In this series: “Finding Our Freedom in Christ,” we're going to talk about how to overcome hurts that can overwhelm us, habits that can overtake us and hang-ups that can overshadow us. We live in a world full of hurting people. And hurt people hurt people. So, we're hurt by others; hurt others; and hurt ourselves. Which brings us to our text.
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This series is designed to coincide with the launch of our "Celebrate Recovery" ministry. It's a series is for everybody, unless you've lived a perfect life. But if you haven't lived a perfect life, if you've ever been hurt, ever had a hang-up or a habit that you'd like to get rid of, you need to find the freedom available in Christ. The good news is whatever you need recovery from, the steps to recovery are the same. In this series we are going to use the word "recovery" to consider eight Biblical principles that lead to finding our freedom in Christ.
The "R" in "Recovery" stands for Realize.
I must realize I am a sinner by nature; and because of my inclination toward sin, I hurt myself and others. I must admit I am powerless to control my tendency to do wrong and my life is unmanageable.
Do you ever know the right thing to do but you don't do it? Do you ever know something is wrong but you do it anyway? Have you ever known you should be unselfish but you're selfish instead? Have you ever tried to control somebody or something and as a result found your life out of control? If your answer is "yes" to any of these questions, welcome to the human race. We're all sinners in need of recovery.
1. The cause of our problem: our sin nature.
We get into trouble because of our tendency to go our own way rather than God's way. The Bible calls this tendency to go our own way rather than God's way, our sin nature. My sin nature gets me into all kinds of trouble. I do things that aren't good for me. I do them even when they're self-destructive. I don't do things that are good for me. I act in ways when I'm hurt that only increase my hurt; and then hurt others around me. I try to fix problems and often make them worse. Sin is the reason why the entire world is a mess, including my own private world.
"There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death." - Proverbs 14:12 (NIV)
A person without Christ has but one way to live: by the dictates of their sin nature. That's why Christ came, to make it possible for us to be delivered from sin's penalty - hell. He took our hell for us at Calvary, so we wouldn't have to. Now He calls as many as will receive Him to do so before He returns, so heaven rather than hell, will be their eternal home. One day He will return and make this world new by removing sin, Satan, and Satan's people. We'll be delivered from sin's presence. But until then, those who have trusted in Christ as our Savior must learn how to walk in the freedom from the power of sin in our lives.
As we said, sin is our going our own way, rather than God's way. It's our wanting to be God instead of letting God be God in our lives. People say "I don't want anybody telling me what's right and what's wrong. I want to call my own shots; make my own rules, be my own boss. I want to put myself at the center of the universe. I want to live my own way, I don't want anyone telling me what to do with my life." That's called playing God. And it says, "I want to control." And we try to play God by trying to control people, our problems and our pain.
A. We try to control what other people think of us. We play games, wear masks, pretend, we fake it, we want people to see certain sides of us and we hide other parts, and we deny our weaknesses and we deny our feelings: "I'm not angry; upset; worried; afraid."
B. We try to control how other people behave around us. Parents try to control kids; and kids, parents. Wives try to control husbands; and husbands, wives. We try to control others at work, school, and church. We use guilt, fear, praise, silence, or anger.
C. We try to control our problems. We say: "I can handle it, I'm O.K. Really, I'm fine. I don't need any help and I certainly don't need counseling." But the more we try to fix our problem, the worse it gets.
D. We try to control our pain. We try to run from it, avoid it, deny it, or escape it. We deal with our pain by eating or not eating; by getting drunk; by smoking; by taking drugs; by getting in and out of relationships. We develop compulsive habits. We become angry and abusive or critical and judgmental. We get depressed.
There are many destructive ways we deal with people, problems, or pain. But God offers a better way. That way is found in Christ, and be begin our discovery of the freedom we have in Christ by realizing the cause of our problems - our sin nature. That's the first step to recovery. You're not going to better on your own, face it. Don't deny it.
2. The consequence of our problem: death.
"When people sin, they earn what sin pays - death." - Romans 6:23a (Easy to Read)
Death is the absence of life; and when we do things our way rather than God's way, when we try to play God, there is an absence of life, leaving us to deal with . . .
A. Fear. You see, when I try to control everything I get afraid. We're afraid someone's going to find out that we're phony, that we really don't have it all together, that we're not perfect. We're afraid that someone might reject us, not like us, or not love us if they knew the "real" us. Our lives are filled with fear when we try to play God.
B. Frustration. It's frustrating trying to control everything. Life's a lot like the old "whack a mole" game. The moment you knock one down another pops up. It's frustrating because every time you slam something down another pops up and you slam that one down . . . that's life. It's frustrating trying to be God, when you're not God. If you're frustrated with life it's a symptom of a deeper problem that you need to come to grips with: you're not God.
C. Failure. Trying to be God is one job you're guaranteed to fail at.
"Whoever hides their sins will not be successful . . ." - Proverbs 28:13 (Easy to Read)
D. Fatigue. Pretending you got it all together and trying to control everything, takes a lot of energy. "Be Real. Because Fake is Exhausting" by Rick Bezet
"When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away . . ." - Psalms 32:4 (NLT)
Sin always leads to an absence of life. Not only is your life negatively affected, but so are the lives of those around you. Some will seek to engage you about your issue, but if you are in denial, they will simply be frustrated. Others will enable you: they will partner in your denial. This is usually your spouse or kids, who will only become fatigued by the effort.
The best thing others can do for you is encourage you to let the Lord empower you to change! Rather than continue to struggle with fear, frustration, failure, and fatigue, God wants us to find our freedom in Christ over our sin nature and it's consequences.
3. The cure for our problem: Jesus.
"You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich." - 2 Corinthians 8:9 (NLT)
Providing a cure to the cause & consequences of our sinful nature so that our lives might be changed was the purpose of the cross. Adequate provision has been made for our absolute transformation! By the grace of god made available through the cross of Christ, I can be changed!
Grace is the power God gives to not only save me from sin's penalty and presence, but also from sin's power. It is the power to overcome the hurts overwhelming me, the habits overtaking me or the hang-ups overshadowing me. But to access God's grace to change my daily life, I need to humble myself by recognizing three important facts:
A. I am powerless to change my past. It hurt, I still remember it, but all the resentment in the world isn't going to change it.
B. I am powerless to control other people. I am only responsible for my actions, not theirs.
C. I am powerless to cope with my behaviors. Good intentions and willpower aren't enough. I need a source of power beyond myself. I need the grace of God.
Conclusion: You can find freedom in Christ over whatever hurt, habit, or hang-up fills your life with fear, frustration, failure and fatigue. The first step is humbling yourself and admitting your need.
For some that means accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior so you might be set free from the penalty and presence of sin, and then learn how to live each day free from sin's power.
For others it means moving beyond your faith in Christ concerning your freedom from sin's penalty and presence to walking in freedom from sin's power today.
Let today needs to be a day to take your step toward freedom in Christ.
"But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master." - Romans 6:22-23 (The Message)
