New Creation in the Sermon on the Mount

Transcript

a few nights a few weeks ago when I uh started thinking about the topic for tonight's class uh I looked at the readings um because sometimes for me the hardest thing is to pick a topic and if I say well let's just see what the readings are that data um help spur some ideas um I looked at the readings of Genesis 7 and 8 and I remember that a few maybe a year or so ago I did a class uh looking at the creation imagery and and the story of Noah

um and then when I so that was kind of in my head when I previewed Matthew 6 I started thinking about wow there's actually New Creation here as well I didn't like come there thinking about it but it just kind of popped out at me and and I began to see how the words of Jesus and his teaching here were designed to bring about transformation of our hearts and to make us a new spiritual creation

um so looking at the whole sermon on the mountain again seeing these creation Echoes and I decided to explore that idea and so that was the Genesis of this class if you excuse the pun

um so

I want to begin with like thinking about like this the beginning of both of the natural creation and the the New Creation in Jesus words here starting with a seven word introduction now in Genesis 1 1 I don't expect everybody to read this but um we have seven Hebrew words uh Elohim

um that's a really really powerful words that that begin the scriptures

in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth so those seven words are an introduction to the seven days of creation

well

The Sermon on the Mount begins with Jesus words

foreign

blessed are the pure in heart for theirs is the kingdom of heaven seven words again now you don't have to agree with me on this point because we don't have a a like an inspired Hebrew copy of the New Testament but

I don't know Greek so I can't really go from Greek to Hebrew but I mean looking at the English this this is a pretty straightforward um translation and I wouldn't be surprised if these were the words uh that Jesus spoke

seven words and I think it's just kind of appropriate that the kicking off this new creation that comes about in Christ his message begins uh with a seven word introduction like Genesis 1 1 did

if we continue looking uh we could see there's actually eight Beatitudes and this is a point that uh brother Harry Whitaker made and and that I read that those eight Beatitudes

um are very important because that that's again a symbol of of New Creation well how does the number eight uh relate to New Creation if you think about it you you go through the the seven days of the week when you come to an eighth day the cycle starts over again it's a new beginning so 8 is the number of New Creation like the first day of the week and a new week so it's appropriate that Jesus was raised on the first day of a new week which would be you know the Eighth Day of the of the previous week

um John highlights the fact that when when Jesus after he was raised appeared to his disciples it happened eight days later hinting at the new creation

um Peter thinking about the new creation uh that we begin in our baptism

um because goes back to to Noah and and he highlights that on the ark there were eight people who were saved again a new creation number um that brings together New Creation baptism and and the story of Noah um in a powerful way

so

there's a new creation Now the the seven seven words begin the the eight Beatitudes and and Jesus words are are filled with power just like in the natural creation it's really words that begin the creation we read let there be light let there be an expanse let the waters under the heaven be gathered together uh and in the same way

well I should say that um though so those words

are are there in the text it doesn't say that you know God created light it doesn't just state it like that matter of factly instead it says let there be light God spoke the words and then it happened because God's words have power well in the same way in the new creation Jesus words in this in this sermon are so powerful they reach with power into the hearts of his hearers and it results in change and it results in new life

so there's words with power

um and and just like in the first creation there's this powerful image of light that that begins it always start with darkness and then the creation breaks through uh with light so to uh in Jesus New Creation we have light imagery let's let's let's think back on on the the first creation for a second first it began formless and void Darkness was over the face of the deep so imagine a complete absence of light you know which stepping outside and at night it's not quite that way because there's often lights from from our neighbors uh houses and stuff and where there's stars in the sky

it's very very rare that we get in complete darkness just imagine complete thick Darkness and then two words are spoken by God he or let there be light

and light splits the darkness

okay

yet uh unlike this picture the light oh no you got to leave that on sorry

um unlike this this picture um the light wasn't from the Sun um God revealed his light upon the creation because the sun wasn't created for another couple days so

it was light that came I believe from God himself and he God Reveals His light to the creation it cuts through the darkness and God's light shines

well in the same way spiritually Matthew points out that Jesus is performing the same function when he describes the beginning of Jesus ministry Matthew says Jesus went and lived in Capernaum which he noted was the area in zebulun and Napoli which he saw as fulfilling the prophecy from Isaiah the land of zebulun the land of naftali the way of the sea beyond the Jordan Galley of the Gentiles the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light those dwelling in the region in the shadow of death on them a light is dawned from that time Jesus began to preach saying repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand

so just as the new creation began with the darkness split open by light brought into being by the word of God here in the new creation the word becomes flesh and Jesus is the light that splits the spiritual darkness that was upon the land

not only do we have the light of the new creation but he brings not only so not only we have Jesus I'm sorry as Jesus is the light of the new creation but he brings this light imagery Into The Sermon on the Mount and some of the famous words like you are the light of the world

his followers having seen the light that Jesus brought into the darkness of their lives are to turn and reflect and shine that light for others to see

um so let's let's read from chapter five uh of Matthew verses 14 to 16. you are the light of the world a city on a hill cannot be hidden neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl instead they put it on a stand and it gives light to everyone in the house in the same way let your light shine before men so that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in Heaven

so we're to be that that light on a stand we're to be that city on a hill visible from afar Shining Light and calling out to those who see who then go turn to praise our heavenly father

Jesus imagines Jesus image here of a city on a hill I believe points Back to Eden

um and I didn't maybe realize it until fairly recently um that you know Eden is really pictured as being on a hill or a mountain um the garden was the headwaters for four major rivers that that spread out and the headwaters for rivers start in The High Ground

um so Eden would have been placed um on a Mountaintop I believe and Jesus I think by talking about his creation of being a city on a hill means that they're being brought back to Eden through Jesus through his sacrifice we are going back to that intimacy with god um in in a small foretaste now but even more

um you know completely fulfillment in the kingdom of God of course

so Jesus pictures us as being a city on a hill he's echoing back uh to Eden and probably probably to Isaiah 2 as well were called back to that close fellowship with god

um and and the words come let us go up to the mountain of the house of the Lord that he may teach us his ways then we we may walk in its paths people want to go up to that mountain to learn from God and as a result the praise our Father in heaven with their lives because they see the light shining on the hill come let us walk in the light of the Lord

so

um let's look at another image so we got that image of light um there's some other lessons that I think we can come from um and see from from Genesis 1 we'll go back and back and forth just a little bit more between the two uh between Matthew and Genesis this this lesson I think came from David

um David you can correct me if I'm wrong but I I believe I got this from you first

um that there's a number of pairings in Genesis 1. we see Darkness paired with light we see Waters below paired with Waters above we see seas and land we see less the Lesser light and the greater light we see Fish we see birds we see land creatures and we see mankind

um if you look at those pairings the the first and the second if you think about what would uh

commonality be for the ones on the left and the commonality for the ones on the right we gave them some titles perhaps it would be the common or the lower things on the left and the Holier elevated things on the right

so the lesson beyond the first creation to the new creation I believe is that God is calling us upward he's calling us to be a holy people in His image that's what he created man to be and and that kind of contrast to the land creatures to mankind who he set up to rule over them spiritually could teach us in the new creation that we should be ruling over our animal nature we should be called to something higher

all right the lamp was put on a stand the city was lift was built you know things of the that were in that City had to be lifted up to be built on top of that mountain to a higher place so our lives should be elevated to reaching beyond the dust of our of our human nature to the higher things of the spirit and in doing so we will witness uh we'll be a witness as a transformed people as a new creation in Christ

if we go back to Matthew we see that Jesus teaches about this higher calling this higher way of life in the second half of well he teaches about it all throughout but I want to highlight um where he does that in in the second half of Matthew five yeah there's just so much in Sermon on the Mount it's you could pick a little section of it and do a whole class on it I'm apologize I'm going to be kind of hitting some high points

um to look at connections and to Creation but there's obviously way more than I can than I can fit in here but in the second half of Matthew 5 um three times we hear Jesus say you have heard it was said

Jesus is calling us to something higher

um do not murder

do not commit adultery so you've heard it said do not murder you've heard it said do not commit adultery you've heard it set an eye for an eye a tooth or a tooth love your neighbor and hate your enemy but Jesus was calling them to something higher in each of those cases you you continues but I tell you that I tell you you've heard it was said one thing but I'm telling you to go higher to go beyond that there's instruction to not just avoid murder but stop the anger that leads to murder and broken relationships

not just avoid adultery but not just avoid the act of adultery but stop lustfully looking which leads to improper thoughts

don't just

um seek Retribution eye for an eye 232s but fight evil with radical actions like going an extra mile like turning the other cheek that make the perpetrator really stop and think and perhaps change

to not hate our enemies but to rise to a higher level to mirror our heavenly father who shows kindness to the unrighteous

the higher calling goes beyond the righteousness of the Pharisees Jesus said you your righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees Beyond The ritualistic Obedience with an unchanged heart to instead rise to something higher to be perfect therefore as your heavenly father is perfect were called to something higher a new way to be human

and it transforms relationships too instead of grudges holding grudges when we recognize there's something amiss in our relationship with someone else

um where Jesus says if you're offering your gift at the altar and you remember your brother has something against you leave your gift there before the Altar and go first be reconciled to them then come and offer your gift

we're called to something Higher by by being humans in a new way it's going to change our lives and it's going to change our relationships

so going back to to Genesis 1 to our list again for a minute

um you could look at this list and think of it as like a series of steps in creation that that kind of culminate on day six with the creation of man but also if you if you look at the letters on the on the side here we could think about it as

um

working towards a focus in the middle Hebrew chiasms often

are draw your attention to the thing that's in the middle and there's actually a pair that I left out there

um that came in between the Seas and the land and the Lesser light and the greater light and that is the plants and the trees

so if that's indeed at the middle of the chiastic structure and one way of meditating on this brings our minds to that in focus what is it about the plant life

well consider the the you have the seed bearing um plants that are low to the ground

the grasses and herbs and stuff but then in contrast with that the pear whether they're paired with that we have the trees

that reach up toward the sky toward the light being energized by the light from above

and they take that energy and they produce fruit and Seed

which brings about um you know um replication which brings about multiplication

so Jesus example of his life and Jesus teachings

I think are the tools that God you know among the tools that God uses to transform Our Lives to change us to be more tree-like

The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most powerful examples of Jesus teaching which can transform our lives change our hearts cause us to reach up to God to reach out to God to receive from God his light and his energy that can transform our lives and allow us to bear fruit

um so and in Genesis 1 we have this image of trees that I think is a is there to be a spiritual lesson for us and

um but trees can are not always so good at bearing fruit

um and we go back to Matthew and and I think we we touched on some of these I'm not going to at all of them but there's a number of things in in the baptism of Jesus uh when John the Baptist in his speech that that point us back to to Genesis 1 and 2. Jesus I'm sorry John says of the Pharisees and the Sadducees some of them that were coming to him you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the Wrath to come bear fruit in keeping with repentance so John

thought of people the trees being a good image for people um that that you need to Bear good fruit and if you're not if you're not then you're not really in keeping with repentance you're not you don't really have a repentant heart if it's not coming forth in the in the fruit of your life

Jesus in The Sermon on the Mount continues the uh the the tree object lesson when he warns about false prophets the wolves and sheep's clothing he says you will recognize them by their fruits are grapes gathered from Thorn bushes or figs from thistles so every healthy tree Bears good fruit but the disease tree Bears Bad fruit a healthy tree

cannot bear good sorry a healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a disease tree bear good fruit every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire thus you will recognize them by their fruits

so people who've been truly impacted by Jesus will have lives that produce good fruit that will be visible to those around us

those are the those are the teachers that Jesus says you you'll recognize now they're not the wolves in sheep's clothing they're not going to have good fruit

Jesus and John the Baptist I think both were you know thinking back they gain this image of of people being like trees from from places in the Old Testament that that made that same point uh in the scriptures like in Psalm 1 um Jesus words Echo back to this other New Creation passage um in the Hebrew Bible which by the way begins with a seven word uh phrase

um in Hebrew blessed is the man who walks not in the Council of the wicked it turns out to be seven letters and he or seven sorry seven words in Hebrew

the characteristics of these blessed ones these happy ones are like Jesus Beatitudes um actually the same word as we have in the modern Hebrew translation of of Matthew 5. um

so this this characteristics that the psalmist speaks of or they don't stand in the way of Sinners nor sit in the seat of scoffers but his Delight is in the law of the Lord on his law he meditates day and night he's like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit and season and its Leaf does not Wither in all that he does he prospers

so we see this uh like Genesis 1 and 2 imagery here in the psalm as well taking the images that were there seeing seeing the spiritual lesson and recognizing that people are like trees

so not to be influenced by the ways of the wicked but instead soaking up the teaching the instruction of the Lord

to be like the tree that receives light and takes that again energized by that light is able to bear fruit

like Jesus Jesus calls us to be

not influenced by by other people on a similar lesson that we see in Jesus teaching is that

don't be looking for a ward on how we look to others but instead turn our Reliance uh upon God look to God for our Rewards

um so the new creation

is about our hearts being changed

changed by the instruction of God so that we may bear fruit

the New Covenant uh

of the New Creation in Christ was prophesied by Jeremiah where in Jeremiah 31 we read for this is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days declares the Lord I will put my law within them I will write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they will be my people in fulfillment of the promises to Abraham

so God is changing our hearts by by actually writing his law his instruction on our hearts through the work of Christ

Jesus teaching reached out to do just that

and as I said it he's telling us not to be influenced by by people but instead to be seeking seeking God

in looking uh into into Matthew 6 now um in the second chapter The Sermon on the Mount um a few highlights there's some warnings beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them

for you then you will have no reward from your fathers who's in heaven he repeats a similar warning when you pray you must not be like the Hypocrites for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues at the street corners that they may be seen by others truly I say to you they've received their reward

and in verse 16 when you fast do not look gloomy like the Hypocrites for they just figure their faces so that they're fasting may be seen by others

truly I say to you they have received their reward so either These Warnings to to look at our motivations

don't let our motivations be what people around us see

instead Jesus says

instead of being praised by others and receiving our award now he's saying give when we give don't let our left hand know what our right hand is doing do it in secret that you're giving may be in secret than your father who sees in secret will reward you

Jesus is calling us to

consider instead of a visible reward of our standing among men seek the Unseen reward that Jesus that that God is giving us um in Christ of the hope and and the kingdom

that unseen reward makes me think of Hebrews 11 now Faith is the Assurance of things hoped for the conviction of Things Not Seen

what's what's in faith what

God's reward be our uh your motivation rather than the way that we look before uh for people but it's so natural and

um to fall into that trap to to forget that our heavenly father is watching and and to be focused on the fact that how do we appear to people around us um our friends our family Society

but Jesus is calling us to live lives of faith where our father's presence is constantly remembered

to be motivated from our reward from our father not how we look to others and to have hearts that are more concerned about their connection to their father than what we look like to others

Jesus in The Sermon on the Mount again and again is calling us to have hearts that are reliant upon God that are not only aware of God's presence but aware of God's care aware of how much we need him

it could be encapsulated in the opening of The Lord's Prayer Our Father in heaven

as children we rely on our father

Auntie Wright said that we could suggest that the title for the whole Sermon on the Mount might be what it means to go to call god father again and again the the message is

recognize remember

that our God is our father and we are reliant upon him

that Reliance is seen in the Lord's Prayer in another way give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from Evil we are reliant on him for our daily needs we're Reliant upon him for forgiveness we're relying on him for guidance and direction in life

uh continuing in in chapter 6 to verse 25 we read therefore I tell you do not be anxious about your life what you will eat or what you will drink nor about your body what you will put on verse 26 look at the birds of the air they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns your heavenly father feeds them are you not more valued than they

um Jesus is is well and consider the lilies of the field he says as well why are you anxious about your clothing they need their toil nor spin Jesus is teaching us to to consider those natural lessons of of birds and the flowers that God cares for

let those images and truths sink into our hearts to change our thinking and to melt away our anxiety therefore do not be anxious in verse 31 what shall we eat what shall we drink or what shall we wear for the Gentiles seek after all those things these things and your heavenly father knows that you need them all but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you

people who remember the father's care no longer need to worry or be anxious about these things

so we need to have hearts that are reliant upon God that's what Jesus keeps drawing us to uh in his message

going back to verse 22 uh we read that the eye is the lamp of the body so if the eye is if your eye is healthy your whole body will be full of light but if your eye is bad your whole body will be full of Darkness

if then the darkness if then the light in you is Darkness How great is the darkness

foreign

over over my life but and I still don't complain claim to have any kind of complete understanding of them but one thing that I did notice um is you have a note in my margin that that reminds me that the context really is the key look at the verses before and after

um this verse about the I is the lamp of the body in verse 19 do not lay up for yourselves Treasures on Earth where moth and rust destroy and we're thieves break in and steal but lay up for yourselves Treasures in Heaven we're neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also

and down in verse 24 no one can serve two masters for either he will either either he will hate the one and love the other who will be devoted to the one and then despise the other you cannot serve God and money and that's the the lead end to therefore I tell you do not be anxious about your life

so if you look at the immediate context before and after of this somewhat puzzling eye is the lamp of the body Passage

I think you can see in the context of the the treasures on Earth and and the God versus Mammon that that the i in the middle of this is really talking about

um spiritual blindness when we're when we're focused in our our eyes are focused on the things of this world and and and

material riches that that greed that it can easily lead to leads to spiritual blindness there's so many so much evil that is done in the world um all around us throughout history um especially people with power that that have the capability of grasping and and doing things to uh the grasp and hold on to and accumulate more wealth there's just there's so many evil things that are done it's it's it's when our eyes are focused on those things

it's it just leads to the darkness in our whole body but if we recognize

like the the the of the tree we reach out with our hands outstretched to receive or our branches outstretched and our leaves

soaking in the light receiving the light if our eye is the lamp of the body and and it's full of light because we're focused on our heavenly father

we see that our father cares for our needs and wants to give us a treasure far greater worth than this world's Goods

then we remember the lesson that all these things will be given to us as well our needs will be met when we seek first our father's Kingdom and his righteousness

so it's again recognizing that we're Reliant upon God

and our Reliance upon God knowing that he will meet our needs

uh there's more reminders in chapter 7 of our father's care and and to rely on him when Jesus says ask and will be given to you seek and you will find knock and it'll be open to you for everyone who asks receives and the one who seeks fines the one who knocks it will be opened to the one who it knocks it will be opened in which one of you if your son asks him for bread we'll give him a stone or if he asks for a fish we'll give him a serpent

if you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children how much more will your father who's in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him

now again a context thing so in verse 12 whatever you wish that others would do to you do also to them for this is the law and the prophets

the Golden Rule Springs from a recognition of what God does for us

we recognize God's willingness to give good gifts so we should reflect God's generous goodness as we do for others and and become lights to the world

so I've highlighted a a few things to hopefully show how the The Sermon on the Mount is is filled with a call to be a new creation to change our lives from being empty

desolate and void and instead to be what God's real desire was for his creation to be filled to be Lush and verdant with life and Light that's what his new creation that's his intention for his new creation as well I

um and that Star Wars movie I can't help but remember that the dramatic shift of of imagery um in the cinematography when you go from

the the desert planet to

um the Lush verdant place and and Rey's response was that I never knew there was this much green in the whole galaxy I think that's what the the kind of the contrast that would have been

um when God take took and filled this world

um with light and life compared to what it was like before it went from being a a formless and void Planet which is covered in water to being one that was structured and filled that was filled with Abundant Life

and just like creation went from empty to filled with new life Jesus transforms us and replaces the emptiness that just living for ourselves and and living for riches

those kinds of things just in the end leave us empty instead he wants to fill us with love and joy and peace and and to change the darkness to light

so

just as God's words bring about the natural Creation in Genesis 1. I hope you can see here that that Jesus words in the beginning of his ministry the teaching of our masters goes out and like God's word does not go out and return to a void you know it accomplishes the purpose Jesus words also accomplish a purpose in our hearts and lives to bring about a new creation to transform us to fill us with light and life

Paul says if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation

um but I'll say that that if you look at that passage in the King James

um which again I recognize there's there's strengths of the King James um there's things in parentheses that kind of give us a clue that that's just kind of words that are filled in there to help bring it into English

the the word he is is in italics

um in the King James so the Greek really is if anyone in Christ

New Creation

and just anyone's in Christ

New Creation there's there's a work being done in our hearts and Minds

because of Jesus teachings because of Jesus life because of his sacrifice his death and his resurrection and the fact that he is involved with us now and helping helping train us up to be new people to live a different kind of life to see a new way of Being Human

and this all

um hinges on one important thing though Jesus closes his

um message

with the following words therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock the rain came down the streams Rose the winds blew and beat against that house yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock

but everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand the rain came down the streams Rose the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell with a great crash

house can be built on a stable or an unstable Foundation

we need to let Jesus words like the words of this Sermon on the Mount change our lives our actions our way of being and this happens not just by hearing the words but hearing them and putting them into practice to become a new creation