Sermon Brief
Date Written: September 18, 2009
Date Preached: September 20, 2009
Where Preached: OPBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Sermon Series: Back To School – Believers Edition!
Sermon Title: The ‘Enoughness’ of Salvation!
Sermon Text: John 3:16-17 [NLT]
Introduction:
Over the past 2 weeks we have been in our series “Back to School – Believers Edition” where we have focused on the basic tennents and principles of who we are as Christians. 2 weeks ago we saw looked at Jesus Christ and celebrated who He is and what He has done and how He holds us together in all we are and in all we do!
Last week we looked at the Word of God… the Scripture… that they point to and reveal Jesus Christ to the world! Jesus is called the “Word” by John in John 1:1 whereby John is relating Jesus to God on equal footing… that Jesus IS God! And that the Scripture we cling to is the very breath of God himself!
Today I want us to look at the end game of Scripture… Why did God choose to reveal Himself to humanity? Why did He wrap Himself in flesh and come to earth in the person of Jesus Christ? Why did God see fit to allow Scripture to endure and be preserved? What purpose does Christ revealed and Scripture preserved have to do with our lives today?
Today I want to share with you that there IS a very specific purpose in Christ revealed to humanity and there is a very specific purpose in Scripture preserved for humanity and that purpose is SALVATION!
Let’s read our Scripture for today:
16 “For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him…”
I believe that it could be said that all the world would agree that in the person of Jesus Christ there was a turning point for this world. Now understand me when I say this… I know that there are those today who do NOT believe in Jesus Christ as God, or who even believe that there is a God who created us…
But even these people use a simple term that gives acknowledgment of the importance of Jesus Christ in this world… that tells the world that Jesus Christ and His life was the turning point for this world!
Today when we look at history, it is divided into 2 very broad and basic categories, secular humanists call these eras… The Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE)! You may not know what I am speaking about but before these terms came along in the 1980’s or 90’s, they were called something totally different.
It is interesting to note that the purpose of the BC / AD dating system was to make the birth of Jesus Christ the dividing point of world history. However, when the B.C. / A.D. system was being calculated, they actually made a mistake in pinpointing the year of Jesus’ birth.
Scholars later discovered that Jesus was actually born in around 4-6 BC, not 1 AD. That is not the crucial issue. The birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ are the "turning points" in world history. It is fitting, therefore, that Jesus Christ is the separation of "old" and "new." BC was "before Christ" and since His birth, we have been living "in the year of our Lord." http://www.gotquestions.org/BC-AD.html
So basically what we can determine is that Jesus is the change agent… that there was a world BEFORE Christ and there is a world AFTER the life of Christ… and that world is radically different because of the person of Jesus Christ!
So in looking at Salvation this morning I want to focus on that theme… the Before and After Jesus theme… You see for those of us who know Christ as Savior there was at one time in our lives… a BEFORE time when we did not know Christ… and there are others in this world, maybe even in this room today who are living in that BEFORE era… not knowing Jesus as their Savior!
We are all familiar with the before/after concept. Usually what happens is you take a picture of something BEFORE a specific event, and then a picture AFTER that specific event, and it is fun to compare the two! I have seen before and after pictures on about every subject matter known to humanity, but here are just a few I have seen this week that I find interesting.
The first picture you see here is a traditional watermelon BEFORE scientists in Japan got a hold of it [show picture here]… then this next picture is a watermelon AFTER Japanese scientists got done with it…[show 2nd watermelon pic here] Now I don’t know about you but a square watermelon is just wrong!
These next pictures I believe all adults can relate to… the 1st picture is the picture of a regular guy BEFORE the IRS phone call about the tax audit [show pic now]… this next picture is him AFTER getting that call from the IRS [show 2nd pic here]
Then there are those moments we all dread, moments like car accidents like this young lady had [show picture here]…BEFORE she got her car repaired all seemed hopeless, but then AFTER she got it repaired [show picture here]…all seemed right with the world!
Here’s one we can relate to… here is a young lady’s wrecked car BEFORE it goes into the shop [show picture here]… and then we see what her car looks like AFTER it comes OUT of the shop! [show picture here]…
Finally I thought you may appreciate these next photos… the 1st is 2 love birds BEFORE they got married… they were young and stupid! [show pic1 of Michelle and me]
Then this next picture is of that same love bird couple 28 yrs later much wiser! This was waaay AFTER they got married! [show 2nd Michelle and me pic here] I sorta like that 2nd picture myself… because there’s a lot more of me to like!
I show you these pictures to illustrate a point… in our lives there are many BEFORE and AFTER moments, and many of them stick with us and there are some that we experience and never remember past that one fleeting moment!
When it comes to the spiritual realm, it is like history, it all centers around when Jesus comes into your life! For those of us who know Christ as our Savior, we have a BEFORE story (a BC story) in our life and we also have an AFTER story (AD story) in our life!
BEFORE we came to know Christ we were like some of these before pictures you have seen…
Normal… run of the mill regular life…[show before watermelon pic here]
Thinking all is well with the world never knowing what is about to happen…[show regular man picture here]…
A total wreck… [show car wreck picture here]…
Lost, confused and not knowing where to go or what to do…[show Bobby/Michelle #1 picture here]…
And then Jesus came into our lives and our perspective changed and we began to live out that AFTER story! This is what Paul is speaking about…this is the life that Christ has called us to live.
Today if there is anyone who is here and you are still living your life in that BEFORE Christ [BC] stage of life, I pray that the words of this message will touch your heart…AND that thru the enlightening focus of the Holy Spirit you will come to know Christ as Savior today!
Who Are We Before Christ
In reading the Bible one does not have to read very far… 3 chapters to be exact… to see where humanity abandons God for his own desires and sins against its Creator!
In Gen 3 Adam and Eve fall to the temptation of their desires, and they are cursed by God and driven out of paradise, NEVER to return! Eve is cursed with pain in childbirth and Adam is cursed to toil the ground for food and because of their actions, death and sickness has now entered the world.
Humanity before Christ rejected God and sought after their own desires and we see this described time and time again throughout Scripture. Adam and Eve, Cain, Lamech, the people of the tower of Babel, the people of earth prior to the flood… and the story continues throughout recorded history where people turn their backs on God and seek out their own desires!
God purges the world through a flood but humanity does not change and continues seeking its own desires. God sent prophets to proclaim His word and Laws, but they were rejected and/or killed. But all along God had a plan, and that plan was Jesus!
Up to the point where Jesus was born, God had dealt with humanities sinfulness by sending prophet after prophet and the ritual of animal sacrifice. But, when Jesus came, things were radically changed! Before Jesus the world sought after its own desires and there was NO clear redemption process!
There was sin in the world and that sin separated us from our Creator God and there was NO way for us to regain that communion with God on our own. Paul tells about our condition BEFORE Christ in the book of Eph:
Eph 2:1-3 [NLT]
1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
Before Jesus, we were spiritually dead. We are disobedient to God and sinful in our life style and choices. Like Paul says we were living in sin and obeying the Devil. Satan is all about getting people to refuse to submit to God… in other words DISOBEY God’s laws…
We have a sinful nature that is selfish and we have a tempter in Satan whose job is to keep us distracted and away from submitting to and serving God. And this puts us in a very dangerous and awkward place!
When we do not submit to God and when we do NOT serve Him, we are in the cross-hairs of God’s anger and justice! We are setting ourselves up by living in accordance with OUR own desires!
You see so many of us fail to acknowledge our sin because we compare ourselves to OTHER people. We rationalize that if they are doing it and I am doing it… it can’t be wrong? Can it?
We also don’t see the wrong in a matter because society our culture has blurred the lines of right and wrong, and we don’t take the time to know where those lines of right and wrong are. Before we come to know Jesus, we are just like everyone else… we are all LOST and separated from God, and Paul says that we are actually an enemy of God.
Which leads to the question, but preacher, I don’t FEEL like I need saving. Why do I NEED to be saved?
Why do we need to be ‘saved’?
I have found that today in our world, the main question or objection to Christianity or accepting Christ as Savior is very simple. People want to know WHY!
When confronted with the Gospel, they ask the question, WHY? Why do I need to be saved? I am not a murderer! I am not a thief! I am an honest person. If I just live my life as good as I can, isn’t that good enough?
To these people the aspect of salvation is offensive to them because it places them in the wrong, it calls for them to admit that they have sin in their life! It forces them to admit that they NEED God. They want to know why because they feel what they do and how they live should be good enough.
But humanity cannot change the standard… we cannot make what we do and how we live good enough. When we read the Bible it gives us the answer to the ‘why’ question. Scripture says it is because of sin that we need to be saved!
At Creation, Adam and Eve were created perfect and innocent, but they were disobedient and rebelled against God. This is known as The Fall of humanity and can be found in Genesis chapter 3.
As a result of their rebellion, Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden and cursed because of their sin. Now they and the entire creation would now susceptible to things such as sickness, aging, getting tired, body breaking down, and ultimately death… all because of their sin!
We can see that our sin nature became Adam’s legacy to the world… all born in this world since Adam and Eve are born into sin, born with a sinful and selfish nature. In other words, because of Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden all of humanity was now lost and separated from a true fellowship and communion with God.
This sin gulf that man brought upon himself separated us from our Creator, but God in His mercy and grace had a plan… He had this plan from before the beginning of the world… that plan is made evident in our Scripture this morning.
The sin and sinful fallen nature that separates us from God from the time we are conceived in the womb… can be eliminated by God in our lives… THAT is what salvation is all about! God’s plan for salvation begins with Jesus Christ and is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ! That is the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
So I sin a little, what’s the big deal preacher? God is love…right? If God is a loving God why do I need to worry about a little sin here or there, what do I need to be afraid of… what does salvation do? What does it save me FROM?
What do we need to be ‘saved’ from?
Many people fall back on their own accomplishments and they truly believe that they are basically a good person! They say, I don’t steal, I don’t kill, and I don’t lie… and I am always trying to be very helpful to others. Why do I need to be saved? I don’t need to be saved, I am living a good life!
Secular Humanism believes that the human experience is self contained… meaning that we are who we make ourselves to be, that there is no God and no afterlife, only the here and now… only what we choose to make of ourselves!
And the secular humanist of today would say that the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve were a myth… kind of a story to bring about a God for people to fear…to control people. They say that there is no such thing as original sin… they say there is no such thing as sin!
The sad think about secular humanism is that many Southern Baptists of today have been deceived by this secular humanist viewpoint. Things like situational ethics and life choices run rampant in the church community!
However, what we need to realize is that this is a lie from Satan… this is His great deception in convincing us that we are good enough, that sin is either not real or is not bad!
You see, Satan would love it if we simply did not believe he or Hell existed or if we believed that sin was not a real thing…, but he does and his desire is our destruction! Our sin nature yearns for its OWN desires and it struggles and fights against giving in and submitting to God.
Well, I am here to tell you that sin DOES exist…and the eternal consequences OF sin exist as well… Yes, I am telling you that HELL DOES exist! I am also telling you that God is a just and holy God who will allow people to end up in this dreadful place if they do not allow surrender to Him… if they do not accept Him as Savior to help them with their sin problem.
Just as Adam and Eve gave into the temptation in the Garden…we too struggle and fight against submitting to God’s will, and we fall! This is what the Bible calls sin.
But sadly we have SO many people in the church today who believe that they can go to church, pay their tithes, go to Sunday School and check all the spiritual boxes they think they need to check… AND that these actions themselves entitle them to salvation and entrance into God’s heaven!
These people may perform all the outward and religious things we speak about, things like ‘walking the aisle’ after a sermon one day… things like being baptized… things like church attendance… or any sort of church work…
But the issue here is NOT the ritualistic submission… and don’t get me wrong walking the aisle and confessing your sin is important… submitting in obedience in baptism is very important for the believer AND coming to church and attending worship and Bible study is essential for the believer!
My point is that these things do NOT guarantee salvation… these are acts of obedience, but can be counterfeited by people and I have known people to do this!
True salvation brings about a radical change in the life of the believer who claims that salvation… SO if a person is claiming salvation BUT their life has NOT changed… then that ‘salvation’ experience they claim is not real… it was an emotional reaction to God’s presence… and I am here to tell you that true and real salvation is not about emotionalism!
True salvation in Christ is NOT an emotional reaction to God, but it is a definite act of choice that is proved out by the empirical evidence of a radically changed life!
A life that seeks no longer to please itself but to do the will and purpose of God. Now don’t get me wrong, the salvation experience is an emotional time for you… but salvation is NOT and CANNOT be based in emotion!
Another aspect is that we need to understand that salvation is not a process by which you are saved a little bit at a time! The Holy Spirit works to reveal truth and convict of sin and your eyes can be opened, but salvation comes in a single moment in time when the non believer sees themselves for who they are before a holy God, and they surrenders their life to Christ Jesus!
One moment they are lost and hopeless, the next moment they are saved and redeemed. Now this does not mean they are matured in Christ yet, that is a definite process, but the act of salvation is a one moment in time event for the believer!
So to answer the 2 questions above, what do we need to be saved FROM… First we need to be saved from SIN (which is disobedience to God’s Law) Sin separates us from God and is a barrier to us knowing our Creator!
Second, we need to be saved from the consequences of our sin and that is hell, eternal judgment, torment and pain, bondage to Satan, bondage to sin, bondage to selfishness… when Christ comes into our lives, we are delivered from the eternal consequences of our sinful life!
Sin and sinful consequences? Preacher I still need more! Can you explain this salvation a bit more to me, and why do I need it?
What is salvation and why do we need it?
Salvation defined in Webster’s is:
The act of saving somebody or something from harm, destruction, difficulty or failure…
The means of saving somebody or something that protects or delivers another from harm, destruction, difficulty or failure.
Common like words for salvation are deliverance, rescue, recovery or escape!
Let me draw you a mental picture here… I want you to think about someone sinking in the rough and turbulent waves of the ocean during a storm! They need to be saved or they are going to drown! They need “salvation”! It can come in many forms but out at see it usually comes in the form of the Coast Guard or from other boats or vessels around them… People come o rescue them from the harm of drowning and the destruction of their life. They are ‘saved’ from death and drowning!
Or let’s look at another example, let’s look at a young man or woman who is just starting out in life. You see them making wrong choices and headed down the wrong path… you know what heartache and pain is around the corner if they continue down that road… They need to be saved from this… salvation can come to them thru a mentor or family member to help them escape the pain, suffering and destruction that waits for them.
And just like those 2 situations, ALL of humanity is spiritually headed in the wrong direction, Scripture defines as any direction contrary to God’s Law. ALL of humanity is headed toward harm, destruction, much difficulty and ultimate failure for all eternity.
Thus, all humanity needs to be saved by One who CAN save us… one with the knowledge and power to do so. In an ocean rescue, the Coast Guard has the expertise, knowledge and ability to save us. In a life situation, those who have gone before us…those with life experiences have the expertise, knowledge and ability to save us from ourselves…
So in the spiritual world, Jesus is the one with the knowledge, expertise and power to save us and delivers us from our doomed destination!
The secular humanist of today would disagree with me. They would say that God, sin, and salvation are all a ruse of the church to keep you scared and under control. They would say that we do NOT need saving, because there is nothing for us to be saved FROM…there is just this life and nothing before or after it.
They would say that there is NO sin…as we speak of it, but merely choices people make and if it is right to them… then it is right… but if it is wrong to them then it is wrong!
This is where God’s Word comes into play. They say it is a myth and a fabrication of man. But time and time again Scripture has been proven true after attacks by such people. God’s Word is a standard that does NOT change! The problem with secular humanism is that it judges Christianity by its followers and NOT by its leader, Jesus Christ! They miss out on the blessing of salvation because they cannot understand how God can use broken and fallen vessels.
But that is the glory and beauty of salvation for the sinner. We all are broken and fallen. We all have a freedom of choice to accept God or reject Him! God does not and will never FORCE you to accept Him. There will be a day when you will be required to acknowledge who He is… but accepting Him as Savior is not something He will force you to do…
When we look at Scripture and God’s plan for humanity we can see that “Salvation” is God’s answer to humanity’s fall from innocence, and humanity’s inability to elude the destruction, death and suffering that is a result of that fall which was caused by selfish choices and led to the sinful nature we all have within us now.
When we look at it from God’s perspective and from Scripture:
Salvation rescues fallen humanity from our own sinful self…
Salvation delivers fallen humanity from our own destructive behavior…
Salvation allows fallen humanity to escape the great danger and failure of our own sinful desires and passions…
Salvation allows fallen humanity to once again fellowship and commune with their creator…
But what many people FAIL to recognize and realize is that Salvation is NOT some mystical event or an unknown quantity. As I have said before, salvation is a tangible and very objective event. Salvation is a point in time!
Salvation is a distinct event for each and every believer, it is an individual experience. Salvation is solely God’s gift to humanity and not some reward for humanity’s good choices…Salvation is strictly the sole act from a merciful and gracious God!
Sin, sinful consequences and being saved from eternal punishment? I still need more preacher… if we can be saved from our sin… if we can be delivered from the eternal consequences and punishment of our sin… that would be great! But I need to know…
Where does salvation come from?
When we think about salvation, we think rescue or deliverance and when we think of that we have a lot of mental pictures that come to mind… things like a fireman… or a policeman… an EMT!
These people are looked to because their job involves rescuing people physically, but when it comes to the spiritual realm, salvation comes from only one source and that source is Jesus Christ alone!
John 14:6 [NLT]
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
Acts 4:11-12 [NLT]
11 For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’
12 There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
Our Scripture for this morning reveals WHERE Salvation comes from as it tells us:
John 3:16-17 [NLT]
16 “For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him…”
In the book of Romans Paul speaks about how salvation occurs as he says:
Rom 10:9-10 [NLT]
…9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.
Salvation happens when a lost sinner is convicted of sin by the Holy Spirit. They begin to see themselves for the sinner they are in line with a holy and just God.
When they see this and reach out to Jesus in prayer and confession and with a broken and contrite heart and ask His forgiveness and place their faith and trust in Him… it is at that moment they are saved!
Salvation is accepting Christ for who Scripture says He is…and not about what we DO. Ephesians 2:8-9 [NLT] reveals to us that if we could do things to save ourselves then what would that say to the world around us? It would say that we could somehow EARN our salvation! We can do nothing to be saved but must BE saved by someone, through our confession of sin and submission to Christ!
Eph 2:8-9 [NLT]
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Ok preacher, I can see that sin is bad, and that because of my sin, there are consequences FOR that sin, eternal consequences that I cannot change! You have told me that the salvation I need is only available thru Jesus, and although it may seem obvious to others, I need to ask…
What will this salvation do for me?
Salvation removes the sin which stains and condemns the soul. Salvation does not merely wipe sin away, but purges it entirely and casts it out… leaving NO trace! Scripture has told us that God has promised to all who accept Him as Savior… He will forgive and purge the sin and He will also choose to forget the forgiven sin… and He no longer holds it against our account!
Psalm 103:11-12 [NLT]
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. 12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.
Salvation not only removes the sin from our lives and the stain it can and does bring, but salvation also removes the eternal consequence of disobeying God’s Law, which Scripture tells us is death…
Romans 6:23 [NLT]
23 For the wages of sin is death…
For the WAGES…or the payment for… our Sin is death, this is what Scripture tells us! But the joyful part of this passage is the final part of that verse where it tells us that salvation delivers us from that spiritual death!
Romans 6:23 [NLT]
23 For the wages of sin is death… but the free gift [salvation[ of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Salvation is that the gift of God that brings about eternal life… and delivers us from eternal spiritual death! In other words, salvation brings about that which is opposite of what sin brings into our lives… Sin brings death… Salvation brings eternal life!
Not only does salvation deliver us FROM death and promise us ETERNAL LIFE, but salvation also brings into the life of the believer many things to be used in THIS world… in THIS life!
Salvation brings about a new life, a new persona, a new way of seeing the world. This is because salvation brings about a radical change in the life of who is saved! When we are saved, the Holy Spirit comes into our life and with it comes the fruit of the Spirit which is:
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
It is these nine characteristics that enable the Holy Spirit to mold and shape our lives to what God desires us to be. Thru the Holy Spirit we are matured spiritually!
So salvation ultimately should bring about a spiritual maturity and a change… a very radical change in how we live our life and how the world sees how we live!
So the results of salvation are plenty, it removes our sin, it cleanses our soul, it assures us eternal life and a place with God. Salvation also equips us for serving God in this world by bringing into our lives characteristics that shape and mold us to God’s will. The result of salvation is a totally and radically changed life that looks NOTHING like it did before Christ saved them.
Salvation changes the sinful heart into a believer who is seeking to serve God in all he or she does. Salvation brings about workers for the kingdom who are not satisfied with sitting on the sidelines but yearn for action that builds up the kingdom. Salvation produces believers who are faithful and courageous and who will share their faith to any and all God places in their path.
Are you a saved believer today? Has Christ radically altered your life thru His salvation? IF you are…PRAISE Jesus! But if you are here this morning and you don’t know Christ as Savior… if you have not experienced this salvation experience I speak about… I pray that today you will hear the call of Christ in your heart!
I pray that you will not only hear that call but you will respond to that call by stepping out today and allow God to cleanse you…come confess your sin to Him, allow Him to wash you clean and save your soul! You can leave here today with the knowledge that you are eternally secure in the hands of your Savior, Jesus Christ! Won’t you come as Steven comes to lead us in our hymn of invitation!
