SF528 - WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT PEOPLE (Psalm 8 1-9)
SF528
WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT PEOPLE
Psalm 8:1-9
INTRODUCTION
Mankind is a study of contrasts...
Man can be Incredibly creative
Mozart wrote his first full-length orchestral piece when he was only eight years old.
Man can be Incredibly destructive
LA riots
Man can be wonderfully kind
Mother Teresa...
Man can be wickedly cruel
Father in Arizona beheaded his son
Man can be surprisingly intelligent
Bill Gates - We only us perhaps 10% of our brains
Man can be astoundingly foolish
Man who tried to sell a stolen car to two policemen... in uniform
What is it that makes people tick?
What distinguishes....
The genius from the idiot?
The criminal from the hero?
The good person from the bad?
What is man that you are mindful of him...?
1A. MAN’S PROBLEM EXPLAINED
1B. Man is a Sinner by Birth
(Psalms 51:5) Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
(Romans 5:12&19) Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned‑‑For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Adam is both symbolically and actually the head of the human race!
We are controlled by sin from birth
(Ecclesiastes 9:3) ... The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.
We are contaminated by sin at birth
(Isaiah 64:6) All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
(Psalms 14:3) All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
(1 John 1:8) If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
2B. Man is a Sinner by Choice
Sin becomes personal
“Choose you this day who you will serve...”
(James 1:14‑15) but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. {15} Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full‑grown, gives birth to death.
David - Bathsheba (2 Samuel)
Sampson - Delilah (Judges 16)
Agrippa - Paul (Acts 26)
3B. Man is a Sinner by Practice
Sin becomes pleasurable
(Hebrews 11:25) ...rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.
(Psalms 52:3) You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. Selah
Sin becomes binding
(Ephesians 2:1‑3) ...you were dead in your transgressions and sins, {2} in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. {3} All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
2A. GOD’S PROVISION EXAMINED
1B. Man is the Object of God’s Special Creation (Genesis 1)
Special way (26)
“Image” = similar to God in our spiritual make up - God is spirit
“Likeness” = originally like God in our innocence, holiness
Special work (26b, 28-29)
Special worth (30)
2B. Man is the Object of God’s Saving Grace
(1 Timothy 2:4) who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
(Ephesians 2:8‑9) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith‑‑and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God‑‑ {9} not by works, so that no one can boast.
3B. Man is the Object of God’s Sovereign Call
(Ephesians 1:4) For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.
(Romans 8:29) For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son...
(2 Peter 3:9) The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
APPLICATION
George Whitefield, was preaching in England one day when a ruffian came whose pockets were filled with rocks. He was going to break up the meeting. He stood there and began listening to Whitefield. He said, “I don’t want to throw these rocks at him in the prayer so I’ll wait until the prayer is over.” Then Whitefield read his text. The ruffian said, “I’m not going to throw these rocks at him while he is reading the Bible. I’ll wait until the text is read.” And when he had read the text, Whitefield launched into his message about the grace of God in Christ Jesus.
The ruffian never threw the rocks. After the message, he made his way to the preacher and said, “I’ve come here with my pockets full of rocks to break up this meeting, but instead God has broken up my heart.” The man was gloriously converted right there on the spot.
In what condition did you come here?
More important, in what condition will you leave?