1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:05,400 OK, welcome back, everyone. We are doing commandment. 2 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:08,520 Can anyone guess what number commandment we're doing? 3 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:12,000 Well done. That's good listening. 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:15,800 Oh, dear. I tried. 5 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:20,480 Michael, can you put it back on? Can you put this? 6 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:29,360 I think I turned it off. Oh, see, this is the question, 7 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:32,520 isn't it? Why does God ask us twice to 8 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:36,000 worship him? So I'm going to start with a 9 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:40,560 little quote that someone came across on Instagram, which was 10 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:44,400 shared through the Voxology podcast, which I cannot comment 11 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:46,640 on either way because I only listened to it about once, but 12 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,160 this is what it started with. So this is an anonymous quote by 13 00:00:50,160 --> 00:00:53,600 someone, and I presume they're American because they're it's a 14 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:55,000 slightly different context to us. 15 00:00:55,600 --> 00:01:00,160 None of us asked to be here, yet according to Christianity, we're 16 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:04,680 born into a test we never signed up for, one where the only 17 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:07,280 options are obedience or eternal torture. 18 00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:11,640 A God supposedly full of love creates us without consent, 19 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:15,640 gives us flawed minds, drops us into a broken world, hides 20 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,600 himself, and then punishes us for not finding him convincing 21 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,920 enough. He creates people knowing most 22 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:25,360 will burn forever. He gives us quote free will, but 23 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:27,160 he rigs it with eternal consequence. 24 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,400 He makes temptation irresistible, then blames us for 25 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,440 being tempted. He creates hell and then claims 26 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:34,920 we choose it for not following him. 27 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:39,200 He gives children cancer and then feels, then tells us it's 28 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:40,640 our fault because of Adam and Eve. 29 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,840 Every command, every threat, every miracle, all of it is 30 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:47,680 theatre to make cruelty look like a choice. 31 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:52,120 He tells us we're broken, then demands we thank him for fixing 32 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:54,600 us. He calls us sinners, then shames 33 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:57,440 us for acting human. He floods the earth, killing 34 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:01,000 millions, and calls it justice. He demands perfection from 35 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:05,160 imperfect beings. He's designed to fail. 36 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:09,160 And when we finally start thinking for ourselves, he 37 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,880 labels it as pride, as if curiosity itself were rebellion. 38 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:17,600 If this God existed, he'd be the most insecure being imaginable, 39 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:21,040 demanding constant praise, testing loyalty, and dangling 40 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:23,560 heaven in front of our faces to make us submit. 41 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,080 If love needs worship to exist, it isn't love. 42 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:31,240 And if morality comes from the fear of punishment, it isn't 43 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:34,280 morality. All of this looks more like 44 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,360 divine blackmail than it ever did divine love. 45 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:43,560 Does anyone have like in your church experience? 46 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,400 Because we basically all speak out of our experience, don't we? 47 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:48,920 Our theology is formed by experience, whether we like it 48 00:02:48,920 --> 00:02:52,320 or not. Does anyone resonate with that 49 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:57,080 as a formational kind of spectrum of of how we view God, 50 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:01,800 say naughty is? No, I literally have never heard 51 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:03,360 of that. I do not encounter God like 52 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:04,920 that. That is, I've never heard of 53 00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:08,680 anything like that to 10, which is that is exactly my 54 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,120 formational experience. Just all like shout out at 55 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:18,320 number at the same time with like cool charismatics, aren't 56 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:21,000 we? That's lurking somewhere. 57 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:25,760 We're also most of us here are British and British people just 58 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:28,080 don't go there. We don't really talk about the 59 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:30,640 implications of some of the things we believe. 60 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:33,880 It's like that awkward uncle that we bring out every time 61 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:35,520 there's a funeral. We don't really know what to say 62 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:37,080 about hell. And then we put them back in the 63 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,000 in the cupboard again because they're really socially 64 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,240 inappropriate. So what we're trying to do here 65 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:51,240 at Hope is develop a language to explain the experience that 66 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:55,400 we've had of God, which couldn't be more different to that the 67 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:59,840 experience I have of God. And I've had it this morning at 68 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,680 home on my own. I've already experienced the God 69 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,000 of love and goodness and kindness and mercy that is 70 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:11,160 fundamentally opposite to that experience that that person 71 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:16,320 somehow received. And we're going on a journey to 72 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:20,000 be able to be a people that don't just experience it, but 73 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,520 they have the language to communicate it. 74 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:27,320 Because part of the problem is we've all experienced God's 75 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:29,440 love, haven't we? We all know His kindness. 76 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:32,280 We all know He intervened. We all know He showed us mercy. 77 00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:35,520 We all know He provided for us in times of need. 78 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:40,840 And yet we struggle with the language to communicate that to 79 00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:43,080 other people in about 30 seconds. 80 00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:45,680 So I'm going to do a little example in my life. 81 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:48,760 Then I'm going to ask you in your groups, around your table, 82 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,240 just one of you, so no one has to speak if you never have to do 83 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:54,400 anything here if you don't want to. 84 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,160 But if you'd like to, if there's something you'd like to testify 85 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:00,000 to, a way you've seen God's goodness and love in your life 86 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:03,680 recently, I'd like, I'm going to give you some time because I'm 87 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:06,840 going to tell my little testimony to do that. 88 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:08,840 Because we want to also build in testimonies. 89 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:13,240 Testimony forms theology, and in fact, the entire Bible, but 90 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,880 particularly the New Testament are really an expression of 91 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:18,960 people's personal encounters with Jesus. 92 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:21,520 That's what it is. It's saying I encounter Jesus 93 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,160 and now I'm going to try and explain it to someone either 94 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:26,160 through eyewitnesses or written down. 95 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:28,880 So that's how we come to a place of theology. 96 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:31,240 We have to start telling our stories of our personal 97 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:33,560 encounter. This is a really small one as 98 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,920 everyone knows. I've been doing study and each 99 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:41,480 year I have to find 4 to 5000 lbs to fund my study. 100 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:46,560 I did 2 year graduate diploma and in the first year some 101 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:49,920 people came up to me who aren't family and who aren't from Hope 102 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:52,240 and they just said they'd like to underwrite my studies. 103 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:56,240 So I applied for three grant funders and I was received three 104 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:59,120 and a half 1000 lbs and they underwrote and covered the rest. 105 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,720 So I was covered fully for my study for two years of the 106 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:06,800 graduate diploma. So this year I am doing a 107 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:10,600 masters and but the kind of ante went up because I also stepped 108 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:13,840 down from a paid role and I needed to find 4 to 5000 lbs 109 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:17,480 last June, by last June, again, I applied to this and I knew 110 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:20,480 this this particular source. They said we want to support you 111 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:21,920 on the grad dip and we're just stopping. 112 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:25,800 So I knew that a long time ago. So I then applied for funding 113 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:33,840 for the masters and I had two of the funders came back to me and 114 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:38,600 I was given 1500 lbs, which is great and I needed 3000 and I 115 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:41,240 applied to some other ones. And anyway everyone came back 116 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:43,480 and said no. And it was after all the funding 117 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:46,880 deadlines are around June. And Chris suggested why don't I 118 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:49,560 communicate with the congregation federation. 119 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:54,440 So I phoned up Yvonne. I didn't phone up. 120 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,600 We don't phone up. I emailed just just went back 121 00:06:57,600 --> 00:06:59,440 into what I would have done in the 90s then Nope. 122 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,720 I emailed Yvonne and said this is my situation and she was 123 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:04,720 like, you've missed the deadlines, but here's some 124 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:08,800 here's some possibilities and said try this one and I will 125 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,640 back you up 100%. So it was like midnight past the 126 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:14,320 deadline. I probably wasn't very bright in 127 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:16,600 my application, but I I didn't use AI either. 128 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:23,240 I just applied and anyway within a few days this particular grant 129 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:25,560 funder said we've got your application, you are past the 130 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:28,960 deadline but we'll give you the £3000 you need to get your full 131 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:30,400 amount for the Masters this year. 132 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:34,280 And it's so small and you could almost not notice it, but that's 133 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:36,880 the God I follow. He knows about my needs, he 134 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:39,040 cares about my needs. He said to a Masters and he's 135 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,840 provided he's intimate, he's concerned, he pays attention. 136 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:47,720 And so I know he's got my back when I'm having wrestling with 137 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:50,920 stuff, when I'm having to start again completely and humble 138 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,280 myself and learn from people a lot younger than me in midlife. 139 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:58,960 I I know he's got my back and he's training me like a that 140 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:01,720 person on Karate Kid where it says wash on wash off. 141 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:03,440 That's what I feel I'm doing, learning how to write a 142 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:05,080 sentence, a paragraph and an essay. 143 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:07,960 Wash on, wash off. But He's got my back because he 144 00:08:07,960 --> 00:08:10,440 came through for me when I needed him to. 145 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:15,440 So in around tables, what would be great is if one person could 146 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:18,160 just share a story of God's kindness, provision, his 147 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:20,280 healing, his goodness. Something that that says 148 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:23,560 actually the God I know who's revealed himself to me is not 149 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:26,320 like that God that that person's heard about. 150 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:28,760 That's actually more like what we would call the enemy. 151 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:33,080 So have a few minutes and then we'll come back to this big 152 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,960 question. Why does God ask us twice to 153 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:42,840 worship him? OK, when we've shared those 154 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:47,120 stories, do we feel that those stories represent more of the 155 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:53,120 gods we know than that initial statement? 156 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,080 Does those stories seem to represent more of the God we 157 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:04,080 know than that kind of person? Yeah. 158 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:10,880 So it's it's really important then we have a lens through 159 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:12,960 which we read and interpret everything. 160 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:18,160 We may or may not realise it. When we go to the Bible and read 161 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:21,800 the 10 commandments, we go with the lens that that isn't our 162 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:24,440 lens. It we come with a lens and it's 163 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:27,520 already what we already think about God, whether he's real or 164 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:32,800 not, whether he's good or not. So, so that lens, the first 165 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:36,000 lens, why does God ask us to work twice to worship him? 166 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:40,320 What would the answer be? No. 167 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:43,120 What would the answer be to that first person who's incredibly 168 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:49,360 like, Yep, he's insecure, God is insecure. 169 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:51,760 What else do we know about the character of God from that first 170 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:56,880 statement I read out? Yeah, there's a kind of punitive 171 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:01,280 nature there. Anything else vindictive? 172 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:08,800 Yeah. Sounds like a dictator tyrant. 173 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:14,120 If you look at that through the 2nd lens of the stories we're 174 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:20,480 telling about what we know about God, what might we, how might we 175 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:24,280 interpret that question? Yeah. 176 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:32,000 Yeah, yeah. So there's kindness there, isn't 177 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:33,240 there? It's sort of a trust. 178 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:34,960 There's trust we actually trust him. 179 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:38,160 So we trust that what he says is better for us. 180 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:42,360 Anything else? Yeah. 181 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:45,920 Yeah. So there is, there is a 182 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:48,680 repetition for emphasis. And that's a really important 183 00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:51,200 thing to pay attention in reading the Bible. 184 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:53,960 And so there's something clearly he's saying this is important. 185 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:58,120 And it's a bit like when you repeat something to someone in 186 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:01,520 your care, maybe a child or someone who isn't responsive. 187 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:04,200 If something's important, you keep saying it again and again 188 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:06,800 and again until they're here. That's what the Scripture is 189 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:09,600 basically saying. But we need to have is to 190 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:11,480 understand that message he's telling us. 191 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:17,000 And that depends on our lens. OK, so this is what he says in 192 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:18,600 Commandment 2. If you want to listen to 193 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:20,520 Commandment one, it's on the Hope Podcast. 194 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:22,160 And then I did an introduction one as well. 195 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:25,640 You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything 196 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:28,600 in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 197 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:31,280 You shall not bow down to them or worship them. 198 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:34,480 For I the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the 199 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:37,000 children for the sin of the parents to the third and 4th 200 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:40,360 generation of those who hate me, but showing love to 1000 201 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:43,440 generations of those who love me and keep my commands. 202 00:11:43,560 --> 00:11:49,040 I think this this command is particularly contingent on our 203 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:52,040 lens. So some of the translations 204 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:55,280 actually say punishing the children for the sin of the 205 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:57,360 parents to the third and 4th generation. 206 00:11:57,520 --> 00:11:59,880 We're reading this in English. It wasn't originally written in 207 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:01,800 English. And that's the word that some 208 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:03,920 translators use. Others use visiting. 209 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:06,320 There's words like jealous, which other people might say 210 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:09,440 passionate. And these words are really, 211 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:13,680 really dependent on our interpretive lens as to how we 212 00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:16,880 understand them. So what we're doing is we're not 213 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:18,320 just looking at the second commandment. 214 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:23,240 We're training our we're training our reading to be in in 215 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:26,240 alignment with the reality of the God we've encountered. 216 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:31,000 Encounter comes first and then language comes after that. 217 00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:42,120 So do you see there was a phrase in the heavens above, on on the 218 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:45,440 earth, and in the waters below. So I want us to immediately 219 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:50,800 remember this isn't someone that wrote this down to me since 220 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:53,760 English language was developed. It it wasn't something that was 221 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:56,920 written down 2 or 300 years ago. This was written in an ancient 222 00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:59,880 time in an ancient place with an ancient people who had a 223 00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:03,800 cosmology that had the heavens above that saw the earth as a 224 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:07,000 flat disc being held up by pillars and there was a shale 225 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,800 and the watery like afterlife below. 226 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:14,080 And God was above the the heavens. 227 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:18,560 We live on the earth. And then and then if you go, if 228 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:24,640 you die, you go into the deep. And so people would create 229 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:28,800 literally images, idle statues of beings either in the heavens 230 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:30,120 above. What would they have been? 231 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:34,840 What did people worship in the in the sky, sun, moon, stars? 232 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:36,560 Yep. So they were seen as spiritual 233 00:13:36,560 --> 00:13:39,360 beings. What might you worship on the 234 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:43,440 earth that and that literally make a thing of and bow down and 235 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:47,280 worship animals. Yep, statues. 236 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:49,880 So anything beautiful, impressive, compelling, but it 237 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:52,960 may be kind of a combination. So images of gods or goddesses 238 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:55,920 and then of the of the earth below. 239 00:13:56,240 --> 00:13:58,760 What might you make? It's harder for us to understand 240 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:03,280 that because we've seen whatever that guys he's just become 100 241 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:05,640 David Attenborough. We've seen his his version of 242 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:07,920 the earth. This the land below the the 243 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:09,600 floating disc. Yeah. 244 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:13,280 So you might the the images there are chaos, monsters and 245 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:15,680 creatures. The deep is where destruction 246 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:21,280 happens and chaos happens. And so you might, out of awe or 247 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,440 fear or to placate, make gods and worship them. 248 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:26,280 So I think it's just good to do that. 249 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:27,960 We're not going to go down that route today. 250 00:14:27,960 --> 00:14:30,680 I just want to remind us that this is a cross cultural 251 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:33,840 experience. When we go and reread an ancient 252 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:36,320 text, we're not reading something that someone wrote to 253 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:38,960 me in an e-mail. That is exactly what we are not 254 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:40,680 doing. We're doing something so utterly 255 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:42,240 foreign. We need to come with the 256 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:46,440 humility or curiosity of a learner, someone, someone's 257 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:48,960 talking about. I went to a conference and there 258 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:50,680 were some Americans there, so I'm quoting them. 259 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:53,680 I'm sure they'll be OK with this saying, you know, they can come 260 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:55,880 to London and just try and find the McDonald's. 261 00:14:56,640 --> 00:15:01,840 How would we feel about that? That's just, that is like London 262 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:03,920 is just one of the most epic cities in the world. 263 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:05,960 It's got incredible places. No one else. 264 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:08,240 There aren't anywhere else in the world. 265 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:10,440 You don't go to London to go to McDonald's. 266 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:13,480 We don't go to the Hebrew Bible to try and get a nice e-mail 267 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:15,160 that will make me feel better about myself. 268 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,160 We've got to be respectful travellers and one of the things 269 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:20,480 you've got to understand is the ancient cosmology of their 270 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:23,560 worldview and then draw out the point he's trying to make. 271 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:26,080 The Holy Spirit's trying to make through that. 272 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:31,960 Author for us today. Now this what he did do though 273 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:35,080 in Genesis 1 is make a radical claim. 274 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:38,600 So everyone had this sort of cosmology, but he made a radical 275 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:42,240 claim going back into Genesis 1. And I suggest as part of the 276 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:44,960 kind of follow up I'm going to give some group questions for 277 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,800 this is to read Genesis 1. I actually was going to read it 278 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:49,480 all out, but we don't have enough time. 279 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:54,640 So if you look at Genesis 1, he makes 2 radical claims that were 280 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:57,200 different from all the other ancient Near Eastern accounts 281 00:15:57,200 --> 00:15:58,880 which would have had that cosmology. 282 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:01,560 The first one is there's only one God. 283 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:05,160 This God is complex. It's a God who creates he, the 284 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:08,560 God is plural and creates in the singular, but it's one God. 285 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:12,680 And one God is supreme over all created beings, seen and unseen. 286 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,600 And we worship one God. That was the big claim of the 287 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:20,360 the writers of Genesis 1. And the second one is humans are 288 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:23,760 made in the image of God. Now in in the ancient world the 289 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:25,320 only person made in the image of God. 290 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:27,760 Does anyone know this? Who was made in the image of God 291 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:31,800 yet? So Pharaoh is a what category is 292 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:35,160 that king? The king, The only person made 293 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:36,600 in the image of God was the king. 294 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:39,600 So to write. I still find this probably the 295 00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:41,640 most mind blowing thing in the whole of scripture. 296 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:47,000 Someone 3000 years ago had this thought, this inspiration to 297 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:50,920 write that all humans are made in the image of gold, male and 298 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:52,360 female. He made them in the image of 299 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:54,000 God. He created them to rule. 300 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:57,160 I mean, it's, it's utterly revolutionary that idea. 301 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:00,080 There's not one person, a God king that we worship and follow, 302 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:05,800 but it that all humanity somehow represents the image of God. 303 00:17:06,839 --> 00:17:10,079 So this is the, the, the climax of that Genesis passage. 304 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:13,280 Then God said, let us make humanity in our image, in our 305 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:16,400 likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the 306 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,040 birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild 307 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:21,760 animals and over all the creatures that move along the 308 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:24,720 ground. So God created humanity in his 309 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:27,760 own image, in the image of God. He created them, male and 310 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:29,000 female. He created them. 311 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:32,160 God blessed them and said to them Be fruitful and increase in 312 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:35,200 number, fill the earth and subdue it, rule over the fish in 313 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:38,280 the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature 314 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:45,520 that moves on the ground. So looking at Genesis 1, is God 315 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:49,640 a narcissist? Does he command? 316 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,640 In the very first revelation of himself in Genesis 1, does he 317 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:59,480 command humans to worship him? No, what does he say to humans? 318 00:18:02,360 --> 00:18:05,280 He actually does the opposite. He delegates full power and 319 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:08,280 authority for them to rule. He is the complete opposite of a 320 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:12,000 narcissist. He he never says anywhere in 321 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,840 Genesis one that the the reason humans exist is to worship him. 322 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:19,040 He says the reason humans exist is to represent him in ruling. 323 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:22,400 It couldn't be more opposite. So is he insecure? 324 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,760 He's completely secure. He speaks 10 royal words of 325 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:28,520 creation, of which this is the 10th. 326 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:32,960 And and life happens because he he is so secure in his authority 327 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,160 that that life just flows out of his words. 328 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:39,960 And is he out to harm us? I think that's the big thing we 329 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:42,640 need to have a mindset change of repentance on. 330 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:47,560 Is God out to harm us? No, the very first thing he says 331 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:50,520 about what he wants of humanity is our flourishing and our 332 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:53,640 repentance is to get back there. Because the lie we all 333 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:56,760 fundamentally believe is he's a narcissist, he's insecure, and 334 00:18:56,760 --> 00:18:58,560 at some level he's just against us. 335 00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:02,440 We kind of have this existential angst that God somehow against 336 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:03,800 us. Everyone you meet, everywhere 337 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:08,440 you meet, they're just like, I can't feel God's fullness for 338 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:10,880 me. That's the problem. 339 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:13,200 That's the for the failure, whatever you want to call it, 340 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:14,800 whatever language you put around it. 341 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:18,280 And our repentance, our mindset change, or as Paul would say, an 342 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:22,600 upgrade in our thinking is, is to kind of agree with reality 343 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:26,320 that he shares power. He's delegated power to us and 344 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:29,800 he, he is fully for our flourishing, every single one of 345 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:32,360 us, every human we will ever meet, the person in front of us. 346 00:19:32,360 --> 00:19:35,640 That is exactly what he says about them and anything else is 347 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:44,320 a lie of the enemy. So what's really interesting 348 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:52,880 about this the word is the same word image is used in Exodus in 349 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:57,200 the 10 commandments is used here in another words, what the 350 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:01,280 writer, what Exodus God is saying through Moses in Exodus 351 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,160 is that don't. Do not worship or bow down or 352 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:08,920 make another image and sorry, make an image and bow down and 353 00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:11,600 worship it because you are the image of God. 354 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:16,240 You are the image of God. We are already images. 355 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:19,360 He doesn't need another image. He made an image and that's us. 356 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:23,800 We are the full representation of God in human form. 357 00:20:24,080 --> 00:20:26,480 That, that, that human we can come across. 358 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:31,480 And so when we make an image and we bow down and worship it, we 359 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:33,160 violate ourselves and other people. 360 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:37,480 We dehumanise ourselves because our humanity is image bearers. 361 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:44,440 And that that is the point that the that Genesis is making about 362 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:48,080 us, that Exodus is making about us, but really lands with with 363 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:52,480 Jesus and Paul. So Jesus says something really 364 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:58,360 interesting. We are not to worship other 365 00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:00,440 images because we are the image of God. 366 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:06,880 So Jesus says something, if you've seen me, you've seen the 367 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,960 Father. What he's saying is somewhere 368 00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:12,760 along the line, that image bearing, because of the lie we 369 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:14,760 believe, we've dehumanised ourselves. 370 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:17,360 We've sort of marred that image. That image isn't full. 371 00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:20,680 We can't really see who God is in looking at one another. 372 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:25,440 But Jesus, that Jesus came in the flesh to show us what God is 373 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:29,160 like, that's the gift of incarnation is we can now fully 374 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:32,680 see our humanity again and we can fully see God again in the 375 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:35,840 person of Jesus. And Paul really captures up on 376 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:37,920 this language. The only image language in the 377 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,520 New Testament is from Paul. Jesus is the image of the 378 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:44,560 invisible God, the first born over all creation. 379 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:47,680 That image bearer in Genesis 1, the male and female partnering 380 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:50,760 together to rule over all creation is Christ and the 381 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:52,560 church. It's a it's a prophetic 382 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:58,520 messianic text that we fulfil and he invites us in to 383 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:02,600 recovering the full, our full humanity, recovering that full 384 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:18,940 image bearing status. When Jesus talks about being 385 00:22:18,940 --> 00:22:23,380 with the Father, we've learnt from John 1, he talks about 386 00:22:23,380 --> 00:22:27,760 being face to face with God. And what's really interesting, I 387 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:30,720 didn't I didn't pull this out, but the kind of the the Hebrew 388 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:34,000 sense in the first commandment says you have ought to have no 389 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:38,080 other gods before my face. That's the kind of the word that 390 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:40,160 she used there in the commandment we've just been to. 391 00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:47,200 So what what Jesus is is fulfilling is the image of this 392 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:51,000 incredible intimacy with God that we're designed to have. 393 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:56,760 No other thing, person, object is supposed to have our gaze, 394 00:22:57,400 --> 00:22:59,720 our insight, our attention, our attraction. 395 00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:06,400 It it is, it is Jesus is face to face with the Father and we're 396 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:08,960 invited into that place where he is. 397 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:13,760 We are face to face with him with the Father that that's the 398 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:20,120 place of clarity of humanity. And that's what he's inviting us 399 00:23:20,120 --> 00:23:24,200 into when he says don't make any other image, you are the image 400 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:27,000 in me. You come back to that place of 401 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,120 intimacy with God, of being face to face with the Father. 402 00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:38,560 So we don't worship God to make him feel good because he needs 403 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:39,960 our help. He's a bit threatened, He's a 404 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,400 bit insecure. We worship him to become 405 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:49,200 ourselves, to become fully human, to be the image bearers 406 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:55,160 we were designed to be. A helpful kind of Jewish scholar 407 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:58,480 reading these texts talks about the explicit meaning of the 10 408 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:00,280 commandments and the implicit meaning. 409 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,840 So the explicit meaning of Commandment 1 and 2 is worship 410 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:05,920 God only. That's what it's explicitly 411 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:08,720 saying. But the implicit meaning is, and 412 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:12,400 this is my attempt to communicate the implicit 413 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:14,480 meaning. Reality is God. 414 00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:17,200 He creates and sustains all things. 415 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:20,160 To worship Him is to agree with reality. 416 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:24,080 When we do not worship Him, we will worship created things that 417 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:26,840 He has made. This worship will involve 418 00:24:26,840 --> 00:24:30,200 practises that deform, dehumanise and ultimately 419 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:31,960 destroy both ourselves and others. 420 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:34,480 When we worship God, we become fully human. 421 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:40,160 I get there because I've had a personal encounter with a God 422 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:42,440 who is good and loves me and wants my humanity. 423 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,400 That's how I can get there. I don't have that. 424 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:47,160 And then I have an experience of God. 425 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,240 We need to experience God and then have language to 426 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:53,760 communicate it. Otherwise we end up having a 427 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:57,480 mindset like that. That anonymous person that put 428 00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:00,520 that quote out on Instagram that I imagine came out of 429 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:03,960 unbelievable wounding because he knew too much. 430 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:09,240 He knew too much about what could go wrong. 431 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:25,360 So in in in the second commandment talks about serving 432 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:28,920 God. So what does it actually mean to 433 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:33,080 worship God? We don't ever I've, I've only 434 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:37,080 seen one person who I think does this and I've never seen anyone 435 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:41,280 in the West prostate themselves on the floor and worship 436 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:43,880 something like a statue, an image of being. 437 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:48,080 Obviously I've seen it, you know, in, in visual media and 438 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:50,280 I've seen it in other cultures, but I've never seen that. 439 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:53,560 So what does that mean to us? That we do not prostate 440 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,920 ourselves in front of any person or statue. 441 00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:00,880 We just don't do that. What does it actually mean to 442 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:03,840 worship? Well, the word is the same, 443 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:06,840 serve is the same as work or cultivate. 444 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:11,080 So I think what it's saying is not about prostrating yourself 445 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:14,080 in front of something or someone or God, as it's an invisible 446 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:18,600 entity, but it's about cultivation, caring, tending, 447 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:22,240 like you're being called to look after a fruit tree. 448 00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:30,680 And Jesus modelled this perfectly everywhere he went. 449 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:33,600 He healed for people, he provided for people, he taught 450 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:36,480 them, he built relationships, he pruned people where they weren't 451 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,880 in in reality. And he, he was just gently 452 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:44,400 tending and restoring our humanity in the, in the Bible, 453 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:46,600 often humans and trees are interchangeable. 454 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:50,200 So how you look at trees is, is a way of, of psychologically 455 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:51,520 understanding what humans are like. 456 00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:57,840 And so how we treat each other is with the care and 457 00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:02,960 attentiveness of a very good, kind gardener. 458 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:05,880 That's how God has designed us to love each other. 459 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:08,400 Well, because that's how he loves us. 460 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:12,000 And that's what it looks like to worship him, to care for each 461 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,320 other and tend for each other, for one another's human 462 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:16,680 flourishing. That is an act of worship 463 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:18,520 because that's recovering the image of God. 464 00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:24,240 That's what Jesus is like. Now there's that complex. 465 00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:31,640 I'll go back to that you shall not make for yourself an image. 466 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:34,760 So we're the images in the form of anything in heaven or on 467 00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,920 earth or beneath the earth. You shall bow, not bow down to 468 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:39,800 them or worship. So I was trying to explain that 469 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:42,680 word worship them for there I the Lord your God am a jealous 470 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:45,600 God visiting the children for the sin of the parents to the 471 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:48,520 third and 4th generation of those who hate me, but showing 472 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:50,720 love to 1000 generations of those who love me. 473 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:53,840 I would love to do AQ and a bit on how we would then interpret 474 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:57,640 this through the two lenses, but I'm going to ask people maybe to 475 00:27:57,640 --> 00:27:59,800 do that in your groups, if you're going to process this, 476 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,760 what are the two ways you would interpret that if if you had a 477 00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:07,360 very negative experience of God versus a positive experience? 478 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:13,200 So I'm going to say the framing lens for me is that to the third 479 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,680 and 4th generation was a typical multi multi generational 480 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:18,920 household in an ancient Israelite family. 481 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:23,440 Like that's basically saying everyone if, if there's idolatry 482 00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:25,880 in one person, if you're dehumanising and destroying, 483 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,040 having practises which, which are sabotaging you, it will 484 00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:30,680 sabotage everyone in your community. 485 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:34,760 I see this as simply like, this is the way life is. 486 00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:38,560 We see addictions, we see practises, we see strongholds. 487 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:41,600 They do play out generationally in families. 488 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,680 It's incredibly hard to understand that for the children 489 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:47,000 and grandchildren, great transchildren, but it is the 490 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:50,360 reality. And one of the ways the biblical 491 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:54,120 authors talk about they don't actually have there isn't really 492 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:58,360 a notion of punishment. It's a notion of consequences to 493 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:02,200 call people to repentance through their own free will, so 494 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:05,200 that if you see the consequences of your actions enough and you 495 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:07,600 keep paying attention to the patterns that are destroying 496 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:10,640 you, at some point you come to a clarity where you don't want to 497 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,440 live like that anymore and you want to come back and follow 498 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:15,640 Jesus. And then you want that for your 499 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:18,640 children and grandchildren. And if you are the child or 500 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:22,360 grandchild or great grandchild of people in addiction and 501 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:24,840 you've had that kind of passed down, we all will have had some 502 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:26,960 are more socially acceptable than others, but we'll all have 503 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:30,120 patterns passed down. We can be the ones to say and we 504 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:33,400 will, we can process this. I just break that generational 505 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:37,680 pattern in my life of idolatry and addiction and sabotage. 506 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:40,880 And I'm going to walk in the opposite spirit of, of being 507 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:44,520 fully human and of worshipping God in the way he's, he's called 508 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:46,760 me to. So I think it's not saying 509 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:48,880 anything other than this is the way life is. 510 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:52,200 If you worship idols, there will be consequences not just for 511 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:53,960 you, but for your children, grandchildren and great 512 00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:57,200 grandchildren. And for us, it's 50% of us live 513 00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:00,240 in, in single households. It's not saying that kind of 514 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:01,800 generation. It's just saying it will, it 515 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:05,480 will pollute and, and bring toxicity to your community. 516 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:10,440 It just will like a like a fruit tree brings rotten fruit or good 517 00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:15,520 fruit. But the word 1000 is the idea of 518 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:18,800 eternal, everlasting complete fulfilment. 519 00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:22,920 The comparison between those consequences which he gives us 520 00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:25,720 for a season to bring us to repentance compared to the 521 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:35,000 overwhelming eternal substantial has said faithful love for us is 522 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:40,200 is incomparable. There is nothing like the the 523 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:44,480 the the larger narrative of unbelievable grace and mercy 524 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:48,920 towards every human, even those of us who are carrying the 3rd 525 00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:52,360 and the 4th generation. We're all scooped up in this 526 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:58,880 incredible love for us and love for humanity because Jesus took 527 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:02,400 on the fullness of our humanity, because he took on the sins of 528 00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:05,120 the 3rd and 4th generation. He took it all on him in 529 00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:08,000 himself. He was born into it and he broke 530 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:11,240 the power of it. And now we all get to experience 531 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:15,400 what he experiences, which is the he has a love for the 532 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:17,240 Father. We enter into the love that 533 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:21,000 Jesus has for the Father and we receive the love for 1000 534 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:23,080 generations for those who love him. 535 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:25,880 That's the incarnation. That's the gift of incarnation 536 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:30,560 is we, we've moved our status. We are now in Christ who did 537 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:34,160 fulfil everything. He did everything blamelessly 538 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,480 and righteously, and so he showed love. 539 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:40,680 Jesus. God shows love to 1000 540 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,360 generations of Jesus and those who love Him and keep its 541 00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:46,960 commands and in him. All of humanity is invited into 542 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:51,360 that eternal love. So when you have the lens of 543 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:55,080 knowing God's good, everything changes and how you understand 544 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:58,400 that and then you then what's exciting is there's an 545 00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:01,840 invitation to get free of those generational patterns that feels 546 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:06,240 a compelling and exciting idea. We suddenly do not think God's 547 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:09,080 wanting to take from us, but he's wanting to heal us and give 548 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:12,000 to us because we see his goodness. 549 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:17,200 So my repentance, because I'm working through this myself as 550 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:19,680 well, is remember how I talked about the beginning, a little 551 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:23,600 detail in my own life where God really cared about this, The 552 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:28,200 fact I started some studies and I needed provision and after the 553 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:31,880 kind of last minute, he provided everything I needed and really 554 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:35,880 showed me his love. Through doing that, I'm now an 555 00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:41,080 image bearer of him to those around me and he's my repentance 556 00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:44,720 is is kind of stepping into the reality of how he's made me to 557 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:48,000 be. So one of the ways that I I 558 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,440 fail, I'd fall short of bearing the image is paying attention to 559 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:56,520 the details of people's lives. And so I struggle with that's 560 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:01,520 always a bit cringy when you bring it into light, noticing 561 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:05,000 the plants in our garden. I am married to someone who's 562 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:10,000 the most incredible gardener, and it takes me so many years to 563 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:15,320 just clock the plants in front of me and what he's done and how 564 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:18,640 amazing that is. So my repentance, becoming more 565 00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:22,200 of an image bearer looks like paying attention to the detail 566 00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:25,680 of that, getting the right size clothes for our children. 567 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:28,760 I'm a bit vague. I'm like, you look a bit like 568 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:30,400 Harry Potter, but I don't worry you. 569 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:32,240 It's a Cape. You'll grow into it in five 570 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:33,960 years time. And they're just like, yeah, but 571 00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:36,200 I've left home in five years time. 572 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:41,160 So can I not have an oversized outfit or just like making more 573 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:43,840 of an effort with cooking family meals? 574 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:46,440 Just it's, it's extra mild stuff. 575 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:48,160 It's paying attention to the details. 576 00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:51,400 And that's what I'm breaking generational patterns in my 577 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:55,320 family's life, which is much more like macro and big thinking 578 00:33:55,320 --> 00:34:01,640 and like moving into how God is he's, he's kind and caring for 579 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:04,160 the details. And I'd break that generational 580 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:06,280 pattern off. So this can be really small and 581 00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:08,120 really subtle. And it's just what God's putting 582 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:12,080 his finger off finger on in my, in our lives. 583 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:14,719 But I don't want this to just be information. 584 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:17,199 Like at the end of two years, we've kind of know all the 10 585 00:34:17,199 --> 00:34:20,080 commandments of my heart. I want this to be transformation 586 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:22,520 that by the end of this, you'll see that every command is 587 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:24,360 basically the same, the same thing. 588 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:27,600 Just be fully human. Just be fully human. 589 00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:30,040 But it's coming at it from multiple angles. 590 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:33,480 And by the end of it, I would love us all to be full more in 591 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:37,199 the in the humanity of Christ, in God. 592 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:43,639 So our response, Oh, let's just say that again, because that's 593 00:34:43,639 --> 00:34:46,719 the main point, isn't it? We are not to worship other 594 00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:49,280 images because we are the image of God. 595 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:56,440 How do we recognise the ways we're not? 596 00:34:56,440 --> 00:34:58,840 We're resisting bearing the image of God in our life. 597 00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:02,520 This is where we have community and we ask God to speak and to 598 00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:05,960 show us patterns in our life. And it's always patterns. 599 00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:09,560 One offs are one offs. But if we, if we continually, 600 00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:14,480 perpetually are acting in a certain way, that pattern is not 601 00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:16,560 freedom. And that's what we want is to 602 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:19,160 have freedom from that pattern and a pattern that represents 603 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:22,000 the pattern of Jesus who would walk in the opposite spirit. 604 00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:25,440 So firstly, we ask him to show us where we resist bearing his 605 00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:28,040 image. We have a real value on 606 00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:31,480 curiosity here, a really high value on saying why? 607 00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:34,640 Why do I do that? Like why have I got this pattern 608 00:35:34,640 --> 00:35:36,880 in my life? And asking God to just surely 609 00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:39,760 heal us, it will be a lie we believe about the nature of his 610 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:44,520 love for us or sin comes out of not believing his love for us, 611 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:46,720 whether it's generational, personal. 612 00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:49,920 And so we're curious about that and we ask God for healing. 613 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:52,960 That's a repentance. It's a mindset change out of not 614 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:54,480 knowing we're loved to knowing we're loved. 615 00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:57,480 Then we receive God's forgiveness. 616 00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:00,440 And it's really important we do the sometimes the biggest 617 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:03,360 forgiveness issue we have is forgiving ourselves. 618 00:36:03,640 --> 00:36:07,480 It's just I, I just let myself go and I move on into the new 619 00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:10,080 life God has for me. We rebuke because we believe 620 00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:14,000 there's two realms and and we're a post in this that that image 621 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:15,680 is right there in the garden narratives. 622 00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:18,320 There's an enemy out to lie to us about the nature of God. 623 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:21,320 And so we have to be vigilant and take authority over any 624 00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:24,760 spirits that that lie to us about who God is and what he's 625 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:28,680 like and, and bring any shame and condemnation and none of 626 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:31,440 that has any territory or legal top offs in our life. 627 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:34,320 So we just, we rebuke those spirits in the name of Jesus. 628 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:37,240 And then we ask of what a replacement looks like. 629 00:36:37,240 --> 00:36:39,280 And I gave a really practical example in my life. 630 00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:41,600 It is really practical. It's practical enough for you to 631 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:43,880 say to someone that you're doing life with and walking with. 632 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:46,000 This is how I'm walking out my repentance. 633 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:48,680 So for me, it's I'm paying attention to details in these 634 00:36:48,680 --> 00:36:50,200 ways. I'm looking at plants in the 635 00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:51,760 garden. I'm getting the right size 636 00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:55,640 uniform and I'm making more of an effort with putting spices in 637 00:36:55,720 --> 00:36:57,960 to our family meals because no one's three anymore. 638 00:36:57,960 --> 00:36:59,960 They're all teenagers and they want a lot of spices. 639 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,120 So that's what I'm doing. That's my repentance, to be more 640 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:06,360 in the image of God and move out of a kind of inattention to 641 00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:09,720 detail and to be a person of love who has paid attention to 642 00:37:09,720 --> 00:37:16,040 detail. So worshipping God is not for 643 00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:19,480 his benefit. He doesn't need any. 644 00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:21,840 He's full and complete within the self giving love of the 645 00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:23,640 Trinity. He doesn't need us to worship 646 00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:25,920 him. It is for our benefit. 647 00:37:27,240 --> 00:37:30,480 It allows us to flourish, love others, and live fully human 648 00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:34,280 lives. So we I'm going to end now in 649 00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:38,920 prayer and I'm going to e-mail out some questions people can do 650 00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:44,880 in groups that they're people they're walking with and we can 651 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:48,520 keep kind of processing what it looks like to bear God's image. 652 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:52,440 So we don't worship other images because we are the image of God. 653 00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:59,320 Lord, I thank you so much that you dignify us so much by saying 654 00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:05,480 we are we are the image of God on earth and your ways are make 655 00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:10,640 us fully human. We when we follow you, we become 656 00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:15,520 who we're truly designed to be. And so I bless us as a community 657 00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:19,880 to be formed into your image. I bless us as a community to 658 00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:22,920 represent you well. I bless us as a community to 659 00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:25,960 come to that place of intimacy, of being face to face with you 660 00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:29,560 as you are with the Father. And there's nothing else in 661 00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:33,760 front of our face but you. You, you have our our gaze and 662 00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:37,880 our attention. And I, I bless us as a community 663 00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:41,920 to be formed in that, in the name of Jesus, Amen.