Give Me A Blessing! | Sunday, September 10, 2023

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord... the Lord spoke to Joshua... "Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them... Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you... This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night... Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid... for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1)

Before we re-enter Joshua, a sweeping flyover of the Bible's one story—and the inheritance God still wants you to possess.

Why We Spend Time in the Old Testament

If you are new to Cross Connection Church, you have probably noticed that we spend a lot of time in the Bible. We are a Bible-centric church; the Bible is central to what we believe and how we ought to live in this world. We are convinced that the whole counsel of God, found in the whole of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, is important for the whole church.

This is worth bringing up because there are many good Bible churches that don't spend a lot of time in the Old Testament. I understand that—the New Testament, the last third of the Bible from Matthew to Revelation, speaks of Jesus, His church, and His mission in the world. But there is a huge section of the Bible, two-thirds of it from Genesis to Malachi, that is also very important, and many Christians don't know much about it. So for the last several years we have been getting into the Old Testament.

Deuteronomy as a Lens

We began back in 2020 with Deuteronomy. That may seem odd, since Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers come first. But Deuteronomy is a kind of primer for the rest of the Old Testament—a lens through which we can better understand what God was doing among the children of Israel, which has importance for all people in all places at all times.

This is especially true of the historic books like 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles. A lot of it makes much more sense through the lens of Deuteronomy. It was in Deuteronomy that God established His covenant relationship with Israel and hammered home His law. He told them: if you obey My commandments and follow the covenant, you will be blessed; but if you don't, these curses will come upon you. When Israel had great victories, it was because they were following the covenant; when everything flamed out and they were subjugated by their enemies, you can draw a line back to their disobedience.

The prophets—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Obadiah, Nahum, Malachi—were experts in Deuteronomy. They looked at what was happening in the nation through the lens of God's law and warned the people: if you continue to reject God and stubbornly go against His commandments, your land will be unfruitful, you will have wars and famines, all of this will come upon you unless you turn back. Many of their predictions were conditional. Every parent understands this: "If you continue to do that, this is what is going to happen." It is a conditional prediction of future discomfort.

All Scripture Is Profitable

The whole of the Bible is important for us. Paul says in 2 Timothy 3 that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God—God-breathed—and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, so that the men and women of God would be thoroughly equipped for every good work. The Word establishes what is right and true; that doctrine exposes the ways we are crooked, reproves us, corrects us, and instructs us in righteousness. That is why Paul says, "Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season." That is why we go through books like Deuteronomy and Joshua.

We started Deuteronomy at the beginning of 2020 and finished it at the beginning of this year. Deuteronomy is the last message of that great lawgiver and leader of Israel, Moses—the same Moses God used to redeem Israel out of bondage in Egypt, to mold them into a nation at Mount Sinai, and to lead them through the wilderness toward the promised land that God had promised some 500 years before they finally entered it.

Genesis: A Book of Beginnings

When you look at these books, it is valuable to step back from the details—the names, the places—and to consider what they teach from a spiritual or allegorical perspective. So let me give a snapshot of what this section of Scripture, Genesis through Joshua, really puts forth.

The word Genesis means "origins" or "beginning," and the book gives us several important beginnings. First, the beginning of everything that exists: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The number one thing you learn about God in the opening words of the Bible is that He is, and He is Creator. Seven times in chapter one God declares His creation good.

But just a few chapters later, Genesis 3 gives us the beginning of wickedness, sin, and brokenness. We no longer live in that good world; we are bombarded with the brokenness of this world constantly. And there is something in you, and in all your neighbors—whether they believe in God or not—that desires the world as it was. We want the restored new heaven and new earth. They may articulate it differently or think there is a different way to get there, but they are still yearning for it. Romans 8 says all of creation is groaning for that restoration.

The Beginning of Redemption

Through one man, Adam, sin entered the world, and death through sin, spreading to all creation. This came by the temptation of the serpent, who deceived Eve and tempted Adam and Eve to reject God's law. But in Genesis 3:15 we also have the beginning of God's redemptive mission. That is the grand narrative, the metanarrative of the Bible: creation, fall, redemption, and ultimately restoration.

In Genesis 3:15 God predicts a child, a human child through the woman, who will destroy the work of the tempter. Who is that coming male child? Jesus. From that point on, the storyline of the Bible zeroes in on an individual and his family. That individual is Abraham, introduced in Genesis 11 and 12. God calls Abraham to follow Him by faith: "I will make you a great nation, and through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." The blessing that comes through Abraham is Jesus.

Abraham's Family and a Coffin in Egypt

The storyline narrows to Abraham, then his son Isaac, then Isaac's son Jacob—a rascal of a fellow with all kinds of issues, whom God transformed and renamed Israel. Israel had twelve sons—Judah, Benjamin, and the rest—who became the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel. So the twelve tribes trace back to Abraham, who had Isaac, who had Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel, who had twelve sons.

Genesis has a poetic ending. Its last chapter ends, in effect, with four words: a coffin in Egypt. It started with creation, but the fall brought sin, and sin brings death, so the story of origins ends with a coffin. In that coffin is Joseph, one of Israel's sons, whom God had used to rescue His people from a famine that might have destroyed the work of redemption. Before he dies, Joseph tells his family, "God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land to the land He swore to Abraham. Do not leave my remains in this place." Then he dies, and we are left with a coffin in Egypt.

Exodus and the Pattern of Redemption

Exodus picks up where Genesis leaves off, 400 years later. The descendants of Israel are no longer free; they are slaves in bondage in Egypt. God raises up a deliverer, Moses, and says, "Tell Pharaoh to let My people go." Pharaoh refuses, so God comes against Egypt with ten plagues until Pharaoh relents. Moses leads the people to Mount Sinai, where they receive the law, enter into covenant, and build a mobile tabernacle where they can connect with God.

So here is the first point: because of sin and the curse, humanity is doomed to die in bondage in Egypt—and Egypt in Scripture is a picture of the world. But God is the One who redeems. He promised in Genesis 3 to bring a deliverer who would destroy sin, the curse, and death, and bring about ultimate restoration. The whole story arc points toward this descendant of Abraham who brings a blessing to all people: Jesus.

This is the awesome thing—the Bible is a book of books: sixty-six books written by some forty authors in three languages on three continents over about 1,500 years, and yet it tells one cohesive story of the redeeming and restoring work God intends to do through His chosen one. Mashiach in Hebrew, Christos in Greek—Messiah, Christ—a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Moses, the Law, and Joshua

Spiritually speaking, God used the redeemer Moses to bring Israel out of Egypt, to enter covenant at Sinai, and to lead them toward the promised land—but Moses was not allowed to bring the people in. There are many details about why, but spiritually Moses represents the law. The law cannot bring you or me into the fullness of what God wants to bless us with. We cannot save ourselves by the law. We need another, other than Moses, to bring us into the promise.

Who is that other? In the storyline it is Joshua. And the name Joshua is the Hebrew name that in Greek is Jesus. Joshua is a picture, a precursor, of the coming One who is able to bring us into the fullness of what God has for us.

Taking Ground and Possessing the Possession

So this year we began Joshua, who comes in after Moses's death to lead Israel into the promised land. As we read in Joshua 1, God commands Joshua to arise, cross the Jordan, be strong and courageous, and meditate on the law day and night so that his way would be prosperous, for the Lord his God would be with him wherever he went.

The first fourteen chapters, which we covered earlier this year, are a straightforward story: God, through Joshua's leadership, brings Israel in to conquer the land. I called that series "Taking Ground"—they are taking the ground that is theirs by inheritance. Now, as we come into the last section of Joshua, the story shifts to the children of Israel taking possession of the land. They have conquered it; now they must possess it. So this next series I'm calling "Possessing the Possession."

This is important not just so we would know Israel's history, but so we would understand what God wants to do in us. The promised land was not wages; Israel didn't work for it, and God didn't owe it to them. It was granted to them by inheritance—but they needed to lay hold of it. In the same way, if you are a Christian today, you are a child of God with an inheritance God wants you to possess fully. I am concerned that many Christians never fully lay hold of what God desires them to have. They never experience the fullness of the spiritual blessings they have in Christ.

Possessing by Faith and Faithfulness

Here is the third point, and where I'll close: possession of God's promised blessing—the fullness of it—requires faith and faithfulness. We do not gain salvation by our good works or our faithful efforts; by faith we lay hold of this awesome inheritance in Christ, and we take possession of its fullness by continued faith and faithfulness. That is what we will talk about next week.

God has a blessing, an inheritance, that He desires you to take possession of. Jesus conquered sin and death; He destroyed the curse; He redeems us by grace through faith to inherit this great blessing. He wants us to lay hold of it, and it is laid hold of by faith and faithfulness—faithfulness being the evidence that proves a person has faith.

Back in Joshua 13, before the summer, God said to Joshua, "You are old, but there remains so much more to be possessed." That is what God says to you and me. Maybe He leaves out the "old" part for some of you—but He says there is so much more that I have for you, and He wants us to lay hold of it. It is my prayer that I and you would lay hold of what God has for us.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I pray that You would do a work in us as we get into Your Word. Would You continue to transform us by the renewing of our minds, that we would show in our lives what is good and perfect according to Your will. Would You develop in me and in my brothers and sisters here a greater demonstration of the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. Work those things into us in abundance by Your Spirit and by Your Word. We pray this today in Jesus' name. Amen.