INTRODUCTION
In the last lesson, we saw how Satan, indwelling a serpent, tempted the woman to eat of the fruit of the tree that God had warned them not to eat from. We saw how both Satan and the woman and Adam rationalized their sin—for instance: by blaming others or by making God out to be the bad guy. Now we see the results of their sin and the promise of atonement.
INTRODUCTION
I want to talk about rationalizations. A rationalization is an excuse or reason why we do something, in particular, something that we shouldn’t do. A common rationalization that we use is the “ends justify the means.” Using that one rationalization alone we can easily justify any sin, whether it be stealing, lying, or even murder.
Genesis 3:1-13 is full of rationalizations. We’ll break it down into roughly two parts: the rationalizations that lead us to sin and the rationalizations we use after we sin.
INTRODUCTION
In Genesis 24, which is the longest chapter in Genesis, and one of the longest single narratives in the Bible, we find the account of the search for a wife for Isaac. It’s so long, we won’t be able to read every verse in the time we have, so let’s start with a summary.
Abraham is 140 and Isaac is 40, and unmarried. Abraham decides to send his servant back to his homeland to seek a wife for Isaac from his family. Isaac’s wife must not come from the ungodly pagans that surround them.
The servant travels back to the town of Nahor where he prays that God would reveal the right woman with a specific sort of test—that she haul water for his camels. Providentially, Rebekah walks up and does just that.
After meeting with the family, who agrees that this must be God’s will, the servant and Rebekah (and the camels) travel back to Canaan, where Isaac marries Rebekah and loves her.
There are two main lessons I wish to draw from this chapter. One is the importance of choosing a believer to be your spouse. The second is the importance of commitment in a marriage.
Series: Uncommon Prophecies Of A Coming Savior
THE FAMILY OF THE LION
There are many prophecies of a coming Savior in the Old Testament. We are familiar with some of them 1. For example,
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, And shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)
Another from Isaiah that we all know is–
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
These are the “Christmas Card” prophecies of Christ. They are well-known and well-loved…they are common.
In this series of sermons, however, we are going to consider the uncommon prophecies of a coming Savior. You don’t find them on Christmas cards. In fact, you may not have even realized some of them were prophecies of the coming Messiah.
20150920FBCAM
Levi Durfey
INTRODUCTION
There’s a book about a boy named Alexander who had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Alexander tells about the day himself. Let me read part of what he says about his bad day…
I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there’s gum in my hair and when I got out of bed this morning, I tripped on the skateboard and…
At breakfast Anthony found a Corvette Sting Ray car kit in his breakfast cereal box and Nick found a Junior Undercover Agent code ring in his breakfast cereal box, but in my breakfast cereal box all I found was breakfast cereal.
I think I’ll move to Australia…
I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
At school Mrs. Dickens liked Paul’s picture of the sailboat better than my picture of the invisible castle.
At singing time she said I sang too loud. At counting time she said I left out sixteen. Who needs sixteen?
I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
I could tell because Paul said I wasn’t his best friend anymore. He said that Philip Parker was his best friend and Albert Moyo was his next best friend and that I was only his third best friend.
I hope you sit on a tack, I said to Paul. I hope the next time you get a double-decker strawberry ice cream cone the ice cream part falls off the cone part and lands in Australia.
There were two cupcakes in Philip Parker’s lunch bag and Albert got a Hershey bar with almonds and Paul’s mother gave him a piece of jelly roll that had little coconut sprinkles on the top. Guess whose mother forgot to put in dessert?
It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
That’s what it was, because after school my mom took us all to the dentist and Dr. Fields found a cavity just in me. Come back next week and I’ll fix it, said Dr. Fields.
Next week, I said, I’m going to Australia…
When we picked up my dad at his office he said I couldn’t play with his copying machine, but I forgot. He also said to watch out for the books on his desk, and I was careful as could be except for my elbow. He also said don’t fool around with his phone, but I think I called Australia. My dad said please don’t pick him up anymore.
It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
There were lima beans for dinner and I hate lima beans. There was kissing on TV and I hate kissing.
My bath was too hot, I got soap in my eyes, my marble went down the drain, and I had to wear my railroad-train pajamas. I hate my railroad-train pajamas.
When I went to bed Nick took back the pillow he said I could keep and the Mickey Mouse nightlight burned out and I bit my tongue…
It has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. My mom says some days are like that. Even in Australia.
Why are there days like that? Why do we have, like Alexander did, problems with relationships and problems that just seem to happen to us, like getting a cavity? Why are things so bad in the world?
