Larry Siegle · I Cor. 10:11
Link to sermon video: Relationship between Promise and Fulfillment – L Siegle
What Will We Pass Along to Others?
“The Relationship Between PROMISE and FULFILLMENT”
(I Cor. 10:11)
Thesis: It is not what we have that matters, but what we can pass along to those we leave behind.
INTRODUCTION
1. The title of the message today is, “The Relationship Between PROMISE and FULFILLMENT”
2. This is the NEXT installment in our series: What Will We Pass Along to Others?
3. The only thing in life that has a lasting effect is what we pass along to others.
OUR SPIRITUAL LEGACY DEFINED
1. According to the most reliable statistics available, more than 300 “dates” have been set for the “second coming of Christ” and the “end of the world” since the first century.
2. The problem is that with each of these dates “passing” without the realization of what we predicted actually taking place, thousands of people lose their faith in the truth and integrity of God’s inspired Word.
a. In my own lifetime, as a child, I was taught that the Great Tribulation and Armageddon were “just around the corner” in the 1970’s…with the implied emphasis on 1975 as the time when these specific events were foretold to take place…
b. We went “door-to-door” with this message, warning our friends and neighbors about the “last days” and the approaching “time of the end”
3. It was at this time, at the age of 16, that I began to study Bible and to understand it from the perspective of the inspired writers and the original audience to whom these writings were directed at the time.
a. It was not until a decade later than the evidence began to take “root” in the innermost parts of my being.
b. At the time there were hundreds of others who also had become aware of our mistaken approach to the understanding of the message and meaning of fulfillment—followed by an avalanche of other many others who
independently were examining the Scriptures from a “different perspective” in our desire to remain faithful to the text.
4. The progression was not immediately but I moved forward in the right direction.
DO WE ACTUALLY NEED THE OLD TESTAMENT IN OUR BIBLES?
1. It has been several years since, Andy Stanley, of Northpoint Community Church, made this controversial statement:
“[Unhitching the Old Testament from the New is] liberating for men and women who are drawn to the simple message
that God loves you so much He sent His Son to pave the way to a relationship with you. It’s liberating for people who
need and understand grace, who need and understand forgiveness. And it’s liberating for people who find it virtually
impossible to embrace the dynamic, the worldview, and the values system depicted in the story of Ancient Israel”
2. This thinking and concept that takes the 39 books of the OT as unnecessary (in some sense) removes the entire background for understanding the nature of God, the nature of humanity, and the fundamental reason why
redemption, salvation, and deliverance from “sin” and “death” were necessary in the first place.
3. There are some who actually believe the “God of the Old Testament” is not the “God of the New Testament” because of what is pictured from the “fall” of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden until the time of Christ.
a. God in the “Old Testament” is pictured as harsh, vindictive, full of wrath, judgment, and punishment (Gen. 3:19; 6:5-7; Deut. 32:1, 4, 5, 8).
b. From the time of the “fall” all of humanity was born “in Adam” and therefore under “condemnation” because of what had taken place. Whether one was righteous or wicked everyone, at the moment of their physical “death” went into the same place—Sheol/Hades—there was no way of escape at that time (Rom. 5:12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20).
4. The entirety of the Old Testament unveils the wickedness of people and God’s judgment based upon both being “in Adam” and the consequences of their own sinful actions.
5. It would be impossible to appreciate the condition of humanity without the testimony provided in the pages of the Old Testament.
JESUS WAS SENT INTO THE WORLD TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF SIN AND DEATH
1. The reason why God sent His “only begotten Son” into the world was to provide a release from the power of sin and death and to restore what was lost “in Adam”
2. God sent the prophet Isaiah into the ”land” to warn the people of coming judgment because of their wicked, sinful condition (Isa. 1:2, 4, 7, 9).—Punishment was the consequences of their abandonment of God
3. God gave His people (“heavens” and “earth”) the promise of redemption (Isa. 1:18-20) and cleansing from their sin.
4. Jesus was sent into the world to “save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21; John 1:29; Eph. 1:7; I Cor. 6:20).
THE EVENTS OF THE “LAST DAYS” WAS THE PROCESS “THROUGH THE CROSS” TO ESTABLISH THE BASIS OF REDEMPTION
1. God foretold, what was going to take place during the time referred to as the “last days” (Isa. 2:2, 3).
2. The “story” of Israel involves two periods of time, the “former days” and the “latter days”, Here is a quote from an article called “The “last days”—What?” written in 2012:
“The Old Testament prophets often foretold a period of time called the “latter days” (Num. 24:14; Deut. 4:30; 31:29; Isa. 2:2; Jer. 23:20; 30:24; 48:47; 49:39; Ezek. 38:16; Dan. 2:28; 10:14; Hos. 3:5; Micah 4:1). This term was often used in contrast with the “former days” (Ezek. 38:17; Zech. 8:11). This means that it references a specific period of time, one that begins with certain events, and ends with certain events. From a historical perspective, the time, place, people, and events are encapsulated and confined to the “last days” period of time itself”
3. The entire article is posted on the Cortland Church of Christ facebook page if you want to read it.
THE PROGRESSION OF REDEMPTIVE HISTORY WAS TO BE CARRIED THROUGH THE “LAST DAYS”
1. There is an inseparable connection between God in the OT and God in the NT and a person cannot understand the one aspect unless he understands the relationship between the two.
2. The “framework” of redemptive history is revealed in the fulfillment of the “promises made to the fathers” (Rom. 15:8).
3. Even as God “separated” humanity at the time of the tower of Babel (Gen. 10, 11; Deut. 32:8, 9), and through the “seed” of Abraham, accomplished salvation through Christ, the promised “unity” came together in the time period known as the “last days” (Eph. 1:10; Gal. 4:4).
WHAT WE PASS ALONG
1. The message of “accomplished redemption” is what we “pass along” to our friends, relatives, neighbors, and especially to our children and grandchildren.
a. Those of us who are here and have heard this before need to realize that the average person in various churches has “no clue” as to this message and therefore have drawn the conclusion that “God has more stuff to do” at sometime in the future.
b. The “redemptive puzzle” only makes sense from this perspective and the fact that millions of people lose their faith every time someone makes a “new” prediction about the coming of the Lord, the resurrection of the dead, the day of judgment, and the establishment of the kingdom fails to come to pass as they predicted.
2. There is such victory and comfort in knowing that God has kept all of His promises and fulfilled His Word.
3. We have it all “in Jesus”—nothing more, nothing less, nothing else
CONCLUSION
1. Relationship with God on the basis of faith and obedience is a personal decision and choice that each of us here must make.
2. Those who “obey the gospel” are added to the “church” the body of Christ (I Cor. 12:13)
a. We come to realize that “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23) and that the “wages” of sin is “death” (Rom. 6:23).
b. Salvation is not “out of works” (Eph. 2:8, 9), but rather the response of one’s heart to the gospel that allows God to change us from the inside out. We are here to help you with that decision.
3. Others, over the course of time may have allowed the problems, circumstances, and situations of the world to steal our sense of joy, to harden our hearts about the need of renewing our hearts and minds.
4. We are near the “end” of 2025, why not do what is necessary to “start afresh” today as we prepare ourselves to enter into the coming new year.
Outline (Word document): Pass_Along2.docx