Sermon Recap
Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves
Part 1 of 8 in Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves
Parte 1 de 8 de la serie Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves
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Brian Hunter · February 16, 2025
“The carnal mind is hostile to God and cannot submit to his law.”
Scripture Referenced
Recap
Opening a brand-new series through the book of Leviticus titled “Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves,” Brian and co-teacher Joyce started by revisiting Matthew 12, where Jesus heals a man’s hand on the Sabbath and the religious leaders respond not with wonder but with a plot to kill him. The moment became a launching point for Romans 8:7’s observation that a mind opposed to God cannot truly submit to his ways, no matter how much law-knowledge a person has, setting up the tension the whole series would explore: knowing the rules is not the same as knowing God.
From there, Brian walked back to Exodus and Israel camped at Sinai after their rescue from Egypt, where God gave Moses detailed instructions not just for the Ten Commandments but for building the tabernacle, a tent where his presence would actually dwell among the people. He framed Leviticus as the operating manual for that tent: symbolic, sometimes strange-sounding instructions about sacrifice and blood that are ultimately, in Brian’s words, all connected to the cross, given because God went to extraordinary lengths to make relationship with sinful people possible.
The congregation wrestled together with hard questions raised by the text, including why sacrificial animals had to be unblemished and what that says about sin’s effect reaching all the way back to Eden. Brian pointed to Paul’s teaching that sin entered and spread through one man’s disobedience, framing the entire sacrificial system introduced in Leviticus as God’s answer to that problem long before Jesus arrived to resolve it fully.
Touch Points
- The Pharisees knew the law thoroughly but still missed who Jesus was. Where might you know the “right answers” about faith without truly submitting your heart to God?
- Brian said Leviticus exists because God went to extraordinary lengths to have relationship with sinful people. Does that change how you view a book you might otherwise skip over?
- Romans 8:7 says a mind hostile to God can’t submit to him. Is there an area where you notice resistance in yourself toward something you know God is asking?
- The tabernacle existed so God’s presence could dwell among his people. Where in your life do you most want to sense God’s presence right now?