Sermon Tone Analysis
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Secret Identities
Split your group up into small groups of 3--4 students each and give each group a piece of paper and a pen.
At the top of their sheet, ask them to write down the name of a superhero who has a secret identity, like Batman, or Supergirl.
About halfway down their sheet, have them write the name of the hero’s secret identity.
Then have them make a list in each section about how their character acts and looks differently when they are disguised versus not disguised.
For instance, Clark Kent wears glasses and acts more introverted to hide his identity as Superman.
Ask each group to share some of their answers with the rest of the students.
Ask how these differences change characters’ perceptions of these heroes (characters who don’t know that the secret identity and the hero are the same person).
Just like these characters aren’t able to see the heroes accurately when they are disguised, we don’t always see the people around us accurately or respect human life the way we should.
God sees people as they truly are, but sin corrupts our view of God and His people.
Have you ever changed your mind about how you looked at a certain topic?
What made you change your mind?
What was the experience like?
THIS WEEK’S focus
A change in perspective...
can change everything.
If we are stuck looking at a situation or a problem from one angle, sometimes just coming at it from a different direction can shift everything.
We often get stuck in a rut and even view people from a fixed perspective.
We label people and groups by who they hang out with (“popular people”), what they have achieved (“smart people”), or even mistakes they have made (“bad people”).
But if we actually take time to get to know individuals, we may see them differently.
God wants us to see Him and others the way that He does.
Unfortunately, we usually let the world dictate how we see because sin corrupts our view of God and His people.
Central truth
Sin corrupts our view of God and His people
#1
What were some of the ways that Israel was being unfaithful?
#2
How were God’s people failing to value human life?
In Ezekiel 16, God gave the prophet a picture of Israel that compared the children of God to an unfaithful bride.
He used very strong imagery to describe how His covenant people had continued to rebel against God, dishonor His name, and choose other idols in His place.
Even though God had rescued Israel, like an infant who had been abandoned (vv.
4-6), they had used everything He had given them for evil and their own selfish gain.
They only increased in pride and rebellion and were adopting the way of life and worshiping the false gods of foreign powers.
One of the pinnacles of Israel’s depravity was their participation in child sacrifice.
Though much of the description given in Ezekiel 16 was an allegory—not necessarily a literal description—we do know that at certain points of Israel’s history this practice occurred.
In their sin and search for significance, they were willing to commit these terrible acts against their own children as they followed the example of pagan nations.
#3
How could God’s people commit such evil acts?
#4
How do the “idols” in our own lives corrupt our view of God?
What are some examples of these idols?
It may seem unfathomable to us that anyone would participate in, let alone sanction, something like sacrificing a child.
How could God’s people have fallen so far?
God had been explicit in His Law that there was no place for such heinous practices (Lev.
18:21, 20:1-5; Deut.
12:31, 18:10).
Yet, it certainly began as most sin does—as a slow drift away from God and His Law.
It didn’t take long for Israel to forget how God had rescued them from the pit of slavery and oppression.
Like a child left to fend for itself, Israel had no means of liberating herself (vv.
4-6).
But God, in His kindness and covenant faithfulness, pulled them out and provided everything they needed.
Then they forgot again.
They turned a blind eye to God’s faithfulness and started looking elsewhere for approval and fulfillment.
They started looking at other nations—the gods they served and wealth they accumulated.
They started to wonder why their God wasn’t giving them the same things their neighbors had.
Then slowly but surely, they started to make compromises.
They stepped outside the boundaries God had made for them, and then drifted further and further from His statutes.
This is an extreme example of what can happen when any of us worship something other than God.
We look to other people, things, and practices to give us validation, meaning, and happiness that is only God’s to give.
Even if those idols don’t look like the physical statues in Israel, they are just as dangerous.
We can make an idol out of anything—even good things.
In the process, as we take our eyes off God, we start to doubt His character.
Israel doubted God’s love and care for them and this doubt led them to look for it elsewhere.
If we are not setting our eyes on Jesus, who is the very picture of God’s love for us, we will start to look elsewhere for it.
While Ezekiel addressed many of the same issues as he did in chapter 16, here God was focusing on more of the political issues that arose out of Israel’s unfaithfulness.
They had chosen to ally themselves with nations who opposed God.
They had chosen to collaborate with nations who did not value life as God does.
As a result, Israel was showing more allegiance to foreign gods and false worship than to the word and instruction of their own God.
#5
Why were Israel’s practices offensive to God? How did Israel profane God’s name and God’s sanctuary?
The Israelites had blood on their hands.
They had let their false gods and idols pave the road to sin and sacrilege.
But not just any sin: just as Ezekiel had previously addressed, they were complicit in rampant unfaithfulness, defilement, idol worship, and even sacrificing their children to those idols.
They had lost all understanding of God’s view of humanity.
Then, they showed up to worship like nothing was wrong.
God made very clear that their actions were a personal sin against Him.
They offered His children, defiled His sanctuary, and did so on His Sabbath.
Sin hardens us to the truth.
Israel was so numbed to their sin and wrongdoing that they could come into the sanctuary and worship right after having willfully rejected God with their actions.
The reality is that all of us can find ourselves there.
It is easy to look at others and how they sin and say, “That would never be me.”
But none of us is above it.
Over time we can make little compromises that all pile up.
We can find ourselves more and more okay with certain sins and sacrifices of God’s truth.
We can do that while still putting on a front of religion and having it all together.
We can show up on Sundays and play the part.
Psalm 139:13-16
#6
What does Psalm 139 tell us about God?
What does it tell us about us?
#7
What is our right response to God, according to verse 14? How does David’s response demonstrate how Israel should have responded in Ezekiel’s time?
If Israel had a right understanding of God’s value for all human life, they would not have sold themselves off to other idols.
If they had rightly seen God as Creator and sustainer of their lives, they would not have looked elsewhere for value and validation.
But they hardened their hearts toward God.
In the process, they cheapened human life for the sake of other gods.
There is great mystery and wonder in the creation of human life.
God’s total and complete knowledge of us is on display in His creation, even down to the smallest details of who we are.
Even though each person is formed intricately and uniquely, God knows every part of us better than we know ourselves.
Being fully known and fully loved is ultimately what we want as humans—for someone to love us with full knowledge of the broken places within us.
What comfort we have in a God who loved us before He had even knit us together!
This alone should lead us to worship (v.
14).
Do you ever struggle to see yourself as God sees you?
To remember and live with the value that He has placed on you as His image bearer?
Consider sharing with your group about a time when you needed that reminder.
#8
How should Psalm 139 shape our view of all human life—at every stage, from every background, etc.?
David’s word of praise to God came from the overwhelming reality that God had full knowledge of him.
Not only him, but every person.
Because God has knit us together in our mother’s wombs, we recognize and value life from the very start.
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