Cornerstonekaty

John 1:1-18

John 1:29-37

Some of you are here this morning with a desire to change. You feel the frustration of trying to live a better life but struggle to change. Two steps forward are often followed by two steps back. How do you break free from this cycle? That’s a good question. John has an answer for you and his name is Jesus.

Before we look at his answer let’s spend a moment reflecting upon the problem, for it isn’t a new problem. In fact, it was the principle problem that God’s people experienced through their history up until the time of Christ. Their story started with Abraham, when God chose him and his family to be His people. It was a future filled with great promise. Specifically, “Go and see a land that I will give to you and your children after you. I will make you into a great nation and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed. You will be my people and I will be your God.” Such high hopes! Abraham obeyed. Two steps forward. And yet, it wasn’t long before Abraham’s descendants reached a low point when they sold their own brother into slavery. In just a few generations they found themselves enslaved to the Egyptians for 400 plus years. Three steps back. Eventually God sent Moses to lead the people out of slavery. God entered into a covenant relationship with him. They would be his people and He would be their God. Two steps forward! But when they got to the border of the promised land, they were afraid of the people there. And so God took them back into the wilderness for 40 years. Two steps back. When that generation died off, he led them once again to the promised land and this time brought them into it. Two steps forward! But they soon forgot God as they blended into Canaanite culture, and as a result, God allowed their neighbors to overcome them. Two steps back. They repented and cried out for another deliverer. God answered and raised up a judge to lead them out of trouble. This was a repeated cycle we see in the book of judges, summed up

Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. 19 But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. (Jdg 2:18–19)

Two steps forward, two steps back.

Eventually, the people asked for a king and so God answered. They took two steps forward with King David and two steps back when the kingdom was divided two generations later. There were occassional steps forward with kings such as Jehoshophat, Hezekiah, and Josiah, but they were short lived. One step, two steps, three steps back until God had enough and drove them into exile. But in their exile God promised something new; something better. The cycle would end when the promised one came.

They assumed the cycle would end by once for all conquering their enemies around them. One day this will be true. But Jesus had another mission first. He came to solve with the root of the problem. The cause of all the enemies rising up around them was not because their enemies were too strong, but because God’s people were guilty of sin. Jesus came to deal with take away their sin. This is why he is introduced the way he is: “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” This was the key to Jesus accomplishing his mission. This was the key to that cycle ending. Jesus takes away our sin.

Luke 1:46-55

Right off the bat, in the accounts of Jesus we find that Christianity stands apart from the religions of the world. Religion is the practice of living in such a way as to find your way to God. The reward is for the wise, discerning, and disciplined person who has managed to live a good enough life to win the reward of god. In ancient Egypt the dead would be weighed on the scale to see if they were worthy. In ancient Greece the dead lived on through the glory of their accomplishments. Similarly in Norse mythology, where you went after death was largely a result of how well you lived and died. In Eastern religion you move closer and closer to oneness with the universe when you live a better life. But in all of these, there is no reward for the undeserving. Things only get worse.

But Christianity stands apart. It is good news for those who are least in society. It is why we find Jesus saying such statements as,

"So the last will be first, and the first last." (Matthew 20:16)

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17)

Mary’s song shows us this.

Every year, in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, my wife would become suddenly aware of how cluttered and dirty our house had become. On most days it was organized enough for us, or we didn’t notice the dust piles along the edges of the room or the pile of papers on the dining room table, or the dark stains on the patio. But every thanksgiving, Rhonda’s mom and dad would come and stay with us. We always had a great time together. But in those days prior to their coming, my wife became the tasmanian devil in the clean-up effort. You’ve probably had similar experiences. Rhonda’s dad kept a tight ship. He was the definition of organized and clean. Even his garage was spotless. Everything had a place. Any grass and dust that might blow in was quickly blown back out. We loved that about their home when we visited them. It was also what made us uncomfortably aware of how dirty our house was in comparison.

Now, multiply that times 10 or 100 or 1000. That is the sense for Mark’s readers as he opens his gospel. It isn’t just your organized dad that’s coming, it’s Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The holy one.

God was coming to visit in person. That’s introduced as good news and it was! Just as in the days of Moses, Israel was looking for God to come and deliver them from their oppression. But it was also terrifying news for those who are ill prepared. And in the case of Israel, the house was a mess. And so, God sends a messenger ahead of time that Israel might be ready for the visit. That was the role of John the Baptist.

To understand the significance of such an event, let’s put it in context historically. Jesus is the hinge on which history turns. The Old Testament points us forward to the coming of Jesus, and the New Testament points us backward to the impact of Jesus’ coming. Even our calendar recognizes this, regardless of whether you use BC and AD or BCE and CE. The date upon which they hinge is the birth of Jesus Christ. It should not surprise us in the sovereignty of God that this is the case.

Jesus himself highlights this in verse 15 when he says, “the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand…”

The writers of the New Testament build on this,

Galatians 4:4 (ESV) 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son…

Ephesians 1:7–10 (ESV) ‌7 In him we have redemption…which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time...

Just as he might be the focal point of history, he is also meant to be the focal point of his people. Your life is meant to hinge upon Jesus Christ. So, if Christmas is the celebration of his coming, how do we prepare for that? To borrow from the images of Mark’s introduction, We go into the wilderness, we get baptized, and we live by the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 1:18-25

Christmas has become more than a day. It is a season. Why is that? Christmas has a way of pushing out the darkness and filling us with hope. 

Revelation 2:12-17

Ezekiel 9:1-11

In this part of Ezekiel’s vision, we see the sentence and judgment brought upon the city. Judgment is not a popular theme in our society. And the idea of judgment coming from God to many seems counter to him being the embodiment of love. So, how do we make sense of such sweeping, pitiless striking dead of men, women, and even little children. This is shocking. How do we reconcile it to a good God?

Ezekiel helps us do this. I wasn’t expecting that when I started studying the book. I knew it spoke of strange visions, judgment and restoration, but finding a helpful answer to God’s justice was a surprise. And the interesting thing about it? It is so simple.

God’s judgment is…just.

That can be hard to embrace. It seems harsh and terrifying. It certainly was for Ezekiel. So, how do we get there? We must understand his justice, escape his justice, and appreciate his justice.

When I was growing up, I loved to play outside. I looked forward to getting on my bicycle and riding around town with my friends. We often rode through a ditch in the neighborhood that took us under the highway and out into the woods and the often dry river bed. We would catch crawdads (as we called them), build forts, and make jumps for our bicycles. Sometimes homework would get in the way. Can you relate? I can’t tell you how many reading assignments I attempted to shortcut so that I could get outside and play. Rather than read textbooks, I would jump to the questions and scan the text for answers. With book reports, sometimes I found cliffnotes to help the process. Through this, I could get the homework finished. The problem was, I got little out of it. My heart was somewhere else.

Has worship ever been that way for you? Do you come to check off the box, while all the time your heart is elsewhere? Do you find your thoughts on the football game in the afternoon or the work you still have to complete? Do you think about other places you would rather be?

What if you approached your relationship to your spouse like this? Men, what if you took your wife out on a date because you know its important while all the while your mind is elsewhere? What if, while on your date, you find your eyes wandering to the cute waitress? Do you think your date will accomplish what you hoped? Why is that? Your wife wants your heart, not merely your duty.

Worship is an important thing and how we approach it tells us so much about how we understand our relationship to God.

Romans 13:1-11

Ezekiel 6

God is just. One of the hard things for the world to hold together is the problem of evil and the existence of a good God. They seem incompatible. If God is good, then why would he allow evil to exist? The people in Ezekiel’s day couldn’t fathom the idea that their god, a good god, would allow the Babylonians to have the upper hand for long. Surely, he would set things right. We often think that too about our trying circumstances. And then when it doesn’t happen soon enough, doubts as to God’s goodness, or our own, creep in.

Sometimes the difficulties we face are the very tools God uses to reveal himself, and through that revelation of himself, to shape us as his people. That’s what he is doing in the case of these exiles. He repeats more than 60 times in the book, “they/you shall know that I am the LORD.”

In essence, he reveals that He is a just God in bringing this great tragedy about. This is a call to unwavering faith in the face of tragedy.