THE CITY OF GOD
(INTRO) A TALE OF TWO CITIES (Me/We)
[1]WELCOME: Good morning everyone! If you’re new with us on campus or just now joining us online, my name is Nic Cook. Today we’re continuing our teaching…
SERIES: called Anchored, based on a book in our bible called Hebrews. While it’s part of our bible now, it was originally a sermon written to Christians living around the city of Rome sometime around the 60’s A.D. Everything around them in the next ten years would shake. The temple in Jerusalem would fall, and Christians would be persecuted even more. While they were dealing with being outsiders, poverty, and pain, it wasn’t going to get easier. Everything was going to shake. And the writer of Hebrews was telling them how to live in a world that was shaking. In fact…when you fast forward to 410 AD Christians once again wrestling with the world shaking around them. That’s when…
THE FALL OF ROME AND THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE EMPIRE took place. The Visigoths had just conquered the city of Rome. That was something that hadn’t happened in over 800 years. They used to call it the “Eternal City” because they believed it would stand forever. Yet it hadn’t. It fell in 3 days. It was one of the events that signaled the end of the Roman Empire that had lasted 1,000 years. In response to this, a Christian named Augustine wrote a book called The City of God. [2]In it, he basically says, all of human history is about living like a citizen of two different kinds of cities. The City of the world or the earthly city, and the City of God or the heavenly city. Those who base their hope and their happiness on the city of the world will find that what they have build will ultimately shake and fall apart. Those that focus their lives on living like citizens of the heavenly city can have hope that they have something eternal worth living for. The truth is, most of the time we don’t realize what city we are living for. We don’t really see that we’ve put our hope in the things and places of this world until things get shaken. A pandemic hits. The doctor calls. Your boss gives you your end date. The economy tanks. Your spouse says they’re done. And the empire starts to crumble. Then what? It is God’s desire to help us find a solid place to stand when it all feels like it’s falling apart. So, if you’ll open your bible’s to [3-4][Heb. 12:12-29]
(TEACH/APP) MISSING OUT ON OUR TRUE HOME (God)
ESAU? As we saw in Chapter 11 and the beginning of chapter 12, we’ve been given all these names of people who are held up as examples of what it looks like to endure and suffer and still keep their faith. But then the author switches gears and gives us an opposite example. He says, there is an attitude that doesn’t lead you towards experiencing God’s presence and the city he has prepared for you. He talks about “failing to obtain the grace of God” by being bitter, or sexually immoral, or unholy like Esau. That word unholy in the Greek is [beh-bay-lows]. Another way of translating it would be “pointless or worthless”. [5]When you go back to the story of Esau in [Gen. 25] we hear a story about two twin brothers. They were complete opposites. Dad loved Esau who was a hunter and outdoorsy type guy. Mom loved Jacob who was more of an intellectual and herdsman. Well one day after a long hunting trip, Esau came home and was exhausted and hungry. His brother Jacob just happened to be cooking some red stew. From what we see about Jacob later on, I don’t think this was an accident. I think Jacob was used to this pattern and he knew his brother well enough to know that he was impulsive and didn’t think things through. He knew his brother took things for granted. So, Jacob says, okay, I’ll give you this stew if you give me your birthright today! That word today is very important. He’s explicitly stating the terms. Stew for your portion of our father’s inheritance starting once you put that food in your belly, no going back. In the ancient middle east, the practice was when the father died, the first oldest son became the head of the household. The wealth of the father was then split among the other sons, but the first son got twice as much as the others. His portion, and then another portion since it was his job to take care of the family, including the care of his mother and umarried sisters. Esau and Jacobs father Isaac was a fairly wealthy man so this was a big deal. Now, all of us who hear this story think…[6]
· IT’S STUPID TO TRADE AWAY YOUR FUTURE FOR SOMETHING SO TEMPORARY: Exactly! Eugene Peterson calls this the “Esau Syndrome.” Trading the future for the present. Yet we still do it all the time. We want to be able to pay off our houses and retire and travel, but we can’t pay off our credit cards enough to save any money because we had to have stuff now. We want to be physically healthy, but we love Reese’s peanut butter cup blizzards with extra Reese’s peanut butter cup and need one now. We want to enjoy life, be less busy, and spend more time with people, but our kids have to play every sport and do every activity at school all the time now. Then we look back on our lives and we’re overweight, we’re broke, our kids are gone, and we don’t have any close friends. Some of you are thinking, dang Nic, those were oddly specific, and I don’t appreciate you talking about me. I’m not. I’m preaching to me, and you just happen to be listening. And what is true physically, relationally, and financially, is also true spiritually. If we become so focused on living for this world, we might miss out on the truer better one. If we pay more attention to our kids sports leagues than we do their souls, we’re trading them for a steaming pile of stew! If we pay more attention to our careers or our hobbies than we do to Jesus, we’re missing out on treasure and settling for supper. The writer lifts up Esau as an example of someone who missed out on the blessings that should have been his because he was driven by temporary desires. We’re called to fix our eyes, not on the things of this world but on…
(JC) OUR TRUE HOME ( (JC)
[7-8]We’re told that “you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. 23 You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. 24 You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.” The author of Hebrews points back to the book of Exodus and says, remember back in Exodus when God came into this world it felt like the very foundations were shaking. It was terrifying because this world that has been affected by sin felt like it couldn’t handle the power and glory of God. Remember how sinful people felt like they too would crumble and fall apart just by being in the presence of something so glorious and completely beautiful? How everything they felt like was real and dependable simply wasn’t important when God shows up? There is an opposite to that feeling. There is a feeling that says I CAN HOLD LOOSELY TO THE THINGS OF THIS LIFE BECAUSE I KNOW THERE’S SOMETHING INFINATELY BETTER. The writer of Hebrews, like a good Jewish preacher does, lists 7 things that make it so much better than this world. First…[9]
1. IT'S WHERE GOD IS: No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, [12:22] The new world is going to be amazing because we will see those we love who loved Jesus and have died before us again. That’s going to be a beautiful reunion. The new world will be amazing because there will no longer be war, and disease, and divorce or abuse. No more tears! But those aren’t the things that make heaven truly heaven. Being directly with God the Father, Son, and Spirit is what heaven is truly about. The way you have been loved by people here on earth pales in comparison to the love the Trinity has for you. They adore you. They purposefully made you. They have given you the strength to get through the hard times. They like you. It reminds me of those videos when a dad who is in the military comes home and surprises their sons or daughters. And they can hardly contain themselves because they finally get to embrace them. That’s what it will be like for us and for God. God is excited to embrace you. We’ll finally get to see our loving heavenly father, be hugged by our Savior, and meet the Spirit who has lived in us. Where God is, nothing awful will ever happen to us again. In fact, the author says, life will be the opposite of pain and sorrow. Because in the new unshakable world…[10]
2. IT’S WHERE THE ANGELIC PARTY IS: and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. [12:22] When you read about angels showing up on earth, they terrify the people they speak to. Apparently, they’re overwhelmingly powerful. So when Jesus says, when a sinner gives their life to Jesus, the angels throw a party, I think we miss out on how significant that is! Angels like to rejoice and throw parties. Not only is it a party, but it’s a joyful party! It’s a banger! Loud good music. Great food and drinks. Nobody’s drunk, but everybody is feeling great as if they without any of the stupidity and loss of good judgement. People have mistakenly made heaven into a white boring library where you have to be quiet and listen to bad muzak amazing grace on a harp. They turned hell into the party. But it’s quite the opposite. Heaven is the true party and hell is missing out on anything and everything good. In his book “letters to Malcom” by C.S. Lewis he says [11]“No, Malcolm. It is only in our ‘hours-off,’ only in our moments of permitted festivity, that we find an analogy. Dance and game are frivolous, unimportant down here; for ‘down here’ is not their natural place. Here, they are a moment’s rest from the life we were place here to live. But in this world everything is upside down. That which , if it could be prolonged here, would be a truancy, is likest that which in a better country is the End of ends. Joy is the serious business of Heaven.” When we feel most free and light and joyful down here on earth, we are getting just a taste of what it’s like in heaven. A tiny drop on the tongue of the great wine of heaven. We know what it means to live a life of work, C.S. Lewis says, our work will be to experience joy and take that work seriously! You can look forward to this new world because…[12]
3. IT’S PART OF YOUR INHERITANCE: You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. An inheritance is yours, not because you earn it. It’s because you are part of the family. What if you were to do a DNA test and find out that somehow, Elon Musk is your father. Stick with me and don’t worry about logistics. Just think about what that would mean financially. And he says, I’m so glad to have you as part of my family. What if he said, instead of waiting till I die, I just go ahead and share what I have with you? That’s what we’re promised. our Heavenly Dad says, what is mine is yours. Not because you’re amazing, but because you’re my kids. Your name is written down in my book. To be a legal citizen of a roman city, your name had to be written in their book. God says, you belong here. You have a place. You’re my kid. What’s mine is yours. Can you see why the author says, don’t be like Esau and trade all this away for worthless things that don’t matter. You’ll be giving up all this that I have for you. The fourth thing we’re told about this new home is that…
4. [13]YOUR DAD IS THE JUDGE You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. [12:23] If any of you have ever had to go into a courtroom, it’s an incredibly uncomfortable experience. Whatever this stranger you’ve never met says goes regardless of whether you like it or not, there’s no recourse. And imagine you walk into the courtroom and the judge is frowning. It’s understandable that many Christians fear going before God as judge. But what if you walk into the court, and instead of seeing a stranger, you see a parent who loves you smiling at you. That’s what we have. We don’t come to a flaming shaking mountain and worry about judgement. We are able to come into the room to a father and say “hi dad!” You know why? Because in the new world…[14]
5. WE FINALLY BECOME PERFECT: You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. [12:23] Theologians call this “glorification”. When sin finally loses all control over us and our bodies are no longer affected by sin. We will be perfect. We are not only seen as perfect, but will actually be able to live perfectly. Not just “not sinning”, but also be really amazing at loving others and being great friends who never hurt each other. This is all because…[15]
6. JESUS YOUR MEDIATOR IS THERE: 24 You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood,” [12:24] We may NOT CURRENTLY BE perfect and sinless, but we are CURRENTLY SEEN that way. A Mediator is someone who steps in the middle of two people and brings peace. Our sin and selfishness had caused us to run away from God and to break ourselves and his creation. We broke what is his. And Instead of punishing us, Jesus stepped in the middle and took our punishment. He died the death we deserved. But he also gave us his perfect record. When God looks at us, he sees us as perfect, sinless, and holy. And when we reach the new world, we will see our great saving Brother, the one who threw open the front door and is ready to welcome us home. Our Mediator is alive and ready to welcome us home. Lastly…[16]
7. YOU WILL NEVER FEEL SHAME AND CONDEMNATION AGAIN: and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel. [12:24] This is referencing the place in the beginning of humanity’s story when Cain killed his brother Abel. God said that the blood that Cain had shed was crying out to God for vengeance. Innocent blood was spilled and there had to be justice. How much more so does spilling the blood of Jesus deserve mean that we should be destroyed. Yet, when God sees the blood of Jesus, it was the plan of the Father, Son, and Spirit to use it to forgive us instead of condemn us. Instead of the blood of Jesus crying out Father, destroy them, it cries out, Father forgive them. While we know this to be true, one day we will be able to feel it to be true. When we finally get to our true home, the new heavens and the new earth, we will never again ache to feel loved and accepted. We will never again hear the voice of the evil one telling us that we’re not good enough. For he will be destroyed and we will finally become who God sees us to be now. Come Lord Jesus! Glory to God!
NEXT STEPS:
FOLLOW: LIVING FOR WORTHLESS, LIVE FOR THE UNSHAKABLE
PRAYER: FEELING SHAKEN, WHICH OF THE 7 GIVES YOU THE MOST JOY?
