Episode Transcript
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Please give your attention now to God's
holy and inspired word. When man began
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to multiply on the face of the
land and daughters were born to them,
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the sons of God saw that the
daughters of man were attractive and they took
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as their wives any they chose.
Then Jehovah said, my spirit shall not
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and bide abide in man forever,
for he is flesh. His days shall
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be one hundred twenty years. The
nephelim were on the earth in those days
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and also afterward, when the sons
of God came in to the daughters of
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man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were
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of old, the men of renown. Jehovah saw the wickedness of man was
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great in the earth and that every
intention of the thoughts of his heart was
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only evil continually, and Jehovah was
sorry that he had made man on the
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earth and it grieved him to his
heart. So Jehovah said, I will
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blot out man, whom I have
created from the face of the land,
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man and animals and creeping things and
birds of the heavens, for I am
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sorry that I have made them.
But Noah found favor in the eyes of
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Jehovah, you may be seated.
These verses of Genesis six one through eight
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provide something of a transition between the
genealogies that we've we've went through in chapter
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five and the flood that is coming
upon the earth in chapters six and following.
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They provide this transition, reminding us
that, even though God has been
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a persevering man, giving to him
and many blessings, I'm providing the continuance
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of life and food and protection,
a measure of justice. I'm various kinds
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of goods on the earth. Man
has despised these things and in his sin,
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I'm gone after evil ways and therefore
brought God to the pole point where
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he says he will judge, I'm
not just man, but but all the
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earth, and will condemn it.
This begins in verse in Chapter Six,
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Verse One, we read that when
man began to multiply the face of the
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land and daughters were born to them, and then it describes something that happened.
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It sets in other words, the
great sins that are described here in
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six on, both in a certain
kind of specific way and also in a
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general way. It describes them in
this context of man's continuing life is happening.
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A mankind is flourishing, multiplying on
the face of the earth. But
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something has happened and the esv Study
Bible, I believe, describes this very
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nicely summarizes it. It says something
good in God's creation here, in these
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verses, something good and God's creation
is used in disobedience and sinful rebellion against
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God with tragic consequences. That's what
we see here and in these verses.
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Something good in God's creation is used
in disobedience and sinful rebellion against God with
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tragic consequences. And only Noah stands
apart from this sin, that sin described
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in those first verses, in verses
one through four, but then generally and
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in a broad and even complete way
in verse five, every intention, of
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the thoughts of the heart of mankind
was only evil. Continually shows the great
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depravity of man after the fall.
It wasn't just a one time thing or
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a simple mistake or something like that
happened. That happens in verses one through
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four, but the act that is
connected there is connected with a heart that
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is desperately wicked and corrupt. So
what happened what is described here when it
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says the sons of God saw that
the daughters of man were attractive and they
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took as their wives any of they
choose. I'm very briefly. There have
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been very there have been different ways
of interpreting this. Perhaps you've heard I'm
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one of these. One way that
it has been interpreted is to say that
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the sons of God are fallen angels, fallen angels that then have sexual relations
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with a mankind. This is an
ancient interpretation, but it's but it fails
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for a number of reasons. First
of all, there's no other indication in
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scripture of any kind of similar action
of angels mixing with humans in this way.
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A second reason not to believe this
is that in Markswe hundred and twenty
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five, we have a verse that
would seem to even exclude the possibility,
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based on a non sexual nature of
angels. Another reason to not believe this
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interpretation is that God judges humanity in
the flood and not angels, and this
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is very specific when it says in
verse three that in connection with this,
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Jehovah said, my spirit shall not
abide in man forever, for he is
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flesh. So the judgments is coming
very specifically on flesh, on man,
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not spiritual creatures. Another interpretation which
has been very popular is that the sons
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of God are the sethites and the
daughters of man are the Canaanites. This
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makes a certain amount of sense because
from the beginning of or after the fall,
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humanity has been divided in these kind
of two lines, the Kingdom of
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God and the Kingdom of Man.
And here we have perhaps this interpretation would
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say see a kind of mixing.
But though it fits the context, it
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doesn't really fit the words that we
have, at least in a very clear
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way in chapter six in because if
you look at verse one, it speaks
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about man in a general way.
It says when man began to multiply on
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the face of on the face of
the land and daughters were born to them.
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Well then, and verses to it's
it doesn't make sense to take something
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that to general man multiplying and now
attach it specifically to the sons of God
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and daughters specifically attached to one group
of people, the the Canaanites. In
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fact it's it's the sethites who are
said to have daughters. Cane doesn't.
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When Canes Genealogy has given. Daughters
aren't really mentioned, though certainly he had
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them. It's not where the text
emphasizes. The third interpretation that I'm that
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I believe and I think most clearly
fixed the text, is that the sons
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of God here don't describe the sethis
or fallen angels, but men who were
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regal and kingly and powerful, who
then used their stature, used their authority,
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to build Harems, basically for themselves. Powerful men, men of renown,
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as the text says, people that
had a certain measure of glory and
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power and then used this in a
way that was sinful. If it sounds
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weird to call men the sons of
God, well remember that Adam himself was
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a son of God. He was
made in his image and in his likeness.
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We secre this number of times in
these first chapters of Genesis. But
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then, very specifically, he's it's
talked about that in terms of this father
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son relationship in genesis five. If
you look at the beginning there, it
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says when God created man, he
made him in the likeness of God.
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Then, if you look at verse
three, it says when Adam had lived
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a hundred and thirty years, he
fathered a son in his own likeness,
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after his image. So you see
in the way that Adam had a son,
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he is described as being a Godson. In Josea one hundred and ten,
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we see that the children of Israel
are described broadly as the sons of
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God. Those who are not his
people will be called the sons of God
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or the children of God. Other
places in the Bible refer this and a
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specifically to kings in particular, gain
this title. So in Second Samuel Fourteen,
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God promises to David That gaved son
will be God's son. Psalm eighty
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two six says you are God's speaking
to kings, it says you are God's
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sons of the most high, all
of you. Nevertheless, you shall die
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like men and fall as one man. Oh princes. Why would kings be
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described as sons of God? It's
because kings or noble men, act in
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a way that is in sort of, in a sense, the they exemplify
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or amplify the image of God that
is in all of us. Let me
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explain by asking this question. What
does it mean to be a son of
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God? What does it mean to
be made in the image and likeness of
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God? How would you answer that
question? What does it mean that you
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are made in the image and likeness
of God? What means that we have
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something of our father in us,
we share in his likeness, in his
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image. It means that it's not
just something we have, but it's something
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that we are, and the Bible
explains this in various ways. So,
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for example, in Genesis one hundred
and thirteen, it says that we were
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made very good. Means that there
is this moral quality to us at in
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being made in God's image, and
this would make sense that God, in
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bearing forth sons in the way that
he did, would that they would be
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very good. Why? Because God
is good. Ecclesiastic seven nineteen says that
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got in God created man, He
made him upright. Ephesians for twenty four
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reminds us that when we when Christ
brings us back into the image of God
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or restores that in us, he
restores righteousness and holiness in us. So,
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you see it, when God made
us, he gave us a particular
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constitution. He we were made in
a particular way, very good, upright,
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righteous, holy. The Bible also
says that, being made in the
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image of God, we have this
intellectual capacity for knowing God, Our world
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and ourselves in him. We are
also said to share in his attributes,
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knowledge, righteousness, holiness, but
also goodness, love, truthfulness, power
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mercy. But all these things together, these ways that make us up,
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the way that we are, then
imply a certain kind of action. Right.
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Birds Fly because they are birds.
They do a certain action because they
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are a certain being. Likewise,
mankind, when made in the image of
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God, is called to do a
particular thing, to act as God acts.
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Now, of course, not as
God's but as sons of God.
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There's those that share and a measures
as created beings. So what does the
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Bible say? Well, God says
in Genesis One, let them rule.
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He created man, male and female, and his image. He made them
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after him, and he says let
them rule. They are have to have
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dominion, as God has had dominion, God has worked and rested, and
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they, likewise are to work and
rest, even as God has been fruitful
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and multiplied in the works of creation. They are to be fruitful and multiply,
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and they are to do so in
a community of love, a union
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between one man and one woman.
All of these kinds of actions and the
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kind of love and justice and peace
that God is and that man has been
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made to be. They are then
to demonstrate to one another so that man
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is not just a single individual,
but also a society, not just an
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individual who is knowledgeable and righteous and
holiness, but a community, a society
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that is this way as well.
This is how God made us, to
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to live after him and therefore to
to shine forth his glory in the way
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that he made us. When an
artist makes a beautiful painting, it reflects
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well on the artist, right,
you say, oh well, that's a
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van go right, or that's a
Rembrandt. It's not just a painting,
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but it reflects something of the artist
himself or herself, and it glorifies the
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one who made it. We are
like that as well as those who are
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made in the image and likeness of
God. We are called to reflect back
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that glory, God's glory, is
to redound to him, to return to
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him in this way. This is
our constitution and it is our calling.
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Is the way that we are and
it is what we are supposed to do.
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It's what makes us human beings,
it's what makes human society, and
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this is what it means to be
a son of God. Now, as
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I conclude, this point and in
answering this question, what does it mean
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to be a son of God?
Let me make explicit what I hope is
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implicit, and that's that women are, of course included in this title.
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When we talk about sons of God, we are not simply talking about men
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or boys. It includes women because, remember, when God created man,
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He created them in his image and
likeness, male and female. He created
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them that Jose a one hundred and
ten verse I described earlier, when it
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talks about the sons of God,
is talking not just about the males of
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Israel and particular, but all of
Israel. So why translate it son?
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Why Talk About Sons of God?
Well, it's because we are called not
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to think in terms of a gender, necessarily, but in terms of a
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status. Sons often have been,
and certainly in the context that scripture was
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written, those who had a certain
duty and honor and inheritance that was given
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to them in a way that daughters
are not. Sons belong to a family
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and a family line, in a
way that daughters could be separated from them.
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So in couldn't. So in in
giving women the title of Son,
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the Bible is saying that the things
that are normally due to sons are also
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due to women as well. Take
Romans Eight, for example. All turn
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there and read a few verses to
you. In Romans Eight, verse fourteen,
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we read for all who are led
by the spirit of God are sons
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of God. Right. This certainly
doesn't exclude women, because women are led
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by the spirit. We see examples
of that in scripture, phoebe and Lydia
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and many others that are explicitly said
that the spirit of God dwelled in them,
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lived in them, changed them open
to their hearts, and we know
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that lit that God also tells us
that it is not a male or an
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only that dwells in Christ and that
are unified in him, but male and
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female. So this is without question
that this those who are led by the
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spirit of God, which includes women, are the sons of God. So
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again, why speak in this terms? Because we want to be thinking in
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terms of this legal status, in
terms of belonging to this family, of
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being brought in and receiving a particular
and legal kind of inheritance. So that's
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eight fourteen. If you read on
in verses fifteen through seventeen, you hear
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this, for you did not receive
a spirit of slavery, to fall back
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into fear, but you receive the
spirit of adoption as sons by whom we
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cry AH, a father, the
spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that
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we are children of God and if
children, then heirs, heirs of God
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and fellow heirs with Christ, provided
we suffer with him in order that we
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may also be glorified in him.
And then verse twenty three. And not
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only the creation, but we ourselves, who have who have the first fruits
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of the spirit grown inwardly, as
we eagerly, as we wait eagerly for
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the adoption as sons, the redemption
of our bodies. So what the Bible
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is doing in referring to sons of
God, not in every place, but
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in most places and in particular places
like this, are reminding us that it's
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all that all who have the spirit
of God, both men and women,
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have a right to these kind of
legal benefits that come from being in Christ,
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adoption, inheritances, being heirs of
God in Christ. So, women,
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this is a good news for you, because it means that the Bible,
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in saying these kinds of things,
reminds you of your great dignity that
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you have in being made of the
image of God. It reminds you that
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what the world so often denies you, so often has denied you, you
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have abundantly in Jesus Christ, inheritances
and riches and glories that will last forever
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and ever. This also means that, as women and as men, we
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all have the responsibility to bear forth
this image, to be the kind of
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people that God has called us to
be, in our respective genders, but
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in society as a whole, we
are called to be the sons of God,
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to be those who are made after
his image and called to do the
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things he has called us to do. But from the beginning we have gone
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against this nature and against God's law. This, of course, began when
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Adam and Eve sinned and when against
the very calling that God had called upon
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them, the very nature that they
had been made into. We see this
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with Eve, for example, when
she sees the fruit, saw that it
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was attractive and good and she took
it. Isn't this the exact same set
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of circumstances described here in chapter six
of Genesis that these these noble men,
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these great kings, these sons of
God, saw that the daughters of men
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were attractive, they saw something that
was good, that they desired, and
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they took it. It's the same
kind of actions that Eve took. She
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she saw it, she wanted it, she perceived that this was good in
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her sight and she took it.
And this is how it's always been,
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to not act according to God's man
at commands, but according to sins desire.
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Even Adams rebellion was, in a
broad a rebellion that brought judgment and
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death and set in place this pattern
that has continued and continues even to today,
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when people see call something desirable and
attractive that is not and takes it
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as their own. And God has
granted these men who go and they see
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these women and take them into their
households, take them as their wives,
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take them as what something that doesn't
belong to them, just as eve did
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and Adam did when they took the
fruit that there was not theirs. God
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grants judgment. God Grants Judgment On
them, He bestows judgment, he sentences
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them, just as Adam and Eve
were sentenced to death for their sin of
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taking what did not belong to them, of going against God's commands. This
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sin continues and continues and multiplied in
the world to such a place that it
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was so spread and so bad that
God was grieved to his heart, grieve
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to his heart sorry that he made
man and set his face to judge the
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world. This is something that goes
on in each of us but, as
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I said earlier, it's on display
and amplified in kings, because all of
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the ruling and dominion and and things
that we are called to exercise in general
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as sons of God are on particular
display in a king, because here you
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have one who is not only called
to this in a general kind of way,
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but in an amplified kind of way, ruling in an obvious way and
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in a in a big way over
mankind. God, in other words,
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has given to these men authority and
Power and greatness, a certain measure of
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honor and glory, even beyond third
of their general glory they have as people
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made in the image of God.
And what do they do with it?
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What does man choose to do with
the glory and in and and Power and
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honor that God bestows upon him?
They go after their own desires. They
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lust after more power, they add
to their corruption. This is a warning
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to all those who find themselves in
positions of power. Your Authority that is
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given to you does not belong to
you to act as a God. You
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are called to act as a son
of God. Of course, the same
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is true for all of us in
any position of authority that we have,
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mothers, fathers, teachers, bosses, employers, mentors, and on and
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on and on. The larger catechism, question one hundred and twenty nine puts
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particularly sets forth in a specific way
the duties of superiors, of those that
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God has granted authority to. How
are they to treat those who are under
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them? Well, they are to
love, pray and bless for them.
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Pray for and bless them. They
are to instruct, counsel and Admonish Superiors.
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Those in authority are to teach those
who are under them to do well
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and to avoid evil, to protect
and to provide with all this with a
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view to the glory of God in
general and a glory of God shown specifically
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in their office. Is that what
we see happening here in Genesis chapter six?
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Is that what we see happening in
our own society and honestly, even
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in our own hearts? Are The
those who are in authority acting in this
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way. Know, what are they
doing? They're going out and grabbing what
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they think they want. They see
women and grab them for their own and
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bring them and collect them into their
into their homes, into their harems.
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When those empower bell against God's calling, they would be right to remember that
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God is their superior and God always
does what is right. He doesn't ignore
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or smile and laugh at these kind
of these sort of sinful the sinful actions,
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but he brings judgment. God doesn't, as a superior, go according
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to sinful pleasures, but according to
justice and what is right. So when
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they neglect their duties seeking their own
glory and ease and profit and pleasure,
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when they command and force people into
unlawful things, encourage what is evil,
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dissuade what is good, leave them
to danger and lead them to sin,
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they shame themselves and they take the
glory of God that is supposed to shine
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in them and in their office and
they cover it up with the excrement of
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their own sin. They defile themselves
and they cause others to sin. They
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may be mighty, they may be
men of renowned, they may be even
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called the sons of God, and
yet they are mighty and they act in
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a way that is unto their death. We have to remember this when we
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think about how we exercise our own
image, how we live as those made
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in the image of God. We
remember this as we either exercise rule or
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live under the rule of other people. Above both superiors and inferiors, is
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God who is judge overall. Satan
will encourage us to forget this, and
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he often has. Even some of
the greatest and holiest people in scripture have
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fallen into these same sins that are
mentioned here in Genesis six, David King
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Day, he saw a woman who
was attractive and he took what did not
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belong to him. Abraham did the
same thing in desiring offspring Sarah, encouraging
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him a desiring offspring rather than according
to God's Word and promises in his own
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way, and takes women to himself
that did not belong to him. Solomon
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did the same thing and brought down
the entire a kingdom of God as a
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result of it. Those who are
in authority are right to remember these examples
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are to be cautious and careful about
the sins that are in their own hearts,
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to not take what belong does not
belong to them, to not use
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their power to oppress others and harm
but there's also a message, of course,
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to inferiors. Satan will tempt you
to think that, when, when
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you are put in a position like
this, that life is hopeless and unfair,
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to despair of unrighteousness of all,
to the spare of righteousness and to
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live as one who is dead,
to give up hope on God, to
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give up hope on justice, and
he will encourage you to respond and turn,
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to say, well, if you
are oppressed, then the way out
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of it is to be an oppressor, to turn and to exercise what authority
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you can muster and you authority you
can gain over other people. To these
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are the lies of Satan. But
they are lies, aren't they? God,
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who represents himself to US, who
tells us who he is in Genesistis,
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reminds us that these kings who act
in this way, this perverse and
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despicable way, against the calling God
has placed on them, that God sees,
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that God knows, the God judges, that God does not rule like
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men often rule. God judges and
rules are recording to knowledge and righteousness and
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holiness, even when men do not
and, as we will see in the
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coming chapters, God will judge great
and terrible judgments, the destruction, as
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he will, as he says they're
at the end of those first verses of
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chapter six, he says I will
blot out man, whom I have created
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from the face of the earth,
man and animals and creeping things and birds
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of the heavens, for I am
sorry that I have made this judgment that
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comes and we will consider in the
coming chapters as a judgment that's promised,
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not only here in the beginning years
of the world, but also at the
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end. It is but a foretaste
of the coming judgment, the last judgment
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that God promises to bring on all
those who do not do as God has
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called them to do. But this
judgment that we see in the flood,
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a judgment that we see at the
end of the world. We also see
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and the Cross of Christ, this
judgment, the judgment where God pours out
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his wrath upon his son, upon
the one who came to do what Adam
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failed to do. This is where
we, as Christians, find and see
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our judgment, a judgment so that
we are able to stand on the last
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day. This is important to remember
because as we examine the sins of our
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own heart, the lusts of a
flesh, the desires of our eyes,
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the pride of life, when we
examine our own hearts and we see that
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we also defile the image that we
were made, that we bring shame to
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the glory of God. When God's
judgment is poured out on Jesus, for
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you, it is a reminder that
God has made things right where you have
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made things wrong. It humbles us, doesn't it? But it also brings
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us great hope because it reminds us
that, as I just said, where
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God where we have failed, God
has succeeded, that where we have lost
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the things that God has made us
to be, he has given them back
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to us and given them back to
us in abundance and even eternal glory.
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Let me remind you that Jesus came
to do what Adam failed to do,
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to bear the image of God.
The scriptures explicitly say this, that he
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is the image of God, the
he bears the radiance of his glory.
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Jesus was this as the second Adam, reminding remember that promise I mentioned earlier,
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to David's son and second Samuel Fourteen. This is a promise that is
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fulfilled in Jesus Christ, that this
son of David, this man, this
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offspring of him and Eve, would
be a son of God, not only
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is as a king in an earthly
sense, but as a King over the
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heavens and the earth. He would
be the son of Adam, he would
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be the son of David. David
I will establish the throne of his kingdom
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forever. He would also be that
great son of Abraham that was promised Josea
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one hundred and ten that I've mentioned. The net says that the number of
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the children of Israel shall be like
the sand and the sea, which cannot
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be measured or numbered. Paul quotes
this very verse in Romans Hundred and Twenty
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six to show that this is fulfilled
in Christ, who brings in both Jews
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and gentiles into sonship and inheritance.
Glacians three twenty nine tells us that this
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promise, this fruitful multiplying that is
promised to Abraham, is happens in Christ.
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Glaciers three twenty nine. If then, you are Christ's then you are
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Abraham's offspring. You See, when
we are in Christ, we are God's
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sons. As I read earlier in
Romans Ey. We receive that inheritance.
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We become fellow heirs with Jesus and
are given everything that Jesus was given,
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the glory that he was given,
the reigning and rule that he was given,
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the resurrection that Jesus was given,
a life glorified. One more verse,
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Second Corinthians, for six, one
of my favorite verses, for God,
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who said let light shine out of
the darkness, has shown in our
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hearts to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the
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face of Jesus Christ. The God
who spoke in Genesis and said let there
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be light not only in the world
but in the image of man, has
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now shone forth a second time,
has shown forth his glory, the light
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of the knowledge of the glory of
God, in the face of Jesus Christ.
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What does this mean then? It
means that we, all of you
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who bear the image of God,
which is to say all of you,
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every single one of you. All
of you, therefore have the hope of
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forgiveness, hope of forgiveness and the
hope of justice when we believe in Jesus
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Christ. To the oppressor, who
has oppressed and who has exercised his or
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her rule in ways that sin against
God, Sin Against the ways and the
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holiness that he has made us in. God promises in Jesus forgiveness. He
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promises that his sins, our sins
are, are poured out on him so
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that we can be forgiven through his
work and not our own. And to
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the oppressed who endures and calls out
to God and says, where is my
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hope, where is my salvation?
Again, God promises that in Jesus Christ
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there is hope that justice will happen. The here is one who reigns and
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sees and on the last day,
will come to judge all the earth.
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Well, we, of course,
each and every one of us, are
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both kings who oppress and ones who
are oppressed by kings. We are those
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who both rule unjustly and endure the
unjust rule of others. So we have
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double reasons, many reasons, a
multitude of reasons, to turn to Jesus
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Christ, to see the glory of
God, not in ourselves, which has
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been covered up by our sins,
but to see the glory of God in
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the face of Jesus Christ. And
so I say to you this morning I
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proclaim to you this morning and even
warned to you this morning. Do not
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delay. When God shows you his
glory and tells you of his glory in
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The Sun that has come and promise
you, is you, a glory that
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is eternal and restored and everything right
and glorified in him, then do not
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wait, do not remain in your
sins, do not remain walking according to
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the lusts of your flesh, because
judgment comes to those who see and take
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according to the evils of their hearts, just as it came to noah and
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Noah's generation, it will come one
day to the whole earth and all will
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be judged. But to those who
do see the glory of God in the
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face of Jesus and take him by
faith, they will not be judged on
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the last day but instead receive the
glorious inheritance that is promised to the sons
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of God. And so there lies
before you two ways you may take and
402
00:37:14.760 --> 00:37:21.070
you may see the evil desires of
your heart and receive eternal condemnation for it,
403
00:37:21.949 --> 00:37:24.269
or you can see the glory of
God and the face of Jesus Christ
404
00:37:25.230 --> 00:37:30.139
and receive by faith all that God
gives to you and him and receive the
405
00:37:30.260 --> 00:37:38.420
internal eternal promises and that great inheritance
that comes through him. Choose the latter.
406
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Put Your faith in Jesus Christ,
because there you find forgiveness and justice
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and Hope Eternal. Let us pray
and ask that God would grant us this
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faith
