“The Good & Beautiful God:
God Is Self-Sacrificing”
Romans 5:6-9
February 27th, 2011
"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!"
Romans 5:6-9 (NIV)
Introduction:
> For the first time since I started this series about the Good and Beautiful God I addressed the issue of God’s response to sin last week.
Yes, God is good, trustworthy, and generous.
Yes, God is love! Love is the very character of God.
Yes, God loves us unconditionally and He chooses to love us even though we have done nothing to deserve His love.
But, God is equally HOLY! He cannot coexist with sin. He cannot be a good God and ignore the issue of sin. Sin is the very thing that destroys His perfect creation.
> A God who ignores the destructive force of sin is not a good God at all. But, scripture is very clear regarding how God feels about sin! God hates sin! The reason God hates sin is because He loves me, therefore, he hates anything that is destructive for me.
> So, we struggle with what God should do about sin!
Should God look the other way and let us sin, knowing that sin will eventually destroy us?
> By the way, do any of us question the destructive forces of sin?
- Charlie Sheen - Tiger Woods - Elliot Spitzer
- Jonathan Edwards - Lindsay Lohan - Andrea Yates
These are just a few high-profile people who have had their lives almost completely destroyed by sin! We could spend all day listing others who have suffered the destructive affects of sin on their lives, in their marriages, in their carriers, etc.
> What should God do about Sin? Should He ignore it? Should He turn away and let sin do it’s damage to the point of utter destruction in our lives? How could that be good and beautiful?
> Should God force us into obedience. Would God be a good and beautiful God if He created us without our own free will to choose Him, choose to be obedient to Him, or choose to reject Him?
> God does the only thing that a good and beautiful God would do—God loves us, but hates sin and works to direct us toward His good and beautiful kingdom by exercising wrath against sin and love toward us!
> Just as a good parent directs their children away from danger, hating what danger can do to their children, so God directs us away from sinfulness and evil, hating what sinfulness and evil will do to us.
> So now we have God’s wrath toward sin and God’s love for us. Both must be addressed. Wrath must be appeased—love must be expressed.
> God does exactly this—He appeases wrath and expresses love. God finds a way where there was no way. He makes it possible for us to come to Him—even in our sinfulness.
> God sacrifices Himself so that sin no-longer has dominion over His creation.
> Today’s message is that God is Self-sacrificing.
God came to earth and offered Himself up in vulnerability to His creation, submitting himself completely to the creation that so readily rejected Him—revealing His love in the most powerful manner possible—sacrifice!
> We must understand two things...
I. We Are Powerless
> James Bryan Smith tells of his Christian sister, Vicki, who admitted to him, “Jim, I have to admit. I’ve never understood the cross. It has always bothered me that Jesus had to die. And it bothered me that God would let Jesus die. It almost seems like child abuse (Smith, Good & Beautiful…, pg. 134).” She goes on to explain that the cross seemed unnecessary—that God could have easily “forgiven the world” simply by declaring the world forgiven, or by teaching people how to love one another (ibid., 134).
> She is not the only Christian who is unclear about the necessity of the cross. I think every Christian struggles with the question, “Why did Jesus need to die for me?”
> The problem is, we still believe that we can find our own way to God. If we were just shown the way, we could do OK ourselves.
> In fact, the predominant religious narrative in the world regarding salvation says, “Humans do the work of reaching to the gods to obtain favor and blessing from their god(s).”
In Islam salvation is achieved by adhering to the 5 pillars of Islam and by glorious acts of Jihad.
In Buddhism, Nirvana is achieved through the Noble Eight-fold Path.
In Hinduism, Moksha, Nirvana or Samadhi is achieved as a person strives for higher and higher levels of enlightenment through adherence to the spiritual laws found in the Shruti and Smriti.
In Judaism, adherence to the laws of Moses is the only way to find favor with God.
And,
In Christianity, many believe that if they live a good enough life, they will be admitted into heave by their own merit.
> But Jesus’ narrative is simple: “God so loved the world, that He came to us by sending His son to die on a cross, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.”
> In our scripture today, Paul writes…
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.”
Romans 5:6
> The key word there is “powerless”. There is nothing within any of us that enables us to produce a righteousness that will acquit us on judgment day (Lee Brown, Notes on Romans 5-8, pg. 8). We are powerless to reach to God.
> But God was not powerless to reach to us, and so that is exactly what He did. At just the right time (time not meaning time in history, but time of absolute helplessness), when we needed Him most, Christ died for the ungodly.
> The problem with most people is that they are not convince of their powerlessness. They do not believe that they need God to rescue them from sin. They do not believe that they are totally and completely corrupted and depraved by sin.
> You see, if ignorance was the only problem, then none of us should commit sin because we all know what is right in our heart. Paul writes in Romans 1…
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:18-20 (NIV)
> You see, we all have enough knowledge of the Holy character of God revealed to us through nature alone so that no human being has an excuse.
> The fact is, we are powerless. We are corrupted and depraved. The very image of God in each of us has been destroyed by sin.
> The only way for the image of God to be restore in any of us is through an act of God to restore it.
II. Self-sacrifice Restores Imago Dei
> Paul continues…
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:7-8 (NIV)
> Here is the clincher for us today. Men have died for many selfish reasons. But they will hardly die for another man.
> They might consider giving their life for a man who is worthy of such a sacrifice. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners [evil & undeserving], Christ died for us (vs. 8).”
> The thing that humanity will not do for one another, God did for all humankind—He gave himself for it.
> Think about what it means to give your son—your son is your legacy, your heir, the one who carries on your name.
> It’s a little different for God. God is eternally existent. His Son is more than just one who carries on His name. His Son is the very expression of His Name. His Son is the ultimate revelation of Himself.
> Therefore, when Christ Jesus came and died for you and me, He was the ultimate reflection of the Imago Dei. And at it’s very best—God’s image is one of giving of self, self-sacrifice.
> Jesus reversed the original Fall of humankind, choosing obedience instead of disobedience. Choosing self-sacrifice instead of self-indulgence. Thus reversing the original sin of humanity, by doing what we could not do for ourselves!
> He offered himself—complete incorruptions—as a sacrifice for us—complete corruption. And in doing so, he offered a chance at a new life and a new hope. A new life in Christ and a new hope of a resurrection.
> As James Bryan Smith writes, “The glory of God Himself lies in self-giving… At the heart of the universe is this one principle: self-sacrifice is the highest act (Smith, The Good & Beautiful God, pg. 141).”
> He writes…
“God the Son enters our world in the lowest of all conditions, lives an utterly ordinary life for thirty years, experiences everything we experience, points the world to his Father in his teaching and in his life, and then willingly performs the ultimate sacrifice: he gives his life for all of the world, the Lamb of God taking away the world’s sin. “I will sacrifice myself for your good” is the sentiment of God. And we, in our small moments of sacrifice, feel something of what God feels (freedom, release, exhilaration, purpose, meaning), if only for a few moments (pg. 142).”
> In other words, as we become more and more self-sacrificing through our own “being crucified with Christ” we experience the Imago Dei more and more within us! Paul wrote in Philippians 2:5…
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Phil 2:5-11 (NIV)
> Our attitude, our life-purpose, our very character of being should be the same as that of Christ Jesus! He lowered himself, He humbled himself, he became a servant, and he sacrificed himself on the cross.
> But the great paradox is, by Jesus’ self-sacrifice: lowering himself, humbling himself, and obediently dying on the cross, Jesus became exalted unto the highest place of all, above any other name.
> We too, if we will have this very same attitude, if we too will allow ourselves to live as sacrifices, will be restored to our former glory—the Imago Dei restored in us!
> God restores His image in His creation through His self-sacrificing love. Because of His sacrifice, we can be restored.
Conclusion:
> James Bryan Smith acts as though he is having a conversation with Athanasius of Alexandria, the author of an ancient book entitled On The Incarnation. He ask Athanasius, “But why did [Jesus] have to die in such a shameful way? Crucifixion is the most painful and humiliating form of execution the world has ever known. Couldn’t he have died a more honorable death?
> To which Athanasius responds…
“I know you abhor the cross, as you should. But note this: a marvelous and mighty paradox has occurred, for the death which [the world] thought to inflict on Him as dishonor and disgrace has become the glorious monument of death’s defeat. Though they tried to kill him in shame, the cross stands for all eternity as a symbol of the glory of God.”
“And one final point, how could he have reached out to the entire world if He had not been crucified, for it is only on the cross that a man dies with his arms outstretched?!” (Smith, Good & Beautiful God, pg. 138)
> Today, examine yourself. See how truly needful you are. See your total powerlessness to save yourself. Come to the point where you realize that you are utterly and completely corrupt and depraved.
> Lie to yourself no longer.
Receive the offering of Jesus on the Cross.
Believe in the self-sacrificing love of God.
Embrace the death that must happen in you so that you may live.
> Because of the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, we are now just as free to choose righteousness and live, as we are to choose sinfulness and die — all because of the power of God’s self sacrificing love.
Closing Prayer:
Closing Song:
Communion:
