Genesis is about that out of the chaos of creation, out of the darkness of human hearts, that God continues 00:20:25.700 --> 00:20:33.420 to extend a place of grace and to focus on not what happened to you, but rather what God 00:20:33.420 --> 00:20:35.100 has done for you in him. 00:20:35.260 --> 00:20:41.910 To not let your life be shaped about through your past, but rather let your life be shaped through your future and what you have in Jesus. 00:20:42.660 --> 00:20:49.780 As I know, every once in a while some things happen to us and we get to that place where we want to prove people wrong and we have this chip on 00:20:49.780 --> 00:20:53.230 our shoulders and we say to people, Look, I'm going to show you. 00:20:53.300 --> 00:20:56.460 And, I think sometimes extra motivation can be great. 00:20:57.660 --> 00:21:04.900 But can I tell you that if we just simply respond in life with just a chip on our shoulders to prove other people wrong, we're still demonstrating 00:21:04.900 --> 00:21:06.720 to them that they have rent in our heads. 00:21:08.120 --> 00:21:12.100 Father, Can I tell you what Jesus wants to do in your life and for your life is far better. 00:21:12.900 --> 00:21:18.500 And what I what I mean by that is it is not wrong to call police or authorities if something bad has happened to you. 00:21:18.500 --> 00:21:19.460 That's why they're there. 00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:26.820 But what I also want us to recognize is the things that happen to us do not define us, but rather they can refine us in our position in Christ. 00:21:28.180 --> 00:21:30.080 That what happens to us in our life. 00:21:30.080 --> 00:21:31.380 Jesus is completely aware. 00:21:31.380 --> 00:21:38.060 He knows of every pain and every struggle we've gone through and what God promises to do for us and redeeming all things on our behalf. 00:21:38.700 --> 00:21:38.760 God. 00:21:38.860 --> 00:21:43.570 God promises and will do is far better than anything we're going to do in our own strength. 00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:47.700 And what I mean is you carrying your anger and frustration and vengeance. 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:52.660 It won't even pale in comparison to what God will ultimately do when he brings justice to this earth. 00:21:54.260 --> 00:22:01.540 And you have the beautiful privilege of resting in the Lord, not living your life with a chip on your shoulders, but simply saying, and I've been completely freed in Jesus. 00:22:02.780 --> 00:22:09.840 To walk in him and he doesn't find my value based on what's happened to me, but based on who I am and in 00:22:09.840 --> 00:22:11.190 my identity through Christ. 00:22:12.560 --> 00:22:17.760 In fact, point number three, in your notes, it goes further and it says this Consider your relationship with God. 00:22:18.840 --> 00:22:20.580 Consider your relationship with God. 00:22:21.460 --> 00:22:28.560 Meaning if you're going to recognize your place to bless this earth as far as creation goes and be a blessing 00:22:28.560 --> 00:22:33.940 to humanity and relationship to one another, it has to spur out of your relationship with Christ. 00:22:34.020 --> 00:22:41.260 The motivation behind that is not about meriting God's love, but rather receiving who you are in Christ through His love. 00:22:41.980 --> 00:22:45.400 You're not meriting God's favor, but relying on the consistency of his character. 00:22:46.080 --> 00:22:52.550 And Genesis nine becomes that place in verse eight of recognizing the goodness of who God is through this word called covenant. 00:22:52.780 --> 00:22:56.590 This is the first time in Scripture we're introduced directly to this word covenant. 00:22:57.120 --> 00:23:02.520 But the idea of covenant becomes important to understand your position in relationship to your creator. 00:23:03.280 --> 00:23:10.300 It says, then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring 00:23:10.300 --> 00:23:17.560 after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you as 00:23:17.560 --> 00:23:19.800 many as came out of the ark. 00:23:19.800 --> 00:23:21.440 It is for every beast of the earth. 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:28.180 I will establish my covenant with you that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood. 00:23:28.360 --> 00:23:31.760 And never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. 00:23:32.900 --> 00:23:38.360 God is bringing this covenant, and this is not the first time you're going to see the word covenant discussed in Scripture. 00:23:38.380 --> 00:23:40.660 There are multiple times the word covenant is used. 00:23:40.820 --> 00:23:46.070 Some people say, Well, the idea of covenant really began with Adam and Eve when God established a covenant with them. 00:23:46.440 --> 00:23:49.460 And for this reason, God doesn't owe us anything. 00:23:50.120 --> 00:23:53.020 But he still gave Adam and Eve the opportunity to know Him. 00:23:53.340 --> 00:23:59.980 And then he promised after Adam and Eve sinned that opportunity again to continue to know him despite their sin in Genesis 315. 00:24:00.120 --> 00:24:04.140 And then you come to the story of Noah, and the word covenant is used directly, i.e. 00:24:04.140 --> 00:24:09.760 you get to the life of Abraham, which we'll read in a few chapters where God establishes a covenant with Abraham. 00:24:09.960 --> 00:24:13.280 You see it repeated again with Moses and with David. 00:24:13.340 --> 00:24:20.800 And finally you get to the New Testament, where you find the New Covenant with Christ, where in the night Jesus was betrayed in Luke 22, verse 20, he says, 00:24:21.080 --> 00:24:21.900 Take this. 00:24:21.900 --> 00:24:23.420 This is my body on behalf of you. 00:24:23.420 --> 00:24:25.860 Do this in remembrance of me and also with the cup. 00:24:25.860 --> 00:24:27.490 This is the new covenant of my blood. 00:24:27.900 --> 00:24:29.200 Do this in remembrance of me. 00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:33.000 The idea of covenant important to your relationship in Christ? 00:24:34.540 --> 00:24:41.230 The idea of covenant is contrasted to the thought of contract, which is typically how we work in agreements today. 00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:42.820 In contracts. 00:24:42.820 --> 00:24:49.860 If you ever are a part of a contract, there's two parties they both agree to give a certain amount in the contractual agreement. 00:24:49.860 --> 00:24:53.880 And if one person fails to give, the other person is not obligated contract broken. 00:24:54.700 --> 00:25:00.780 But in this picture of covenant, the idea of covenant is fully giving of yourself to the benefit of someone else. 00:25:02.040 --> 00:25:05.600 This covenant is leveraging your life to help someone else. 00:25:05.640 --> 00:25:07.400 The idea of covenant is grace filled. 00:25:08.080 --> 00:25:09.360 In fact, looking at Noah. 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:17.020 God owed nothing to Noah, yet God chose to provide this covenant of hope to Noah that Noah could have 00:25:17.020 --> 00:25:21.600 the promise of his position in the Lord and walk freely in it. 00:25:22.840 --> 00:25:29.780 This idea of covenant gives identity, it gives security, and it gives position in the Lord. 00:25:29.840 --> 00:25:31.480 And it's not based on what you do. 00:25:31.480 --> 00:25:33.600 It's based on who he is. 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:37.820 In fact, there's a children's storybook Bible. 00:25:37.820 --> 00:25:39.460 It's called the Jesus Storybook Bible. 00:25:39.600 --> 00:25:42.630 I've read this Bible a few times to all of my kids. 00:25:42.980 --> 00:25:50.010 It's if you if you're reading the Bible for the first time or maybe you've been a Christian for a while and you're like, Man, the Bible still confuses me. 00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:52.920 Can I just tell you, read the Jesus storybook Bible. 00:25:53.000 --> 00:25:54.510 I mean, that is a great place to start. 00:25:54.860 --> 00:25:56.760 It ties the theme of scripture together. 00:25:57.160 --> 00:26:00.800 And if you're embarrassed to read a children's Bible, then find a kid to read it to you. 00:26:00.800 --> 00:26:01.220 Okay. 00:26:01.340 --> 00:26:05.940 But it's a it's a good Bible to understand the big picture of what God desires. 00:26:06.080 --> 00:26:10.820 And in this Bible, it repeats the idea of covenant love over and over. 00:26:11.380 --> 00:26:18.380 In fact, Sally Lloyd-Jones wrote the Storybook Bible and she recognized the importance of covenant, love 00:26:18.380 --> 00:26:19.960 to our relationship with God. 00:26:20.380 --> 00:26:24.200 And she made it a point to write this phrase over and over in Scripture. 00:26:24.200 --> 00:26:31.740 It says this covenant love is God's never ending, never giving up Unbreaking always 00:26:31.740 --> 00:26:33.280 and forever love. 00:26:34.700 --> 00:26:41.760 Let me just say that again, because I think it's worth it's worth understanding that if you're here this morning and you feel like you're just fighting for 00:26:41.760 --> 00:26:47.140 God's love, or if you're trying to just do your best so that God would care about you. 00:26:47.980 --> 00:26:49.660 Can I can I just tell you don't understand. 00:26:49.860 --> 00:26:50.380 Covenant, Love. 00:26:51.740 --> 00:26:54.320 You'll understand what Jesus has already done on your behalf. 00:26:55.900 --> 00:26:57.210 Jesus has paid it all. 00:26:57.240 --> 00:27:00.880 Not that you have to merit anything, but you receive rather what he has given. 00:27:02.100 --> 00:27:07.180 Bible tells us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places given to you in Ephesians through Christ. 00:27:08.560 --> 00:27:15.680 Now, when you understand that kind of love, the response of your heart is not about meriting anything from the Lord, but rather walking in it and you realize 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:18.920 he's a god of second chances over and over again. 00:27:20.080 --> 00:27:20.620 A covenant. 00:27:20.620 --> 00:27:26.900 Love is God's never ending, never giving up Unbreaking always and forever love. 00:27:28.760 --> 00:27:36.040 And it's through that love then that we commonly as people create symbols, symbols, or signs to 00:27:36.040 --> 00:27:37.260 remind us. 00:27:38.080 --> 00:27:38.220 It's. 00:27:38.340 --> 00:27:45.500 It's good for your soul to find those sort of staples or monuments a place to go back and reflect upon because hard 00:27:45.500 --> 00:27:45.960 days will come. 00:27:47.500 --> 00:27:54.560 There may be things that have happened to you in your life and you let the lie of those moments speak into your heart rather than the truth of who God is. 00:27:55.520 --> 00:28:00.620 And you'll walk in those lies rather than let the unending love of God be what's spoken over you. 00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:05.800 And in Genesis nine, verse 12, this is what happens in the story of Noah. 00:28:06.820 --> 00:28:14.430 And God said, This is the sign of the covenant that I will make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for all future generations. 00:28:14.560 --> 00:28:19.020 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 00:28:19.520 --> 00:28:26.600 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and 00:28:26.600 --> 00:28:28.160 every living creature of all flesh. 00:28:28.440 --> 00:28:32.420 And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all the flesh. 00:28:33.420 --> 00:28:35.570 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it. 00:28:35.620 --> 00:28:40.740 And remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. 00:28:41.140 --> 00:28:46.600 And God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth. 00:28:48.080 --> 00:28:51.800 I know I can say this jokingly, but could you imagine being Noah the second time it rained? 00:28:53.060 --> 00:28:55.040 If you talk about PTSD. 00:28:55.080 --> 00:28:57.430 That's going to be one of those moments. 00:28:58.500 --> 00:28:58.520 But. 00:28:58.620 --> 00:29:02.170 But what does Noah get in the midst of the darkness of the cloud? 00:29:02.840 --> 00:29:04.220 He's reminded of the goodness of God. 00:29:05.220 --> 00:29:06.420 That's the beauty of a symbol of a covenant. 00:29:07.400 --> 00:29:09.560 We typically don't think about it until things are hard. 00:29:10.600 --> 00:29:14.620 And then when things are hard, we want our soul to be reminded of the richness of who God is. 00:29:15.840 --> 00:29:19.080 And we do this with covenant symbols as human beings, right? 00:29:19.080 --> 00:29:21.300 Marriage being a covenant of marriage. 00:29:22.100 --> 00:29:26.000 We typically use a ring as a symbol of unending love because a circle never ends. 00:29:26.300 --> 00:29:26.710 That's a covenant. 00:29:28.800 --> 00:29:34.180 In terms of the Old Testament, Moses was circumcised or Abraham, excuse me, was circumcised. 00:29:34.180 --> 00:29:35.780 And again, Moses And it continued on, right? 00:29:36.100 --> 00:29:37.240 That's a that's a sign of the covenant. 00:29:37.380 --> 00:29:43.260 It's a reminder in the intimacy of who you are as a human being, the presence of God in the New Testament. 00:29:43.280 --> 00:29:45.620 We don't have to do circumcision anymore. 00:29:45.760 --> 00:29:46.430 In the New Testament. 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:47.160 There's the communion. 00:29:47.740 --> 00:29:51.760 And communion is a symbol of the new covenant that Jesus has for us. 00:29:51.780 --> 00:29:54.140 It reminds us of the intimacy that we have with the Lord. 00:29:55.340 --> 00:29:59.300 The only reason we get to be here today is not because anyone merited anything from God. 00:29:59.300 --> 00:30:01.020 You don't you don't even have that ability. 00:30:02.340 --> 00:30:08.150 But rather we get the joy of resting in a new identity that we receive, not based on what we achieve, but what he achieved for us. 00:30:09.720 --> 00:30:13.900 New covenant of his blood, this unending, this unending love of the Lord. 00:30:13.960 --> 00:30:16.840 In fact, in Psalm 26 three, I love how it says this. 00:30:16.860 --> 00:30:24.200 It says, For your steadfast love is before my eyes and I walk in your faithfulness. 00:30:24.540 --> 00:30:31.080 I love that steadfast love is this is recognizing a love that cannot be pushed over or knocked down. 00:30:31.080 --> 00:30:33.330 It remains consistent in every storm. 00:30:34.020 --> 00:30:36.080 And then it says, You want to know how you walk forward. 00:30:36.080 --> 00:30:38.480 It's not because of your faithfulness, because no. 00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:40.480 One you can't trust in that very far. 00:30:40.520 --> 00:30:43.040 You'll sin, but rather it's in the faithfulness of God. 00:30:43.640 --> 00:30:50.740 It's the consistency of who he is that even gives you the privilege to breathe today and know your creator and through that, then 00:30:50.740 --> 00:30:57.920 honor others and all of creation that the only reason we're able to do anything related to these first two points is because of 00:30:57.920 --> 00:31:04.920 everything God is in this last point and understanding who he is, then it gives us the privilege to be able to 00:31:04.920 --> 00:31:06.120 move forward in the Lord. 00:31:06.260 --> 00:31:13.480 And ultimately, when we think in terms of the sign of the covenant, like if we say to ourselves, okay, no, I got no, I got the Rainbow 00:31:13.480 --> 00:31:16.460 and Moses and what do we have? 00:31:16.460 --> 00:31:18.540 And for us, it's the cross of Christ. 00:31:19.620 --> 00:31:21.980 And the darkest of hours and the depth of our soul. 00:31:22.040 --> 00:31:27.380 What we need to be reminded of is what Jesus did for us on a very personal way that we can find freedom in him. 00:31:27.600 --> 00:31:34.820 And it wasn't because of anything that I have done righteously, but rather the only thing I did for the freedom is doing the sinning I did, the sinning 00:31:34.820 --> 00:31:36.260 that led Jesus to the cross. 00:31:40.080 --> 00:31:40.840 But in the cross. 00:31:42.580 --> 00:31:45.600 There is the consistent steadfast love. 00:31:47.780 --> 00:31:52.770 His faithfulness made known throughout all of history from the story of Genesis. 00:31:54.040 --> 00:31:57.650 Up until that moment, Jesus had promised that he was coming and he was coming. 00:31:57.800 --> 00:32:05.100 I love even in the Gospels, when you read The Life of Christ and those final days of Jesus's life, when he's journeying to Jerusalem, it describes 00:32:05.100 --> 00:32:08.700 in the Gospels that the rest of the disciples follow, but at a safe distance. 00:32:08.980 --> 00:32:11.480 They're like, We know what's going to happen here, right? 00:32:11.480 --> 00:32:15.300 Like, we don't want to be near him, but we just want to kind of stand in the back and cheer him on. 00:32:15.500 --> 00:32:16.830 But Jesus boldly. 00:32:18.280 --> 00:32:19.580 Boldly walks into Jerusalem. 00:32:19.580 --> 00:32:20.280 And why? 00:32:21.620 --> 00:32:22.400 For you and for me. 00:32:23.860 --> 00:32:26.980 Steadfast, faithful love. 00:32:28.680 --> 00:32:32.360 It's that love then leads that leads us to respond. 00:32:33.580 --> 00:32:39.180 It's not because we love God, therefore he loves us, but rather in first. 00:32:39.340 --> 00:32:44.000 John 419 It says Because he loved us. 00:32:44.760 --> 00:32:45.320 We love him. 00:32:47.120 --> 00:32:51.880 It's that love that motivates our soul to respond for his glory in this world. 00:32:52.080 --> 00:32:55.480 Because we know in Him we don't compete for our worth. 00:32:55.520 --> 00:32:56.500 Rather we discover it. 00:32:57.960 --> 00:33:02.780 Secure identity in Jesus, and this challenges our motivation. 00:33:02.880 --> 00:33:08.860 Remember I said in the beginning, sometimes we think, what about religious people or religious people? 00:33:08.860 --> 00:33:09.300 Good. 00:33:09.360 --> 00:33:11.080 And they look, they're certainly doing good. 00:33:11.140 --> 00:33:16.540 But Jesus taught us something completely different in the Sermon on the Mount, because what needs fixed isn't our behavior, but rather our heart. 00:33:17.220 --> 00:33:21.520 And if our hearts transform, so goes our life and even our motivation. 00:33:21.760 --> 00:33:25.980 Though it may look good on the inside, we know whether or not it's for our own glory or his. 00:33:27.020 --> 00:33:29.100 Which reminds me of the story. 00:33:29.140 --> 00:33:31.300 I'll share this in one final verse in close. 00:33:31.380 --> 00:33:38.440 But there was a Charles Spurgeon tells the story of a of a farmer and a rancher, and the farmer obviously grew 00:33:38.440 --> 00:33:41.340 carrots and the rancher obviously bred some horses. 00:33:42.260 --> 00:33:49.400 But one day this farmer, he's walking out on his farm and he recognizes within this the field 00:33:49.400 --> 00:33:51.860 there is this massive, incredible carrot. 00:33:52.320 --> 00:33:56.200 The farmer thought, Wow, I've never seen or grown a carrot like this before. 00:33:56.380 --> 00:33:57.010 This is incredible. 00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:01.980 And so he thought to himself, I really want to give this away as a gift to bless someone. 00:34:02.020 --> 00:34:03.300 That's been a blessing to me. 00:34:03.320 --> 00:34:07.440 And so immediately the farmer thought, Wow, I think I should give this to the king. 00:34:08.060 --> 00:34:09.230 The king has been a great king. 00:34:09.360 --> 00:34:11.080 This is a gift only a king is worthy of. 00:34:11.080 --> 00:34:11.980 So I want to take it to the king. 00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:12.770 So the farmer did. 00:34:13.060 --> 00:34:19.699 He went to the king and he just wanted to honored the king because the king had been such a blessing to him, out of out of love, of experiencing the blessing of that. 00:34:19.719 --> 00:34:22.860 King He just wanted to respond back with love towards him. 00:34:23.940 --> 00:34:27.489 And the king took the gift from the farmer and looked at him and said, Farmer, this is incredible. 00:34:28.400 --> 00:34:28.960 Wouldn't you know it? 00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:32.440 I just happened to own a plot of land beside you, and I'm not doing anything with it. 00:34:33.300 --> 00:34:40.400 I also want to give you this plot of land and response, and I want you to take that plot of land and continue to be the incredible farmer that God made you to be. 00:34:41.120 --> 00:34:42.560 And the farmer was blown away. 00:34:42.560 --> 00:34:43.550 He just wanted to give a carrot. 00:34:43.580 --> 00:34:45.820 And now here he is walking away with a plot of land. 00:34:45.960 --> 00:34:49.679 But in that room there was another individual overhearing the conversation, and it was the rancher. 00:34:50.880 --> 00:34:52.520 And the rancher thought to himself, Hmm. 00:34:53.580 --> 00:34:55.239 The farmer got more land. 00:34:55.260 --> 00:34:56.040 I know what I'll do. 00:34:56.040 --> 00:35:03.240 And so the next day, the rancher shows up with his prized horse and he comes to the king, and he says To the King, King, Out 00:35:03.240 --> 00:35:08.500 of all the horses I've ever bred and all the horses I've ever raised, this is the greatest horse I have ever owned. 00:35:08.620 --> 00:35:12.010 And you being a great king, I want to gift you this horse. 00:35:12.600 --> 00:35:19.720 And the king looked back at the rancher and he realized what the rancher was doing because he knew the rancher was present with his conversation with 00:35:19.720 --> 00:35:20.800 the farmer the day before. 00:35:21.380 --> 00:35:24.600 So the king looked at the rancher and he just grabbed the horse and said, Thank you. 00:35:24.800 --> 00:35:25.730 And he just walks away. 00:35:26.860 --> 00:35:34.060 The rancher is obviously a little frustrated to lose his prized horse and starts to say something to the king in which the king then turns back to the rancher and says, 00:35:34.960 --> 00:35:36.780 Do you know why I didn't give you anything in response? 00:35:38.480 --> 00:35:39.010 He said yesterday. 00:35:40.620 --> 00:35:43.400 The farmer gave me the carrot to honor me. 00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:46.960 But you're just giving me the horse to honor yourself. 00:35:48.840 --> 00:35:49.980 Whose glory do you live for? 00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:59.780 The idea of the story of Genesis Chapter nine is to remind us the covenant, grace of God that we have the privilege of walking in 00:35:59.780 --> 00:36:01.300 for His glory, not our own. 00:36:02.280 --> 00:36:06.960 Because what we have in the Lord is far greater than anything you could ever achieve in your own effort. 00:36:08.020 --> 00:36:12.040 But to rest in that identity and to walk in the goodness of his hand. 00:36:13.080 --> 00:36:16.620 In fact, the rest of Genesis, I just have to give you a summary of this. 00:36:16.720 --> 00:36:20.860 But if you look at the latter half of this story, you'll find that out of Noah. 00:36:20.860 --> 00:36:22.960 Noah had three sons, Shem Ham and Japheth. 00:36:24.060 --> 00:36:31.200 But remember, we're telling the story during the days of Moses, and Moses has seen how out of the lineage of 00:36:31.200 --> 00:36:36.100 Shem, Ham and Japheth the goodness of God was made known or the sinfulness of man. 00:36:37.100 --> 00:36:44.270 And what you find in the story is right after the Noahic flood, Noah decides he's going to build a vineyard, get drunk, he gets drunk, he gets naked. 00:36:44.420 --> 00:36:44.860 I don't. 00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:45.580 I don't. 00:36:45.680 --> 00:36:47.020 That's what happens in the story. 00:36:47.040 --> 00:36:50.460 I guess your Bible heroes have bad, bad flaws within them, too, right? 00:36:50.460 --> 00:36:50.740 No. 00:36:50.860 --> 00:36:55.540 He follows the Lord and righteousness, and then all of a sudden he gets drunk and he's asleep and naked in a tent. 00:36:55.680 --> 00:36:58.100 All of a sudden, his son Ham, comes into the tent. 00:36:58.280 --> 00:37:00.500 You don't really know what happens in the story. 00:37:00.500 --> 00:37:02.130 You can just kind of speculate what happens. 00:37:02.580 --> 00:37:06.120 But whatever happens, the next day, Noe wakes up ticked or he's hanging over and tick. 00:37:06.180 --> 00:37:07.140 That's how he wakes up. 00:37:07.140 --> 00:37:09.380 And he and he comes and he talks to his three sons. 00:37:09.380 --> 00:37:14.940 And what you find in these three sons is ham is cursed and Shem and Japheth are blessed. 00:37:16.360 --> 00:37:23.380 And I think that the story of Shem, Shem, ham and Japheth is a reminder of what happens to these three individuals as they move from this 00:37:23.380 --> 00:37:23.980 story. 00:37:24.180 --> 00:37:28.480 One choosing to not walk with the Lord and the other choosing at some points to walk with God. 00:37:29.220 --> 00:37:36.860 But during Moses's day now, as the story is being told out of the line of Ham comes the Canaanites, the Babylonians, 00:37:37.440 --> 00:37:41.080 the Philistines, Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:37:41.440 --> 00:37:48.540 This becomes a civilization that were nothing but a thorn into the sides of Israel, and the mark of their life was one 00:37:48.540 --> 00:37:51.620 of being cursed because they walked a life contrary to the Lord. 00:37:52.440 --> 00:37:59.560 This doesn't mean every every Canaanite or anyone that comes out of ham was necessarily cursed, but rather they represented the eyes of 00:37:59.560 --> 00:38:05.250 cursing because they choose to follow a path that wasn't in connection to the Lord and His covenant grace. 00:38:06.620 --> 00:38:08.900 And Sham becomes the lineage of Jesus. 00:38:09.160 --> 00:38:10.990 And the story is being told in the time of Moses. 00:38:11.140 --> 00:38:18.460 Now that all these generations have transpired as a way to say Israel to Israel and what you do from this day forward matters. 00:38:19.480 --> 00:38:21.900 It matters not only to you, but it matters to creation. 00:38:22.780 --> 00:38:24.440 It matters to the people around you. 00:38:24.880 --> 00:38:27.420 It matters to the generations that follow after you. 00:38:28.360 --> 00:38:33.320 The way you honor the Lord with your life can be a blessing, or it can be a cursing. 00:38:34.420 --> 00:38:41.500 And it all is discovered in how you root yourself in the identity of his covenant of grace, not based on what you do, but what he's 00:38:41.500 --> 00:38:42.040 done for you.