Paul – chris cribari blog

Photo Cred: (1) | Updated: 5/18/2026

Sermon Prep

I shared this message after our annual family vacation, but had prepped the vast majority of it weeks ahead of time. I did add and tweak a lot Saturday night after returning from vacation that enhanced the message, but about 80% was already done if not more before vacation. Given the subject matter, I think this was a well-oiled machine of a message by the time I got up there to teach. On that note, here are my notes down below and the YouTube recording here.

Sermon Notes

Opening Prayer

Father God, lead us this morning as we search the scriptures. Thank you for your Son whose sacrifice is our salvation. Dwell with us, Holy Spirit, as you teach us today. Amen.

Intro

Conversation with Grandad in 2021 and how he reacted to what Papa said about him.

Main Point

The words of our fathers can define our futures whether we want them to or not.
- We’ve all been defined by our dads, but in Christ we have a new destiny.

Our Father’s Blessing | Genesis 48-49:28 (NRSVue)

Joseph hears Jacob is ill and takes his sons to him to be blessed (Genesis 48:1-2).
God blessed Jacob at Luz and said he would be fruitful in Canaan (Genesis 48:3-4).

“[5] Therefore your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are now mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are. [6] As for the offspring born to you after them, they shall be yours. They shall be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance.”

Jacob adopts Joseph’s sons as direct heirs, so they become 2 of the 12 tribes of Israel.

“[8] When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” [9] Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.” [10] Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, and he could not see well. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. [11] Israel said to Joseph, “I did not expect to see your face, and here God has let me see your children also.” [12] Then Joseph removed them from his father’s knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. [13] Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right, and brought them near him. [14] But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands, for Manasseh was the firstborn. [15] He blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my ancestors Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, [16] the angel who has redeemed me from all harm, bless the boys, and in them let my name be perpetuated and the name of my ancestors Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude on the earth.” [17] When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, so he took his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. [18] Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father! Since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” [19] But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” [20a] So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will invoke blessings, saying, ‘God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.’”“

Jacob’s dim eyes links to Isaac having dim eyes blessing Esau and Jacob. He behaved deceptively as the youngest, but now Jacob publicly blesses Ephraim the youngest.
The right hand in the ANE represented a greater blessing. The firstborn son always got double the inheritance and led the extended family performing priest duties for them.
מַשְׁכִּיל / שִׂכֵּל (sikel/maskil) — “He guided his hands knowingly/wisely.” Jacob purposely crosses his arms to bless the younger Ephraim as an action of divine decree.
Manasseh (making to forget) and Ephraim’s (fruitful) names foreshadows their futures.
Jacob says God will return them home giving Joseph an extra portion (Genesis 48:21-22).
- Shechem = shoulder/mountain ridge; City of Shechem. Also foreshadows Exodus.

“[3] Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might and the first fruits of my vigor, excelling in rank and excelling in power. [4] Unstable as water, you shall no longer excel because you went up onto your father’s bed; then you defiled it—you went up onto my couch!”

Reuben loses birthright since he slept with Bilhah after Rachel’s death (Genesis 35:22).

“[8] Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. [9] Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion, like a lioness—who dares rouse him up? [10] The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him, and the obedience of the peoples is his. [11] Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he washes his garments in wine and his robe in the blood of grapes; [12] his eyes are darker than wine and his teeth whiter than milk.”

Jacob splits the birthright between Joseph, Judah; Levi (resources vs royalty vs religion).
Messianic prophecy that foreshadows the Son of God and Son of Man (Genesis 49:8-12).
- Jesus is the blessing for the whole world (Genesis 12:3 → Galatians 3:16, 21-29).

“[22] Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall. [23] The archers fiercely attacked him; they shot at him and pressed him hard. [24] Yet his bow remained taut, and his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, [25] by the God of your father, who will help you, by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.[26] The blessings of your father are stronger than the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills; may they be on the head of Joseph, on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers. [27] Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening dividing the spoil.”

Benjamin’s blessing refers to King Saul, Mordecai; Paul for their all-in, wolf-like ferocity.
- King Saul’s military might, Mordecai’s political prowess, and Paul’s pastoral reach.

Why It Matters

The blessing Jacob gives to each of his sons as heirs is a tribal blessing oracle that not only describes their character, but foreshadows their own future and their tribe’s future.
- As heirs of Christ, we now live in the reality of God’s grace and love for us.

Power Text

“[4] But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, [5] he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. [6] This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, [7] so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7)

Outro

Christians have been grafted into God’s family and enjoy the whole world’s blessing.
- In spite of our own failures and our fathers, in Christ our fate has changed.
How have your father’s words defined you? How are you defined by God the Father?

Final Thoughts

The reception was good and delivery was as well. I also ad-libbed some things I cut out from prior research I did on this text, which I think just made it better. Overall, some pretty good preaching and a solid sermon in my opinion. With that, Godspeed and Jesus bless.

Footnotes

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/20/campers-in-israel-warned-after-series-of-wolf-attacks

Photo Cred: (1) | Updated: 12-15-2020

Back when I was in high school my youth pastor Andrew used to ask us over and over in the Leaders In Training (LIT) discipleship group: “How will you impact eternity?” This LIT group was for high school students who wanted to become leaders in their communities and was co-led by Andrew. We met for over a year consistently and the friendships I built in that time I carry to this day.

When the group ended and we all grew up, it was tragedy that brought us together again. The funeral for the best LIT student: Ryan. While I sat there watching one-by-one as people spoke about how Ryan did all of these deeply impactful things for others asking for nothing in return, it made me reflect.

Would I be known like Ryan as a man who put others before himself, even until the very end of his life? Would I be like most of us in the group and eventually leave God to pursue things that have no ultimate value to them? Would I be one of many who aspire for the things of God or one of just a few who actually attained it?

It was during this funeral when those words of Andrew hit me again: “How will you impact eternity?” I didn’t know the answer that day, but I do know the answer today. Everyone has an impact on eternity, but not in the same way.

Now vs. Not Yet: What’s the Difference?

There’s only two ways to impact eternity. In fact, I believe there are only two types of people in this world. Those who are meant to impact eternity now and those who are meant to impact eternity at a time that’s not yet here. This is tricky, so let me explain each one briefly.

In the first half of people, we have those whose impact must be now. They are or were born in a time and place where their impact is within their lifetime. For example, think of Martin Luther King Jr and how his impact on eternity was immediate. It had to happen within his lifetime or else we would not be where we are today if it wasn’t for his strong influence during the Civil Rights Movement.

In contrast, the other half of people are those whose impact is not yet. It’s people who are laying the long-term groundwork to impact those in the future. For instance, think of Malcolm X who was very important in his time and yet is now more important than ever during this time in history. Just as Dr. King defined the 1960s, so too Malcom X has defined the 2020’s just as they’re getting started. So how does this relate to eternity? Let’s look at a visual for help.

For the sake of concept, think of eternity like a never ending line filled with many points along the way from beginning to end. Each point represents a moment in time, while the line is all of time and then some. We each inhabit a point in time, but that point in time is a part of a much larger story at hand.

For those who didn’t live for God, their impact is negative. For those who do live for God, their impact is positive. Now whether or not your life is negative or positive is not the focus of this blogpost, but rather when your impact will take place and how much of an impact you will have as an imager of God. To see when your life can impact eternity let’s compare the two most important disciples of Jesus: Peter and Paul.

Both were absolutely necessary figures within the Kingdom of God, but with completely opposite aims in that pursuit. To see the full scope of this comparison, we’ll examine one figure at a time and their overall impact. Let’s begin with Peter and then go into Paul.

Peter Was Now

St. Peter in Prison by Rembrandt Van Rijn | 1631

There’s a reason that Peter is mentioned more than any other disciple in the Bible, second only to Paul. Peter was essentially the go-to-guy for Jesus because he knew that Peter powered by the Holy Spirit would accomplish things that none of the other disciples could. Peter lived in the now.

What he did had to be done when it did because time is always ticking for people whose impact on eternity is now. It’s right now and can’t be delayed. It has to be done before you die or else you will be considered unfaithful to God. A servant in the Kingdom of God who was not faithful with the investment God gave to them. This wasn’t Peter. He did what was required of him and then even more. People like Paul run the race of faith, but people like Peter sprint like it’s a 40 yard dash.

Did he do things that still have an influence to this day? Sure, but that wasn’t his main aim. He wrote letters and still has an influence on our culture, but not nearly as compared to what he did within his lifetime. Without Peter being as faithful as he was to help lead the early church, we would not be where we are today as a church.

Paul Was Not Yet

The Apostle Paul in Prison by Rembrandt Van Rijn | 1627

But Paul was built different. Being a scholar and a former Pharisee, he was a man of the written word first. Where Peter was a man who preached passionately, Paul was a man who wrote prolifically. Paul lived in the not yet.

When compared to any other author in the Bible, Paul has both written the most and had the greatest impact on the modern church in how we think aside from Jesus of course. From the current controversies with his writings to the striking statements that are even more relevant to our day, Paul was ahead of his time and his biblical letters give testament to that fact.

His impact on eternity was not yet because the amount of persons whose lives were radically changed by the writings of Paul is too much to count. For instance, if it wasn’t for the book of Galatians or any of Paul’s writings, then Martin Luther’s 95 Theses would be radically different. Maybe not even happen at all the way that it did in the past. The ripples of impact reach far in the future and hence why Paul’s works ring so true to our point in history.

Conclusion

As I look at my own life, I see this parallel too with Andrew’s impact on eternity and mine. He is a Peter type, while I’m a Paul type. He is squarely focused on the Great Commission within his lifetime, yet I’m squarely focused on the Great Commission beyond my lifetime.

Together, we have a balanced approach to ministry to this day as we begin the early stages of starting a brand new church in the state of Colorado. A hard worker and a heady writer on the same mission to win souls to Christ. Our hope is to co-labor with Christ as he restores the reunited by way of the head, heart, and hands of Christian living.

Now will we have the same impact as Ryan at the end of our lives? Tough to say when you’re in the middle of a life being lived out, but time hasn’t run out yet in our own respective race in faith. The clock is still counting down and there is work to be done for those here and now, but also for those not yet here.

Lastly, it’s your turn. You need to seek God and ask when will your impact on eternity take place. Will it be within your lifetime right now or beyond it? By considering your calling from God (2) and preparing your mind for action to implement that calling (3), then you can find out how you will impact eternity. With that, Godspeed and Jesus bless.

Footnotes

Free stock photos · Pexels
1 Corinthians 1:26-29
1 Peter 1:13

Tag: Paul

Genesis: Our Father’s Blessing | 3-15-26

Now and Not Yet: Your Impact on Eternity