God is unmatched in, love, grace and power. We don’t worship God because of the stuff we can get. We can worship Him because what he has done for us and what He can do for us.
So, we need to know the bad news before we can appreciate the good news
Let’s talk about Sin
The subject of Sin offends people more than anything else in Christianity. It’s the one thing Christians don’t want to hear about. Its difficult to talk about sin because it then requires us to do some introspection. Essentially, we all subjected to sin because of our flesh. The flesh does not want to be obedient to God.
Sin is NOT:
- A behaviour problem to be solved
- Lack of knowledge needed to be improved through training
- Offense we need to make up through rituals
Now, there is three things that sin does.
Sin is a 3-D disaster
It is a debt we cannot repay
Matthew 18: 23-27 | 23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a human king who wished to settle accounts with his attendants 24 When he began the accounting, one was brought to him who owed him 10, 000 talents 25 And because he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and his children and everything that he possessed, and payment to be made 26 So the attendant fell on his knees, begging him, ‘Have patience with me and I will pay you everything’ 27 And his masters heart was moved with compassion, and he released him and forgave him [cancelling] the debt.
Our sin is so astronomical, we can never repay God. It would take 1 million days to repay the debt. The price of the debt we owe God is beyond calculation. If there’s any hope at all of paying the debt, it won’t be in working harder or doing a few more good deeds.
It creates a distance between us and God
Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honour and glory which God bestows and receives
Romans 3:23
Sin creates such a distance between us and God that cannot be just jumped over. If we try to meet the high standards of God, we will always fall short. When you want to cross a river 100m wide, you don’t need to improve your jumping – you need a bridge.
It creates a deadness so final we have no spiritual life
And you [He made alive], when you were dead (slain) by [your] trespasses and sins
Ephesians 2:1
whereas she who lives in pleasure and self-gratification [giving herself u to luxury and self-indulgence] is dead even while she [still] lives
1 Timothy 5:6
Existence without God is a living death.
We need to understand that at the crux of it, there are no degrees of sin. All sin is the same in the eyes of God. Sin is 100% disaster.
Good News
The Christian faith bases everything not on our potential and possibilities, but on the power of God to save us.
Sin is 100% disaster but Jesus is 100% saviour
3 For we also were once thoughtless and senseless, obstinate, and disobedient, deluded and misled; [we too were once] slaves to all sorts of cravings and pleasures, wasting our days in malice and jealousy and envy, hateful (hated, detestable) and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our saviour to man [as man] appeared 5 He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but because of His own pity and mercy, by [the] cleansing [bath] of the new birth (regeneration) and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 which He poured out [so]richly upon us through Jesus Christ our Saviour. 7 [And He did it in order] that we might be justified by His grace (by His favour, wholly undeserved), [that we might be acknowledged and counted as conformed to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action], and that we might become heirs of eternal life according to [our] hope.
Titus 3:3-7
The bad news of the Bible is that we can’t do anything to solve our sin problem, but the good news is that we don’t have to. Jesus provides;
Redemption
Jesus provides redemption for our debt.
In Him we have redemption (deliverance and salvation) through His blood, the remission (forgiveness) of our offenses (shortcomings and trespasses), in accordance with the riches and the generosity of His gracious favour.
Ephesians 1:7
Jesus said it is finished. Finished as a business term meaning – to cancel, paid in full. You can’t add a thing to the payment He has already provided. The canyon f sin that separates us form God is so wide we can’t ever jump across it.
Reconciliation
Jesus bridges the gap and brings us nearer to God.
But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were [so] far away, through (by, in) the blood of Christ have been brought near.
Ephesians 2:13
Jesus bridges the canyon of alienation from God and removes the distance brought about by sin. If even the smallest part of our connection to God depends on our own achievements, we’re in trouble. If our connection to God is 100 percent Jesus, we can be completely confident.
Re-birth
God’s solution to spiritual deadness is rebirth.
1 And you [He made alive], when you were dead (slain) by [your] trespasses and sins. 2 In which at one time you walked [habitually]. You were following the course and fashion if this world [were under the sway of the tendency of this present age], following the price of the power of the air. [You were obedient to and under the control of] the [demon] spirit that still constantly works in the sons of disobedience [the careless, the rebellious, and the unbelieving, who go against the purposes of God]. 3 Among these we as well as you once lived and conducted ourselves in the passions of our flesh [our behaviour governed y our corrupt and sensual nature], obeying the impulses of the flesh and thoughts of the mind [our cravings dictated by our senses and our dark imaginings]. We were then by nature children of [God’s] wrath and heirs [His] indignation, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God – so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us, 5 Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favour and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ salvation).
Ephesians 2:1-5
Being reborn isn’t something you do. It’s something you allow to happen to you. Ultimately, we have to put 100% faith in Jesus and nothing else.
Talk It Over
Key Scriptures
4 But God, being [so very] rich in mercy, because of His great and wonderful love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of our sins, He made us [spiritually] alive together with Christ (for by His grace—His undeserved favor and mercy—you have been saved from God’s judgment).
Eph 2:2-5
5 He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we have done, but because of His own compassion and mercy, by the cleansing of the new birth (spiritual transformation, regeneration) and renewing by the Holy Spirit,
Titus 3:5
13 But now [at this very moment] in Christ Jesus you who once were [so very] far away [from God] have been brought near [a]by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:13
Start talking
• What song has been stuck in your head this week? Can be Christian or Secular
Start thinking.
• Which part of the message was most impactful for you and why?
• Did your thinking about Jesus, the meaning of the cross or His sacrifice change at all while listening to this message? If so, how?
Start sharing.
• Share about when and how you came to Christ. The time you made the sincere decision to follow Him. How has following Him impacted your life?
Start praying.
Father, thank you that are so rich in Grace and Mercy. Thank you that you send Jesus not to sacrifice Himself for the perfect but the willing. Thank you for saving me. Thank you that I was far from you but now have been brought near to you through Jesus. Open up the eyes of my understanding that I will come know what is length, breadth, width of your love and what is immeasurable, unlimited and surpassing power that works within me. That same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
