Dakota Community Church
July 2, 2006
The Second Fall
Introduction:
We just came back from a great men’s retreat weekend where one of the themes turned out to be the power of unity and God’s desire for us all to be one even though that idea kind of goes against our natural inclination as men.
We all know the events that happened in the Garden of Eden that resulted in man’s fall from unity and relationship with God. (John Eldredge’s comments on the fall in Epic)
In our pride we chose disobedience and lost that intimate fellowship that we all long so deeply for.
What about unity with each other though?
Why does it seem so elusive? Why is there so much pain and hurt even amoung friends and brothers.
We know it should not be this way:
Psalm 133: 1, 3
How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
Let’s look again at what Jesus prayed for us in John 17:
John 17:20-23
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Acts 2:1
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
Clearly the Lord desires and favors unity amoung His people and conversely:
Proverbs 6:16-19
There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
Why do you suppose these things are so?
1. There is great power and blessing in unity.
I have seen marriages that were in very bad shape recover as a result of an attack or adversity.
Illustration:
In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn’t. "What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?" asks Linus.
"These five fingers," says Lucy. "Individually they’re nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold."
"Which channel do you want?" asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, "Why can’t you guys get organized like that?" - Charles Schultz.
- Unity can only be maintained if there is clear communication.
John 10:27-30
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one."
How great is it when someone eloquently expresses an idea that goes way beyond the mere words.
Have you ever been blown away by a powerful song?
In the song he wrote after the death of his father, U2’s Bono writes:
And it’s you when I look in the mirror,
It’s you when I don’t pick up the phone
Proverbs 15:23
A man finds joy in giving an apt reply— and how good is a timely word!
Don’t you love it when you don’t think of the great come back line ten minutes after the other person has left the room?
I don’t mean just for smart Alec remarks but for real high impact moments.
- How about when Nathan the Prophet said to King David, “You are the man.”
Proverbs 25:11
A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
So what happened to us? How did we get so divided?
Genesis 11:1-9
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
They said to each other, "Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
2. Through pride we lost/lose the ability to communicate and thus achieve unity.
Humanities second devastating fall came at the tower of Babel with the loss of clear communication.
Pride absolutely cripples us as communicators.
Pride keeps us from asking for help when we really need it.
Pride keeps us from apologizing when we have wronged another.
Proverbs 29:23
A man’s pride brings him low.
Illustration:
Kathy and I went to see the movie “The Breakup” with Jake and Joan and Paul and Ruth a couple of Sunday nights ago. I usually enjoy Vince Vaughn and from the previews I was hoping for a few laughs from this romantic comedy. In fact the movie was just sad. The entire film is the story of how through pride and refusal to communicate a good relationship can be destroyed.
They both know they are wrong, they both want the other one back and they both refuse to stop the one-upmanship.
- Two thumbs down on this stinker!
In the first fall, pride resulted in the loss of communication with God.
In the second fall, pride resulted in the loss of communication with each other.
Now fast forward to Jesus.
Luke 19:10
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
What is the opposite of pride? – Humility.
3. Through humility restoration was bought and unity made possible amoung men.
The Holy Spirit seeks to lead us. He brings us a new language, a new communication. He teaches us to seek to understand, to give mercy when we are not being understood.
In humility Jesus lays down his life.
In humility we come to Him and submit to His Lordship.
In humility we prefer one another above ourselves.
Call to prayer. If this word has brought something to the surface that you know you must deal with, then please come forward now for prayer.
Quote:
Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become ’unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. - A.W. Tozer
Conclusion:
You are only one person and it takes two to communicate.
Romans 12:17-18
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
PowerPoint available on request dcormie@mts.net
