Sermon Tone Analysis

Review:

Last week, we alluded to the fact that Christ is literally the solution for everything.

If we speak of him as the solution, then must also talk about the problem.

It is very important how you define the problem because if you misunderstand the problem then you will also misunderstand the solution.

Let me show you what I mean.

Let’s say that one day, out of the blue, you start feeling really emotional for no apparent reason.

So, you decide to go to the doctor to figure out what the problem is.

Let’s say this doctor, asks you some questions and determines that you have a chemical imbalance in your brain that is causing you to feel emotional.

So he prescribes an anti-depressant to address this chemical imbalance and after a couple of weeks, your emotions improve.

However, as time goes on, you develop headaches.

So you go in and have some actual diagnostic testing done and it turns out that your problem was misdiagnosed.

Instead of a chemical imbalance, you actually have a terminal brain cancer and it’s too late to treat it.

Early detection may have saved your life, but too much time has past and it is time to get your house in order.

This is a case of deadly misdiagnosis which led to improper treatment.

Not only were you misdiagnosed, but now you find out that medical science has never proven that there is such a thing as chemical imbalance in the brain.

In fact, the chemical imbalance theory has almost universally been rejected as illegitimate by medical professionals and clinical psychologists.

You were misdiagnosed because of what turned out to be lie.

Now What does this have to do with our topic?

Everything, in fact.

You see,

Jesus is the solution to every real problem

I mean this in the ultimate sense, but it is certainly true.

However, there is a tendency among many Christians to let the world define and diagnose our problem and then to say that Jesus either does or does not solve that problem.

Let me read a quote:

However, there is a tendency among many Christians to misdiagnose the problem that Jesus came to solve.

Jesus is the ultimate answer to every real problem

Rediscovering the Gospel enabled me to see that:

- Because Jesus was strong for me, I was free to be weak

- Because Jesus won for me, I was free to lose

- Because Jesus was someone, I was free to be no one

- Because Jesus was extraordinary, I was free to be ordinary

- Because Jesus succeeded for me, I was free to fail

That come from Tullian Tchividian - who apparently really took it to heart that he was free to fail because he was found out be be in at least 2 adulterous relationships.

But my point is, Tchividjian pulls a very subtle shift in what is being emphasized about the gospel here.

You see, he was really stressed and anxious about stuff going on in his ministry, and he didn’t want to be and he realized that it was because he wanted significance, wanted to be strong, wanted to be well known, extraordary, etc.

So one day he “rediscovered the Gospel” in a way that made him feel better.

However, as later revelations made clear, he had merely treated unpleasant symptoms of sinful desires.

He had not diagnosed his problem accurately.

Jesus did not come to solve problems that do not exist

Jesus will ultimately solve the problem of cancer, but not chemical imbalance - because that is not a thing.

Jesus will solve the issues of sinful pride, but not to fulfill your need of significance - that is not a need, but rather a sin.

Jesus doesn’t come t heal your inner child, to fill your love cup, to boost your self-esteem.

These are made up diagnoses.

These present perpetrators as victims.

So be discerning, if someone’s teaching makes you feel like sin is not a big deal, or if they want to redefine sin as some deep unmet, psychological need, then you will misdiagnose your problem and misunderstand Christ, and the result could be deadly because ....

James 1:13-

So then, don’t let anyone deceive by saying something like, Medical Doctors treat the body, the bible is for “spiritual issues” and psychology is for psychological issues.

If someone is legitimately sinning, it is always a spiritual issue - which a medical issue may be complicating, but there is not some third realm that we can blame our sin upon.

More on that in future sessions.

Now, I know that I said last week that we would talk about Christ being the Solution - I will need to push that back again, because more needs to be said about ...

The Problem

Last time, we talked about

In , there is one key word that the Gospel is about.

Do you remember what that is?

Righteousness

Rom

So he lays out the problem, that men have suppressed the truth,

They have no excuse, none - they knew God, but rejected him and set up their gods.

Therefore God gave them over to immorality, homosexuality, slander, envy, anger … etc.

They deserve death.

Then we asked, how did it get this way?

We went back to and showed how Satan tempted Eve with lies and doubts about God, Adam disobeyed God as well, and they immediately felt shame.

Then God cursed them with pain, relational strife, toilsome labor and thorns and thistles (entropy, Murphy’s Law), and Death.

This basically sums up the whole plight of man.

Well, there’s more to be said about this.

I want to really drive home what our problem is, so we may take another couple of weeks to unpack this.

So, let’s turn back to Genesis.

So Basically, all of mankind deserved to be drowned - but there was one man who walked blameless - Noah - who as it turned, later got drunk and apparently behaved very wrongly - and then cursed one of his grandsons.

Turns out, he’s not the messiah.

21 And when the LORD smelled kthe pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again lcurse1 the ground because of man, for mthe intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.

nNeither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.

22 oWhile the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, pday and night, shall not cease.”

Gen 8:21

The intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth.

Well, that’s a pretty harsh statement isn’t it?

To say that people are only always evil in their thoughts and intentions, such that they deserve to be drowned?

What about religious people?

I’m glad you asked.

Let’s go back to

One of our big problems is that in our own minds, we are not sufficiently lost, before we are found.

We are not sufficienlty guilty before we are forgiven

We are not sufficiently enslaved before we are set free

We are not sufficiently dirty, before we are cleansed

We are not suffiecienlty unrighteous before we are justified

We are not sufficiently helpless before we are saved.

We are not sufficiently desperate before calling upon the name of the Lord.

And this is a big problem, especially for the religious ones.

The religious believe that they they are right with God simply because they boast in the law and condemn sinners.

They believe that God’s patience is a sign of his favor, rather than opportunity to repent before it’s too late.

Romans

What is the standard of evil?

this was the purpose of the law