Route 66 came to life in 1926, when the diagonal route from Chicago to Los Angeles was assigned its number in the federal highway system. By the 1930s, thousands would use the road to escape the Midwest Dust Bowl in search of a better life. In 1939, Route 66 was immortalized in John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath. It was he who first referred to the highway as "the mother road". Route 66 was popularized even more in the 1940s, when Bobby Troup penned his ode to Route 66, "Get Your Kicks on Route 66". The road would gain cult status in the 1960s, with the television show, Route 66, which showed two modern adventurers traveling the road in their Corvette traversing eight states. The road cuts a diagonal line across the country, offering an unparalleled view of small town America by way of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Route 66 cuts its way through what many regard as the “real America”, our heartland, crossing woodlands, rolling hills, farmland, rivers, mountains, and deserts before finally ending at the Pacific Ocean at Santa Monica’s famous pier. Perhaps that is why it was also known as America’s Main Street. I wonder if we have that same type of respect and sense of adventure when we think about God’s Route 66. The journey begins in Genesis and traces its way across centuries until it reaches Revelation. Along the way, we encounter unique landmarks, important events and people during every segment of our journey. Today as we prepare for our journey, we are going to discover four ways to take this memorable journey along God’s Route 66. These four different methods for making the journey will enable us to always be able to find our way across the entire span of human history on the straight and narrow road of God’s Word.
I. Various methods for making our journey through Scripture memorable.
A. The first method is to remember the key people you meet on the journey.
1. Genesis: Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.
2. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy: Moses.
3. Joshua: Joshua and Caleb.
4. Judges: Deborah, Barak, Gideon, Jephthah and Samson.
5. Ruth: Ruth and Naomi.
6. 1 and 2 Samuel: Eli, Samuel, Saul and David.
7. 1 and 2 Kings-1 and 2 Chronicles: Solomon and then a long list of kings and prophets from the divided kingdom.
8. A series of books now come bearing the name of the significant person it features: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther and Job.
9. Psalms: David. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon: Solomon:
10. Isaiah: Isaiah. Jeremiah and Lamentations: Jeremiah.
11. The books of the Prophets: Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.
12. After Malachi there is 400 years of silence and absolutely no word from God until the beginning of the New Testament.
13. Key Individuals of the New Testament era: Jesus, John the Baptist, Jesus’ twelve disciples who authored portions of the New Testament.
a. Peter led the early church and wrote two letters bearing his name.
b. John wrote one of the four Gospels, three letters that bear his name and Revelation.
c. Mathew (Levi) wrote the Gospel bearing His name.
14. Paul wrote all but eight of the New Testament letters and the majority of the Book of Acts provides us with an account of his ministry and missionary journeys.
15. James and Jude who were the brothers of Jesus each wrote a book bearing their names.
B. The second method is to take note of the significant events.
1. Events have a way of completely changing the landscape and forever altering the course of human history.
2. Events such as the fall of man, the giving of the Law and the birth of Christ are examples of events that had a tremendous impact upon mankind.
3. Taking note of these significant events and the books in which they are found is an excellent way to gain perspective about how God works in history.
C. The third method is to follow God’s chosen people.
1. The starting point for this method is Genesis 12 where God’s promise to make Abraham a blessing to all nations through his son Isaac is found.
2. Through Isaac’s son Jacob the nation grew rapidly and resettled in Egypt under the leadership of Jacob’s son, Joseph.
3. Within a couple of generations the Egyptians grew to fear and resent the Israelites and they proceeded to enslave them.
4. God sent the Israelites Moses to lead them from slavery in Egypt to the land that He had promised to Abraham.
5. The Israelites will go through cycles of great prosperity, great spiritual health and unfortunately times of spiritual apathy and indulgence.
6. The people would demand a king and God gives them Saul, who will be succeeded by David who will be followed by His son Solomon.
7. Israel will see the kingdom split in two as a result of their disobedience under the reign of Rehoboam, Solomon’s son.
8. After lengthy exiles in Babylon and Persia the people will be allowed to return to their land and once again be a nation.
9. During this time the Israelites will continue to await a great deliverer, a Messiah. God will send them Jesus who they will ultimately reject.
D. The fourth method is to look for the centrality of Christ throughout the entire Bible.
1. The first reference to the coming of Christ is found in Genesis 3:15.
2. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15—NIV)
3. This verse pictures the inevitable future conflict between His Son and Satan for our souls.
4. Remember the coming, ministry, death and resurrection of Christ in this way.
a. The Old Testament looks forward.
b. The Gospels look at.
c. The letters look back.
II. God’s sovereign hand is unmistakably visible throughout all of history.
A. History is not simply a bunch of random events being strung together with no clear purpose.
1. History is His story, His loving plan to save this sinful world from its own destruction.
2. Paul touches on this in a beautiful way in his letter to the Colossians.
3. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:13-17—NIV)
4. Consider these words of Paul at the Areopagus in Athens.
5. “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. (Acts 17:24-27—NIV)
B. Regardless of if the world acknowledges His dominion; God is still in control of the events that happen on earth.
1. Consider the testimony of King Nebuchadnezzar that was given after his reason returned after a time that God had humbled him for his pride.
2. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” (Daniel 4:35—NIV)
3. Nothing will ever take place that is outside the parameters of His story for human kind.
C. If you would pinpoint your location according to God’s story where would you be?
1. Are you still searching for the Messiah like the Hebrews of the Old Testament?
2. Have you rejected Christ like the Jews of the New Testament?
3. Are you like those faithful ones who did trust in God’s plan and found their place in His plan?
4. One of the most important evaluations that anyone can make is to determine where they are in relation to God’s story.
There was a minister, who after the usual Sunday Evening Hymns, stood up, walked over to the pulpit and, before he gave his sermon for the evening, briefly introduced a guest minister who was in the service that evening. In the introduction, the minister told the congregation that the guest minister was one of his dearest childhood friends and that he wanted him to have a few moments to greet the church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service. With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak. "A father, His son, and a friend of his were sailing off of the Pacific Coast," He began, "When a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized. The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in his story. The aged minister continued with his story, "Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life: to which boy he would throw the other end of the lifeline. He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son was a Christian and he also knew that his son’s friend was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of waves. "As the father yelled out, ‘I love you son!’ He threw out the lifeline to his son’s friend. By the time the father had pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells into the black of the night. His body was never recovered." By this time, the two teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old minister’s mouth. "The father," he continued knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus and could not bear the thought of his son’s friend stepping into eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed his son to save his son’s friend… With that the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the room. The minister again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon… Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man’s side. "That was a nice story," Politely stated the boys, "But I don’t think it was realistic for a father to give up his son’s life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian." "Well, you’ve got a point there," the old man replied glancing down at the worn Bible. A big smile broadened his narrow face, he once again looked up at the boys and said, "It sure isn’t realistic, is it? But I’m standing today to tell you that the story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up His only son for me. You see… I was the father and your minister was my son’s friend."
