American Gospel: Christ Crucified (4)
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Introduction
Introduction
Tonight we arrive at chapter 4 in our study through this American Gospel Christ Crucified film and dive once again into some of the attributes of God. Last week we saw that there is a divide with those being interviewed regarding things like hell and God’s attributes (love, wrath, grace, justice). At the center of this divide is the authority of God’s Word - we’ve seen several people go as far as to say that the Bible has this wrong. Others question the truthfulness of Scripture. On the other side, we’ve seen people willing to completely change their views and thoughts and feelings because of what the Bible says because they submit to its authority!
Why do some struggle with submitting to the authority of the Bible in every aspect of their lives?
It’s easy to see the authority the Bible has whenever we worship God or in certain areas
Think of what the Bible says about church - Acts tells us that we read the Word, we preach the Word, we sing the Word, we pray the Word, and we see the Word (Church Ordinances). We see in the New Testament that God has qualifications for the leaders of the church - think of Elders/Pastors and Deacons as 1 Timothy and Titus give us pretty clear cut qualifications. Either we submit to those or we sidestep them.
But, it can be hard to submit to the Bible’s authority in our lives at home, in a relationship, at our job… because we’re tempted to think that that is “ours” and not God’s. In other words, we compartmentalize and that is our box, not His!
Others struggle with the idea of submitting to God’s Word because we view ourselves as the ultimate authority (Pride).
As we submit to God’s Word, we will stand out from a world that largely disagrees with what the Bible says about sin, truth, gender, marriage, who can be a pastor,
6 But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
7 Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
As we dive into this section tonight focusing on God’s character, we want to live out this passage and humble ourselves and submit to God and trust that He knows what is best and that His Word is right!
God’s immutability - helpful article from Got Questions - is a good thing for us
God exists outside of time. Therefore, He doesn’t react to something that takes place within time in the sense that an event happens in time and then God changes because of a previous event or action
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart from generation to generation.
If God changed, either something needed to happen that wasn’t that way before (it needed to be better, indicating that it wasn’t perfect to begin with) or that something is good and changes for the worst. God is perfect. He doesn’t need anything and cannot change for the better. He cannot lose anything, or change for the worse, either.
God knows all things! He cannot learn something and react to it and change and have a different action or attitude. A helpful way of looking at this in Scripture is that the situation changes, not God Himself. God’s dealing with humanity changes at times (sometimes it’s wrath, other times mercy), but God Himself does not change. This is vital for us to trust Him and worship Him.
19 God is not a man, that he might lie, or a son of man, that he might change his mind. Does he speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?
6 “For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
Think of Jonah’s preaching in Nineveh - in 40 days Nineveh will be destroyed. Some say that God changed His mind here. A different response is that this was a conditional declaration. In other words, if you don’t change and repent, then you will be judged. Nineveh repented, God relented from His warning. God is consistent. In His holiness and justice, Nineveh was going to be judged… but Nineveh changed and God extended mercy. His holiness didn’t waver - the people repented. This is how it is today as well. God’s standard of holiness doesn’t change. What changes is we repent of our sin, place our faith in Christ, and receive Christ’s righteousness imputed to our account. God is still holy. Sin is still judged. But we are forgiven because of this gift of grace.
“A Balanced God”
Why do so many want to evade hard topics/doctrines?
I wanted to feel better
God’s Wrath - Bart - “That’s not a God worthy of my worship. I’m just not interested.”
It makes sense why people don’t like the doctrine of hell. But just because something is hard or we don’t like it, doesn’t make it not true.
Arrogance - many assume that we know the heights and depths of God and even know better than Him!
Let’s look at Psalm 51 and see what David says after the murder of Uriah and his adultery with Bathsheba
4 Against you—you alone—I have sinned and done this evil in your sight. So you are right when you pass sentence; you are blameless when you judge.
5 Indeed, I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
God sets the rules and sin is against His standard
11 Honest balances and scales are the Lord’s; all the weights in the bag are his concern.
Example of the significance of sin with the key scratching different things - how does this help us better understand the severity of our sin?
The action is the same (scratching the car with a key) but the value of the thing you damages increased, therefore your punishment increases!
When we sin against God, there is no such thing as a little sin or a tolerable sin. There is only high treason. Because God is holy and just, He cannot allow sin to go by unpunished. RC Sproul, “We are imputationists because Christ’s righteousness is imputed to those who trust in Him.” Not only are we forgiven as our debt is cleared. We aren’t just left at zero. We are given Christ’s righteousness onto our account so that whenever God looks at us, He see’s His Son’s perfect life that has been imputed to us! This means that sin is seriously more of a big deal than we initially think!
Great Exchange - Jesus gets our sin, we get His righteousness!
God’s Wrath - God intensely hates all sin
“God’s wrath is pure and it is the result of His love for that which is right.” Paul Washer
2 The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is fierce in wrath. The Lord takes vengeance against his foes; he is furious with his enemies.
How does this definition of wrath differ from how we as humans demonstrate wrath?
God does so out of love and out of His holiness as He hates that which is evil BECAUSE He loves that which is good and desires us to love and do that which is good as well.
SIMPLICITY - All that God is, He is purely and fully. He is fully good. He is fully gracious. He is fully righteous. He doesn’t react or change here. His wrath towards evil is complete and full because of His fully goodness towards that which is good
Is God righteous or wrathful?
Anthony Wood - “The moment we choose a side is the moment we end up in some theological error. We don’t want to live in paradoxes that an incomprehensible God can be both/and.”
God is incomprehensible - God’s ways are higher and better
God’s wrath is displayed in the OT and NT
Have you heard some people say that God in the OT is wrathful and in the NT is loving? Let’s look at that claim!
8 Noah, however, found favor with the Lord.
OT - God gave Noah grace.
NT - Wrath
7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us. This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels,
8 when he takes vengeance with flaming fire on those who don’t know God and on those who don’t obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
9 They will pay the penalty of eternal destruction from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious strength
10 on that day when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at by all those who have believed, because our testimony among you was believed.
26 For if we deliberately go on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries.
28 Anyone who disregarded the law of Moses died without mercy, based on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
29 How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, who has regarded as profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know the one who has said, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, and again, The Lord will judge his people.
31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
This isn’t easy to hear or process, but it is God’s Word!
Scripture is authoritative not because we always like it or understand it, but because God inspired it and the all-knowing God of the Universe has a perfect plan that we are called to submit to
Some look at a term like Progressive and believe that things get better over time or progressively get better. God’s revelation is progressive in the sense that God reveals Himself over time, but it does not mean that God’s first revelation of Himself (OT) is less inspired or important and what is newer is better. Brian McLaren, “Today Christians have a higher and wiser view of God.” Incorrect - many of the same heresies that were around then are still around today including the idea that God changes or that the Bible is not authoritative.
God is consistent - we see all aspects of His character in the OT and NT as well!
There are some things in the Bible that are “Either/Or” and others that are “Both/And”
Think of some examples that are either / or in the Bible
Think of some examples that are both and in the Bible
Either / Or:
You’re either for Christ or you’re against Christ
You’re either saved or you’re lost
You’re either in Adam or you’re in Christ
God is either for you or He’s against you
Both / And:
God is both just and merciful
God is both righteous and loving
Christians are both sinful and saved
Why is it a good thing that God is balanced?
