Today’s sermon was by Rev. Arthur Wong over at my home church, Jaffray. You can find the sermon online after some digging… These are my crappy notes.

Jealous Love

Exodus 20:4-6; Exodus 32:1-8; Colossians 1:15-23

Sidestory: Ashley Madison & “Life is short. Have an affair.” ad campaign for TTC; community OUTRAGE and TTC outrage (and subsequent refusal) since it was re: cheating.

jealousy is embedded within DNA of love?
- when a person has a crush, wants to capture attention and affections of the other person
- jealousy turns to anger sometimes?
“jealousy” in today’s culture is…self-serving/selfish? (tainted by own insecurities)
- ie. gf/wife constantly calling to check where you are, bf/husband that prohibits wife from speaking to other men
10 Commandments: relationship vs contract
- legal/culture’s definition of marriage = contract…wth
- God uses “covenant”; a relationship…mutual promises of love
why does God say “I am a jealous God”?
- wrathful love = natural response of a loving God
- contrasts passive, distant, anti-fellowship Greek gods
Exodus 32; what do you do when God seems absent? (prayers not answered, desires not met the way you want, actions unseen?)
- “Dark Night of the Soul” John of the Cross; you start to take matters into own hands…
- Aaron was there when God made the covenant…but he started to panic when ppl asked him? believed a god in your hand was worth 2 in your bush?
- people want a god they can see, touch, control… Aaron innocently makes a tangible form of God, but problem of humanity overcomes all possible good that was in his actions (Ex 32:1-8)
- shaping God in OUR img always leads to sin
ultimate reason for out downfall (root of sin): unbelief
“We trust our senses, but have not sense enough to trust our God”, Spurgeon
does God focus on our moral upright living, OR our trust and faith? “God is jealous for our trust and faith, not moral upright living”
- Art’s statement is kind of…well, it feels like there’s a catch. How is moral upright living not important as well? I mean…yes, maybe we’ll trust and have faith in God, His promises and [maybe] His commands, but what if we perform highly immoral things? What if we commit adultery, steal, or kill? What if we cheat the system?…all the while trusting and having faith. But the point here is that God is not jealous (wrathful anger etc.) for us to just be MORAL — He’s jealous for exactly what Art says: our trust and faith
God says “Don’t make img of me…I WILL REVEAL TO YOU THE IMG” (Colossians)
- v19; Jesus is not a dummy demi-god…scripture tells us God was PLEASED to dwell fully there.
we make img of Jesus in relation to culture (ie. Chicago Evangelicals started the “Michael Bolton”-Jesus look… eeps)
- BUT Isaiah 53:2…God never specified how Jesus looks
Martin Luther: “seeing Jesus is seeing the Father” (Jesus Is the Mirror of God’s Fatherly Heart”)
- img of Jesus=words and works, not nose, lips, etc.
God’s ultimate jealousy is for our faith and trust in His Word/promises
built on Trust in God’s essential statement of “I have loved you, I have chosen you…will you choose and love me?”