The Old Testament Part 1 #1

The rain forest looking to Jesus phone number for the sins of mankind separated us from God, but he was not his finest creation die without hope. Be put in motion a plan to redeem those that believe in the value of a great set of Jesus on the cross, begins from the movie church is running with one teaching sauce make cross the line when people attend the play program there given outlines the sequence of play overall direction. You will be taking this series will day, but we're going to be doing is showing how that God had a plan began. Of course, in the book of Genesis and it goes through all the way to the book of Revelation and what unifies the plan is the doctrine of redemption. Many people read the Bible in segments and of course all of us do that. But this is an opportunity for us to see the panorama to see the big picture to see the drama of redemption.

I need to tell you that this is one of our most popular series and I'll let you know right now that it's available to you either as a DVD or CD for a gift of any amount. Here's what you can do. Go to RTW offer.com that's RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Now let us think carefully about the drama of redemption. The big picture in God's economy.

The Bible is a very remarkable, on the one hand it's rather simple. I mean we know all of the promises of the favorite passages of after that we have been we go back to those again and again. On the other hand, the Bible is very complicated, especially the Old Testament because neither the Old Testament nor the New Testament.

The books of the Bible are not in chronological order so you begin to read it.

It becomes a formidable task to put it all together is something like a puzzle and you have all of the pieces but if you don't have the big picture on the box. You don't know where they get. You might benefit from it, but how much better if you can see the whole picture. The whole drama of redemption. There are many reasons why most Christians have never read through the Bible.

One is they began and often times this is done at the beginning of the year, though it doesn't have to start at that time and that they say to themselves, I'm going to read the Bible through, and they get through Genesis they get through Exodus Exodus is very difficult because all of those chapters about the priests in the temple and become so difficult and then they get to Leviticus and in Leviticus many well-intentioned Christian decided to stop never going to happen again after this message, I assure you, you'll never stop in Leviticus again and so they don't go on. Another reason is because if they miss once they say to themselves, or they get behind and they're not reading the Bible for a week. They say well you know I have to wait until next year to start again. Don't do that, pick up where you left off.

And if you do that you even if you take two or three years to go through the Bible go through it, read it all and the best way to do it is to read five chapters a day and if you read five chapters a day. On some days when you have to skip or you forget or doesn't work out, you're not going to be far behind because actually four chapters a day would get you through it perfectly fine. Now the Bible is such a remarkable transforming book. I don't have this, but you want to take notes right now. Grab your pen because I'm going to give you three questions you should always ask as you sit down to read the Bible because when you're finished reading it. You should take something from it something that you can think about all day. Now that you have your pen handy. Let me give you the three questions. Question number one is does this teach me anything about God. What does it teach me about God. Number two is there a promise that I must believe and number three is is there a command that I must obey.

What does it teach me about God. Is there a promise I must believe it. Is there a command I must obey you want to be able to answer at least one of those questions. Hopefully all three.

After you had your morning reading the Bible is going to change you some of you one day I was struggling with my thought life and I said, Lord, why do I struggle so much and just like that the verse of Scripture came to me from John 15 now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word and it dawned on me. I wasn't in the word because the word cleanses the word keeps us the word guides us. This is what the Bible says about itself and how true it is the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart the commandment of the Lord is pure and righteous altogether more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold, even at $1100 an ounce more. Are they to be desired than gold Haven much fine gold sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned and in keeping them there is great reward. You are going to be changed, you're going to be transformed because everybody unless you're a child, everybody, let's just all agree that we're going to read our Bibles from cover to cover. How many of you say yes we are agreed that I see her hands place all right in the rest of you. May you not sleep well until until you agree that what I'm going to do in the next two messages is to cover the entire Old Testament today were going to look at more than a thousand years of interesting history, not boring history, but interesting history and in order for us to do it and in order for us to have all the books of the Bible put together for us. You have a chart today in your bulletin and I want you to take it out. At this time this chart was lovingly prepared by the pastoral staff.

It is a very special chart.

It has been worked on for hours and this chart will enable you in your reading to know where the various books fit.

Please don't leave it in your bulletin put it in your Bible and bring it for the next three Sundays after this Sunday because were going to spend two on the Old Testament two on the new. The last one in the new is in 30 minutes I'm going to take you through entirely the book of Revelation in 30 minutes were going to dissected put it in its context, and you will be blessed so today we begin the Old Testament, we begin with the book of Genesis. Now many of you may not realize that the book of Job is one of the oldest books of the Bible and that's why on your chart you'll notice it is concurrent with the Genesis. The way in which to read this chart is to understand that there are books that carry the Bible story line forward and then there are lots of supporting books.

They support the story line and it's all worked out for you on this chart.

So let's begin with the book of Genesis. Genesis 11 in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth in those 10 words, the whole basis of science is evident in the beginning time, God personality created is force the heavens referred to space, the earth matter. Everything is there and what does it tell us about God.

It tells us that he is self existent. It tells us that he is sovereign. He created out of nothing. It also tells us that everything is created by God and is going to be for his glory and were going to see that we are part of the Bible story. The bigger story of the glory of God and his purposes. The other day someone asked me who created the devil.

The answer is God.

Now he was in the devil.

When God created him.

He was an angel. But he fell and became the devil. But there is nothing that exists that doesn't exist under God's sovereign control and it's not about you and it's not about me it's about him. Thankfully, because of his grace, we fit into the pick.

So first of all you have creation, then you have the fall in Genesis chapter 3, and what a tragedy that is if you don't understand the fall of man into sin you're going to be off base. As you read the rest of the Bible God takes sin seriously, and because it is against him.

He has been grievously offended. Steve Mason, one of our pastors uses this illustration to get throw a snowball at your brother, you probably won't be arrested but it is no throw a snowball at the President of the United States, you're in trouble.

The sin of the garden of Eden where Adam and Eve opted for independence. That sin is grievous and as a result, it was as if they hit a string of dominoes and you think of all of the things that happened because they decided self-determination and you see the rest of the story of history and of psychology is basically mankind finding some way to minimize and manage the grievous notice of his sin, and sin is going to be the issue that God is going to deal with in the rest of the Bible so that we can be reconciled to a holy God, what a story it is.

That's why I'm so glad you're listening now I am going to ask you to turn to one verse of Scripture only one and that is in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 I won't refer to it.

That is to say I won't turn to it because I think I do know it by memory. But in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 God says this to the serpent. Remember, Satan came to Adam and Eve in the guise of the serpent God says I will put enmity between thee and the woman between thy seed and her seed and he shall crush you on the head and you shall nip his heel. What Jesus is saying there what God is saying is that every Diemer is going to come through the seed of a woman who's going to crush the serpent's head and it was going to be the means of our reconciliation, and now the rest of the Bible story line is going to be the outworking of how all that is going to happen in history. So what we have now is creation. We have the fall which is huge.

And then comes the flood because God said I will not endlessly strive with man in his wickedness man left to himself will perform every imaginable kind of evil. And that's what the Bible says happened there in the book of Genesis and God decided to drown everyone except Noah and Noah and his family is there in the ark, and that arc really becomes already a picture of redemption. The Scripture says in Genesis 614 that when Noah built the ark. He he had pitch put on a pitch is Tamar and what he did as he tired all of the boards so that it would leak and the word pitch in Hebrew has the very same route it means to cover. It is the very same route as the word atonement because you see it is the pitch that prevented the judgment of God, namely the water from coming into the ark and drowning them as well and it is the atonement that God is going to provide that is going to keep us from his judgment so that we will not fall into the condemnation but can be reconciled to a holy God. And so you have the flood.

After that, as you look in the book of Genesis. Now we're in chapter 12, you have the call of Abraham. Abraham is in Ur of the Chaldees and did being a nerd. He comes to the land that we call the land of Israel.

This land is going to be the one that is going to be the place for the whole drama of redemption is going to be acted out. It's the most important piece of real estate in the whole world and still is, because here eventually the Redeemer is going to be born, and salvation is going to come. Now God said to Abraham is that Abraham I'm going to make of you a great nation, and he says also through you all the families of the earth will be blessed so the seed of the woman is now being clarified that it's going to come through the lineage of Abraham by God's sovereign choice. So you have Abraham and Deb.

He's in the land you have Abraham you have Isaac and then you have Jacob, and Jacob has a number of sons and one of them by the name of Joseph goes into the land of Egypt, and eventually as Joseph goes into the land of Egypt, and I assume you know the story. Joseph now becomes the means that God will use to get the whole family. The whole family of Jacob into the land of Egypt, and there over a period of 400 years they will become an nation and they are going to experience hardship in the Pharaoh is going to work against them.

But God is developing them, and God is leading them so that leads us now to the end of the book of Genesis, Exodus, is the next book in Exodus, God raises up a deliverer by the name of Moses and Moses comes and in the book of Exodus, there are two marvelous examples of redemption. But God has the first example of redemption is of course the Passover as they come out of Egypt. The Passover is going to become now the type of God's spiritual deliverance and so they leave Egypt and they come into the promised land though takes them a while to get there and that Passover is going to become critical in the life of the nation, and centuries later, Jesus is going to have the Passover with the disciples and then healed invested with new meaning and say this cup is the cup of the new covenant in my blood.

This drink in remembrance of me and he will take the symbolism of the Passover and he will explain it in a new way because he is the fulfillment of it. And then, in addition to the Passover. You have the tabernacle. Now the tabernacle during the day. They were led by a cloud at night. They were led by a pillar of fire and as you see what happens. As all of the tents were around this tabernacle explained in the book of Exodus and the tabernacle had in it the ark because God was going to be localized in the ark, and if you get hung up in the book of Exodus, then it's important for you to realize that God is saying. Number one sin is serious and you can't handle it, but sin is serious. I will provide the way by which you can access me. People say what you know I don't like this idea that there's only one way to God, I'm sorry, but God has not consulted with you as to what your view is all that we can do is to say that this is the way in which God worked it out and thankfully Jesus becomes the fulfillment of the whole thing and so we have the book of Exodus.

Now we get to the famous book of Leviticus, the place where people diligently read and then they come across offerings and sacrifices priestly requirements and high gene ideas and commands and they come to the certain kind of cloth you know don't mix different fabrics together and they're saying what this assignment help you with Leviticus right now. First of all, always remember never open the Bible to read it unless you have first of all, prayed Psalm 119 always pray that before you open the Bible you prayer Lord, open thou mine eyes, that I might behold a wondrous thing out of thy law and there's no time when you need that more than when you enter the book of Leviticus now I need to tell you that it is okay it is okay for you to speed read some sections in the Bible. Now, for years I was bound. I was thinking what you know this is God's word. I have to read every chapter and every line when you get to books like the book of Leviticus. It is okay to read it quickly and get the gist of it without pausing to try to understand it all. I have seen Washington DC on the ground. My wife and I been there and we looked at the different buildings. As we walked through most of Washington DC. But I've also seen Washington DC from an airplane and when you see it from an airplane. It is not disrespectful to say I'm not stopping to look at all of the buildings. I'm not trying to figure out all of the things in the symbolism of what the buildings mean I'm just getting the general plan and when you come to the book of Leviticus. What you want is the general plan and you say that there were sacrifices and there were requirements and so forth. Always remember the bottom line the bottom line is this God is giving rituals in Exodus and Leviticus, he is giving rituals that enable him to dwell with his people without being contaminated with their sin, and without compromising his holiness and justice. That's the whole point and then when you read it.

Thank God for Jesus because he fulfills it all and that's why we no longer practice these rituals.

These were intended to be a picture of the real thing you know there's a big difference between having a picture of someone and then the real person showing up on the stage goddesses in the Old Testament. I'm going to show you how holy I am the word holiness occurs 87 times in Leviticus. The word sin occurs even more times than that. You have to understand that I am holy in your sinful and I'm giving you a way by which you and I can exist together without me being contaminated by your sin or compromising my holiness.

All right so much.

Now for the book of Leviticus. It is a manual for the priests. That's what it was and notice according to your chart. Leviticus does not advance the Bible story line why it supports it numbers they're getting ready to go back into the land. Deuteronomy is a recap it's a recap of what happened and it's Moses farewell speech so that doesn't really advance the story line either so notice in your chart. It occurs at the bottom now under Joshua in the book of Joshua. They reenter the same land they did in the wilderness for 40 years now though over the Jordan River.

They enter into the land and the land is conquered and it is divided up.

Will my dear friend, this is Pastor Luther's net wonderful to see the Scripture in relationship to understand that the Bible was given but it is not the way we have it. It is not chronological. Many of the books have to be fit in some run parallel to one another.

That's why think that this sermon series is so incredibly important and I want to speak to you for just a moment and thank you in advance for your prayers and for your generosity. If you've never contributed to the ministry of running to win. Just know that you are blessed because of the investment of others, but I have in my hands. Here a letter from someone who said that after his daughter was born, he began to sink into depression. He began to go to church but he said it was like the seed sown among the thorns. We understand that don't really and then he goes on to say that as a result, his wife was reading one of my books he picked it up.

The Lord use the Scripture to convict him and bring him to freedom that we hear it running to win exist to help people make it all the way to the finish line.

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It is your ministry. Thanks in advance for your interest and your prayers want to call us at 1-888-218-9337 thanks in advance for helping us. You can write to is running to win 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago, IL 60614 running to win is all about helping you understand God's roadmap for your race of life.

Next time we pick up where we left off in our survey of the Old Testament.

Don't miss our next program will find out what the book of Numbers is all about. Thanks for listening.

This is Dave McAllister going to win is sponsored by the Moody Church