Issabon in 2011

Eve was given to pain. Adam was given to toil. Both were severed from a unity with God no one has ever had the opportunity to experience on this earth since. Both man and woman were handed over to the same struggle in different areas of their lives.

Eve, though created to assist Adam in keeping the garden, was given over to intense struggle in child birth - her main focus, purpose.

Adam, though created to keep and watch over the garden was also designed to assist his wife in raising their children. Now, however he is given over to struggling against a newly cursed earth in order to survive (opposite of Gods initial plan - Gen. 1:9-13, 2:6, 8-14).

Eve's pain, issabon, is the same as Adam's toil. Both define the new struggle. Hard work. Grieving. Affliction.

This new year is not the year of leisure nor is it another opportunity to climb the corporate ladder. It's simply another season we're blessed with to fulfill the purpose we were made to fulfill...walk with and glorify the Lord.

Paul takes us from the garden to the Christian community. To the Thessalonians Paul defines his strategy regarding work in this new community:

'We worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you,' (2 Thess. 3:8)

Paul uses three different words in Greek to describe his struggle:

worked - to labor, like an employee, perform

labored - weariness caused by work, fatigued from the labor

toiling - daily travails, routine of long hard - never ending work, common labor

'We worked hard day and night, wearied from the heavy burden of the daily grind and yet were not idle with our hands or minds and never a burden to your household or finances,' (2 Thess. 3:8 Rich version).

Adam and Eve worked before the curse, they may have even sweat from that work (I assume sweat glands existed) - it was the new struggle to survive physically, mentally and especially spiritually that altered their habits but not their basic purpose...that is, to glorify God in everything they did.

Paul takes their struggle, the common struggle of mankind and redefines it. He doesn't eliminate the struggle like the Greek philosophers attempted to do. He doesn't separate the 'holy' work of saints (bible study, prayer, preaching) from the secular/dirty work of the comman man (tradeswork, farming, shepherding). Paul simply does what must be done to glorify God, in all forms of labor, in all seasons, in all cities, with all peoples, all in the name of glorifying YHVH.

That is more than a New Years resolution...that is the resolution of a New Life.

Building Christ

If you:

are Encouraged in your Unity with Christ,

are Comforted from His Love,

have Fellowship with the Spirit,

have Tenderness

and Compassion...

Paul is building here. He's shaping the believers foundation. Philippians 2:1.

Being like Christ first requires that we want to be like Him. Makes sense right? Then why is it that so many who claim to be Christians have such a difficult time being like Him? And why do so many who don't know Jesus appear to have Christlike attributes? Well there's a lot that goes into that answer but we'll stick with Paul's foundation for now.

Forming the 'mindset' or the 'attitude' of Christ is a journey.

Being like Him is an adventure, a rigorous, relaxing and rewarding adventure.

Dig deep, ask yourself, seek out the truth in your soul...are you encouraged knowing that you are united with Jesus with every ounce of your being: heart, mind, soul and body.

When it's quiet, when the light's are off and you're alone...do you have comfort knowing that you are loved by Christ. That He died not simply for the whole world but for you specifically. You are accepted and needed.

Are you reliant on your own energy, your own knowledge and limited understanding...or are you fully given over in fellowship with the Spirit, the Encourager, the Counselor, the Guide.

Has life hardened your heart. Are you able to trust others. Willing to be authentic and genuine in your relationships with friends, family, authority figures...God. Do you have a tender heart, warm nature about you.

Look around you, look at those you live with and share life with. Look for those you pass by regularly. Would they call you compassionate. Do you see emotional, mental, physical, spiritual need around you...do you do anything at all to fill those needs. 

IF you desire to have this foundation.

IF at your core you are these things.

THEN Paul is speaking to you, describing your heart. Being built within you is a framework for the attitude of Christlikeness...this is freakin awesome!

LWBC: An Ugly Toddler 2

Now, the blood had to flow. The temple was not only a place for acknowledging God and His power and glory and leadership. The temple was the place to worship, display devotion and seek forgiveness. And so the blood of animals had to flow...right there on temple grounds.

Now there were lots of reasons to spill the innocent blood of an animal.
Plenty of opportunities for a farmer to offer freshly harvested grains and such.
However there was only One place to offer any of these.
The temple.

The temple had a wild host of inner workings. Special items used only to glorify the Lord with. Special ingredients and never ending light in the holy places of the complex. In order to really picture what's happening in the temple, lets climb the temple mount in Jerusalem and take a brief look inside.

Court of Priests:
Altar of Sacrifice: made of bronze, this is where all offerings came to rest, especially blood offerings.
Bronze Laver (Sea): giant bowl containing 12,000 gallons of water resting on a foundation of 12 oxen.
Bronze Pillars: standing at the entrance to the Holy Place, named Jachin and Boaz these pillars represented Stability and Strength.

Holy Place:
Table of Showbread: 12 loaves of unleavened bread representing the 12 tribes of Israel were placed new on this table each week.
Altar of Incense: made of gold, this altar burned a pleasing aroma to God 24/7 - ingredients only allowed to be used in the temple.
Golden Candelabra: the 7 armed lamp stand made of 100lbs of solid gold - burning with olive oil 24/7.

Most Holy Place:
Ark of the Covenant: chest of acacia wood overlaid with pure gold - resting on top were 2 golden cherubim facing one another with heads bowed towards the Ark - each with an enormous wingspan that filled the room. Inside rest the stone tablets in which the 10 commandments were written, Aaron's staff (Moses' brother), and a jar of manna from their journey in the desert.

Right now this information may seem a bit pointless, not all that exciting or useful. However, each piece described above tells the future story of the Son of God, The Messiah, The Savior of mankind.

Each piece describes in some way, shape or form the LIFE, DEATH and ROLE of Jesus in the history of mankind, PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE.

Yes, it's just a bunch of metal ware in a stone building run by a group of Priests who don't have a choice to do what they do...but that's only what it looks like from the outside.
On the inside, I'm not talking about inside the building, I mean on the inside of your heart, your soul, deep within your spirit God is alive and well.
What may look broken, seem pointless, feel trapped and hurt and living in sin may also be very much alive deep down inside.
The temple, the metal and stone, the Priests acting on tradition...well God is using all of them to do something much, much, much greater than they could imagine.
That is where Jesus eventually comes in.

LWBC: An Ugly Toddler 1

Whether you know it or not your soul desires to be connected with its Creator.

In Figs & Furs we saw man and woman choose sin and Gods response to their sin. Now here we are several thousand years later at the Temple, built by King Solomon (1 Kings 6), modelled after Moses' tabernacle (Exodus 36), which was designed by God as an earthly replica of the temple in Heaven.

The Temple began with Moses. He would leave the Israelite camp and head out to a lone tent called 'the tent of meeting' (Exodus 33:7). There he would speak with God face to face, 'as a man speaks with his friend' (33:11). I'm jealous. In fact, God even let Moses see His Glory, His beauty, His Divine Nature...but not His face. Looking into His face, God says, would kill Moses (33:12-23). Stinking Awesome.

After that God called Moses to build an official meeting place, set up a high priest who would lead the people and be the middle man between God and them. This new tent is the Tabernacle.

Many years and wars and sins and blessings and people come and go and we step into the season of the Ugly Toddler.

Remember who the Ugly Toddler is? The Israelites. They're in that stage in their spiritual life where they're selfish, obnoxious, always needing to be retold how to act and speak and live. Yet, like a loving parent, God never gives up on them.
He disciplines.
He teaches.
He sets up Laws to guide them.
He forgives them and reconnects with them.
Yet they never stay faithful to Him for long. An Ugly Toddler.

King David steps onto the scene and is considered a friend of God they have such a good relationship. He is a king chosen by God to lead His people. King David decides to build a permanently magnificent temple for the Lord instead of a temporary tent/tabernacle. God gives David the blueprints and David passes on the instructions to Solomon, his son. Solomon builds the Temple.

This is important.
Before the Temple the people were nomads waiting to settle a land of their own.
After they move into the land God had promised them and eventually build the Temple life changes.
These people (much like you and I) have a hard time simply believing that God is always with us and in control.
These people have heavenly moments where they are connected with God, ask forgiveness for their sin and obey the Lord.
These people have even more horrible moments where they worship themselves, do what makes them feel good, follow the gods of their neighbors to fit in and make friends...they ignore God and leave Him in the dust.
The Temple is symbol of power and permanence. Now the people see a building that God calls His home permanently built in their city on the highest hill.
The Temple and the priests that take care of it are a symbol of Gods love and plan to be united with His people always. Laws are put in place to guide the people and show them what holiness is and what sin is.
The Temple is a sign of a new and eternal life with thee Creator, YHVH, the Lord God.

It's ancient history, but if you're a student of Jesus, if you believe in Him and know that He loves you, then this is your history as well, these men and women and this Temple are a part of your family tree. And if it's part of your family, it's not useless info hidden in the past, it shapes your story, who you are, why you are the way you are and who God is in your life.

Read Exodus 36:8-38 to get an idea of what Moses' Tabernacle looked like.
Read 1 Kings 6 to see the Temple being built under King Solomon.
Read Hebrews 3:6 & 1 Corinthians 6:19 to see that here and now, in 2010, the followers of Jesus are a new and living temple (we'll get to that later in more depth).

Blood was shed in the Garden and is shed in the Temple. In fact, the Ugly Toddler needs lots of blood to be forgiven for their never ending sins. We'll get to that next time.

LWBC: Figs & Furs 3

God exists in His Glory - Heaven on Earth - Man Created - Man misses the Mark - Fig Leaves and Animal Furs = Genesis 1-3

'Their eyes were opened...so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings...' (Gen. 3:7)

Adam and Eve are living in Heaven on earth. They have a personal relationship with the Creator of everything. Even in a perfect environment such as the Garden of Eden, God allowed Satan to tempt man. God even allowed man the freedom to choose how to live their lives. And the outcome is famous - they choose to be selfish, they crave power and self righteosness and so they give in to Satans temptation - they Miss the Mark = they sin and break their perfect relationship with God.

I love their response, because I'm sure I would do the same thing.

They realize that they're naked (they hadn't noticed before), so they swan dive in opposite directions into some bushes nearby. They find some thin vines and sew some big ole leaves together creating that seasons newest fashion. They are no longer naked and embarrassed.

Outcome: God shows up, knowing entirely what just happened, and is clearly disappointed. Man cannot cover his own sin. No matter how fashionable and creative we might get, no matter how comfortable and content we might be, if we're living in sin then we're missing Gods mark, we're missing His plan and no matter what we do, we won't be able to cover it up physically, mentally or spiritually and it will tear us apart emotionally.

Fig Leaves don't cover sin.

So God does what only God is allowed to do and maps out their future. He curses them all three of them: man, woman and Satan.

Now, God still wants a relationship with his most loved creation, Adam and Eve. Since fig leaves won't cover their sin and make them holy again, God must do it.

'The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.' (Gen. 3:21)

In this passage, according to many brilliant theologians, is a Protoevangelium: first announcement of the Good News of Gods future plans. God knows of their choice to listen to Satan, He see's their attempt to cover their shame and embarrassing sin, so God decides to cover their sin in His own way.

YHVH finds one of His beautiful animals, sheds its 'lifeblood', skins it, creates an even newer seasonable fashion and covers Adam and Eve.

Take note of the symbolism. He doesn't just cover them physically with fur. He covers their sin with the blood of the animal. He takes the life of an innocent, perfect lower lifeform in place of taking human lives. He loves them too much to abandon them. He chooses them to glorify Him and to have a relationship with. Animals were not created to act and to think and to freely choose and know God, only man has this ability, has His word and spirit and love.

The protoevangelium here is the shedding of blood by God for the salvation of man. Sound familiar? Jesus, shedding His blood for the eternal salvation of man...This act of God in the garden is a sign of what is to come in the future in Jerusalem. Stinkin awesome! He is in control, He has had a plan throughout every century, age, blessing and disaster.

God is just. He created justice and lives by it. He is perfect and calls us to be perfect. In order to stay connected with God something must pay for sin, originally it was an innocent animal (which soon becomes a religion) - eventually it becomes the Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Figs and Furs don't cover sin.
Leaves and Animals don't forgive sin.
God does. Only God. The Beginning and the End. The One True God.

Read Genesis 3. Take notice that while God is love, it isn't a fluffy-run through a meadowy field with flowers in His hair type of love. His love is strong, it is forgiving, it is just and like all love it involves discipline, change, maturity, protection and need for a healthy, pure relationship.

This is the beginning.

Philippians 1:29

Paul is in prison.
Timothy continues to serve with him.
Philippian believers are on the road to struggle and persecution.
And Paul is encouraging them to stand firm in Christ amidst their opposition.
How encourging...

'For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him...'

'granted' - charizomai (gk) - to give permission, to authorize, allow

If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, it's only because God has allowed your eyes and ears and heart and mind to be opened to the Truth.
Yes, He wants all of His creation to know Him.
No, they won't all want to know Him.
Through your willingness to seek Him no matter how broken hearted, bitter or angry towards Him you might be, He knows you and me and every person on earth and opens us up to understanding His Word according to His time and plan.

In the same way that He gives us permission to believe and trust in Jesus...He allows us to suffer.
He allows us to believe in Jesus for eternal love and life. And allows us to suffer like Him on earth.

He doesn't just allow it really, He authorizes it, He permits it.
He's pretty much saying that if you're willing to follow the Messiah, the Savior of the world Jesus...then you and I must be willing to suffer in some way as well, some of us in more extreme ways than others...some even to death.

Paul was confident that God would continue to work in their lives through good and bad (1:6) and because they knew God would never stop working in them (2:13) they should continue working out their own salvation (2:12) living a life worthy of Christ (1:27), living, acting, thinking and speaking with His attitude (2:5).

What other gifts do we need?
He's given us the greatest gifts a believer could ask for:
1) to believe in Jesus
2) to live like Him (includes suffering)

We're allowed to be like Christ.

LWBC: Figs & Furs 2

The Garden of Eden, a sort of Heaven on earth, was the place that YHVH (God) had set apart for Himself and His favorite creation, man and woman.

Isaiah called this place the 'garden of the Lord' where joy and gladness and thanksgiving and singing are found. Pretty much he's saying it's freakin awesome place to be (Isaiah 51:3).This is the place on earth God created to dwell (live). He created man in this Garden to live with Him in perfection and joy...

This Garden is a type of Holy Temple created in nature. The Garden itself is like the Holy of Holies (where the Ark is kept remember?) and Eden, which is in Mesopotamia, is like the Holy Place (candles, incense, bread...).

You see, most ancient Mesopotamian cultures had creation stories of their own. Some, like the Sumerian 'island of Dilmun', have their own versions of paradise on earth similar to the Garden. However, in the Sumerian version the god Enki has to figure out how to teach the people and animals they just made how to function: eat, sleep, work, talk, think...(An imperfect creator is not a god I want to follow)

My point is - the original audience reading the words of Genesis almost 4000 years ago would have seen the Garden as Heaven on earth. In the same way you know that Yellowstone National Park is a real place out West, the Hebrews reading this story would have pictured the Garden of Eden out East of them. We should too.

I can picture God walking through His Garden with His people, barefoot. A mighty river feeding the land. Fruit trees and vegetables and wildlife flourishing. Trees of Life and Knowledge growing in the center. Life is good, healthy, growing abundantly and stinkin' awesome! God is enjoying His time with His creation.

Take a moment and read Genesis 1-2.

Now go to the end of the Bible and read Revelation 22:1-5.

Isn't it awesome how the beautiful Temple in Heaven described in Revelation, the final home for all of those who have faith and believe in Jesus, is similar to the Garden. The river of life, the trees and the abundance of fruit and crops and health for all in perfection, 'No longer will there be any curse (sin).' His people will be with Him just like in the Garden and this time forever!

Alright - so we still haven't made our way to Adam and Eve and Figs and Furs...but we will! I just want you to understand how incredible the environment is that Adam and Eve are in when we get to their horrible decision to screw it all up.

You should walk away from here today realizing that the Garden wasn't just a Garden...it was a Holy Place showing us that from the very beginning of creation God has eternity planned out and that eternity is with those He loves dearly.