God was there. God is here - telling the story of Jesus.

These are some of the notes from my sermon on Nov. 21 which launched the "God was there. God is here." series...

Week 1: God was there. God is here: Telling the Story of Jesus

I. Introduction

• Are you a neo-Marcionite? Since 77% of what’s in your Bible happened before Jesus, if you’re not reading it, there’s a lot you’re not paying attention to. 

• Illustration: For a lot of us, the Bible is like the song “American Pie” by Don McLean. Nobody really knows what it’s about. Do you know why? It’s because the author hasn’t told us: "You will find many interpretations of my lyrics but none of them by me... sorry to leave you all on your own like this but long ago I realized that songwriters should make their statements and move on, maintaining a dignified silence."  

• The Bible can feel the same way for us... 

II. What we should know about the Spirit of God

1. The Spirit of God is a Person. He’s not a thing. We refer to him as he and not it. 

o He has a mind (John 14:26; Romans 8:27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-11)

o He has a will (Acts 16:7; 1 Corinthians 12:11)

o He has emotions (Romans 8:26; 15:30; Ephesians 4:30); Acts 15:28; James 4:5)

o He speaks (Mark 13:11; Acts 1:16; 8:29; 10:19; 11:12; 13:2; 21:11; 1 Timothy 4:1; Heb. 3:7; Rev. 2:7)

o He can be sinned against (Matthew 12:31)

o He can be lied to (Acts 5:3)

o He can be insulted (Hebrews 10:29)

o He strengthens (Ephesians 3:16)

o He teaches (Luke 12:12; John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 2:13)

o He encourages (Acts 9:31)

2. The Spirit of God is God. (Acts 5:3-4)

3. The Spirit of God was there in the Old Testament. 

a He was there at Creation  (Genesis 1:2)

b.     He was there, equipping God’s people to serve him.

o With strength: (Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 14:19, etc.)

o With wisdom: (Numbers 11:7; Joshua in Numbers 27:18)

o With prophecy (Numbers 11:25-29; 1 Samuel 10:10; Micah 3:8; Hosea 9:7; Isaiah 48:16; 61:1-3; Ezekiel 11:5-25; Zechariah 7:12, etc.) 

c.      He was there, telling the story of Jesus

• (Luke24:25-27, 44)
• (John 1:45 + 5:46)
• (1Cor 15:1-4)
• (1Peter 1:10-11)
• (2Pe 1:20-21) 

Big idea: In the Bible, the Holy Spirit has been very active – for thousands of years, telling the stories that tell the Story of Jesus.

III. Implications.

1. The whole Bible is Christian Scripture.

-“Once we truly grasp the message of the New Testament, it is impossible to read the Old Testament again without seeing Christ on every page, in every story, foreshadowed or anticipated in every event and narrative.”  Michael Horton

-“We shall not benefit from reading the Old Testament unless we look for and meditate on the glory of Christ in its pages.” John Owen

-Illustration: The flood. [told in Genesis 6-9] The world has become corrupt; of all the world, only Noah walks with God. God wants to start over, and Noah and his family are going to be the new Adam and Eve.  

• Is the flood story about Noah? Is it about the importance of obeying God’s commands, even though we don’t see why we should?  If it’s really about Noah the savior, then why include the part about the family fighting after? Why include the part about Noah getting drunk and passing out naked in his tent? 
• When you read this as a Christian story, then you might see that here, thousands of years before Christ, we’re presented with a God who is able to show justice and grace at the same time. He saves people through judgment by sending a savior... 
• And when the final judgment comes, we'll need a better Noah - a better savior:

1. We need a savior who isn’t just righteous and blameless in comparison to his contemporaries; we need a savior who is righteous and blameless. Period.
2. We need a savior who won’t land us in a world devastated by flood where we’re no better off than we were before; we need a savior who’ll land us with him in a new world: a new heaven and a new earth where there’ll be no sin, no more pain or sorrow.  
3. We need a savior who won’t just save his family, but who’ll save a multitude that no one can count, from every tribe, and tongue, and nation.

It points us to Christ. And if we can read the Bible this way, it changes everything.  

2.  There’s a right and wrong way to read the Bible.

a. What’s the right way to read it? We need to read the Bible like Christians. 

1. You can read the story of how God tested Abraham’s faith by asking him to sacrifice Isaac and think “God deserves my very best”. And that’s true, but you don’t need to be a Christian to believe that.
2. You can read about how David slept with Bathsheba, had her husband Uriah killed, and then the baby died, and if you only conclude: “there are consequences for sinning against God” then that may be true, but you don’t need to be a Christian to believe that sin has consequences. Lot s of religions believe that! 
3. You can read the story of how Ezra and Nehemiah led the people of Israel and they rebuilt the wall, and you can use that story at meetings as an example of what leadership and good teamwork look like, but you don’t need to be a Christian to believe that.

c. And as we read the stories of the Bible, and look at their context, etc, if we don’t dig all the way down to see how the Spirit of God though that story is pointing to Jesus Christ in the gospel, we’re not reading it right. 

3. We have to read the Bible

• God has given us a book. The better we can read this book, the better we’ll be able to see what the Spirit of God wants us to see, and the better we’ll be able to live it out. 

• Illustration: What I’m talking about here is the difference between raking and digging...  

*And it's not: “If you want to be a good Christian you must read your Bible every day.” But there’s something that the Spirit of God wants to tell us; someone he wants us to meet – and if we really want that, we need to be in the Bible.

IV. Conclusion.

o On the road, Jesus sort of shook his head at the disciples because they should have known what was going to happen: that he was going to die, and be raised from the dead. It was there for them all along; the Spirit of God had written it into the story. And the idea is that if they really understood what they were reading, they would have seen that the Scripture point to Christ. 

o ***We have more revelation than they did.*** If they were “foolish and slow” because they read the Bible all their lives and still missed the big idea, then what does that make us? God was there, and God is here  - telling the stories that tell the Story of Jesus.