We’ve begun our message series on what we believe about mankind or the human race. Last week, we looked at God’s intention for mankind. We talked about what makes us valuable. We are valuable to God and to each other when we reflect the true image of God. We also talked about what enables us to achieve our full potential in life. We achieve our full potential in every area of life when we obey the instructions of God.
If you applied that message to your life during the last seven days, you would have struggled and failed many times. When you worried, you told the world your God might not come through for you. You told a lie, and were of no value to God or to others who were watching your life. When you gave into temptation, you told the world that your God couldn’t satisfy your needs, so you had to do it your own way. When you lost your temper, you told the world that your God was not in control of the events in your life. I know, because I failed many times last week.
There were also times when I lived way below my potential. God said to love my enemies and pray for them. I simply avoided them. God said forgive as Christ forgave me. But I couldn’t let go of the grudge. There were times when God wanted to grow in me the fruit of self-control, and I ate the cheesecake, instead.
This week, I borrowed a book from the library titled, "Short Meditations on the Bible and Peanuts" (the cartoon comic strip, Peanuts). If you’re familiar with these children characters, Lucy and Charlie Brown, you will be able to picture this scene. Lucy is sitting behind what looks like a sidewalk lemonade stand, labeled "Psychiatric Help."
Charlie Brown asks Lucy, "How can I correct some of my faults?"
Lucy replies, "You know why you have faults, Charlie Brown? It’s because of your weaknesses! It’s all those weaknesses that you have that cause your faults!
Charlie Brown innocently asks, "Well, how can I cure my weaknesses?
Lucy spouts, "You’ve got to get rid of your failings! It’s those failings that are holding you back!"
This morning, we’re going to explore some reasons for why we fail to live as God intended. It’s not that we lack the knowledge. We know. Most Christians would tell you that we fail because of sin in us. But what can I do about sin? That’s what we’ll look at this morning.
The text for this morning is Romans 3:1-20.
The Bible teaches that mankind was created very good, but when the first Man, Adam, disobeyed God, sin entered the human race. And sin has been passed onto all subsequent generations, predisposing us to fail God.
The book of Romans tells us the bad news is that we are quite powerless to overcome sin on our own. The good news is that God is not powerless, and because He loves us, He has provided a solution to our sin problem. Two Sundays from today, we’ll look at how God restores mankind from the permanent damages done by sin.
Meanwhile, we’ll look at some of the negative impacts of sin on our lives and what we can do to prevent sin from further damaging our lives. What we learn this morning are only temporary measures. Let’s look together.
First, sin leads us to neglect what we have from God. Verses 1-3.
God gave the Jewish people His very best, circumcision and God’s Word. Circumcision is like a wedding ring, an outward reminder of mutual commitment between God and the Jews. God’s Word is the guide for the Jews in life.
Yet, the Jewish people really didn’t value what God gave them. They had the outward reminder of relationship with God, but they didn’t love God. They had God’s Word to guide them, but they didn’t obey God’s Word. What God gave them became a burden rather than a blessing.
It began with Adam. God allowed Adam to eat from every tree in the garden, except one. But Adam neglected all that he had from God and chose to eat from the one God prohibited. Sin is the condition in mankind’s heart that says, "I want what I can’t have."
Today, sin does the same thing to us. God offers us friendship with Himself. Instead of cherishing His friendship, we neglect God. God provides us with enough to live on. Instead of being content, we covet the newest model or what our neighbors have. God gives us significant companionship through the family and the church. Instead of enjoying the people God placed in our lives, we see them as a burden.
Few of us are satisfied. Sin robs our happiness and makes us covetous people. So how can we deal effectively with neglecting what God has given us? The Bible tells us to "give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:18)." We are to develop a heart of gratitude.
Thank God for what He has given to you. Don’t wait until you have the perfect job, the perfect health, the perfect child or the perfect church. There is no such thing.
When we thank God for the things we have, we begin to find satisfaction and enjoyment in these things. Say to God, "Thank You for what You’ve given me (and list them if only in your prayers). I am content with this." Contentment leads to happiness. And a heart of gratitude leads to contentment.
Second, sin leads us to blame the faults we have on God. Verses 4-8.
The Jews were basically blaming God for allowing them to sin so that God could come out as the Good Guy by providing the solution for sin, or by contrasting His character with sinful mankind. Therefore, God shouldn’t judge and condemn mankind for sin.
God asked Adam, "Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
Adam replied, "The woman YOU put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
The faults I have are really God’s fault. I’m the way I am because of the parents God gave me. I’m the way I am because of the genes God gave me. I am unhappy because of what God did not give to me.
When will we say, "I was wrong. I chose to respond in anger." Or, "I am responsible for the bad habit. No one put a gun to my head. I chose to repeatedly give into temptation." Or, I knew what was right and wrong. I chose the easy way out."
The Bible tells us in 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." We can waste a lot of time and damage our relationship with people and with God playing the blame game. We don’t get better until we get around to confession of guilt.
Third, sin leads us to pretend we can hide from God. Verses 9-20.
People commit evil deeds because they think they can hide from God. People mistreat one another because they think they can hide from God. People have no fear of God because they think they can hide from God.
Adam tried to hide from God after he ate from the tree God told him not to. But mankind trying to hide from God is like a fish inside a glass bowl trying to hide from a cat. It’s futile, but we still try.
When I was in college, I was quite fortunate to have a car. I drove from Davis back to San Francisco almost every month. My friends who didn’t have a car often would catch a ride with me.
On one drive back to San Francisco, I asked a friend, "If we get into a car accident, and you end up dying, would you make it to heaven?" He told me he was a good person. After all, he didn’t cheat on his exams; he never robbed or raped. He felt he would make it to heaven on his own merit.
I wondered if God could be wrong about everyone being a sinner. After all, this friend of mind wasn’t sinning. But I asked, "What if there were no policeman? What if you knew you could get away with doing those things? Would you?"
And then a big smile came over his face. That smile told me that he didn’t cheat, rob and rape because he was afraid of being caught and punished. Sin’s effect on him was real, but he was afraid of the police. The fear of the police does not solve our sin problem, but it keeps most people from carrying destructive deeds.
King Solomon reminds us in the book of Proverbs, "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and adds length to life." Our fear of God doesn’t solve our sin problem either, but it keeps us from doing things that may break up our family, cost us our job or our future. We aren’t as smart as we think, and that’s why we need the fear of God.
Let me close with another Peanuts comic strip. Two of the characters, and they’re all children, Sally and Linus, walking down the street see a sign, "25 miles per hour when children are present." Sally then turns to Linus and says, "I never realized we had so much influence."
If I were there, I would have said to Sally, "Sally, it’s not your influence that slows down the traffic to 25 miles per hour. There are people out there who love children enough to get the sign put up and pay the police to enforce the speed limit."
This morning, we’ve talked about the God who loves His children enough that he showed us how to slow down sin’s effect in our lives with a heart of gratitude, confession of guilt and a fear of God. Two Sundays from now, we’ll talk about the God who loves His children enough to pay the price to restore us from the permanent damage caused by sin.
The bad news is that we are powerless over sin. The good news is that God is not. And it’s our good news not because of our influence but because of God’s love for us.
