"GOD MAKES YOU AN OFFER YOU CAN'T REFUSE!"

 

TEXTS:     Gen. 3:6-8, 15, 23-24; Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:22-32; other assorted texts

 

INTRO:       The Finger of God touching Adam in the Sistine Chapel Ceiling, by Michelangelo is an interesting painting that shows God's great effort to touch the human race with His creation of Adam.  (Show Picture)

 

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Notice how God is stretching to reach Adam, He is anxiously reaching out to Adam, while Adam is seeming to reach out to God, but not stretching.  God's heart was to touch Adam, to be WITH HIM!  This was God's desire from the beginning of creation.  God proved this by coming down in the cool of the evening according to Genesis to walk with man.  When Adam and Eve sinned however, they hid from God and God had to seek them out.

 

The most constant statement in the Bible about God and the human race, about individuals was this statement: "I will be with you."  This is a constant theme in both Old and New Testaments.

 

Everyone wants a good deal, the best offer, and God's best offer of all time is this: "I will be with you."

 

PROP. SENT:       The Bible will teach us this morning that God desperately wants to be "with us" this was the very heart of God in creating the human race.  When God promised a savior to be born, He said He would be called "Immanuel" which in the Hebrew translates literally as, "God With Us!"

 

I.      GOD'S PRESENCE REMOVED!  Gen. 3:6-8, 15, 23-24

 

A.   TRAGIC!   Gen. 3:6-8, 23-24

1.   Before sin entered the picture God spent time daily with Adam and Eve in person (see verse 8 specifically): 

Genesis 3:6-8 (NIV)

6  When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

7  Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

8  Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

2.    God delighted in being with mankind!  He always intended to be with us.

3.    Sadly, sin caused Adam and Eve to withdraw from God, even though He still wanted to be with them.  He found them hiding from Him after they sinned, and they would not come out to be with him.

4.    God therefore had to cast them out of the garden, the place God would visit all the time:

Genesis 3:23-24 (NIV)

23  So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

24  After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

5.    God keeping them from the Tree of Life prevented them from staying damned eternally.  God still wanted to make an offer to be with us!

a.   This would happen later in time through a Messiah.

b.   God had a backup plan to restore His presence with us.

 

B.   TEMPORARY!   Gen. 3:15

1.    It must have seemed sad when they were driven out of the garden of Eden, and they must have wondered, "are we alone now?"

2.    But, God had a promise He made to them, which would be fulfilled in the fullness of time in the birth of a Savior.

Genesis 3:15 (NIV)

15  And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

3.    Notice God's promise that a seed of Adam and Even will eventually crush the serpent's head in spite of the fact that the serpent had struck their heal and put the poison of sin and death into the human race.

a.    The seed to come that would crush the serpent's head was a metaphor for a savior who would destroy the poison of sin, and destroy the work of the serpent, he will be defeated in time.

b.    This is the first prophetic promise in the Bible that God had a backup plan to restore us back to Him. 

4.    This loss of God's presence with them was temporary.  The worst thing about sin is that it separates us from God.  So something has to be done to remove the sin so we can allow God to again be with us.

5.    Nothing is greater in scope in the Bible than that constant reference to both nations and individuals that "I will be with you."

 

 II.    GOD'S PRESENCE RESTORED!  Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:22-23; 28:20; John 14:16

 

A.   TRIUMPH!  Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:22-23 (other assorted texts)

1.    Isaiah gives the greatest prophecy concerning God's heart toward lost humanity!

Isaiah 7:14 (NIV)

14  Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

2.    The opening pages of the New Testament shares the fulfillment of this prophecy with the birth of Jesus Christ.

a.    The name "Immanuel" translates literally as "God With Us!"

b.    This is made very clear in the passage in Matt. 1:22-23

Matthew 1:22-23 (NIV)

22  All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

23  "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."

3.    Notice these other passages and characters and what is repeatedly said from God.

a.    The nation of Israel:

Exodus 29:44-46 (NIV)

44  "So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests.

45  Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.

46  They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.

b.   Moses as he led Israel:

Exodus 33:14-16 (NIV)

14  The LORD replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

15  Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.

16  How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?"

c.   Failure to repent of sin meant God would not be with them!

Deuteronomy 1:41-43 (NIV)

41  Then you replied, "We have sinned against the LORD. We will go up and fight, as the LORD our God commanded us." So every one of you put on his weapons, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.

42  But the LORD said to me, "Tell them, 'Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.'"

43  So I told you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the LORD's command and in your arrogance you marched up into the hill country.

d.   God's promise to Joshua:

Joshua 1:5 (NIV)

5  No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

e.   Gideon was assured of God's presence:

Judges 6:12 (NIV)

12  When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."

f.    Samson failed to notice God's absence in his life:

Judges 16:20 (NIV)

20  Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him.

g.   David recognized God's promise to be with him.

Psalm 23:4 (NIV)

4  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

h.   Promise to Solomon and Israel:

1 Chronicles 22:18 (NIV)

18  He said to them, "Is not the LORD your God with you? And has he not granted you rest on every side? For he has handed the inhabitants of the land over to me, and the land is subject to the LORD and to his people.

i.    Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego had God with them in the fire!

Daniel 3:24-25 (NIV)

24  Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, "Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?" They replied, "Certainly, O king."

25  He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."

j.    Jeremiah's call as a child:

Jeremiah 1:6-8 (NIV)

6  "Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."

7  But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.

8  Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD.

k.   Haggai was also promised God with him:

Haggai 1:13 (NIV)

13  Then Haggai, the LORD's messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: "I am with you," declares the LORD.

 

B.    TRANSFORMATIONAL   Matt. 28:19-20; John 14:16-18

1.   As Jesus was about to leave the concern naturally came up with what happens now that Jesus as God's son was about to leave them!  Did this mean God would not be with them as before:

2.   Jesus' parting words however assured them that nothing was changing in terms of God being with them:

Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

19  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

3.   How was Jesus going to be with them, if He was leaving?

John 14:16-18 (NIV)

16  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever

17  the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

18  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

4.   The greatest offer God has promised mankind if they love Him, is to be with us!  This is the best offer in the universe!

5.   God has made us an offer we cannot refuse!  So, is He with you or not?

 

CONCLUSION: The greatest offer ever given was God's promise to be with us!  So much so that it became the central point to salvation for our sins, the Messiah would be called "Immanuel" which in the Hebrew tongue is translated, "God With Us!"  Why would anyone pass up an offer like this?  Have you?