GENESIS 12:1-4a

THE BACKGROUND

Today’s short reading provides some of the background for the second lesson from Romans.  “Genesis” means “The Beginning”.  It is the story of the beginning not only of the creation of our world, but the creation of our relationship with God.  Last week, we learned that God created mankind as a basically good being, but one prone to break the rules.  Between that story and today’s selection, we witness a long list of sinful behavior, including the story of Cain and Able, the Tower of Babel, etc.  Things get so bad, that God chooses one holy family (Noah), wipes out everyone else, and starts afresh.  But the first thing Noah does on exiting the ark is to get drunk and get naked!  Humans are a hopeless case.  In this section of the story, God takes a new approach.  God chooses one man, and his barren wife.  He will work with just these two.

THE DETAIL

• God tells Abram to leave his father and the family settlement in Haran.  He does not give Abram any details as to where or when. (v. 1)
• But God does make a huge promise.  In verses two and three, God promises to:
  • Make of him a great nation
  • Bless him
  • Make his name great
  • Give him the authority to curse and bless others
  • Make him so famous that the whole world will be blessed because of him.
• Amazingly, Abram did what the Lord commanded.  He left friends and family, and went on down the road.  Oh.  By the way. He was 75 when this took place. (v. 4a)

THE TAKEAWAY

Before you get too amazed about Abram’s advanced age, it is good to know that his father was 70 when Abram was born.  His father also lived to the ripe old age of 250.  So, Abram was approaching his “biblical middle-aged” years, I guess. 

Still, Abram trusted in the Lord, and left home.  He trusted that the Lord would make good on His promises.  Not the least of these promises is that God would provide him with an heir through his barren wife Sarai.  (How’s that gonna happen?)

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Would we be so ready to drop everything, and follow God based on a promise?  In a way, we do.  But we’ll get to that later.

ROMANS 4:1-5. 13-17

THE BACKGROUND

In previous weeks, we have been reading Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth.  He said that because they were spiritual infants, he spoke to them in simple terms.  He kept everything simple.  If you’re like me, you might have wondered how complicated it could get.  (Be careful, because sometimes you get exactly what you ask for!)  With today’s reading, we get that answer.  Today’s reading is a complex theological thought.  I will not attempt to explain all of the details, but will focus on the key points that Paul is making here for us.  First, it is good to understand two of Paul’s theological buzz words.

1. Justification is a word we studied last week.  It is the idea of how we “become right” with God; it is how we make up for our sinning.
2. Righteousness is another word used here.  I was taught that biblically speaking, this word means “right actions”.  Another word we might use is “work” or “works”. 

In the preceding chapter, Paul has been talking about how we sinful beings might become justified, or “right with God”, as we like to say.

THE DETAIL

• Paul uses the story of Abraham (who is Abram at the point in the story of Genesis 12) to consider our justification with God.  He asks the reader to consider how Abraham was justified in God’s sight, to receive God’s promises.  (v. 1)
• Paul tells us that Abraham didn’t earn God’s favor by doing something good.  Abraham’s justification came purely through having the faith to accept God’s promises made to him.  (vv. 2-4)
• Verse 5 is a little complicated.  Let me explain who is who, according to my understanding.
  • “…one who without works…” is Abraham and us.  We are “without works” worthy enough to get the job done.
  • “…him who justifies…”  is God
  • “…the ungodly…”  is Abraham and us
• Verse 5 therefore states that God is the one who makes us right with Him, because we can do nothing worthy enough to make ourselves right with God, other than to have faith. (v. 5)
• So, for Abraham and for us, the promises are made true through our right act of faith in God, not in earning Godly brownie points.   (v. 13)
• Paul now talks about adhering to religious rules; every church has them.  In the Roman church, the Christian Jews were keeping kosher. Each of our churches today has hundreds of rules, some written, and others unwritten.  Paul claims, rightly so, that all of these rules will not get us into heaven.  Only faith can do that.  (vv. 14-17)

THE TAKEAWAY

Rules provide structure and order.  They are a good thing.  That’s not in question here.  But what is in question is our salvation—what “justifies” us in God’s eyes?  This reading makes it clear that it is not by being good, but by being faithful.  By trusting in God’s promise, brought to us by His son Jesus, we are called to be His children, and heirs to the promise!

JOHN 3:1-17

THE BACKGROUND

This is the story of the nighttime meeting between Nicodemus and Jesus.  It should be noted that while the New Testament gives Pharisees a bad rap, they were also the most devout sect of the day.  Nicodemus is a Pharisee, so he is a devout man.  He comes to Jesus at night, perhaps to avoid the controversy.  After all, Jesus was a controversial and challenging person.  But Nicodemus is compelled to meet with Jesus, and make up his own mind.

THE DETAIL

• Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, and begins the discussion with a statement that indicates that his mind is open to Jesus’ teachings.  Nicodemus is making it clear that he is not an adversary.  (vv. 1-2)
• At this point, Jesus does something that he did all the time.  He cuts through the chit-chat, and gets right to the point—nobody will see the kingdom of God unless they are “born from above”.  [Hit the Pause button.  The gospels were originally written in Greek. The Greek word used here for “from above” can also mean “again”.  Our translation uses one, you may be used to seeing the other.  They are both legitimate translations.  Hit the Resume button.]  It is clear from Nicodemus’ response that he understands Jesus to mean “again”, at least in part.  (vv. 3-4)
• Jesus now makes it clear that he is talking about spiritual rebirth, not physical.  (vv. 5-6)
• Next, they enter into a long discussion.  Nicodemus doesn’t get it, and Jesus tells him that he should get it.  He needs to get it. (vv. 7-12)
•  Jesus goes on to say that nobody can actually “get it”, unless they’ve already been to heaven, namely the Son of Man.  Jesus implies that this is he, but he does not say this outright, as it would be blasphemy.  (v. 13)
• Jesus concludes with some life or death statements.  He starts by recalling the story about Moses in the wilderness. When God’s People were on their wilderness journey, they were confronted by poisonous snakes.  Moses was instructed to lift up his staff, to ward off the snakes and make their bites harmless.  Jesus says that he, to, must be lifted onto a staff to save God’s People. This is Jesus’ mission, and he knows it. He came to save.  (vv. 14-17)

THE TAKEAWAY

Paul tells us that when we are baptized, our old life of sinfulness dies, and we are born anew. Jesus tells us the same thing here. We must die to our old ways, and live in the Kingdom.  By having faith in Jesus and his live-saving mission, we become God’s children.  We are born anew—from above.

The decision to follow Jesus is truly a life or death decision.  Have we truly “died to sin”, and follow Jesus’ teachings?  We will, of course, always stumble and fall.  We are, after all, human.  But since we are God’s children, we can put our trust in God’s promises. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, our sins are forgiven.  Thanks be to God!