Old Testament

November 3, 2014

Risky Business

Genesis 38

What about Joseph and his fantastic dreams? Why the hiatus to follow this crazy-twisted tale in Judah’s life? As the story continues to unfold, the destinies of these two sons of Jacob are linked in a unique way. This chapter covers roughly the same twenty-year period that Joseph will be in Egypt before the brothers come to visit. As we will see next week, Judah is a foil for Joseph. Among other things, Judah leaves his father’s home voluntarily, Joseph is forcibly removed; Judah makes bad decisions and follows his own desires, Joseph makes wise decisions and follows God. The dreams of Joseph will have a near-term impact on the family as he rescues them from famine, and they move south to Egypt. But ultimately the dreams of Joseph point us to a greater Rescuer, a greater Deliverer, a greater Redeemer, a much greater Hero…the Head-crushing Seed of the woman, a Guy we know as Jesus, who is also the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

Judah or Tamar. I don’t know which one best describes you. Selfish, hypocritical, short-sighted. Or self-reliant, resourceful, ends justify the means. Either way, the beautiful thing is…God uses evil in our lives for good. He’s not the Author of evil, but He is able to take our bad choices and accomplishes His purposes, many times in spite of us. Another way to say it…God doesn’t waste our mistakes. Thinking about life as a teenager…a point in life when a lot of major life decisions are made, generally the time when we have our first relationship with the opposite sex, the time when we are most tempted to experiment, decisions that can change the trajectory of our lives, decisions that may have catastrophic consequences in our lives. And many times bad choices made at this time can not only impact our life’s course, but they can also cause us to think that we can no longer be used by God. We can be deceived into thinking that life is over. But it’s not. God doesn’t often rescue us from the temporal consequences of our choices, but His grace abounds as we face those consequences. And those consequences become a part of the journey that God has us on as He fashions us into the image of His Son.

We talked about this a couple of weeks ago…God is in the process of shaping and molding us into the folks He wants us to be. He has a destiny for each one of us. And the road to realizing that destiny may be short or long, depending on the choices we make. Judah’s turning point didn’t have to be twenty years in the making. Tamar shouldn’t have had to trick her father-in-law. But God uses their choices and does an incredible thing…the hope remains alive through the mess. From this crazy-twisted story comes the line of Jesus. God can redeem our crazy-twisted stories also and bring beauty from ashes.

Until next time…stay salty.

This post is based on our Genesis series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on twitter: @ccclancaster

 

October 30, 2014

Where is God?

 

Thoughts About What We’re Reading…

 

Looking through the reading plan as I write this, my normal course of action is to write about whatever we will be reading on the Thursday the blog comes out.

Looking at the plan, I have decided to diverge from my normal routine this week to write about the Book of Habakkuk as it fits between our Thursday readings.

If I do not write about Habakkuk, one of the more explicit sections of scripture dealing with the Sovereignty of God, we will have missed a chance to think through this book together.

Habakkuk was the last of the Minor Prophets to preach in Judah, the southern kingdom, before the final Babylonian invasion.

Unlike other prophets who declared God’s message to people – this prophet dialogued with God about people.

While, most Old Testament prophets proclaimed divine judgment, Habakkuk pleaded for divine judgment – but was surprised with the response.

Like the book of Job, this book presents important biblical truths for people who encounter difficulties that seem incomprehensible.

Habakkuk seeks to understand where is God in a time where the world has gone bad. Why is there so much oppression and injustice? Why do the evil prosper and the righteous suffer?

Why doesn’t God do something? Where is He?

Throughout the ages, God’s people have often expressed this complaint.

Job wondered why God seemed absent amid his difficult circumstances (Job 3), and Israel cried out during its wilderness wanderings, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Ex. 17:7).

God’s response was not what the prophet ever imagined or desired: God is surely among his people, will help them, and will bring them justice.

But… he will do it through the violent and haughty nation of Babylon (“the Chaldeans”; Hab. 1:6).

Through this perplexing response, God challenges not only Habakkuk’s faith but ours as well.

That God can bring about good from evil is a theme that echoes down through the whole Bible, such as in Joseph’s statement to his brothers: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Gen. 50:20).

God’s response to Habakkuk also foreshadows the ultimate good—eternal salvation—that would come through the ultimate evil—execution of the sinless Son of God upon a cross.

Yet in the unfathomable wisdom of God, on that cross justice and mercy meet.

Jesus receives the penalty that the justice of God requires for sin; and we receive, through faith, God’s mercy in forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal life (Rom. 3:21–26).

This is why we can continue to have faith, trust and hope amid the brokenness of our world: God’s providential use of people and events is both purposeful and personal.

So, where is God? He is in sovereign control.

Until next time… keep reading!

Jim

Excerpts for this blog were taken directly from: The Bible Knowledge Commentary and extensively from The Gospel Transformation Study Bible.

October 23, 2014

Success or Faithfulness

 

Thoughts About What We’re Reading…

 

Today, we turn our attention to the book of Jeremiah, one of the Major Prophets and the longest of the Prophetic books.

So, who was Jeremiah?  The text teaches us he was a son of a priest called to be a prophet from his mother’s womb.

We know that Jeremiah prophesized during the years leading up to the fall of Jerusalem and exile into Babylon. The overarching theme of the book is judgment.

We call Jeremiah the “Weeping” Prophet for good reason. As we read through the book, we feel his anguish, lamenting over the fallen people of Judah and its capital city, much like Jesus laments over Jerusalem in Luke 13:34-35.

Despite some valiant attempts at reform by kings such as Hezekiah and Judah, this process of decline is irreversible and ends with the ultimate destruction of all the visible element’s of Israel’s covenant relationship with God, such as Jerusalem and the temple.

We feel Jeremiah’s frustration in dealing with the stubbornness of the people. The people felt immune to any threat of divine judgment, but Jeremiah repeatedly warned them about the vanity of their reliance on ritual and external formalism.

Jeremiah’s story is one of courage and endurance. Imagine, preaching for 40+ years and it doesn’t appear that there was even one convert!

His enemies cast him in a dungeon, his family and friends rejected him, other priests and prophets made fun of him. He was beaten, humiliated, and ridiculed.

At times in the text, we see how Jeremiah grows tired of bringing God’s message of judgment to an unresponsive people.

But God’s word would bring blessing to Jeremiah’s own soul, we read in Jeremiah 15:16, “Your words were found, and I eat them, and Your words became to me a joy and a delight of my heart…”.

Jeremiah’s message carried three main points as did most of the Old Testament Prophets – The Lord will judge His people for their sin, God is faithful and merciful, and will bring about restoration and salvation.

Faithfully, he preached and proclaimed the message that judgment was coming to the nation of Judah. Judgment would indeed come.

We see also the gospel foreshadowed in Jeremiah as he points to the sovereign grace of God in His control over world history and his faithfulness to His covenant – fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In Jeremiah, we learn a great lesson when it comes to ministry. Ministry isn’t so much about success as it about faithfulness. The Lord doesn’t ask us to be successful. He asks us to be faithful. Each of us has a job to do and the Lord isn’t asking for success, for only He can bring that about. He simply asks us to be faithful—to do what He says.

Until next time… Keep reading!

Jim

Excerpts for this blog were taken directly from The Gospel Transformation Study Bible, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, and Courson’s Application Commentary, Volume 2.

October 20, 2014

Dream Big

Genesis 37

Things look pretty bleak for Joseph. His life, not to mention his fantastic dreams, are in jeopardy. What will become of them? What will become of him?

What are we to make of these fantastic dreams, these earthy and celestial dreams? It sure appears that Joseph is destined for greatness, but the path there is by no means clear. And where is God? His presence is not mentioned in this episode, He has no apparent direct involvement in Joseph’s life. At least not on the surface. But if we dig a little deeper, if we pull back the curtain, we can see God’s fingerprints all over this story, His sovereignty at work in the events of Joseph’s life…right place at right time over and over again. In Shechem at the right time to meet the right guy who happened to be in the right place not only to intercept Joseph, but also was in the right place at the right time to hear where the brothers were going. Even Joseph’s arrival in Dothan is at the right time for Judah to see the trading caravan heading to Egypt (which as we will see will be the right place). The caravan reaches Egypt at the right time so that Joseph is sold to the right guy (Potiphar) who is in the right place. Coincidence? Not at all.

Joseph will have many opportunities along the way to give up or to make unwise choices. But God will work through the mess of Joseph’s life…and ours, taking us through the eye of the storm to demonstrate the wonder of His grace in our lives. He had work to do in Joseph’s life…brash, overconfident, self-centered…to prepare him to deliver his family. And He’s got work to do in ours. The moment when our faith becomes real…when our dreams are seemingly dashed (death of loved one, don’t make the team, injuries), and we have to totally rely on God, trusting that He is working even in that circumstance to bring about His purpose. See the dreams are His. Joseph’s dreams weren’t about Joseph’s greatness, not about him getting the glory. Joseph’s dreams were a part of the grand dream that God has for His creation. Joseph is a part, just as his brothers were even though they didn’t have the same dream or the same role as Joseph, they are no less important. Some of us may be like Joseph, and God may have a very visible role for us to play. But we are not all Josephs. Our part is not a less than. God created each one of us uniquely…different gifts, talents, abilities, calling, dreams.

It’s easy to let the circumstances of our lives determine our sense of nearness or far-ness from God. At the bottom of a well, or on the way to Egypt in shackles, God may seem light years away. But the truth is our circumstances do not determine God’s presence. He is with us. Our job is to stay the course. If God has laid a dream or a vision for ministry on your heart, if you feel Him calling you in some pursuit (and as a believer He has a calling on your life), realize that He will likely take you through a journey of preparation for that calling. And it may not be easy or fun. Depending on the character development that He needs to do in you. I’ve seen that many times in my own life. The road never seems to be downhill or the time short…feels like a long and winding uphill trek, but looking back His fingerprints have always been visible.

So dream big. Trust God in the process. And remember that character matters.

Until next time…stay salty.

This post is based on our Genesis series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on twitter: @ccclancaster

October 16, 2014

Slow to Anger but Great in Power

 

Thoughts About What We’re Reading…

 

It seems just a few weeks ago we were reading about Jonah and celebrating the revival of an entire city – the city of Nineveh.  But as we turn our attention to the Book of Nahum, we realize something bad has happened.

Nineveh has turned away from the Lord and returned to her old ways.  Instead of celebrating the Lord’s salvation  – we learn that Nineveh has come under judgment.

Nahum 3:3 reminds us – “The Lord is slow to anger but great in power…”

The main theme of the book is the impending judgment of Nineveh by the Lord, by which He would deliver His people – Israel. Yahweh would pay back Nineveh and the Assyrians in the same way they had mistreated their enemies.

The Book of Nahum is much like a sequel to the Book of Jonah.

As a reminder, Jonah was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 14:25-27), who received a word from the Lord to go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it because of their wickedness. (Jonah 1:2)

Jonah was resentful of the people of Nineveh. Nineveh was the military capital of Assyria, (modern day Iraq) a people known for its violence and evil.  Because Assyria had caused much harm to the people of Israel – Jonah was slow to forgive them.

Consequently, when the Lord commissioned Jonah to preach repentance to this bloody, brutal people, Jonah went as far as he could in the opposite direction in fear that they would receive his message and experience God’s forgiveness.

After trying to run from the Lord and His calling, Jonah begrudgingly preaches the Word – the city repents, and Jonah ends up upset that the enemy of His people have repented and turned to the Lord.

Now, one hundred fifty years or so later, we pick up the story in the Book of Nahum—a book that divides itself into three sections.

In chapter 1, Nineveh’s doom is declared.

In chapter 2, Nineveh’s doom is described.

In chapter 3, Nineveh’s doom is deserved.

The book of Nahum dramatically portrays God judgment over Assyria to relieve His oppressed people.

It was certainly a harsh message for Israel’s enemies, but for the people of Judah it was a message of hope.

Nineveh comes to stand for those who have hardened themselves to God and oppose both the Lord and His people. God’s people can rejoice in God’s justice only because they have themselves been humbled and chastened, having been brought to repentance through His great patience (v. 3).

God’s patience manifests His love and His desire that all would repent and turn to Him, but this patience should not be mistaken for approval of the unrepentant.

The book of Nahum provides a great view of a powerful, just God who maintains His absolute moral standards and offers hope to those who are despised and downtrodden.

God overthrows and destroys dominions that are opposed to His rule and oppress His people.

Judgment upon wickedness will inevitably come. All will be set right. We can be hopeful and patient.

Nahum teaches us to trust God. Even when we despair of any help, we can know that God will stand with those who belong to Him.

Amen!

Until next time… keep reading!

Jim

Excerpts were taken from the following sources for this blog: The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Gospel Transformation Bible, HCSB, Courson’s Application Commentary Old Testament Volume 2

October 13, 2014

Esau’s Clan

Genesis 36

Why do we care about a genealogy…especially Esau’s? He’s not even the main character. Why does Moses feel the need to include all of this detail?

A friend of mine had a conversation with some missionary friends about genealogies in the Bible. These missionaries said that genealogies are gold…they’re one of the primary ways that they reach some of the more primitive cultures who still have oral traditions, where stories are passed down by word of mouth from father to son, mother to daughter, generation to generation. “The fact that God cares about the details of the biblical characters’ lives means He must care about my life, too.” What a great observation. Another way to say it is, “People matter to God.” Each name listed is an image-bearer of the eternal God. And while the names may be unfamiliar to us and difficult to pronounce, they are nonetheless important.

God created us to bear His image to His creation, and although that image was marred through the fall, it remains nonetheless. And since the time of the fall, God has been on a rescue mission. He promised way back in Genesis 3.15 that He would send a Redeemer who would save us, who would provide a way back to the garden by crushing the serpent’s head. As the story has continued to unfold, we’ve found out that this Redeemer would be a descendant of not only Adam through Seth, and Noah through Shem, but more specifically through Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed. The same promise is passed on to Isaac and Jacob. The Head-crushing Seed of the woman, the Savior of the world , the Hero of our story would come from a family, a people, but would come for all families, for all peoples. God’s desire has always been for the nations. And so the picture of heaven throughout the book of Revelation includes folks from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

People matter to God. The descendants of Esau mattered to God. You matter to God. He knows your name and desires to have a relationship with you. He loves you…He’s demonstrated it over and over. Not only do you bear His image, but He also went to unbelievable lengths to reach you…the greatest of which was to send His own Son, as the Redeemer who would crush the head of the serpent by laying down His own life. He died so that you could live, by believing in Him He would take your sin, your shame, your rebellion and give you His righteousness. A remarkably absurd exchange…the amazing love of God for you. So that you could be a part of His family’s story.

Until next time…stay salty.

This post is based on our Genesis series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on twitter: @ccclancaster

 

October 9, 2014

“How Can I, Unless Someone Guides Me?”

 

Thoughts About What We’re Reading…

 

One of my favorite books in the Bible is the Book of Acts.  Why am I blogging on Acts Chapter 8 when we are reading through the Old Testament, specifically Isaiah?

Because here in Acts 8, we have mention of one the most beautiful chapters in the Bible – Isaiah 53!

Isaiah 53 has been described by Spurgeon as the “Bible in miniature and the gospel in essence.”

This chapter is probably the best-known section in Isaiah and the most frequently quoted Old Testament chapter in the New Testament.

It is one of the richest and most unmistakable prophecies in the entire Old Testament concerning the suffering, rejection and atoning work of the Servant, whom we know to be Jesus.

John Piper once said in a sermon, “Nowhere in all the Old Testament does the gospel of Jesus Christ shine more clearly than in Isaiah 53. Seven hundred years before Jesus came into the world, God opened the eyes of his prophet to see into the very heart of Christ’s saving work.”

Piper goes on to say, “Christ not only died for sinners so that we could be saved, he died for sinners in fulfillment of explicit prophecy so that we could know more surely that we are saved. When you read the story of your salvation in detail seven hundred years before it happened, you have not only revelation, but validation.”

With the advent of the finding of the Isaiah Scroll, (one of the famous Dead Sea Scrolls), in the Qumran caves in the Judean desert of Israel; we know for certain that the document pre-dates Jesus Christ.

Someone once said about the archeological evidence of scripture, “Not that we need it but it’s nice to have.” Actually, I think it was my tour guide in Israel…

And here with the Isaiah Scroll found in that desert in the 1940’s-1950’s, we have a copy of Isaiah that pre-dates Christ.

Acts Chapter 8 describes how God moved Philip to share the good news with an Ethiopian eunuch traveling in a chariot.  Philip comes upon the eunuch and finds him reading scripture.

So Philip asked the eunuch if he understood what he was reading. The eunuch responds with the famously quoted passage, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” Acts 8:31

With that response Philip sees he is reading – you guessed it – Isaiah 53 and proceeds to tell the eunuch the good news about Jesus Christ and His saving work on the cross.

At times, God uses us to simply point others to Christ, to share how He died for us that we might have life and live in a restored relationship with our God.

I have used Isaiah 53 myself to point others to Christ.  I want to challenge you to try it out with folks you know, maybe your 8-15 or others from work, school, clubs, associations or other places you frequent.

Simply read Isaiah 53 aloud to them (some folks start with Isaiah 52:13-through Isaiah 53).  When you are finished, simply ask them who is described in that chapter.

They will respond more times than not that it is Jesus.  Then tell them what you are reading was written 700 years before Christ and watch their reaction.

Then maybe, just maybe, Our Lord and Savior, through the work of the Holy Spirit, will use you, as He used Philip, to bring another soul into the kingdom.

Amen!

Until next time… keep reading!

Jim

October 6, 2014

New Beginning

Genesis 35

Jacob’s spiritual journey reminds us of our own spiritual journeys…an incredible destiny full of promise and potential, a new identity, God’s presence with us. But somewhere along the way we generally find ourselves, like Jacob, slipping from the white-hot passion of following God to the lukewarm comfort of convenience and compromise. Sometimes the rebellion of wanting to do things our own way…to do what’s right in our own eyes, fooling ourselves into thinking we know what’s best. But more likely than not the daily grind and the routine of life quenches our fire.

Jacob puts away the foreign gods, purifies himself and puts on some new clothes…a new beginning. But there is a challenge to this new beginning…Jacob still knew where he buried the idols, and so do we. Many times we’re tempted to return to them. We’re tempted to return to the old life and many times, if not most, God uses the consequences of our choices to wake us up, to bring us back to our spiritual roots…to return us to Bethel.

Jacob was in a place of convenience for 20 years before he left Laban’s hacienda to return to the land. He was in a place of compromise in Shechem another 10-15 years. But both times, God showed up to call Jacob out of his complacency, to remind him of his incredible destiny. God was not giving up on Jacob. He was a lynch pin in His plan of redemption. God could have chosen another way…maybe someone less stubborn and self-reliant, less proud and deceitful, but He chose Jacob; and He was committed to Jacob realizing his new identity as Israel…His savage mercy, His fierce grace.

Some of us have just come out of a place of compromise and are experiencing a renewed sense of destiny…that God has called us to make a big impact on His kingdom right where we are. Some of us are still in a place of compromise and are experiencing the consequences of our choices…be encouraged. God is not done with you yet. But you have to put away those things that are keeping you from Him, your idols whatever they may be, and return to Bethel. Some of us are on the threshold of entering a place of compromise…don’t do it. Remember who you are…a child of the King. You don’t have to go down that path.

Some of us aren’t compromising simply because we aren’t in relationship with this amazing God yet. I hope you’re curious. I hope you’ve gotten a glimpse of His incredible love and relentless pursuit of you. He wants to give you an unimaginable destiny as one of His children, spending an eternity with Him in His kingdom through faith in His Son Jesus, who lived a perfect life, died a horrible death, was raised the third day conquering sin and death and crushing the head of the serpent, so that you too could have a new beginning.

 

Until next time…stay salty.

This post is based on our Genesis series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on twitter: @ccclancaster

October 2, 2014

Behold – God is My Salvation

 

Thoughts About What We’re Reading…

 

Today we turn to the Book of Isaiah, one of the most loved books of the Bible; it is perhaps the best known of the prophetic books. It has great literary merit and contains beautiful descriptive terminology.

Isaiah spoke more than any other prophet of the great kingdom into which Israel would enter at the Second Advent of the Messiah. He also discussed the depths of Israel’s sin and the heights of God’s glory and His coming kingdom.

Jewish tradition tells us that Isaiah’s father was King Uzziah’s brother. We know that Isaiah frequented the court and was close to a number of kings.  So it is very possible that he was of royal seed.

Jewish tradition also tells us that Isaiah was sawn in half by the wicked King Manasseh. Hebrews 11 talks about those who were sawn asunder for their faith, a reference many believe is directed to Isaiah.

The first 39 chapters of Isaiah focus on the sin, the call to repentance and judgment of the people of Judah and Israel.

At chapter 40, the book of Isaiah takes a turn toward love, grace and the hope of salvation and restoration.

Isaiah’s overall theme receives its clearest statement in chapter 12: “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid”. (Isaiah 12:2).

The book of Isaiah provides us with the most comprehensive prophetic picture of Jesus Christ in the entire Old Testament.

It includes the full scope of His life: the announcement of His coming (Isaiah 40:3–5), His virgin birth (7:14), His proclamation of the good news (61:1), His sacrificial death (52:13–53:12), and His return to claim His own (60:2–3).

The authors of the New Testament read the book of Isaiah in light of the coming of Christ and realized that this prophet anticipated the Messiah’s coming with remarkable clarity. For this reason they quoted Isaiah more than any other Old Testament book.

In Isaiah we find a lofty view of God. The Lord is seen as the Initiator of events in history. He is called Lord Almighty, Holy One, Redeemer.

He is apart from and greater than His Creation; yet He is involved in the affairs of that Creation.

Indeed, Isaiah centered his theology and his book on God and the work that He was doing and would continue to do in the world.

Luke tells us in Luke 4:10-21 that Jesus opened the scroll containing the book of Isaiah and read one of the Messianic passages in Isaiah and told those in attendance that He was the fulfillment of that prophecy.

His life, death and subsequent resurrection proved indeed He was the Redeemer, the Messiah promised in the writings of Isaiah.

Amen!

Until next time…keep reading!

Jim

Excerpts for this blog were taken from the HCSB, Bible Knowledge Commentary and Courson’s Application Commentary, Old Testament Volume 2.

September 29, 2014

Tragic Consequences

Genesis 34

What has happened to Jacob? Where is Israel in all this? Just when Jacob seemed so close to realizing his new identity, he now appears to be so far away.

While there are a number of other characters involved in the story, Jacob’s the primary one. It’s his decision to settle down in Shechem rather than going to Bethel. And his compromise, his partial obedience, sets up the rest of the narrative. It allows Dinah to be in a dangerously vulnerable place. His failure to respond and to lead his family results in the brothers taking matters into their own hands.

This is another one of those episodes that we could ask where is God in the midst of this mess? His name is not mentioned even once. He doesn’t seem to be factoring into Jacob’s thinking, much less his family’s thinking, at this point. I don’t know how long he’s lived outside of Shechem…but it’s been too long. Partial obedience is disobedience…it’s compromise, and he’s compromised far too long. When we are in that place of compromise, God seldom factors into our thinking even when tragedy strikes…even when we experience the consequences of our choices.

So where is God? He’s still there in the midst of the mess. He hasn’t lost control. He is still working in the lives of His people. Jacob, like his daddy and granddaddy, is called to be a blessor of the nations. But also like Abraham and Isaac, his actions result in cursing rather than blessing. Instead of introducing the townsfolk to the love of Creator God, they’re introduced to a sword. Yet God is still in the process to transform Jacob into Israel. He’s not done, and He hasn’t given up on Jacob. But for Moses’ original audience, this episode would have highlighted the danger of compromise. It doesn’t turn out well.

God is still at work in our mess too. When the sin of others tragically impacts us, when our anger overwhelms us, when we are tempted to withdrawal and look out for number one, He sees and He cares. He knows and will one day judge. But praise God that He is patient. If not, all of us would be annihilated. For no one is innocent. Since the time of the fall, when the world was fractured by our sin and rebellion, God has been on a rescue mission. He’s promised a way back to the garden, a way back to life with Him through faith in the One He promised to send…the Genesis 3.15 Redeemer, the Head crushing Seed of the woman, Jesus, who lived a perfect life, died a bloody, horrible death, was raised the third day, conquering both sin and death, crushing the serpent’s head. He has provided the way back for us to Creator God.

I don’t know who you are today…Dinah, Shechem, Jacob, Simeon and Levi…but Jesus died for you. He understands your shame and your guilt, your anger, and your fear. He took it all with Him when He was nailed to the cross. He came to bring life. He wants to restore and heal you. And He wants to remind you that you are an image-bearer. You have infinite value. You are loved.

Until next time…stay salty.

This post is based on our Genesis series. Download the podcast at: Central Christian Church Main Service, or follow us on twitter: @ccclancaster