Sermons and Studies

Divine Math

As you sit down to focus on God's word, why not spend a few minutes in conversation with Him? If you don't know what to say, here's an example: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that I have this time with You. Help me to learn what You have in store for me to learn, and help me to grow closer to You from this. Thank You that you love me despite all of my flaws and foibles. In Jesus' Name I pray, amen.

There is math in all areas of life, and formulas in all of that math- Sciences, Accounting, Cooking (recipes), engineering, even driving! Divine Math is no different.

The formula is spelled out in Genesis 12:1-3

Verse 1- Come apart, verse 2- His blessing on us, and verse 3- our blessing on others.

Each step of formula depends on previous steps. The same is true in Chemistry & chemical change, and in cooking. For example: in a chemical reaction, if the chemist (or student chemist!) doesn't add the right amounts of the correct reagents, he will not get the desired result; too much of one and not enough of the other, and the desired reaction will be weak, if it occurs at all. If he adds the wrong reagents, or doesn't add the proper catalyst, the result will be profoundly disappointing! Cooking is similar (if not quite as 'explosive'). The baker who forgets eggs in his recipe will have his cookies come out as crumbs on the baking sheet.

The Divine Formula can be seen in Great Commission (found in story of Ascension), calls to repentance throughout Scripture, and even in the life of Christ, Himself.

Part I: Come Apart:

Luke 24:49 This is the Great Commission- look at Jesus' final instructions: separate yourselves!

II Chron. 7:14, Ezek 18:30-32, Luke 3:8 In each call to repentance, the results of sin are listed before the actual call to separate from that sin.

Matt. 4:1 Look at the life of Christ- After being baptized (which was the official start of His ministry) The Holy Spirit drew Jesus into the wilderness for a period of 40 days of fasting and spiritual warfare.

Part II: His blessing

Matt. 28:18 In the Great Commission, Jesus sent the Comforter (The Holy Spirit) to bless us.

Look again at these calls to repentance- in II Chron. 7:14, God will hear them and forgive their sins. Ezek. 28: 25-26 promises that repentance brings restitution and security for the nation of Israel. Luke 3:9 is a little different. The blessing here is implied; those who fail to repent will be cast out; therefore, those who repent are protected from The Lord's rejection.

Matt. 4:11 In the life of Christ, God the Father sent Angels to serve Jesus and minister to His needs (they brought food, water and anything else He asked for!) This was the Father's blessing on His Son.

Part III: Blessings to others

Mark 18:15-18 In the Great Commission, those who are given the Comforter will cast out demons in Jesus' Name, speak in foreign tongues, be protected from poisons both injection and ingestion, and will heal people of their diseases.

In the calls to repentance; the blessings to others from II Chron. and Ezekiel are implied as Abraham's offspring in Gen. 12:3, the restored Israel would be restored to the covenant wherein all the nations are blessed by them. In Luke 3: 10-14, The blessings to others are a direct result of the fruit of repentance.

Matt. 4:12-17: In the life of Christ, after Jesus was blessed and restored by the angels, the entire rest of the gospels show how He blessed others. He healed their diseases, forgave their sins, cast out demons, and offered them the Word they were so desperate to hear.

Okay, that's great and all, but how does all this relate to us, personally and now?

Look up II Cor. 6:14-15 and Romans 12:2 Come apart, it says. As a Christian, you are called to separate yourself from worldly practices which you know are sin, and from worldly thinking.

Now read both II Cor. 6:18 and I John 3:1-3 Be blessed: We are called the sons and daughters of God, separated from the world! If you have confessed Jesus as your Savior and believe in your heart that what He says is true, then YOU are a SON or a DAUGHTER of God Himself! The farther from the world we get, the closer we come to God, until we are like Him.

Now that you know that, read Matt. 5:14-16. Bless others! The more we become like God, the more His light shines through us and allows us to draw other people to Him like metal filings to a magnet.

Well, we have the formula, now where's the math?

Matt 22:8-12

Divine math starts with all of humanity and at the same time, just one. Have you ever heard the old saying that someone 'can't see the forest because of the trees?' Well, Divine Math is both the forest and the trees! (v8-10.) Everyone is called at the same time, but we respond one at a time; we come out of the old ways (our dirty roads & alleys) and into the new. (v11-12) Each one who responds is blessed (cleaned up and granted 'new clothes'). Having been blessed, we are now equipped and prepared to bless others (in this case, the happy couple!). Divine math is simple: one person, separated from the world and blessed by God is therefore equipped to bless others, drawing others to separate themselves as well. It is addition and multiplication at the same time! Each tree in the forest spreads its seeds, sheds its pinecones, so that other trees might begin, making the forest ever larger.

Now it's time to apply it to yourself!

Read Psalm 51. Find the formula. Pray and ask God how can you apply God's formula to your life. If you don't know what to say, here's an example you can use: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your blessings in my life, for helping me to be a blessing to other people. Please show me how I can better follow You so that other people will be blessed, too. In Jesus' Name I pray, amen.