FIRST DAYS: MAKING GOD THE PRIORITY A. New Year celebrations (which take place on the first day of the New Year) tell us about core values. 3. In fact, all first days noted in Scripture speak of NEW BLESSINGS from God - when - NEW PRIORITIES to obey Him & to serve Him are set. C. Well then, are first days important to us? 1. The New Year traditions usually center on the desire for wealth, luck, health, better relationships. In Romania, lucky foods include (cabbage rolls) & (freeform sausage). The New Year dinner is lavish because it is believed if the meal is rich, so will be the New Year. Fortune telling is an important part of their New Year customs. 1. We ve been conditioned to set our PRIORITIES on the first day of the NEW YEAR. 2. But what about the first day of the NEW WEEK? 2. All such traditions make ONE basic statement: We want these things from this DAY on. a. What we do on that day tells of our PRIORITIES, & our PRIORITIES will always determine our NEW BLESSINGS. B. There are many from this day on passages in the Scripture, & when we find them they make two basic statements. 1. Newness: God did something NEW for Noah (Israel), & called it THE FIRST DAY. 2. Priority: They made Him their PRIORITY, & so He did something NEW for them on THE FIRST DAY. - What you did last Sunday (Dec. 25) tells everyone who knows you about your PRIORITIES. - And your PRIORITIES always determine whether you receive NEW BLESSINGS from the Father. [If God, Christ & the church is going to be our priority in the coming year, then we need to rehearse all that God has done for us. If that doesn t motivate us, then nothing can.] 1
I. WHAT GOD HAS DONE B. He Gave A Perfect Sacrifice (1 Pet 1:19-20). A. He Fulfilled An Eternal Purpose (Eph 3:6, 10-11), a plan that developed among the descendants of Abraham. 1. Israel s CONDITION: slaves in Egypt. 2. Israel s DELIVERANCE: Moses, Aaron & the 10 plagues. 3. Israel s MEMORIAL: Passover lamb & hurried feast. a. Exo 12:1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses & Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. b. Israel began each New Year remembering what God did for them in Egypt. [Now isn t that how we begin each NEW WEEK By remembering what God did for us, when we were slaves to our sins, needing deliverance; needing a Passover lamb to prevent our death?] 1. Like Israel, we were in the CONDITION of slavery, but enslaved to our sins (Rom 6:16). 2. Like Israel we needed DELIVERANCE from an oppressive force (Satan), which God accomplished for us through Jesus death, AND through our baptism into His death (Rom 4:25; 6:3-4). 3. AND, Like Israel, we needed a MEMORIAL to remember how God accomplished our deliverance. a. Matt 26:26-28 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed & broke it, & gave it to the disciples & said, Take, eat; this is My body. 27 Then He took the cup, & gave thanks, & gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. DELIVERANCE! b. The apostles ordered us to begin each New Week remembering what Jesus did for us. c. Now on the first day of the week the disciples came together to break bread (Acts 20:7). [What else has God done for us that emphasizes first day?] 2
C. He Raised A Living Christ (Rom 4:25). 1. Mark 16:2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week (Matt. 28:1; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). a. The first day of the week reminds us that we serve a living Lord; life is not hopeless, we are not alone. b. We don t have to invest our hope in plans that may or may not come true this year; we have a greater hope, a certain expectation. - 1 Cor 15:20 Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. - Heb 7:25 He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession - 2 Cor 5:1 We know, that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. [All that we have talked about thus far: God s plan, Jesus death & His resurrected life, all show us that God s foremost desire is that we be made new! Paul said it this way, If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Cor 5:17). In Christ we can be new every day (2 Cor 4:16). Instead of being controlled by sin, & fearing its consequences, we can live & be holy as God is holy. Rather than feeling stalked by death, we can face death as the golden portal into eternal life with God. What a difference a first day can make. To make that point further, let s take a look at a couple of events in the Book of Genesis.] D. What a difference a first day can make. 1. The first day can make a difference between light & darkness. 3
a. Gen 1:5 God called the light Day, & the darkness He called Night. So the evening & the morning were the first day. 2. The first day can also make a difference between the old world of sin & a new world of hope. a. Gen 8:13 And it came to pass (371 days after the Lord closed the doors of the ark) in the six hundred & first year (of Noah s life), in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; & Noah removed the covering of the ark & looked, & indeed the surface of the ground was dry. II. RESOLUTIONS FOR ALL TIMES A. Clean Out Your Temple. 1. 2 Chron 29:3-5 In the first year of his reign (Hezekiah, son of wicked King Ahaz), in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord & repaired them. 4 Then he brought in the priests & the Levites, & gathered them in the East Square, 5 & said to them: Hear me, Levites! Now sanctify yourselves, sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, & carry out the rubbish from the holy place. [One way to make sure God is OUR priority IN this New Year is to spend some time rehearsing what He has done for us. When you do that, you can t help but resolve to live differently, as differently as light is from darkness, as differently as the world was after the flood. Now let s consider what we will do at the first of this year, to ensure God remains first.] a. You can t do right by the Lord & hang on to that which is wrong (Eph 4:31; Col 3:5; Rom 8:13). [After removing from our lives all of the sinful trash that shouldn t be there, what should we resolve to do next?] B. Take In The Truth. 1. Ezek 26:1 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, (Ezekiel s 1/1/11) 4
2. Exo 40:2 On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. 3. Exo 40:17 And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was raised up. 4. In the temple worship there was a whole list of things that had to be done on the first day of the month (Lev 23). a. What was so significant about the first day? God wanted His people to remember that He & His work must take priority in their lives. [What a perfect day this is the first day of a new year to make God s word your priority. C. Take Up His Cause. 1. Ezra 7:10 Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, & to do it, & to teach statutes & ordinances in Israel. 2. Ezra 7:9 On the first day of the first month he began his journey from Babylon, & on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him. a. On New Year s Day Ezra said, It s time to stop talking about what the Lord wants us to do. The time has come to put our lives on the line, to leave our homes & our jobs & go re-build the city of God! Now, that s making God first in your life! Make a commitment to come to Bible classes on Sunday Morning & Wednesday Night. Find a Bible reading program & stick with it. Listen to God every day & you ll be more likely to make God & the church your first priority this year! Once you ve taken out the trash & taken in the truth you are ready for action. Priorities are useless unless they are carried out.] 5 3. Taking Up His Cause (Means Consistent Obedience). a. Acts 20:18-19 You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, 19 serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears & trials b. Phil 1:3-5 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now,
[What widow or shut-in will be helped this year? What Christian will be encouraged? What child will be moved to obedience? What sinner will be saved? What work can this church do because you had the courage & the consistency to take up His cause?] CLOSING B. The best thing you can do this New Year, is to become a new creation in Christ. 1. New Life in Christ is better than a New Year! 2. Will you come in faith & repentance, & be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins. He will give you newness of life. A. I want to end by giving us a moment to apply this lesson personally. 1. We should not just say off-handedly, God IS the first priority in my life. And then fail to prove it. 2. So, I want to close by asking a few questions. a. What do you need to remove from your daily routine that is preventing you from putting God first? b. What can you change in your routine to make more room for God s word in your life? c. What service for this church will you have the courage & commitment to perform this year? 6