The Circles: Brokenness

We are broken people living in a broken world. And why is that??1. We choose to depart from God’s design. Genesis 3:1-7 ?

sin: choosing our way over God’s way; rejecting God’s design for our own design.

Isaiah 53:6 Romans 3:23

2. When we depart from God’s design, it always leads to brokenness. Genesis 3:8-10

3. Brokenness disrupts God’s design. Genesis 3:11-19

It disrupts our spiritual life

It disrupts our family life

It disrupts our married life

? It disrupts our work life

It disrupts our physical life

4. Brokenness helps us see our need for change. Genesis 3:7 ?

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Funny Example of 3 things broken & not working…? Turn in your Bibles to Genesis 3. We launched a 3 week series last week called ‘Circles.” We’re examining 3 spheres of reality that define our world, our community, our church, our families; in fact, each one of us.? Last week we examined the 1st sphere or reality: God’s Design (fill in 1st circle on screen with God’s Design) Go ahead and fill in the circle in your listening guide.

In Genesis 1 & 2 we find God’s design for humanity. “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.” Genesis 1:26 ? Imago dei. Latin for the image of God. What does it mean? It means simply that Imago dei: image of God; i.e., we are made to resemble God, even to represent God

Unlike any other part of creation, we, human beings, are created to resemble and represent God. God designed us for a life of purpose. 1st and foremost that means that we have the high privilege of glorying God; of living in a way that makes Him famous. But His design goes beyond that so that we live a life of purpose in our relationships, in our marriage, in our family, and in our work. Most of all we were designed to enjoy a purposeful and satisfying relationship with God (write glory, marriage, family, work, God under 1st circle)

But each of us; all of us have decided to depart from God’s design. We think we know better. We set our desires and pleasures above the desires and pleasure of God. (draw line between two circles, then write sin above line) This is called sin: choosing our way over God’s way; rejecting God’s design for our own design. This results in brokenness.(fill in 2nd circle on screen w/ Brokenness) (fill in circle on chart) In your worship folder, go ahead and fill in the 2nd circle and draw a line between these 2 circles and write the word sin above the line.? We live in a broken world, do we not? Rains (pic of flooding street/cars) that decimate communities with never seen before flooding. Drought and famine (pic of emaciated mom/child)in places in Africa that are killing children by the 1000s. Earthquakes (pic of city

devastation after earthquake) that kill hundreds, sometimes even thousands. ? And we are a broken people, aren’t we? In America, almost 60 Million people struggle with depression and anxiety. Almost 50% of all marriages end up in divorce and all but about 20% are in serious trouble. For the 1st time in our history, more children are being raised in single-parent homes than 2 parent homes. Half a million children have been removed from their homes due to abuse and neglect and placed in foster care. An estimated 20 million people are ensnared in some kind of addiction. Police report over 3,000 violent crimes a day.? We are broken people living in a broken world. And why is that??1. We choose to depart from God’s design. Genesis 3:1-7 ? This has been true from the very beginning. Adam and Eve decided they knew better than God, didn’t they? Let’s read it. (Genesis 3:1-7 on screen)

As we said before, sin: choosing our way over God’s way; rejecting God’s design for our own design.

We all do this. Every person who has ever lived makes this tragic mistake. “We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way.” Isaiah 53:6 We’ve gone astray; we’re attempting our own way. And the results are tragic.? The book of Romans is an incredible treatise on the brokenness of creation and humanity and God’s plan to restore it; to restore us. And one of the great truths found in that treatise is found in ch.3, v.23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

Now, if you’ve been in church at all, you’ve probably heard this verse a thousand times. But don’t let your familiarity with it anesthetize you to its truth and importance.

That word sin (?µa?ta??): to miss the mark. It’s doubly emphasized when Paul says that we all have sinned, missed the mark, and fallen short. (demo with bow/arrow)? We fall short of the glory of God. This goes back to what we talked about last week. Each of us were intended to be the image, representation of God, and we still resemble Him—but we’ve been in a wreck; a wreck called sin. And we fall short of that purpose of (circle glory) glorifying God; of living in a way that makes Him famous.? It’s like this (Morality ladder): This is a vector for morality. At the top you can put God; at the bottom, let’s put Axe murderers and serial killers. Now where would you put yourself? Before you do, let me help you relativize this. Where would you put Mother Tereasa? Well, she herself disclosed that she fell far short of what God demanded; said and did things she was ashamed of. So let’s put her here. Where would you put Billy Graham? Well, he self-disclosed that he too fell woefully short of God’s demand. So now would you put yourself? Above Billy? Above M.T.? Probably not. I want you to see that there is a gap between you and God. In fact—it’s a gap that is infinite (infinite sign)