God is the greatest blockbuster movie director

1 Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. 2 She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.

Genesis 23:1-2

0. Introduction (a story about Movies)

Do you like movies?

What is the best movie you’ve ever seen?

Here’s a quick list of the TOP 3 highest grossing movies in the world. Can you guess them?

In 3rd place : Titanic

In 2nd place : Avatar

And I’ll bet you can all guess the #1 highest grossing movie of all time, right?

That’s right, in 1st place : Avengers-Endgame!

Why do people love these movies?

First, these films all present an interesting kind of foreshadowing in the first half.

In the second half of the movie, the foreshadowed events come to their full conclusion.

Secondly, these movies each have wonderful storylines that are deeply moving for those who watch them. 

In Titanic, we can see an old woman, Rose, reminiscing about her former life with a boy she once loved named Jack. The story is beautiful and tragic, filled with ups and downs, suspense, adventure, and love. It’s no wonder it held the record as the top movie of all time for so many years.

In Avatar, we can see human scientists taking the form of an alien species they are studying. The planet of Pandora is magical, filled with amazing life and more vivid colors than anything we can find on earth. But we soon discover that the military personnel who accompany the scientists to protect them secretly have underlying motives for investigating the planet. But after lots of drama and close calls, the scientists and aliens band together to fight back in a truly magnificent finale.

Avengers – Endgame begins as a tragedy, 5 years after a crazed supervillain named Thanos destroys half of the life in the galaxy. But through the events that follow, the team of Avengers seek to do the impossible – undo the death and destruction that Thanos has done through time travel. And it is precisely this kind of dramatic reversal, and changing of fate, that is so moving for so many in the audience around the world.

But out of all the elements that make up a movie, what do you suppose is the most important element that makes a successful movie? It’s the movie director.

This is because the movie director’s values, ideas, imagination, creativity, and composition ability have the greatest impact on the storytelling of the movie.

Then, who do you think is the best movie director?

Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Luc Besson, J.J.Abrams?

Of course, God is the greatest movie director because he is the director of real life, and real life is often far more interesting and amazing than what we see in movies. In fact, when Hollywood runs out of ideas, they often retell “real life true stories” in their own style.

The real life story that God stars Abraham’s wife “Sarah” as the protagonist, and if it were titled as a movie, would be called “From Darkness to Light”. This story can be found in Genesis chapter 23, and the message I’ll preach from it is titled, “God is the best movie director”.

1. Sarah’s dark age

The first half of Sarah’s life was like a cloud of darkness.

There were problems that continued to happen to her that continually left her without hope.

Sarah experienced four great hardships in her life.

Genesis 12:4-5

4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

First, Sarah was a wanderer.

She left her hometown with her husband when she was 66 years old and moved to a strange land.

Moving is a tough task in itself, but Sarah had to leave for a completely foreign country without a new known home to move into.

Strange environments, strange neighbors, a strange language, and wandering as strangers in this strange land did not give Sarah any sense of stability.

Genesis 12:12-13

12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, `This is his wife.` Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

Genesis 20:2

2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.

Second, Sarah was a woman abandoned by her husband in a time of danger and need.

This happened not once, but twice.

Because of her husband’s fear, Sarah was twice taken away to the palace of a strange man.

Genesis 18:11-12

11 Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

Third, Sarah became discouraged because she was old and had not given Abraham an heir.

She failed to achieve her desire in her youth when she felt there had been a chance to have a son. But it was already too late to achieve it.

Sarah felt helpless and dispirited because of her unfulfilled desire.

Genesis 16:4

4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.

Fourth, Sarah was hated even by her maidservant.

Although Sarah had initially given Hagar to Abraham in order to produce a child for her husband, she began to feel jealousy by constantly seeing the maidservant who had so easily achieved that which she could not achieve.

Sarah felt her honor had disappeared and her self-esteem became very low.

Now, remember these four dark trials Sarah endured: leaving her homeland, betrayed by her husband, barren until elderly, and hated by her maidservant.

Sarah’s life was so hard and miserable.

Is there anyone here who wants to live a life like Sarah?

Why not?

Surprisingly, however, Sarah eventually had her prime of life, though she was elderly.

A reversal occurred late in her dark life.

2. Sarah’s prime

Sarah’s four hardships turned into four blessings.

Genesis 21:9-10

9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking, 10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman`s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”

First, Sarah’s barren womb was finally opened and she had the child of promise at the age of ninety-one. This restored her honor as a woman and a wife.

Then, she threw out her maidservant, Hagar, who despised her, and her self-esteem slowly began to recover.

Genesis 23:1

1 Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old.

Second, Sarah was blessed to live for another 36 years after giving birth to her son! Even though she was ninety when God’s messenger visited Abraham to tell him about the son of promise, and she laughed to herself thinking, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?” And even though she had thought it was too late to achieve her wish, not only did God come through for her, but he also granted her additional years of life with her son. This is God’s blessing of longevity.

Genesis 23:2

2 She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.

Third, although Sarah had previously experienced embarrassing situations and could not trust her husband’s love for her fully, because of Abraham’s fear and weakness, after a few hardships, Sarah became a wife who was fully loved by her husband.

We can see that Sarah was finally fully loved by her husband through the sadness and mourning he expressed for her upon her death.

Genesis 23:18-19

18 to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. 19 Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan.

Fourth, Sarah had always been a wanderer in a strange land because there was nowhere for them to settle. However, she eventually found lasting peace in the last resting place that Abraham purchased for her and her family.

Sarah was no longer a stranger, but a settler in Hebron.

3. God is the greatest movie director

Can you remember Sarah’s early life and the darkness she experienced? Can you empathize with her? And can you also imagine her growing peace and joy toward the end of her life with her changing circumstances? Why did this great change, this reversal, happen in Sarah’s life?

At long last, Sarah had finally realized that the director of the real-life movie in which she appeared as a protagonist was God. When she realized he was the director and she was just the actor, she handed her script and the entire scenario over to God, the great director.

God was then able to modify her script and take it from B-movie to blockbuster.

Genesis 17:15-16

15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

When Sarah gave sitting in the director’s chair by herself,

and when she acknowledged that God was the greatest movie director and began to accept his direction, it was then that God was fully able to devote his full passion into the script to turn Sarah’s life around.
In the end, God took this struggling production, and turned it into a blockbuster movie releasing it in the book of Genesis, one of the greatest and most well known stories in the world today.

Now when I ask, Is there anyone here who wants to live a life like Sarah?
I am sure many of you will say yes. “Yes”

How is the movie of your life going right now? Are you struggling, failing to accept the script, or the directions of the greatest director?
Then acknowledge him as Lord, and leave the rest of the script of your life to God!

God can turn any poor script into a blockbuster!

Believe in God, the greatest movie director!

4. Happy ending maker (Jesus Christ)

Romans 4:25

25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

As we all know, the endings of each movie are all very different.

Sometimes, there may be a happy ending, sometimes a sad ending, and other times, even a completely open ending (can someone say, “sequel?”).

If your life was a movie, what kind of ending would you want?

I’m sure you would want a happy ending like Sarah’s.

What do we need for a happy ending?

It is the happy ending maker, Jesus Christ!

God, the best movie director, tells your story through Jesus Christ.

So the end of Christian life will always be a happy ending.

Is your life too hard now? Are there difficult problems that you can never solve?

Lay down your heavy burden before Jesus.

Let him know your problem.

Jesus will deliver your prayers directly to God.

and God will listen to those prayers and write a new script for your life, if you agree to follow his direction and obey him from that point on.

All your problems and sins can be reversed completely through Jesus!

because he can change any failed life.

Why is Jesus a happy ending maker?

Jesus has completed the whole atonement for our sins by taking the penalty of sin upon himself and facing the full wrath and judgment of the Almighty God who is too pure and holy to even look upon sin.

In our sinful state, we dare not go to Almighty God because our sins are so heinous.

The sacrifice of animals, and even our own blood loss cannot fully satisfy the charge for our sins.

But Jesus Christ, the son of God, suffered many hardships and died on the cross in our place. He, being perfect and sinless, took our sins upon himself and gave his own life as a pure and clean sacrifice before judgement of the Almighty God.

Through this selfless act of sacrifice, he has achieved the atonement of sins and complete forgiveness for sinners, for all those who believe in him and accept him as Lord of their lives.

Through the conviction that Jesus forgives us for all our sins, we can enjoy great freedom in this land. This is a spiritual freedom, knowing that our sins are forgiven and we are freed from the penalty of sin. This is the grace of complete forgiveness.

Confess Jesus Christ, the Happy Ending Maker as your savior.

Then the greatest blockbuster movie director, God will write the happiest ending for your life through Jesus.

And, like Sarah, your story will be forever recorded in the glorious book of eternal life.