Is anything too hard for the Lord?
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
Call to Worship: Luke 1:26-38.
Law and Grace Reading: Genesis 18:1-14
Bible reading: Jeremiah 32:17-28 Nothing is too hard for the Lord.
Benediction Ephesians 3:19-21
Is this a promise to everyone on their 80's that if they want to have a baby they can have a baby?
Quite often at this time of year, messages will come across facebook etc "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" It almost seems like a prosperity gospel promise: Whatever you want you can have it.. because "is anything too difficult fr the Lord to do?" Can He give you a Mercedes Benz? One that goes. Is anything too difficult for the Lord? Or better yet, can I have a better job please Lord? "Is anything too difficult for the Lord?" Well the answer is obviously that there is nothing too difficult for the Lord. The Lord can do whatever He likes!
Look at Jeremiah 32: "And I bought the field at Anathoth from Hanamel my cousin, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver.10 I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales.11 Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions and the open copy.
Can I make property purchases that will make money? Is anything too difficult for the Lord?"
Wait none of those things are what these passages are actually about! This is not a text for positive affirmation! Name it and claim it Prosperity doctrines!
There is something far bigger behind this text repeated three times in our bibles. This has everything to do with God's eternal purposes and the covenant of grace that God made with Abraham.
Our problem is that we are often so self-oriented. We need to be Christ-oriented. Being Christ oriented means understanding the real issues. God went to a lot of trouble over many long ages to make this clear for you and I, and this saying "Is anything too difficult for the Lord!" is a key hinge to help you move into God's big picture plan.
Biblical Theology –Theme of Bible
The Old Testament narrates God's restoring man to participate in His kingdom rule for His own glory mandated in Eden but lost in the Fall and accomplished by redeeming man through Israel as a kingdom of priests and ultimately through the Messiah, who will reign as Saviour and King
Noahic Covenant
Covenants. The first time this term arises in scripture is to do with Noah.
Genesis 9:8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him,9 "Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you,10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth.11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."17 God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."
Matthew Barrett Canon Covenant and Christology The Scriptures originate from God, are breathed out by God and are his saving speech to a world under sin's curse. If all Scripture is breathed out by God, then Scripture cannot be an anthology of human literature, nor can it be a mere collection of human religious experience about God. Rather, the whole of Scripture stands united by a single and primary author: God. Rather than a collection of man's highest thoughts about God, the Christian Scripture is God's self-communication to humanity about who he is and what he has done to redeem a lost race in Adam. The Bible's many stories tell one story; there is a single story to be told because there is a single divine author, who has declared himself to be its architect and creator. He is not only the main actor in the drama of redemption but the drama's scriptwriter.
Progressively over long periods of time, and often through ordinary and difficult human circumstances God did things and through scripture recorded things to give you the Old and New Testaments telling the one story. The structure of this unfolding story and the historical development of this divine revelation is redemptive in nature.. There is a covenantal Christological focus, either through predictive prophecy or through types and patterns (whether they be persons, events, objects or institutions). Christ is not only the centre but the end, the purpose, the telos of redemptive history: all previous revelation points to him and finds fulfilment in him.
Through his covenant(s) God promises to redeem Adam's race, but will do so through Eve's own offspring, sending a Messiah, a Christ, who will be God's definitive covenant word to his people, providing the redemption he first promised to Adam and Abraham. In the meantime, God embeds his drama with countless types that serve to foreshadow Christ, who is to come.
A Covenant is a Promise
Unilateral from God, no bargains,
Eternal
Gracious
Unqualified faithfulness
Abrahamic Covenant
"I will make you a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed in you" (Gen. 12:2-3)
Matthew Barrett The covenant God made with Abraham, and the promises God spoke to Abraham, escalate across redemptive history, and are solidified in God's inspired, written word, until they find their fulfilment in him who is their telos, Christ Jesus. The covenant with Abraham is foundational to the rest of the storyline and the coming of the promised One. On the one hand, the seed narrows, for God selects Abraham out of all the people on earth. On the other hand, the promise widens, for it is through Abraham's offspring that not only his immediate descendants, the nation of Israel, are yet to come, but all the nations of the earth will one day be blessed (Gen. 17:4–6).
The Three Basic Elements A LAND, A SEED, A BLESSING
Borders of the Land Promised to Abraham
Genesis 15:18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates" (ESV)
Four Unconditional Biblical Covenants
Land Deut 30 Seed 2 Sam 7 Blessing Jeremiah 31
God's unconditional amplification of the blessing promise in the Abrahamic Covenant where Judah and Israel will experience national and spiritual redemption
COVENANT KINDNESS TOWARDS the DAVIDIC DYNASTY
Nathan related God's promise to David (2 Sam. 7) He remembers his covenant for ever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, 'To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.' (Ps. 105:8–11)
There will be no end to David's throne. 'And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me. Your throne shall be established for ever' (2 Sam. 7:16). Yahweh's promise to remain faithful to David and his kingdom, to place an offspring on his throne for ever, is elaborated at great length in Psalm 89:34–36.
David himself interprets the promise in this way, incorporating the language of covenant:
For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. (2 Sam. 23:5)
The messianic hope for David's greater son will finally be achieved in King Jesus (Matt. 1:1; Mark 10:47; Luke 1:32–33; Acts 2:29–30; 4:23–30; 13:23; Heb. 1:5). He will not only build a temple that cannot be destroyed (Matt. 26:61; 27:40; Mark 14:58; 15:29; John 2:19–22; Heb. 3:3), but will reign over God's everlasting kingdom as a Son faithful to the covenant (Matt. 19:28–29; Luke 22:29–30; John 18:36; Heb. 1:8; Rev. 19:11–16). It is this Son of David that defines the gospel, a gospel, says Paul, that God promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 1:2–4)
Signs of the Covenants
Covenant | Sign | |||
Noahic | Rainbow (Gen. 9:12-17) | |||
Abrahamic | Circumcision (Gen. 17:11) | |||
Mosaic | Sabbath (Exod. 31:13) | |||
Davidic | Christ seated at the Father's right hand (Acts 2:34-36) | |||
New | Cup of the Lord's Supper |
The New Covenant Jeremiah 31
31"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. 33"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD.
The New Covenant
33b "I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
"This cup is the new covenant in my blood" (Luke 22:20)
Refers back to Jeremiah 31:31-34
The new covenant replaces the old
The church participates in the covenant promised to Israel
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
Rom 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
There is no PROMISE too hard for the Lord to fulfil.
Luke 1:34 And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy---the Son of God.
Luke 1: 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.37 For nothing will be impossible with God."
No PRAYER too hard.
Jeremiah 32. 16 "After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the LORD, saying:17 'Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.
Do You Know God's Character?
You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts,19 great in counsel and mighty in deed,
Do You Know God's Ways?
20 You have shown signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and to this day in Israel and among all mankind, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day.21 You brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and outstretched arm,
No PROBLEM too hard
Jer 33:2 "Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it---the LORD is his name:3 Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.
Jer 32: 26 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah:27 "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?28 Therefore, thus says the LORD: Behold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it.
No PERSON too hard.
7 I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me
Is any nation excluded? No!
Is every nation included? No!
John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."
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