The Father’s Creation: Redeemed by His Son and Renewed with the Spirit

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church Message for Sunday:

‘The Father’s Creation: Redeemed by His Son and Renewed with the Spirit’

©May 7, 2017 by Steve Mickelson

BLCF Bulletin May 7, 2017

Announcements and Call to Worship; Prayer                                                                    

Opening Hymn #358: We Praise Thee, O God #449; Choruses                                         

Prayers and Tithing Hymn #572: Praise God from Whom All Blessings          

Responsive Reading #634:  Christian Unity (John and 20, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4)                                                                                                                                                          

Message by Steve Mickelson:                                                                                                    

‘The Father’s Creation: Redeemed by His Son and Renewed with the Spirit’

 

Let us pray…

Welcome to BLCF Praise and Worship Service for this, the first Sunday of May, 2017. This also happens to be the Sunday where we observe Communion, as the Lord had instructed us to do, until the day he returns.

Our lesson today is entitled: ‘The Father’s Creation: Redeemed by His Son and Renewed with the Spirit’, where we explore through Scripture how we may understand the unseen God in Whose image humanity was created. We will also explore how God has called us to His bosom and how the Father has provided  believers with a path to salvation and a means to stay on that righteous Way.

In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve in His image, as we read in Genesis 1:26-28 (ESV):

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man^[a] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

²⁷ So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

²⁸ And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Footnotes: a. Genesis 1:26 The Hebrew word for man (adam) is the generic term for mankind and becomes the proper name Adam

We read in Genesis 1: 27, that men and women are created in the image of God:

²⁷ So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

This passage indicates that God has blessed men and women, encouraging them to multiply and has and has granted us with dominion over every creature that flies in the air, swims in the seas, and walks on the earth.

What do we mean when we say that men and women are images of God? Let us look at the definition of an image:

Image definition im·ag ˈimij/  noun (google search)    

1. a representation of the external form of a person or thing in art.

synonyms:		likeness, resemblance;  depiction, portrayal, representation;  statue, statuette, sculpture, bust, effigy;  painting, picture, portrait, drawing, sketch “an image of St. Bartholomew”

2. 2. a simile or metaphor.

Example: “he uses the image of a hole to describe emotional emptiness”

synonyms:

simile, metaphor, metonymy;  figure of speech, trope, turn of phrase;  imagery “biblical images”

I find it interesting and perhaps ironic that our Lord often taught by using the metaphor and the second definition of image is a metaphor.

While God’s creation was initially created humanity in the image of God, the devil sought to replace the goodness of that image with the evil of sin, Isaiah 59:1-4 (ESV):

Evil and Oppression

 59 Behold, the Lord‘s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
² but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
³ For your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
your tongue mutters wickedness.
⁴ No one enters suit justly;
no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

 It is sin that has hidden humanity from God, resulting in a separation, which brings more sin and ultimately death.

But God’s love for His creation is great. So great that He sent His own Son, Christ Jesus, to restore the goodness to humanity by atoning for the judgment our sins, Colossians 1:15-20 (ESV):

 The Preeminence of Christ

 ¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by^[a] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. ¹⁹ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Footnotes: a. Colossians 1:16 That is, by means of; or in

While humanity was originally created in the image of God, sin has altered and warped that image, obscuring from the Creator.

If humanity is described as being an expression of the image of God or as a metaphor or His expression of the image of Himself and sin has changed that image, we may consider that like damaged artwork, a restoration is called for:

Restoration of the Frescoes in the Sistine Chapel

The conservation-restoration of the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel was one of the most significant conservation-restorations of the 20th century.

The Sistine Chapel was built by Pope Sixtus IV within the Vatican immediately to the north of St. Peter’s Basilica and completed in about 1481. Its walls were decorated by a number of Renaissance painters who were among the most highly regarded artists of late 15th century Italy, including Ghirlandaio, Perugino, and Botticelli.^[1] The Chapel was further enhanced under Pope Julius II by the painting of the ceiling by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512 and by the painting of the Last Judgment, commissioned by Pope Clement VII and completed in 1541, again by Michelangelo.^[2] The tapestries on the lowest tier, today best known from the Raphael Cartoons (painted designs) of 1515–16, completed the ensemble.

Together the paintings make up the greatest pictorial scheme of the Renaissance. Individually, some of Michelangelo’s paintings on the ceiling are among the most notable works of western art ever created.^[a] The frescoes of the Sistine Chapel and in particular the ceiling and accompanying lunettes by Michelangelo have been subject to a number of restorations, the most recent taking place between 1980 and 1994. This most recent restoration had a profound effect on art lovers and historians, as colours and details that had not been seen for centuries were revealed. It has been claimed that as a result “Every book on Michelangelo will have to be rewritten”.^[3] Others, such as the art historian James Beck of ArtWatch International, have been extremely critical of the restoration, saying that the restorers have not realized the true intentions of the artist. This is the subject of continuing debate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restoration_of_the_Sistine_Chapel_frescoes

Like the tainted frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, God the creator of the universe sought to restore that which He created to their original pristine condition, through His son, Jesus, Colossians 3:1-10 (ESV):

Put On the New Self

 3 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is your^[a] life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

⁵ Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:^[b] sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶ On account of these the wrath of God is coming.^[c] 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. ⁸ But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.⁹ Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self^[d]with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

Footnotes: a. Colossians 3:4 Some manuscripts our b. Colossians 3:5 Greek therefore your members that are on the earth c. Colossians 3:6 Some manuscripts add upon the sons of disobedience d. Colossians 3:9 Greek man; also as supplied in verse 10

While Jesus brought the means of humanity restoration in a day not years of loving sacrifice, by way of the cross, the Lord sent the Holy Spirit of God to maintain the goodness of his restoration, Romans 8:1-4 (ESV):

 Life in the Spirit

8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.^[a] 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you^[b] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. ³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,^[c] he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Footnotes: a. Romans 8:1 Some manuscripts add who walk not according to the flesh (but according to the Spirit) b. Romans 8:2 Some manuscripts me c. Romans 8:3 Or and as a sin offering

To recap our journey and lesson today:

• God created man and woman in His good image.
• Satan and sin damaged and obscured that image.
• Christ Jesus came to restore the pristine image to humanity.
• The Lord sent God’s Holy Spirit to maintain that image.

Those who believe in God’s plan that He sent His son, Jesus, to restore the righteous and holy image to the born again followers of Christ are gifted with the Spirit to renew that likeness to God, Ephesians 4:17-24 (ESV):

 The New Life

 ¹⁷ Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. ¹⁹ They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. ²⁰ But that is not the way you learned Christ!— ²¹ assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²² to put off your old self,^[a] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,²³ and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Footnotes: a. Ephesians 4:22 Greek man; also verse 24

Let us pray…

 Communion – (Matthew 26:26-29) – Institution of the Lord’s Supper

 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Closing Hymn #365: I Am Weak, but Thou Art Strong   

 Benediction:

To God the Father, who created the world,

To God the Son, who redeemed the world,

To God the Holy Spirit, who sustains the world,                                                      

Be praise and glory, now and forever.                                                                              

 Amen.

Faith’s Reward: Resurrection and Life

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church Message for Sunday:

‘Faith’s Reward: Resurrection and Life’

© April 24, 2016 by Steve Mickelson

BLCF Bulletin April 24, 2016

 

Call to Worship: Responsive Reading #616 (Christian Baptism – from Matthew 3 and 28, Acts 2, Romans 6); Prayer                                                                            

Opening Hymn #365:  I Am Weak, but Thou Art Strong; Choruses

Tithing and Prayer Requests: Hymn #572: Praise God; Prayers                                                       

Scriptures: Luke 10:38-42; John 11:1-44; John 12:1-8

Let us pray…

Good morning and welcome to our Sunday Morning Praise and Worship Service at BLCF Church.

Today’s lesson is entitled: ‘Faith’s Reward: Resurrection and Life’, which could have the included a subtitle taken from the illustration on the front of today’s Bulletin: ‘It’s Friday but Sunday’s Coming’.

Our Lesson includes three Scripture passages which describe Jesus visiting two of his disciples and friends who lived in the village of Bethany, Martha and Mary, under three different circumstances, with the second and third Scriptures include a third disciple and friend, the women’s brother, Lazarus.

Our first passage, from Luke’s Gospel, describes how Martha invites Jesus into her home, Luke 10:38-42 (ESV):

 Martha and Mary

³⁸ Now as they went on their way, Jesus^[a] entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. ³⁹ And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” ⁴¹ But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, ⁴² but one thing is necessary.^[b] Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Footnotes: a. Luke 10:38 Greek he b. Luke 10:42 Some manuscripts few things are necessary, or only one

While Martha is busy with serving food, she becomes distracted from her serving by observing that her sister sits at Jesus’ feet listening to the Lord’s teaching. Martha is so anxious and upset by Mary not helping her sister serve, that she implores Jesus to instruct Mary to help her, complaining that Jesus does not seem to care that Martha has been left alone to do serving duties. Jesus replies by compassionately rebuking Martha for being anxious and troubled about “many things”, indicating that Mary by choosing to listen to the Lord’s teachings, she has chosen to consume the good portion, which is the “Bread of Life”, which will not be taken from her.

Our second Scripture, from John’s Gospel, gives the account where the sisters ask Jesus to visit their brother Lazarus, who is quite ill, John 11:1-44 (ESV):

 The Death of Lazarus

11 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³ So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Jesus, when asked to attend his beloved friend Lazarus, gives a seemingly strange reply that Lazarus illness will not lead to death, but will to glory of both God and the Son of God. And Jesus delays departing to visit his friends by two days, as we continue reading in Luke 11:

⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when he heard that Lazarus^[a] was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷ Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” ¹¹ After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” ¹² The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” ¹³ Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. ¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, ¹⁵ and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶ So Thomas, called the Twin,^[b] said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

After two days, Jesus tell the disciples that it is time to awaken his “sleeping” friend, indicating no fear of the Jews who sought to stone the Lord and that the death of his friend will offer him an opportunity to give them a sign, so that they may believe.

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷ Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles^[c] off, ¹⁹ and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. ²⁰ So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.^[d] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Jesus arrived to find Martha, Mary and many Jews mourning the death of Lazarus. Martha greets Jesus, indicating her brother would have not passed if the Lord were present.

Jesus replies to Martha, that her brother will “rise again.” Thinking that Jesus is referring to the Judgement Day, when he asks whether she believes Lazarus will be resurrected, Mary acknowledges him as Lord, the Christ, Son of God. Let us continue with John 11:

Jesus Weeps

²⁸ When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved^[e] in his spirit and greatly troubled. ³⁴ And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus then asks for Martha to send for Mary, the Lord choosing to remain at the place where Martha had met him, just outside the village. Assuming Mary is leaving for her brother’s tomb, the Jews follow Mary from the house to where Jesus awaits. Mary falls at Jesus’ feet, weeping that if he were present, he brother would not have died. Jesus was deeply moved and troubled in his spirit by the weeping of Mary and the Jews that asked to be brought to the tomb, where Jesus wept. John 11:35, happens to not only be the shortest verse in the Bible, but speaks volumes about the love and compassion that Christ has for those whom he loves. We see that Jesus now shows a sign that demonstrates the glory of God:

Jesus Raises Lazarus

³⁸ Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” ⁴⁴ The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Footnotes: a. John 11:6 Greek he; also verse 17 b. John 11:16 Greek Didymus c. John 11:18 Greek fifteen stadia; a stadion was about 607 feet or 185 meters d. John 11:25 Some manuscripts omit and the life e. John 11:33 Or was indignant; also verse 38

It is interesting that as the Lord instructs Martha to have the stone removed from the entrance of Lazarus’ tomb, and Martha worries and complains to Jesus that after four days Lazarus’ body will give an odor of death.

Jesus demonstrates to Martha, Mary and the Jews gathered at the tomb, that he is indeed the resurrection and the life, by calling Lazarus to rise to life and come out of the tomb.

This brings us to our third and final Scripture passage, John 12:1-8 (ESV):

Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. ³ Mary therefore took a pound^[a] of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴ But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, ⁵ “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii^[b] and given to the poor?” ⁶ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. ⁷ Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it^[c] for the day of my burial. ⁸ For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

Footnotes: a. John 12:3 Greek litra; a litra (or Roman pound) was equal to about 11 1/2 ounces or 327 grams b. John 12:5 A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer c. John 12:7 Or Leave her alone; she intended to keep it

Jesus returns to the house of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, this time to be the guest of honor of a dinner, served to celebrate the resurrection of Lazarus.

While Martha serves the meal, with Lazarus reclining at the table with Jesus. Mary anoints the feet of Jesus with an expensive, fragrant ointment, wiping the Lord’s feet with her hair.

For her actions, Mary again becomes the object of ridicule, this time by the disciple Judas. Judas complains that the anointing is a waste of money and a better use of the ointment would have been selling it and giving the money to the poor.

Jesus tells Judas to leave Mary alone as the ointment could be used for his own impending death and burial. After all, anointing Jesus was an act that celebrates God’s glory, Christ’s lordship over death, as witnessed by the resurrection of Lazarus.

Let us pray…

Closing Hymn #40: To God be the Glory

Benediction – (Philippians 4:23) The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.       – Amen