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Sunnyside Baptist Church David Casson
It's almost 7. I am truly glad to be here and not on another trip, and we're going to be diving in a little bit to God's promises. For those of you wishing for a timeline, I did not write one this time, but we will talk about a couple little things here.
What I created with the elders and our deacons, and I sent this out to them, I got a lot of good feedback. These are things that we as a church, we've been talking about this for a while. I'm not going to belabor the points, but it's nice to have, when we talk about the Abrahamic covenant and Genesis 12, Genesis 15, Genesis 17, just kind of have it all in one place, like, oh, yeah, okay, we can read that.
Take these together, you have the Abrahamic covenant. They're slightly different, 12, 15, 17, but take them together, they kind of form the whole. There's aspects of Genesis 12 that have a couple of wordings in there that aren't in the other two.
We get Abraham, faith was counted as righteousness from Genesis 15. It's not exactly included in 12 and 17. Does that mean it's not important? Paul thought it was pretty important. The sign, circumcision, it's in 17.
It's not in 15 and 12, so that's why we kind of take those together. I also put on this why you can boil down the Abrahamic covenant to promises for a people, a place, and blessing. That's where we get those terms, and that's why we did it that way.
So I'm not going to go over it. I'm not going to read that. You guys can do that well enough yourselves, but that's just so I don't use terms or do a summary, and I think it's a good summary. It's not perfect, but it's helpful.
The next page, how are God's promises specifically addressed in the New Testament? Where would we find those? And this is something that I want each and everybody to be able to do. The New Testament interprets the Old.
We use the light of Christ and the New Testament to help us understand the Old. There are things in the Old that were in shadow form, and now we understand brightly in the light of Christ. Another way that somebody has put it is use later revelation to interpret earlier revelation.
More clear passages to interpret less clear passages. Overall, the New Testament helps us understand the Old. They work together. I do not take the Old Testament in a vacuum by itself. I don't think it stands on its own.
It's the Word of God. Yes, it is, but God gave us all of it. Later prophets interpret earlier ones. New Testament writers help us understand the Old Testament. I think these are hermeneutical principles that we can all kind of agree upon.
And if you wanted to say these are how these individual promises in the Old Testament, especially the Abrahamic covenant, where you find them in the New Testament, let's page two. You have all of your verses right there.
It's Genesis 3 and Romans 4 are very dominant here, and Hebrews 11. And you can go through and even find actual wording where Paul, the writer of Hebrews, actually quotes the Abrahamic covenant, actually quotes those words in Genesis.
He's saying, pay attention. It's happening right before your very eyes. Here it is. When Abraham was promised people, many nations. Who is he talking about? Us, those who wrote the faith of Abraham. When he promised him a land, a very specific land.
Well, we can see how Abraham was the heir of the entire world, which makes sense because Jesus is the heir of the entire world. You can read about how he was looking forward to a city that was heavenly.
The heavenly Jerusalem, you can read about that in Romans. And you can read about the enormous blessing. That the blessing of Abraham, by come to the Gentiles, that is his Holy Spirit. There it is, Galatians 3.
Is that not the ultimate blessing? The Holy Spirit? So those are, it's well-traveled ground, and there's no need to continue to go over it. But there was one aspect of Genesis 12 .3 that I wanted to bring to you guys tonight.
I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. That was God's promise to Abraham and to his offspring. And what does that mean for us? So I'd like to start us off in a word of prayer, and we'll dive into this.
And I hope, despite what Brian says, hopefully this won't be so deep end. This will be eminently practical. Something that matters to you right now and how you interact, not just with each other, but maybe interact with other drivers on the way home.
How you interact with people at work and why it really, really matters. How you treat one another and how you treat people who have never heard the gospel or have only heard it as a curse. Because they may be the only Jesus that they ever see.
It might be you. You may be the only Jesus that they ever see. Let's pray. Lord God in heaven, thank you for our time together. Please bless this lesson, our reading of your word, and our understanding of your scripture and what you have written about yourself and who you are and who you have made us to be.
In Christ Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay, so our focus for tonight is in Genesis 12. So we had said there's only minor differences, but in Genesis 12 that's the one that people kind of focus on. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.
Now we're able to find for people a place and a blessing. And we have those charts in front of us that says, this is where we find these direct fulfillments in the New Testament. Makes sense. Do you see I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you in the New Testament?
Do you see that wording anywhere? Not really. So is that applicable to us? Because I see a lot about blessing and cursing, but it reads very differently. So the question I want us to ask, does this blessing on Abraham's offspring and those who were joint heirs with him pass to us?
Or if it does, what does it look like? Here's some things that it's not. Nowhere in the New Testament do we see a call for the church to bless those who bless it or curse those who curse it. We don't see that.
We also don't see a promise that if you will bless the nation state of Israel, you will have blessings yourself. We see that in the Old Testament. I mean, you can see that where nations would come after Israel.
You see that in Isaiah, and you see that in Daniel, and God takes them out, judges them. Book of Zechariah, you have the nation streaming to Jerusalem to learn more about God, and they're blessed. So you see that.
But what do you see in the New Testament? I don't see if you curse me, you get cursed. Or you bless me, you're going to get blessed. No, that's not what we see. We see over and over and over. When we are cursed, we respond with a blessing.
When we are persecuted, we bless. When we're hated or reviled, we bless. We pray for our persecutors. How can we do that? Why are we called to do that? Has something changed? Some people would say, well, there you go.
This is an obvious difference between the old and the new. That's how Israel is. That's how Old Testament Israel is. Bless those that curse you, and that applies today. But that's why the church is different, because we pray for our persecutors.
We're more spiritual. This is more physical. No, no, it doesn't quite work like that. And I would like to make the case as to why. A couple of verses in front of you. Matthew 5 .44, bless those that curse you and pray for those that persecute you.
1 Corinthians 4, when we are reviled, we bless. James 3, we should not both bless and curse with the same tongue. 1 Peter 3 .4, don't repay evil for evil, but instead bless that you may obtain a blessing.
And the big one, Romans 12. Bless those that persecute you, bless and do not curse them. We do not take our own revenge, but we leave room for the wrath of God. And why? For it is written, vengeance is mine, says the Lord.
That's right out of Deuteronomy 32. So we have a New Testament writer, Paul himself, writing to the church, quoting the law, and says, vengeance is mine. In the Old Testament, you were not to take your own revenge.
What happens in ancient cultures when one person steals, you know, this person's goat, or this person, you know, started a little family feud, and then they fight, and then somebody gets a little too far, and he dies, and then somebody else dies, and then you start the blood feud.
There are people groups who've been killing each other for hundreds and thousands of years, and no one knows how it started, because they took their own revenge. Hebrew society put a stop to that. God's justice was, no, don't take your own revenge.
We have a justice system. The state will handle this. You'll have an impartial judge, you'll have two and three witnesses, you will have evidence, multiple lines of evidence, and you will be presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
But you don't get to take your own revenge, because vengeance is mine. That principle holds true for us as well. Nothing's changed. So how does God keep his promise to bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you in the light of Christ's coming?
Something's changed. How is Christ the heir of this promise to Abraham? What does it mean for us? Well, first off, a couple of things that are in the New Testament where we're going to understand the old better in light of Christ.
A couple of principles that we find. One, you have a union between Christ and his church. It's undeniable. If you read Matthew 25, 31 through 46, that's the famous verse, whatever you do to the least of these, you have done it unto me.
When Jesus says, come into my house, because when I was hungry, you fed me. When I was thirsty, you gave me drink. He says, when did we see you hungry or thirsty? Whatever you did to the least of these, you did it unto me.
And he turns it right around and says, you know, I was hungry, and you didn't feed me. I was naked, and you didn't clothe me. Lord, when did we ever see you? You didn't do that to the least of these. You didn't do it unto me.
Eternal punishment. So there's an element of the way you treat the church is how you're treating Christ. What did Christ himself say to Saul before he became Paul? Why are you persecuting me? There's a union there.
Okay, I think that's a good principle. So God has commanded us to pray for our enemies and bless our persecutors. All right, agreed. I think that we've quoted enough verses that that is what God wants us to do.
That's what God has called you to do. He's called me to do. And I don't know about you, but I don't do it very well a lot of times. I mean, in one of my previous lives, I was an Air Force officer. And when you're on deployment, it's like prison rules.
You can't show weakness. You don't show weakness. You hit back twice as hard. Otherwise, you're going to, you know, talk about schoolyard stuff. Embarrassing to talk about it. But those of you who went on deployments and were around that, that's how it was.
And it was ridiculous. It certainly wasn't. And that starts feuds. It does. It's childish. But the standard that Christ wants us to uphold is pray for those who would persecute you and bless those who revile you.
Why?
We are to imitate Christ. So we're in union with him. How we are treated is, and how the world treats us is how they're treating Christ. How we treat each other is how we're treating Christ. Okay? Pray for those who persecute.
All right? He tells us to do that.
Because we're to imitate him. What did he do? How did he treat his enemies? While we were yet sinners, he died for us. You have all the answers. Absolutely. No, you are, it's like you're inside my head.
It's awesome. No, that's exactly what we want.
Yeah.
What else? We love him because he first loved us. 1 John 4. We were dead in our trespasses and slaves to sin, and he what? He made us alive to newness of life. So we were here, and he brings us up here.
He changes us from the inside out. So the calling that he has given us, the call to bless and not curse, when that's exactly what we want to do, and that's exactly what schoolyard rules want to do, and that's how most of us naturally are, and that's how most ancient cultures are, and that's how modern Oklahoma City is, it's supernatural.
It's absolutely supernatural to be able to bless instead of curse. It's a change. You have been changed. He's called you to do this. Okay. We're in union with him. He's called us to do this. This imitates him.
He set the example, dying for his enemies while we were yet sinners. He died for us and changing us from the inside out. So is there no justice for how you are cursed and how you are hurt or how you are persecuted?
There is. Wrath of God, not the wrath of man.
Exactly.
Thank you, Chris. Okay. So God tarries in his judgment because of his own mercy. Blessing those who curse you is a display of mercy. It's a display of his mercy so that those who see us act this way are without excuse.
This is what God has done for us, so that's why I can do this for you. This is evangelism. This is sharing the gospel. This is displaying Christlikeness, and it's leaving room for the wrath of God. Is there justice?
Yes.
Trust him.
You don't have to take your own revenge, and you wouldn't want to. The reason God says, Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord, I will repay, is because revenge destroys us. It eats us away. Forgiveness, it frees us.
It's completely free. So we can display the mercy and forgiveness to others, even our persecutors, because of the great debt that has been forgiven us. We know the story. We know the great debt that was forgiven us, and we know the parable of the talents, where how horrible it was for this slave who had this monstrous debt been forgiven to take his fellow slave and say, Pay me back what you owe.
It's hypocritical. It's shocking. So talk about God keeping his promises. I hope everybody can read this. God does promise to execute justice. We can trust him to do what is right. We don't have to take our own revenge.
He has promised to do so, and he will.
Because God keeps his promises. Therefore, the standards haven't changed. God hasn't changed. He has always been the one who blesses and curses. I will repay. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.
It's always been him doing it, not his people having to do that. In the final judgment, the one who does good to his people does good unto him and are made citizens of his kingdom. Matthew 25, 31. 31 through 46.
But starting with 31. When the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people, one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
And he will place the sheep on his right, the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, come, you are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
And that's where we go into the discussion of the king saying, when did we see you sick? When did we see you hungry? When did we see you naked? Truly I say to you, as you did it to the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me.
And likewise, those who did not serve and clothed and help the sick. Truly I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it unto me. These will go away into eternal punishment for the righteous into eternal life.
So Matthew 25 isn't like prosperity gospel. I give some money to the church and then you'll get more money in return. That's not what this is talking about. It's a statement of what God's people do as a result of their newness of life compared to what God's enemies do as a result of their hard heart.
I mean, this union with Christ, what happens to him happens to us. We're so unified with him that we died with him, buried with him, resurrected with him, we're seated with him in heavenly places. I mean, that's how unified we are with him.
He walks among his lampstands. He understands our infirmities. He is deeply involved with all of us, with his people. He knows you can trust him to execute justice. In the meantime, you imitate him and display mercy.
That's what a changed heart does. And it is supernatural. And I promise you that I was not always like that. We will know God's people by their fruits. We call on those who hate us and hate Jesus to repent and follow him.
We show mercy to those who don't deserve it because we know that we don't deserve it. So this is how the blessing of Genesis 12, 3 looks now that Christ has come. If you bless Christ, you will be blessed.
If you curse Christ, you will be cursed. The one who dies cursing Christ, the heir of Abraham, will he not be cursed? The one who dies blessing Christ, the Lord of glory, will he not likewise be blessed?
God keeps his promises. This is still true. Don't let anyone tell you, says, well, that was then. Nowadays, we forgive our enemies. So we're different. We're a different people, says. He quotes the law.
He quotes Deuteronomy. He doesn't get much more Jewish than Deuteronomy. And says, that is God's standard, and it hasn't changed. God hasn't changed. What he wants his people to do hasn't changed. I'm not going to say who wrote this, but one of the pieces of feedback that I got from this was very beautifully written, and I just want to read it.
One of the beautiful practical aspects of the fact that this promise belongs to Christ is how it frees us from fear, hatred, and vengeance towards those who would mock, revile, curse, and kill us. Their animosity is really directed towards Christ.
Christ stands between us and them, so to speak, as a husband would stand between his family and a home intruder. He absorbs the blow of the enemy. Their curses fall on him, the one who has the strength to bring justice to the situation, while his wife and children remain safe in the wake of his deliverance.
In the peace of his protection, we are able then to pray for the salvation of our enemies, the curses of Christ, who would be converted and transformed into the blessers of Christ. Just because God doesn't keep his promises in the way that we think that he should, that doesn't make him a liar.
The Word of God has not failed. God keeps his promises in the way that he says that he does, and the way that he keeps it is far greater than anything the original hearers could ever have hoped or imagined.
So go out into the world and know that if you are cursed or reviled or treated horribly, they don't just hate you, they hate Jesus. You pray for them, you show them mercy, because that was the same mercy that was shown to you.
And you can trust that the king and judge judges rightly, judges perfectly, and he will settle the account. And thanks be to God that those things on my account have already been paid for. Thank you for letting me bring this lesson.
It's been rolling around in my head for a while, and this was an opportunity to try to put some of those thoughts on paper. Page one, just those summaries are people, place, and blessing. Page two, where do we find those people, places, and blessing?
In the New Testament. And then the next, sorry, that's page three and four. And then that last page just focuses on 12 .3 and how blessing Christ and cursing Christ is the fulfillment of another aspect of the promises to Abraham and to his offspring.
Anybody have any questions or any comments? Please, sir.
I think there is an element that when the church is in a town.
And the church is growing, that God blesses the church. It sort of overflows to others. And likewise, when people bless God's people, things just sort of work out a little bit better. They do things God's way just naturally, standards of justice, school.
Hospitals in this country were originally started by churches. So there's an element there. What I was getting at was I didn't want people to necessarily think that if you bless the church, you get a one-for-one blessing, the one for ten prosperity teachers as well.
But I'm not ready to say that if someone who is a secular entity does a blessing that happens to bless the church, that they don't also get some cast off of that. I've seen that practically. But if I was going to point to a verse, I would rather do it kind of the way I said it because I find it a little bit safer.
But I have to admit that part of that, there's an element to what you're saying.
I know there's a careful we're trying to make careful distinction.
Yes. Yes, he does.
And I just I can't discount it. I think you're right. I guess it's pretty nuanced, and it was kind of beyond the scope of this lesson. But I guess that's something you can bring to us next time. You kind of fleshed that out for us.
Fleshed it out for me.
Thanks for calling me out.
No, I appreciate the distinction. I think that nuance is needed. Anyone else? Or any questions or any spears? Okay, thank you. Let's close in a word of prayer. Lord God in heaven, we thank you for your word.
We thank you that you are true. We thank you that you do not lie. And we thank you that when you say something, we can believe it. And you have proven yourself over and over and over to be faithful. You are faithful to do exactly what you say you will do, whether that is to bless or to judge.
You are faithful even when we are faithless. And we are so thankful that we are safe in your hands. We are firmly held in your hands, and none can snatch us out of the Father's hands. We're safe because we're in Christ.
And we pray for the sanctification that comes with being in union with him. As we are conformed more and more into his image. In Christ Jesus' holy name we pray. Amen.
