Key Passage: Genesis 11:1-9

“When God Inspects What He Expects”

As we enter the final stages of our commitments to the Chapter Campaign, I thought it might be helpful to go back to the beginning (Genesis) to get a clear picture of what happens when God stops to inspect what he expects from us as Christians. In chapter 11 we see what may be the ultimate in human rebellion – the building of the Tower of Babel. What a sad description of the fracture in community, of a breakdown of fellowship, of a failure of communication, of a growth of isolation, paranoia and confusion. Shockingly, it all results from a communal failure to live in dependence on God (sound familiar!?!), an insistence on striving to reach God and, ultimately, to replace him with idols of human making. Does that sound like it might carry a social health warning which the world, then and now, needs to hear? Listen, nothing’s changed in the thousands of years since this took place. We all have “Towers of Babel” that we’re constantly constructing to rob God of the glory He deserves in order to “make a name for ourselves.” 

As we’ll see today, if God were to speak in popular contemporary ad slogans, he’d answer our “Have It Your Way” with a holy “Have a Coke and a Smile!”

Connecting the dots … -> Genesis 11:1-9 -> Isaiah 14:12-15 -> Revelation 17:5 -> Revelation 18:21 


Essential Truths from Genesis 11:1-9

• Man’s plans will never thwart God’s purposes (see Acts 26:14-18)
• The communication gap created in Genesis 11 can only be bridged by Christ (see Acts 2:5-11) 
• Superficial relationships and artificial activity will inevitably miss the meaning of life (see Psalm 127:1) 
• The Word of God, and not the works of our hands, is the only thing worthy of our faith (see Galatians 6:14) 
• Much of what we do on this earth is a monument to and the result of our insecurity (see Galatians 4:8-9)

Conclusions:

1. If we’re not growing in humility, we’re not growing as Christians. How do we grow in humility? Get a clearer picture of the greatness of God in His holiness; and, get a more accurate view of the depth of our own sinfulness. 
2. Take care how you build, because God will inspect it. Take care in the motive behind your service. He’s concerned about why you do what you do. Is it for the praise of men, or God? 
3. Make sure that your hope for heaven is based only on God’s grace through the cross, not on anything in yourself. Here’s a sobering statistic: almost 50% of “professing born-again believers” think works has something to do with their eternal reward. Uhhhmmm…come again? 

Questions to ask yourself this week:

• What towers have you been building? Wealth? Success? Recognition? 
• How do you typically react when God scatters your plans? 
• What is the “Babel” (confusion) in your life right now?