Do You Have A Biblical Worldview? A Sinless Messiah
(topical)
Intro
1. What is your worldview?
2. James Sire defines a worldview as, ¡§¡Ka set of¡Kassumptions¡Kwhich we hold (consciously or unconsciously) about the basic makeup of our world.¡¨
3. A worldview is a grid-work, a paradigm, a model, a framework for interpreting life, evaluating truth, and making decisions.
4. It shows itself on many fronts:
(1) abortion¡Kimage of God or evolved animal?
(2) gender wars¡KScriptural teaching or popular reasoning
(3) evangelism/missions¡Kdo all religions lead to heaven or not?
(4) shacking up without marriage or the sanctity of sex within marriage alone?
(5) homosexual unions¡K
(6) gambling verses investing, working
(7) drugs/drunkenness verses sobriety
(8) flippant divorce verses working at marriage
(9) indulging children verses training them in a balanced way
(10) holding people accountable for their behavior verses blaming society
5.. George Barna is America¡¦s leading pollster in matters of religion and morality; he is also a Christian. He reports that only:
¡§¡K9% of born again Christians and only 7% of all Protestants have a biblical world¡¨
Roman Catholics would be even less by Barna¡¦s definition
6. Although I have often disagreed with his direction for churches, I do appreciate his diagnosis of the problem.
7. In a recent study, he focused his statistical survey and found that 51% of protestant pastors held what he called a Biblical worldview¡K. a Biblical worldview is much more detailed¡K.but you cannot hold a truly Biblical view without these elements¡K
8. This 51% figure was very encouraging to me¡K.it represents a marked improvement over the last 25 years¡K.
¡K.for example, 25 years ago, only 10% of United Methodist ministers believed the Bible was true¡Kit is now up to 27%
9. But most distressing was the statistic that, even in churches where pastors do hold a Biblical worldview (by his definition, which is pretty broad and incomplete), only 1 out of 7 church attenders did.
10. I know we scored a lot better than that!
11. Although a Biblical worldview should include dozens of important beliefs, it must include these basic ones: (1) the accuracy of biblical teaching, (2) the sinless nature of Jesus, (3) the literal existence of Satan, (4) the omnipotence and omniscience of God, (5) salvation by grace alone, and the (6) personal responsibility to evangelize.
12. In the recent past, we have addressed the omnipotence and omniscience of God, the idea that God has all power and knows all.
13. In our next series, Romans, we will hit salvation by grace alone pretty hard.
14. So that leaves us with 4 subjects. Yet three of them we covered either in adult Sunday School (Satan and spiritual warfare), and Sunday night, (evangelism and the accuracy of Biblical teaching), so that leaves us with the sinless nature of Christ.
MAIN IDEA: If we are to have a Biblical worldview, we must develop Biblical convictions.
TS-------------„³ Today, we are going to look at one key crucial conviction by addressing two questions.
I. Did Jesus Christ Live A Sinless Life?
1. This is being aggressively challenged¡K.
Although most adults are aligned with either a Protestant (54%) or Catholic (22%) church, a large minority of Americans believes that when Jesus Christ was on earth He committed sins. Currently, slightly less than half of the public (42%) holds this view, while half (50%) say Jesus did not sin. The people groups most likely to contend that Jesus sinned include people under age 38 (49%), notional Christians (51%), and atheists and agnostics (62%).
(1) the DaVincci code: Jesus was married¡K.Mormons, 4 wives
(2) Why this would be wrong: knew He was a sacrifice¡K.would have been irresponsible
(3) You can¡¦t just invent things from the air¡K.
Too many people view religion as a choice to pretend¡Ktruth and objectivity have nothing to do with things¡Ksince they do not believe that the Jesus of the Bible was the Son of God, why not make Him into what you want Him to be?
I will give you my theological term for this way of thinking¡Kare you ready, ¡§flakeulus brainulus¡¨ or, ¡§Flaky Thinking.¡¨
(4) The heresy of gnosticism¡K.Gnostic gospels written after first century
(5) Credibility of sources is crucial¡K
(6) Suppose I wrote a document that said Abraham Lincoln dyed his hair black, and that his beard was false¡K.
(7) Two thousand years from now, someone might say, ¡§well, the author was born not even a hundred years after Lincoln died, there must be something to it¡K¡¨
(8) The real motivation for this challenge is simply an outworking of the attitude of sinful man as revealed in Psalm 2, (turn there)
Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. "Let us break their chains," they say, "and throw off their fetters."
The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.
Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill." I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my Son ; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.
You will rule them with an iron scepter ; you will dash them to pieces like pottery."
Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. . Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
--People come up with schemes and rationalizations to create alternatives to being accountable to God, to break what they view as chains and fetters¡K.
--To men and women who do not have the Spirit of the Living God residing within and controlling them, the will of God is not a sweet pleasure and great treasure, it is an oppressive burden and hated restraint¡K.
2. Most people sitting in pews believe Jesus sinned¡Kyet the Scriptures are clear
(1) I Peter 2:21-22, ¡§To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth."
(2) 2 Cor. 5:20-21, ¡§We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.¡¨
(3) Isaiah 53:9, ¡§He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.¡¨
(4) Have you ever heard this objection: ¡§Well, Jesus followers misunderstood Jesus. This misunderstood Him. He never claimed to be sinless.¡¨
John 8:44-46 quotes Jesus, ¡§You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? (John 8:44-46)
3. Jesus was like us, yet different¡K
(1) God became a man¡Ktwo natures¡K
(2) His human nature was UNFALLEN¡K.that¡¦s why He had to be born of a virgin¡Knot just a novelty
(3) Luke 1:36, "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
(4) The rest of us inherit a propensity to sin: David writes in Psalm 51:5,
¡§ Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.¡¨
II. What¡¦s The Big Deal About Jesus Living A Sinless Life?
1. Whether we believed Jesus sinned or not is a reflection of what we believe about God¡Ksince Jesus is BOTH God and Man; Is God really HOLY, pure, always righteous?
(1) There is a war between God and Satan; Satan thinks he can be God, and doubts the nature of God
(2) God created the universe to glorify Himself with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the centerpiece of all creation¡K.
(3) Between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, God¡¦s nature and attributes were showcased and displayed in all their glory¡K.
(4) The attribute of God that seems to received the greatest attention in Scripture is His holiness¡K.
2. If Jesus Christ ever sinned, we could not be saved¡K
(1) that¡¦s why Satan tempted Him¡K.
(2) How salvation works: EXPOUND 2 Corinthians 5:21
(3) I Peter 1:18-19, ¡§For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.¡¨
3. Although Jesus was born with an UNFALLEN human nature and we are born with a FALLEN human nature, through Christ we are being restored¡K.
(1) by thinking that Jesus was a sinner, it is easy to excuse ourselves¡K.
(2) note Hebrews 4:14-16:
¡§Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.¡¨
4. Jesus Christ saves us on the basis of His work on the cross¡K.He gives us a RIGHTEOUS STANDING (our legal position in Christ is ¡§perfect¡¨; God sees Jesus in our stead); but our STATE, (our actual behavior) is far from perfect. But because we know Jesus, God helps us to live out the life of Christ in us¡Kto varying degrees¡K.Jesus¡¦ therefore sets forth the potential we have in this life¡K
5. Rather than try to bring Jesus down to our level, God works through His Spirit to start us in the direction of bringing us up to His level¡Kand that will be perfectly completed when we are in heaven¡K
6. Better to hold an ideal standard that we must admit we will not attain in this life than to lower the standard and wallow in mediocrity.
CONCLUSION
1. Do you know this sinless Messiah? God in the flesh?
2. He came to save you¡Knot to help you to save yourself, but to save you.
3. And once you accept Him, He gives you the desire to grow in holiness¡K
