New Eden Sermons New Eden Church

The matriarch, Sarah, passes off the scene, and Abraham purchases a burial plot on which to bury her. Rebekah, a new matriarch, enters the story through the selfless servant of Abraham. Endings and beginnings. Death and life. Is this all just a part of the circle of life? Or is God sovereignly weaving together a story to remind us of resurrection hope beyond what the eye can see?

Abraham is asked to do the unthinkable and sacrifice his son, Isaac. As we should be, our ears are repulsed by this request. But is God just a monster and one of the many deities who demand child sacrifice? Or is this story meant to show us that He is entirely different?

The 21st chapter of Genesis is a story of contrasts: the child of promise and the child of works, the well of grace and the well of striving, the oath of God and the oath of man. These contrasts are meant to point us to the truth that the works of flesh enslave, but the gospel of Jesus brings freedom.

Through his sin, Abraham puts both his wife, Sarah, and King Abimelech's whole household in danger. The story is laced with irony. The foreign king is presented as the righteous one, while the chosen prophet acts cowardly and brings cursing on the nation. The king is innocent, but he still has no power to reverse the effects of Abraham's sin. This story causes us to look forward to a better innocent king who willingly bears our sin to reverse the curse.

God hears the outcry of the oppressed in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, so He investigates. What He finds are some of the most heinous acts ever committed and the darkest parts of human hearts. But in the midst of this dark story, we might find ourselves realizing a truth so great that it's hard to believe. Could it really be that God's mercy on mankind is far greater than we could ever imagine?

When the circumstances of life make the promises of God seem impossible, God does His best work. Though we may shake our heads and laugh in unbelief, God graciously asks us to consider, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"