WEBVTT 00:00:00.900 --> 00:00:06.160 (Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) So the story you believe in shapes the person you become. 00:00:06.919 --> 00:00:15.019 That's the main idea or the big idea for today is that the story you believe in shapes the person that you become. 00:00:15.580 --> 00:00:21.320 Now in Hebrews chapter 11, the author there defines faith for us. 00:00:21.420 --> 00:00:28.339 He says, faith is being sure of what we hope for, certain of what we do not see. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:33.880 It's one of the most famous verses in perhaps all of scripture. 00:00:34.299 --> 00:00:49.780 Now over the next five weeks, Mark and I are going to be looking at Hebrews 11 and pulling out five of the many characters that are mentioned there, which demonstrate extreme faith. 00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:54.140 They display it in their lives and they live it out. 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:57.340 And we want to show you in some of the ways that they do that. 00:00:57.340 --> 00:01:00.280 This week, we will be looking at Abraham. 00:01:00.619 --> 00:01:06.799 So if you have your Bibles or your Bible apps, go ahead and find your way to Hebrews chapter 11. 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:10.000 But before we begin, let's pray. 00:01:11.099 --> 00:01:15.680 Heavenly father, we come to you to start the year focusing on you. 00:01:17.219 --> 00:01:27.260 Prepare our minds for your instruction, prepare our hearts for transformation by your spirit and prepare our bodies to be the executors of your will on earth. 00:01:27.980 --> 00:01:30.780 May the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight. 00:01:30.859 --> 00:01:32.299 Lord, you are our strength. 00:01:32.980 --> 00:01:36.379 You are our redeemer, get glory in this place. 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:38.040 And all God's people said. 00:01:39.379 --> 00:01:44.700 All right, so I'm gonna ask for a bit of participation from the crowd this morning. 00:01:44.900 --> 00:01:48.379 I know it's the first Sunday of the year, so here we go. 00:01:48.659 --> 00:01:59.439 All right, now, if you are somebody who prefers Coca-Cola or any of their many products over Pepsi, raise your hands. 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:02.180 Oh, most of us, I would say. 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:05.700 That sounds like the yeas have it, right? 00:02:06.859 --> 00:02:15.099 Now, if you are somebody who prefers Pepsi or any of their products over Coca-Cola, raise your hands. 00:02:16.379 --> 00:02:19.740 Okay, there's more here than I thought there would be to be honest with you. 00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:27.719 Now, if you are one of those healthy people who secretly judges other people for drinking pop, raise your hands. 00:02:28.340 --> 00:02:29.520 All right, there we go. 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:32.120 Unless it's Mountain Dew, right, Mark? 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:35.120 Unless it's Mountain Dew, yeah. 00:02:37.159 --> 00:02:43.939 So, it's interesting how this has become a cultural rivalry, Coke versus Pepsi. 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:47.280 You've heard the Pepsi challenge, you've got all that, right? 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:55.120 It's true that often in a blind taste test, Pepsi will actually win out over Coke. 00:02:58.240 --> 00:03:02.479 I mean, that's what they say, you know? 00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:05.159 Those are the tests, they say that, right? 00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:08.979 I know, see, you can see the rivalry coming through this morning. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:13.020 All right, it's often true that Pepsi will win the blind taste test. 00:03:13.099 --> 00:03:20.000 As soon as you tell them what they're drinking, though, Coca-Cola almost always wins out. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:30.240 And Coke is the largest drink company in the entire world, and they have outsold Pepsi, like, in their entire, like, the whole history that they've been a company. 00:03:31.740 --> 00:03:39.020 So, Coca-Cola understands that the story you believe shapes the person that you become. 00:03:40.020 --> 00:03:41.000 Let me explain. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:43.520 So, Coca-Cola had a problem. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:56.240 People were only drinking their product during the warm months of the year, and so they needed to figure out a way to sell their product and convince their consumers that they could drink it all year round. 00:03:56.379 --> 00:04:03.360 So, they enlisted a particular holiday figure, none other than jolly old St. Nick. 00:04:04.180 --> 00:04:14.120 And about 90 years ago, it was in 1931, they hired an artist to depict Santa Claus holding Coca-Cola. 00:04:14.199 --> 00:04:28.959 Now, up to this point, Santa's been around in the culture for over a thousand years, and so he's been depicted in all kinds of different ways, tall, short, fat, skinny, wearing all different kinds of colors, red, green, brown. 00:04:29.420 --> 00:04:34.439 He's been depicted as an elf or an angel, creepy looking, I mean, all different ways. 00:04:34.699 --> 00:04:47.839 But in 1931, one man paints Santa Claus as a jolly old fat man with a big white beard, and of course, the iconic red suit. 00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:54.800 And the red suit just so happens to be the same color as the Coca-Cola label. 00:04:56.360 --> 00:05:15.000 And by putting their product into the holiday season story, they cemented themselves in the culture as the dominant beverage of choice all year round because the story that you believe shapes the person that you become. 00:05:15.300 --> 00:05:30.060 Now, a story is a narrative with a purpose, and the purpose of Coke's story is to get you to believe that Coca-Cola or drinking Coke is a part of who you are. 00:05:30.779 --> 00:05:42.100 It is to get you to become a consumer with conviction so that when somebody asks you which one is better, you become militant in your answer. 00:05:43.459 --> 00:05:48.500 But in the end, what beverage you drink means nothing of significance. 00:05:49.259 --> 00:05:55.860 In all honesty, it's nothing more than sugary water, as our healthy people would tell us. 00:05:57.540 --> 00:06:06.839 Now, as Christians, there is a story that we attach ourselves to, and when we do, it shapes the people that we become. 00:06:07.139 --> 00:06:13.540 It shapes the traditions that we celebrate, and certainly the conduct of our character. 00:06:14.459 --> 00:06:21.259 It is a story that truly matters because it says that all this world has to offer is nothing more than sugary water. 00:06:22.300 --> 00:06:24.819 Something greater exists. 00:06:25.420 --> 00:06:27.279 But here's the sad reality. 00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:37.819 We live in a culture that has by and large succeeded in outstorying the church for the last 60 years. 00:06:38.740 --> 00:06:39.519 Here's what I mean by that. 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:45.519 Our culture has sold people that nothing matters more than their pleasure and their comfort. 00:06:45.740 --> 00:06:47.639 That's the story of our culture. 00:06:48.180 --> 00:06:51.240 But our narrative as believers is very different. 00:06:51.379 --> 00:06:58.040 It is one of faith in an unlikely king, a king who has invited us into his kingdom. 00:06:58.459 --> 00:07:08.500 So if our story of a king matters more than any other story out there, it begs the question, how do we outstory the world? 00:07:09.620 --> 00:07:11.139 How do we outstory the world? 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:13.860 Let me put it just in a slightly different light. 00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:24.620 How do we convey the weight and truth of our faith in God so that it leads others to loyalty to Jesus? 00:07:26.379 --> 00:07:29.240 So that we have conviction in our faith. 00:07:29.779 --> 00:07:36.879 Now, let me go ahead and answer that question for you today, and then we will just expound upon it as we go throughout the sermon. 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:43.139 We live like the story we believe in matters more than anything else. 00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:49.959 So we have to live like the story we believe in matters more than anything else in our life. 00:07:50.060 --> 00:08:06.019 And Abraham's life demonstrates this because as the Hebrew's author will point out, Abraham responds to God's invitation, he waits for his inheritance, and he expects the impossible. 00:08:06.839 --> 00:08:13.560 All right, so Abraham responded to God's invitation, waited for his inheritance, and he expected the impossible. 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:21.579 So if you would follow along with me in Hebrews 11, eight, where we see Abraham respond to God's invitation. 00:08:21.579 --> 00:08:32.500 It says there, by faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance. 00:08:33.178 --> 00:08:37.360 And he went out without understanding where he was going. 00:08:38.360 --> 00:08:44.840 You know, sometimes responding to God makes you look a bit crazy. 00:08:46.019 --> 00:08:53.720 Responding to God's invitation can make you look a bit weird to your peers, to your friends, to your family, your loved ones. 00:08:54.379 --> 00:08:56.460 I mean, put yourself in Abraham's shoes. 00:08:56.899 --> 00:09:09.980 He's called away by God, this God, by the way, that none of his neighbors had ever heard of, to go to a place, like, he doesn't even know where he's going, go to the place that I will show you. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:13.059 He has no idea where he's going, there's no map involved. 00:09:13.779 --> 00:09:18.419 And yet, he takes his family on a thousand-mile journey. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:26.799 Imagine telling your neighbors, while you're packing up all your stuff and loading the U-Haul camel, that you're leaving because some God spoke to you. 00:09:27.659 --> 00:09:30.120 I mean, it just looks a little crazy. 00:09:31.419 --> 00:09:47.659 It's kind of like growing up in the big city of Cincinnati and then moving to the land of New Lisbon, where they eat giant pork tenderloins on these tiny little buns and they call themselves Hoosiers, like, whatever that is, right? 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:50.440 I'm just kidding, of course, that's not that far. 00:09:51.179 --> 00:09:56.960 Honestly, it's much more like Mark and Margie's story, moving from Pennsylvania to Indiana. 00:09:57.179 --> 00:09:58.379 Oh wait, I didn't say that right. 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:03.940 Pennsylvania, great state of Pennsylvania, to Indiana. 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:11.419 Yeah, where they responded to God's invitation into ministry and sold all their stuff and they left. 00:10:12.700 --> 00:10:18.440 And so, imagine what it would look like to your neighbors if you responded to God's invitation. 00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:35.480 Part of what the Hebrew's author is doing all throughout this chapter is challenging his readers to imagine how different their lives would be, even the world itself, if Abraham didn't respond to God's invitation. 00:10:37.139 --> 00:10:45.580 I mean, he's in here today and we can have fun at his expense, but imagine how different this church would be if Mark didn't come. 00:10:46.460 --> 00:10:48.139 He's been here for 24 years. 00:10:50.580 --> 00:10:56.379 Imagine how different your life would be if the person who shared their faith with you didn't do that. 00:10:57.340 --> 00:11:00.799 When God calls, you obey. 00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:06.440 Even when others think you are crazy, even perhaps your own family. 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:09.440 There's this really fascinating story. 00:11:10.120 --> 00:11:12.879 It's kind of a made-up story about Abraham. 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:25.480 It comes from the book of Jashar, which is a total made-up book, right, from about a couple hundred years ago, where they added kind of some stories or commentary from characters of the Old Testament. 00:11:25.580 --> 00:11:29.240 And they tell this really fascinating story about Abraham. 00:11:30.139 --> 00:11:39.120 And so, it's trying to depict the response to God's invitation and how difficult that might have been for Abraham and his family. 00:11:39.799 --> 00:11:44.799 And so, they're living in the city of Ur, which is in Babylonia at the time, or pre-Babylonia. 00:11:45.340 --> 00:11:49.919 And so, he goes to his father and says, I've received this oracle from God. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:52.480 I need to go to the land that God's gonna show me. 00:11:52.500 --> 00:11:53.840 And his dad just doesn't understand. 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:54.840 Like, he doesn't get it. 00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:58.100 Like, how am I supposed to uproot everything that I have? 00:11:58.379 --> 00:12:00.259 All that I worship is here. 00:12:00.600 --> 00:12:05.759 And he has an idol room where he has all the idols of the Babylonians where he goes in and he worships. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:11.000 And so, Abraham comes up with this idea to show his father how ridiculous this is. 00:12:11.659 --> 00:12:19.159 And so, he walks into his father's idol room, basically was essentially a large sledgehammer. 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:27.139 And then, he goes and he breaks all of the idols to pieces except one. 00:12:27.779 --> 00:12:30.279 And then, he puts the hammer in the hands of that idol. 00:12:31.059 --> 00:12:32.919 And then, he puts a piece of meat on the ground. 00:12:32.919 --> 00:12:36.019 And his dad rushes in from all the commotion. 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:40.899 And as Abraham's walking out, and he's like, Abraham, what's going on? 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:42.179 What happened here? 00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:43.539 What happened to all these idols? 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:46.019 And Abraham comes up with this great story. 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:50.600 He says, well, I came in to offer a sacrifice to the idols. 00:12:51.480 --> 00:12:56.559 And yet, the big one there in the center got jealous that I was doing it for all the idols. 00:12:56.679 --> 00:13:00.460 So, he took the hammer and he beat the pieces all the other idols. 00:13:01.029 --> 00:13:04.100 And his dad's like, that's crazy, Abraham. 00:13:04.259 --> 00:13:06.019 That doesn't make any sense. 00:13:06.139 --> 00:13:08.120 These things are lifeless beings. 00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:10.779 I carved them myself. 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:17.440 To which Abraham then responds with perhaps the greatest mic drop in all of history. 00:13:18.500 --> 00:13:21.639 He says, then why do you bow down to them? 00:13:22.679 --> 00:13:24.460 Why do you worship them? 00:13:25.940 --> 00:13:31.759 You see, our culture sells us on so many idols that we bow down and worship to. 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:34.100 Why do we do that? 00:13:36.009 --> 00:13:39.110 God has called us and invited us into a greater story. 00:13:39.289 --> 00:13:47.450 And when we respond, it might make us look crazy to them, but the story you believe in shapes the person you become. 00:13:48.429 --> 00:13:54.490 So, how do we convey our story of a king to the world in a meaningful way? 00:13:55.330 --> 00:13:58.669 We obey God when he calls us to act. 00:13:59.529 --> 00:14:02.789 Faith is manifested in obedience. 00:14:03.090 --> 00:14:04.169 That's obvious. 00:14:05.590 --> 00:14:10.549 But what's not so obvious is that our obedience also leads others to faith. 00:14:11.710 --> 00:14:15.450 Our obedience leads others to faith. 00:14:16.870 --> 00:14:25.269 So, when we trust in God's story, no matter how impossible it may seem, our obedience will lead others to faith. 00:14:25.389 --> 00:14:26.850 And Abraham believed God. 00:14:26.850 --> 00:14:36.110 He took him at his word, manifested his belief by leaving his home, his place of comfort, his refuge, his castle, and followed God. 00:14:37.350 --> 00:14:45.649 And I am a believer today in Jesus Christ because 4,000 years ago, Father Abraham obeyed. 00:14:45.690 --> 00:14:50.029 I mean, the kids today would call him the OG of faith. 00:14:50.370 --> 00:14:53.149 He is the original example. 00:14:53.149 --> 00:15:00.490 He was the first one to really dramatically do something that led to the kingdom of Israel. 00:15:01.909 --> 00:15:03.990 Our obedience leads others to faith. 00:15:04.490 --> 00:15:11.110 Imagine how different your life would be if the person who led you to faith didn't obey God, didn't share their faith with you. 00:15:11.370 --> 00:15:21.009 Imagine how different life would be for that person you know who was far from God to not only hear what you have to say about faith, but then also responded. 00:15:21.889 --> 00:15:24.830 See, we have to give up our comfort for others. 00:15:25.110 --> 00:15:33.990 Imagine how different our neighbors would be if we became a church that responded to the invitation of God to live our faith radically. 00:15:36.179 --> 00:15:43.259 You see, the founder of Financial Peace University, David, Dave Ramsey, he has this famous tagline, right? 00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:47.620 Live like nobody else now so that you can live like nobody else later. 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:57.480 And he's talking about finances and he's talking about living a humble life now so that you can live lavishly later. 00:15:58.100 --> 00:15:58.919 He's talking about money. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:03.379 But the same is true with faith. 00:16:04.779 --> 00:16:11.379 Live like no one else now so that one day we can live with the king of kings in all of eternity. 00:16:13.299 --> 00:16:16.039 See, our obedience leads others to faith. 00:16:17.100 --> 00:16:26.139 The Hebrews author pulls some more examples from Abraham's life to show how the story he believed in led him to live a different kind of life. 00:16:26.740 --> 00:16:32.779 Jump back into Hebrews 11 with me, verse nine, where we see Abraham waiting for his inheritance. 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:47.580 It says, by faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob who were fellow heirs of the same promise. 00:16:50.159 --> 00:17:00.399 Sometimes you have to wait for the thing and the longer you wait for it, the sweeter, the more delicious it is when it finally arrives. 00:17:00.899 --> 00:17:04.240 You know, I have the perfect illustration to depict this. 00:17:05.460 --> 00:17:09.880 So you probably don't know this about me, but I am kind of a Michigan fan. 00:17:10.920 --> 00:17:12.519 I mean, just a small one. 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:17.118 And you know who their biggest rival is, right? 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:20.480 It's Ohio State, thank you. 00:17:20.618 --> 00:17:24.059 Yes, yeah, the evil Ohio State, as we would say in my household. 00:17:25.059 --> 00:17:28.720 And so that is your number one goal, beat Ohio State. 00:17:28.920 --> 00:17:37.359 And from 2001 to 2020, Michigan racked up a total of three victories against that team from Ohio. 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:47.079 Talk about embarrassing, talk about frustrating, talk about having to wait and wait as the pressure builds and mounds. 00:17:47.319 --> 00:17:53.740 The last losing stretch was eight losses over nine years. 00:17:54.900 --> 00:18:03.920 And then in 2021, in the snow and in dramatic fashion, Michigan pounds Ohio State into the ground. 00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:09.859 And when it rains, it pours because we're on year number four, winning streak, right? 00:18:10.619 --> 00:18:17.640 And when it finally arrived, it was so much sweeter when Michigan finally got the edge over Ohio State. 00:18:18.019 --> 00:18:22.220 Now you had to know that I was gonna fit in a Michigan illustration somehow, right? 00:18:22.380 --> 00:18:30.839 That's about all I'm good for as a preacher, by the way, if you hadn't caught on over the last 10 years, Michigan illustrations and C.S. Lewis quotes. 00:18:32.000 --> 00:18:34.460 Oh, by the way, here's the C.S. Lewis quote. 00:18:35.339 --> 00:18:45.039 He says this in mere Christianity, I am sure that God keeps no one waiting unless he sees that it is good for him to wait. 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:50.519 See, waiting makes the arrival of the thing that much greater. 00:18:50.680 --> 00:18:59.720 Now, Abraham lived as a stranger, a guest, a foreigner in the land of Canaan because of a promise. 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:10.960 In fact, if you pay close attention to the story, you notice when he left, he was not promised the inheritance of Canaan. 00:19:11.740 --> 00:19:13.799 He was not promised at all the land. 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:15.599 He was not told what he was gonna receive. 00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:22.220 It wasn't until he arrived in the land that God said, you see this land, I'm gonna give it to your descendants, right? 00:19:22.460 --> 00:19:31.980 That comes in Genesis 12, verse six says, Abraham traveled through the land as far as the oak tree of Mora at Shechem. 00:19:31.980 --> 00:19:39.680 At the time the Canaanites were in the land, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to your descendants, I will give this land. 00:19:40.279 --> 00:19:45.480 So Abram built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 00:19:47.480 --> 00:19:53.119 He didn't know that the land would belong to his family until after he arrives. 00:19:54.420 --> 00:20:01.779 But Abraham's inheritance was never for him, but his descendants, right? 00:20:01.779 --> 00:20:09.920 Abraham had to live knowing God's promise would not be fulfilled until after his death. 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:18.640 But in the meantime, that doesn't stop him from living for God instead of the beliefs of the culture or the story of his neighbors. 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:22.059 Did you hear that? 00:20:22.359 --> 00:20:23.000 Did you get that? 00:20:23.960 --> 00:20:40.680 Abraham had to live his life knowing God's promise would not be fulfilled until after his death, but that didn't stop him living for God instead of the beliefs, the culture, instead of the story of his neighbors. 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:49.240 You see, we too live our lives waiting to inherit God's great promise, salvation. 00:20:49.940 --> 00:20:54.519 We too live as foreigners in a world that is crying out for salvation. 00:20:54.859 --> 00:21:02.440 As Paul would put it in Romans eight, we too live each day for God and against the culture that surrounds us. 00:21:02.980 --> 00:21:03.740 And here's the point. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:13.519 If the story we believe in shapes the person we become as it did with Abraham, then how do we show the world a better story than what the world offers? 00:21:14.839 --> 00:21:18.579 By giving them a taste of that future glory. 00:21:19.539 --> 00:21:24.180 By showing the world a taste of that future glory, the world to come. 00:21:24.180 --> 00:21:29.500 In other words, show them what it means to live in the kingdom of God. 00:21:30.140 --> 00:21:33.440 Show them what it truly means to be a part of Jesus. 00:21:33.819 --> 00:21:40.680 You see, our story tells us that the fruit of heaven has begun to ripen in our lives in the present time and in the present place. 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:42.640 It's called the fruit of the spirit. 00:21:42.740 --> 00:21:43.400 Have you heard of it? 00:21:44.039 --> 00:21:49.460 It's love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 00:21:49.460 --> 00:21:58.599 Is your life demonstrating the fruit ripening in the present, the fruit of heaven here and now? 00:21:59.920 --> 00:22:03.859 What are you saying to others about what you hear on the news? 00:22:04.339 --> 00:22:07.759 What words come to mind when you see others who live differently? 00:22:08.420 --> 00:22:11.599 How do you treat strangers that you encounter? 00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:16.980 Is it with derision, questioning, or is it in genuine love? 00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:31.140 Paul says in Romans chapter 15, verses one and two, he says, but we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not just please ourselves. 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:36.680 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up. 00:22:37.660 --> 00:22:47.920 And then in Galatians chapter five, it says, for the whole law can be summed up in a single commandment, namely, you must love your neighbor as yourself. 00:22:49.240 --> 00:23:02.180 You see, we show the world why our story is better than theirs, because while they are pursuing comfort and pleasure, we are at work pursuing love and God's justice. 00:23:04.890 --> 00:23:09.930 So we love our neighbors as ourselves, as we await for God's promise to come. 00:23:11.190 --> 00:23:19.630 Though Abraham would never see the land come to his descendants, he would see the promise of a miracle birth come to pass. 00:23:20.809 --> 00:23:24.950 And the Hebrews author turns to that story next. 00:23:26.630 --> 00:23:31.509 Follow with me as we see Abraham expecting the impossible. 00:23:32.930 --> 00:23:35.109 Abraham expecting the impossible. 00:23:35.430 --> 00:23:45.369 Hebrews chapter 11, 17, verse 17, by faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. 00:23:46.740 --> 00:23:49.769 He had received the promises, yet he was ready. 00:23:50.569 --> 00:23:52.829 He was ready to offer up his only son. 00:23:54.250 --> 00:23:57.890 God had told him through Isaac's descendants will carry on your name. 00:23:57.930 --> 00:24:01.970 And he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead. 00:24:02.069 --> 00:24:06.289 And in a sense, he received him back from there. 00:24:08.130 --> 00:24:11.690 This story is found in Genesis chapter 22. 00:24:13.009 --> 00:24:17.410 And if I'm being honest with you, it's a really weird story. 00:24:18.269 --> 00:24:23.289 I mean, have you ever like sit there and thought about this particular event in Abraham's life? 00:24:24.009 --> 00:24:33.390 God tests Abraham's faith by telling him to offer his son, his only son, whom he loves. 00:24:34.970 --> 00:24:36.190 It's just so weird. 00:24:36.329 --> 00:24:52.410 God is telling the man that he chose to move a thousand miles to kill the boy that he miraculously brought into the world and is endangering the blessing that God foretold would come through Isaac. 00:24:54.440 --> 00:24:57.420 So God's goodness is on the line here. 00:24:57.720 --> 00:24:59.720 His character is on the line. 00:25:00.200 --> 00:25:02.000 What does this make any sense? 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:04.420 That's what the pagans do. 00:25:04.500 --> 00:25:06.059 That's what the idol worshipers do. 00:25:06.140 --> 00:25:07.220 They offer up children. 00:25:07.220 --> 00:25:15.160 Now, as a father, I can't imagine having to put Charlie or Jack on the altar. 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:27.440 Well, I will be honest, there are days when I am tested, but I could never do that. 00:25:28.500 --> 00:25:29.700 I could never do that. 00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:34.940 I can't imagine the pain or the weight on Abraham's mind. 00:25:35.940 --> 00:25:41.200 In my sanctified imagination, I visualize Abraham working through this in his head. 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:44.519 The stress mounting, the questions dizzying. 00:25:45.140 --> 00:25:56.640 The big question, of course, is how does killing this boy or even at this point, young man, make good on God's promise to bless the world through him? 00:25:59.269 --> 00:26:00.150 I've got to be honest here. 00:26:00.410 --> 00:26:15.950 Trust here seems near impossible, but Abraham had to reckon or imagine, creatively come up with the idea and the belief that God was going to do the impossible. 00:26:16.990 --> 00:26:18.089 Let me explain. 00:26:19.089 --> 00:26:25.529 Abraham expected Isaac's resurrection, even though that was never promised in the story. 00:26:26.690 --> 00:26:34.309 In Genesis 22, in verse four, they're on their journey and they find the place that they're going to carry this out. 00:26:34.890 --> 00:26:37.130 The Mount Moriah is what it's called. 00:26:37.450 --> 00:26:39.690 And so here's what the text says. 00:26:39.750 --> 00:26:44.690 Verse four, it says, on the third day, Abraham caught sight of the place in the distance. 00:26:44.829 --> 00:26:50.430 So he said to his servants, you two stay here with the donkey while the boy and I go up there. 00:26:50.950 --> 00:26:54.529 We will worship and then return to you. 00:26:55.470 --> 00:27:00.730 We will worship and then we will return to you. 00:27:01.930 --> 00:27:09.230 It's implied in the story in the text that Abraham is expecting that he's going to come back with Isaac. 00:27:09.230 --> 00:27:13.250 Or did he say that to throw Isaac off the scent? 00:27:14.970 --> 00:27:17.089 I mean, he's having to work all this through, right? 00:27:17.190 --> 00:27:21.710 So now him and Isaac are walking up Mount Moriah, preparing to do the deed. 00:27:21.910 --> 00:27:25.430 And Isaac is not a moron. 00:27:25.710 --> 00:27:29.250 And so he's like, well, dad, I've got the wood for the altar. 00:27:29.349 --> 00:27:31.009 I've got the wood for the sacrifice. 00:27:31.470 --> 00:27:32.970 Where is the sacrifice? 00:27:35.220 --> 00:27:46.240 And Abraham looked at his son in verse eight says, God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son. 00:27:48.259 --> 00:27:51.859 The Lord will provide for himself. 00:27:54.339 --> 00:27:57.480 You see, Abraham put his trust in God's character. 00:27:59.019 --> 00:28:06.640 Either God would not make him go through with it or God would raise Isaac from the dead. 00:28:07.819 --> 00:28:10.779 Regardless, Abraham obeyed. 00:28:11.640 --> 00:28:15.640 He walked up that hill with all the questions in his head. 00:28:16.980 --> 00:28:19.740 I have to be honest with you all, it's hard for me. 00:28:20.660 --> 00:28:29.960 A lifelong believer in the resurrection of Jesus to imagine arriving at the conclusion that Abraham does. 00:28:31.019 --> 00:28:31.700 Here's why. 00:28:32.420 --> 00:28:42.059 I've grown up my entire life with 2000 years of history, believing and following the story of Jesus that he was raised from the dead. 00:28:42.839 --> 00:28:46.799 In the Bible, there's only a couple of characters that actually come back to life. 00:28:47.640 --> 00:28:51.859 In Genesis 22, nobody's come back to life yet. 00:28:52.759 --> 00:28:54.700 Resurrection has not been mentioned. 00:28:55.140 --> 00:29:03.319 There is no precedent for this story whatsoever for Abraham to come to the conclusion that Isaac's gonna be raised from the dead. 00:29:03.420 --> 00:29:08.799 He is arriving at this through his imagination and what the spirit might be doing for him. 00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:11.279 It might be teaching him and showing him. 00:29:12.259 --> 00:29:17.440 So it's never been established in the Bible that resurrection was even a thing. 00:29:18.140 --> 00:29:23.339 But by trusting God's character, he believed that Isaac would come back to him. 00:29:25.059 --> 00:29:38.460 Now, this story of Abraham and Isaac is the foreshadowing of that greater story when God takes his son, his only son, whom he loves, and offers him up as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. 00:29:38.619 --> 00:29:43.240 And three days later, of course, he is raised from the dead. 00:29:44.700 --> 00:29:51.619 You see, resurrection is the impossible promise of God that is hard to wrap our minds around. 00:29:51.859 --> 00:29:55.359 But here is Abraham, son bound, knife raised. 00:29:56.720 --> 00:29:58.859 And then when you expect the impossible.