Sin and Sacrifice

Welcome

Recap

Last week we talked about Creation, we talked about that Genesis 1 - 11 is the introduction to the whole Bible.

In these chapters it shows us the ways to think about the whole story of Scripture that our Lord Jesus saw himself as the fulfilment of and the answer to.

These chapters showed us the 3 categories of creation;

Order - The part of creation that is willingly under the rule and reign of God. Think Eden with Adam and Eve partnering with God as His images bringing the rule and reign further in creation. This is seen in the blessing in Genesis 1.28

Genesis 1:28 NRSVue

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

As His images the way we are meant to subdue and have dominion is the way that God does it. We need to think of this as the original job of man.

You can see how this and the great commission are exactly the same job, as disciples/images go and spread the kingdom, bringing what is not in order to order.

Non-Order / Chaos - The part of creation that is not yet willingly responding to God’s rule and reign. Think outside of Eden, the area not yet covered.

Disorder: This is the part of creation that was once ordered but has been infected by sin and evil. It is the part of creation that satan is the god of. It stands in rebellion to God’s order and the expansion of His rule and reign. It is hard to distinguish between Non-Order and Disorder because of how pervasive sin and evil are in the world. In practice as disciples bringing the Gospel to the world, we will always encounter Disorder as sin and evil.

This is what Jesus came to deliver us from. Satan, Sin and Death. These are not the same thing, these are not the same way of saying the same thing. It is easy to say them together but they are all separate and Jesus has separate answers for all of them. Today we are exploring how Jesus deals with the issue of Sin.

What is Sin?

I want to play a video Sin from the Bible Project.

<INSERT VIDEO HERE>

I find the Bible Project to be specifically helpful and they are a great resource if you have not connected with them already I would recommend it.

I like how the Dr. Mackie discusses that the Bible gives us language to talk about and understand life around us. The Bible in a way equips us to rightly see our surroundings.

Another Scholar Dr. Michael Bird in one of his books puts it like this and I appreciated it:

When we use the word sin, most people in Australia have no idea what it means, it is not the common language people use and it is a religious word that most people have no grasp of what it is.

Dr. Bird (who is Australian) finds it easier to use the word evil instead of sin, it is easier for most people to connect with that word. Most people can Identify evil around them.

Most people don’t realise is how we contribute to that evil.

Evangelical Theology: A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Second Edition) 7.5.1. The Nature of Sin

“If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?

The sad reality is that all of us contribute to the disorder in the world. Every single one of us.

John the Apostle puts it like this:

New Revised Standard Version: Updated Edition 1 John

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

To accept the teachings of Jesus as truth and as His disciples we have to recognise that we do sin, believer and unbeliever alike. We all have contributed to the disorder in our lives and the lives of those around us. We contribute in two ways, in the things that we actively do to hurt ourselves, those around us and God, and by what we do not do that we ought to do.

This is the one that I think we overlook too much. It is still sin, when we do not do what we ought to do. When we do not do the good that we are meant to do.

Well done for not murdering someone this week, but did you go actively love the person who gets picked on or that people think less of?

Well done for not committing adultery this week, but did you go and affirm the person who thinks they are worthless?

Well done for not robbing someone this week, but did you see someone in need and meet that need for them?

This by the way, is what Jesus refers to as the greater righteousness in the sermon on the mount, this is what living as disciples looks like.

What I love about what John says is that we can respond to this truth, by confessing, by owning up to our sins, failures, and shortcomings like we talked about last week, God has gives us the gift of repentance, that by the power of His Spirit in us, we can turn from our sins. We do not have to be slaves to sin anymore.

There is a prayer that has been said for centuries that I believe captures all of this truth and I would like to pray it together:

Almighty and most merciful Father,

we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep.

We have followed too much the devices and desires

of our own hearts.

We have offended against your holy laws.

We have left undone those things which we ought to have done,

and we have done those things which we ought not

to have done;

and apart from your grace, there is no health in us.

O Lord, have mercy upon us.

Spare all those who confess their faults.

Restore all those who are penitent, according to your promises

declared to all people in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake,

that we may now live a godly, righteous, and sober life,

to the glory of your holy Name. Amen.

What does this mean for me?

Like we discussed last week, it is a gift that God has given us repentance, it is a gift that God has given us His Spirit so that He can create new life in us and give us the power to turn from our Sin.

His Spirit leads us to the teachings and understanding of Jesus and the Bible as a whole.

As disciples we are commanded to go out and make more disciples, this is part of that.

Helping people to see the world as it actually is, this is big for people, most people do not look at themselves and see their own role in their own misery.

This is extremely confronting conversation material but also very necessary. We don’t talk to people as ones who are perfect, but as loving brothers and sisters who have all walked that path of self-destruction. I know that we have an enemy who is actively working against the rule and reign of God, but I am the one who partnered with him. I am the one who said yes to all my desires, I am the one who hurt other people in my pursuit of the things I wanted. I am the one who ignored people asking for help. I am the one who chose not to be generous when God has given me more than enough. I am the one who chose not to be disciplined, chose not to be loving. Me. I did that. That’s on us. I can not blame the enemy for that, although he certainly played a part and he will get his punishment, I have to own up to my part.

I have seen time and time again, Christians who declare that they are forgiven not perfect, they wave this like a banner and use it to justify absolutely shocking behaviour.

They do this because they have not confessed and repented. As a Christian we are people of the truth, however painful of a truth it is, we know it is our sin that held our Lord, our Teacher and our God on that Cross. We people lost in our sins, murdered our God, the one who we owe our entire lives to, we murdered him, and He went willingly.

For those who do not practice confession and repentance, they are ashamed of the cross and the part they play in it. Every time we sin, we prove God to be true, that there was a reason He needed to be on that cross. As painful as it is, we need to be able to look at Jesus on the cross and see our sins that are holding him on it. This should humble us. We need to be able to see that if we were in their shoes we would probably be among the scoffers, we would have done no better. This is why there is no room for boasting.

Every single one of us have failed and we keep failing. For sin to not have power over us, we must acknowledge it, that is confession, and we must turn away from it, that is repentance. With God this is possible.

People need this, they do not need our condemnation, they need help to recognise evil and then be led through how to turn away from this.

If we, as disciples do not practice confession and repentance, how can we expect to be able to help others? Let us not be hypocrites.

Repentance without confession is not a thing, that is when you want to do behaviour modification without coming face to face with the cross, the real results of our sin, evil and failings. This by the way, is the entire self-help section of any book store.

The way of the cross, says I acknowledge and own up to my sin, I am not proud of it, I do not wave forgiveness as a flag to exalt sin, no, we wear forgiveness as the hard won reward of my God walking through my failures, seeing the absolute worst in me and loving me enough to cover my sins with the power of pure life that comes from His sacrifice.

Because of this I do not exalt my past sins, but I am not ashamed of them because then I would be ashamed of the cross, I see them as something that Jesus loved me enough to deal with.

Because of this we have something in common with every single person, and we can help them, we can bring the good news to them that they do not need to stay in the Prison of their Sins and be subject to the horrors that they inflict on themselves and others.

Remember, because of Jesus, you have something in you, a truth and a power, that every single person if they really knew what it was would give everything to have.

I want to close listening to a hymn,