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This morning we begin a new series in the New Testament book of Galatians. Paul opens this letter with a normal salutation, much like many of his letters, with one exception. There are no pleasantries, no greetings, no accolades. He gets right to the point, the work of Jesus on our behalf. The reason for this, these churches Paul recently planted quickly abandoned the simple message of the Gospel replacing it with a form of religious performance. Therefore, Paul opens the book with a reminder of the simple Gospel equation. It is Jesus who saves us, this is the only Gospel that can rescue us from the present evil age. This sermon will introduce this great book, connect it to Paul’s missionary journey in Galatia, and remind us that we must stay true to Gospel math that Jesus + Nothing = Everything.

It would seem that a simple cost/benefit analysis by Jesus would have told him that time with the rag-tag small group we call the 12 disciples was a bit of a waste. Ordinary uneducated men who really didn’t have much to offer, and for three years never really got the mission. But Jesus’ strategy was intentional, build a small group, pour into their lives, involve them in mission, and then deploy them to repeat the process. This was His way of getting these disciple’s eyes off of themselves and their problems so they would lift their chins to see so much more. True discipleship still happens in groups. It takes time, energy, and even emotional vulnerability. At first, giving a night each week may not seem like its worth it. Yet, when we are part of a community on mission we will be challenged to lift our chin to see Jesus more clearly, love each other like Him, and join His mission in the world. The way we intentionally follow the model given by Jesus is our Community Groups. These groups meet weekly in homes all throughout the area, giving people a smaller group version of our larger church, and a place to be involved in a missional community. As our groups kick off this week, this morning we will meet leaders or hosts from our various groups, and our encouragement is to find a group and dedicate yourself to doing life and mission with this group for the coming year.

Matthew 4:18-29

The church in Antioch was something else. Antioch was the third largest and most influential city in the Roman Empire, about 300 miles north of Jerusalem. While the first converts there were Jewish, the church exploded when the Gospel was proclaimed to Gentiles. This church became the model for all the churches planted in Acts. They were active on mission in their city, cared for their hurting brothers and sisters in Judea, and sent their best leaders to the nations on mission. We desire to be a church in the mold of Antioch. So to stay on mission we have a set of eight core values that has shaped our church for 20 years and we hope will shape our church for decades more. These are the pillars that support our vision and the tools we use to evaluate everything we do here. We hope these values will help us lift our chin to see our neighbors in Eureka/Pacific while also shaping us to be a church in getting the Gospel to all nations.

“Lift your chin” is a phrase we throw around here at Genesis, and one we hope sticks here. We live busy lives in a fairly self- absorbed world, but the Gospel reveals a Messiah who lifted His chin to see and rescue us. Christ changes our lives, places us in a community, and then He shapes the way we see the world around us. As a church, it is our desire to be a community on mission, a family of people who lift our chins to see Jesus, our brothers and sisters, our neighbors, and the nations. As we begin our new school-year rhythms, our Fall vision series will invite us to be a people who lift our chins to see Jesus and then lift our chins to see the world through His eyes. John 4 reveals that Jesus lived his life with a lifted chin, seeking hurting people who needed a Savior. The Samaritan woman was an outsider on every level, including ethnically and morally. Yet Jesus sought her out, and made her feel safe as He gave her the opportunity to see who He really is. As a result, her life was changed and she lifted her chin to see her community to share Jesus with them. Our dream for Genesis is to be a community who sees our neighbors and nations through Jesus’ eyes, and that Genesis would be a place that is safe for anyone no matter their background, religious heritage, struggle, or culture as he or she explores Jesus. And when people find Jesus they would begin to lift their chin and join the mission. This is what it means to be a place for new beginnings.

Today, in our Sermon Series “The Serpent Must Die,” we will fast forward to the end. The Serpent has been defeated. Yet, he still is active in our world, blinding unbelievers and making accusation against God’s elect; however, that is coming to an end. Jesus will soon return and make all things new! Satan, the Anti-Christ, and death will be thrown into the Lake of Fire. Our final sermon in this series will remind us of Satan’s final home, and ask the serious question: Where will your final home be? Will you be with Jesus in paradise, or will we join Satan in the Lake of Fire, separated from God for eternity?

Today, in our Sermon Series “The Serpent Must Die, ” it has all been leading to this: The Serpent Killer Himself has entered the scene. It wasn’t just one act, however, of serpent-icide - the events of Jesus’ whole life have fulfilled shadows, pictures, prophecies, and promises of what the Son of Man would come to do. All the chess pieces are on the board - will Jesus crush the serpent, or will the serpent win? I think you already know the answer, but join us today as we look at Colossians and the book of Mark to see how Jesus puts his foot firmly on the head of the serpent - and in doing so, saves all who will believe in Him!

Today our Sermon Series: “The Serpent Must Die” once again shows us an Old Testament command that foreshadows the coming work of Jesus. Leviticus 16 is where God commands ancient Israel to make atonement for their sins by sacrificing bulls and goats on the Day of Atonement. But ultimately, the blood of bulls and goats is not adequate to cover the sins of mankind. So in his loving kindness, God sent the perfect sacrifice to pay for sin once and for all and by so doing, kills the serpent! What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

When we talk about David, our minds almost always jump to the story of David and Goliath. The unassuming shepherd boy who God used to defeat the Philistines. This shepherd would eventually become King, the best human King that Israel had in fact. But today, we see the other side of David in the Psalms. We’ll see how David suffered unrighteously and felt God had abandoned him; we’ll also see however when David cried out in repentance, God was faithful to restore David. David was human and needed forgiveness for his sins; however, the beautiful truth is that Psalm 22 is not just about David – it is prefiguring Jesus on the cross, who on our behalf, endures the wrath of God for our sins. Yet, just as the Psalm says, God did not abandon Him; three days later, Jesus rose from the dead as proof that His sacrifice was true and good, and that the Father found what He had done and was well pleased. Jesus didn’t need the forgiveness found in Psalm 51 – but He is the one who offers it to any who will cry out to Him. The Serpent would have us believe that Jesus was only a good teacher, or a capable Prophet, but not the Messiah who was predicted and spoken of by David; Jesus crushes the Serpent by proving definitively that He is the Messiah, the long-awaited Son of Man who gave His life for His people.

The book of Hosea is a poetic story of God’s unfailing love for His bride, the Church. But, the way God calls the prophet Hosea to illustrate this is not exactly what you’d expect. This is a difficult but beautiful book depicting how far Israel had fallen into idolatry and yet how much deeper God’s grace and mercy flows. Our tendency is to listen to our hearts, which deceive us all too well into running after idols that will never satisfy. The Serpent would then have us believe that God will never take us back because of our betrayal, and that if we do want to return to Him, we must earn our way through sinless perfection. The reality is that instead, God provides us everything we could ever need in Himself, He relentlessly pursues us in love to reconcile our relationship simply because of who He is, and He purchases our way out of enslavement to sin when we have no way of doing so in our own strength. Each of these is a way Christ Jesus crushes the head of the Serpent, destroying his lies and ultimately proving that God will triumphantly restore all things, allowing His bride to dwell with Him in joy and peace for all eternity.

Do you know what title Jesus used for Himself most often? You might think He called Himself the Son of God, or Messiah, or even Lord. While Jesus refers to Himself in all these ways, the most common self- reference is as the Son of Man. Interesting? At first glance it might seem as if in calling Himself the Son of Man, Jesus might be identifying Himself as one of us, a human being living among us. But a deeper study of this title actually reveals a completely different image—one coming from a crazy vision given to the Prophet Daniel around 560 years earlier. Daniel lived as a Jewish exile, in a time when Israel and Israel’s God seemed small and defeated. In the midst of this, Daniel received a bizarre vision of four crazy beasts arising from the sea; beasts representing the most powerful kingdoms on our planet. The vision ends with the Son of Man coming to God Himself and receiving dominion, glory, and a Kingdom which will never pass away. This prophecy is the promise of a Divine Man coming on the clouds who will rule over all human kingdoms and crushing all enemies. This morning we will see the meaning of the snake-crushing Son of Man as an invitation to lift our eyes to see the glory of Jesus, which gives us great hope.

“It’s a David beats Goliath story!” As a sports fan, I have heard this phrase used countless times when referring to major upsets. Whether it’s the 1983 North Carolina State upset of Houston in the NCAA Tournament, or the victory of the USA Hockey Team over the Soviets in the Olympics, David and Goliath is used when the underdog and little guy defeats the giant, the overwhelming favorite. In church life, the story of David and Goliath is often used as motivation for fighting your giants, and standing strong even when you look defeated. You are David, it has been said, and with God on your side, your giants will fall. But maybe, that is not the real point of this story. Maybe we aren’t David, but we are supposed to identify with Israel. And maybe David isn’t the true hero of the story, but gives us a picture of how God raises a rescuer who fights the battle for His people, and then gives them the victory and the benefits. More than any other person in the Bible with the exception of Moses, David’s story is full of pointers that lead us to Jesus, who is the True and Better David. So, we will look at how this 9 foot giant fell, and see how it actual pictures the way God always rescues and saves His people.

In our continuing sermon series “The Serpent Must Die”, we come to a very important story that involves Moses wanting to see more of God’s glory. God knows that if Moses sees all of His glory, Moses will evaporate into a messy pile of atoms - but God shows mercy and grace to him and allows Him to see some of His glory - just the back side for just a moment. Is God destined to be distant from us forever, to hide His glory from us, or will He allow us to see HIs glory? The answer, of course, is Jesus - the full revelation of the Glory of God. The Serpent wants us to focus on our own glory, our own importance; but today, we’ll see that Jesus came to crush the Serpent and reveal the full Glory of God to us!

Moses is a figure of tremendous importance and we’ll spend a couple of weeks with him. Today, we’ll see two immensely significant sections of his story where, when the people of God grumble against Him, God sends fiery snakes among them. Then as Moses intercedes for God’s people, God makes a way of escape through a serpent on a pole (not THE Serpent, but one who represented the punishment of treason against our God); in the same way, in another story, amongst the complaints of the Hebrew people, God provides a rock where, when Moses struck it, it gushed water for the people of God to drink. Jesus is the better Moses and is the One who, when He was lifted up, saves us and gives us everlasting water. The Serpent would have us believe our God isn’t for us, that He has left us in the wilderness to die without Him. Jesus crushes the head of the Serpent by reminding us that He is always with us, is always for us, and will provide for His people in their time of need.

We saw last week that God would provide Someone to come and crush the head of the serpent. That Someone was to come through a man named Abraham. God promised that He would make Abraham a great nation, that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him, and that blessing would come through a child born to Abraham and his wife, Sarah. The child arrives. It’s everything they could have ever wished for. So how is that promise going to come to fruition when God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son as a burnt offering? How is the head of the serpent to be crushed if there is no line from which the seed can come?