Heirs of Christ

My Experience

If I’m really honest with myself, I’m not a very good person. I connect with Paul’s words in Romans 7:15 “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.”

I’m a liar, I think bad thoughts, I’m judgy, I eat too much sugar, I’m lazy, I could go on and on...

In fact, if I’m really honest with you about all the things that I have done in my life...if i get really honest with anyone, you might be impressed at how bad of a person I have been.

And you might be saying, you’re not that bad...and I will just say this, you don’t understand.

I cheated on tests...I lied to my friends to make myself look better...I lied on an accident report when I totaled my car...I was hooked on porn from the ages of 19-27. My wife caught me...almost destroyed my marriage...I am now living in recovery, but if I don’t take certain precautions and safe guards in my life, I could fall back into addiction tomorrow!

You may look at me different because I said these things to you...but the reality is that every adult here has things about our lives that we are not proud of that we are ashamed of.

Our Experience

The honest truth is that this the experience of many people. When we come face to face with who we are, most of us will admit, we don’t really like who we are.

And there is a constant refrain that will often live on repeat in our minds, “You’re not good enough, you don’t pray enough, you don’t read your Bible enough, you’re too much of a hypocrite...”

Ultimately — God can’t use someone like you.

Why, because we are ashamed of who we are and what we have done.

In the story of the first people, Adam and Eve, after they eat from the tree that they are not supposed to eat from, they hide from God...they are afraid and ashamed of their nakedness. This is the definition of shame...exposure. If you know everything about me, you wouldn’t like me.

This is the first consequence of breaking God’s one law that he gave to Adam and Eve...before any curses are handed out...the immediate result of sin is shame.

And this is the same thing that you and I feel when we sin...we feel shame. We feel unworthy. We feel exposed. And if they know who I really am, I am good for nothing.

And so some people at this point will start to try things. We make ourselves look really good on the outside.

We go to church, talk the talk, listen to the music...we cover up our shame with the appearance of goodness, trying to convince others (and sometimes yourself) that you are good. We think that if we can just be a little better, change our behavior a little more, we can attain a place where there is no shame.

But God says...

Jesus tells us exactly what we look like when we try handle shame on our own.

Matthew 23:27–28 ““What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

The point is this — we can’t relieve our shame on our own. Either we will become legalists or we will live in a never-ending world of shame and worthlessness.

So how is shame taken care of, if not by following the rules of religion?

Romans 8:1–4 “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”