Summary:
1.
God
made a contract with us that He is very serious about. (Deuteronomy 29:9-29)
2.
God seems
like a hypocrite because He says and means two very opposite mottos.
3.
God isn’t
a hypocrite because He gave us Jesus.
Intro:
Why is
Christianity so confusing?
The answer is
because it’s paradoxical. It’s self-contradicting. God is a hypocrite. These
statements are all true about Christianity, which is why I think many people
choose not to believe in God and the Christian faith.
Here is the
ultimate secret to God though. He is a hypocrite. Except, he isn’t.
Here is why God isn’t
a hypocrite and more like a uniquely honest non-hypocrite. A hypocrite is
someone who says one thing but does another. God says one thing and means it. BUT He also says the opposite of that
first thing he said, and means that too. For
example, God says, “break my rules and you go to Hell (Deuteronomy 29:19-26)(2 Thessalonians 1:8-9)(Matthew 13:49-50).” But
he also says, “break my rules and I’ll forgive you…you’ll be saved…come to
Heaven (1 John 1:9-10)(Romans 10:9-13)(John
14:1-4).” Those are two very different statements. The mystery behind God
is that He means both of these statements at the same time. How can He do that?
Body:
The answer to this
question comes from the Bible in Genesis chapter 15, referred to as “The Lord’s
covenant with Abraham.” Here is a quick summary of the chapter:
1. God
and Abraham are making a covenant (a
contract that makes “binding mutual promises and
vows to be faithful and loving no matter what the circumstances”) about how Abraham, who is
75+ years old and childless, will have a son with his wife Sarah. God
promises that Abraham will also have many descendants for generations to come after
he dies.
2. Abraham asks if God really
means this. Abraham asks this because with a covenant, if someone breaks it
then there are very bad consequences.
3. In other words, Abraham asks
God if He (God) will punish himself if He (God) breaks this covenant. God says
yes.
4. He then tells Abraham to cut animals
into pieces and line the pieces up in two parallel lines. This was an old-time
custom where a master would make his servant walk through an alley of cut up
animal pieces while making a contract…basically making the servant state, “If I
break this contract then I deserve to be cut up into pieces.”
5. So revisiting Abraham’s
question, how does Abraham know God will stay faithful (that God will destroy himself (God) if He (God) breaks the contract)?
6. At the end of Genesis chapter
15, the Bible says that after Abraham made the alley of animal pieces, God came
down as fire and passed (“walked”) through the alley of animal pieces. This is
good. God showed that He was willing to face the consequences if He himself
(God) broke the contract and didn’t give Abraham a son or heir. HOWEVER, He never made Abraham walk through the contract-binding alley of animal
pieces. Why didn’t he make Abraham walk through it?
Conclusion:
In not making Abraham walk
through, God basically told Abraham, “See, I signed this contract by walking
through this alley of animal pieces, but I also signed this contract in place
of you. If I break my own rules, then I
will destroy myself. If you break my rules, then I will destroy myself instead
of destroying you (Matthew 27: 32-50)(John
19:28-30).”
That statement is the whole
basis of the Christian faith and is why Jesus is the ultimate answer to God’s
mysterious and paradoxical ways (John
14:6). If God messes up, He will destroy Himself. If we as humans mess up and don’t follow His rules (if we sin), then
God will destroy Himself as Jesus instead of us. We just have to believe in Jesus in order for this to work (Romans 10:9-13).
If God will destroy Himself
as Jesus for us, then can’t we mess up as much as we want and He’ll still forgive
us and die for us anyway, allowing us to avoid Hell? The answer is yes but that
doesn’t mean we should take advantage of that. It would be utterly rude and disrespectful and evil not
to respect someone who died for you. Jesus
died for you. God died for you. God
died for us. Thus, we should obey God’s laws and his commands the best we
can with intentionality to not break them. At the same time, we should have
peace knowing that He will forgive us even when we mess up and break His rules.
If we have this mindset, then we’ll have a loving relationship with God (Deuteronomy 7:9). We’ll respect Him. He’ll
love you (Proverbs 8:17). He’ll love
us. He already loves us (John 3:16-17)(Romans
5:8-11)(John 15:12-17). He’ll give us the opportunity to go to Heaven so
that we can meet Him face to face and live in a place of peace and joy with Him
forever (Revelation 21:3-8).
This is why I believe in a God
and a religion that seems hypocritical. And I trust God because He gave us
Jesus.
-Brody Forbes
*Based on the sermon “A Covenant Relationship” by Tim Keller
http://podbay.fm/show/352660924/e/1381345988?autostart=1
Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) by Chris Tomlin
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