The Bible recounts several "False Starts" as humanity tried to attain greatness on its own. Here are three…
A) Cain’s Personal Failure (Gen. 4:3-6)
In the course
of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat
portions. And the Lord had regard for
Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So
Cain was very angry, and his face fell.
The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has
your face fallen? If you do well,
will you not be accepted? And if you do
not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”
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| Are we envious? |
How can we avoid
Cain’s error and rule over sin? By walking relationally with the Lord in trust and obedience (Gal. 5:16),
by calling upon him for help and forgiveness. “At that time people
began to
call upon the name of the Lord.” (v.26b),
and by loving our neighbor (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:39)
B) An Epic and Global Failure (Gen 6:11-13)
Now the earth
was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the
earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through
them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
C) Starting Over the Wrong way—Making a Name for Ourselves
(Gen. 11:1-9)
What’s in a name?
In ancient times, a name contained both the character and the renown of the one
named. In addition, the one who names often was considered to have power over
the one named (something we still do today). So, who makes our name great has a
lot to do with whether we are God-directed or self-directed. This is a theme
played out a number of times in the first few chapters of the Bible. What kinds
of examples do we see in these early narratives? (Take a few minutes to look
them up for yourself and determine whether they were God-directed or self-directed.
You can check your work at the end of this post.)- Eve (3:1-10)
- Abel (4:4)
- Cain (4:5-9)
- Enoch (5:3)
- Whole antediluvian world (Gen. 6:11-13)
- Noah (6:9)
- Babel (11:1-4)
God opposed the
people of Babel, for he opposes and humbles the proud while exalting the humble
(James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). Consider the reasoning of the people of Babel in
Genesis 11:1-4,
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| Hendrick van Cleef, The Building of the Tower of Babel, (16th Century) |
And they said to one another,
“Come, let us make bricks, and burn them
thoroughly.”
And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
Then they
said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a
name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
They tried to fill up what they were missing and avoid their
fears by pursuing their own non-relational plans. Ironically, Israel would one
day be enslaved by name-makers and forced to bake bricks in the service of a
despotic leader (Ex 1-5). God stepped in to not only frustrate their toxic plan
for the new world but also to reintroduce his own counter-intuitive plan for
the redemptive blessing of the whole world.
It is no coincidence that the contradiction of Babel is
followed in the unveiling of God’s plan by the call of Abram (Gen 12:1-3).
Starting the Right Way—Believing God’s
Plan
A) God's Covenant with Abram/Abraham
(Gen 12:1-3)
Now the Lord said to
Abram,
“Go from your
country and
your kindred and
your father's house
to the land that I will
show you.
And I will make of you a great nation,
and I
will bless you and make your name great,
so that you will be a
blessing.
I will
bless those who bless you,
and him who dishonors you I will curse,
and in you all the families of the earth
shall be blessed.”
Abram was not selected because of his own giftedness,
influence, or promotional talents. God always seems to choose the least likely
candidates to fulfill his mission. But Abram believed God’s plan and left
behind the things in which, to this point, he might have found security.
Abram/Abraham trusted himself—his home, his future descendants, and his name/reputation
to the Lord who called him. The late Rev. Ron Mehl used to say, “If you know
who fills your barns you won’t be afraid to empty them.” While we might easily
apply such wisdom to our resources, what about applying it to our very reputation
and glory? What if we trusted God to take care of our honor and stopped trying
so hard to defend ourselves and build our own esteem? Jesus said, “Blessed are
the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5)!
B) God’s Eternal Covenant with David
(2 Samuel 7:8-16)
This
mission of God made clear in the call of Abraham and the deliverance of Israel
from slavery in Egypt (next week’s topic), was extended into an eternal covenant
with King David and his descendants who would one day include Jesus the
Messiah!
Now, therefore,
thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the
sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel.
And I
have been with you wherever you went
and have cut off all your enemies from before you.
And I
will make for you a great name,
like the name of the great ones of
the earth.
And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them,
so that they may dwell in
their own place and be
disturbed no more.
And violent men
shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my
people Israel.
And I will give you
rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers,
I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall
come from your body,
and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name,
and I will
establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
I will be to
him a father, and he shall be to me a son…
And your house
and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’”
It
was not David that did all this for himself, but the Lord who promised to bring this to pass on David’s behalf and
for the good of the whole world! Let’s look at the One to whom this promise
ultimately pointed, Jesus Christ.
C) Jesus was given the “name above
all names.” But who “made his name
great?” Did he follow the pattern of
Babel or Abram? Here are a few references for you to look into.
- It wasn’t his mother Mary, for she was instructed at the annunciation what she should call her son, “You will call his name Jesus!” (Luke 1:31-33)
- At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, it was God the Father who spoke at Jesus’ baptism, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased.” (Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22)
- The wilderness temptation was in part an effort by the devil to get Jesus to make a name for himself by using God’s power selfishly and sacrificing his convictions as a means to an end. (Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13)
- Towards the end of Jesus' public ministry, on the Mount of Transfiguration, the Father once again proclaimed the greatness of Jesus, “” (Matt. 17:5; Mark 9:7; 2 Peter 1:16-18)
- We see that Jesus did not count equality with God as something to be grasped…
- Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:3-11)
- He was given a more excellent name than any of the angels (Heb. 1:4), Jesus didn’t even exalt himself to be made our high priest but was appointed to it by the Father (Heb. 5:5).
Jesus
wasn’t focused on his own glory but upon bringing glory to the Father, and even asked
the Father to glorify the Father’s name (John 12:27-28) in reference to Jesus’
own approaching time of suffering and death on the cross.
D) Is our name written in heaven? (Eph. 2:1-10; Luke 10:19-20)
Ultimately
what is needed, and what should cause up to rejoice, is not that we achieve
some level of momentary popularity or even demonstrate supernatural power, but
that Jesus has written our name in heaven (Luke 10:19-20)! This is something we cannot do for ourselves. Perhaps
the best-known passage addressing this is Ephesians
2:1-10. Let’s take time to read these verses noticing once again
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of
this world, following the prince of
the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once
lived in the passions of
our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (v.1-3)
In
other words, we lived like hell and deserved nothing more than wrath and
judgment, but God had something else—something better—planned. Savor those
words, “But God”!
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved
us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you
have been saved— and raised us
up with him and seated us
with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the
immeasurable riches of his
grace in kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (v.4-10, emphasis mine)
Our salvation, our restored relationship with God,
and our citizenship in heaven have been accomplished by God in Jesus Christ and
are not a result of our own “name-making” efforts!
- It is not an accident but the very plan of God (Eph. 1:4)
- It is not an act of awesomeness on our part
- It is not an accumulation of many godly attributes that tips the balance
- It is a gift from God, which we receive by faith.
- It changes us forever—we are transformed by his love and mercy!
- It is not a momentary transaction but a lifelong relationship of love and trust.
[Answers… Making a Name
for Ourselves
- Eve—was self-directed as she succumbed to deception (3:1-10).
- Abel—righteously directed by a love for God gave his first and finest (4:4; Matt. 23:35; Heb. 11:4).
- Cain—was self-directed despite God’s gracious warning to the point that in jealousy and wrath, he invented murder by killing his innocent brother (4:5-9).
- Enoch—God-directed. He walked with God, living his life fully in the presence of God as opposed to his contemporaries (5:3)
- The Whole Antediluvian World— was self-directed and in the time of Noah chose self in the most violent and corrupt way possible. (Gen. 6:11-13)
- Noah—walked with God and followed his direction and he lived through the flood (6:9)
- Babel— self-directed. They didn’t trust God to establish them and make them great so they planned to take things into their own hands.]
