The Need For Advent
Romans 3:9-18
12-3-00
[Have one of the children light advent candle]
We have entered the Christmas season and one of the challenges a Christian and a church has is to keep our attention focused on the real meaning of the season. In order to help us do that I have been asked to do a series that we did about five years ago which was meaningful to many of you. And so over the next four Sundays we are going to celebrate Advent. And my desire is to attempt to help us in focusing upon the Christ of Christmas instead of the commercialization of Christmas.
Advent means "the coming" or "the arrival." We speak of the advent of spring which means the arrival or coming of spring. And so in speaking about the advent of Christ, we are speaking about the coming of Christ into this world. Historically, Advent has been a time for christians to reflect on the meaning of the coming of Christ.
But it struck me that before we can reflect on the meaning of His coming, we must first determine if there was a need for His coming. Sometimes when you try to help someone you think is in need; you are met with resentment because the person or family you think is in need doesn’t think they are in need and so they take exception to you charity. I think that is part of the problem in our world today. People don’t think they need a Savior and need to be saved from their sin. And so when we come they resent our message and us for we are stating that they have a need when they feel as if they don’t. And so on this 1st Sunday of Advent, I want to address whether there was a genuine need for the advent of Christ. Therefore the title of the message is The Need for Advent.
In attempting to answer this question, let’s start at the beginning – Genesis 1:26-31
And so by God’s own declaration, the human race is declared very good.
-2:22-25 - here again we see perfect harmony not just in creation but also in human relationships
-4:3-5,8 - something has changed. There is a totally diff. mood than in chapters 1 and 2.
-6:5-7 - note the contrast - 1:31 - "And God saw all that He had made, & behold, it was very good." "And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Something dreadful and drastic has happened. Man has become sinful. If we could have stopped the story at end of chapter 2 there would have been no need for advent, but sin forever changed the picture. Men and women are sinful by nature.
A scorpion, being a very poor swimmer, asked a turtle to carry him on its back across the river. "Are you mad?" exclaimed the turtle. "You’ll sting me while I’m swimming & I’ll drown." "My dear turtle," laughed the scorpion, "If I were to sting you, you would drown & I’d go down with you. Now where is the logic in that?" "You’re right," cried the turtle. "Hop on." The scorpion climbed aboard but halfway across the river gave the turtle a mighty sting. As they both sank to the bottom, the turtle said, "Do you mind if I ask you something? You said there is no logic in your stinging me. Why did you do it?" "It has nothing to do with logic," the drowning scorpion replied. "It’s just my nature."
Men and women are sinful by nature. If we were to sit down and think about sin and the effect it will have if we choose it, we could very easily see how illogical it is to choose sin. But as the scorpion said, "It has nothing to do w/ logic. It’s our nature."
Now you’re not going to hear that from modern man for modern man likes to believe he is basically good. And of course psychologists, counselors and a great many religious leaders reinforce that belief.
And no concept is more important to the gurus of modern psychology than the concept of self-esteem. According to the self-esteem credo, there are no bad people - only people who think badly of themselves. For years, educational experts, psychologists, and a growing number of Chistian leaders have championed self-esteem as a panacea for all sorts of human miseries. According to the purveyors of this doctrine, if people feel good about themselves, they will behave better, have fewer emotional problems, and achieve more. People with high self-esteem, we are told, are less likely to commit crimes, act immorally, fail academically, or have problems in their relationship with others.
But does self-esteem really work? Does it, for example promote higher achievement? There is plenty of evidence to suggest it does not. In a study, a standardized math test was given to teenagers from 6 different nations. Besides the math questions, the test asked the students to respond yes or no to the question, "I am good at mathematics." American students scored lowest on the math questions, far behind Korean students, who had the top scores. Ironically, more than three-fourths of the Korean students had answered "no" to the "I am good at math" question. In stark contrast, 68% of the American students believed their math skills were just fine.
Morally, our culture is in precisely the same boat. Evidence strongly suggests that society is at an all-time moral low. We might expect people’s self-esteem to be suffering as well. But statistics shows Americans are feeling better about themselves than ever. Incredibly, while the moral fabric of society continues to unravel, self-esteem is thriving. Yet, all the positive thinking about ourselves seems not to be doing anything to elevate the culture or motivate people to live better lives.
Let’s look at what the Bible says. Does the Bible back up this notion that there are no bad people only people who think badly of themselves? We could look at a lot of Scripture but I would like for us to focus on only 1 passage that will clearly answer this question for us.
One of the doctrines that came out of the Reformation was the doctrine of man’s total depravity. Now you have to be careful when you use that term because many people misunderstand it.
Total Depravity does not mean:
-that unbelieving sinners are always as bad as they could be.
-that the expression of sinful human nature is always lived out to the fullest.
-that unbelievers are incapable of acts of kindness, benevolence, or goodwill.
-that non-Christians cannot appreciate goodness, beauty, honesty, decency or excellence.
What it does mean is that when man fell [sinned] in the Garden of Eden he fell in his totality. In other words, sin has contaminated every aspect of our humanity - our heart, mind, personality, emotions, conscience, motives and will and therefore we are incapable and undesiring of coming to God. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, "Man is wrong at the center of his being, and therefore everything is wrong." By the way, that is why salvation requires a new creation.
And so contrary to what people are taught and want to believe, men and women are not naturally good. Just the opposite is true. We are by nature enemies of God, sinners, lovers of self and in bondage to our own sin. We are blind, deaf, and dead to spiritual matters, unable even to believe apart from God’s gracious intervention.
And may I say, that the 1st step to a proper self-image is a recognition that these things are true. That’s why Jesus commended the tax-gatherer rather than rebuking him for his low self-esteem, when the man pounded his chest and pleaded, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner." The man had finally come to the point where he saw himself for what he was and He was so overcome that his emotion was released in acts of self-condemnation. The truth is, his self-image had never been more sound than at that moment. Rid of pride and pretense he now saw that there was nothing he could ever do to earn God’s favor. And therefore, he pleaded with God for mercy.
As I said, let’s concentrate on 1 passage and see what the Bible says about this teaching that there are no bad people - Romans 3
Using the OT Scripture, Paul in verses 10-17 shows the universality of human depravity. He underscores this universality of sin by using the phrase "none" or "not even 1" 6 times. And his argument is constructed in 3 parts:
He addresses how sin has corrupted our character (10-12)
How sin has defiled our conversation (13-14)
How sin has perverted our conduct (15-17)
1. How Sin Has Corrupted Our Character - 3:10-12
Here Paul makes 6 charges. He says that because of their innate depravity, people are:
-universally evil (there is none righteous)
Paul is using the term "righteous" in its most basic sense of being right before God, of being as God created man to be. Obviously, people are able to do many things that are morally right. But Paul is not speaking of specific acts or even general patterns of behavior, but of man’s inner character. And his point is that there is not a single person who has ever lived whose innermost being could be characterized as righteous by God’s standard. We have to get out of this mind frame of comparing ourselves with others. The comparison is to be made with God.
A minister said that once he had a small white Highland terrier which he kept spotlessly clean by frequent washing, brushing, and powdering. One night a winter storm dropped a fresh blanket of snow on the countryside, and the next morning the whole world seemed to glisten under the splendor of the morning sun. As the minister stood gazing out his window, he saw a drab-looking dog walk across the snow. He wondered whose it was - then suddenly realized it was his own well-groomed terrier! It was as clean as always, but against that dazzling background it appeared dirty.
In much the same way, our corrupt nature is clearly revealed when our lives are measured by the absolute standard of Divine holiness. The Bible says "all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." Some think, "but I don’t fall as short as some people I know." Doesn’t make any diff. On God’s grading scale there is not A+, A, A-, B+, etc. and as along as you get above F you pass. No, according to God’s scale there are only 2 grades: pass and fail. Doesn’t make any difference if you think you don’t fall as short as someone else. You still have a failing grade. We make a favorable impression when we compared ourselves with other people, but none of us can stand up against the pure whiteness of the character of God.
So because of their innate depravity, people are universally evil (none righteous).
-spiritually ignorant (none who understands)
This means that without exception the thought processes of people are so affected by sin that there will always be some degree of deficiency in their grasp of the truth as it is to be found only in the knowledge of God. This naturally leads to confusion in everything else because all things have their meaning in Him. For example, the politician who is confused about God will be confused about God’s world, which leads inevitably to a confused world view and inadequate political solutions.
Notice some of the other descriptions:
-rebellious (none who seeks for God)
-wayward (all have turned aside)
-spiritually useless (together they have become
useless)
-morally corrupt (there is none who does good)
Sin corrupts our character is the point.
Chuck Colson – “The most astonishing thing about Whitewater is that we are astonished by it. Our reaction -- the press’s feeding-frenzy & politicians’ posturing reveals how deluded we are about the most pernicious myth of this century: that man is good, and that with technology and education we can achieve utopian societies. So we regard Watergate and Whitewater & all "gates" in between as dreadful aberrations. Our founders were not so naive. They understood the Judeo-Christian truth that man is a sinner. We moderns have forgotten this foundational truth.”
We are corrupt in our character. A number of yrs. ago the Minnesota Crime Commission released this statement: 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 playmates’ toy, his uncles’ watch. Deny him these once, and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness, which would be murderous were he not so helpless. He is, in fact, 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 or a rapist.
Sin corrupts the character.
2. Next He Shows How Sin Has Defiled Our Conversation - 3:13-14
A person’s character will inevitably manifest itself in his conversation. Jesus said that "the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart."
Note how completely sin contaminates the conversation:
it defiles the throat - v.13
corrupts the tongue - v.13
poisons the lips - v.13
pollutes the mouth - v.14
3. Next, Paul Shows How Sin Has Perverted Our Conduct - 3:15-17
We are a destructive people. A Scottish evangelist in the 19th century wrote, "The most savage animals do not destroy so many of their own species to appease their hunger, as man destroys of his fellows’, to satiate his ambition, his revenge, or his greed."
Greed - a national survey was conducted. The scenario was you could receive 10 million tax free dollars but to receive it you had to choose 1 of the choices listed. And they were all pretty radical choices. But the question was would you choose 1 of the choices and if so which one. Two-thirds said they would be willing to choose 1 of the choices. Here is the breakdown: 25% would abandon their family; 25% would abandon their church; 23% would become a prostitute for a week; 16% would give up their American citizenship; 16% would leave their spouse; 7% would commit murder; 6% could change their race; 4% would change their sex; 3% would put their children up for adoption.
Did you know that here in the US, with its Christian heritage, that since the turn of the 20th century, twice as many people have been killed in private acts of murder than have been killed in all the wars of our history as a country. According to researcher Arnold Barnett, a baby born in the 1980’s is more likely to be murdered than an American soldier in WWII was of being killed in combat.
If lack of self-esteem is the problem of the human heart, as we are told, why, it must be asked, is the murder rate so dramatically high in a society where self-esteem is also growing. It is because self-esteem is not the problem. Self-esteem is no solution to human depravity because people really are sinful to the core.
Again it must be stated, the Paul does not mean to convey that all the characteristics of sin listed in Romans 3 are in evidence in every person. But as Godet has wisely written, "Some, even most of them, may remain latent in many men: but they all exist in germ in the selfishness and natural pride of the ego, and the least circumstance may cause them to pass into the active state."
Jewish author Dennis Prager - "To believe that people are basically good after Auschwitz, the Gulag and other horrors of our century, is a statement of irrational faith.”
Romans 3 presents a painful, yet clear and accurate picture of the human race.
Chuck Colson - On 60 Minutes Mike Wallace once interviewed a survivor of Auschwitz, a key witness against Adolf Eichmann, the mastermind of the Holocaust. Upon entering the courtroom and facing Eichmann, this witness began to tremble. Weeping uncontrollably, he collapsed. When Mike Wallace asked this man why he had collapsed -- was it reliving the memories, the nightmares, and the griefs? -- the man answered: "No. I collapsed because I was afraid about myself. I saw that I am exactly like him, capable of this." Now I’ve been interviewed by Mike Wallace & he’s a pro. It’s hard to shake him, but this answer did. He almost couldn’t ask the next question. He stared at the man, then turned to the camera and said, "That poses a question. Was Eichmann a monster, a mad man, or something even more terrifying? Was he normal?"
United Nations leader Kofi Annan travels the world visiting areas of some of the worst violence and cruelty in human history. Few men have the responsibility to face such evil worldwide. Fewer still must attempt to find a solution to such complex and insurmountable problems.
When Annan prays, he often wonders about man’s cruelty to man. "I’m still struggling w/ evil," he says. "I still don’t understand how there can be so much evil.”
Annan is most puzzled when he comes face to face with evil. Recounting his meetings with former Serbian leader & indicted war criminal Slobodan Milosevic, he says: "Milosevic will talk about the days when he was a banker here in New York City. He speaks English, sounds like a rational, reasonable person, and yet he is capable of all sorts of acts. How do they do it? How does someone behave like such a normal human being and suddenly turn so evil?”
Mr. Annan, it is because man is sinful by nature and therefore sin has corrupted our character; has defiled our conversation and has perverted our conduct. We are totally depraved.
Now let me ask you something: in light of Romans 3, was there a need for Advent, for the coming of Christ, our Savior? Was there a need? Oh, there was no greater need in all the world! We have much to rejoice in during this Advent season.
But maybe your response to the message is to feel it was kind of depressing. Maybe you are tempted to say, “Chuck, that sure wasn’t a very upbeat message.” Well, it would be depressing and hopeless if is was not for Advent. That is why we can rejoice because after seeing what kind of state we were in, Christ still came. What a glorious message Advent is.
Steven Curtis Chapman in his book, Speechless writes - “In the gospel, we discover we are far worse off than we thought, and far more loved than we ever dreamed.”
Let us close in prayer and thank the Lord for His advent, for coming to redeem such sinful people.
