The Life of Man

So if you were with us last week, then that means you heard about what it means to TRULY follow Jesus Christ...

AND - we saw that the - True Following of Jesus Christ - Originates with God Himself...

NOW - this teaching is not an easy one for us to swallow...

Who in here believes themselves to be - a control freak?

Who likes to be in control?

I would think most of us would rather BE IN control…than NOT in control...

And so - for us - hearing that God is completely sovereign over SALVATION is a hard pill to swallow!

AND because that’s true…today we’re going to be looking at “The Life of Man: Under the Rule of God”

And i know that whenever we get into this topic of God’s sovereignty...

…there are 2 MAJOR questions that come...

Questions that are HUGELY important…and immensely vital to - LIFE - and understanding where WE fit, as humans....in God’s creation

And so there are 2 PATHS we’re going to walk down today…2 questions we’ll answer - having come out of last weeks sermon where we saw that God Himself initiates Salvation...

Here are the 2 questions:

IF God initiates Salvation, by His own extension of mercy… then...

If God Initiates Salvation

Is Mankind Accountable?

If it takes God to AWAKEN us to faith…*

then is mankind accountable before God…?

If God Initiates Salvation

Why Proclaim Christ to the World?

So let’s address the first question...

IS MANKIND ACCOUNTABLE before God for his actions/unbelief?

Is mankind accountable before God for his unbelief?

What i want to do to address this initially, is to walk through examples in Scripture where we see - God working - and mankind working - at the same time...

What we’re going to see throughout scripture is MANKIND making decisions (doing what he/she most wanted to do out of the desires of their heart)…while at the same time - God’s oversight and control OVER ALL that man does in a way that God’s purposes are accomplished.

So let’s dig in...

Genesis 45:4–8 ESV

4 So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

So if we ask Joseph, "Who sold you into slavery...

"Do you really believe that your brothers sold you into slavery...

Did they choose to do what they really wanted to do?

He would say - Yes

...But now i understand that behind it all, God was working to bring me here...

That God ultimately sent me here...THROUGH what my brothers willfully chose to do.

So - who sent you into slavery?

How do you answer this question - biblically?

the brothers did

God did

It’s a both-and answer!

Genesis 50:20 ESV

20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

See - here we see - 1 ACTION (Joseph being sold into slavery)...

AND 2 agents at work...

You - THE BROTHERS - meant it for evil

But GOD - meant (IT) for good!

1 ACT - man at work and God at work

Another example?

Acts 2:22–23 ESV

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

“YOU - men of Israel - you crucified and killed JESUS!”

Who put Jesus on the cross??

Wicked, sinful men put Jesus on the cross. Is that right?

Men who are MORALLY responsible for what they did...

Mankind put Jesus on the cross! But is that the FULL answer…biblically?

Absolutely not!

Isaiah 53:10 ESV

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

Acts 4:25–28 ESV

25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “ ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? 26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— 27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

So who put Jesus on the cross?

Wicked, evil men did...AND

God did!

If we could have asked those crying out to crucify Christ...is this what you WANT to happen...?

They would have - to a man - cried out - YES!

The desire of their heart was to - crucify Christ.

They DID what they WANTED to do!

AND yet - God's plan was that Christ would go to the cross!

Before the foundation of the world....before SIN existed...

The plan of God was that Christ would go to the cross!

I mean - what does John 3:16 say?

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

It doesn't say -For God so loved the world that He sent Jesus - HOPING man would kill Him in order to save mankind...

Listen to what Jesus says here...

John 10:17–18 ESV

17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

The 2 sided coin of the crucifixion of Christ has on one side:

mankind's decision to kill Christ (mankind nailing Christ to the cross)

Christ's plan to lay down His life (God the Father nailing Christ to the cross)

The very SAME ACTION - of the killing of Christ - being carried out by MANKIND - AND - God

MANKIND meant it for EVIL - trying to protect their own PRIDE

GOD meant it for good - GRACIOUSLY laying down His life to SAVE THOSE WHO WOULD BELIEVE!

Let's look elsewhere to see this same thing...

Isaiah 10:5 ESV

5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury!

What's God saying here...It says - Assyria, the rod of my anger...

So God here is NOT HAPPY - He's angry!

And He calls Assyria - the rod of His anger!

He's raising up Assyria - COMMISSIONING them to do something... He says - The staff in THEIR hands is my anger!!  

next verse...

Isaiah 10:6 ESV

6 Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

God here is describing how He raised up Assyria to be the TOOL of His judgment against His own people!

God wanted to JUDGE Israel...SO He USED Assyria to do that!

So Assyria - attacks Jerusalem...and the people of Israel.

And what we need to notice is the first part of verse 5 that we just read...

Isaiah 10:5 ESV

5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury!

WOE to Assyria!

This isn't a good "WHOA!"...It's a - You are IN TROUBLE kind of WOE!

And it's directed at Assyria!

God raises up ASSYRIA...to destroy Jerusalem...THEY DO...And then God judges Assyria!  HOW? Isaiah 10:7 But he does not so intend, and his heart does not so think; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few

This is saying - Assyria's motive in destroying Israel wasn't to DRAW them closer to God...

Assyria didn't view themselves as an instrument of God…

Instead - PRIDE fueled their desire to DESTROY...AND BECAUSE that was true...

God judged them IN THEIR CARRYING out the very thing God commissioned them do...

**You're at the ZOO (standing outside the Lion's Cage...)

You put some RAW meat outside the cage on the ground.

And that Lion SEE's you do it.

In that moment - What is the cage doing?

The cage is RESTRAINING that lion from what?

From DOING what LION's - listen - BY NATURE - do...EAT MEAT!

NOW - let's say that you NEVER opened that cage door so that lion could eat the meat...

WOULD THAT MEAN that the lion - IS NOT A MEAT EATER?

Could we DECLARE that the lion is NOT a meat eater if we NEVER opened the cage door?

Of COURSE NOT!

The cage simply RESTRAINED the lion - from DISPLAYING his TRUE self!!

So whether the LION displayed it or not - the LION is GUILTY of being a MEAT EATER!

NOW - thinking about ASSYRIA...God KNEW the TRUE ASSYRIA..

God KNOWS the hearts of man - And in this case - Assyria was caged up...WAITING to display their TRUE SELF...And God- WANTING to judge His own people - Opened the door of the cage...!

NOW SIN - Sin - in our analogy here - would be equivalent to EATING MEAT

For the Lion - eating meat is - WHAT IT DOES!

BY NATURE - it’s what it does!!

The Lion CRAVES IT!

LOVES IT!!

Is a SLAVE to IT!!

Does a lion control raw meat - or - does raw meat control a lion?

We know the answer!

SIN is WHO WE ARE!! - by nature!

And BY NATURE - we are SLAVES to sin…!

We are ACCOUNTABLE for it in our lives...

Romans 5:12 ESV

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

Romans 6:23 ESV

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

All men are SINNERS - and SIN - earns - DEATH!

We are accountable for our SIN...

AND at the same time - God TEMPTS NO ONE to sin...

James 1:13 ESV

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

SO in our analogy of the Lion Cage - God doesn’t place the RAW MEAT (of SIN) in front of our cage and then open the cage...

NO -

SIN distorts the purposes of God!

What is God’s purpose of marriage?

To display the Covenant Love between Christ and the church...

BUT sin has DISTORTED it - It’s become a FREE-FOR-ALL...

Take Anything - Food, Sex, Money

SIN has distorted these things…so that we NOW WORSHIP food - instead of God

Sex - instead of God

Money - instead of God

SIN is within us…it has separated us from God...

AND yet - HE has made a way for us to get back to HIM....His remedy

Our ONLY HOPE of LIFE - is found in His remedy - Jesus Christ!

And what we spoke on last week was true...

God INITIATES salvation…!

He AWAKENS people to the TRUTH!

But the evidence of that happening - is this - REPENTANCE!!

And so this question APPLIES to you right now -

Do you TURN to Jesus Christ!!?

Trust in Him?

CONFESS your sins?

Do you - BELIEVE in Christ? Lay it ALL down on Him??

REPENT of your sins, call out to Christ in your heart - and you will be saved!!

Acts 4:12 ESV

12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Will you HUMBLE yourself before the Lord?

He’s GOD!

Will we SUBMIT to Him… admit our SIN....?

IF SO - we are REDEEMED…adopted to be a child of God…never to be forsaken!

THIS is the Good News of Christ!

LISTEN - and it’s GOOD NEWS - to all who believe!!

Which leads to our 2nd point...

2. As Christians, what is the point of proclaiming Christ to the world?

Let’s ask the apostle Paul this question…BECAUSE..

Did the apostle Paul believe God to be sovereign over salvation?

Did Paul believe that God initiates Salvation?

Let’s look at his writings...

Romans 3:10–12 ESV

10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Romans 8:7–8 ESV

7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

AND then...

2 Timothy 2:24–25 ESV

24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,

Clearly Paul believed that God INITIATES salvation…right?

OK...

But now - Paul also wrote this...

Romans 10:13–15 ESV

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Romans 10:17 ESV

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

What’s Paul doing here?

He’s giving the LOGICAL - practical conclusion that -

If people are going to BELIEVE in Jesus, and therefore be saved...

THEN those people will MOST DEFINITELY need to:

HEAR the Good News - proclaimed

Paul goes as far as to say -

- If they DON’T hear the Good News preached to them - HOW can we expect them to - BE SAVED??

Paul’s SAYING - they need to HEAR the Gospel of Christ - SO THAT they can BELIEVE...

SO THAT they can - CALL on Jesus...

SO THAT they can BE SAVED!!

So on the one hand - Paul believes:

God Initiates Salvation (we are DEAD in sin, needing a SPIRITUAL RESURRECTION)

AND Paul believes...

People MUST HEAR the Gospel in order to BE SAVED!

SO WHAT does that tell us about - HOW God initiates SALVATION?

Here’s the answer: WE ARE THE MEANS to His END

We are the TOOLS that God uses - to SAVE people!

And SINCE that is TRUE - THINK back to that question we asked…!

If God initiates salvation, then why should we proclaim the Gospel to anybody?

WELL - if WE are His means…His tools...

THEN what does that tell you about how to answer this question!??

And so we - as CHRISTIANS - NEED TO HEAR THIS!! and EMRACE IT!

God’s Sovereignty over salvation doesn’t nullify the need of our proclamation…it empowers our proclamation

Listen to Romans chapter 1...

Romans 1:16 ESV

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

THIS - is why we PROCLAIM Christ!!

THIS - is why we SIGN UP to teach…even when we think we can’t!!

- THIS is why -

- His WORD - His TRUTH - is power - UNTO salvation!!

- THEREFORE - GO say it!

John 10:27 ESV

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

As we SPEAK the truth of God - the Gospel of Christ - His truth GOES OUT...

And His sheep - hear His voice - and they’re awakened to Salvation! To FAITH!

That’s why we go…that’s why we PROCLAIM!!

SUMMARY:

We proclaim the Gospel of Christ because mankind is accountable for their sin before God, and because faith comes by hearing the Gospel of Christ.

Let’s close today by watching a video that will highlight this truth!

Paul Washer Video...

Let’s pray