Losing Control

intro

My Grandparents were devout Catholic when I was little. In fact, it was the fact that they took me to church that I felt my first call into the ministry. I remember the priest saying that there was a great shortage of people answering the call to go into the ministry and something inside me asked, “Could it be me?” And I remember looking at the Jesus statue and asking Him if I should go into the ministry.

But this time of year, starting on Ash Wednesday a time of fasting, reflection, and repentance starts and lasts for 40 days. Traditionally your supposed to give up meat and other luxuries to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us - specifically we remember the fast that Jesus went on for 40 days in the desert.

Currently it is less rigid than it used to be but the general idea is the same… consider those things that are in your life that are hindering your walk with Christ and cut them out. I actually think it is a very healthy thing to do from time to time. The fact is that if you lay something at the foot of the cross and you can’t leave there, then you are not in control, it is.

IF YOU CANNOT LAY SOMETHING DOWN FOR 40 DAYS WITH OUT PICKING IT UP, YOU ARE NOT IN CONTROL.... IT IS.

exp

When that fact crosses our path the reality of that truth goes deeper. Stop eating meat, fine. Quit smoking, awesome. No more swearing, beautiful. But there are deeper things that quite honestly if you give them up a ripple effect will happen in your life that causes other things to fall right off.

I used to be a raging alcoholic. I would be quite drunk at least every other day. Smoked 4 1/2 packs of cigarettes a day. I swore so much it would make a sailor blush. But one day I gave control of my life to Jesus and when that happened those things fell right off.

There is the first thing that is worth losing… control.

We are going to talk about who is supposed to have it.

We are going to talk about what happens when He doesn’t have it.

We are going to give it back.

The Fall

Genesis 2:15–17 ESV

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Ge

THE EATING OF THE FRUIT WAS NOT THE ISSUE.

God created everything.

God placed mad in the Garden to work and keep it.

God gave them one “Do Not.”

”

Who is in control?..... God is.

THE TEMPTATION WAS NOT ABOUT THE FRUIT IT WAS ABOUT CONTROL

Genesis 3:1–7 ESV

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

ge 3:

The Devil questioned the authority of God by introducing a lie.

She thought

the tree was good for food

It was pleasing to look at

her eating of the fruit would make her wise.

Adam thought

duh - okay

Who was in control?

the devil

Ave

Adam

NOT GOD

The real sin wasn’t so much about how evil the fruit was, the real sin was not the attempt to take control from God.

The wages

Romans 6:23 ESV

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

RO

Separation from paradise

Separation for walking with God in Paradise

All work has thistles and thorns - life is not easy

The Answer.

1 Corinthians 15:45 ESV

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

The New Testament describes Jesus as a comparison between himself and Adam

1 Corinthians 15:56–57 ESV

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 co 15:

1 Corinthians 15:20–21 ESV

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

Romans 5:14–15 ESV

Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

`ro 5:14-15

Because Jesus was man, humanity has a second chance.

Matthew 4:1–11 ESV

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

In the Desert

bread

demonstration of authority

having authority.

What was Satan tempting Jesus with? - losing control.

God had a plan.

Jesus as a man was not going to change the plan

Jesus in the Garden

Luke 22:42 ESV

saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

Who is in control? - God is.

Conclusion

In the Liturgical Calendar, we are in the season of Lent. On Ash Wednesday they put ashes on your head and say, from ashes you came and to ashes you will return. The simple Idea here is that in order to get to paradise and walk with the Father so that He can make us into all that we were created to be we have to recognize that left to ourselves we aren’t all that.

Psalm 8:4 ESV

what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

We are not smart enough, fast enough, powerful enough, to really have control.

Starting with Adam, we have always had an issue with trying to take control… we need to lose it.

Jesus even did it. - Gave control to His father.

Ro 10

Romans 10:9–10 ESV

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Lets spend sometime giving control of our lives to the only one who knows what to do with it....

If that was your first time praying that prayer… please tell me.