November 6, 2005
Scripture:
Can we read a couple of verses from Genesis 2:18–23: “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. and the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” It comes to us this morning through what we have had before us that God had something special in mind. God brought every living thing to Adam to name. Out of all the living things God created, one was higher than the rest: Adam, the one created in God’s image. He was in a garden, a paradise, but something was missing. With all he had, it was possible for him to be alone. Previously, God had looked at all creation and said it was very good. Now he looks at this one circumstance and says it is not good. In a type of the cross, Adam is put into a deep sleep and out of his side is taken that which made Adam a help-meet. We were reminded of the Lord’s words “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone” all alone. We know the Lord was speaking of Himself; He was the corn of wheat. He died so he would not be alone. We see that Adam, with all he could want, was alone. We can ask “Can it be that the Lord, Who was the center of all God’s plans and councils, the brightness of God’s glory, was missing something?” We know the answer: yes. In all the angels there was no one who could be His help-meet. As we look at it all, we can say, “Is it possible that we were what was missing? We needed Him as lost ruined hell-deserving sinners.” But He needed us, those who could fill the vacuum in his heart. First he saves us and fills the vacuum in our hearts so we can fill the closest place to his heart and affections. We think of Calvary, how much we need it. He was alone there. But love is two ways: “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” to win our hearts to Himself. “We love him because he first loved us.”
EG Hymn 311–Children, can you tell me why Prayer Luke 7:36–50 • A Pharisee named Simon invited the Lord to his house for dinner. While he was there, a woman, described as a sinner, came in. She knew that she was a sinner and she felt the Lord’s love for her. She knew he would forgive her and wanted to show her love for Him. In those days, since the streets were very dusty and people wore sandals, it was a common courtesy to give your guests water to wash their feet. Simon did not do this, but this woman washed His feet with her tears. • John 14:21 & 23—If we love the Lord, we will want to show Him, like the woman did. We can keep his commandments and obey his Word to show our love. Did the Lord give any specific commandments for children? In Ephesians 6:1–3 he tells children to obey and honour their parents.
Hebrews 7:25–28 • V. 26—“Becoming” means “suitable”. After reading all about the Lord’s high priesthood, we find that such a Priest is suited to us. In Hebrews 2:9 & 10, we read that it became God to have Jesus become a man and die. This was becoming to God because no one else could do it. In our chapter, due to the fact that every person is a sinner, no one but the perfect Lord could be becoming to us. In chapter 2, he is becoming in His death; in chapter 7. he is becoming in His life. • Vv. 26–28 hold a seven-point outline about our High Priest: I. Holy—Within the meaning of the Greek word translated “holy” in our chapter is the thought of mercy. Mercy is part of our high priests job. We fail by nature but His mercy helps us on. The Lord’s priesthood is different from His advocacy. Advocacy is his intercession after we sin. There is another Greek word that is translated “holy” in the New Testament. It holds the thought of God’s holiness; he is sinless and needs to bring judgment on sinners. II. Harmless—A better translation is “guileless”. III. Undefiled—defilement does not come from within, but from without. This world is contaminated with things that can defile us as Christians. Our High priest is untainted by all of these things; he can help us get through the world. An insect called a water spider is able to go underwater by blowing a bubble around itself. We too can have the protection of our High priest to help us. IV. Separate from sinners—The Lord ate with sinners while he was here on earth, but he was still separate from them. His nature was not only one that did not and could not sin, but it also repelled sin. When Jesus touched a dead person, that person came back to life, out of the power of sin. Separation here has the thought of sanctification (John 17:16–19). V. Made higher than the heavens—Not only did the Lord go to Heaven, being crowned with glory and honour, but he is higher that the heavens. There is no one who has a higher place. VI. Needeth not daily … to offer up sacrifice—This attribute has three parts: ▪ The Old Testament priests had to offer a sacrifice for themselves before they could offer for the people because they were sinners. Jesus was sinless and needed no sacrifice. ▪ They Old Testament priests offered sacrifices continually. Jesus offered only one sacrifice. ▪ They Old Testament priests offered animals as sacrifices. Jesus offered himself. VII. The law maketh men high priests which have infirmity—The human priests had infirmities; they were not perfect. The Lord was perfect. The Old Testament priests would die and their places would need to be filled in. But by an oath, the Lord has become an unchanging perfect priest. • Priesthood of Christ