Sermon Tone Analysis

As we prepare to share in the Lord’s table this first Sunday of 2019, I want to spend a little time thinking about what our God has done for us, specifically the forgiveness of sins and the justification of our entire selves.

As sinners we have two serious problems.

Two Problems …

Our first problem is the guilt of sin.

We are guilty of sin, and incapable of NOT displeasing God.

We are guilty of sin because we are born into a guilty race.

And we are guilty of sin because we ourselves violate God’s Law.

Sin brings death, all the time, every time.

There are no little sins, no minor sins, no venial sins.

Every sin is a mortal sin, deserving eternal punishment in hell.

Of course, we are masters at minimizing our own guilt.

Sure, I did THIS, but at least I didn’t do THAT.

Or, sure, I did THAT, but look at what SHE did!

Ever hear of the phrase “conflict of interest”?

Self-assessments are never honest.

Our own belief that we are not as bad as all that is worthless.

Self-assessments are never honest.

So, we need a solution for our first problem: sin.

Our second problem is our unrighteousness.

We are unrighteous by our very nature, and incapable of pleasing God.

Righteousness is what God requires of us.

No one is righteous.

No matter how hard we try, the very best that we can do is unacceptable to God.

In the book of Romans we read about Abraham

Our very nature is corrupt; we don’t have the ability to do what God requires even once, much less all the time, every time, over the course of a lifetime.

Rom

It’s popular in our time for people to say “I can’t help it; I was born this way.”

We hear this with drug and alcohol addiction, with homosexuality, with virtually everything.

“It’s not my fault that I am” and fill-in-the-blank.

So we need a solution for our second problem: unrighteousness.

Well, if anyone had a right to say “It’s not MY fault” it was Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve.

His parents caused the entire human race to be born into sin.

But what did the Lord say to Cain?

Let me remind you that saying, “Well, I was born this way, I can’t help it if I sin,” doesn’t do any good.

In Adam sinned, and everyone IN Adam – every single one of his descendants – was polluted.

Nevertheless, in God says to Adam and Eve’s son, Cain,

God didn’t say, “Well, Cain, it’s not your fault, it’s your momma and daddy’s fault.”

He said to Cain, “Sin wants YOU, and YOU are responsible for resisting it.”

So we have two problems – sin and unrighteousness – and we need solutions for both problems.

Two Problems … One Solution

Let’s look at :

So there IS a single solution to sin and unrighteousness, and His name is Jesus Christ, “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”

Cain couldn’t simply say, “I was born this way.”

It was his responsibility to master sin, rather than letting sin master him.

Of course, Cain failed.

And we see in that there is a single solution to both of these problems, and that solution is Jesus Christ, “who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised up for our justification.”

And we see in that there is a single solution to both of these problems, and that solution is Jesus Christ, “who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised up for our justification.”

God performs two operations on every single Christian, without exception, and they are clearly stated for us here.

Let’s think about them.

Let’s take these points one at a time.

Jesus was delivered over because of our transgressions.

That is, HE died because of OUR sin.

700 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah said that the Savior would bear OUR sins, but people wouldn’t understand.

OUR griefs, OUR sorrows, OUR transgressions, OUR iniquities, OUR well-being, OUR desertion.

HE bore them, HE carried them, HE was pierced, HE was crushed, HE was chastened, HE was scourged.

is really striking, because it describes the very moment of Jesus’ crucifixion.

He hung there on the cross, suffering immense physical torture, and far greater spiritual agony, and did so for the sake of sinners, bearing their griefs and carrying their sorrows.

Yet most of those who stood at the execution site viewed Him as getting what HE deserved.

The Jews thought that because He defiled the Temple, and claimed to be God.

The Romans thought that because He disrupted the entire region, and preached another kingdom.

But Jesus didn’t get what HE deserved.

He got what I deserved.

There were three crosses on that hill.

One murderer, Barabbas, was released by Pilate.

Two murderers, insurrectionists, hung on either side of Jesus.

He hung on Barabbas’ cross.

He hung on MY cross.

He hung on YOUR cross.

The Romans would have said that Jesus got what He deserved, causing problems for the empire, preaching a different kingdom, and telling people that He was a king.

He hung on YOUR cross.

He was delivered over to the Jews, to the Romans, to crucifixion, because of OUR transgressions.

He was delivered over to the Jews, to the Romans, to crucifixion, because of OUR transgressions.

One murderer, Barabbas, was released by Pilate.

Two murderers, insurrectionists, hung on either side of Jesus.

He hung on Barabbas’ cross.

He hung on MY cross.

He hung on YOUR cross.

He was delivered over to the Jews, to the Romans, to crucifixion, because of OUR transgressions.

But He died for US.

He died for ME.

There were three crosses on that hill.

One murderer, Barabbas, was released by Pilate.

Two murderers, insurrectionists, hung on either side of Jesus.

He hung on Barabbas’ cross.

He hung on MY cross.

He hung on YOUR cross.

He was delivered over to the Jews, to the Romans, to crucifixion, because of OUR transgressions.

And through His death, our sins were washed away.

Yes, we were guilty.

Yes, we were dead in sin.

Yes, we were guilty of far more than we can know.

We are forgiven in Christ.

Our sins have been taken away.

We have been made clean.

Not because of anything that we have done, are doing, or can ever do, but according to the mercy of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the grace of Jesus Christ.

The first thing God did was to forgive our sins through Jesus’ death.

Washed – cleansed of the stain of sin.

And then …

Jesus was raised because of our justification.

Sanctified – set apart for the glory of God, made holy for His glory.