back to index2015-05-10 Mothers' Role in God's Redemption
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I don't know how many times I dreamt about coming up here 00:00:55.120 |
And I know some of you guys are looking at the text. 00:00:58.660 |
Why would he choose this text for Mother's Day? 00:01:08.280 |
"I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority 00:01:15.800 |
And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived 00:01:22.760 |
if they continue in faith and love and holiness 00:01:26.540 |
Gracious and loving Father, we thank you so much for today, 00:01:34.120 |
especially as we remember and honor our mothers who 00:01:37.320 |
are laboring and sacrificing so much, Lord God, 00:01:41.480 |
I pray you would strengthen them, reward them, 00:01:44.760 |
Father God, with your grace, that they would feel loved, 00:01:54.720 |
I pray that our families, Lord, in our church 00:01:58.760 |
be the foundation upon which we build our community. 00:02:02.200 |
So for that end, we pray for your blessing and the Holy 00:02:04.600 |
Spirit to use your word to bless and strengthen and sanctify 00:02:14.040 |
when we think about Mother's Day that we don't want to sidetrack 00:02:22.240 |
But today, we're going to be celebrating Mom. 00:02:28.720 |
It would be unbiblical to say, you know what? 00:02:37.700 |
So we want to be careful that we're not doing that. 00:02:39.840 |
In the context of celebrating and honoring our mothers, 00:02:42.160 |
that we recognize ultimately that in celebrating our moms, 00:02:51.880 |
But if there was anybody in our lives, or say people groups, 00:02:57.080 |
that is deserving of honor, I would say it would be mothers. 00:02:59.960 |
And I'm not just saying that to kiss up to all the moms today. 00:03:04.480 |
about one person in our lives who is a Christ figure, 00:03:32.920 |
Moms have to practice grace, because we're not deserving. 00:03:38.200 |
Especially, I mean, those of you who are parents, 00:03:42.360 |
you send them off to be babysat by the uncle or some friend, 00:03:47.480 |
till 11 o'clock at night and have fun for a couple days. 00:03:53.720 |
And it's like, oh my gosh, you don't know all the stuff 00:03:56.080 |
that I've done for you, every sacrifice I've made. 00:03:58.360 |
But you give them enough candy, their loyalty 00:04:02.480 |
But you don't see any mom say, well, then go. 00:04:10.440 |
They can't do that, because obviously, without love, 00:04:14.880 |
without what we consider to be unconditional love, 00:04:20.640 |
And in fact, all your life, you sacrifice for the children. 00:04:27.280 |
they'll pack up their bags and they'll leave. 00:04:30.000 |
They're not going to stay there and say, well, 00:04:31.880 |
you poured into me, now how can I pay you back? 00:04:35.000 |
All of us, once our parents have done their job, 00:04:37.720 |
you pack up and say bye, and then you pour out 00:04:40.880 |
And then you pour out to them, and then they're 00:04:47.760 |
is as closest to what we can think of love of Christ, 00:04:54.880 |
And again, I'm not saying this because it's Mother's Day. 00:04:58.040 |
I actually stayed home with my first son, Jeremy, 00:05:02.240 |
When we had Jeremy, Esther was working as a schoolteacher. 00:05:14.560 |
So a year and a half, I stayed home with Jeremy. 00:05:17.200 |
And I could tell you that a year and a half probably 00:05:23.480 |
I was thinking in my mind that if I keep going down this path, 00:05:31.040 |
Because it's just not nurturing, that aspect. 00:05:54.480 |
If I come up and take care of him every time he falls, 00:06:06.200 |
So I remember a year and a half that I was at home. 00:06:11.160 |
From the outside, you look at it, and it's like, whoa, 00:06:19.520 |
But taking care of a kid that's next to you, like, 24/7, 00:06:23.680 |
you can't take their eyes off, even for a minute. 00:06:34.000 |
Because that one minute that you take your eyes off of them, 00:06:37.920 |
They could go into their diaper, put that in their mouth. 00:06:40.320 |
I mean, all kinds of stuff can happen during that one minute. 00:06:43.640 |
So even bathroom, you've got to take them into the bathroom 00:06:49.760 |
And I can imagine some of the parents who have twins, 00:07:22.840 |
So I think if there's any individual in our lives that 00:07:27.040 |
really deserves to be honored and to be celebrated, 00:07:30.960 |
They need to know that even though they don't hear it 00:07:33.000 |
every day, and day to day, they may feel like it's thankless, 00:07:37.320 |
that at least today, to let them know we appreciate them, 00:07:48.760 |
After saying all of that, you're really going to say this? 00:07:56.120 |
how to behave in the church, and the order that God has created. 00:07:59.280 |
And people can just easily read this and dismiss this, 00:08:03.640 |
God didn't really intend this to be practiced. 00:08:06.080 |
How can you possibly think in this day and age 00:08:09.640 |
Who would possibly read this and say this is from God? 00:08:13.840 |
But the problem is the rationale behind why he says this, 00:08:19.400 |
that this was God's intention from the beginning. 00:08:22.280 |
If we understand this text, not understanding 00:08:26.000 |
the redemptive history, the large picture behind this text, 00:08:38.040 |
And all the more why we need to understand the bigger picture. 00:08:46.320 |
Clearly, when he says in this text in verse 15, 00:08:51.760 |
the word saved here cannot mean salvation, justification. 00:08:59.720 |
that men are saved through faith because of the blood of Christ 00:09:02.400 |
and that women are saved if they do a good job having children. 00:09:06.640 |
Just like in the English, when we say the word saved, 00:09:09.560 |
it means all kinds of stuff, like I save money 00:09:23.880 |
So in the same way in the Greek, the word for saved 00:09:35.280 |
is used for deliverance, to make something whole, 00:09:39.960 |
to persevere, to make something safe from danger. 00:09:43.640 |
So clearly, he's not talking about justification here. 00:09:54.520 |
we have to see the larger picture of why women were called 00:09:58.920 |
to the task and why it preserves them and makes them whole 00:10:22.360 |
God tells them to not eat of the tree of knowledge of good 00:10:31.640 |
And then Eve, after she eats of it, introduces it to Adam. 00:10:39.200 |
And as soon as their eyes are open, they see their nakedness. 00:11:02.020 |
But in this text in 3.16, it's a specific description 00:11:05.380 |
of the ramification of this fall to the women. 00:11:26.040 |
that are extremely important for us to understand. 00:11:28.520 |
And again, connected to what's happening in 1 Timothy. 00:11:32.520 |
The two words are the word "pain" and "desire." 00:11:37.960 |
The curse that came upon the woman was pain and desire. 00:11:53.520 |
You're going to be the caretaker of my creation. 00:11:57.640 |
But as soon as the fall happens, what happens? 00:12:01.880 |
God's intention for Adam and Eve gets corrupted. 00:12:11.280 |
may be a suitable helper so that he can multiply. 00:12:20.000 |
was to be a suitable helper and so that she may multiply. 00:12:25.680 |
two things that get corrupted-- her relationship 00:12:28.560 |
with her husband and the process of multiplying. 00:12:33.920 |
In other words, you will continue to multiply, 00:12:38.400 |
And second, your relationship with your husband 00:12:46.080 |
that comes upon the woman-- the fruitfulness and desire. 00:12:49.840 |
Now today, our point is not to get into the word "desire" 00:12:52.760 |
because we're not going to get into the corruption that 00:12:57.600 |
Maybe in the future days, we'll talk about that. 00:13:03.420 |
because it is directly related to what we're talking about. 00:13:07.240 |
If you notice in verse 16 that there are two words-- 00:13:12.280 |
"I will surely multiply your pain and childbearing"-- 00:13:17.280 |
shall bring forth children"-- the second time. 00:13:45.440 |
So when he says, "I will surely multiply your pain," 00:13:49.120 |
he's saying, "I will multiply your anxiety, concern." 00:14:06.280 |
that he's not just referring to physical pain. 00:14:08.680 |
He's talking about the sorrow, the anxiety, that's 00:14:14.000 |
But the very word "childbearing" in and of itself 00:14:20.360 |
That same word is to describe when a father becomes 00:14:27.480 |
It's talking about the father becoming a father. 00:14:40.000 |
the curse that comes upon the mom isn't just the pain. 00:14:45.640 |
Obviously, typically when the woman goes into labor 00:14:49.440 |
and they experience pain, we say, oh, it's because of Eve. 00:15:09.240 |
is going to be sorrowful, painful, and difficult. 00:15:17.720 |
but you already know probably the toughest job you've ever 00:15:29.560 |
Sit down and make a bucket list of all the things 00:15:32.080 |
that you would desire in your life, and then burn it. 00:15:37.520 |
That's the best way to prepare for motherhood. 00:15:39.880 |
Basically, what motherhood is, you had your life, 00:15:43.880 |
and then now you're going to pour it out to somebody else. 00:15:47.000 |
Now you might-- man, that's just a negative way 00:15:52.960 |
Ask any mom if that's not a good description. 00:15:58.040 |
And I can tell you that probably no mother in this room 00:16:03.720 |
As difficult, and as hard, and as sacrificial 00:16:06.180 |
as it may be, the rewards of loving your child 00:16:11.240 |
is the greatest gift, greatest thing that we have, 00:16:15.120 |
But it is a good description, because the scripture says 00:16:18.400 |
the whole process of becoming a mother, raising children, 00:16:31.920 |
And you know, in life, if you have somebody who's selfish, 00:16:35.400 |
and they say crass things, and they do things, 00:16:52.040 |
We just keep our distance from certain people, 00:16:58.880 |
No matter what it is, no matter how selfish they may behave, 00:17:04.320 |
Not because they deserve it, but because without you, 00:17:08.960 |
It is difficult, because now you are directly 00:17:18.240 |
See, the whole thing about being fruitful and multiply 00:17:26.880 |
But it says the curse that has come upon mankind 00:17:37.440 |
and history of mankind is the overflow of this curse 00:17:41.200 |
and how it affected nations, how it affected families, 00:17:43.800 |
how it affected kings, how it affected prophets, 00:17:48.480 |
The whole history of mankind is how this curse 00:17:55.520 |
Right off the bat, as soon as Adam and Eve has children, 00:18:06.760 |
I can't think of anything more excruciatingly painful 00:18:47.800 |
but they lost him in the hands of the first child. 00:18:53.000 |
that's going to compensate for their loss and their pain. 00:18:59.000 |
We see the same picture in Leviticus chapter 10, 00:19:07.080 |
And he's the one who creates the golden calf. 00:19:09.840 |
And as a result of that, judgment comes upon a nation. 00:19:27.000 |
And as a result of that, God comes and consumes both of them. 00:19:30.760 |
And you know what it says right after in chapter 10, verse 3? 00:19:42.000 |
It doesn't talk about how Aaron pleaded with God, 00:19:45.640 |
He said, he just stood there and just took it. 00:19:48.480 |
And he knew because he made the same mistake. 00:19:56.720 |
of a sinful world that you and I have experienced, 00:20:16.040 |
who is hanged on a tree, every single one of us. 00:20:25.560 |
Every child, no matter how cute and precious they are, 00:20:32.040 |
But the scripture says that Christ redeemed us. 00:20:41.720 |
That's why every time we have a wedding ceremony, 00:20:44.280 |
the whole wedding ceremony, this whole drama-- 00:20:50.160 |
All the money and time and everybody flying over 00:20:53.000 |
from everywhere to participate in this wedding, right? 00:20:56.880 |
In fact, I've seen some of the biggest fights in couples 00:21:10.680 |
And that was the beginning of your wedding, your marriage. 00:21:18.040 |
is to physically illustrate redemption of mankind. 00:21:28.760 |
that Christ redeemed her and made her white by his blood. 00:21:38.920 |
And then the two parties represent the covenant 00:21:44.240 |
And all of it is to illustrate that now this curse 00:21:51.640 |
Well, this curse is reversed in the home in particular. 00:21:59.400 |
to the gospel of Jesus Christ, where this redemption is played 00:22:02.280 |
out, first and foremost, it's between a husband and wife. 00:22:05.280 |
And then secondly, it happens with the parents 00:22:16.640 |
Our revelation of our redemption doesn't always show here. 00:22:21.840 |
Because you're only here for an hour and a half, 00:22:27.640 |
you'll be here for three hours, four hours, right? 00:22:30.160 |
And then during the week, you're there another two, three hours. 00:22:32.600 |
You put it all together, you're talking about five, 00:22:34.720 |
six hours a week that you've got to put on your best face. 00:22:47.920 |
So you can put on the best face for about five hours 00:22:53.240 |
But who we really are is what we are the rest of the time. 00:22:58.940 |
We can put on a good face outside of our home, 00:23:10.400 |
that's where the gospel must first be preached. 00:23:20.480 |
that if we protect our children from other bad kids, 00:23:26.160 |
Typically, that's what happens when you have a kid 00:23:35.400 |
And all of a sudden, you start taking them to preschool. 00:23:40.520 |
And all of a sudden, they don't want to share their toys. 00:23:47.560 |
And then you start looking at the preschoolers, 00:23:54.120 |
And they start saying things that they didn't say before. 00:23:56.520 |
It's like, oh, he's being corrupted by that kid. 00:24:44.240 |
He says, no, that corruption is in that child. 00:24:47.600 |
See, the whole point of the gospel, first and foremost, 00:24:56.720 |
and they're born good, and if we just keep them good, 00:25:02.160 |
going to somehow become these good citizens who 00:25:16.920 |
that they were born with a corrupt nature like us. 00:25:22.000 |
It is a mistake for us to think that if we parent them, 00:25:24.720 |
if we somehow show them good behavior, teach them early, 00:25:29.000 |
get them advanced, if we don't watch certain programs, 00:25:36.280 |
and somehow all of these things are going to make them great, 00:25:42.440 |
they may be more athletic than other children, 00:25:44.480 |
they may have better behavior, they may be unselfish, 00:25:52.680 |
First and foremost, we must recognize that this curse 00:25:57.960 |
In particular, we need to recognize this at home. 00:26:02.760 |
Whenever we have somebody who does something horrendous, 00:26:07.880 |
like Ted Bundy, I mean, that's from my generation. 00:26:10.000 |
That was the most immediate thing I can think of. 00:26:16.680 |
And then at his death sentence, before they killed him, 00:26:20.440 |
the capital punishment, they did an interview, 00:26:22.840 |
and they went back, and they're trying to comb through his life 00:26:26.440 |
How can our society have created such a monster? 00:26:34.600 |
They're very nominal Christians who attended church, 00:26:55.440 |
you would think he'd be a professor of a school 00:27:12.200 |
You can't weed out sin simply by good example. 00:27:15.640 |
You can't weed out sin by memorizing certain scripture. 00:27:19.840 |
You're not going to weed out sin by advancing them 00:27:28.680 |
and how does this relate to what we're talking about 00:27:32.920 |
We must first and foremost be the evangelist to our children. 00:27:40.920 |
providing for them, spending all our time vacationing, 00:27:54.400 |
"if you gain the whole world and forfeit your soul?" 00:28:01.160 |
That they lived in a nice home, parents loved each other, 00:28:04.240 |
went to church, served the church, had Sunday school, 00:28:14.400 |
"a faith that dwelled first in your grandmother Lois 00:28:21.480 |
He said, "Timothy, don't forget that your faith 00:28:25.080 |
"was because God was faithful to your grandmother 00:28:29.160 |
And that's why he reminds him in 2 Timothy again 00:28:37.600 |
"in what you have learned and have firmly believed, 00:28:41.560 |
"and how from childhood you have been acquainted 00:28:43.760 |
"with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise 00:28:46.200 |
"for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." 00:28:49.520 |
There is nothing more important for the work of a mother 00:28:56.760 |
You know, we typically think of like, you know, 00:29:03.680 |
or, you know, they came in and out of prison, 00:29:14.680 |
it's like, "Yeah, my mom shared the gospel with me, 00:29:17.160 |
"and at five, I accepted, and I got baptized when I was six." 00:29:22.840 |
"Oh, okay, okay, thank you for your testimony. 00:29:36.800 |
"Zach, you know, I strayed, I didn't know God, 00:29:42.400 |
I hear somebody saying, "My mom shared the gospel with me. 00:29:44.920 |
"My dad, it was my home, and they were an example to me, 00:29:48.760 |
"and I became a Christian, and I've been walking 00:29:51.120 |
"with the Lord since I was six, or seven, or eight, or nine." 00:29:58.080 |
that for every parent, our first and foremost priority, 00:30:11.900 |
we need to first recognize that we are dealing with sinners, 00:30:17.640 |
So when they're selfish, when they're self-centered, 00:30:23.520 |
And just like a church, when people come with sin, 00:30:27.420 |
"'cause that's why we're preaching the gospel, 00:30:32.760 |
So first and foremost, we are called to our children 00:30:49.480 |
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father, 00:30:56.880 |
"and even his own life, cannot be my disciple." 00:31:00.200 |
That's another great verse to look at for Mother's Day. 00:31:04.200 |
It says, "Not to honor, but to hate your father, 00:31:10.560 |
and go home and say, "What'd you learn today?" 00:31:19.120 |
in the context of the larger message that Jesus was giving. 00:31:24.280 |
"If you do not pick up your cross and deny yourself, 00:31:29.000 |
He's not simply talking about how a Christian should live. 00:31:35.800 |
he's not talking about, "Here's a level one disciple 00:31:38.080 |
"who comes to Christ, and the level two disciple 00:31:42.000 |
"Here's this level one disciple who picks up the cross, 00:31:53.160 |
"You cannot be my disciple if you do not hate your father, 00:31:59.960 |
And again, when you look at it superficially, 00:32:07.640 |
And now he says, "Hey, it seems like a contradiction," 00:32:09.920 |
but in reality, that's not what he's saying at all. 00:32:15.520 |
What he is saying in this text, in the context, 00:32:19.800 |
is kind of, and I shared this with Bible study one time, 00:32:22.640 |
it's kind of like, you know, when you get on an airline, 00:32:24.680 |
they tell you when you're in trouble and you need oxygen, 00:32:27.840 |
that oxygen mask comes down, what do they tell you to do? 00:32:36.760 |
Because you shouldn't care about your kids, right? 00:32:41.960 |
because all the airlines hate children, right? 00:32:56.960 |
Because until you breathe, until you're okay, 00:33:01.400 |
So if you don't help yourself, not only is she gonna die, 00:33:04.240 |
you're gonna die, and there's nobody to help anybody. 00:33:08.840 |
Anything that prevents you from coming to Christ 00:33:13.680 |
Anything, even father or mother, even children. 00:33:16.720 |
If you make them your greatest priority in life, 00:33:25.960 |
He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. 00:33:30.400 |
You know, we don't come to Jesus and get saved, 00:33:33.760 |
and then they don't get saved because they come to us. 00:33:47.560 |
It is not a great marriage between husband and wife 00:34:24.940 |
And that's why he's saying, first and foremost, 00:34:31.200 |
But to be an evangelist, we need to recognize 00:34:34.320 |
that the greatest gift that we can give them is Christ. 00:34:46.480 |
because they depend so much on your protection, 00:34:49.700 |
they depend so much on your love and your gift, 00:34:52.220 |
that they may grow up thinking that they don't need Christ. 00:34:58.300 |
that we need to be the first evangelist at home, 00:35:12.720 |
that when they grow up, the gospel has no effect on them. 00:35:16.460 |
See, the two greatest commandments in the scripture 00:35:18.440 |
is love the Lord your God with all your heart, 00:35:34.960 |
He's not simply talking about what's the strength, 00:35:48.220 |
Just like Paul said, if you're gonna run this race, 00:35:58.720 |
You can go on Google and you can type in and see 00:36:04.220 |
how many people who are antagonists to the faith 00:36:10.620 |
Joseph Stalin grew up in a nominal Christian home, 00:36:20.100 |
Charles Darwin grew up in a very nominal Christian home. 00:36:25.680 |
going from town to town, never missed Sunday school, 00:36:34.000 |
he went in to become a priest of an Anglican church. 00:36:42.660 |
because they grew up in a very nominal Christian home. 00:36:50.260 |
They had a form of godliness, but there was no power. 00:36:57.060 |
They just went through the motion, but it wasn't real. 00:37:13.820 |
And even at times when we want to drift away, 00:37:15.660 |
that anchors us so that we don't shift from that. 00:37:26.780 |
So when they begin to drift, there's nothing to hold them 00:37:29.420 |
because the only thing they knew was nominal Christianity. 00:37:34.980 |
their memory of Christianity is go to church, 00:37:41.700 |
serve the church, pay tithe, don't say bad things, 00:37:51.580 |
So some of the greatest memory they have is in the church, 00:38:09.720 |
all we are doing is inoculating them with the gospel 00:38:18.860 |
"I've heard it when I was three, I heard it when I was 10. 00:38:27.660 |
And all they've done is kind of like during flu season, 00:38:30.020 |
we get shots and we get just enough bacteria inside of us 00:38:35.460 |
so when the real flu comes, they're inoculated. 00:38:48.280 |
the very first place where you will see a fruit of that 00:39:01.560 |
Always learning, but never ever able to come to the truth. 00:39:08.140 |
some of the hardest people to share the gospel with 00:39:10.820 |
are former missionary kids and former pastor's kids. 00:39:15.060 |
They grew up all their life around this religiousness 00:39:19.460 |
until something tragic happens and then they wake up from it 00:39:24.140 |
and it would be the greatest tragedy in a Christian home 00:39:28.680 |
to raise children with all kinds of religious things 00:39:38.840 |
'cause I know ultimately, no matter what I say, 00:39:40.720 |
no matter how many worship services and scripture we read, 00:39:57.280 |
to the Troy family and I'm the one always leaving. 00:40:05.280 |
I've been away from home sometimes a week or four weeks 00:40:18.620 |
But when Esther leaves, it's like, oh my gosh, 00:40:21.080 |
we're gonna eat, we're gonna starve to death. 00:40:26.400 |
and it was so encouraging 'cause after she left, 00:40:34.680 |
If we don't know what to eat, we're going to McDonald's. 00:40:38.000 |
that we're gonna end up eating McDonald's for four days, 00:40:40.580 |
which is most likely what would have happened. 00:40:45.940 |
So she was instructing Faith in the background saying, 00:40:49.160 |
These boys are completely helpless without you. 00:40:59.520 |
like, Faith probably didn't even know, you know, 00:41:02.480 |
but everything that she was doing was just mimicking Esther. 00:41:14.660 |
So she would wake up early in the morning, you know, 00:41:17.280 |
and she would make sure to have the coffee ready. 00:41:37.960 |
but I bet you Faith did that just subconsciously 00:41:43.400 |
That's how she knows, that's how she was trained, right? 00:41:46.360 |
No matter what we say, no matter what we sit down and say, 00:41:49.160 |
this is who God is, this is what the scripture says, 00:41:53.200 |
And so the best gift that we can give our children, 00:42:22.120 |
The greatest gift that I can give to my children 00:42:28.920 |
So I pray on this Mother's Day, again, like I said, 00:42:32.640 |
I don't think there's a single group of people 00:42:35.120 |
that is more deserving of encouragement and honor, 00:42:39.560 |
And so I thank God that God gave me that year and a half 00:42:47.040 |
Thank you, all the moms for taking care of us. 00:42:53.000 |
you know, and when I was younger, I did not appreciate, 00:42:55.840 |
you know, I was a typical rebellious teenager. 00:42:58.600 |
You know, all I understood was what I wasn't getting, 00:43:04.280 |
that went into raising a kid like me, you know. 00:43:08.000 |
And so for the rest of my life, I'm thankful. 00:43:19.040 |
but, you know, your labor doesn't just affect you 00:43:23.120 |
and your children, it affects the next generation. 00:43:32.640 |
you know, only recently we're starting to think like, 00:43:35.720 |
like what are we gonna do about our buildings, 00:43:37.000 |
Sunday school, you know, teaching, what are we gonna do? 00:43:42.680 |
what is our church gonna look like in the next 10 years 00:43:49.760 |
And then our college students become leaders in our church. 00:43:53.200 |
Like what is our church gonna look like at that time? 00:43:56.680 |
And so as we think upon and as we begin to plan 00:44:02.280 |
that we're not just thinking about today, right? 00:44:10.400 |
how this church is gonna look like in the next 20 years? 00:44:13.280 |
And for that end, we wanna encourage all the moms, right, 00:44:27.380 |
we're gonna give you some time to think carefully, 00:44:38.180 |
And all the children, pray for your moms in particular. 00:44:46.440 |
And to pray, and even the ones who don't have children. 00:44:55.900 |
Be a mother to every child, everybody younger than you, 00:45:00.480 |
that we may be responsible collectively as a church 00:45:05.840 |
and ask the Lord to strengthen us in this way