INTRODUCTION
Who are we? What are we doing here? What is our purpose?
One of the hardest questions to answer then counselling nowadays is what is my purpose in life? Many people look around at the world and say there has to be more than what I see and what I feel and if life is more than all of this what is it? Still others will ask why was I made this way or why do I feel so much pain? Why am I important and why is life this way?
These are some pretty serious questions that can really mess up people as they try to look at it through the humanistic modern culture that says that we have a right to be happy and live in an undefended way. The reality of it is that one of the biggest reasons why we struggle with our purpose and perspective is that we have walked away from God, our creator, and forgotten the purpose for which we were created.
BODY
Welcome to our 4th week of our foundations of faith series as we go through with the Bible engagement project to explore what we believe and why we believe it. One of the things I love about the Bible engagement project is that our church is all talking about the same thing today. Downstairs joy is with the kids and they're talking about the same topic that we are. In our discipleship group led by Alvin, we're talking about the exact same thing. But before we get into talking about the fall of man I think it's important to ask these questions about purpose because to fully understand the results of the fall of man we first have to understand the purpose of why we were created.
So far in our series we started with the authority and inspiration of the Bible as the inspired word of God. The last two weeks we have talked about God and how he has presented himself in a triune nature and then last week we talked about Jesus and what he has done for us.
But this question about purpose is one that the psalmist raises especially in relationship with God. We talked about last week how Jesus stepped out of heaven into history in order to have a relationship with God but let's look at who God is and then ask who are we?
Psalm 144:1-4
When we look at the majesty of God and all that he has done for us how he is our rescuer he is our fortress he has created us he's given us skills he's our shield he's the place we take refuge and then we look at ourselves and we're nothing compared to that why are we so important to God that he would die for us?
Psalm 8:1-9
God is the creator of the universe and look at what David writes here he looks up at the night sky and he sees the works of his fingers, and he looks at God's works in silencing our enemies and that he is higher than the glory of heaven and then he looks at us he goes who are we we're mortal we're nothing!
James puts it this way: Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. 4:14b
And yet even though we're like the fog that we're here 1 moment gone the next God has placed us in authority over everything on the earth and it goes to show how wonderful he is versus how small we really are so again I come to the question when it comes to humanity who are we?
I think to answer that question we have to go back to the beginning we have to go to genesis and read about the creation of man so if you have your bibles turn with me to
Genesis 1:26-31; 2:4-25; 3:8a
1. Humanity was a special creation by God unlike anything else that he had created up until this point. Unlike any other creature, humanity was made in the image of God and given some of the same authority that God had in order to govern and tend all of creation.
2. Humanity was made to tend and care for the garden,
3. to explore and name-understand the world around them and
4. to have relationship with each other and God. (to walk in the Garden with God and have fellowship and relationship) That
Humans were created perfectly complete in creation although they were not all that they could develop into. When we think of perfection in this think more of the bud of a flower rather than the blossom. And there are things that could make us closer to be like God, but we would never create it to be God simply to reflect who he is in the same way that the moon was never created to be the sun but to reflect the light that it gives.
WE BELIEVE man and woman were created good and upright in the image of God. However, sin entered the world by their voluntary disobedience leading to humankind’s separation from God both physically and spiritually (Genesis 1:26–27; Romans 5:12–19).
It's pretty clear when we look at scripture that humanity has gotten pretty far from our purpose and perfection of creation. So, what happened?
Gensis 3:1-7
We wanted to be more like God, and on the surface the seams like a good thing why wouldn't we want to know good and evil and become more like our creator? I mean what was that old saying from the 90s WWJD? What would Jesus do? With the whole effort of being more like Jesus? On the surface it seems like a good thing and so why would God have put up a rule where we cannot partake of something and learn knowledge of good and evil.
But that question by itself is the first Step to Sin.
SIN can be boiled down to 4 simple steps.
1) Temptation came through questioning God’s Word
2) Questioning His word led to disbelieving God.
3) Disbelief in God led to Believing a Lie
4) Accepting a lie resulted in Sin through disobedience.
As sons and daughters of Adam,
1) We have inherited from them sin and death.
Romans 5:12-14
-Sin is here! We live in a sinful world where all 7 billion people on the planet have sinned or will sin. It all started with Adam, but we really cannot place all the blame on him because we have all made the same choice not to trust God. Instead, we have done what we’ve wanted to do and have ignored God’s righteous standards that are fitting for creatures made in His image. And with sin death enters the world and not just death for our own selves but all of creation changes and starts to die.
I was watching super book with my kids a few weeks ago and they go back to creation in one of the episodes. And they see this lion big and fierce prior to the fall of man and it's a big kitten it's cuddling with them and purring and all the things that creation was meant to be but then creation itself experiences the fall of man.
Romans 8:19
That future date that all of creation is waiting for is the time when Jesus finally comes back and calls all of us home to be in heaven with him and then all of creation will be restored back to the perfect balance and peace that God designed but right now we're in this flux where it is not the same as what God intended in the beginning it is no longer the perfect creation he made because it was messed up by man. And all of us are descendants of Adam we are sons and daughters of Adam.
As sons and daughters of Adam that means that we have an inherited his sin and death. We have decided to look at our own reason because we fall back into that same desire to be more like God, so we fall back into the same desire to let go of all that God has created us to be and we turn and walk from him.
Isaiah 53:6a
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
-You don’t have to watch or read the news very long to see how messed up our world is. People are murdering people, abusing children, and indulging in every form of sinful behavior.
-But sin is not just “out there” in the headlines but is also present in our own hearts as Jeremiah 17:9 says: “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” Jesus put it this way in Matthew 15:19: “For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander..” No one is immune from the virus of sin because it has spread everywhere. No one is exempt from its excruciating grip, and no one is innocent.
And if we would be honest with ourselves we would each say that we have thought some horrific things towards people. And even if we have a filter that keeps it from coming out of our mouth there are still things that we have done in our hearts to people that just declare for itself our own sinful nature. And church I'm right there with you no better because there are times when my mind pops thoughts in there that are just despicable, and I need to take that thought captive and give it to God.
2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
-Our world doesn’t make sense without the understanding that sin entered this world long ago and has been passed down to every human being on the planet. Something has gone wrong; terribly and wickedly wrong. The Bible is clear that we live in a fallen world and even secular studies show how savage our sinfulness is. Listen to these words from the Minnesota Crime Commission:
Ray Stedman, “From Guilt to Glory,”
“Every baby starts life as a little savage. He is completely selfish and self-centered. He wants what he wants when he wants it—his bottle, his mother’s attention, his playmate’s toy, his uncle’s watch. Deny him these wants, and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness, which would be murderous, were he not so helpless. He is dirty. He has no morals, no knowledge, no skills. This means that all children, not just certain children, are born delinquent. If permitted to continue in the self-centered world of his infancy, given free reign to his impulsive actions to satisfy his wants, every child would grow up a criminal, a thief, a killer, a rapist” (As quoted by Ray Stedman, “From Guilt to Glory,” I, p. 131- Above wording borrowed from Brian Bill, sermoncentral.com).
-So, Son’s and Daughters of Adam, we’ve got a huge family problem! We’re messed up! We’re under sin and death! It is in our DNA!
Genesis 3:8-10
Sin brought separation between God and man, no longer could Man dwell in his presence. There are numerous instances in the Bible where a human encounters God and realizes that because of his sinfulness he was going to die. No longer could man just simply walk and talk in the garden with God. And yet God still wanted a relationship with us, but we couldn't do it on our own we were trapped we were helpless.
Romans 5:6-11
Jesus was the only one, God himself who could step in and saved the day! Sin is overcome through Jesus.
2) We have been offered a gift—God had plan
Romans 5:15-19
-This gift is amazing. It is unsolicited and undeserved. It is the grace of God! I love the wording: God’s grace and the gift overflow to many. The gift is justification! The gift is being declared righteous in the sight of God! The gift brings life for all who receive!
-And that is the key for us! This gift must be received in order for it to do any good! And we receive it by faith. Faith is more than just believing some information. Faith is the trust that is found in healthy relationships. When we trust Jesus and the work He did by dying on the cross and we commit our lives to Him – we are made righteous and become part of God’s family.
-Adam sinned and brought a curse on all of mankind. He was our representative. He represents what is in our hearts – weakness, lack of trust, disobedience to God.
Genesis 3:11-15
Next week, we will talk more about the salvation of man but I want to note here that when God came to walk in the cool of the garden as he did every day and he found Adam and Eve have been deceived and allowed sin to enter the world even while he is there laying out punishment he also lays out our salvation and his plan to redeem humanity. The descendent of woman, would crush the head of the serpent—our enemy—the Father of lies.
Jesus becomes the 2nd Adam from above as we sing at Christmas. He becomes our representative, showing the Father what we become when we begin to trust Him with our lives! He removes the curse of sin and death and clothes us in His own righteousness! Through His obedience to His Father, He provided for our righteousness – if we come to trust Him and follow Him.
3) Adam’s Sin (and the Sin of Son’s and Daughters) have been outdone by Grace!
Romans 5:20-21
We cannot fix ourselves! The law was given to make this clear! We cannot do enough good to eradicate the evil within us! We cannot please God without the faith that brings His righteousness to us!
-Like the prodigal, we must come to a place where we realize that we cannot fix ourselves. That brings us to a place of humility where we ask God for His help. And His help is not in short supply!
-Mercy came running and overtook the sin and failure in my life. God’s grace is greater than all my sin! And the result of trusting in Jesus is righteousness and eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!
CONCLUSION:
Listen. What Adam ruined, Jesus restored. As sons of Adam or daughters of Eve, when we receive Jesus Christ, His redemption reverses the ruin of Adam:
I see some implications that flow from what we’ve learned this morning.
1. God takes sin very seriously and so should we. Some may say that what Adam did was no big deal since all he did was munch on some fruit. But it was a big deal because he rejected God’s way and disobeyed God’s command. Let’s not minimize sin. Adam did, and he died…and we died with him.
2. No one is inherently good. If you’re here today and you think that you’re really a pretty good person, think again. Some of us hesitate to share the gospel with people because we may think that they’re just nice people who don’t do bad things. That may be true on the outside but everyone apart from Christ is in a precarious predicament. Only Jesus can deliver from sin, death and condemnation.
3. . We don’t become sinners by sinning; we sin because we are sinners. Sin is not what we do; it’s what we are and is evidenced by what we do. Sin is more than just an act; it’s an attitude and a condition. We do what we do because of who we are.
4. You are either “in Adam” or you are “in Christ.” There’s no middle ground. Adam is your ancestor or Jesus is your advocate. Either Adam is having the greatest influence in your life; or Jesus is. It all boils down to just one question: Are you “in Adam” or are you “in Christ?”
5. Birth is both the cause and the cure for our sin. Don’t leave here thinking you just have to be a better person. Listen very carefully: You don’t need to make a new start in life; you need to receive a new life to start with. The cure for the curse is to transfer your lineage from Adam to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must exchange our identity with Adam which leads to condemnation to an identity with Christ in order for us to be justified. Since we were born in sin; the only way to be saved from sin is to be born again. There is no more important decision to make. Jesus emphasized this truth to a religious man, who looked pretty good on the outside in John 3:3: “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
-If you need a new birth that will make you come alive, it begins by believing that God loved you enough to provide a way to take care of your sins and bring you close to Him. It begins with repentance, being truly sorry for our sins and failures and confessing them to God. When we do that and make a commitment to love and obey Him, He does a miraculous work in our heart! He makes us come alive where once we were dead! The newness of His life begins to flow into us. And when that happens, we are changed! We move from death to life!
-If you need God to make you come alive today, would you be willing to come and make things right with God? It’s a huge step, but it has huge rewards that last forever. If there is anything I can do to help you find your way to God, I’d love to do it!
- God loves us so much that He sent His only Son Jesus to die, paying for our sins on the cross, so that whoever puts their trust in Him would not die in their sins without God, but instead have life that comes from God- life that lasts forever!
May the Lord bless you and keep you.
25 May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.
26 May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.’
