Restoration Through the Tabernacle: God's Plan Revealed

### Bible Study Discussion Guide

#### Bible Reading
1. **Exodus 25:10-22** - Instructions for the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat
2. **Psalm 42:1-2** - The Psalmist's Yearning for God
3. **Hebrews 10:19-25** - Confidence to Enter the Most Holy Place

#### Observation Questions
1. What specific instructions did God give for the construction of the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat in Exodus 25:10-22?
2. How does Psalm 42:1-2 describe the psalmist's longing for God? What imagery is used to convey this longing?
3. According to Hebrews 10:19-25, what gives believers the confidence to enter the Most Holy Place? What is the significance of the curtain being torn?

#### Interpretation Questions
1. Why do you think God provided such detailed instructions for the construction of the tabernacle and its elements? What does this reveal about His character? ([29:36])
2. How does the psalmist's desperate thirst for God in Psalm 42 reflect the human longing for God's presence mentioned in the sermon? ([34:55])
3. In what ways does the tearing of the curtain in the temple symbolize the new access to God provided through Jesus' sacrifice? ([01:01:36])

#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on the detailed instructions for the tabernacle. How can you apply the principle of following God's specific guidance in your daily life? ([29:36])
2. The sermon mentioned that every human being has an innate desire to be in God's presence. How have you experienced this longing in your own life, and how have you tried to satisfy it? ([34:55])
3. Considering the importance of sacrifice and cleansing to enter God's presence, what steps can you take to address sin in your life and seek God's forgiveness? ([41:59])
4. The sermon emphasized God's mercy through the sacrifice of Jesus. How can you extend mercy to others in your life, reflecting God's mercy towards you? ([49:53])
5. The ultimate goal of God's plan is restoration. What areas of your life need restoration, and how can you invite God into those areas to bring healing and reconciliation? ([01:01:36])
6. As ambassadors of reconciliation, how can you actively share the message of God's love and the offer of a restored relationship through Jesus with those around you? ([01:05:31])
7. Reflect on the imagery of the cherubim guarding the entrance to Eden and later overshadowing the mercy seat. How does this imagery impact your understanding of God's plan for reconciliation and your role in it? ([01:00:21])

1. "God knows us better than we know ourselves because He made us in His image. He wants us to be in relationship with Him, even though He knew we would sin." [31:46]


2. "Our greatest need is the presence of God. We chase after all kinds of other things, but what we truly long for is to be with Him." [34:55]


3. "Sin is the very thing that keeps us from being in the presence of God. It breaks the relationship and separates us from Him." [41:59]


4. "God is a holy God and cannot allow sin in His presence. But He is also merciful, offering a sacrifice on our behalf so we can be cleansed and dwell with Him." [50:55]


5. "Our increasing restlessness is caused by being away from God's presence. We think it's the next thing that will satisfy us, but only God can fill that void." [36:25]


6. "God is restoring. He had a plan before we broke the covenant with our sin. He is re-Edenizing the world, bringing it back to perfection and His presence." [54:31]


7. "The cherubim that once guarded Eden now welcome us back into God's presence through the sacrifice that cleanses us. He is making a way home." [01:00:21]


8. "We have confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus. Not by our works, but through His sacrifice, we can draw near to God." [01:03:52]


9. "God is welcoming us back into His presence through Christ and instructs us to take that message of reconciliation to others. It's an offer for everyone." [01:04:38]


10. "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation." [01:06:16]

Day 1: The Gravity of Sin and God's Holiness
God's detailed instructions for the tabernacle in Exodus highlight His holiness and the seriousness of sin. The tabernacle was not just a physical structure but a symbolic representation of the steps required to enter God's presence. The Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat within the tabernacle emphasized the necessity of atonement for sin. Sin separates humanity from God, and only through a proper sacrifice can we approach His presence. This underscores the gravity of sin and the holiness of God, who cannot allow sin in His presence. Understanding this helps us appreciate the depth of God's love and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who made it possible for us to be reconciled with God. [41:59]

Leviticus 16:2 (ESV): "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.'"

Reflection: Think about a sin in your life that you have not fully acknowledged before God. How can you bring this sin to Him today, seeking His forgiveness and understanding the gravity of what separates you from His holiness?


Day 2: The Deep Yearning for God's Presence
Every human being has an innate desire to be in God's presence, a longing often misdirected towards worldly pursuits. This deep yearning can only be satisfied by returning to a right relationship with God. Psalm 42 captures this desperate thirst for God, likening it to a deer's thirst for water. This longing is embedded in us since creation, and it is a reminder that our true fulfillment and peace come from being in communion with God. Recognizing this can help us redirect our pursuits towards seeking God and His presence in our lives. [34:55]

Psalm 42:1-2 (ESV): "As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?"

Reflection: Identify one worldly pursuit that you have been prioritizing over your relationship with God. How can you shift your focus today to seek God's presence and find true satisfaction in Him?


Day 3: God's Mercy Through Sacrifice
The mercy seat in the tabernacle symbolizes God's mercy, which is extended to us through the shedding of blood. This foreshadows the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who paid the price for our sins, allowing us to receive God's mercy and enter His presence. The high priest would enter the Holy of Holies once a year to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat, symbolizing the atonement for the people's sins. This act pointed to Jesus, our High Priest, who entered the heavenly sanctuary with His own blood, securing eternal redemption for us. Understanding this helps us appreciate the depth of God's mercy and the significance of Jesus' sacrifice. [49:53]

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: Reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus and the mercy you have received through His blood. How can you live today in a way that honors this incredible gift of mercy?


Day 4: Restoration Through Jesus
God's plan has always been to restore the broken relationship caused by sin. The tabernacle and its rituals were a foreshadowing of Jesus' sacrifice, which tore the curtain separating us from God, making it possible for us to dwell in His presence once again. The imagery of the cherubim guarding the entrance to Eden and later overshadowing the mercy seat in the tabernacle symbolizes this journey from separation to reconciliation. Through Jesus' sacrifice, the barrier represented by the curtain in the temple was torn, opening the way for us to enter God's presence confidently. This restoration brings us back to the state of perfect communion with God, as it was in the Garden of Eden. [01:01:36]

Matthew 27:50-51 (ESV): "And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split."

Reflection: Consider the barriers in your life that keep you from experiencing God's presence. What steps can you take today to allow Jesus to tear down these barriers and restore your relationship with God?


Day 5: Our Role in Reconciliation
As recipients of God's mercy and restoration, we are called to be ambassadors of reconciliation, sharing the message of God's love and the offer of a restored relationship through Jesus Christ with the world. This is our ministry, to bring others into the same reconciliation we have received. We are entrusted with the message of reconciliation, and it is our responsibility to live out this calling in our daily lives. By embodying God's love and grace, we can help others experience the transformative power of a restored relationship with God. [01:05:31]

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (ESV): "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."

Reflection: Think of someone in your life who needs to hear the message of reconciliation. How can you share God's love and the offer of a restored relationship with them today?

Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Taking to this promised land that he was going to give them, and so he gives great details and he works out great details to be sure his plan is carried out as he designed it to be carried out.

Let's go on and look at a few more of the instructions here. Have them make an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. Now some of you will have footnotes in your Bibles that tell you an estimate of how big a cubit was. So he's giving precise measurements here on how he wants everything to be done for this tabernacle and for the ark as well, okay? For everything that's connected to the tabernacle.

Verse 11: Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out. Make a gold molding around it. Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them on its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it. The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed.

Then put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you. Make an atonement cover of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. Make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. Make one cherub on one end, the second cherub on the other. Make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, and at the two ends the cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them.

The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. Therefore, above the cover, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.

I'm going to stop there for a minute. I'm not going to read through all of the details, the precise instructions that God gives for the tabernacle, but I want you to go back and be able to look at it during the week. Take some time in your devotional reading and read through more of these several chapters here of what God is doing here.

But I want us to get the understanding of what God’s really doing beyond just getting this tabernacle built. You see, it's part of the plan. It's part of the big plan, and it's looking ahead to the fulfillment of this plan and the coming of the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus Christ, who would be the one sacrifice for all time for all people.

But he's putting things in place that will lead to the fulfillment of this grand plan that he has. And in that grand plan, God knows us better than we know ourselves because he made us, and he made us in his image. And when he made us in his image, he put something in us, right? It's his image that he stamps upon us, and it has two parts to it.

One is God made us so that he could have a relationship with us. He wants us to be in relationship with him. He knew in advance when he made us that we would sin, that we would break that fellowship, that relationship. But he knows that he wants that relationship with us, and he made a plan for that. This is part of that plan.

But the other thing in making us in his image that we need to know on the other side of that is also just made for that relationship. So down inside us, there is this desire to be in the presence of God. And not everybody recognizes it; not everybody knows that's what it is that's keeping us uneasy and unsatisfied and wanting and longing for something, and we don't even know what it is sometimes.

You see, our sin broke that relationship, and from that time on, every human being is born with that desire to be back in that relationship, in the presence of God, with God and God with us. And so this whole plan is to bring healing to that relationship, to make it possible for us to be back in the very presence of God.

Some of you will know Psalm 42, verses 1 and 2, because there is a contemporary chorus years ago that came out that most churches sang, and it says this: "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Where can I go and meet with God?"

And we used to sing it kind of lightheartedly, "As the deer pants for the water, my soul longeth after thee," right? And we're just kind of thinking it's a nice setting. We picture this young deer by a stream drinking a little water. That's not the picture the psalmist was trying to give.

You see, in the original language, what he's talking about here is "pants for water" literally means having an overwhelming thirst because without getting to the water and getting some water soon, the deer is going to die. And he's panting for the water that he needs for his very survival, for his very existence.

And the psalmist is saying, "God, that's how I long for you. That's how my body and my spirit is crying out to want to be back in that relationship with you that I've broken because of my sin." Somehow the psalmist is saying, "I want to be with you," and he's asking, "Where can I go and meet with God? Where can I be and back in your presence again, God? That's what I want more than anything else."

And friends, whether we realize it or not, we're made to want that too, more than anything else in our lives. We chase after all kinds of other things because we don't realize the thing that God put in us to want and to need is to be with him, is to be back in that relationship with him, is to be that close with him again, to be able to dwell in his presence.

The psalmist is saying that our greatest need is the presence of God. And since the fall there in the Garden of Eden and our exile from the garden, we've been longing for that presence of God once again. Outside of Eden is to live in the brokenness of a sin-cursed world.

When Adam and Eve were cast out, they were cast out of the world and the creation as God intended it to be for our good and for his glory. And we broke that; we messed that up, and we were cast out of that. And since then, we've been wanting to get back to Eden, to that perfection and that glory and that place where we dwell in the very presence of God.

A.W. Tozer said this: "Our increasing restlessness is caused by being away from God's presence." Aren't we human beings a restless bunch? We're always after something, aren't we? We're always thinking it's the next thing, and it's the next thing. And if we just get this done, if we just get to this place or just go there, if we just get that material thing, then our lives, then we'll be at rest.

And then we get those things, if we can, and there's still a longing there. There's still a longing there; there's still a restlessness there that hasn't been satisfied yet. It's because it can't be satisfied apart from the presence of God. That's really what we're made for, and that's really what our heart is longing for.

So in our study of the Exodus narrative, we've seen God's plan for providing the needs of his people. He's given them freedom from bondage. He's given them manna from heaven. He's given them water from a rock. He's giving them a law code to follow for their flourishing. And now he says through the tabernacle that he's going to come and dwell with them.

And Moses spends part of about 15 chapters in Exodus talking about this tabernacle thing that God is teaching them about and commanding them to build and to occupy and to worship him in this tabernacle because he knows their reality, and he's making the tabernacle a place to come. And he's the one that's going to meet their greatest need better than they know it for themselves.

It's the same need all human beings have: to get back into the presence of God and dwell with him.

There in the tabernacle, we're going to look at today three really attributes of God that are on display in the tabernacle in very symbolic and magnificent ways as a teaching tool that God is using to teach them and to teach us through them about these three attributes of God.

So we've got a little video here, pretty short, but it gives you a visual representation of the tabernacle and the key elements of the tabernacle that God uses to teach about himself and his own character. Let's watch that together.

There you see entering into the outer court, you come up to this altar of sacrifice, this bronze altar, and then you see there's a place for the priest, this labor there for them to be cleansed. After they offer the sacrifice, they had to go wash. And then there's another curtain that they would enter through to get into the holy place, there inside the next section.

And there in the holy place, there's the table of showbread, and there's the lampstand, the golden lampstand that he told them to put there. There's the altar of incense that he had there that he instructed them to have the incense burning to represent the prayers being lifted up. And then there's that next curtain with cherubs on it that you open up and you walk right into the Holy of Holies, that it's called.

And there is the ark of the covenant, and on top of the ark of the covenant is this seat that he told them to build, the seat of atonement, often called the mercy seat, where the blood would be sprinkled once a year as the priest would enter in to offer sacrifice for the sins of the people.

All of these things from the outer court and that first altar of sacrifice, every step along the way there, you see depicted the presence of God there in the tabernacle. Remember that pillar of fire that was leading them? It would rest over the Holy of Holies there in the tabernacle, signifying that's where God is; he's there among you.

But here's the thing: there's still these separations, aren't there? There's still that curtain there between the holy place and the Holy of Holies. Then there's that other curtain even further out into the holy place, and then there is the initial curtain to enter into the outer courts.

So God is saying, "I'm going to have you build this place for me to come and dwell in your presence, but I want you to understand what it means to be able to enter into my presence. I'm going to teach you these lessons of what's necessary, what's required because of who I am as God. Here's what's going to be required for you to be able to dwell in my presence."

So let's break it down a little bit, and I want you to go back and read more of the details of the tabernacle. But let's break it down a little bit here with those three attributes that are represented there.

The first one is this: God is a holy God, and he is teaching the people about his holiness. And in teaching them about his holiness, he is revealing what? Our sinfulness. We are designed to be in the presence of God; that's what he made us for. But we rebelled against God, and all of us have what? Sin.

We've all done it, and what sin does, and what we take way too lightly with sin, is sin is the very thing that keeps us from being in the presence of God. It's the very thing that breaks the relationship with God. It's the very thing that separates us from God.

Remember the Garden of Eden? When they entered into sinful decision, what happened to their being able to be in the presence of God? It was destroyed. They were cast out of Eden; they couldn't be there because God's presence was there, God's perfectness, perfect holiness, God's perfect creation; it was all there in the garden.

And so he cast them out, and he set up these cherubs at the entrance to the Garden of Eden with flaming swords who would not allow them back in. What's God teaching? He's teaching that a holy God cannot have sin in his presence. A holy God can't have sinful people dwelling in his presence.

And from the very beginning, when you first enter into the outer courts of the tabernacle, the first thing there is an altar of sacrifice. And day in and day out, animals were being sacrificed for the sins of the people. Every day, animal sacrifices for the sins of the people.

Now what's God saying? He's teaching them, and remember, everything in Exodus is a foreshadowing of what he's looking ahead. He's teaching us that we cannot be in the presence of God apart from a sacrifice adequate to cover and take away our sins.

In the New Testament, in Hebrews 9 and verse 22, he says this: "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood, there is no what? There is no forgiveness."

God's teaching; he's teaching about his character and our sinfulness that separates us from his character. How, if we really are made to be in his presence, then something has to happen there that bridges that gap, that heals that brokenness, that brings us, gives us the ability to be brought back into that relationship with him again and be in his presence and dwell there.

And so every day, the Israelites are being taught that you can't even get into the outer courts without offering a sacrifice to even say, "Oh, I'm not coming for you, and we're not going to work together." But you know, start getting close to God. It's impossible to get close to God without making sure there's an adequate sacrifice made for our sins.

He wants us to be in that relationship, but as a holy God, he cannot allow sin to dwell in his presence. And so before you could even get into the holy place, sacrifices had to be made. Blood had to be shed to be able to teach us our need for the forgiveness and the cleansing that is absolutely essential before we can dwell in the presence of God.

Friends, that's why the church does the world one of the biggest disservices it could ever do to the world, to act like sin's okay, to act like it's no big deal, to act like, "Well, that's just who we are, and they've got to get over it," act like God's just got to take us like we are as if our sins are okay. They are not.

And God has gone to very detailed extremes to teach us the need, if we're going to be in the presence of God, we have to have a covering for our sin before we can be in his presence. And if we keep on choosing the sin willfully without understanding how it separates us from the Father, it will hurt our relationship with God our whole lives.

It will keep that relationship broken the whole time instead of the healed, good, close fellowship with God that he wants us to have. We cannot accept sin as okay. And we cannot accept it in the people that we love as if it's okay just because we love those people.

God loves us very much, but he does not accept our sin. He won't welcome us into his presence with our sin. There has to be a turning from and a payment for sin for us to be able to be welcomed into the presence of the Holy God.

And so many Christians are battling that all the time. We all battle sin, right? We all battle temptation. It's a struggle for all of us. But the good news is that he's provided the sacrifice that's needed so that we can be washed clean and made new through his Son, Jesus.

But we don't recognize sometimes in the church, especially in America today, that when we accept that sacrifice and we try to enter into his presence, that when we keep running back to sin, it still hurts that relationship. It's not what it ought to be anymore. It can't be the closeness that needs to be there when we keep bringing sin back into it regularly, by choice.

I'm not talking about where we occasionally stumble and fall. I'm talking about where we willfully choose just to go on sinning in our lives. A holy God cannot welcome that into close fellowship with him. He cannot. He wouldn't be a holy God if he did.

But because he is holy, then sin has to be treated as an enemy, not a friend that we welcome into our lives. So one of the first attributes we see in the way the tabernacle is built is the holiness of God.

And as you go in past that altar of sacrifice, right? Even the priest, after they offer the sacrifices, still have to wash and go through a cleansing ceremony before they can even enter into the holy place. And so, you know, the more you go into the holy place, the closer you get to God, the more there needs to be that cleansing to be in his presence. That removal of the sin to dwell in his presence.

And so the tabernacle is a teaching tool that God was giving them and us and the nations around them that would see them and see what they practiced and how they practiced it. They would be being taught about the holy God of Israel who has established that tabernacle presence.

Well, there's a second thing we see in the tabernacle construction about an attribute of God, and that is that God is holy, but God is also merciful. Hallelujah. Praise God. Aren't you thankful for that one? God is a merciful God.

Even though we're sinful, even though we come short, God extends mercy. Look at Exodus 25:17 again. Look at that verse. Make an atonement cover, talking about for the ark there, that's in the Holy of Holies, an atonement cover of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.

Now, that's sometimes called the atonement cover, but it's also called the mercy seat in a lot of translations. The idea is there's a place that God offers mercy, is extended to his people so that they can be in his presence.

Everything leading to the mercy seat required the shedding of blood and the cleansing that only comes from the shedding of blood, so that blood could be brought into the mercy seat. When you read through the rest of the tabernacle worship instructions that God gives them, once a year, only the high priest himself could enter into that Holy of Holies, where the ark was, where the mercy seat was.

And the high priest could only enter into that place after he had offered sacrifices for the people, but not just for the nation. He had to offer sacrifices for himself. And then he had to take the blood of those sacrifices that he gave for the people and himself and go into, with great reverence, that Holy of Holies through the curtain into the place where the ark was and the mercy seat was.

And he had to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice onto the mercy seat. And God says, "I will meet with you there." That's where my presence will be. You can't just casually walk into my presence. You can't just have a casual friendship kind of relationship with God like he's my man, right? He's the dude, right? He's the guy upstairs. He's my buddy.

That's not the relationship he's talking about in Scripture. He's talking about an awe and a reverence and an appreciation for his holiness and for the fact that he extends mercy at a high price. That mercy comes with the shedding of blood. That's how he's able to extend mercy as a holy God.

A price has to be paid on our behalf for us to be the recipients of that mercy that God is offering. In Exodus 25, go back to verse 21 here. Here's what he says: Place the cover on the top of the ark. Put in the ark tablets of the covenant of law, right? Those are the stone tablets where the commandments were written that I will give you.

He says, "Therefore, above the cover, listen to this, between two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites." God meets his people at the mercy seat. That's where he welcomes his people into his presence.

That's where he brings together both God's justice and God's mercy. See, God is a God of justice. He demands payment for sin. But God is a God of mercy because he offers a sacrifice on our behalf so that justice and mercy can both be served by the same holy God who welcomes us into his presence.

And for us to take that so casually in the church today must break the heart of God. For us to treat sin so lightly in the church today so we don't offend anybody must break the heart of God. When he's gone to such extreme measures and paid such an extreme price to be a God of mercy, he'll be able to extend that mercy to us so that we could be in his presence.

Our sin and the sin of the people that we love ought to break our heart just like it breaks the heart of God. That's the weight of our sin. But in the middle of that brokenness, God says there's a mercy seat that I'm inviting you to. I will meet you there. I will welcome you into my presence because of the price.

The cost has been paid so that you could be cleansed and made a person that can dwell in his presence again. Leads to the third attribute of God, and that's this: God is restoring. He's a holy God. He's merciful. And in his mercy, this plan that he has is a plan to restore everything that was broken by our sin.

He had this plan before we broke the covenant with him and our sin. God wasn't surprised. He's not surprised by anything. He knows past, present, and future. So when he put human beings, he made us and he put us into that garden, he already knew the rebellion that was coming. He already knew the sin that we were going to choose.

He already had this good plan, this amazing plan for his glory, for our good, to heal what we would break with our sins, to restore the relationship that was broken because of our sin. I came up with this made-up word to describe it. It's made up, but you can write it down, okay? I like this word. Even though it's a made-up, not real word, he said, "He's re-Edenizing the world."

Re-Edenizing. You know Eden, Garden of Eden? He's re-Edenizing the world. You can write it down. We might get it in Webster's eventually. But that's the plan. It's to re-Edenize. It's to bring it back to that perfection. It's to restore that beautiful experience that Adam and Eve had in the garden before they sinned.

They had no shame. They had no sickness. They had no death, right? There was no parting. There was no loss that had to be suffered. There was no grieving over anything. It was this beautiful place. And the best thing about the place that made it that beautiful place is they had the presence of God with them there.

He dwelt with them, and they dwelt with him in the garden, in that place before sin. You see, that's how God designed it to be. People are always blaming God for the bad stuff in this world, but God didn't give us a world of that bad. He didn't give us a world of that bad stuff in it. We messed it up. We broke it and made it that place that had that bad stuff in it.

That wasn't God; that was man, woman. That was human beings that brought that brokenness into this place that he gave us. In Genesis 3:8, when the man and the woman had eaten the fruit, it says, "Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord."

God said, "Even they knew something was wrong." God had been in the garden the whole time. They had dwelt in the presence of God, God in their presence the whole time. But they knew when they sinned that it was not going to be okay to be in the presence of God anymore. That's where the guilt came. That's where the shame came. That's where the hiding began to be part of their existence.

Look at verse 24 of Genesis 3. It says, "After he drove the man out," talking about getting Adam and Eve out of the garden, "he placed on the east side of the garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."

Did you notice what was there guarding Eden? What is it? The cherubim. Now we think of cherubim as a type of angelic being, and we know that they had wings as they described in Scripture, but they're probably not quite the angels that we often play in our skits and our plays here in our culture.

Most of them are described as male and as very forceful warriors in Scripture. That's the way they're described in the Bible. We think of these little baby cherubs, right? They're so cute. That's not what he's talking about here. He's talking about powerful warrior beings with wings that are guarding now the entrance, guarding the entrance to the Garden of Eden.

Why would they have to guard the entrance to the Garden of Eden? Because the tree of life is there, and the wages of sin is what? Death. See, sin broke everything. In the Garden of Eden, there was no death or dying. There was no sickness or pain. That did not exist. Sin brought that. God did not design us for death. He designed us for life.

That's why he put the tree of life there for us. And he wanted us to choose life. Just like today, he wants us to choose life, to value that, to understand how precious that is, the price that's been paid for it. He wants us to value life. But he put the cherub there to guard the entrance because they can no longer have that life in the presence of God who gives life.

Sin separates us from a holy God, remember? It broke the relationship. But go back to Exodus 25 again, verse 17. Make an atonement cover of pure gold, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide. Make two, what? Cherubim. Out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover.

Make one cherub on one end, the second cherub on the other. Make the cherub of one piece with the cover and the two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover. The mercy seat, remember? That's the cover. Overshadowing the cover with them.

The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. There above the cover, between the two cherubim over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.

Now these cherubim that were guarding Eden and keeping us out of Eden, now you see them there present over the mercy seat with their wings extended, giving a shadow from their wings over this mercy seat. And God says, "It's under the shadow of the wings of these cherubim that I will meet you and be with you on the mercy seat."

You can come back into my presence through the sacrifice that cleanses and allows you to enter in once again to Eden. He's making a way back. He's making a way home for what we were designed for all along.

On the curtains, before you go into the Holy of Holies, he describes the curtains there in Exodus. And he says, "Cherubs are on the curtain that you have to go through to get into the place where the mercy seat is."

The cherub used to be there to keep people out. Now the cherubim are there to welcome people in again. But only when sacrifice has been made first we enter in. Why is that important? Look ahead. Remember everything in Exodus is looking ahead.

When Jesus was hanging on the cross, and when he gave up his spirit, the more permanent form of the tabernacle, the temple, had been built in Jerusalem. And it was after this design of the tabernacle that the temple was built. And in the temple, there was this Holy of Holies, the ark was.

And there was a curtain, this heavy curtain that was made with the cherubs on it that was hanging in the temple when Jesus was dying on the cross. And the Bible says that when he gave his life there, when he gave up his spirit, something happened to the curtain. Do you remember?

The curtain in the temple was torn in two. And here's the cool thing: it was torn in two from top to bottom. Not from bottom up. Not from the sides. But from the top to the bottom. God was saying to the world, saying to us, teaching us all that he's opening up the way through that sacrifice to be able to come into his presence and receive his love.

Receive his mercy through Jesus Christ. He was teaching that way back in the tabernacle from the very first design of how they were to build it that the sacrificial system was put in place to teach us of that sacrifice that was coming that would take the curtain away, that would keep the division away, that will allow us to dwell in the presence of God forever.

I love the words of the psalmist in Psalm 61, verse 4. Here's what he said: "I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your what? Wings." The wings of the cherub over the mercy seat.

The psalmist is saying, "I long for, like as the deer pants for the water. God, I long for that opportunity, that ability through your mercy to be able to come back home, to be with you, to just dwell in the shelter of your wings at your mercy seat."

For me, in Hebrews chapter 10, by the way, the whole book of Hebrews is a great letter to read that connects back to all of these things. He says in Hebrews 10, beginning with verse 19: "Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place."

Did you hear that? We have confidence to do what? Enter into the Holy of Holies. That's what's being talked about in the tabernacle. That's that section where God's presence is. That's that section that you couldn't enter into. There was a curtain that divided it. That's that section that only the high priest could go into only once a year after he offered those sacrifices and sprinkled blood on the mercy seat.

That's the section that is where we could be back in that relationship with God again. He says we can have confidence to enter the most holy place. Not because you've worked so hard. Not because you've done so many good things. Not because you've done more good than bad.

But why do we have confidence that we can go in there? He says that we can enter by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way opened up for us through the curtain that is his body. And since we have a great high priest over the house of God, that's Jesus he's talking about, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart, with the full assurance that faith brings.

Having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience, having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another all the more as you see that day approaching.

God is welcoming us back into his presence through Christ. And he instructs us to take that message of reconciliation to others because it's not just for us. He's making this offer to everyone who would come through Jesus.

That's why he says in 2 Corinthians 5, Paul says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old is gone, the new is here. All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ. And he gave us the ministry of what? Reconciliation."

One of the greatest attributes of God is he's a restoring, reconciling God. He not only offers us that restoring reconciliation through Jesus, he wants us to be the people in the world today who are making sure the world knows God's offer to is for them, that they know they could come back into a right relationship with God through Jesus too.

He's given us the ministry, he says, of reconciliation, that we could get that word out is what he's saying. That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. He's committed to us that message of reconciliation.

We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

And as God's co-workers, we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. For he says, "In the time of my favor, I heard you. In the day of salvation, I helped you. I tell you, now is the time of God's favor. Now is the day of salvation."

Let's pray together.

Father, as we've looked at your design for the tabernacle today, we've been reminded of the brokenness that sin brought. How you are a holy God and a just God, and how you cannot allow sin in your presence. But you are also a God who is merciful, and that you planned even before we brought sin into existence to offer the payment on our behalf through your Son, Jesus.

And God, from the very beginning since the fall, you've been executing your amazing plan for your glory and for our good, to heal the brokenness that our sin brings to us and to others. And today, even today, is a day where you're making that offer again to those who would hear and those who would respond, that we would turn from our sin through faith in you and in the provision you've made through Jesus.

That we would come repenting, turning away from our sin, and accepting your offer to come into your mercy through Jesus. That even today, we could profess faith in Jesus, and we could be washed clean. We could be baptized into Christ. We could rise up to be brand new, brand new people who can be welcomed back into that relationship because it's the blood of Jesus that heals the brokenness of our lives.

And maybe those of us who've already made professions of faith have been baptized, but maybe we've continued to go back and choose sin and choose rebellion, and the brokenness is hurting us. It's hurting others, and it's keeping us from close fellowship with you.

Father, we pray for healing for that brokenness because the blood of Jesus is there for that too. Your mercies are new every morning, and even this morning there are those who need to come back into the presence of your mercy. I pray that they would take that step even today.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

If you're here today and you have a decision you need to make, steps you need to take, we're going to stand and sing. We invite you to come right up front while we're standing and singing. Won't you come?

Everybody have a seat, please. Come right on up here with me. There we go. Come right up here. Step right up here if you will. Okay. You're okay. I'm not going to ask you to say no. Just tell us your name.

Esther. Esther comes today to recommit, to rededicate her life to the Lord. She said, "It's like God knew this message is what I needed today." Well, yes, he did. I didn't know Esther at all. This is your first time here, right?

And so I didn't know Esther, but God knows us all intimately. He knows exactly what we need to hear. He wants us to know his love and his call on our lives. And he's called her to the step of rededication and recommitment.

So I want to pray with you in this step of recommitment you're making. Father, we just thank you that this one comes to you today. Here's what we know from your word: that when one comes back to you in repentance, the angels in heaven start throwing a party. They celebrate.

And we are your people, and we celebrate with your angels today as she comes to recommit and rededicate her life to you. Help her to know more than ever today that your presence, your power, your provision is with her. And your grace and your mercy is new for her today and every day.

And you welcome her as your child back into that close relationship and fellowship and walking with her and her walking with you daily. Father, thank you for this step that she takes today. Help us to strengthen her with our prayers and give her our love and support as she makes this commitment even today.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

God bless you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

This time, Hugh is going to come and lead us in a time of communion around the Lord's table if you want to get out your communion kits.

Good morning. We want to thank you for being here with us today. It's a joy to have this assembly time together as God's people. If you'd like to continue your worship through the giving of offerings, we have offering boxes available, one in the back of the auditorium mounted on a post there and one in the hallway as you exit.

You can drop your offerings in the top slot of those boxes. You can also give online at lakeshorechristian.com. Just click on the gift tab there. Or you can scan the QR code in your bulletin shell. It will take you to that page as well.

And, of course, you can mail in your offerings to the church office. Either way that you do it, do it as an act of worship to show that you're putting God first and to support the work and the ministry of the church. It enables us to do the work that God has called us to do.

I'm going to have Jeremy come up at this time. He's going to close us out with some announcements and a time of prayer. But before he does, just one we didn't put in the bulletin. Come on up, Jeremy. You're good.

But before he does that, I want to remind you we've got a bake sale at the cafe today. Anytime we do that, we do that on a pretty regular basis. All the funds from that go to help support our youth programming and activities. So all the monies that are gathered for that go toward that.

So thank you for your support of that. Jeremy, thank you.

1. "You see, it's part of the plan. It's part of the big plan and it's looking ahead to the fulfillment of this plan and the coming of the ultimate sacrifice Jesus Christ who would be the one sacrifice for all time for all people but he's he's putting things in place that will lead to the fulfillment of this grand plan that he has and in that grand plan God knows us better than we know ourselves because he made us and he made us in his image." [31:46] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "Friends, whether we realize it or not, we're made to want that too more than anything else in our lives we chase after all kinds of other things because we don't realize the thing that God put in us to want and to need is to be with him is to be back in that relationship with him is to be that close with him again to be able to dwell in his presence the psalmist is saying that our greatest need is the presence of God." [34:55] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "Our increasing restlessness is caused by being away from God's presence aren't we human beings a restless bunch we're always after something aren't we we're always thinking it's the next thing and it's the next thing and if we just get this done if we just get to this place or just go there if we just get that material thing then our lives then we'll be at rest and then we get those things if we can and we're still there's still a longing there there's still a longing there there's still a longing in the a restlessness there that hasn't been satisfied yet it's because it can't be satisfied apart from the presence of God." [36:25] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "God is a holy God and he is teaching the people about his holiness and in teaching them about his holiness he is revealing our what our sinfulness we are designed to be in the presence of God that's what he made us for but we rebelled against God and all of us have what sin we've all done and what sin does and what we we take way too lightly with sin is sin is the very thing that keeps us from being in the presence of God it's the very thing that breaks the relationship with God it's the very thing that separates us from God." [41:59] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "We cannot accept sin as okay. And we cannot accept it in the people that we love as if it's okay just because we love those people. God loves us very much, but He does not accept our sin. He won't welcome us into His presence with our sin. There has to be a turning from and a payment for sin for us to be able to be welcomed into the presence of the Holy God." [45:30] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




6. "God is a merciful God. Even though we're sinful, even though we come short, God extends mercy. Look at Exodus 25, 17 again. Look at that verse. Make an atonement cover, talking about for the ark there, that's in the Holy of Holies, an atonement cover of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. Now, that's sometimes called the atonement cover, but it's also called the mercy seat in a lot of translations. The idea is there's a place that God offers mercy is extended to His people so that they can be in His presence." [48:31] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




7. "God meets his people at the mercy seat. That's where he welcomes his people into his presence. That's where he brings together both God's justice and God's mercy. See, God is a God of justice. He demands payment for sin. But God is a God of mercy because he offers a sacrifice on our behalf. So that justice and mercy can both be served by the same holy God who welcomes us into his presence." [51:51] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




8. "God is restoring. He's a holy God. He's merciful. And in his mercy, this plan that he has is a plan to restore. Everything that was broken by our sin. He had this plan before we broke the covenant with him and our sin. God wasn't surprised. He's not surprised by anything. He knows past, present, and future. So when he put human beings, he made us and he put us into that garden, he already knew the rebellion that was coming. He already knew the sin that we were going to choose." [53:43] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




9. "He's re-Edenizing the world. Re-Edenizing. You know Eden, Garden of Eden? He's re-Edenizing the world. You can write it down. We might get it in Webster's eventually. But that's the plan. It's to re-Edenize. It's to bring it back to that perfection. It's to restore that beautiful experience that Adam and Eve had in the garden before they sinned. They had no shame. They had no sickness. They had no death, right? There was no parting. There was no loss that had to be suffered. There was no grieving over anything. It was this beautiful place." [54:31] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




10. "God is welcoming us back into his presence through Christ. And he instructs us to take that message of reconciliation to others. Because it's not just for us. He's making this offer to everyone who would come. Through Jesus. That's why he says in 2 Corinthians 5, Paul says, Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old is gone, the new is here. All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ. And he gave us the ministry of what? Reconciliation." [01:04:38] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)