The Cross Orlando Values: lineage

October 20, 2019 · Ben Hoyer · 28:38

Introducing the core value of "lineage" from Romans 5:12-21, contrasting Adam's sin with Christ's one act of righteousness and emphasizing how Jesus, rooted in real history, gives believers the capacity to reign in life.

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First thing to say is that, you know, we have trees scraping on the roof of the building all the time now, it's kind of very distracting. And now we have some squirrels that are determined that they could not be hole in the roof by throwing acorns down there. And I told Kevin this guy to come back to this point too and take care of all the squirrels that he takes me up on. But that's what that noise is if you hear them are wondering.

We've been, we've been working here these core values. It's a good time of the year to think about who we are together, who the cross Orlando is, what it means to wear a congregation of people living under the rain. It's got a certain need to shorthand to say that the church is a subversive movement of people living under the rain and down in the world that doesn't recognize the support. And this congregation is a subversive movement of people in Orlando living under the rain

of God on a city that doesn't recognize his authority. And this sort of congregation of that church, of that subversive movement has four core values that we've carried your first over the last several years. We did a pretty tremendous value when we started as a congregation in 2010. But we waited a little while and then asked for another one of the core concepts how do we understand our experience together. And these four words clean out, story, peace, lineage and life. And we've been working through these four core values.

I try and do it like once a year to remind ourselves what these core values are. This year, I don't know how, I mean, the Holy Spirit as our teacher, I suppose, we found that in Romans chapter four, five and six, what Paul writes for the Romans almost follows these four core values in that order, story, peace, lineage and life. So we've been working through Romans chapter four, five and six. And there are some paper copies of those scriptures around if you want to pick that up and turn

to those pages. They're in the New Testament, it's Paul's letter to the gathered church in Rome, so it's called Rome. It goes Matthew March, we've dropped Acts, Romans, first and second print games if you're looking for it in the paper copy, that's the order. And we're looking at Romans, this section for lineage in Romans chapter five. And a couple of things that have stuck out to me over the last couple of weeks that we've

been talking from story, the thing that really stuck out to me is we came out of what Paul said in Romans and looked at what he says in another section where he says that with his work, with his sufferings, Paul says, he is making up for what is locking in Christ's affliction. And when we begin to try and we try to wrestle with what does it mean that the afflictions of Christ are lacking something? And it's a crisis given to trouble over the years and I landed on this understanding of

the way that it's a little bit new to me that says Christ in the cross, at the cross, conquers the world wholly and completely. The work of salvation and redemption is done at the cross and yet he waits for Paul to go tell people about it. So interesting, the work is complete but not everybody knows yet. And rather than announce it in some kind of resounding, sonic boom that runs through

all the fabric of the world at the same time, he allows Paul with weak and feeble feet to sail across ship oceans on ships that wreck, to walk into villages that kick him out. He waits for Paul to go tell people that he is comfort the world. And what we found out there is that the story of God on the world, though complete in one sense in a whole world, a very real sense is not done and needs you. The story of God, the story of Scripture continues in meaningful ways in your life.

God has meaningful work waiting for you to do, you uniquely, to carry out the story of Scripture. And then the section that we talked about in peace, we contrasted two stories that had not contrasted before. We contrasted Adam and Eve, the first ones in the garden just after the fall where they're feeling for the first time, guilty, anxiety, shame. And the God comes into the garden the way he had, it seems like it's a problem for them

in the cool of the evening. And the presence of God just there after the fall amplifies their guilt and shame, where they were fearful a little bit before now they're fighting, where they were ashamed and felt guilty, their guilt was increased by the presence of God. We contrasted that story where the presence of God increases the negative emotions. The story of the mountain transfiguration where Jesus takes his three closest friends up on the mountain and elevates and emanates with the presence of God and Moses and Elijah

are there and the manifest presence of God comes down in the mountain like a cloud. And Peter says, this is so great, let's never leave. Something different happens when you enter into the presence of God through the person of Jesus, the difference from the fall to the transfiguration is the person of Jesus, where the presence of God brings peace so that we know that as we gather here today

in the presence of God, we owe him power of peace. And even more as you, like Paul, usher the presence of God out into new places, you carry the peace of God with him. And today I want to look at many what this core value of many of Jesus and Paul gets into it in Romans chapter 5 starting at verse 12. Now the challenge, day and time, you use Paul on a Sunday morning as he could like, you

could really get bogged down because as we've said before, Paul was, I don't know what kind of men's of tests they had in the first century. They're Paul's some kind of certified Jesus. And the death and complexity of his writings has been confounding and inspiring scholars for generations. So what we're going to do, I wish that I had this capability to like, elucidate what Paul says very clearly for you so that you need to understand every sentence.

There are going to be places of confusion. Just go with me as we read it and don't get bogged down in the sentences that we don't understand because we can't explain all of Ontario. Fair? Okay. Romans chapter 5 verse 12. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through the one man and death through sin, so death spread to all men because of sin. Of course, he's talking about Adam there, that Adam opened up, acted upon this fatal

fall of humanity that we are sure we know better than that. And that when we begin to assume responsibility for things that were intended for only God and take responsibility for, the weight of that crusher breaths, we begin to feel all negative emotions we were not intended to feel because we can't carry the weight of the responsibility of the things that we determined for God, like the weight of the responsibility of your future. You can't carry that weight. When you figure you know your future better than God, you get anxiety and fear.

You can't carry the weight of providing for yourself in the world. God has made the world for you and put you in it. And you try to carry the weight of the responsibility of providing for yourself, you feel stress and confusion. You get propelled by anxieties. Adam opened up the possibility and sin is the manifestation of this fatal fall of humanity says we know better than God and ultimately it, ultimately it leads to death.

Everyone born since Adam buried this fatal fall and celebrated it's like terminal hand. Right? Therefore, just as sin came into the world through the one man and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sin, for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given. This is the part you haven't told with me. But sin is not happy whether it's no law, verse 14, yet death ran from Adam to Moses. He's saying even though we didn't have the law spelled out until Moses, we know that sin

is in the world because folks were dying from Adam to Moses. And then finally, outlined the law very specifically with the time of Moses. Even over those whose sin is not like a transgression down on the, okay, verse 13, 15, sorry. But the free gift is not like the trespass. Or if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and free gift by grace of that one man Jesus Christ, a boundary premier.

The free gift is not like the result of the one man sin for the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation. But the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. Because the one man's trespass that rang through the one man much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness rang in line with one man Jesus Christ. Oh, that's beautiful.

Much more is you hear I kind of ran over it. Much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness rang in line through the one man Jesus Christ. The notion of reigning in life is beautiful. Raining is like a really great word as a verbal root with a noun concept. But the idea of someone reigning in the world as a verb seems kind of ascendant and powerful

sort of above the fray. I like the notion that those who receive the gift of the justification in the person of Jesus Christ will reign in life. This is because the gift of justification means you're allowed to put to bed your fate of law and trust again in the God for provision and protection and future. And those with the capacity to let God be God will reign like humanity was intended.

Carry the image of God in the world above the fray of the fall. This is the lineage you were born into. And it gives you the propensity to reign with Christ's honor now. You experience it and fits and starts I am sure.

There are moments where you are confident in God's provision that he has secured a future for you. There are times where you experience such confidence in his love for you that you are free to extend love graciously to the people around you. You're not miserly with the love that's given to you. You are freely giving it out because you have this like abundance of love coming down on

you. You're able like ascendant and free to give love out to those around you. You have inherited from Christ the propensity to reign on her. How does that happen? I really love how this happens and it's a kind of a new thought for me because you see here in verse 17. Sorry. Let's go, but let's actually let's keep going.

He says that the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ verse 18. Therefore as one trespass led to the condemnation for all men. This is a real bummer and when I was younger, I used to contemplate this. I can remember thinking, man, what would it happen if they just did the first? And that sin comes into the world through one person, like, oh, Adam, right?

But of course, here in my hand and without getting into the metaphysics of it, whether it is Adam or me, sin comes into the world. Whether it's Adam or me, whether it's at the beginning of time or today, sin comes into the world. But what's interesting is where they're entered and this is important for us and the one person,

therefore as one trespass led to condemnation for all men. So one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as the one man's disobedience has by the one man's disobedience, the many women's nerves so by the one man's obedience, the men will be made righteous. This is significant. The work of Christ is in historic act.

Paul is careful to say that your propensity to reign on earth with Christ, your propensity to let God be God is a direct descendant from the one person Jesus of Nazareth, born of Mary in Bethlehem. Think about the story of our people, how rooted in history it is. We know the name Herod because they're careful to tell us under who was king when Jesus was

around. We know the name Pontius Pilate because they're careful to tell us who was the Roman governor over things when Jesus was an ox. We know the name Caiaphas because they're careful to tell us under Herod, under Pilate is Caiaphas, the guy who ruled the same hedon, who looked over the temple because they want to know out of certain point in history, one man Jesus walked around and with the grace of God and the any carnated work lived fully obedient to God and started a whole new line

of people with the capacity to live obedient to God. And the obedience means we reign, ascended and powerful as we were intended to carry the image of God in the world. I can't believe or I can't believe but it is compelling to me. How tied into history our story is.

How like really and real when I think about the first one when I think about Adam and he and the story of creation I can think kind of it can sound mythical and unmoored from timelines and history. But when I think about Aaron and pilot and Caiaphas when I think about when I think about Mary and Mary Magdalene. And I wonder about Elizabeth exactly what I am.

When I recognize Jesus as a man I realize there is something very real that I have stepped into taking part in a subversive movement of the land of God, of earth and of little congregation. There is something very real that I have taken part of by stepping into a congregation of people with the same people with the same people with the same people with the same people with the same people

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we won't be the last we will learn from Saul Tlesus and Barnus and Luke but not only that we'll learn the lineage of the application of Jesus all the way down through an earlier life reign we might receive the righteousness and justification that our houses select our God and reign on today as an end in the image of God.

We will learn the fact that we hold lineage as a core value means that we believe it is possible for us like the generations before us to live out of the life of Christ not the life of God and that we will find our way to that life and keep me with the generations of the God before us applying it to new challenges and new complexities to talk about the sin of amnesty but for today I hope that you have the capacity to believe that you could be a Christian a little Christ.