VISION SERIES: Make All Things New
TEXT: Judges 2:11-18
MESSAGE: “Breaking the cycle”
“The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.” Psalm 25:14
“No longer do I call you servants but friends” — John 15:15
How much does it cost God to be our friend?
TEXT: Judges 2:11-18
What do we see it costing God to be in relationship with His people? He experiences the pain of…(1. Commitment 2. Abandonment 3. Vulnerability)
- Commitment (v. 11)
“The Israelites did what was evil in the Lord’s sight. They worshiped the Baals and abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt.
“The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.” — Deuteronomy 7:7–9
“When human beings experience threats or damage to their social bonds, the brain responds in much the same way it responds to physical pain.” — Matthew Lieberman
- Abandonment (v. 12-15)
“They followed other gods from the surrounding peoples and bowed down to them. They angered the Lord, for they abandoned him and worshiped Baal and the Ashtoreths. The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and he handed them over to marauders who raided them. He sold them to the enemies around them, and they could no longer resist their enemies. Whenever the Israelites went out, the Lord was against them and brought disaster on them, just as he had promised and sworn to them. So they suffered greatly. The Lord raised up judges, who saved them from the power of their marauders, but they did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods, bowing down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their ancestors, who had walked in obedience to the Lord’s commands. They did not do as their ancestors did.”
- Vulnerability (v. 16-18)
“Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for the Israelites, the Lord was with him and saved the people from the power of their enemies while the judge was still alive. The Lord was moved to pity whenever they groaned because of those who were oppressing and afflicting them.”
“It’s almost like the Frankenstein monster reminds me of…me…because until I found Jesus Christ, I felt like I was sort of stitched together by what everybody else said about me, you know, my parents said one thing about me, and my friends, another thing about me and everybody had a different thing…a verdict that they gave me about who I was. I looked like a Frankenstein monster, what I need is, what you need is a friend, the ultimate friend whose love can overturn all the other verdicts and make you human. We’re all out there like him, every human beings out there looking for the “friend, friend, friend”, if I could just find the ultimate friend then I can finally be the human being that I was meant to be…well here He is.” — Timothy Keller
TAKEAWAYS: How does God’s friendship break the cycles of sin in our lives? When we see how…
- He is consistent in all our inconsistency
“Our worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.” — Jerry Bridges
- He is able to save us from ourselves
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” — Hebrews 4:15
- He’s already proven His love for us
“Love, not anger, brought Jesus to the cross. Golgotha came as a result of God’s great desire to forgive, not his reluctance.” ― Richard Foster
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” — John 15:13