Judgements

Introduction:

This morning we are going over two very important doctrines: The fall of mankind and the judgment for our sins. If you’ve ever wanted to hear me give a “fire and brimstone” message well you’re in luck.

Praise God for Jesus Christ who took the wrath of God upon Himself so that those who repent, believe, and confess that Jesus is their Lord and savior do not have to be judged based on their sin.

Fall: God Judges

We believe that God created this world in a perfect state. In Eden, Satan tempted Eve to mistrust God’s Word, and she was deceived. The sin committed by Adam, also called “original sin,” has been imputed and inherited to all human beings, except Jesus Christ. All human beings are sinners by both nature and choice, falling short of God’s standard and breaking His commandments. All fallen people are by nature sinners, children of wrath, and destine to death. Because we are sinners in need of a Savior and new nature, we trust Jesus Christ alone for new and eternal life. At the cross, Jesus died in our place as our substitute, absorbing God’s wrath that should have come upon us. because Jesus died for the sins of the world the invitation to believe is open to all, and whoever desires may come to Jesus for new life and forgiveness of sins. We also believe in the reality of spiritual warfare with Satan and demons.

The Beginning and the Fall:

Genesis 1:1-2:3 lays the foundation of the original state of all things prior to the fall of mankind.

Day 1 (Genesis 1:1-5): God creates the heavens and the earth, then separates the light from the dark and names the light “day” and the dark “night.”

Day 2 (Genesis 1:6-8): God creates the sky/the firmament.

Day 3 (Genesis 1:9-13): God creates dry land. The large bodies of water are named “seas” and the ground is named “land.” Notice, the Word declares that “God saw that it was good.”

God also creates all plant life. He creates them in great diversity too, calling this good too.

Day 4 (Genesis 1:14-19): God creates all the stars and heavenly bodies. Helping mankind track time. Two great heavenly bodies are made in relation to the earth. The sun, the primary source. The moon, the lesser, reflecting the light from the sun. Again the Word declares this work is also good.

Day 5 (Genesis 1:20-23): God creates all life that lives in water, also being incredibly diverse. He then makes all bird life. Saying His work is good.

Day 6 (Genesis 24-31): God creates all the creatures that live on dry land, so everything else essentially. God would also create man on this day. God’s creative work is complete at the end of the sixth day. The entire universe in all its beauty and perfection was fully formed in these six days.

And at the completion of His creation, God announces:

Genesis 1:31 NKJV

31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Day 7 (Genesis 2:1-3): God rests, now this does not mean that He is weary from all His workings, but rather, it means that His creation is complete. And He stops creating.

There are two big takeaways here that we need to understand:

Everything God created was perfect complete lacking nothing. Adam and Eve having no idea what it means to be born inherently sinful. The creation was not groaning because sin had not dominated it yet.

Everything did what God created it to do, and that is to be fruitful and multiply. This means to reproduce. Genesis 1:28

Genesis 1:28 NKJV

28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

What a time to be alive, to be complete lacking nothing. Having a perfect relationship with God. As Genesis alludes to, that God would come down and walk in the Garden, presumably with Adam and Eve.

Genesis 3:8 NKJV

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

As we studied last week, mankind was created in the image of God called to be His image bearers, serving and worshiping under Him; yet, they were to rule over creation. Lesser than God, higher than the rest of creation.

Genesis 3 is a heartbreaking chapter, because of the introduction of sin. Because of Adam and Eve’s sin and rebellion against God the rest of mankind suffers. We will talk about this in a moment but first.

Sin: is any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature. Sin is here defined in relation to God and His moral law. Sin includes not only individual acts, such as stealing, lying, and committing murder, but also attitudes that are contrary to the attitudes God requires of us.

It is very important for us to understand clearly and affirm that God did not and has never sinned. God is not to be blamed for sin either. It was human beings who sinned, and it was angels who sinned, and in both cases they did so by willful, and voluntary choice.

To blame God for sin would be blasphemy against the character of God:

Deuteronomy 32:4 NKJV

4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.

Genesis 18:25 NKJV

25 Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

Job 34:10 NKJV

10 “Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding: Far be it from God to do wickedness, And from the Almighty to commit iniquity.

James 1:13 NKJV

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.

Both Adam and Eve sinned against God, Eve being deceived by the serpent and Adam willfully rebelling against God. This act of rebellion placed them and every human being after them, with exception of Jesus (we will talk about that next week), under the wrath of God.

Every person is fallen, children of wrath, and destined to death.

Romans 3:23 NKJV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23 NKJV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Inherited Corruption and Inherited Sin:

You might ask or have heard it asked, “How is it fair that I’m suffering the consequences of our ancestor’s sin?”

Remember our point earlier that one of the commands of God was to “be fruitful and multiply.” That didn’t stop.

Genesis 5:1–3 NKJV

1 This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. 3 And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.

Sin affected the whole world. We see clearly that from the very beginning that sin never just effects you, but everyone in your life.

Romans 8:21–23 NKJV

21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

I believe each individual understands that this world is not how it should be. That there is something wrong, and its all because of sin.

Not only did we inherit a fallen nature (the inclination for iniquity) from our ancestors… But wait there’s more… We have inherited that original sin too.

All members of the human race were represented by Adam in the time of testing in the garden. Adam was our representative, and he sinned and God counted us guilty also.

Adam’s guilt beings to us, and since God is the ultimate judge of all things in the universe, and since His thoughts are alway true, Adam’s guilt does in fact belong to us.

Romans 5:12 NKJV

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—

Ephesians 2:3 NKJV

3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

1 Corinthians 15:21–22 NKJV

21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

To go back to answer the question posed… The most persuasive answer to the objection is to point out that if we think it is unfair for us to be represented by Adam, then we should also think it is unfair for us to be represented by Christ and to have His righteousness imputed to us by God.

Romans 5:19 NKJV

19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

Salvation and Warfare:

Family this is what makes salvation so immensely beautiful. That God would not leave us in that fallen state, but provided a means for salvation. We are going to go more in depth on the incarnation, the cross and resurrection, and Jesus’ second coming next week.

For us this morning, I want to stress this point that God is never less than fair, and usually demonstrates more mercy and grace then we could ever deserve.

Genesis 3:15 NKJV

15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

Right from the beginning, God would lay the foundation for salvation. Salvation works the same as it did all those years ago. Through trusting in God’s promises.

He promised that the seed of the women would destroy man’s greatest enemy, the devil.

The seed is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Acts 4:12 NKJV

12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Romans 10:9 NKJV

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:13 NKJV

13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Family it is also very important to understand that, as Ephesians tells us:

Ephesians 6:10–13 NKJV

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

When we are saved we are drafted into warfare, not physical but spiritual.

1 Peter 5:6–11 NKJV

6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Family once you have been saved, no longer are we allowed to live for ourselves, but for Christ. The end goal is not to get saved then do nothing. From the time of conversion you have been drafted into the army of the Lord.

We are to be bold witnesses of the goodness of God, we are to be prayer warriors that wage war on the principles, powers, and the rulers of the darkness. We are stand for righteousness sake, never giving into the temptation of this world or the temptation of peer pressure.

1 Peter 1:13–16 NKJV

13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

Heaven and Hell:

We believe in a literal heaven and a literal hell and that all those who place their faith, hope, and trust in Jesus Christ will spend eternity in heaven with the Lord. Those who reject Jesus’ free gift of salvation will spend eternity separated from the Lord.

Sin and the fall of man is tied directly into these doctrines of Eternity. And this is something each of us needs to come to terms with.

Heaven—the place where God most fully makes known his presence to bless. It is in heaven where God fully reveals His glory, and where angels, and other heavenly creatures, and redeemed saints all worship Him.

Hell— A place of eternal conscious punishment for the wicked.

This morning we are going to focus on the aspect of hell, and our churches stance on this particular doctrine. We will talk about heaven, but we will not go in depth on it.

On this topic of hell, please note you have a choice, but you do not have a choice when it come to the consequences of your actions.

Hell:

As we have just discussed the fall of man, both inherited corruption and inherited sin, there are consequences for sin.

There is a progressive push back on this particular doctrine within the church today. To remove the judgment and justice of God, claiming that a loving God would not and could not righteously judge.

I’m going to be honest with you, that is ridiculous. Just because you’re concept of God is one of love, that it would remove a very important part of who God is… His justice and righteous wrath.

God hates sin because it is the ver antithesis of His nature.

Psalm 5:4 NKJV

4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You.

God hates sin because He is holy. Remember we have talked about this a few weeks ago that God’s holiness is the most exalted of all His atrributes:

Isaiah 6:3 NKJV

3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”

Revelation 4:8 NKJV

8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”

His holiness permeates His whole being. God has perfect morality and is completely free from any kind of blemish.

Psalm 92:15 NKJV

15 To declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

Romans 9:14 NKJV

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!

Family we have to understand the severity of our sin and God’s attitude towards sin… The Bible clearly shows us that God has strong feelings of hostility, disgust, and complete dislike for sin.

Sin is described as putrefying sores (Isaiah 1:6), a heaven burden (Psalm 38:4) Defiling filth (Titus 1:15; 2 Corinthians 7:1), a binding debt (Matthew 6:12-15), and darkness (1 John 1:6).

This is very important for us to grasp: our iniquities have separated you from your God...

Isaiah 59:2 NKJV

2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.

Sin always brings separation, and the fact that God hates sin means that He hates being separated from us. His love demands restoration, which in turn demands holiness.

1 Peter 1:16 NKJV

16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

We have to understand that what we have committed and been imputed…Sin is so incredible evil.

The Bible explicitly teaches that hell is a real place to which the wicked/unbelieving are sent after death. This is the righteous punishment for our sin… that is death. Since all of our sin is ultimately against God:

Psalm 51:4 NKJV

4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.

and since God is an infinite and eternal Being, the punishment for sin, death, must also be infinite and eternal. Hell is this infinite and eternal death which we have earned because of our sin.

Hell was created for Satan and his fallen angels:

Matthew 25:41 NKJV

41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

I would be lying to you in if I didn’t say I’ve struggled with this doctrine. It isn’t really surprising that a much higher percentage of people believe in the existence of heaven than believe in the existence of hell.

this is what God’s Word say about hell:

Psalm 9:17 NKJV

17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God.

John 3:18 NKJV

18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Matthew 25:31–34 NKJV

31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

Mark 9:42–49 NKJV

42 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—44 where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’ 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame, rather than having two feet, to be cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched—46 where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’ 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire—48 where ‘Their worm does not die And the fire is not quenched.’ 49 “For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.

Luke 12:5 NKJV

5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!

Revelation 20:11–15 NKJV

11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

The Hellishness of Hell:

What really helped me grasp the importance of this topic was Paul David Tripp’s book on doctrine.

But God made a way of escape:

Through His Son Jesus Christ, you do not have to go to hell. You do not have to suffer for eternity being eternally cut off from God.

This is what makes the beauty of the Gospel so incredible. That not only do you not have to go to hell, but you get to spend all eternity with your maker. The personal being who created you and knows you better than you know yourself.

1 Peter 3:15 NKJV

15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

We have been given a living hope through the Gospel of Christ.

Accountable

Bad News (sin)

Good News (repentance, belief, and confession)

Future Hope (heaven)

The Mission (evangelism, ordinances, and discipleship)

“Oh, my brothers and sisters in Christ, if sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies; and if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay, and not madly destroy themselves. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”–Spurgeon

Our Response

Prayer in the back corner

Jude 21–25 NKJV

21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction; 23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. 24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, 25 To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.