Jesus, the Heart's True Desire

Introduction:

The Scriptures are full of strong statements against sinful, ungodly living.

These statements, often times, are qualified by the proclamation that those who practice these things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

These statements can be and are a stumbling block for many people—they can be a stumbling block for unbelievers and believers alike.

For the believer it can be hard to harmonize these statements with the Scripture’s clear focus on God’s love, mercy and grace.

If Jesus came to forgive sinners, how can sin keep someone out of the Kingdom of God?

The reality is that sinful acts do not keep people out of the Kingdom—the heart does.

For the unbeliever these statements can seem to promote a lifestyle dictated by what a person can’t do—a life of constantly being told not to do this or that; always focussed on what is wrong and how bad they are.

They can seem harsh, abrasive and unwelcoming.

Listen to these passages:

1 Corinthians 6:9-10

1 Corinthians 6:9–10 NASB95

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:19-21

Galatians 5:19–21 NASB95

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

These are strict declarations of the devastating results of immoral living.

Today I want us to think about how these verses fit into our understanding of the Christian life—specifically how they are to understood as a part of the ‘good news’ concerning Jesus—

In other words, we are going to try and understand these statements through the lens of the Gospel.

Issues of the Heart

Mark 7:20-23

Mark 7:20–23 NASB95

And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”

Before any acts of sin are accomplished they are born within the heart.

Sinful acts are symptoms of a the heart.

In other words, sinful acts do not make the heart sick.

The sick heart produces sinful acts.

Understanding the Heart

St. Augustine, in his Confessions stated, “You awaken us to delight in Your praise; for You made us for Yourself, and our heart is restless, until it rests in You.”

Our hearts resting in God is good news.

To speak of the heart in this way is to speak of the inner person—the deepest reality of who we are. It is the heart that governs our activities, because it is from the heart that we reason and are motivated by love and desire.

When Augustine says that God made us for Himself, he is stating succinctly what the Scriptures teach about the nature of humanity.

We are created in the image of God:

Genesis 1:27

Genesis 1:27 NASB95

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Implications of being created in God’s image:

The more we become like God the more we will be fulfilled.

The more we become unlike God the more we will be lacking and unfulfilled.

Psalm 73:25-28

Psalm 73:25–28 (NASB95)

Whom have I in heaven but You?

And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

For, behold, those who are far from You will perish;

You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You.

But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

That I may tell of all Your works.

Psalm 16:1-2

Psalm 16:1–2 (NASB95)

Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.

I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

I have no good besides You.”

As those created in God’s image, our greatest good—our only true good—is God.

Therefore anything that leads us away from God is not good for us—it leads us away from our good.

The sins and vices listed in the passages we read today all lead us away from God, cause us to be unlike Him and this leads us away from our greatest good.

In this way these passages are gracious warnings.

Those who continue in these sinful activities are choosing those things which lead them away from God and His Kingdom.

By choosing these sinful activities people are choosing to move away from God and His Kingdom—they are demonstrating that they do not want God and His Kingdom (the Kingdom of God being the realm where God’s will is done— “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done”).

Their not inheriting the Kingdom of God is the result of God allowing them to continue to follow their hearts desires—desires that move away from God and His will and ways.

Changing the Heart

Jesus is clear that the problem of sin is a problem of the heart.

So, how can the heart be changed and transformed so that what flows forth from it will be good and lead us to God, who is our greatest good and true joy?

SALVATION: Repentance, Faith and Baptism

Acts 2:37-38

Acts 2:37–38 NASB95

Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Biblical Repentance always includes faith—in repentance you turn away from your old life, but if it is to be biblical Christian repentance then you must turn to Jesus is in faith—the 2 are always together.

Romans 6:3-5

Romans 6:3–5 NASB95

Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,

Baptism is always supposed to be proceeded by repentance and faith—That’s why in Acts 2:38 Peter says, “Repent and be baptized”—Repentance, and the faith it includes, are the requirements for baptism.

Baptism, in the Scriptures, is something that happens at the time of repentance and faith. You will be hard pressed to find a description of someone waiting very long at all to be baptized.

So, when Paul speaks of baptism in Romans 6, he understands it as a part of the salvation experience which is dependent upon repentance and faith in Jesus.

But notice what Paul says:

If you have been united with with Jesus in His death in baptism, then you will be united to Him in His resurrection as well and “walk in newness of life”.

This newness of life comes when God, by the Holy Spirit, takes out our heart of stone and gives a heart of flesh—a new heart that beats for God.

SANCTIFICATION: The ongoing transformation of the heart into the image of Christ:

2 Corinthians 3:18

2 Corinthians 3:18 NASB95

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 4:6

2 Corinthians 4:6 (NASB95)

For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

It is when we behold God’s glory in the face of Christ that we are transformed into the image of Christ.

If we want to see transformation that leads to changed living, then we must behold the glory of God that is revealed in Jesus.

How do we do that?

Seeing Jesus Commands and Prohibitions

Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Deuteronomy 30:19–20 (NASB95)

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,

by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Obeying God is the way to life and blessedness—this is clear.

But how do we obey in such a way that allows us to behold Jesus?

Every command and prohibition is more than a rule put in place to structure and organize human life. Like the rest of Scripture, every command and prohibition is a revelation of God in Jesus Christ.

Let’s look at a few examples from Jesus’ statement in Mark 7:21.

We are going to look 1) What is prohibited, 2) What that reveals to us about God, and 3) How we can behold Jesus.

Fornication:

What is prohibited:

Fornication is the engagement of physical marital oneness prior to being married.

What is revealed about God:

God gives His people His blessings through gracious covenantal relationship.

To receive God’s blessing a person must enter into God’s gracious covenant.

Prior to Christ there was the Old, Mosaic, Covenant.

Now there is the New Covenant in Jesus blood.

There is no salvation and blessing from God outside of these covenant relationships because God has chosen to forgive sins and grant His promises through the means of the covenantal relationship.

Marriage is a covenant relationship meant to picture the covenantal relationship between God and His people—that is between Christ and the Church (see Ephesians 5:21-32)

How to behold Jesus:

Right now we wait and long for the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb—the glorious consummation of our relationship with Jesus