Under the Ban - Joshua 7

• Who God Is: God is holy, just, perfect, and patient. His laws are an expression of His love, designed to protect us. His wrath is not arbitrary but a righteous response to persistent, unrepentant sin. • Who We Are: We are created in God's image with an innate desire to worship. Because of the Fall, this desire is broken. If we do not worship the one true God, we will inevitably find other things to worship (idols). • How We Should Live: o We must recognize the seriousness of sin and the holiness of God. o While our culture is more "sophisticated" and we may not bow to physical statues, we fashion our own idols from the things around us, hoping to find security, purpose, or happiness apart from God. o The story of God's judgment points us to our need for a savior. It is a picture of the wrath we all deserve. Jesus Christ lived the law perfectly, died the sinner's death to bear God's wrath for us, and rose again. We are called to place our faith in Him, who fulfilled the law we could not. The Church is God's intended solution for seeing His purposes worked out among people. As a community of believers, we are called to encourage one another to live according to God's ways. • We help each other recognize the things God has placed "under the ban." • We encourage each other to stay away from these things. • We remind one another that Christ took the wrath of God on our behalf for our transgressions, including the sin of self-worship. The only hope for giving God the glory He deserves is to trust in Christ alone, who took the wrath for the things under the ban upon Himself at the cross.