What is Goodness
Notes
Transcript
What is Goodness?
What is Goodness?
what is goodness?
What is good?
Luke 18:19
Genesis 1-2
When we say the word good.
What comes to your mind?
Anybody?
WAIT HEAR SOME ANSWERS:
You see what I am reminded of is back in the garden.
The garden of Eden in Genesis 1 and 2
As God was creating the world, after each day God called his creation good.
Just so we are all on the sam page:
God saw that the light was good.- Day 1
God saw the sky and the land was good- Day 2
Vegetation sprang from the ground trees, and plants and God saw that it was good- Day 3
God put the sun and moon into place and all the stars and galaxies and God saw that it was good.- Day 4
God crafted al living creatures and the birds of the air- Day 5
Then God created man in his own image and he saw that he was good.- Day 6
Then day 7 God rested.
But God himself looked back at creation and saw that it was all good.
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
You see what we see in the garden is good- it is perfect.
WATER VASE
what God created was good, what he set up was good.
He set humans, hi creation in the middle of the garden for them to live in it.
We of course know the rest of this story, as good did not continue to describe Adam and Eve.
As they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Their eyes were opened- they realized the wiring in their braining was compelling them to go good, yet in this moment with a little help from a crafty snake- the two tasted knowledge of good and evil.
I think they knew what good tasted like, but this unknown substance that was now inside of them that was foreign to them, was now interwoven in them.
And the perfect- good world that God created was now tainted.
World Vase- With water
Pour Sin into the water
What was good is now tainted with sin.
This effects you and me because we are born in this world.
We were born into sin— nothing good can come from us.
You see even when you were born as a cute innocent baby, you were tainted with Sin.
YOU VASE- With Water from the WORLD.
We are all tainted as we being life.
Which stinks, I mean we were not in the garden, but when Adam sinned we also sinned as humanity sinned as one.
If it wasn’t Adam it would have been someone else at some point.
Right?
But with this tainted world now, it would be impossible to do that.
OUR GOODNESS IS TRASH
We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
We are unclean
All of our good deeds cannot scrub away the trash, the filth that is in this world.
We are tainted, broken, unclean.
Isaiah here is taking about polluted garments- rags that cannot ever be used again.
Everybody poops right.
Once you get done wiping your bum- you are not going to use that same rag to blow your nose right?
HECK NO!
I am throwing up just thinking about it.
That is virtually what God is saying about your righteous deeds.
They are poopy toilet paper— not useful, unclean.
No matter how good you are or think you are this is your reality— your good deeds are worthless.
Paul would say in Ephesians 2 this:
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
This was our fate.
Because of our sin— no matter our goodness— we were doomed to die in our sin.
We entered the world tainted, and we leave the world tainted.
We live in our own passion of the flesh.
We do what our desires of our bodies tell us— we fit in with the world.
Here is the worlds fate— tainted lives.
This is where we were.
Our goodness trash
Yet God knew this was the issue.
He had a plan.
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
GOD’S GOOD PLAN
Folks this is the heart of the Gospel.
The world was tainted, BUT GOD SENT JESUS.
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
You see we all of us, have lived as an enemy of God.
There may be some of your right here tonight who are still enemies of God.
But you don’t have to be.
You see something incredible happened about 2000 years ago.
REMEMBER Here is the state we were in after Adam and Eve sinned.
Tainted.
The world and us
And God has a gift for the world
Now enter in the Son of God.
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. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.
Catch this here.
One mans trespasses or sin caused a tainted world.
This free gift from God does not result in a world wide forever and ever curse.
The free gift of grace brings justification.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
We have this tainted world.
While we were still sinners, before any of us in the room and on planet earth right, before anyone was ever born Jesus picked up His cross.
He walked to a crowd of people he created.
to a place that he spoke into existence to die a horrible death to take this tainted world and He threw out his arms and said IT IS FINISHED.
But before he gave up his life.
He took the weight of sin and paid the price for it.
Romans 6:23- the wages of sin is death.
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
He died bearing our sins.
This would have been just a noble act if the second act of Jesus does not come to pass.
That when Jesus woke three days later.
He left the tomb- whole, and alive— When he woke from death— he was no longer paying for your sin— It was covered— it was left in the tomb— it was kept in the grave—
AND THIS TAINTED SINFUL WORLD that got this way from one man was now saved through one man.
Jesus was perfect and pure— and no matter how much sin is in the world.
Jesus continues offer his free gift of grace
No matter how much world comes at Jesus, Jesus never falters, his love never wavers.
So when you, who is sinful.
Has a choice to make.
We can continue to live lives without Jesus.
But by doing so we continue to look like this world.
We will never experience his endless love and abounding grace.
But you can choose to follow after Jesus and accept his free gift.
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.
And when we are saved— here is what happens— You are forgiven.
When God sees you— you are no longer tainted.
but you are forgiven of all sins.
POUR WATER INTO THE YOU VASE
The Holy Spirit comes inside of you and he dwells in you.
And it is through the Holy Spirit that your goodness that was filth is counted as righteous.
For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
GOODNESS THROUGH OBEDIENCE
It was by the death of Jesus and the price he paid the choice he made to be obedient on the cross.
I do not know if you have noticed or not but all the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
All of these fruits belong to the character of God.
For he is love, and Joy
He is a God of peace
And he is patience
Kind to all
and he is soooo good.
We all have a choice to make.
Maybe some of you made this choice a long time ago— and maybe we need to remember what Jesus did for us.
Maybe there are those who are tainted right now.
Here is the deal you can be washed clean.
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.
If you are not a believer memorize this.
If you are a believer memorize this.
For this is it.
How do we become saved— We believe and we confess with our mouth.
And the whole idea of good is what we are striving to get back too.
When Jesus comes to build His Kingdom, when Armageddon is all done— what are we going to have?
Perfect, everything will be good.
We will wrap up here with a song lyric from David Crowder.
I was born to be royal
I was made to be free
But I was torn from the garden
When that devil lied to me
I was formed from the soil
I got dirt inside of me
But I was born to be royal
I was made for glory
Take me back to the garden
Take me back and walk with me
For Your presence I am longing
Take me back
God, take me back!
Take me down to the river
Down to Eden's crystal streams
Where every sin can be forgiven
Holy Ghost come set me free
Take me back to the garden
Take me back and walk with me
For Your presence I am longing
Take me back!
God, take me back!
Back to Your Kingdom, come
Take me back!
Back to Your Kingdom, come!
I was born to be royal
I was made to be free
Let’s Pray
HOW TO DO THIS ILLUSTRATION: Fill the "Jesus" jar with half water, half bleach. Fill the "Sin" jar with water and dark food coloring. Fill the "You" jar with water. Pouring the "sin" water dilutes the food coloring, and vice versa.