A Story to Tell: One in Messiah Jesus
07/05/09
Galatians 3:26-29
Pastor Greg Smith
I hope you had a good July 4th.
• In our neighborhood, it was easily the noisiest 4th ever! Just ask our cat!
On Friday, we had a gathering of our family on my mother's side.
• We are as dysfunctional as any family, but I'm very proud to say that's my family!
We have been telling the Story— and who is in the family is one of the main issues in the story.
Creation
• God declared his creation Very Good. At the apex the created human beings. We are created in his image, with the capacity for love and responsibility.
Fall
• But from the beginning, abused their freedom and chose their own way instead of God's. Instead of unity and harmony, human life is filled with broken relationships: with self, with each other, with the rest of creation, and with God.
But amazingly, God did not give up on human beings. God worked to restore creation through Israel.
• The focus was the great promise to Abraham and Sarah: “All nations will be blessed through you.” This promise takes center stage in Paul's dealings with the Galatians.
The issue was boundaries: How do we define who is in and who is out of the community. And it all came to a head at a church potluck.
The confrontation between Peter and Paul in Galatians 2.
• Gal. 2:11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
15 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
The big issue was boundaries: who belongs, and who doesn't. And how do we decide?
• In the Old Testament, God gave the Torah: it marked out the lifestyle of God's people. It gave them identity and strength.
• But Paul saw clearly since the coming of Messiah Jesus, this had changed. Why? Because all the nations of the earth would be blessed as had been promised to Abraham. And God's people would have to include Gentiles and Jews if that was to be so.
According to Paul, this wasn't a new idea. It was all there in the scriptures. Let me share some of the highlights of Paul's argument.
Paul pointed out that Abraham was counted as in a right relationship with God because of trusting faith
• Gal. 3:6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
• To old, childless Abraham, the Lord said,
Gen. 15:5 “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
It was through the same kind of trusting faith that the promise of blessing would be given to all nations.
• Gal. 3:7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Jesus the Messiah redeemed us from the Old Testament Torah so that all nations could receive the promised blessing. The Old Testament law was for an earlier part of the Story.
• Gal. 3:14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
• Gal. 3:23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was put in charge of us until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
So, now through Messiah Jesus, all can be one— reversing the brokenness of sin.
• Gal. 3:26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
You might think of this as two very different kinds of building.
• The people of God in the Old Testament are like a building with thick walls and secure doors. For safety's sake, the doors only open from the inside. It was secure and the boundaries were very clear.
Since the coming of Messiah Jesus, the people of God are more like a big tent or canopy with open sides. We are always inviting, always hoping that people will wander into the big tent of God's people.
• Wasn't that one of the big complaints that the Pharisees had about Jesus: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Or think about this in terms of family.
It's true that all human beings are family by creation: a dysfunctional family to be sure, but one big extended family just the same.
• We are made in God's image.
We are all one human family.
We all come from the same line.
• It is interesting that the science of genetics is confirming this. For all the differences between people, they are differences just in appearance. In terms of DNA, the building blocks of people, we are all from one source. Geneticists trace it back to Africa of a few hundred thousand year ago— a theory that in no way contradicts the Bible. Instead it confirms what the Bible says.
• Relationships are what God made us for, too. That applies to Christians and non-Christians. Human beings are made for relationships and all human beings have the same great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents.
• But the image has been broken, marred by sin.
We were born into the human family— God created us that way. But we can be re-born into to God's family, where the family image is restored.
Let's look at Galatians 3:26-29 again.
• 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith
• 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
• It’s not that these difference are no longer present. Instead, our way of valuing people has changed. We don't divide people up the way we used to.
In the church, your ethnic background or religious heritage don't make the difference of whether you are in or out.
• Slave nor free:
• Even "male and female": Paul echoes Genesis.
• Why? For you are all one in Messiah Jesus.
29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
• Abraham's seed: we are family!
All Christians are part of a new family.
• 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed (his descendants or family), and (as family) heirs according to the promise (made to Abraham).
• Turn to someone you didn’t come with and say, “Hey, we’re both part of Abraham’s family.” Abraham is the example of the first person to believe God’s word. He had faith in God, and God accepted him as family.
It's good to remind ourselves that Jesus is the climax of the Israel's story. Sometimes people think of Christ as Jesus' last name, Jesus, you know, Mr. Christ.
Think of it like this: all along God wanted Israel to be faithful to its calling. They weren't. The promise would never come to all the earth. That way. But God sent his Son to do what Israel could not.
• A good way to translate verse 22:
But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, because of the faithfulness of Messiah Jesus, might be given to those who believe.
We see how important is God's forever family! You belong! And you belong at many levels.
Level 1: God’s CHURCH (universal/Christians everywhere)
• Just because we love Jesus, we are automatically related to every other follower of Jesus, past, present and future.
Level 2: Valley Grace church
• Love is always particular: it is about particular people. Relationships need commitment.
Level 3: Your SMALL group - includes the youth group or young adult group
• I need relationships where people know me well enough to really pray for me. I people that I know well enough that it is a challenge to love them.
• It is easy to love people I don’t really know and only rarely see.
It is challenging to love people that I have to live with, share with, work with.
Romans 15:7 is a great verse for God's forever family.
• 7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
The Lord's Supper is a time to express those family relationships.
• Share in communion. The word “communion” means “sharing.” 1 Corinthians 10:16-17.
• 16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation (= sharing) in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation (= sharing) in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake (= sharing) of the one loaf.
• It’s a celebration of the relationship that we have in Jesus. He creates the bonds. He has made us family. And this is the family meal that we share.
Pastor Greg Smith
I hope you had a good July 4th.
• In our neighborhood, it was easily the noisiest 4th ever! Just ask our cat!
On Friday, we had a gathering of our family on my mother's side.
• We are as dysfunctional as any family, but I'm very proud to say that's my family!
We have been telling the Story— and who is in the family is one of the main issues in the story.
Creation
• God declared his creation Very Good. At the apex the created human beings. We are created in his image, with the capacity for love and responsibility.
Fall
• But from the beginning, abused their freedom and chose their own way instead of God's. Instead of unity and harmony, human life is filled with broken relationships: with self, with each other, with the rest of creation, and with God.
But amazingly, God did not give up on human beings. God worked to restore creation through Israel.
• The focus was the great promise to Abraham and Sarah: “All nations will be blessed through you.” This promise takes center stage in Paul's dealings with the Galatians.
The issue was boundaries: How do we define who is in and who is out of the community. And it all came to a head at a church potluck.
The confrontation between Peter and Paul in Galatians 2.
• Gal. 2:11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
15 “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles 16 know that a person is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
The big issue was boundaries: who belongs, and who doesn't. And how do we decide?
• In the Old Testament, God gave the Torah: it marked out the lifestyle of God's people. It gave them identity and strength.
• But Paul saw clearly since the coming of Messiah Jesus, this had changed. Why? Because all the nations of the earth would be blessed as had been promised to Abraham. And God's people would have to include Gentiles and Jews if that was to be so.
According to Paul, this wasn't a new idea. It was all there in the scriptures. Let me share some of the highlights of Paul's argument.
Paul pointed out that Abraham was counted as in a right relationship with God because of trusting faith
• Gal. 3:6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
• To old, childless Abraham, the Lord said,
Gen. 15:5 “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
It was through the same kind of trusting faith that the promise of blessing would be given to all nations.
• Gal. 3:7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Jesus the Messiah redeemed us from the Old Testament Torah so that all nations could receive the promised blessing. The Old Testament law was for an earlier part of the Story.
• Gal. 3:14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
• Gal. 3:23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was put in charge of us until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
So, now through Messiah Jesus, all can be one— reversing the brokenness of sin.
• Gal. 3:26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
You might think of this as two very different kinds of building.
• The people of God in the Old Testament are like a building with thick walls and secure doors. For safety's sake, the doors only open from the inside. It was secure and the boundaries were very clear.
Since the coming of Messiah Jesus, the people of God are more like a big tent or canopy with open sides. We are always inviting, always hoping that people will wander into the big tent of God's people.
• Wasn't that one of the big complaints that the Pharisees had about Jesus: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Or think about this in terms of family.
It's true that all human beings are family by creation: a dysfunctional family to be sure, but one big extended family just the same.
• We are made in God's image.
We are all one human family.
We all come from the same line.
• It is interesting that the science of genetics is confirming this. For all the differences between people, they are differences just in appearance. In terms of DNA, the building blocks of people, we are all from one source. Geneticists trace it back to Africa of a few hundred thousand year ago— a theory that in no way contradicts the Bible. Instead it confirms what the Bible says.
• Relationships are what God made us for, too. That applies to Christians and non-Christians. Human beings are made for relationships and all human beings have the same great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents.
• But the image has been broken, marred by sin.
We were born into the human family— God created us that way. But we can be re-born into to God's family, where the family image is restored.
Let's look at Galatians 3:26-29 again.
• 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith
• 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
• It’s not that these difference are no longer present. Instead, our way of valuing people has changed. We don't divide people up the way we used to.
In the church, your ethnic background or religious heritage don't make the difference of whether you are in or out.
• Slave nor free:
• Even "male and female": Paul echoes Genesis.
• Why? For you are all one in Messiah Jesus.
29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
• Abraham's seed: we are family!
All Christians are part of a new family.
• 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed (his descendants or family), and (as family) heirs according to the promise (made to Abraham).
• Turn to someone you didn’t come with and say, “Hey, we’re both part of Abraham’s family.” Abraham is the example of the first person to believe God’s word. He had faith in God, and God accepted him as family.
It's good to remind ourselves that Jesus is the climax of the Israel's story. Sometimes people think of Christ as Jesus' last name, Jesus, you know, Mr. Christ.
Think of it like this: all along God wanted Israel to be faithful to its calling. They weren't. The promise would never come to all the earth. That way. But God sent his Son to do what Israel could not.
• A good way to translate verse 22:
But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, because of the faithfulness of Messiah Jesus, might be given to those who believe.
We see how important is God's forever family! You belong! And you belong at many levels.
Level 1: God’s CHURCH (universal/Christians everywhere)
• Just because we love Jesus, we are automatically related to every other follower of Jesus, past, present and future.
Level 2: Valley Grace church
• Love is always particular: it is about particular people. Relationships need commitment.
Level 3: Your SMALL group - includes the youth group or young adult group
• I need relationships where people know me well enough to really pray for me. I people that I know well enough that it is a challenge to love them.
• It is easy to love people I don’t really know and only rarely see.
It is challenging to love people that I have to live with, share with, work with.
Romans 15:7 is a great verse for God's forever family.
• 7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
The Lord's Supper is a time to express those family relationships.
• Share in communion. The word “communion” means “sharing.” 1 Corinthians 10:16-17.
• 16 Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation (= sharing) in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation (= sharing) in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake (= sharing) of the one loaf.
• It’s a celebration of the relationship that we have in Jesus. He creates the bonds. He has made us family. And this is the family meal that we share.