[caption id="attachment_4167" align="alignright" width="300"] Jesters by Viktor Vasnetsov, 1885[/caption]Questions for Conversation

1. What has God already promised Jacob according to chapter 28:13-15?
   1. Who else did God make these promises to in prior chapters of Genesis?
   2. How do these promises line up with the way God set up human life at creation (see Genesis 1-2).
2. Read chapter 32:1-21.
   1. Who is Jacob afraid will attack and kill him? Why would Jacob be afraid of this? (Hint: see Genesis 27)

3. Read 32:22-24
   1. Who do you think Jacob assumed the man was who attacked him in the night (see v. 24)?
4. Read 32:25-30
   1. Who does Jacob realize it is in v. 30?
5. Some people wonder how God, who cannot be seen and is a Spirit, can physically wrestle Jacob. Hosea 12:2-4 explains that an angel wrestled with Jacob. This is common for an angelic emissary of God to be God’s representative
6. This was tricky of God to lead Jacob (and the hearers of Genesis) to think that it was a man who wrestled with him. But through this tricky attack God accomplished a few things:
   1. God can and does act shrewdly (withholding information) – he can be tricky.
   2. God is committed to his ancestral covenant promises to Jacob and is willing to act tricky to make that known. Do you remember how the putting Jacob’s hip out of joint indicated God’s commitment to keep his promises? (hint: see Genesis 24:1-3).
   3. Jacob’s tricky ways can be employed for the sake of God’s mission too.  Do you remember how God helped Jacob to act shrewdly with Esau? (hint: see Genesis 32:1 and the meaning of “Mahanaim” in the ESV margin note and compare with what Jacob does in 32:7

7. How was Jesus’ crucifixion the greatest trick that God ever played?
   1. How did that shrewd move by God fulfill his ancestral covenant promises to Abraham?
8. How is God tricky in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-11?
   1. How is God’s trickiness employed for the sake of the covenant promises he has made to Christ’s people? How is his action performed for the sake of good?
9. C.S. Lewis wrote of the Christ character in the Narnia series that “God is not safe but he’s good”. What do you think he meant by that? Does that help you understand how God can be tricky but also good?
10. Why do we need the Bible to constantly expand and re-align our understanding of who God is toward us and others?
    1. Can you tell the group a story from your life when having your horizons expanded regarding Christ or the gospel really made a difference?
11. God is obviously very serious about keeping his promise to Jacob, even giving him the enduring reminder in his hip joint.
    1. Do you believe that he is as committed to bring about salvation in the life of the church today? Where are you encouraged by what you see happening in the global, national or local church?

[caption id="attachment_4143" align="alignright" width="300"] Nanotube Space Elevator[/caption]Technology has exploded in recent history, and there’s no doubt that we are better off for it. Modern plumbing, travel by air, and medical advances are some of the first things that come to mind. I am happy that men and women have dreamed great dreams and sought to make them reality. And many now dream of where technology will take us next. Take the carbon nanotube, for instance. Some dream of a day when we will be able to build an elevator to space using this new molecular technology (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl083LAYnoU), and I hope that we can find a way to do it.Of course, the hope for technology to bridge heaven and earth can be taken metaphorically to stand for the hope that technology can lead us into an ideal future, an “age of abundance” www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceEog1XS5OI). This vision for the future is quite popular today and sounds like very good news. But here’s the question: Will technology usher in a peaceful, secure and happy future? Is technology the good news; is technological advancement the gospel?[caption id="attachment_3806" align="alignright" width="300"] Ziggurat Model in Pergamum Museum, Berlin[/caption]Let’s consider Genesis 28:10-22. This passage is famously remembered as “Jacob’s Ladder.” Here God appears to Jacob in a dream. The LORD stands above a ladder (or “flight of steps”) and makes great promises for Jacob and his family’s future. There are similarities and differences between Jacob’s dream and another famous passage in Genesis: the Tower of Babel. The connection between the two stories is clearest in the stairways or flights of steps (Genesis 28:12) that reach to the heavens (Genesis 11:4). In both passages, a ziggurat is being described. A ziggurat was a large building that invited the gods to come down the steps from heaven and bring their blessing to the earth.  The builders of Babel set the ladder up in the earth; in Jacob’s dream, God is the builder and he sets up the ladder.  Due to a distorted grasp of God, the builders in Babel thought he could be coerced to give them the heavenly life; in Jacob’s dream, the LORD comes to Jacob to explain how the heavenly life will be brought to the earth. The point is this: the blessed life that humanity desires will not come through human technological advancement but through God’s covenant with Abraham.Eventually, many centuries after Jacob dreamed that dream, Jesus, a son of Abraham, spoke with a man named Nathanael. He explained to Nathanael that he is the ultimate fulfillment of Jacob’s ladder (John 1:51). Jesus Christ is the way that heaven and earth are bridged so that God’s Kingdom can come to earth as it is in heaven. And rather than pleading our great worth to the Father because of our development of super-computers, Jesus died for our sins. Ultimate human flourishing required the sacrifice of the Son of God, not more hours at the office.Now, technology is not opposed to the Kingdom of God. Although some may say that we must choose between science and faith, we ought to see the two as linked: science and faith. Technological advancement is not enough to bring about true human fulfillment. God must be at the center of the equation and Jesus, the son of Jacob, is the only mediator between God and men (2 Timothy 2:5). He is Lord of all, and all, including technology, must be brought into submission to his good purposes for the world.QUESTIONS FOR CONVERSATION1. What technologies do you use most? How are they typically used? Do you find yourself using them that way? Is that use helping to shape you and others  into the way of Christ?2. Have you ever heard anyone make the argument that humanity’s best future lies in technological advancement? Can you think of movies or TV Shows that have featured that hope?3.  How is the covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12) the way that God will bring true human fulfillment to the earth?4. How has technology furthered the Kingdom of Jesus? How might it hinder it?

Passionate Spirituality – who doesn’t want it? Consider how important it is to Starbucks and Teavana. They have recently begun a campaign where with every cup of coffee you get a “Steep Your Soul” quote. They write that the “Steep your Soul” quotes “invite you to take a few moments to pause and reflect each day. Your own personal steep time.” Then, on the other side of your Quad-Half-Calf-2%-Caramel-Macchiato you get a quote to help you steep you soul. One cup quotes Oprah Winfrey: Know what sparks the light in you. Then use that light to illuminate the world.I mention all that to make the point that the general population who have common sense (that would exclude those who prefer Dunkin Donuts) are also interested in spirituality. Here’s the thing. Not that I don’t like Oprah but who made her the authority on spirituality? She could teach me endless things about how to run a company or host a talk show but when it comes to spirituality I am going to the Bible.So what exactly is spirituality according to the Bible? Well, as Jesus said, “God is Spirit”. Further, after Jesus rose physically from the dead he sent God the Holy Spirit (Acts 2). The Holy Spirit is essential to true human flourishing or true Spirituality (note the capital “S”). He comes as the gift to all those that trust that Jesus’ death saves. He comes as the guide for all those longing for a renewed human life of true and passionate Spirituality.What about passion? What does that have to do with Spirituality? Well, to put it simply – if you have Spirituality then you have passion (or desire or longing or loving or whatever you want to call it). The two go together like coffee and cream. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.” If my passion is not for the kingdom of God then my longing will be for some alternate kingdom, some other vision of human flourishing.Alright, granting you want to be passionately Spiritual, and not just in some bland pluralist “sparks the light” blah blah blah sort of way but the Jesus-Christ-True-to-Reality sort of way,  then you want to know how to go about it. Here’s the kick – it doesn’t just happen. In the Old and New Testament God again and again commends practices and habits that help to develop passionate Spirituality. Gathering with others for regular worship, singing songs together about the Kingdom of God, praying alone and with others, listening to the voice of God in Scripture, being still before God in recognition of his majesty, and others are examples of practices that help to further passionate Spirituality. The Scriptures even commend wise creativity with respect to these practices. For example, Jesus went to synagogue week-in-and-week-out yet this was never commanded (Luke 4:16).Warning: these practices are not to be honed in order to force God to do stuff for you. These practices are not to be trotted out as reasons for people to notice you. These practices are not to be done the same way by everybody at all times and places.The idea is that just as a trellis gives guidance for the vine so too Spiritual practices give structure to the truly passionate life in Christ. Rooted in Jesus through faith we can grow more and more into those who truly long for the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

Mothers. They are the first people any of us ever come into contact with. To say that mothers are vital to our existence is as obvious as the noses on our faces. The care and nurture that has come from good mothering is incalculable in its value.But we don’t need a mother anymore. That is to say we don’t need a mother in the sense that Abraham and Isaac did. In Genesis 24 there is a crisis: without a wife for Isaac there is no mother to continue Abraham’s line. If there is no continuation of Abraham’s line, then there is no Jesus Christ (see the Gospel according to Matthew 1:1). If there is no Jesus Christ, then all that is wrong in the world will not be made right again. We needed a mother, and we needed one badly. Through an unequivocal governing of events, Rebekah was singled out by the LORD to be the next mother of Israel. For over a millennium, countless mothers in Israel continued to bear the seed of Abraham until the last mother conceived: Mary. Although both Rebekah and Mary were virgins, Mary contrasts with Rebekah in an important way. Mary remained a virgin and yet conceived – another unequivocal governing of events by the LORD to bring about his kind promises of renewal. The child in her womb would grow to the One: Jesus Christ the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant made with Abraham (see Galatians 3:10-14).[caption id="attachment_4065" align="alignleft" width="236"] Eliezer and Rebekah by Gustave Dore[/caption]So, the fulfillment of God’s covenantal promises to Abraham required a mother.  But they don’t anymore. We don’t need a mother because we do have a brother: Jesus Christ. Our brother Jesus Christ was sent by our Father to die and rise from the dead so we could be adopted into his family through the Comforter, the Spirit of Adoption (see Romans 8:15). So the first thing Genesis 24 teaches us is that we should grow in joy because we have a loving Brother, and a providing Father, and a Comforter through God’s provision of countless mothers.Yet the covenant promises of God continue to play out. We await the return of Jesus Christ by actively expanding the boundaries of the kingdom of God through all nations in every sphere of society. We are called to be witnesses to this great work of God in every relationship and role that we find ourselves in. So the covenant people of God need mothers now more than ever. The Church needs video game inventors, soccer coaches, grandfathers, woodworkers and engineers. Christ’s family needs sisters, politicians, jackhammer workers and poets. By the help of the Spirit of Christ, we need every person giving everything to this great and good work of God.Questions for Conversation

• Read Genesis 24

o   Why would you assert that this story is not primarily about whether every woman should wear nose rings? Give evidence.o   Why would you say that this scene is not primarily about how Christians are supposed to find wives? Give reasons.o   Why would you claim that this passage is not primarily about how to obtain information about the will of God today? Substantiate the claim. (Hint: remember that revelation is historically progressive in the Bible).

• What relationships are you most passionate about in life? What roles do you find yourself that energize you?
• Tell your conversation partner(s) a story about that relates to that relationship or role. (for example: I am passionate about being a godly father and recently my son and I went to a great baseball game. Here’s what happened…).
• Now tell how you think God would have you like out that role in the future. (for example: my long distance friend and I swap dozens of books and discuss via Skype how they are truly helping us love God and emotionally connect with our wives. Meanwhile I also buy my wife a nose-ring in order to honor Rebekah's mothering of Israel.)

Creatures are contingent. Creatures who have sinned against their holy Creator are most certainly contingent, only breathing by the mercy of their kind Creator who desires their repentance. In Genesis 22 Moses recounts the history of God’s testing of Abraham. The test consisted of God’s commanding Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. God’s command was therefore in direct conflict with his promise that through Isaac would come about a great nation that would bless all other nations.  As Israel first listened to this account, they would have sensed the contingency of their own lives, as they imagined Isaac bound on the altar with a knife barreling down towards his throat. They would have been relieved when the angel of the LORD declared that Abraham need not touch Isaac and that through Isaac the covenant for creation’s renewal would continue. (The covenant with Abraham can be termed “the covenant for creation’s renewal,” as that is God’s purpose for entering into this covenant: to renew all of creation back to its original harmony). Yet, God’s command could still be kept, for the LORD provided a ram to be sacrificed in Isaac’s place. Not only so, but the ram was provided in the exact place (Moriah) that would later be the location of the temple where the LORD accepted the sacrifices of Israel for their sins. Even more significant is that just outside the walls of the same city is where the LORD provided a sacrifice on behalf of the life of his people: Jesus Christ, crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem.[caption id="attachment_4050" align="alignright" width="300"] The Sacrifice of Isaac, by Marc Chagall, 1966[/caption]The covenant of creation’s renewal could only continue through Isaac, Israel and Jesus’ people today because of the LORD's provision. Jesus Christ, the Ram of God, sacrificed in the place of the people of God so that God’s good intentions for the nations can be accomplished by his grace and through his people. If the ram had not been provided, then the covenant promises could not have been accomplished and the world would have reverted back to Genesis 11. But I wonder if we really believe that. Do we really think that without the offspring of Abraham the world would revert back to the chaos of the Tower of Babel? Do we really feel the full impact of what was on the line as Isaac was on the altar? Do we sense the need for the Church, or do we think that the world will get along just fine by virtue of good governments, good schools and strong individual responsibility and hard work? Have we slipped into thinking that individual responsibility and ingenuity are the answer to the world’s problems? If so, we ought to be reminded that the LORD is the one who provides for the world’s true, deepest problems - and he does so through Jesus Christ: who gives life to his people for the sake of renewing creation by God’s power.Questions for Conversation

• Can you think of a movie, TV show or recent book in which the answer to the world’s problems came through individual responsibility and ingenuity?
• How would you counter that philosophy using the book of Genesis and God’s covenant with Abraham?
• This passage can be troubling. If you are troubled by it can you explain why? Does knowing that this is a test of Abraham help you? How?
• Where would you go in the Scripture to defend God’s honor regarding child sacrifice?
• How does this passage help you to better understand God the Father’s intention in Christ’s sacrifice?

Did you ever read comic books or enjoy watching one of the recent Avengers movies? If so you are probably also familiar with The Justice League of America. The Justice League was made up of all the DC Comic Books greats: Wonder Woman, Batman, Green Lantern, Superman and others. Their whole mission was about bringing justice and righteousness into the world. With some modifications the same can be said of the Church of Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham - we are the Justice League of Heaven.As those who know that they are secured a home in the new heavens and earth by grace through faith in Jesus we may wonder how living lives of justice and righteousness fits into the life of the Church. Maybe we are even tempted to think that justice and righteousness are for people caught up with being self-righteous. Certainly humans, in their rebellion against God, have shown the propensity for using their good works to turn their nose up at the world. But, when understood in the right way we see that justice and righteousness are simply the right response to  God's mercy towards us. Living lives of justice and righteousness, God says, is what God called Abraham to do so that all the nations would be blessed. For you and I who have trusted in Jesus Christ, the Offspring of Abraham, we too have been ingrafted into the people of Abraham; through faith in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection on our behalf we have been given redemptive roles. As God says in Genesis 18:17-19, the nations will be blessed when Abraham and his household live up to their calling - to live lives of justice and righteousness.So, suit up Wonder Woman! Get your tights on Green Lantern! The Just and Righteous Lord of Heaven has forgiven you, adopted you and gifted you with his Holy Spirit so that you can help further the work of the greatest bunch of superheros ever - the Justice League of Heaven.Questions for Conversation- We learned about how God displays justice and righteousness through being non-prejudiced in his judgments of others, through hearing out the oppressed and correcting the oppressor, and by being more concerned to bless the world than to condemn. Which of these makes you admire God most? Why?- Who were your heros growing up? Why? Did they display aspects of justice and righteousness?- Where have you experienced injustice in life? Does that motivate you to want to address that injustice in life?- We learned that Abraham demonstrated the way of the Lord by interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah. Who do you have a hard time loving but need to begin praying for their good?

You’ve got to eat to live, and some diets promote life better than others. For example, the all-fried-chicken-and-cake diet isn’t going to leave you as fresh and healthy as the all-cabbage-and-low-fat diet (although you may be happier on the other). For as long as I can remember there has been a yearly frenzy about one new diet or another. Our hope at Crossroads is to be part of a movement to make a different diet all the frenzy: the Communion Diet.Jesus advocates this diet plan in John 6. Here is a short breakdown:

• The meal plan consists of Jesus’ flesh and blood.
• The food is absolutely free, provided at the expense of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• The food never goes bad – it is imperishable.
• The benefits are eternal life beginning now and a perfect body at the resurrection.
• It energizes you to live life for the right reasons.
• 100% satisfaction is guaranteed.

The reason it is called the “communion” diet plan is because of the relational nature of it. It is actually a feeding upon Jesus in the deepest of intimate relations. Or, to put it in other terms, by trusting in Jesus, we enter into a moment-by-moment daily transaction of receiving life from the Father through the Son and by the Holy Spirit. This is what it means to feed on Jesus.Of course, if you have been around church long enough, you are thinking of the Lord’s Supper or Communion. You should. Those who first read the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John would’ve been thinking of it also. During our faithful participation in the Lord’s Supper, we actually are fed the living and resurrected Christ by the mysterious power of the Holy Spirit. Although God’s people are always in union with Jesus Christ, there is a special way in which the Church communes with Jesus at the Table. Maybe it’s something like living in your family’s home all year but really deeply relating with everyone over Thanksgiving dinner.Not only do we deeply commune with the Triune God at the Lord’s Table, but we also keep the main thing the main thing. A church can easily become centered around lots of peripheral issues, but the Communion Diet keeps us focused on what’s important: the Trinity, the Incarnation, the atonement and forgiveness, the resurrection and eternal life, salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone.QUESTIONS FOR CONVERSATION

• Have you ever become bored with diets you’ve been on? Why?
• Can one become bored with God’s Diet Plan? How come?
• What kinds of emotions well up when you hear Jesus say that you must eat his flesh and blood (John 6:53)?
• Put in your own words what Jesus means by feeding upon his flesh and blood based on 6:56-57.
• Think of a neighbor, co-worker, or family member who is not on this Diet Plan. If you were to tell them about how to get on this Diet Plan, what would be the most important element to emphasize for them?