Turning to Believe Who God Is

What lies do we believe about God?

Last week we talked about getting to know someone. When you meet someone for the first time, you are discovering who they are. As time goes on in the relationship, you discover more and more about what they are like and who they are. As you do so, you are either going to like them or you aren’t. You are either going to trust them or you aren't. We brainstormed together last week about what makes someone trustworthy and what makes someone lovable.

Let’s flip and think about the opposite. Imagine you are getting to know someone, what would make a person difficult to trust?

What would make someone difficult to love?

Series Introduction
We have just finished the opening section of the book of Genesis in chapters 1 through 11. In chapter 12, Genesis shifts focus. The first 11 chapters were telling us how everything was supposed to be and how it all got messed up. Starting in Genesis 12, we will see the beginning of God’s specific plan to restore our world and our relationship with him.

Throughout the rest of the book, we will meet a cast of characters whom God is going to use for his purposes but who are far from perfect. They struggle with sin, doubt, fear, selfishness, manipulation, and lying. They are chosen by God and yet deeply flawed. If we didn’t have Genesis chapters 1 through 11, we would see all their struggles but not know why they have them. Why do they doubt God? Why do they fail to love others? Why do they make poor choices? Why do they sin? We wouldn’t know why if it weren’t for chapters 1 through 11. We would be like doctors who can see all the symptoms people have but who don’t know the sickness causing them. We are taking time to recap what Genesis 1 through 11 has taught us about God, humanity, and sin so that we are able to diagnose the sickness in the lives of Genesis’ characters and also in our own lives.

Sermon Introduction
Our lives are not unlike theirs. At times, we will see them flourishing and at times we will see them struggling. Sometimes they look like this dead plant. Their leaves are wilted and turning black. Some have fallen off and completely died. At other times they look like this living plant. They are healthy and vibrant. Some of them go from one to the other. They go from wilted and withered to flourishing and thriving.

If you were to diagnose yourself, which one of these is how your spiritual life feels? Which one of these is the best picture of your relationship with God right now? This week we are talking about the key to moving from one to the other. If you feel like this dead plant, how do you move to be the living plant?

Last week, we covered this principle: when we trust and love God, we flourish and live. The principle for today is this: When we doubt and reject God, we wither and die. When we doubt and reject God, we wither and die.

We’ll first talk about why we doubt and reject God and then we'll talk about the key to being like the living plant.

What goes wrong in Genesis 3?

When Genesis opened, we met God. In Genesis 1 and 2, everything was as it should be. God and humanity lived in a loving and trusting relationship. There was no sin or distrust. Humanity was at home with God.

But then something happens in Genesis 3. The serpent - a creature in rebellion against God - came to the first humans, Adam and Eve, and got them to believe a lie about God. They knew nothing but good from God. They trusted him to provide for them, give them direction, and protect them.

But the serpent convinced them that God wasn’t as good as they thought he was. The serpent was a rebel against God as King. A rebel opposes the one in power. The problem is that the serpent can’t actually dethrone God. God is King and will always be King. He can’t actually get God off the throne. But he can get us to think someone else would be a better King. He can get us to believe that it would be better if someone else were in charge. And if we believe that, then we won’t live with God on the throne of our lives

But the other problem the serpent has is that God really is the best one to be in charge. His character is flawless. He is a good Creator and he is a good King. He always does what is good, right, and perfect. The serpent can’t come to them with a list of grievances against God because there are none. So he needs to use a lie. He needs to deceive them about who God is. He needs them to believe that God is someone that he isn’t. That is the only way he will get them to rebel against God.

So the serpent uses deception - getting them to believe a lie about who God is. That creates doubt - they stop trusting God and what he has said. That leads to desiring what God has said is off limits and then they do what God has said is bad - they define good and evil on their own terms. They become wise in their own eyes, redefining what God has told them is good.

In the words of Romans 1 that Brian read for us, they exchanged the truth about God for a lie. Instead of listening to the Creator, they listened to a created thing. They believed that God isn’t that good God was holding out on them and that he didn’t have their best interests in mind. They believed that sin isn’t that bad - that they wouldn’t die because of it.

Adam and Eve stopped trusting and loving God because of a lie. They stopped living with God on the throne of their lives. We do the same thing. We don’t live with God on the throne, we don’t trust and love him, we don’t do what he says because we believe lies about him.

Last week, we went through these four questions: Who is God? What has God done? Who are we in light of what he’s done? What should we do? We filled them in with the truth about God and us. We used the 4Gs for who God is. Even though more could be said about him, the 4Gs are four truths about God that are a memorable way to reflect on what God is like. We can also answer these questions with lies. Let’s fill this in using the opposite of the 4Gs.

First, God is weak. This is the opposite of God is great. God is great means he is big and powerful and in control. When we believe God is weak, we don’t believe he can handle things. He isn’t in control. He can’t handle our problems, he can’t take care of our sin, he can’t take care of the evil in the world. He isn’t someone we can rely upon. So what does God do if he is weak? God can’t do what he says. God can’t protect us. He isn’t powerful or capable so he can’t do those things. Related to this would be the lie that God is distant. What’s he doing? God is not paying attention. God is doing nothing. God is distant and weak so he does nothing.

What will we believe about ourselves if we believe God isn’t great? I need to be in control. I need to take matters into my own hands. If we can’t trust him to be in control, we need to be. The builders of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 did this. They found security and protection in building a city for themselves. They didn’t want to carry out God’s will of filling the earth so they resisted it by building a city and staying put. They didn’t believe God could provide security.

Second, God is unimportant and unimpressive. This is the opposite of God is glorious. God is glorious means he is weighty and important so he impresses and inspires awe. He is the one who created everything, including us! He designed everything from the cells in our body to the Milky Way galaxy. That’s an impressive and important person who should matter a great deal to us! What does God do if he is unimportant and unimpressive? Nothing worthy of worship. Why would we worship him and devote ourselves to him if he isn’t very important or impressive?

When we believe God is the most impressive and important, we will live for his approval. What will we believe about ourselves if we don’t believe God is glorious? I need the approval of others. Or perhaps I am most important and impressive. The builders of the tower of Babel were seeking after this as well. They wanted to make a name for themselves. They were seeking after significance. They wanted to know they mattered.

Third, God is a party pooper. This is the opposite of God is a good. God is a good Creator who created a good world. He always does what is good and he gives us good things. This means we should look to him for satisfaction and joy because he is the best! But what does God do if he is a party pooper? He sucks the fun out of life. He doesn’t want us to have any joy. He is the fun police.

We could also say that the opposite of God is good is that he is dishonest and bad. A good person does what they say and they want what is best for you. A dishonest or bad person is holding out on you and wants what is worst for you.

When we believe God is good, we look to him for satisfaction and trust that he does what is best for us. What will we believe about ourselves if we don’t believe God is good? I need to look for satisfaction elsewhere. If we are going to happy and enjoy life, we need to look somewhere other than God and his will for us. This is the lie the serpent uses on Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. He gets them to believe that God doesn’t want them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because he is holding out on them. So they begin to desire it and take it.

Fourth and lastly, God is grumpy and cold. This is the opposite of God is gracious. God’s grace means he gives people the opposite of what they deserve. He is eager to love, bless, and give. This was evidenced by his creation of the world and his blessing to the first humans. It was evidenced again and again as he interacted with people in Genesis even after they had rejected him. Even after they sinned, God spoke with Adam and Eve and covered their nakedness. Even after he murdered his brother, God protected Cain. God showed immense patience with humanity for thousands of years before sending the flood then grieved over their wickedness when the time came and still saved Noah and his family. If we believe God is gracious, we will know that we don’t have to prove ourselves to earn his love and favor. He gives it as a gift that we receive and experience by trusting in him.

What what do we believe God does if he is grumpy and cold? He withholds. He withholds his love and good things from our lives. He waits with arms crossed for us to prove ourselves.

When we believe God is good, we won’t try to prove ourselves but will receive his love and approval as a gift from him. What will we believe about ourselves if we don’t believe God is gracious? I need to prove myself. I need to get my act together for God to love me.

We have described someone who is difficult to trust and difficult to love under who God is and what he does. This is what someone is like who we will have a hard time trusting and loving. If you believed all this about God and yourself, how will you respond to him? What would you feel toward God? In other words, how do we respond to someone we don’t trust and love?

It’s no secret that one of my favorite books and movies is Lord of the Rings. In the second book, part of it follows the journey of two characters called hobbits. Frodo has been tasked with taking a magic ring to the place it was created in order to destroy it and the one who created it. Even though Frodo tried to sneak away in a boat to do it himself, his friend Sam swam after him even though he didn’t know how to swim. This is a picture of Sam’s dedication and love for Frodo. Sam will do whatever it takes to protect him and help him on his quest. He will stick with Frodo to the end.

As they journey toward Mount Doom to destroy the ring, a twisted creature named Gollum becomes their guide. Frodo begins to trust Gollum more and more but Sam doesn’t. Over time, Gollum begins to turn Frodo against Sam. Gollum tells Frodo that Sam really wants to take the ring from him. So Frodo begins to watch Sam.

As they sleep on the side of a mountain, Gollum sneaks into their supply bag, throws their food over the cliff, and drops some crumbs on Sam. When they awake, Sam goes to get breakfast and finds all the food is gone. He accuses Gollum but then Gollum points out the crumbs on Sam. Now Frodo believes Sam selfishly ate all the food. Sam knows Gollum is up to no good and attacks him. Frodo stops him but then collapses in exhaustion. Sam apologizes and then offers to carry the ring for him. All Frodo can remember is Gollum’s warning that Sam will try to take the ring from him. In a heartbreaking scene, Frodo tells Sam that he is the problem. Sam tells Frodo that Gollum has poisoned Frodo against him. Frodo tells Sam, “You can’t help anymore.” Through tears, Sam says, “you don’t mean that.” To which Frodo says, “Go home, Sam.” At this, Sam begins crying and Frodo follows Gollum alone into a dark cave.

Sam’s character never changed. Sam still loved Frodo the same. Sam still wanted to be with Frodo just as he did from the beginning. Sam was still committed to helping Frodo and sticking with him until the end. What had changed was Frodo’s perception of Sam. Gollum had poisoned him against Sam. Through lies, Gollum deceived Frodo into thinking Sam was against him and was no help to him anymore.

The good news is that God is great, glorious, good, and gracious. He truly is those things. He is better than we can imagine!

The problem is that we believe lies about him. The serpent, Satan, has poisoned us against him. God is still the same as he always was but our perception of him has changed so that we are like Frodo with Sam: we don’t trust him and want him out of our lives.

But as long as believe lies about God, our lives will look like this plant: dead. The principle we learned today is that when we doubt and reject God, we wither and die. The opposite is that when we trust and love God, we flourish and live. What’s the key to going from dead to alive?

Jesus said it simply: repent and believe the good news. He fully showed God’s greatness, gloriousness, goodness, and graciousness. One reason Jesus came was to show us a flesh and blood picture of what God is really like. Jesus is a perfect picture of what God is like. What kind of God do we worship? The kind of God who heals the sick, who has compassion on the wandering, who invites little children to be with him, who can calm the storms, the wind, and the waves, who can make dead people come back to life, who confronts corruption, wickedness and evil, who transforms people’s lives. Most importantly, he loves sacrificially. He’s the kind of God who dies the death his enemies deserve for rebelling against him. He goes to the cross to die the shameful death of a criminal we deserve, all so he can forgive us if we surrender our lives to him.

Why are people attracted to Jesus? Even if people don’t follow him, people respect him for who he was and what he did. Why? Because he is a picture of what we so desperately long for. He desperately long to be at home with God and Jesus is a picture of the God we want.

Jesus’ invitation to people was repent and believe the good news. To “repent” means to turn or change one’s mind. “Turn from the lies you are believing about God! Change your mind, your perceptions, your thinking on what God is like. Stop believing all these lies about him. Turn from them! Then believe the good news that God is nothing like that! Believe the good news that he is great, he is glorious, he is good, and he is gracious! Believe the good news that he offers you love beyond your wildest dreams and he offers forgiveness of all you have done wrong against him and others.”

Which 4G do you need to believe this week?

Going as a Messenger means we are helping people repent and believe. The people in your life who don’t know God have been poisoned against him. They are filled with wrong perceptions and lies. Evangelizing and telling people about Jesus is as simple as helping them turn from those lies to believe the good news. The gospel is not good advice. The gospel is news about who truly God is and what he has truly done in Jesus. God sends us out as messengers of this good news, calling people to turn from the lies about him to believe the good news.

Conclusion
Homesickness feels like wandering and looking for rest, acceptance, belonging, security, safety, significance. This is all of us before we come back home to God. Next week, we will see how God initiates his plan to bring us home. A disciple is someone learning to come back home - to find home in God.