Restoration Through Christ: A Journey to Divine Fellowship
Summary
From the very beginning, God has desired a relationship with humanity. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked with God, but sin disrupted this divine fellowship. Despite this separation, God’s plan for restoration was set in motion, culminating in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The tabernacle, as described in Exodus, symbolizes God’s desire to dwell among His people. The intricate design of the tabernacle, with its blue, purple, and scarlet yarns, foreshadows the coming of Christ, who is the perfect fusion of heaven and earth, divinity and humanity.
Jesus is the door to salvation, the bridge between the outer court of human existence and the inner sanctum of God’s presence. He embodies the colors of the tabernacle: blue for the heavenly, scarlet for the earthly, and purple for royalty. Through His life, Jesus demonstrated His power over death, as seen in the stories of the widow of Nain, Jairus’s daughter, and Lazarus. In each instance, Jesus defied cultural norms and expectations, bringing life where there was death, and hope where there was despair.
The resurrection of Jesus is not just a historical event but a present reality that offers us new life. It is a call to enter into a relationship with God, to walk with Him as Adam and Eve once did. This relationship is not about religious rituals or ascetic practices but about a genuine connection with the Creator. Jesus, fully God and fully man, understands our struggles and meets us in our brokenness, offering restoration and eternal life.
Key Takeaways:
- God's desire for relationship with humanity is evident from the beginning of time. Despite the fall of Adam and Eve, God's plan for restoration was set in motion, culminating in Jesus Christ, who bridges the gap between heaven and earth. [03:01]
- The tabernacle in Exodus symbolizes God's presence among His people. Its design, with blue, purple, and scarlet yarns, foreshadows Christ, who embodies the heavenly, earthly, and royal. Jesus is the door to salvation, offering access to God's presence. [12:07]
- Jesus demonstrated His power over death through miracles like raising the widow of Nain's son, Jairus's daughter, and Lazarus. These acts reveal His compassion and authority, showing that He is both fully God and fully man, capable of bringing life and hope. [21:56]
- The resurrection of Jesus is a present reality that offers new life and a call to relationship with God. This relationship is not about religious rituals but a genuine connection with the Creator, who understands our struggles and offers restoration. [30:31]
- Jesus, as the perfect fusion of divinity and humanity, meets us in our brokenness. He offers eternal life and restoration, inviting us to walk with Him as Adam and Eve once did, experiencing His love and grace in our daily lives. [40:14]
Youtube Chapters:
[00:00] - Welcome
[00:36] - The Tabernacle's Design
[01:22] - Prayer for Anointing
[02:10] - God's Desire for Relationship
[03:01] - The Fall and Its Consequences
[05:32] - Separation from God
[06:26] - God's Plan for Restoration
[07:31] - The Significance of the Tabernacle
[09:22] - The Burning Bush and God's Plan
[11:12] - The Door to God's Presence
[12:07] - Symbolism of Colors
[13:48] - Jesus as the Door
[15:54] - The Widow of Nain
[21:56] - Lazarus and the Power of Resurrection
[30:31] - The Call to Relationship
[32:53] - The Meaning of Easter
[40:14] - Jesus, Fully God and Fully Man
[43:08] - Closing Prayer and Invitation
Study Guide
Bible Study Discussion Guide
Bible Reading:
1. Exodus 26:30-36 (ESV)
2. John 10:9 (ESV)
3. Luke 7:11-15 (ESV)
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Observation Questions:
1. What specific instructions were given for the construction of the tabernacle in Exodus 26:30-36, and how do these details symbolize God's presence among His people? [00:36]
2. In John 10:9, Jesus refers to Himself as "the door." What does this metaphor suggest about His role in our relationship with God? [13:48]
3. How does the story of the widow of Nain in Luke 7:11-15 demonstrate Jesus' compassion and authority over death? [15:54]
4. What are the symbolic meanings of the colors blue, scarlet, and purple as described in the sermon, and how do they relate to Jesus' identity? [12:07]
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Interpretation Questions:
1. How does the design of the tabernacle in Exodus reflect God's desire to dwell among His people, and what does this tell us about His character? [00:36]
2. In what ways does Jesus being "the door" in John 10:9 provide a unique access to God that was not available before His coming? [13:48]
3. The sermon mentions Jesus' miracles, such as raising the widow of Nain's son. How do these acts of compassion and power reinforce the message of Jesus being fully God and fully man? [21:56]
4. How does the resurrection of Jesus serve as a present reality and a call to relationship with God, beyond just being a historical event? [30:31]
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Application Questions:
1. Reflect on the idea that God desires a relationship with humanity from the beginning. How does this understanding affect your personal relationship with God today? [02:10]
2. Jesus is described as the door to salvation. What steps can you take this week to deepen your access to God's presence through Jesus? [13:48]
3. Consider the miracles of Jesus, such as raising the widow of Nain's son. How can you bring hope and life to situations of despair in your community? [15:54]
4. The sermon emphasizes that our relationship with God is not about religious rituals but a genuine connection. What practical changes can you make in your daily routine to foster a more authentic relationship with God? [30:31]
5. Jesus meets us in our brokenness and offers restoration. Identify an area of brokenness in your life where you need Jesus' healing touch. How can you invite Him into that space this week? [40:14]
6. The colors of the tabernacle symbolize different aspects of Jesus' identity. How can you reflect on these aspects (heavenly, earthly, royal) in your prayer life this week? [12:07]
7. The resurrection is a call to walk with God as Adam and Eve once did. What specific actions can you take to walk more closely with God in your daily life? [30:31]
Devotional
Day 1: God's Unwavering Desire for Relationship
God's desire for a relationship with humanity is evident from the very beginning of time. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve enjoyed a direct and intimate fellowship with God, walking with Him in the cool of the day. However, this divine fellowship was disrupted by sin, creating a separation between humanity and God. Despite this separation, God's plan for restoration was set in motion, culminating in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus serves as the bridge between heaven and earth, restoring the broken relationship and offering humanity a path back to God. [03:01]
Ephesians 2:12-13 (ESV): "Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ."
Reflection: In what ways can you actively pursue a deeper relationship with God today, acknowledging His desire to be close to you?
Day 2: The Tabernacle as a Symbol of God's Presence
The tabernacle, as described in Exodus, symbolizes God's desire to dwell among His people. Its intricate design, with blue, purple, and scarlet yarns, foreshadows the coming of Christ, who embodies the heavenly, earthly, and royal. Jesus is the door to salvation, offering access to God's presence. The tabernacle's design reflects the divine plan of redemption, pointing to Jesus as the perfect fusion of divinity and humanity. Through Jesus, believers are invited to enter into the inner sanctum of God's presence, experiencing His love and grace. [12:07]
Hebrews 9:11-12 (ESV): "But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption."
Reflection: How can you create a space in your daily life that invites God's presence, much like the tabernacle did for the Israelites?
Day 3: Jesus' Power Over Death
Jesus demonstrated His power over death through miracles like raising the widow of Nain's son, Jairus's daughter, and Lazarus. These acts reveal His compassion and authority, showing that He is both fully God and fully man, capable of bringing life and hope. In each instance, Jesus defied cultural norms and expectations, bringing life where there was death, and hope where there was despair. His miracles serve as a testament to His divine nature and His ability to transform the seemingly impossible into reality. [21:56]
John 11:25-26 (ESV): "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?'"
Reflection: Consider a situation in your life that feels hopeless or "dead." How can you invite Jesus' transformative power into that situation today?
Day 4: The Resurrection as a Present Reality
The resurrection of Jesus is not just a historical event but a present reality that offers us new life. It is a call to enter into a relationship with God, to walk with Him as Adam and Eve once did. This relationship is not about religious rituals or ascetic practices but about a genuine connection with the Creator. Jesus, fully God and fully man, understands our struggles and meets us in our brokenness, offering restoration and eternal life. The resurrection invites believers to live in the reality of new life, experiencing the transformative power of Christ daily. [30:31]
Romans 6:4 (ESV): "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."
Reflection: How can you live out the reality of the resurrection in your daily life, embracing the new life that Jesus offers?
Day 5: Jesus, the Perfect Fusion of Divinity and Humanity
Jesus, as the perfect fusion of divinity and humanity, meets us in our brokenness. He offers eternal life and restoration, inviting us to walk with Him as Adam and Eve once did, experiencing His love and grace in our daily lives. Jesus understands our struggles and offers a path to healing and wholeness. His life, death, and resurrection serve as a testament to God's unwavering love and desire for a restored relationship with humanity. Through Jesus, believers are invited to experience the fullness of life and the depth of God's love. [40:14]
Colossians 1:19-20 (ESV): "For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross."
Reflection: In what areas of your life do you need to invite Jesus' healing and restoration, acknowledging His understanding of your struggles?
Quotes
From the literal beginnings of time, God has sought to have relationship with mankind. He had it for, you know, chapter or two. Like if I pull it up and this is all the intro, you know, like the what books are there and all that. Like I get about this much of me and him, you know, or I shouldn't say me and him, but him and mankind. Two or so chapters, we see Adam and Eve walking in the garden side by side in the coolness of the evening. [00:01:47]
But then of course we know the story. They messed up and they sinned at that moment of time. It was as if the clock of time that had began from the very first moment that night and day were combined or separated from each other and created to be one day. That clock that had been still ticking now began to ring louder. Suddenly, the heart that had been beating beforehand suddenly took on more emphasis within the chest of Adam and Eve. [00:02:33]
Because now this heartbeat had a stop date. Now the boom boom would eventually have a flatline. The heart that had had the potential to beat on forever. Limited number. Thorns broke out from the ground. Woman was cursed with the pain that would not only accompany childbirth, but would even remind her of the fruit that Eve had ate throughout every year of her life, whether she could bear children or not. Whereas man could once just go out and bring forth a bountiful harvest. [00:03:23]
And didn't have to really put his hand to do anything called work. You know it it was fun. Imagine that. Any men or working women in the house today that just imagine what it would be like to not have that word in existence? I have to have fun today. Like what's for supper? Whatever we grab outside, it's free range. Do we have need of anything? Nope. That was paradise. Then after this fault of their own, they are cursed and weeds. [00:04:02]
A thing that I don't really think Adam had named before. We see named a bunch of stuff. Now there's, I believe, a new word created. Weeds. Suddenly plants that maybe had been there before now took on a different meaning. Now they choked out life. Now they tore hands. They bruised legs. They choked out whatever you were trying to grow. But worst of all, more heartbreaking than all of this, more heartbreaking than that of the stop of a heart or the loss of a child. [00:04:47]
More painful than the sting of a nettle while you're trying to harvest your crop. The cool walks in the evening that they had once known would be no more. Done. Stopped. You're kicked out. Literally, they're kicked out of the garden. But thankfully for us, we know that the story does not end right there. It continues for a whole lot of pages. In fact, we come today to celebrate a risen savior. An act that would be a part of God's divine plan. [00:05:32]
To once again bring us together in unity with him just as Adam and Eve had had, just as he had with his disciples. Oh, what a God to take the time forming each story found in this compilation of 66 books. Yes, we consider it the Bible, the book, but it's 66 books covering 3600 years written by around 32 authors. That's what our God did to try to bring us back together. All of this to just one day have you there again. [00:06:22]
To have things as it were before innocence was truly lost. That's my assignment for today. It's to tell you, oh what a God. What a God we serve. What a God we serve that he would take the time for you and for me. I would take the time to formulate and plot and plan and then not only that but accept pain so that you and I could once again have life so that this mortal body could put on immortality. [00:07:12]
So that this corruption could put on in corruption. So that one day, even if our heart does stop beating, it will start again in eternity. What a God. What a God. And we see finally in Exodus, as it were, he gets to the nitty-gritty. He's made it through time talking with some people, pulling them out of darkness into light. He works to save people like Noah. And he he he tries to get people to walk as close as they can. [00:08:02]
And then we see Exodus finally a people chosen by God pulled out of Egypt to be free so that we could now not only like it was a blessing all around. It was a blessing for them because they were slaves now made free. But then it's a blessing for us because we can see that if we are slaves, we can be made free. And he I I I I just wonder, brother Massie, if there wasn't a smile on his face when the day suddenly arrived. [00:08:52]
That he would be a burning bush. It finally comes into play. Finally, I'm going to work out a plan. Every passage before has pointed to Calvary. Every passage before, don't get me wrong, has pointed to redemption. But now, he has a chosen man that he's going to give a plan to. And within this plan would be the very cross. Now, I don't have time to give you a Bible study on the tabernacle, but as we talked about earlier. [00:09:42]
Please see Reverend Skyler Massie and he will hook you up with somebody that can or we will do it ourselves. But let's just suffice it to say with what we had read, there was a plan given, a plan that now it would be as if God had encamped among his people again. It was no longer a wandering with a, you know, a random Abraham. Go. What I said go. It it was no longer the Jacob. Man, that was a crazy dream with that ladder and angels. [00:10:32]
That was Man, this angel about beat me up. No more would it be these random just encounters with God, but now there would be a divine plan put in place called the tabernacle. And within the tabernacle, we see what we read called a door. The door had a gate, the door to the holy place. And then there was a veil that separated you from the holiest of holies. There was only one way to get into the presence of God. [00:11:22]
And these openings were layered with blue, purple, and scarlet colors that would represent something more meaningful. Blue meaning heavenly. You look at the sky. Thank God it I see some sunshine right now. At least it's blue. Lord, keep it that way a little longer. It's blue. Heavenly. Then we have scarlet which represents the earthly. Scarlet, which represents the blood in your veins, the red. But then we see purple, which is a color that has always represented royalty. [00:12:12]
If it was a king, he had purple. If it was a, you know, a what to do with magistrate that, you know, that one guy that probably collected a little more taxes than he needed to, he probably had purple. It was a fine color. It was something that had to be made. And in fact, to get purple, you had to entwine the other colors together. You had to put blue. You had to put scarlet. You had to intertwine these colors unless you could find the perfect dye. [00:13:02]
That was rare and costly. Once again, pointing to the fact that it would belong to royalty. Before the tabernacle, the door would be just that. A representation of John chap 10 verse 9 where Jesus says I am the door by me if any man enter he shall be saved. He makes it plain that he has been the door. That he is the door and he ever shall be the door. That in fact if you try getting through any other way, you're the same as a thief and a robber. [00:13:52]
But he is the door. He fulfills this this this role as it were between the outer court of man and the inner court of God's presence. The door was made blue, scarlet, purple. You see, Jesus wasn't just part God and part man. He was fully God and fully man. He was the perfect fusion of the colors blue and red. He wasn't just a symbol of access. This wasn't just a symbol of access, but it was a prophecy within the fabric. [00:14:42]
That now the door walks, talks, heals, and even rises from the dead. That speaks royalty. That speaks divinity. There's a story of the widow of Naine. I'm going to read just a few verses. It's Luke 71 and verse 12 as well. Jesus, I want to just kind of show you how he fits his role, how he fits his purpose, and also how he just likes to mess up a good funeral. Luke 7:11 says, "Soon afterward he went to a town called Naine. [00:15:32]
And his disciples and a great cl crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out. The only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. We see this that he comes in to the situation. We always focus, and you can leave it there, sister, because we're getting ready to go to verse 13. But we we see this focus, all right, on the child that's dead. [00:16:22]
But sometimes we forget the fact that she is a widow. It's not the story of the dead son of the lady of Naine. It's the story of the widow of Naine. You say, "Now, Brother Smith, what are you talking about?" This lady had lost everything that was dear to her. Her husband is dead. Now, in this numb and griefstricken state, she looks out and sees her child, possibly her only child. I don't know. But nonetheless, a child being carried in a beer. [00:17:12]
It's a it's a casket. It's a procession. It's the grave being taken to the grave. And then Jesus shows up in verse 13. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." Then he came up and he touched the casket and the bearers stood still. There's a couple reasons for that. One, he has broken every rule that you should keep as a Jewish man. You don't touch a dead body. Now, the people that were involved in a procession, they can do it. [00:18:02]
The family, they they have a little bit, but there's this thing called cleanliness that they believed. And Jesus, he he goes out of his way, as it were, to make himself ceremoniously and within their eyes unclean. He reaches out, as it were, and grabs the boy, the dead boy. This after just looking at the mother who's apparently crying. Okay, get this in your head for a minute. I'm sorry. I'm going to just linger for a second. [00:18:52]
It's a messed up situation. She's crying her eyes out. Would you mind being the widow of Naine for just a second, sister? Okay, you can cry your eyes out. Stand up. You're crying your eyes out. Hey woman, don't weep. That's probably the response she had. Like what? You'd sit down. What right do you have? Is probably what would have came into the mind. My kid is dead. I'm a widow. Hello. Been through some stuff. Hashnot my best day. [00:19:42]
And this dude wearing sandals and a beard walks up to me and says, "Hey woman, sorry. Don't weep. It's more fun to do it to you than her, woman. Just wait. Don't cry. That's probably what she did. What staggers back a little bit, but all in one scene, like her her mind is probably checked out by grief. Her her mind is probably stricken by PTSD. And then in that moment, she's told, "Don't cry." Huh? And then she sees this same dude walk up and grab her dead child. [00:20:32]
What is going on? And the dead man sat up after he said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." I know there's not much time in that sentence, but when you just get done walking to the mother and saying, "Quit crying." And then you walk over to the casket and put your hand on it. There's at least a couple seconds. And then the time taken to say, "Young man, what is he doing? He's not a relative. He doesn't know my son." I say to you, he's talking to a dead guy. [00:21:22]
Arise. But in that moment, the dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them. And they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us, and God has visited his people." And this report about him, it spread through the whole of Judea and the surrounding country. But you know what? And it's the verse I don't think I gave you, sister. Jesus looks at them like does this miracle, shows off his glory. [00:22:12]
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