Plays On Word Radio
An in-depth look at the Word of God, the Plays On Word community, and the Plays - with original music - we perform, that are based on the Word of God. New episodes drop Fridays at 7AM EST! To find out how Plays On Word Theater can perform 'LIVE on YOUR STAGE' and to support this missionary & podcast visit: https://playsonword.org/
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Ep 86: Understanding Redemption - Parallels Between Firefighters, Biblical Narratives, and Christ's Sacrifice
"Do you truly understand the life-changing impact of the Gospel promise through history? We will examine this Scarlet thread of redemption from Adam and Eve to the present day!"
Plays on Word Radio invites you to join us as we embark on an enlightening journey, where we draw vivid parallels between the safety tactics of firefighters and the spiritual safety found in Christ. We revisit the foundational story of Adam and Eve, highlighting their futile attempt to cover their sin with fig leaves and God's provision of garments of skin—symbolizing the first bloodshed for atonement and foreshadowing the Gospel message. Alongside this, we discuss God's relentless pursuit of Adam and Eve post-sin and the first promise of redemption in Genesis 3:15. Plus, we share exciting updates about our upcoming missionary trip to the Philippines and encourage your support through donations.
Discover the profound significance of Christ's sacrifice as we draw parallels to the biblical story of Passover, emphasizing the protection found through Jesus. Through analogies like firefighters creating safe zones with controlled burns, we illustrate how standing in Christ's sacrifice shields us from divine judgment. Reflect on the resurrection as the ultimate validation of His sacrifice, and hear a touching World War II story that underscores the transformative power of Christ's presence. We close with a heartfelt message on embracing God's grace and peace, urging you to seek a personal relationship with God. Join us for a rich conversation designed to deepen your understanding of faith, redemption, and divine love.
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Email us: team@playsonword.org
Lord you know. Hey guys, you are now listening to Plays on Word.
Speaker 2:Radio. It's the best. A lot of times the firefighters will burn out an area, let it burn out and they call that good black because it's an area where they can run to. If things go sideways, they can go to that area and the flames will go around them and not burn them up, because they're standing in the area that is already burnt up. When we trust Christ, we stand in the area that has already been burnt up and suffered the wrath of God. You're the only thing. You're the only thing. You're the only thing.
Speaker 1:Hello and welcome to Plays on Word Radio, where we discuss, analyze, work and play on the Word of God. Thank you for joining us on this excursion. Today let's join Pastor Teddy, also known as Fred David Kenny Jr, the founder of Plays on Word Theater, as he does a deep dive into the Word of God.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, yes sir. Thank you very much, mr Josh Taylor and Katie Kenny, for that introduction. Welcome to all of you listening to Plays on Word Radio. Right now we are going to continue where we left off last time, but before we do, I want to remind you again to make sure that you follow the program. If you switch over to Apple Podcasts or Spotify or iHeartRadio any of the streaming services we're on them and you can automatically get this program sent directly to you, so I don't have to text you guys, those of you that know who you are, those of you that know who you are yes, I would encourage you to do that, and I also encourage you to send this program to someone, preferably multiple people.
Speaker 2:Let's increase our reach here. We all are working, we all have a job to do, and it's my job to bring you quality, godly content from the Scripture. Speaking of that, we are going on a missionary trip the end of October to the Philippines, and one thing you will never hear me doing is begging for money, and I'm not going to do that. I will not beg for money. Doing is begging for money and I'm not going to do that. I will not beg for money, but I do want to encourage you if you're listening to this and those of you that have been out to the plays that know what we do if you want to be part of this trip and help lift us up, help us to get there. There's a link in the notes. There you can click on the link or you can go directly to playzonewordorg and you can donate. However, the Lord would have you donate and be part of this mission trip. We are looking to fundraise so that we can get to the Philippines and preach the gospel and do a bunch of plays there as well, and I just wanted to let you guys know about that and encourage you as best I can. All right, enough of that for now. We're going to continue with what we were doing last week. Was that gospel message? Check it out. Give you the example. I'll show you how.
Speaker 2:Adam and Eve they tried to make fig leaves. Fig leaves cannot cover. They don't work. They're going to fall apart. It's not going to work. But in verse 20 of Genesis 3, it says or 21, the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin and clothed them. This must have completely blown Adam's mind, because up to that point, nothing died. I mean there wasn't killing. We've got a different point of reference. We grow up, we see blood all the time. Here God takes an innocent animal, brings an innocent animal to Adam and Eve. Actually, let me rewind the tape a little bit, right when they sinned.
Speaker 2:As soon as Adam and Eve sinned and brought sin into the human condition and this problem and became sinners like everyone else, like all of us, as soon as it happened, it says God was walking in the cool of the day and God said Adam, where are you? Anytime God asks you a question, he already knows the answer. He's the best lawyer. There is no lawyer is going to ask you a question. He doesn't already know the answer in court, right? Well, god asks Adam, not for God's knowledge. God doesn't need to know where he is. Adam, where are you? That's a heavy question. Where are you? And what was Adam doing? He was hiding from God. That's the first reaction we have when we sin and really know it's not natural for us to run to God when we make mistakes. It's not natural. It's oh man, I got to hide, I got to try to cover this up, but yet God came seeking Adam.
Speaker 2:And then, after God says in Genesis 15, 315, genesis chapter 315, genesis 15, 315, genesis chapter 315, he makes the first promise of a gospel. He said the seed of a woman is going to come and the serpent's going to bruise his heel but he's going to basically crush the head of the serpent. And from that seed, right there in Genesis 315, it's what we call the first gospel promise. It's the proto-evangelium in the Greek. It is the very first promise of a gospel and the entire Bible, from that seed starts opening up. This seed of the woman, who, what Seed of the woman? The dude is the one with the seed, traditionally. And so that right there says points to the virgin birth of Christ. It's going to be something special. The seed of the woman, the woman's going to have a son. Wait what? So? The seed of the woman is going to come and the entire Bible starts opening up from this point on.
Speaker 2:As soon as sin showed up, god showed up with the plan and he gives this plan the seed of the woman. And then, after he gives that, he takes an innocent animal and brings it right before Adam and Eve and he kills it, sheds. The first bloodshed is by the hands of God. He pulls the skins off and makes coverings for them. That's a picture of the gospel right there. Adam and Eve could not. Even God is the one who provided the covering for them. He provided the animals, showed them how to do it.
Speaker 2:Now you fast forward through the book. The book starts opening up about redemption and this plan, this scarlet thread moves throughout the entire scripture about this one that's coming and God providing a way through, because he doesn't want us to suffer his judgment. The judgment was designed for the angels that rebelled against him. They have no out, they're locked into their positions. But us, the pinnacle of creation, he wants us to have fellowship and he even made a way where there was no way. And that's actually another thing. Let me back up.
Speaker 2:People try to I personally, it doesn't say when Satan fell or nothing like that. People try to. I personally it doesn't say when Satan fell or nothing like that. But if you think about it, god's sitting there, he's making everything right and he makes all this stuff. And then you know he makes you, you're an angel, he makes you an angel and you're like man. This is all right, I'm. You know, we're something special, maybe you're even in charge of the worship.
Speaker 2:And then, all of a sudden, you see God spending like bending down with making mud. What is he doing? And he makes this mud and he breathes into the mud. The mud starts moving and the mud, he starts spending time with the mud. That's Adam. He makes Adam. If you're an angel, you're a higher functioning being, you're like. I mean, that's how I believe, that's how they, that's how pride was found in them. They were jealous, they were upset some of them, and they had a ringleader. Their ringleader was probably the one that was the worship leader before Adam showed up on the scene. And there's pride like, well, yeah, you know, I don't mind being right here with God, leading worship for God, and everything like that. Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. I, whoa, wait a minute. I'm not number two anymore, I'm not what. What is this? And Satan has had it out for mankind ever since, ever since you fast forward.
Speaker 2:You have the story of Noah and this great salvation through that flood, the global flood. God provided salvation there. You have the story of Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob and Abraham when he took his son Isaac up the mountain, up the hill, to sacrifice God. It's the only place in the Bible where God asked for a human sacrifice, except for the true sacrifice, which is Christ. And then us, when we are supposed to be living sacrifices? Book of Romans, it says we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifice, not dead sacrifices.
Speaker 2:But he called Abraham. He said I want you to sacrifice your son, your one and only son. And Abraham was like what? And okay, and he just reckoned in his mind that well, god can raise the dead. So I'm going to be obedient, I'm going to go do what he said. And Abraham and Isaac were walking. Isaac carried the wood.
Speaker 2:Isaac is a type of Christ in there, abraham is a type of the father. Isaac carried the wood. He said, father, we have the wood for the sacrifice. Well, where's the lamb? And Abraham said God himself will provide. God will provide. And as he was, he took out the knife and he was about to kill his son, his one and only son that God promised him. You know, he was a hundred years old when the kid was born. Man, this was a miracle son. And God says you know you to kill him. And he's about to. And God's shouting from heaven Abraham, abraham, here I am, don't kill the boy. Now. I know that you love me. Now I know, now I know, and God knew. And then he opened Abraham's eyes and Abraham could see this ram that was caught in the bushes and he was so happy and he sacrificed that ram and he said Jehovah Jireh, god provided. And where that happened is where, the same place, 2000, some years later, christ would be crucified on the cross. The same place. It went down, right there where Jehovah Jireh, where God provided, on that mountain of Moriah, is where Christ stretched out because he, being the Lamb of God, took the blame, the penalty for every single person.
Speaker 2:From Adam to the present day, no person has been able to meet the requirements of God. He's perfect. Everybody around him's got to be perfect. That doesn't make a mean. If I wanted to, well, I actually did go to an Ivy League school. But I mean, say, I wanted to go to Stanford, harvard, upenn, and I had. The only way I got in was I had straight A's, that's it, and I barely got in that way. But you're not getting. It doesn't make a mean, they just have standards, they're standards, that's all. It's a standard and God has the highest standards of all Perfection. It doesn't make a mean, he's just perfect and everybody around him has to be perfect. The problem is nobody's perfect. From Adam to the present day, nobody's been perfect.
Speaker 2:One way or another, every single person has been disqualified. Some are worse than others, but it doesn't matter. Every single person is in a disqualified room. The only person that was not disqualified was Christ, and he said you know what I'll be? I'll be banned and I'm going to let you take my righteousness. I'm going to let you take you can have, I'm going to give my life for you. And he's the only one who could. He was the perfect, sinless, spotless lamb of God and he took away the sin of the world. He who knew no sin became sin for us. But it doesn't end there. That's not where it ends, because on Sunday that was the Friday, where the lamb of God was slain and the blood was shed, the blood that covers us.
Speaker 2:You guys know the story of Moses, with the Passover, that whole thing, not going to go into it, but they had to take an innocent lamb and kill it and take the blood and put the blood on the doorpost so that the angel of death would pass over. That blood spoke and Christ is our lamb, his blood on the doorpost of our heart by faith. Nothing that we did, but just by putting our faith in him and trusting him, saying Lord, I believe. Lord, yeah, forgive me of my sins. I want to be in the family of God. I want to know If you're real. Please show me, live through me, fill me with your Holy Spirit. By doing that, you get the blood of Christ on the doorpost of your heart. You are not subject to wrath, the wrath of God, which was not kindled for mankind in the first place. It was kindled for the opposite team, his whole crew, you know.
Speaker 2:I'll give you another example. I noticed there were a lot of fires going on down by the hand. Hugh goes over here, right, they take all that stuff and they I guess it's easier to just get rid of and burn it down. It reminded me of something A lot of firefighters, when they're fighting like forest fires, they do controlled burns and they'll burn an area down and let it burn out, so that if a raging forest fire comes and it's consuming all the fuel and the forest fire comes, it gets to the area that was burnt out. There's nothing to, there's no fuel, there's nothing for it to do, and a lot of times the firefighters will burn out an area, let it burn out and they call that good black, because it's an area where they can run to If things go sideways, they can go to that area and the flames will go around them and not burn them up, because they're standing in the area that is already burnt up.
Speaker 2:When we trust Christ, we stand in the area that has already been burnt up and suffered the wrath of God. So when we stand in Christ by faith, the wrath of God, it passes over us because we're in an area that has already taken the fuel's been burnt, he's taken the blame and the penalty. We don't have to pay the penalty. Does that make sense? The Sunday today? And I'm coming in for a landing here, guys, you know I can start preaching on this the Sunday. The Sunday is a stamp, a sign, a seal of approval that the sacrifice that Christ made is accepted in the eyes of God. It is acceptable.
Speaker 2:And because God raised him from the dead and these guys all went to the gnarliest death saying yo, I saw him, I ate with him, he's alive, I don't care what you do to me, he's alive. Man, you want to kill me? Go ahead, I ate with him. I saw him pulled up into heaven. You've got nothing. You could take my life because he said he's coming back and I'm coming back with him. Every other religious leader is dead. You can find their tombs. He's the only one that, to this day, people continue to run into the risen Christ.
Speaker 2:I'll give you a quick story. There's a lady I don't know if it's a Christian. It's been morphed a bunch of times this story, but it was set in World War II. This lady, she was put in a Japanese prison camp for many years, a bunch of years and then afterwards, after the war was over, some evangelists were coming through the area Might've been the Philippines or something like that and this guy's preaching about Jesus. And this lady comes up after and she's got tears coming out of her eyes and she says thank you so much. Now I finally know his name. And the guy was like what are you talking about? He's the one who was with me when I was in that prison camp for seven or eight years. He was with me in the depths and the most difficult part of my life. He was the one that was with me and spoke to my heart. And she had tears coming out of her eyes and she said now I know his name, I know him. This Jesus, it's the same. He's the same guy. He's the one that changes lives. He's the one that has come into our lives and the one that ministers to us in the most messed up, difficult situations.
Speaker 2:And a lot of people will be like, well, he's God, why does he let this happen? And a lot of people will be like, well, he's God, why does he let this happen? There are two things that you can hang on to. When God I can't speak for God it's just difficult why he lets certain things happen. We'll know when we get to glory why. And I know one thing we're going to go wow. Okay, I can't fault you at all there, but I will say this there are two things you can hold on to the character and nature of God, the person who he is.
Speaker 2:This one that when sin showed up, he showed up on the scene. He pursued Adam and Eve. He didn't say I'm done with you, I'm starting over, finished. He showed up right on the scene. The character and nature of this God that we praise and worship is good. He's perfect. He does not make mistakes, right, he is the definition of love. He's the standard of love, right. He's absolutely perfect, does not make mistakes. So if he's absolutely perfect, absolutely loving, and does not make mistakes, okay, that's something I can hold on to. That's number one.
Speaker 2:Number two is the cross of Christ. If he himself had to suffer this first go around and was not exempt from suffering, then I can at least hold on to the fact that he's good. His word says he loves me. I do not get this. I don't understand it. Christ suffered as well, and when we get to glory we're going to go okay, bravo, okay, bravo on everything he allowed. And it's difficult because we've been through really all of us I mean every one of us right Can relate to some scratch your head moments like where's God right here, where are you Lord, where are you?
Speaker 2:And what Jesus said from when he was on the cross, what he said Eloi, eloi lama sambatani. That means my God, my God. Why have you forsaken me? Why have you forsaken me? Christ himself on the cross, suffering for us. That happened on a Friday. The people, they wagged their heads, they mocked him, they spit at him, they laughed at him and he suffered Unbelievable. He suffered in a way that we'll never completely understand. We'll never completely grip what happened in those three hours between noon and three when the wrath of God was poured out on him for all humanity, when he who knew no sin became sin. He was completely sinless and perfect. We're never going to get that, but he himself suffered so that we would not have to suffer an eternity without him.
Speaker 2:And what God did in the garden when Adam and Eve sinned? He made the skins for them, but he also pushed them, told them they got to get out, and he put a barrier to the other tree, the tree of life. Because had they taken of the tree of life in a sinful state, that would be hell, because they would live for all eternity in a sinful, messed up state, being intimate with evil. So what did God do? He prevented them from eating from that tree until the gospel, until Christ was able to come and redeem. So now man has an opportunity. Until Christ was able to come and redeem. So now man has an opportunity. And God, being the gentleman that he is still, doesn't force anyone. He's not dragging anyone into his presence. He's giving people an option, because that's who he is, that is who you are. We sang right, that's who he is.
Speaker 2:And this day we celebrate the fact that Jesus came out of the grave and, like the other disciples, we have a hope that is different than everything else in the world, because the fact that he came out the grave is not just, you know, like a token at the amusement park or something like that. The fact that he came out the grave means that everything he says is validated, like everything he quotes is validated. Everything he says is validated, and you know what he said. He said besides the fact that he said I love you and you know my father knows how many hairs are on your head I don't even know how many hairs. I know I have a lot less than I did last week but the fact that God knows intimately more about you and loves you more than the thing that you absolutely love the most in the whole world. He loves you infinitely more than that. We can bank on that. And he also said guess what? I'm coming back and in our Acts studies, in the books of Acts, our sermons, we're talking about that. We're going to get into what's going to happen. What did he actually say? Everything that he said was going to happen has happened, except for the things that are supposed to come and they're coming. It's like a freight train coming soon.
Speaker 2:Amen, heavenly Father. Lord, god, we thank you for what today represents. I thank you for my brothers and sisters here. Lord, I thank you for the opportunity to even get into your word and to even to know who you are. Lord, we thank you for the sacrifice that was made so long ago so that we could have fellowship with you. Lord, we thank you, lord, we praise you, we love you, lord, help us, fill us with your Spirit, help us to walk in the joy of the Lord and in the power of God, that you might be pleased in the life that we live. We thank you, we praise you In Jesus' name. Amen, amen, amen, amen.
Speaker 2:The gospel message. It's pretty simple. The simplest form is in 1 Corinthians 15, the first part of that chapter there. But it really is that God made everything perfect. Man sinned, god handed him perfection and man sinned against God and that led man into a life that ends in death, yes, death. But God did not leave us in that state. He came down and lived that perfect life and met the requirements that the law of God demands, the righteousness of God, I didn't say the law of Moses, the law of God, the righteous requirements, and within that is the law of Moses. And Jesus came and lived that perfect life and met all of the requirements of righteousness and perfection. He was put to death on the cross and he took your sin and my sin with him into the grave as far as the east is from the west. So as he removed our sin from us, he was raised to life on the third day as a seal, a stamp of approval that his sacrifice is acceptable. And now, by us putting our faith in him and what he did, we stand before God, not guilty of sin. We stand before God righteous, we meet the requirements of righteousness that God, because he's perfect, he demands, and we meet those requirements, not because we can do it in our own strength, but that the righteousness of Christ and faith in Christ has been applied to our account. So God looks at us through Christ-colored lenses. Yeah, it's almost too good to be true. It's amazing. This is why it's called gospel good news.
Speaker 2:Now the question is you've heard this have you put your faith in him or do you just know about him? Have you put your faith in him? That's the real question. Have you put your faith in Christ and made it official with him. If not, just pray and ask him to forgive you of your sins, come into your life, fill you with his Holy Spirit and live through you. Start there and he'll show you to rest. It starts with faith. The gospel plus anything is not gospel. If any man brings a gospel to you other than the one you heard, that Christ lived, died and was raised to life again, let him be accursed. That is straight scripture. That's from the scripture itself. The gospel plus anything is not a gospel.
Speaker 2:You come to the Lord by faith.
Speaker 2:He's well invested in you. He, how do I know? Because he paid way too high a price to be playing games with eternity. You look at the price he paid and that displays how serious he is about you spending eternity with him. So do me a favor and do yourself a favor.
Speaker 2:Make it official with him, reach out to him, ask him if that crazy guy on that radio program, if he's right, you can say Lord. If that guy, pastor Teddy, if he's right, I want to know you. Would you please show me, forgive me of my sin, come into my life, fill me with your Holy Spirit, something like that there's no formula to it, and in the words of that great American poet, forrest Gump. That's all I have to say about that. Until Next week, may the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. And you can't have the peace of God without the grace of God. And grace comes first and then you have peace with God. Hallelujah.
Speaker 1:This program was made possible by the Plays on Word family of supporters. To find out more, check out our website at playsonwordorg.
