Sermon Central
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A Joyous Prediction Series
Contributed by T.j. Conwell on Dec 19, 2011 (message contributor)
Summary: Continuing our Christmas series on joy we begin in Genesis Chapter 3 and follow the revelation of God, through the book of Isaiah, of the Messiah He will bring to restore His creation to Himself.
Joy Series, Part 3
Introduction
“A Joyous Prediction”
Want to share with you a photo I found this week, “King Size Bed”
- Recap of last 2 week’s messages:
- 1. What steals joy the fastest? The afflictions others bring upon us (gossip)
- We all face accusations and rumors; esp. as you do the work of the Lord
-- Don’t let the devil turn your focus from the One who commands your loyalty
- Remember that even in that, God desires our worship and our focus to be on Him
- The juicier the gossip is … the less likely it is to be true
- 2. How do I get joy?
- Jesus’ teaching in John 15:11, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you”
- We were taught these things that we might have HIS joy within us …
- Now, we have a LOT to cover this morning and prayerfully you are ready
- Open your Bibles to Genesis 3
- This morning we focus on a joyous prediction that is discussed throughout OT
- Ask yourself this, “How long does God’s promise of joy take to come true?”
- Many ask this question from day to day over every little thing; esp. in stress
- How long God … How long do I have to continue to endure this nonsense?
- How long God … How long will I have to wait for your joy to be revealed?
- How long God … How long do you plan on keeping me in suspense on this?
- All these kinds of things are asked during the Christmas season … without fail
- Things happen that enhance or tear apart our joy; but God brings joy that TOTAL
- APP: If you are a student of the Word of the Lord one thing should LEAP out
-- The word of God revealed a promise for thousands of years; and it came true
- We talked in our Genesis study that everything God created was good
-- Nothing however, was created to just be the be all end all; but created to glorify
-- The first two chapters of Genesis show us a perfection of creation; the garden
-- It is a peace that we can’t imagine today: Hebrew word here is “Shalom”
- And then, we see that sin enters and literally shatters the perfection of creation
-- This sin breaks apart everything including every our relationship with God
-- Instead of finding joy in the Creator; we are drawn to the creation FOR our joy
- For example, instead of finding joy in God because He created the food we have
-- We find joy in the food just because it tastes good and we want more of it
-- This leads to gluttony and our getting fat and happy based on our own desires
-- It is in this simple example that we can see how far we have fallen and failed
- This, in essence, brings us to the focus of our message today; God’s ultimate joy
- This morning we will walk through the OT and show the revelation of true joy
- Pray
Point 1 – The Prophecy Begins
- Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
- God reveals that a man will be born who will crush the work of evil
-- Nothing more is revealed here, only that a man will be born to crush
- Now, this is about as broad as we can get – every man here was born of woman
- The generalities are really broad; but God’s word speaks very clearly
- He will bring forth a man to undo what evil has now destroyed (creation = good)
- Turn to Genesis 12
Point 2 – The Lineage Revealed
- Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
- When it comes to all that is done that ruined the relationship, God reveals a fact:
- God will bring a blessing through Abram to resolve this fractured relationship
- He will bring forth a man that will be a descendant of Abraham
- Something critical here: anything out of the line of Abraham will be a … Jew
- So we know now that the revelation of this man to be born is of Jewish descent
- Turn to Genesis 17
Point 3 – He will come from Kings
- God’s promise to Abram …
- Genesis 17:6-8, “I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”
