Unsinkable Ships: The Need for Divine Rescue

I think in our society, sometimes we don't seem to need a saviour because I think that we've built these unsinkable ships, that we're building these ships around our lives, building these ships in our worlds that we think are unsinkable. You know, we fill our time with ourselves, just scrolling. What about me? Let's look at everybody else's. [00:01:37]

We are distracted like you would not believe until we lose ourselves in that distraction and we lose who we are all together so I wonder why do we need a saviour I think we do I think we desperately need a saviour because we're seeming to try and solve our problems with ourselves we're trying we're trying to just build this Titanic around us this unsinkable ship but there's icebergs ahead there's there's things on the horizon and all of these fears and our pride really go by a few names one person might call it the human condition somebody else might call it sin someone else might call it transgression or what about being lost we're lost we're in this ship [00:04:03]

God has a plan, God has a destiny, God has a life for us and we fall short every time. We keep on shooting these arrows and we can never hit the target. We've walked away from God, we've rebelled because we've put ourselves in his rightful place. We've tried all kinds of ways, even Christianity. We've tried Christianity to try and bridge that gap. Not Jesus but Christianity, we've tried to build a you know this lovely Christian life around ourselves and sometimes that becomes an idol to us. [00:04:15]

The rescue mission actually began way, way, way before we needed it. And that is such a blessing. You know, there's a story about these disciples three days after Jesus had died on the cross. And they're walking along the road to a place called Emmaus. And they're chatting away to themselves. They're saying, mate, I don't understand. I don't understand what's been going on. You know, we spent time with this guy. We walked with him. We talked with him. He did miracles. Incredible things were going on. But he's gone. [00:05:10]

And he says what's going on fellas like what's happening what are you talking about and they said oh this you know he mentioned all the things that had happened and then he he says to them listen why don't you get it all of these amazing things were prophesied all the way through the scriptures it's all it's all about him and they're like what and he goes here let me tell you a story now I don't know exactly what he said but he might have done something like this he might have gone back to Genesis 5 and he might have said if you could throw the first one up for me he might have gone back to Genesis 5 and said look there's a genealogy in Genesis and most of the time you guys read about these genealogies and you know about your parents and your grandparents and your grandparents grandparents and all that kind of stuff and we can trace it all the way back because that's what we do as Jewish people right [00:06:06]

And he said, let's have a look at this one. So Adam, the first Adam, you all know this, it means man, right? He was the first man. His son Seth, who was put in place, not put in place, but he was born, and after Cain had killed Abel, Seth was next in line in terms of the family line because Cain had been cast out. His name meant appointed. He said, Enosh, his son, meant mortal, and Cain meant sorrow. Now, if you put all that together, maybe this is what Jesus said to them. It says, man is appointed mortal sorrow. [00:07:08]

Because in the garden, in Eden, Eden was a place where God was. Life, life itself was in that garden. And man, and Adam was. and Eve connected in to life and outside the garden there was death but inside the garden with God there was life and they were given a choice and they made a choice that determined the human race's fate and they were cast out of the garden and God sets up two cherubim two angels with flaming swords and the only way you would get back into that garden is if you died and so God killed the first animal I believe you can look that up and clothe them right and that was the first shedding of blood [00:07:59]

Romans 6 .23, by the way, says, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. The wages of sin is death. So our sin is bringing death into the world. But it fascinated me that every time they killed a spotless lamb, this innocent lamb, that they were actually recognising, this is what my sin does. This is what this does in this world. And you go through from Abraham. And Abraham asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. [00:09:26]

put that on the lintel and the doorpost and I want you to to you know stay in your house and the spirit the angel of death passed over them again this this line of blood all the way through then Moses instructed the people in the wilderness hey you know what we can't get back into Eden where God is but we're going to set up this tabernacle according to God's instructions and we're going to put these angels on either side of the tabernacle the flaming sword in the middle the only way you get through there is if you die but if you kill a spotless lamb and put the blood on the mercy seat you can enter in to my presence you can enter in to be back in Eden again wow and it continued on this symbolism of of of Eden and being able to get back to Eden the blood and each generation was understanding that the pain of shedding the innocent blood of a lamb reminded them [00:10:13]

There's a few more names. So what about these next three names? We've got Mahalalel, which means the blessed God. Whenever you see L in a name, it means God, the blessed God. We've got Jared, it means comes down. And we've got Enoch, that means preaching and teaching. And interestingly, in John 1, we read, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. In John 1 .14, we read, and the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us and we beheld his glory. [00:11:22]

Jesus gets up a little bit later when he began his public ministry and he says this. Gets up in the temple and he reads from the scriptures. He says, And he actually said today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. He had come. The day of the Lord's favour had come into their midst. And finally he maybe said to these guys on the way to Emmaus, maybe he said to them, what about these last couple of names? [00:12:38]

Jesus was up there exposed, naked. Shamed. Shamed. Shamed. Shamed. Shamed. Shamed. before the entire world, dying the most painful death of all, but his death brought hope to the hopeless and the restless, to us. What a saviour. Matthew 11 28 says this, come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. [00:14:10]