Lot of strange things happening out there on the freeways these days…
Joke - A man was driving along the freeway when he noticed a lady by the side of the road trying to change a flat tire on her car. He stopped and offered to help. It was hot and humid, and it was hard and dirty work, but he felt good because he was helping someone who couldn't help herself.
When he finished replacing the tire with the spare, he moved around the car to lower the jack, and the lady said to him, "Let the car down easy, please. My husband’s asleep in the back seat."
Joke - Three rough guys on Harleys pulled up to a highway cafe where a truck driver, just a little wimpy guy, sat on a stool quietly eating his breakfast. The 3 bikers came in and saw him, so they sat down on each side of him. One reached over and took the little guy’s toast. Another took his toast. The third guy took his coffee and dumped it out on his plate. The truck driver didn’t say a word. He just got up, paid for his breakfast, and headed out the door. The 3 guys were disappointed they couldn’t provoke him into a fight. As the waitress came over, one of them said, “Boy, he sure wasn’t much of a man, was he?” The waitress said, “I guess not, and he’s not even much of a truck driver either. He just ran over 3 motorcycles outside.”
Joke - A family was going to move from St. Joe, IN to Hillsboro, OH. They would be renting a Ryder truck to haul all their worldly possessions, and they needed to get just the right size for the job. The husband, being a practical man and an analytical thinker, took the moving help guide from Ryder and began to calculate, room by room, the exact cubic footage they would need to fit it all in. The wife questioned me, uh, him, but I, uh, he reassured her that doing it by the book was the best way, and that he had it all under control. So I finished the math, reserved the truck, and moving day was approaching. A few days before it was time to load, Carrie saw one of the trucks. “That’s the same size we’re going to be using,” I told her. She said, “I don’t think that’s big enough. You better get the next size up.” “Honey, I’ve studied this out. It’s going to be fine.”
Moving day. 2/3 through packing, a couple of the guys helping us load look at the truck and me and say, “I don’t think it’s going to be big enough.” Sure enough. I get on the phone - Ryder doesn’t make trailers. So, I had to go out and rent a U-Haul trailer. So, from IN to OH, there was a not-quite-big-enough Ryder truck pulling a U-Haul trailer, followed by a car and a wife who hates to say “I told you so.”
Lot of interesting stories out there on the freeways! Lots of people going different places. Lots of people using different ways to get to the same places too.
I want to speak this morning about another freeway – the freeway of faith. It’s the road to life & freedom in Jesus, and, as Paul says in Galatians, it’s the only way to get there. Not everyone believes that.
-I know there are a lot of other routes claiming to be alternates. But have you ever come upon one of these signs that says, “Road closed 12 miles ahead. Local traffic only.” Yea. I didn’t believe it either. They really do mean it! And when God’s word tells us that there’s only one road to life in Jesus, we can believe it!
That road is the Freeway of Faith, the one we read about in Gal 3:15ff…
I want us this morning to take another look at that freeway, and hear from God’s word what we should be doing about it. First…
I. Came Before the Law Way
Ro 5:6-8 “at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
-It’s not just speaking about the right time in human history – AD 33. It’s talking our perspective and about timing in our lives: when we were still powerless; while we were still sinners. God made the way to Him before we were even made!
The freeway of faith began to take shape when God called Abraham; promised to him a miracle child, a boy named Isaac; to him was born twin sons, and the older would serve the younger. His name was Jacob, but God changed it to Israel – He who struggles with God; from Israel came 12 sons, 12 tribes of people who collectively grew into a great nation in Egypt; and according to His plan, God brought them out of Egypt and led them to the land of Canaan and they drove out the nations there; God raised up kings for Israel – Saul, David, Solomon, and then the kingdom split; the weakened Israelites were overrun by their enemies; 10 tribes completely vanished; the 2 that remained, Judah and Simeon, were captured and exiled; as the NT opens, descendants of the tribe of Judah are named as earthly parents of Jesus; the baby is born, and at about age 30 enters into a 3 year ministry that culminates in His crucifixion on a Roman cross; in 3 days His tomb is empty; for 40 days He teaches His disciples then ascends into heaven; 2 angels at the scene say to them “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
That’s a lot to think about in one sitting, but it’s all part of one story.
Before you or I ever thought about it, it was all in place!
Ill – like an engineer who anticipated your goof! When I’m working on my computer, there are often times where a message will appear on the screen: Are you sure you want to delete the following items? Are you sure you want to exit? Are you sure you want to overwrite that file?
I’m glad those are there, because they’ve saved my neck many times. Someone on the other end anticipated my mistakes and made a way to fix them before I even made them!
Ill – One day, sitting in our van waiting on Carrie, Andy wanted an atomic fire ball. They’re those red jaw breakers you see in candy aisles. They’re cinnamon, and fairly stout. I explained that to Andy, “Andy, they’re pretty hot.” He was only about 4. No, he was sure he wanted to have one. So, I unwrapped one and handed it to him. He popped it into his mouth. I knew what was coming. So, while Andy “tried” it, I calmly opened the glove compartment, got out a napkin, unfolded it, “4-3-2-1” I held it out under Andy’s mouth. He hollered “hot!” and spewed this red slobbery thing from his mouth. Somehow, I knew he’d be need ing that napkin! He hasn’t tried one since.
God not only knew our tendency to sin, He even knew exactly what sins we’d be guilty of and that we’d need His forgiveness – before He even created us! That’s why God set apart a man named Abraham! And that’s what the promise to Abraham is all about! *3:15-18
Remember that when you’re helping a non-Christian person. God already knew that person’s mess-ups; that person’s need. God has a promise for that guy too, before you ever saw or knew him.
Before there was ever a Law from God, there was a promise – a promise from God that He was going to fix our biggest problem. And that promise was given to a man who also didn’t keep God’s law perfectly, but who had faith – who depended completely on God to accomplish what He promised. God, in His grace, gave it to Abraham through a promise.
That’s the same promise that you and I need today. The Law doesn’t undo it or change it. The promise came first, and it still stands. Like my son has started saying, “A promise is a promise.” Still, in the middle of His plan, God issues a law.
Somewhere, in the midst of that Law, God helps us to see something. Deep inside of that Law was a picture of what holiness is about. And deep inside that Law was another picture – a grim picture that showed the cost of sin as thousands of bulls and goats and lambs were slaughtered before the peoples’ eyes every year
Heb 10:1-4 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Isn’t it great to realize that God anticipated our great need long before we even knew we had it?
That’s the same kind of knowledge we have when we walk out those doors today – that God has already made a way for lost people to know Him and to be clean before Him! Our job is to help them see that.
The freeway of faith is the way to God that’s counting on God’s promise, not our own ability to keep rules.
So, do you want to trust yourself to keep God’s law, or do you want to trust God to keep His promise?
I trust God a whole lot more than I trust myself, thank you!
The Freeway of Faith…
II. Came Directly from God
3:19-20
The Law introduced an indirect relationship with God:
1. Given through Moses (and angels, in some way).
The whole nation depended on Moses to tell them what God wanted them to do.
2. Carried out by priests
Anything that had to do with worship depended on the priests. The priests did the sacrificing, the offering of incense, instructing, leading in worship. Any time someone wanted to come close to God, they had to do it through the priests
3. God was off limits
No one could approach God on his own. Even in the temple there were walls, and there was a huge curtain that separated everyone from God’s presence.
4. Fellowship was periodic
The Jews had lots of feasts and special days, but those were the times of worship. It took those special days to really have fellowship with God. And, from time to time, someone would come with a “fellowship offering” as a way of seeking closeness with God, but those weren’t something you would do everyday.
The Law was all just a shadow – like a highway with billboards telling what was down the road.
Ill – There’s a sign on the road from CO Springs going east: “McDonalds of Colby, KS, 100 miles” That may tell you what’s coming, but for a little guy in the back seat who’s had too much pop, it may as well be a million miles! It’s not the same as being there!
The Law created anticipation of closeness with God, but never really gave it. Everything about a person’s relationship with God was from a distance . . . until God took on flesh.
Jn 1:14,17,18: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. . . For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known.”
Listen, for too many people, the God they envision is that far-off, untouchable, off-limits, occasional god. That’s not how God has presented Himself to us. And when we represent God, that’s not how we should present Him either.
Eph 2 says we have access to God. God made us for fellowship with Him. He created us in His image!
-That bum you saw as you drove here this morning – the way for Him to God is the same freeway of faith that you’re on. That turkey who cut you off in traffic, he’s on the same road you’d be on without Jesus, and the exit he needs to take is the same one you have taken.
The Freeway of Faith…
III. Was Highlighted by the Law
*Vv21-22
Ill – Ever park in a parking lot covered with a light snow, where no one can see the lines? You can tell right away that everyone is missing them just as much as you are, cars all over the place. Then, while you’re in shopping, the sun comes out and melts the snow off. You come out to see that your guess was way off, and you think to yourself, “Ugh, I did a terrible job parking!”
Ill – The law came along to the long, flat, open highway, and posted the traffic direction and speed limit signs; it painted the lines down the middle of the road. And, lo and behold! We’re all lawbreakers! We’re driving on the wrong side. We’re going the wrong way! We’re breaking the speed limit!
Law doesn’t set people free. In a sense, it makes them prisoners.
(Ro 7:7-13) Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
Ill – It would be good for every person here today to hear the testimonies of several of you about the way you came to a relationship with Jesus – time does not permit. I’ve heard testimonies of many. Here’s what it would sound like…
• “I spent my whole life running from God – drugs, alcohol, bad relationships – until one day I bottomed out and finally turned desperate…”
• “I grew up in the perfect home. I was the youngest in my family, and everyone ahead of me had accepted Jesus. It wasn’t that big of a leap for me to one day make my faith my own and also accept Him. I had been surrounded with Him my whole life before that time too…”
• “I wasn’t a bad person, really, but I knew my life was missing something. One day, my neighbor shared with me about Jesus and invited me to Friend Day. Not long after that, I realized I needed Jesus and that’s all it took…”
• “I was going through some real struggles – the divorce, my mother’s death, losing my job. I was ready to give up, when someone from the Church just came by to say “Hi” and asked how I was doing. For some reason, I actually told her how I was doing. She came by my side and shared her life with me, and I realized that more than anything I needed what she had…”
• ”I had grown up in the church, but as a teenager I decided it wasn’t for me. I ran from it all. Now that I have kids of my own, I realize how much I need the Lord’s help and how much they’ll need Him too. So, I came back to Jesus and have never regretted it…”
That’s what it would sound like. Everyone would share a little different view of the freeway of faith. But, no matter what the story, they would all say one thing the same: until you realize you’re lost, there’s no need to be found! You won’t have any desire to be saved until you think there’s something to be saved from!
That means: we shouldn’t hesitate to plainly and lovingly tell people that they have sinned – and that we’ve sinned. It’s OK to do that! That seems to be the order that God uses to bring us to Jesus!
God’s perfect Law is what helps us to see we need to be saved. That’s one very good use for it.
The Freeway of Faith…
IV. Ends at Jesus!
Ill - Moses brought Israel to the edge, then he died. He led them during the time of the 10 plagues in Egypt. He led them out to the Red Sea and across it on dry ground. He led them through 40 years of wandering in the wilderness – all of it in pursuit of the land that God had promised to Abraham hundreds of years before. Then, as they finally approached the Promised Land, Moses got to see it from a distance, and died. But it was Joshua, the new leader, who led Israel in.
Just like Moses, the law had its place. The Law brings us right up to the edge. But, just like Joshua, what brings us into fellowship with God is faith.
*v23-25
The word that Paul uses here is for a servant known as a “child-conductor.” He was in charge of making sure that junior got to his instructor every day. He wasn’t the teacher. Sure, he had a relationship with Junior and even may have helped him learn the ABC’s song along the way. But it was his job to bring him to the teacher’s doorway, then leave him.
A good way for us to remember this is to say the Law is the School Bus driver. (That’s the only guy in the world whose troubles are all behind him!) I’ve mentioned this several weeks ago. Let’s expand:
Ill - Ask any school bus driver: “So, you’re in education.”
“Do you teach kids biology? What’s your job?” “I drive kids to school.”
“Do you teach algebra, geometry, calculus? What do you do?” “I drive kids to school.”
Ill - Mr. Biggs was my school bus driver in South Bend, IN. He was a nice man. He helped me to get an education. But being on his bus wasn’t the goal of the day. It was just a way to get me where I needed to be.
The Galatians needed to think it through. Here they were, back on the “bus.” And Paul is saying to them: “Step off the bus, Gus!”
One thing we can do about this is avoid at least 3 mistakes then it comes to Law – the school bus:
Don’t stay on!
-that is, don’t become convinced by God that you really do need help, and then just keep hoping that you’re doing well enough that somehow He’s going to let you into heaven. You’re just like the kid who rode the bus to school, and then stayed on it – never got off. If you’ve learned God as a list of do’s and don’t’s, it’s time to get off the bus now and learn Him as your Savior Whom you want to please with your life.
Don’t get back on!
-that is, once you’ve accepted Jesus, don’t try to get back into law-keeping as the way you’re going to make it into heaven. That’s what the Galatians were doing. It’s what prompted Paul to write this whole letter. We so easily draw up boundaries for ourselves as if that’s what following Jesus is all about. It’s not! Don’t’ get back on!
Don’t get off and leave!
-that is, become aware of your need and then do nothing about it! If God has gone through this effort to help you see your need, why ignore it? This especially for you who need to accept Jesus today!
If God has somehow brought you here, this morning, July 23, 2000, and brought you face-to-face with the offer of eternal life, why leave without it?
Step off the bus, and into eternal life this morning! Step into a relationship with God this morning where you call Him Father and not just Master. Step into a relationship with Jesus this morning where you accept the gift He has purchased for you with His own blood.
Conclusion:
You don’t go on a trip to live on the freeway. You do it to get somewhere.
We want you to get somewhere – not just to become nice on the road and then stay there without ever reaching where you’re meant to be. The goal is to be declared righteous – to be someone who will not only become a “nicer” person on the journey, but someone who will reach the destination of heaven safely.
God made you for this very purpose.
