Saved from Sin

Intro:

We’ve started this series called, Why Church? and we’ve been exploring the idea of coming back to church after almost 6 months of tuning in online. Why should we leave the comfort of our homes? Why do we commit our lives to this thing we call church? Can I do church from home? Do I really need to be part of a small group? Last week, we unpacked the fact that church is not a building, a family, or a country club, but it is something so much bigger. Church is actually a movement, a global movement, led by God, to offer the best possible life to everyone on earth. We have a message of hope and forgiveness that everyone needs to hear.

Which brings us to the next part of the series, Why Church? where we are going to dive into the message of the church. What is the message of the church? What is the driving force of this movement? How well do we actually know the message?

In order the fully unpack the message of the church, we are actually going to take two weeks, and try to get lost in the depth and richness of the message of Christ. This brings us to the first question:

Question 1: What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘Gospel’?

Depending on you background, you could have a number of different responses. If you grew up in church, you may have a prototypical Sunday school or catechism answer. If you have no church background, that may be a word you’re not familiar with. That’s ok. One of the things we’ve been doing over the course of the year is unpacking some foundational ideas so that everyone is on the same page, no matter what your background is. We also want to address some possible misconceptions to help minimize any confusion there may be.

Before we unpack what the gospel is, I want to dive into a fairly big topic that comes up frequently as an argument against God and Christianity. I want to address the problem of evil. We are going to go over the basic premise of the problem of evil and give you enough foundation to see that there really isn’t a problem.

So here is how the problem of evil is laid out: Either God is good, but he’s not strong enough to deal with evil; or God is all-powerful and he’s not good enough to deal with evil. Because if God is all-powerful and good, then why does evil exist? Let’s be honest, that’s a really good question. We believe that God is benevolent or good, and we believe that God is omnipotent or all-powerful, but if both of those are true, why is there evil in the world?

Let’s go back to Genesis to really see where this all comes from. Genesis 1, if you haven’t read it, is all about how God creates the world. He creates light and the sky. He separates the waters so land appears. He creates the sun and stars, plants and animals, and as his grand finale, he creates man and woman. This is what Genesis says:

Genesis 1:26–27 CSB

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.

So God finishes creation. Humanity is the pinnacle of God’s creation, and we even have God’s image and likeness stamped within us. Later on in Genesis, God explains that to cause harm to another human being is to cause harm to one of God’s image bearer and thus cannot be taken lightly. But within us, God placed all his goodness, his love, his creative ability. We were like God.

Genesis 2, we read that God built this beautiful garden called Eden, and he places man there to work the ground and care for the garden. Then God says this:

Genesis 2:15–17 CSB

The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”

Up to this point, everything is good in the world. There is no evil, there is no death. There is harmony and unity. In fact, this is the first time God has given man an instruction of what not to do. Everything else has been what to do. Multiply, rule over the earth, subdue it, care for it. This is the first ‘don’t do’.

This is significant because it shows us that God gave us the ability to make choices. He didn’t make us into robots that obeyed his every command. He gave us freedom of choice, or we like to say in church, free will. This is huge because when God was creating the universe, and God never makes mistakes and he always does things excellently, he decided the most excellent version of humanity was the version that had the ability and freedom to make our own choices.

So now the first man and woman are in the garden, they have complete freedom to live in this paradise that God has created for them, and they have one rule: don’t eat of this tree.

Genesis 3:1–7 CSB

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

The man and the woman disobey God. They use the freedom that was given to them and they break the one rule that God gave them. Through this one action, sin enters the world. The best explanation is have read on sin is this:

“Sin - a wrong relationship with God which may express itself in wrong attitudes or actions towards God himself, other humans, possessions, or the environment.”

Because of the words of the serpent, the man and woman began to doubt that God had their best interest in mind, believed that God was holding out on them, and took matters into their own hands. We can blame the serpent all we want, but the man and the woman made the decision, and they had to face the consequences of their actions.

So let’s circle back to the problem of the evil. If God is good and all-powerful, why is there evil in the world? It’s because of humanity. After the man and woman sinned, Scripture says that everyone is born with a sin nature. This shouldn’t really surprise us. All you parents watching; did you have to teach your kids how to be bad? No they figured that one out on their own. They figured out how to hit, steal, and lie without any real instruction. We have to teach them manners and how to be good. How self-control? How many people have to discipline themselves from doing too many good things? No, we have to be disciplined when it comes to bad things, like eating, laziness, procrastination etc.

The problem is that we have a tough time believing that we’re really that bad. We compare ourselves to our neighbors or those bad people we see on TV and conclude that we can’t actually that bad right? As long as we believe we’re not really that bad, then we really don’t need a Savior. As long as I live a life that just slightly better then the next person, or as long as I don’t cross ‘that’ line, then I’m good. I really should be able to live the life I want, and as long as I’m within the boundaries I’ve set for myself, what do I have to be worried about.

Question 2: What are the characteristics of a healthy relationship?

Go crazy, list off as many characteristics as you can think of. What makes a good relationship. I’ll even help you. Honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, love, respect, honor. We could go on all day about the things that make up a healthy relationship. Maybe this is easy because you’ve got a good relationship with your boyfriend/girlfriend or your spouse. You just need to reflect on that relationship and the answers come flooding in. Maybe you’ve never experienced a healthy relationship, but you know what was missing in the unhealthy relationships. The truth is that at some level, we know what makes a good relationship.

It is no coincidence that sin starts with our relationship with God. If we were to sum up all the things that make a good relationship, I would say this. A good relationship is based on what you give to it. How can I make the person I’m in relationship with better, happier, etc. What do I have to give? An unhealthy relationship, on the other hand, can be summed up like this: What do I get out of this relationship? What can this person offer me?

Enter Jesus. After years of sin and death ruling the world. After years of Israel trying and straining to go through the motions of following the law. After God had been silent for almost 400 years, God inserts himself into the picture. Jesus becomes a man, and for the entirety of his ministry, he put others first. He loved people unconditionally. He ate with people that the religious elite wanted nothing to do with. John says that there isn’t enough paper in the world to record all the good he did while he was on earth. Jesus came and gave of himself day in and day out, only taking time away to connect with his heavenly Father so he could turn around and give more of himself.

Jesus gave of himself until there was nothing left to give; he died on a cross. Why? To restore us to a right relationship with God. Our sin was getting in the way of having the deep and intimate relationship with God that we were supposed to have. Jesus died to reconnect us to our heavenly Father. He paid the price, he removed the stain. Jesus knew that we were sinful to our core, our very nature is opposed to him, and he still died for us to give us another way. He reached into our brokenness and brought restoration. He stood in the gap and took our punishment. He was beaten and embarrassed so we wouldn’t have to be. All of our wrong actions toward other people, towards the environment, all of our sin is ultimately sins against God and Jesus took it all away. All the sin we ever committed and every sin we ever will commit.

What is the gospel? Gospel means ‘good news’. What is the good news? The first part of the good news is that though we are by nature sinful and opposed to God, Jesus died and made a way for us to be redeemed and enter a proper relationship with our heavenly father.

Galatians 5:16–17 CSB

I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want.

It boils down to the reality that there is something wrong with us, something that we couldn’t fix on our own, but God wants to fix for us. This is why church is for everyone; whether you’ve been a disciple of Christ or decades or you’ve never stepped foot into church, we all have this sin nature and God still loves each of us equally. That’s why we can be a come as you are church. No one is perfect, we’ve all got our baggage, and God wants to help each us along this road called life. This is why we receive the Holy Spirit when commit to following Jesus. God puts his spirit in us because in him is all the strength, self-control, joy, peace, and kindness we need to overcome the sinful nature within us.

The good news is that Jesus died on a cross so that you could be forgiven and free from sin. You don’t have to live with addiction; you don’t have to live with that bad habit; you don’t have to live with those negative thoughts. The sinful nature died with Christ on that cross and all the chains that go with it. The best part; that is only half of the message.

Question 3: Who is someone in your life that needs to hear the good news, that Jesus died to set them free?

Don’t share on the comment section. Think about it. If church is a movement, and this message is part of what drives us, then who in your life needs to hear the good news? Who in your life needs to know that Jesus died to save them from their sin? Who needs to come into right relationship with God?