Intro
- Can I ask you a probing question...
Q. Are these blessings listed here in the reading special to you?
- We use the phrase, “taken for granted” every now and again to express the fact that from time to time, we do take things for granted
- Whether that be a spouse, friends, parents, our job, our health, our country, or our God, we can accept the blessing as a normal part of life and forget that it is not so normal for other people
- For example, the lifestyle we live here in Echuca is vastly different from the lifestyle in, say, Somalia
- This cannot be more true than if we read & understand this passage & yet be unmoved by it
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- Something IS terribly wrong if we are unmoved by this passage that has been described by William Barclay as a “lyrical song of praise”
- He says that Paul sees gift after gift and wonder after wonder from God pass before his eyes
- In Greek, verses 3-14 comprise the longest sentence in the Bible
- Perhaps he was so enraptured by the things God had done for men & women that he wouldn’t dare stop to take a breath
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- It may come as a surprise to you that there is genuine disagreement that has gone down through the centuries between godly Christians on some aspects of these blessings
- And I don’t believe it will be resolved this side of the Lord’s coming
- However, I don’t think that this in any way changes the truth that these blessings are special & are intended to be special – on that all Christians agree
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- These blessings have been given to us by God & are meant to instill in us an appreciation & sense of awe in how gracious God is & what He has done for us
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- We notice in v. 3 that these blessings are said to be “spiritual”
- Spiritual blessings does not mean that they are spiritual as opposed to material
- What it means, is that these blessings from God are communicated & dispensed to us through His Spirit
- It is the Spirit of God who is the presence of God in our lives giving us assurance, victory, hope, strength & renewal
- Like the apostle Paul says in Php. 4:13 “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me”
1. God has redeemed us (v.7a)
- Redemption has the meaning of “buy back”, “to pay a ransom” etc.
- But I think it is best to describe it as being “set free”
- Captured soldiers (POW’s) in the 1st C. could be purchased back (or redeemed) from the conquering nation
- So they were “set free” from being prisoners of war
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- Israel is said to have been redeemed out of Egypt
- In Deut. 7:8, it reads...
“...the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt”
- This, of course, speaks of their bondage – their slavery - in Egypt
- Israel was set free from their slavery & bondage in Egypt
Q. Now if we are said to have been “redeemed”, then what kind of bondage have we been released from?
Q. How have we been set free?
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- The fact that Christians have been enslaved & persecuted for years means that the deliverance was not from a literal slavery or oppression
- However, there is another sort of bondage that people are enslaved to
- The Bible calls it “sin” - a little 3 letter word that is so obnoxious to the secular world that they no longer like to use it
- The Bible describes sin as a bondage upon the person
Jn 8:31-36 ..... 31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
- Even Israel who experienced redemption from Egypt had not experienced redemption from sin
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- So too, the apostle Peter spoke of this same type of slavery that hangs over the human race when he spoke about false teachers in the church
2 Pe 2:19 [About the teachers, he says]... They promise [the people] freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
- The apostle Paul spoke of the time when he was a legalistic Jew
Ro 7:14-15 ..... 14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
- However, regarding his present Christian position he wrote...
Tit 3:3-5 ..... 3 For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. 4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
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- No one likes to be under any sort of bondage especially to their own desires & lusts
- Many people deceive themselves by saying that they could give up the take-away foods, the cigarettes, the alcohol, the drugs - even the sun baking if they wanted to, but they say – “Oh, but I don’t really want to”
- However, I’d say that most people are really saying “I can’t give it up & I won’t admit to it”
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- The secular world thinks education is the answer to it all
- For example, we’ve known about sun cancer – slip, slop, slap – for years (even since I was a kid)
- Go & have a look at building sites on the Gold Coast or go down to the beach on the Coast for that matter
- People know the dangers, but personal vanity or comfort takes precedence
- Education, of course, is valuable, but it cannot overcome the sin factor
- Something greater is needed & God has done this through the cross of Christ
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- Let me give you a grisly account of how an Eskimo kills a wolf
- It gives us a fresh insight into the consuming, self-destructive nature of sin
First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of blood, and another, until the blade is completely concealed by frozen blood. Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood.
He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare. Feverishly now, harder and harder the wolf licks the blade in the Arctic night. So great becomes his craving for blood that the wolf does not notice the razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue, nor does he recognize the instant at which his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his OWN warm blood. His carnivorous appetite just craves more--until the dawn finds him dead in the snow!"
- That’s a picture of what we were like before our redemption
- The blood of Christ redeems us so that we are no longer slaves to our own lusts - We have been set free!
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- All of us have experienced the power of sin, but Christ has freed us from that power
- We should be able to sing that old negro spiritual song applying it to the reign of sin, we should be able to sing ... "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."
2. God has forgiven us (v.7b)
Q. The purchasing power of our dollar seems to go down all the time, doesn’t it?
- For those of us who are a little seasoned, we can well remember our first pay cheque & how puny that seems compared to now – inflation has done it’s work
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- The purchasing power of God, however, is absolutely constant
- The death of Jesus never loses it’s original value
- The death of Jesus speaks of sacrifice – of a life yielded up in the place of another
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- Whenever wrong has been committed, there must be justice & recompense
- Our society would fall apart if there were not law & justice
- We have law courts for the very purpose of trying a person for their crimes and for dispensing justice
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- The pronouncement that a person has paid their debt to society cannot be made unless the demands of justice have been satisfied
- In such cases, the guilty can go free by the payment of that DEBT to society
- Whether that be a fine or a jail term, justice demands that debts be paid
- In one sense, in the fine or jail term, the person pays the ransom & sets himself free
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- However, no one can set themselves free from a debt that is, humanly speaking, beyond repayment
- The forgiveness of God is said here to be for “trespasses” (plural)
- A trespass means a “failing”, “a slip”, or “an error”
- We can trespass against one another & we can trespass against God
- It was this debt that Christ paid as He surrendered His life to the cross
- He paid the debt that He did not owe & we owed a debt that we could not pay
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- We now come upon this beautiful word, “forgiveness”
- In Christ, God has paid the debt for us & forgiven us of our sins
- Not only has He set us free from sin’s power, but He has released us from the debt of wrong-doing that has accumulated over the passing of time
- Total forgiveness is a reality in Christ
Q. What does forgiveness mean?
- The word forgiveness means “dismissal” or “release”
- When someone says that they don’t hold anything against you, they mean that whatever you are suppose to have done against them, they have released, or sent it away
- If a person continues to hold a grudge, then that release has not happened - forgiveness has not been granted
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- God has given those who believe in His Son this forgiveness
- He has released us from the accumulated debt of our faults, failings & errors
- He has set us free from the nagging & oppressing guilt of an unforgiven conscience
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- He has done this according to the riches of His grace
- If God has done this for His people, then you must understand that you have not contributed to it in any way
- I will go on to argue later that even our faith & our calling are gifts from God (there you are – give you a bit of controversy to talk about later)
Q. God can forgive the vilest sin – true or false?
Q. Is there any sin that is so vile that even God will not forgive?
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- There are 2 reasons for why we believe that God can & does forgive the vilest sinner
1. Because salvation is not from men – in other words, it is what God achieved and it is not based on men’s goodness
- The standards we erect for goodness are not God’s standards
- And the best of men & women still fail don’t they – are they perfect?
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- And I can tell you why the best fail too – they fail because they think they are acceptable to God because of their good life
- They are saying to the almighty that by THEIR standard, they are good enough
- How tragic that they never thought to ask themselves what God’s standard really is
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- The standard God sets is to believe in His Son – get that – it is not an ethical standard but a relationship
- Don’t get me wrong, ethical living is an absolute must, but that comes because of the relationship, not the other way round
2. Because Christ yielded up His life in sacrifice
- The sinless Christ – God in the flesh – gave His life as a meritorious sacrifice for all
- The resurrection of Jesus is the reason I can say that Jesus’ sacrifice is sufficient for all
- If He was an ordinary man – if He mistakenly thought that He is the Son of God called to give His life as a ransom for many, then God would never have raised Him back to life, but He did
- The resurrection says most powerfully to us that God has brought forgiveness of sin – even to the vilest sinner
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Q. What does this mean then? That Christians can sin all they like because they are forgiven?
- God has chosen us - note – in Him, that we would be holy & blameless
Q. How many people are turned away from becoming Christians because of the sinful living of Christians?
- Yes, it can be an excuse a person likes to use, however, Christians need to think twice about living such a schizophrenic life
- One foot in the church & another foot in the world
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Q. Can you know for sure, that you are forgiven by God?
- The word of God leaves us with a definite guide for such assurance
Ac 2:37-41 ..... 37 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?” (Is this your question?)
38 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. 39 “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” 40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.
- It is clear in that passage that Peter calls us to repentance & baptism for the forgiveness of sins
- Repentance means a change of mind & heart concerning the Person of Jesus Christ
- It means believing, trusting in Him & becoming a follower
- In the early church, baptism was the mode of entry into the church – it was the sign that you are forsaking all else and following Christ
- The entry into the church – the sign that a person is following Jesus is baptism – it is the Lord’s requirement as communicated by the Spirit of God through the apostles
Q. Where are you today? What is your standing before God?
- Let’s close this morning with this illustration
Conclusion
In 1829, a man named George Wilson robbed the United States mails killing a person in the process. Later he was caught, found guilty and sentenced to die for his crime. Some friends intervened on his behalf and were able to speak to the then President of the United States, Andrew Jackson.
President Jackson granted Wilson a pardon. But when Wilson was informed of this pardon, he refused to accept it! An appeal was sent back to President Jackson. The President, not knowing what to do, turned to the US Supreme Court for an answer.
The Court gave this ruling: "A pardon is a piece of paper, the value of which depends upon its acceptance by the person implicated. It is hardly to be supposed that a person under the sentence of death would refuse to accept a pardon; but, if it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must die." The sentence of death was carried out upon George Wilson even though a pardon was lying in the Sheriff’s office.
- The issue with God is all about relationship
- It’s all about you & your stubborn independence
- God has done all He can to make you right before Him
- If you refuse to go God’s way, then there is nothing left than to, one day, face Him & explain why you refused to accept the free offer of His pardon
