Redeemer Church of Oklahoma City

March 7: The Third Sunday in Lent

markb — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:37:34 +0000

And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies.” Genesis 22:15-17

Abraham did the right thing immediately before this passage. His faith manifested itself in obedience. More than that, it showed that he believed God’s promises in the worst situation imaginable. For three days journey he awaited the resurrection from the dead of his only beloved son on the hill of Calvary that would stem from the obedient sacrifice of his firstborn.

Wait, what was that? It’s shocking, I know, but think about it again: Abraham traveled/waited for 3 days to the place where Christ would be crucified. All along the way Hebrews 11:19 tells us Abraham trusted that God would raise the son from the dead. Not only that, but the son was silent at the time of the sacrifice. Remember Isaiah 53:7, “Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”

It’s a staggering narrative pointing us to the one true son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

But even in the passage to follow God renews the covenant, swearing by himself that Abraham would be blessed, his offspring multiplied as the stars of heaven the sands of the beach, and that his offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies. It’s poetic, beautiful, true, and inspiring. But most of all it continues to point us to Jesus!

Note the last line: “And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies.” Doesn’t it seem like it should say, “And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies”? And the NIV translators actually translated it that way. But, hold the phone, the Hebrew word is not plural! Your offspring shall possess the gate, the Hebrew says, of his [singular!] enemies. Just in case we’re tempted to think his refers to Isaac alone, Galatians 3:16 takes care of that for you.

So just enjoy this without comment: For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. –1 Corinthians 15:22-26

And that’s the gospel! Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.

The related hymns we’ll sing are:
Rejoice, the Lord is King
O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus
Take My Life, and Let it Be

MEN, don’t forget that our first Men’s Prayer Breakfast is coming this Saturday Morning, March 6 at 8:30! It will be at First Pres with our guys cooking and praying. Click here if you would like more information.

Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (in Galatians) is up and running! Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.

Visitors are always welcome!

February 28: The Second Sunday in Lent

markb — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:07:51 +0000

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” –Genesis 22:1,2

Most of us find this at best disturbing or troubling and at worst, horrifying. Many a philosopher has set out to show how God is because of this passage. Others view it as an ethical or moral lesson showing that to follow God is to obey no matter how crazy the command may be.

These two approaches and everything in between have their arguments, but they all miss something critical. We tend to assume that God called Abraham to stab his son to death. Right? And that is hideous. But that’s not what happened. If that’s what happened, God could have told him to stab Isaac to death at home in his bed or out in the front yard. Yet God called him to go to a specific place and offer Isaac as an “offering.”

Abraham did it not because he was the most obedient guy in the world; he did it because he knew there must be a sacrifice for sins, and God had the right to demand this sacrifice. He did it because he had faith all along the way that a substitute sacrifice would be provided or that this only son would be raised from the dead (Hebrews 11:19).

The place where he did it was on the same mountains that God’s only Son centuries later would be made a sacrifice not only as the substitute, but actually raised from the dead.

So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.” –Genesis 22:14

You see, the name of the place is not “On the mount of the Lord it shall be obeyed;” it is “on the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” And the one true Son, whom God loved was provided.

And that’s the gospel! Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.

The related hymns we’ll sing are:
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
Jesus Paid It All
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

MEN, don’t forget that our first Men’s Prayer Breakfast is coming Saturday Morning, March 6 at 8:30! It will be at First Pres with our guys cooking and praying. Click here if you would like more information.

Visitors are always welcome!

February 21: The First Sunday in Lent

markb — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:09:58 +0000

At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. 23 Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.” 24 And Abraham said, “I will swear.” –Genesis 21:22-24

Abraham is a man of faith, a saint, a hero in the history of redemption. This I know for the Bible tells me so! Why does the Bible have to tell me so? Because at any given moment in Abraham’s life, he may not look so faithful, saintly, or heroic. This is because he tended to deceive when he sensed he was in danger. When he thought other people were going to try to destroy him, he began scheming his way through the situation. He’s not the only Bible character who is named as righteous who does that either.

In the passage above King Abimelech and General Phicol come seeking peace with Abraham. Abimelech is ever so aware that concerning Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.” Abimelech knows Abraham’s God is for Abraham. He knows to go against Abraham is to go against the God who gets anything and everything he wants (“El-Shaddai”).

But the way he learned that was a hard way. Abraham lied to Abimelech and told him Sarah was his sister. Abraham sensed danger for himself and let Sarah be taken into the harem of Abimelech. This happened almost exactly the same way before with Pharoah 25 years before. Good grief! But Abimelech almost died not because he stole Sarah away, but because he believed Abraham’s lie.

In other words, Abimelech is sure about Abraham’s God, but he is not so sure about Abraham. So he cuts a covenant with Abraham to try to put Abraham under God’s oath that Abraham will tell him the truth all the time (“Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me…”)

There’s a lot that could be said about the passage, but what one might initially miss is that Abimelech throughout chapters 20 and 21 of Genesis seems always to do the right thing when he knows what the right thing is (both with Sarah and the well later on in Genesis 21). Abimelech obeys God and God’s servant-prophet Abraham. Abraham, on the other hand, knows the right thing to do and doesn’t do it. Yet, as far as we can tell, Abraham is the Lord’s and Abimelech isn’t.

Being the Lord’s isn’t about being good or bad; it is in every other world religion, but in Christianity God justifies the wicked by faith in his promised Son (Abraham does this in Genesis 15//Romans 4). The gospel is not that good people go to heaven. The gospel is not that God’s people necessarily are better than all those who are not God’s people. The gospel is that Christ died for sinners like Abraham who would surely have ruined himself without the Lord both before and after his conversion. Christ didn’t need to die for godly (as if there were any); Christ died for the ungodly.

And that’s the gospel! Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.

Visitors are always welcome!

February 14: The Last Sunday after Epiphany (Transfiguration Sunday)

markb — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 03:01:12 +0000

And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. –Genesis 21:8,9

Isaac made it to a few years old and they had a party. After all, the promised son was here! But imagine: Ishmael is now a young teenager, perhaps 14 years old. He probably knew about the promised child, but with dad’s last hundredth birthday party, I would imagine that he felt it was pretty safe the assume he’d take it all.

But then…curses…the kid was not only born, but made it through the riskiest years and now they are having a party. I think he might have had the same look on his face that the older son who stayed home had when the prodigal son returned to great celebration. This is the way it is with those who take confidence in their position, power, or piety. There are so many subtle little ways we revel in ourselves rather than in the Promised Son.

And make no mistake, this son only points us to the True Son, Jesus Christ. That’s what the Apostle Paul said in Galatians 3:16, “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.”

Strong Ishmael was laughing not merely at the weak little boy Isaac that he could see, but at the Son Jesus Christ, the Savior of weak law breakers who have faith in him. And for those who have faith in him—faith that he is the law keeper for us—we know to celebrate his perfect life, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection. As Mr. Newton said, “Let the world deride or pity; I will glory in Thy name!”

And that’s the gospel! Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.

Visitors are always welcome!

February 7: The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

markb — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:45:28 +0000

The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. –Genesis 21:1-4

Notice the actions:
“as he had said…
“as he had promised…
“at the time of which God had spoken to him…
“as God had commanded him…

Genesis 21 with the birth of Isaac seems like it would never come and when it finally did, it’s not exactly the most exciting of the Genesis narratives. But when you think about the 20+ years preceding this birth, you may recall so many very exciting moments of the “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”

If you had lived it, surely all those times Abraham had jeopardized the promise (how many of us have had our wives taken into the household of foreign men…twice!) and other disasters made life seem chaotic, out-of-control, and cruel. We know because of previous obedience and laughter that Abraham and Sarah had times they believed God’s promise, and times they found it too wonderful to be believed.

Now, though, with the Genesis 21 passage, we see that things came about “as he had said,” “as he had promised,” at the time of which God had spoken to him,” as God had commanded him.”

Looking at the whole of Israel’s history up to the ascension of Christ, don’t we see exactly the same thing amplified? Messiah was to come and finally did, but in the world’s estimation, it was most inglorious. He taught pretty well, but had a bad reputation with a lot of people—especially the conservative religious leadership, and then ended up finally getting killed without many people even noticing.

Yet, loud and clear we see that in the fullness of time God sent his Son born of a woman, born under law to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receiveadoption. The Lord was guiding it every step of the way. From earth’s perspective it was horribly misfortunate; from heaven’s perspective, as the Heidelberg Catechism says so beautifully:

All things come not by chance, but by His fatherly hand.

And that’s the gospel! Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.

Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (on a Bible book) is up and running! Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.

Visitors are always welcome!

January 31: The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

markb — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:56:29 +0000

From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.” Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. –Genesis 20:1-6

Here is another story of Abraham trying his old sinful tricks again, relying on his cleverness rather than God’s promise. It didn’t work the first time, and the second time is no different. Of the many striking things in this passage, perhaps one that surprises the most is Abimelech’s protest. God tells him he’s as good as dead for taking Sarah in. But Abimelech rebuts that he’s innocent because he didn’t know who Sarah was. He offers up the claim of his own righteousness in that he had not “approached her.” In other words, well, you get it.

So, Abimelech offers up his good work to support his salvation and God lets him know sharply, “Yes, I know…and it was I who kept you from sinning against me.”

The Lord gets the glory in forgiving our sin, but the Lord gets the glory even if we don’t sin! In the gospel, in worship, in our prayers, in every part of life, we must repent not only of our sinfulness, but repent also of our goodness. It is but filthy rags. Boast only of Christ’s righteousness in you. Assign to him the glory for anything good you do because he is the only one who is good, and the only one who can justly claim his own righteousness. He does that for us.

And that’s the gospel! Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.

The related hymns we’ll sing are:
O Father, You Are Sovereign
Holy, Holy, Holy
Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners!

Visitors are always welcome!

January 24: The Third Sunday after the Epiphany

markb — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:31:33 +0000

But they [the men of the City of Sodom who had surrounded Lot’s house and were demanding he turn over the men/angelic visitors to them] said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. 10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. 11 And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door. –Genesis 19:9-11

There are so many things that can be said about chapter 19. It is both great and terrible. Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes believers can make is to assume that they are at least more self-justified than those wicked people in Sodom. But salvation belongs to the Lord! Lot’s salvation came not because he hurried to the Promised Land, but verse 16 said he “lingered.” Lot’s salvation came not because he wouldn’t settle for anything less than the Land of Blessing, but verse 20 says that he begged for a littler Sodomite city in the plain, and the story goes on.

Lot was saved because the Lord would settle for nothing less!

Of the many stark pictures of reality in chapter 19 is in verse 11 in the passage above. The Sodomites are struck blind. You’d think if you and everyone around you were suddenly struck with blindness, at least initially your sinful appetite would be turned to nausea. Not them, no, they “wore themselves out groping for the door.”

Isn’t that an accurate picture of our own depravity? And let us not take heart that their grievous personal sin of choice is just a lot worse than ours. Don’t we wear ourselves our groping in gossip, covetousness, unkindness, jealousy, self-seeking ambition, self-righteousness, etc? But thanks be to God that he reaches out his hand and brings us into the house and shuts the door (v. 10) that we may be safe not only from wickedness in the world, but from the wickedness in our hearts.

And that’s the gospel. Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.

This Sunday is our next Community Lunch. To get more information, click here.

The related hymns we’ll sing are:
Our God, Our Help in Ages Past
Fairest Lord Jesus
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

Visitors are always welcome!

January 17: The Second Sunday after the Epiphany

markb — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:30:54 +0000

Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him…?”

Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.” So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” –Genesis 18:16-18, 20-23

It seems that every new story in Genesis is jam-packed full of new and wonderful things that preach the gospel to us. This passage, which really must be read in its entirety to get the full effect, is no exception. It picks up on the last scene where the Lord has shown up to have a meal with Abraham to seal the covenant. As the Lord starts to leave, he speaks out loud apparently where Abraham can hear (“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do…”). It’s fascinating in that the Lord is leading, shepherding Abraham to function as a kind of mediator between God and the sinners of Sodom.

Maybe Abraham didn’t take the bait with that first question, so the Lord says that he will “go down to see” if it’s really that bad. Obviously the Lord knows already, but take a moment to appreciate how patient the Lord is with those of us who are a little thick-headed. This time Abraham takes the bait and functions now fully as a mediator: “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?”

If you read the rest of the passage, you’ll find that Abraham tries to bargain with the Lord to count many sinners as righteous on the account of a few righteous men. Now, it’s not as though there are any righteous men to fit the bill; nonetheless, we see the doctrine of imputed righteousness very early on.

Our great Mediator Jesus Christ not only stands before the bar of God and pleads for the sparing of sinners on the account of someone else who is indeed righteous, but he is himself that righteous one!

And that’s the gospel. Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.

The related hymns we’ll sing are:
Praise Ye the Lord, the Almighty
Like a River Glorious
Jesus Shall Reign

Visitors are always welcome!

January 10: The First Sunday after the Epiphany

markb — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:15:09 +0000

The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” –Genesis 18:13-15

The Hebrew word often translated “hard” or “difficult” is means “wonderful” or “marvelous”. This helps us understand that Lord is not asking Abraham if there’s something the Lord can’t do. Most of us believe there’s nothing the Lord can’t do. But what he’s asking Abraham is if there is anything so good, that the Lord won’t do it. Is anything to wonderful, is anything too marvelous for the Lord?

That is the question we should ask ourselves all the time. That’s a great question for discussions for everywhere from the dinner table to the hospital room to the sleepless night. It’s a wonderful antidote to the skepticism and doubt the world, the flesh, the devil, and our own accusing consciences use to plague us. After all, for Sarah, the One who knows her thoughts can surely open her womb!

The fear for us often arises because of our sin. Yes, we know God can do wonderful and marvelous things for us. And we might even agree that he would be willing if we weren’t so sinful. But the promise to Sarah and Abraham is the same as the promise to Adam and Eve, Hannah and Elkanah, and Mary and Joseph: there is the promised baby who would come and crush the serpent’s head once and for all. This Deliverer would make us righteous and keep the law that we might become the sons and daughters of a God for whom nothing is too wonderful or marvelous for his children.

And that’s the gospel. Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.

The related hymns we’ll sing are:
Come, Thou Almighty King
In Christ Alone
How Firm a Foundation

Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (on Reformed theology) is up and running! Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.

Visitors are always welcome!

January 3: The Second Sunday after Christmas (Epiphany)

markb — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:27:22 +0000

God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.” When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. –Genesis 17:19-22

The Apostle Paul uses the Genesis story to illustrate that Jesus Christ is supremely the issue of all the law and the prophets:

In hope Abraham believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. –Romans 4:18-25

What a perfect description of the Christian life: you realize that you are hopeless, but you believe the certainty of God’s promise and make it yours. To any other kind of human effort, God laughs—and it may very well put you in the enemy category for him. Are you self-justified? Is your morality and goodness giving you confidence? He just laughs at you (like he did to Abraham and Sarah for a time). Are you God justified, having righteousness counted to you because Christ was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification? Then he’s laughing with you or over you (Isaiah 62).

And that’s the gospel. Come hear it preached and enacted in the supper with Jesus this Sunday.

The related hymns we’ll sing are:
As with Gladness Men of Old
Angels from the Realms of Glory
Good Christian Men, Rejoice

Visitors are always welcome!