God Gave
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Hey everybody my name’s Louis I’m the lead teaching pastor here at City Awakening, it’s great to be with you this morning. Today we’re continuing our series called God So Loved, which is about a gift that changed the world, it’s about the gift of Jesus. Christmas is about the gift of Jesus, it’s about a time in history when Jesus chose to enter human creation as our Savior, and in this series we’re studying the famous words of Jesus that we see sports fans holding up at sporting events, it’s his words from John 3:16. Jesus said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life,” and like I said last week I’m taking parts of John 3:16, linking it with Old Testament History so we can see how much God loves the world from a historical perspective, then on Christmas Eve I’ll break down John 3:16 in much greater detail. So I want to highly encourage you to not miss Christmas Eve, and to take the invite cards on your seats to invite some of your friends and family. It’ll be a great message, a great service, a great night so don’t miss it.
Now as for today, we’re gonna talk about God’s provision. We’re gonna talk about God’s provision for our lives, by provision I mean how God provides for our needs, and we all have them. Everybody in this room has needs. Some of you have job needs, education needs, financial needs...Some of you have relational needs, physical health needs, mental and emotional health needs...Christian or not, everybody in this room has needs. What are those needs for you?..What are those needs for you, what are some of the needs in your life right here, right now?..Whatever those needs are, today we’re gonna talk about God’s provision over those needs, and how God can provide for us regardless of the need, regardless of the situation we’re facing in life. So let’s turn to John 3:16 and get into it. We’ll start in John 3:16, but spend most of our time in Genesis 22:1-19. The title of today’s message is God Gave. God so loved the world, that He gave, and here’s the big idea. God gave and still gives to the world, the gift of salvation through Jesus. If Jesus can provide for our salvation, He can provide for every situation...If Jesus can provide for our salvation, He can provide for every situation. I’ll give you some context as we go.
The Word:
John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” God so loved the world, that he GAVE, his only son, and like I said last week Jesus isn’t saying this as a kind pleasantry, he’s actually in the middle of a conversation with a guy named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a very religious guy, he was a Pharisee, which was a Jewish religious leader kind of like a pastor, and being a Jewish Pharisee he would’ve expected Jesus to say God so loved the Jews, not God so loved the world. But Jesus is teaching Nicodemus that God’s love was always intended to spread beyond the Jews to the world. Now when Jesus says God so loved the world that he gave his only son, a Jewish leader like Nicodemus would’ve connected that with Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22. It’s an easy connection for him to make, just like it’s an easy connection for me to ask Orlando people who the Undefeated National Champions are in NCAA Football? It’s UCF. It’s not Alabama, it’s UCF...But to see John 3:16 through the eyes of Nicodemus, we need to turn to Genesis 22:1-19. So let’s turn to Genesis 22, and as you’re turning there I’ll give you a little context.
Roughly 2,000 years before Jesus is talking with Nicodemus, God promises Abraham he’ll have descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. The problem is Abraham doesn’t have any children, and it takes 30-40 years for God to fulfill that promise. So as Abraham and his wife Sarah are waiting for that promise to be fulfilled, they get impatient, Sarah tells Abraham he should sleep with a servant girl named Hagar to have a child with her, and instead of saying the smart thing “No way boo, you’re the only one for me.” Like an idiot Abraham agrees, he sleeps with Hagar, they have a son named Ishmael, and non-spoiler alert, Sarah gets mad. Could’ve told him that was coming. Sarah gets mad, and all kinds of fights start happening between Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar. But Abraham now has a son, except that son isn’t the son God promised. The son God promised was to come through Abraham and Sarah, not Hagar. But eventually God fulfills His promise to them, they have a son named Isaac, and by the time we enter Genesis 22, scholars believe Isaac’s roughly in his 20’s. Let’s check out what happens.
Genesis 22:1-19 states this, “After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ 2 He said, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.’” Notice God says to Abraham “Take your son, your only son,” meaning the promised son Isaac. God tells Abraham to sacrifice him on an altar, and the question everybody has the first time ever reading this text is why? Why would God do that, why would God ask him to sacrifice his promised son Isaac? I’ll address that question in a little bit, but for now I want you to notice this is a story about a son...It’s a story about a son...In Genesis 22 the word “son” is used 13 different times, and when the Israelites recalled this story they would’ve identified very heavily with the son, with Isaac, because Isaac was the link between Abraham and them. Remember God promised to make Abraham’s offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky, so if Isaac died, it means Israel wouldn’t have existed today, their entire history would be erased, and it would mean God’s a liar who doesn’t fulfill His promises. Israel’s entire history and faith depends on Isaac living, not dying. This is a story about a son.
Vs. 3, “So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.” Okay so #1 this is a story about a son; #2 it’s a story about faith...It’s a story about faith...Notice the text says Abraham arrived on the third day, and can you imagine how long those 3 days must’ve been for him?..Can you imagine the feelings, the thoughts, the questions that must’ve been going through his mind during those 3 days?..The grief over having to lose his son, the questions about God’s character, the questions about his relationship with God and if he can even keep following a God who’d ask him to do such a thing...It must’ve been a very long 3 days for Abraham, and when he saw the place from afar like the text states, his heart must’ve sank. He must’ve had butterflies in his stomach, that queasy feeling you get in your stomach when you’re scared, and his legs must’ve weakened with every step he took towards Moriah. Make no mistake about it, this is a story about faith...and again we have this nagging question why? Why would God do this, why would God put him through all this? I’ll give you 2 reasons why, and it’s 2 reasons God might be testing some of your faiths today.
#1 God tests Abraham to grow his faith = God tests Abraham to grow Abraham’s faith. See for God to grow Abraham’s faith He has to put Abraham through moments of testing that’ll require him to have faith. I think this is where a lot of Christians have some work to do, because a lot of us have a comfort theology in our hearts. I mean we say we want to grow in our faith, but we don’t want to go through any uncomfortable moments of testing that’ll require us to have faith. It’s like saying you want to become physically fit, but without the uncomfortable moments of eating healthy and working out. It’s not gonna happen. In order to become physically fit you need to put down the snickerdoodle comfort foods, get off the lazyboy comfortable recliner, eat healthy, and go through some uncomfortable workouts. In a similar way if you really want to grow in your faith, you need to go through some uncomfortable workouts, some uncomfortable moments of testing that require you to have faith, that require your faith muscle to stretch so it can grow. Pastor and Scholar John Piper states, “Strange as it may seem, one of the primary purposes of being shaken by suffering is to make our faith more unshakable. Faith is like muscle tissue: if you stress it to the limit, it gets stronger, not weaker.” It’s what God’s doing with Abraham. He’s stretching Abraham’s faith, He’s testing his faith to grow it, to make it stronger.
#2 God tests Abraham to prove what Abraham treasures most in his heart = God’s testing Abraham to grow his faith, but also to prove what Abraham treasures most in his heart. When your faith is being tested, it’ll expose the treasures in your heart. For example, if you walk away from God because of health issues, it proves you treasure your health over God. If you walk away from God because of financial issues, it proves you treasure your money over God. If you walk away from God because you’re in a season of discomfort, it proves you treasure NOT God, but the comfort God can give. As soon as the comfort’s gone, so is your faith. God’s testing Abraham with the thing Abraham treasured most, his son Isaac, and sometimes God will test you with the things you treasure most. That testing isn’t to harm you, it’s to grow you in faith and in treasuring God above all else. It’s not easy City Awakening. Growing in your faith, the testing of your faith is never easy. There was nothing easy about those 3 days for Abraham, but a person’s true faith isn’t shown on the 1st day...it’s shown on the 3rd day, the hard days, the days when your faith is being uncomfortably tested. Abraham’s faith wasn’t fully shown, his faith muscle wasn’t fully stretched, until the 3rd day when he lifted up his eyes, and “saw the place from afar.”
Again vs. 4 states, “On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.’ 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, ‘My father!’ And he said, ‘Here I am, my son.’ He said, ‘Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?’ 8 Abraham said, ‘God will provide...’” That’s faith. Abraham’s proving his faith here on the 3rd day. He says “God will provide,” meaning he has faith, he has confidence God’s gonna work it all out. He doesn’t know exactly how God’s gonna do it, but he has enough faith in God to believe somehow, someway God’s gonna work it all out. In fact did you catch what Abraham said in vs. 5? He told the guys he was with that him and Isaac would “come again to you.” The phrase “come again” in Hebrew is plural, meaning “WE will come again to you.” Abraham’s like “I don’t get it! I don’t understand it! None of this makes any sense to me! But I trust God, I trust His character, I trust His promises enough to be able to say WE will come again!’” City Awakening God won’t always give you what you want or provide you with all the answers you want. But somehow, someway God WILL provide in your time of need, like Abraham declares.
Again vs. 8, “Abraham said, ‘God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.’ So they went both of them together. 9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ 12 He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.’ 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, ‘The Lord will provide;’ as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’” There it is again “The Lord will provide,” meaning it’s a story about God providing. It’s a story about a son, faith, and God providing. God’s showing Abraham, Isaac, the Israelites, and us that we can have confidence in knowing God will always provide for His people. Again this doesn’t mean God will give us what we want, when we want it, but He’ll give us exactly what we need in every situation, including death. Even in death God promises to provide by raising us from the dead so we can enjoy everlasting life with Him where the discomforts of this world will cease to exist. I know sometimes in this life God’s provisional comfort feels distant, but in eternity it’ll never feel distant. Abraham’s faith declaration was The Lord will provide, which God did, and some scholars say this became Abraham’s motto. They say he had been tested by the Lord and seen the Lord provide so much over the years, that his faith motto became The Lord will provide.
Now that type of faith motto can only come when your faith’s been tested. I’m starting to realize this the older I get. I’m starting to realize that as you get older, as you make it through years of faith stretching situations, you get to a point where you’re able to say, “I made it through the 1st day, the 2nd day, the 3rd day, I made it through so many tough days over the years, and I’ll make it through this one too. The Lord provided back then, He’ll provide today too.” As you get older your faith muscle gets tested and grown so much, that you don’t freak out as much as you used to or as long as you used to, and like Abraham your faith motto becomes “The Lord will provide.” Some of you are young in age and/or young in faith stretching experiences, and you’re freaking out over a situation you’re in right now. Trust Abraham and the older, wiser, more experienced people in our church who’ve been through some proverbial hells in life, yet have seen God continually provide. Trust them when they say “The Lord will provide,” just like younger Isaac trusted his older father when he said it. Being roughly in his 20’s, Isaac could’ve resisted his father on the altar. But he didn’t, because his faith was encouraged by his father’s faith, to where he’s now trusting the Lord will provide. This is a story about God providing.
Again vs. 14, “So Abraham called the name of that place, ‘The Lord will provide;’ as it is said to this day, ‘On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.’ 15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, ‘By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.’ 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.” This is the last record we have of God speaking to Abraham, and notice what God tells him. God tells him to remember the promise that his offspring will be as numerous as the stars of heaven, and that ALL the nations of the earth will be blessed through his offspring, making this is a story about salvation for the world. It’s a story about a son, faith, God providing, and salvation for the world, which brings us back to John 3:16. See when Jesus tells Nicodemus “God so loved the world that He gave His only son,” he’s saying he’s the promised offspring of Abraham that’s come to sacrifice himself on the altar, so that all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Jesus is the sacrificial lamb in the bushes who’s willing to take our place on the altar dying the death we deserve to die for our sins, and just like God allowed Isaac to come off the altar and live, God allows us to come off the altar and live through Jesus’ death on the cross. Jesus tells Nicodemus whoever believes in that message, will not perish, but will have eternal life. He says it’s because “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son...”
The Big Idea:
Let’s have the worship team come up and get to the big idea. Here’s the big idea. God gave and still gives to the world, the gift of salvation through Jesus. If Jesus can provide for our salvation, he can provide for every situation...If Jesus can provide for our salvation, it means he can provide for every situation, and some of you sitting here today need God’s provision for your salvation. Some of you haven’t repented of your sins, you haven’t believed Jesus’ words in John 3:16, and Jesus said in order to have his provision for salvation, you have to believe what he said. If you haven’t done that already, I want to encourage you to read John 3:16 again either in your seat or at home, and tell Jesus you believe what he said so you can receive his provision for salvation. If you do that you’ll be forgiven of your sins, you’ll be able to enjoy life with Jesus now, and eternal life with him later where the discomforts of this world will cease to exist.
For those of you who’ve already done that, who’ve already received Jesus’ provision for salvation, have faith and trust that Jesus can provide for you in every situation. He can provide for you in every situation, including on your 3rd days, your hardest days, your toughest days where your legs are getting weak and your faith muscle’s really being stretched. Scholar R.C. Sproul once said, “Living by faith means that sometimes we hold on to a barren cliff, with our fingernails, with all our strength, as we trust in an invisible God.” When you’re facing a day that reflects that statement, let your faith motto be “The Lord will provide,” and hold on for dear life like Abraham. Hold on for dear life to Jesus, and trust if he can provide for your salvation...he can provide in every situation, even on your 3rd days.