A New Creature
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
The Nature of Humanity
The Nature of Humanity
Were are now up to our 7th study in our series We Believe. I find this one very interesting in the fact that today we explore the idea of what it means to be “in the image of God. “
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
He was a dirty old tramp. Socks poked through holes in his shoes. Patches on his pants hung loose. A threadbare coat afforded little protection from the cold. Elbows protruded through his sleeves. Weeks of beard clung matted to his chin. Tobacco stains showed clearly on his teeth.
He leaned heavily on a stick as he shuffled down the street, when suddenly a shiny, black limousine drew up. The richest man in the city called out, "Come here. I've got a question for you." The tramp came close.
"Would you like to wear fine clothes like mine? If so, jump into mg car, and I'll give it all to you.'
Overjoyed, the tramp got into the car. Off they went together to the finest residential district and the costliest house in town.
'Here we are," said the host. "Mg servants will fix you up. I must leave, but they will carry out my instructions."
The master left, and a smiling young man stepped up to the tramp. "My master has told me to give you the best of everything. Follow me. The first thing we will do will be to clean you up. You will need a bath. Please give me your coat.
A bath! The words struck terror to the tramp. He hadn't had a bath in years. Fear flashed in his eyes.
'I've worn this coat for nine gears. You can't make me take it off now."
The young man smiled kindly. "Please take off your rags. Then you can enjoy a nice, warm bath. After that I have some beautiful clothes for you.
The tramp felt insulted. His face was livid with anger. The servant had called his precious possessions rags. What an insult! "How dare you call my clothes rags! Your master told me I could have new clothes. He didn't say anything about throwing these away."
"l have told you only what my master requires," said the servant quietly. "If you refuse, you must leave this house. This fabulous opportunity may never be offered to you again. That is all." His voice carried an air of finality.
That tramp is a lot like us. He typifies human nature. Before we can wear the garments of Christ's righteousness, we must take off our rags, every one of them. We must be willing to receive a thorough cleansing.
God says,
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.
God is waiting to give us the treasures of heaven—to transform us into His divine image. Are we willing to take off our filthy rags and let Him clean us up? Please, let's get the rags off—quickly
Preview
Preview
God didn't speak Adam into existence as He did all other forms of life. No, like a master sculptor, He formed him with His loving hands and then breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Taking a rib from Adam, with it God perform His last act of the creation and made Adam’s beautiful companion, woman.
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
So we are made in the image of God! What an honor! And God used the dust of the ground—not other forms of life like a sea creature or a monkey—to create us. There's a clear distinction between us and other species of animals. We are called the sons of God.
38 the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
If you read from verse 23 in that chapter, it’s the lineage of Christ. Starts with Joseph and ends with Adam. If we are created in His image and have faith in Jesus we can claim the right to be called a son of God.
God gave Adam and Eve dominion over everything on earth, including all animal life. As long as they depended on the Creator's love, they would live in a perfect world.
Lets pause a moment to marvel at God's tremendous creative genius. Take, for example, the design of our lowly foot. It has 26 bones with 36 different joints tied together with tough tendons to a mass of about 50 muscles that act with split-second coordination. These bones form three arches—two running lengthwise and one across the instep—to provide a natural, elastic spring that absorbs severe jolts when we run, walk, or jump. We probably walk about eight miles a day. If a person weighs 125 pounds, the total impact is about 594 tons a day on each foot. What punishment our feet have taken 365 dags for each year we've been walking!
Evolutionists have difficulty explaining how human feet gradually changed from some animal foot, and how humans learned to walk on two feet instead of four, accomplishing the art of balancing on just one foot as we walk.
Points to Ponder
Points to Ponder
1. God created perfect people in His image and placed them in a perfect home. But now this earth is in a terrible mess with no perfect people in it.
1. God created perfect people in His image and placed them in a perfect home. But now this earth is in a terrible mess with no perfect people in it.
Why? God chose to give these perfect beings the power of choice. They could love Him or turn away from Him. His love demanded that He take that risk.
Sadly, the highest angel, Lucifer, became proud.
16 “By the abundance of your trading You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. 17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, That they might gaze at you.
Dissatisfied with his position, he coveted God's own place. His discontent spread until finally, he and one-third of the angels rebelled, and God had to cast them out of heaven.
2. Under the guise of a serpent, how did Satan deceive Eve?
2. Under the guise of a serpent, how did Satan deceive Eve?
4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
He lied to her—and she believed him. Unbelief in the Word of God led Eve to disobey God, share her doubts with Adam, and break the beautiful relationship they had known with God.
3. What are the consequences of sin?
3. What are the consequences of sin?
Separation between God and human beings. Enmity between human beings. Death, not only of human beings, but in nature as well.
Think for a moment what must have gone on in the mind of God at that time. He had made this supremely beautiful world, watched as Satan inhabited the serpent and then Eve was tempted and succumbed to evil. As this progressed He knew how this new world would be destroyed. Have you considered the love and restraint that God exhibited during that time? To let this all happen and not do anything about it. God has been sacrificing for us since the beginning. He has been sacrificing his desires, holding back His anger, holding back His vengeance so that as many of His very loved children as want to can be saved.
Nuts and Bolts
Nuts and Bolts
The consequences of or original parents actions
I. Instead of the marvelous experience the serpent had promised, Adam and Eve felt shame and fear.
I. Instead of the marvelous experience the serpent had promised, Adam and Eve felt shame and fear.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
2. They blamed each other.
2. They blamed each other.
12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” 13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Sin always breaks the relationship with God and between people. Isn’t interesting that the first things out of their mouths were blame for each other. Humanity still does that today. We haven’t learned. No one takes responsibility for there own actions. We point fingers at each other instead of accepting what we’ve done and owning up to it. That is, unless we have let the Lord into our lives.
3. Adam and Eve lost their lovely home and their right to the Tree of Life.
3. Adam and Eve lost their lovely home and their right to the Tree of Life.
23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.
4. Sin involves both inward thoughts and outward disobedience.
4. Sin involves both inward thoughts and outward disobedience.
12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Sin begins with an inward thought and motivation, and then it leads a person to disobedience. This disobedience affects the entire human being (Romans 3:23) and produces guilt that destroys physical, mental, and spiritual well-being and relationships.
5. Is sinfulness inherited or acquired?
5. Is sinfulness inherited or acquired?
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
By nature we have the tendency toward sin, but God does not hold our tendencies as sin— only our disobedience is sin. Do you realize how undeserving of that gift we really are? We are sinful by character and by nature. But we are not condemned because of it. We are only held responsible for the acts of sin we commit.
6. In the face of sin we are helpless and hopeless in ourselves.
6. In the face of sin we are helpless and hopeless in ourselves.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
7. Evolution does not require a Saviour.
7. Evolution does not require a Saviour.
Evolution projects life as progressive and hence does not recognize sin. The world and our lives will always progress to something better. This sounds nice on the surface. No concept of sin. We don’t have to worry about doing anything wrong right? Is this concept working? NOT. Don’t have to look very far in the world to figure that one out.
8. As soon as Adam and Eve sinned, God gave them a covenant of grace whereby He would save them from sin.
8. As soon as Adam and Eve sinned, God gave them a covenant of grace whereby He would save them from sin.
40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
When God was telling about what would happen to Satan, Adam and Eve were given a look into the future when they were told that Jesus would come and give his life for the world.
9. Throughout history God continually renewed this promise or covenant of grace with Abraham and his descendants.
9. Throughout history God continually renewed this promise or covenant of grace with Abraham and his descendants.
6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
Abraham believed God, and He "counted it to him for righteousness. Is Abraham any different than we are? Can we have the same option as Abraham did? Right there it tells us in those simple words.
10. Does that mean that all of Israel will receive the blessings of this promise?
10. Does that mean that all of Israel will receive the blessings of this promise?
7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.
29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
11. Because Israel forsook God's covenant of grace and sought salvation in their own works, God chose spiritual Israel and gave them a new or better covenant.
11. Because Israel forsook God's covenant of grace and sought salvation in their own works, God chose spiritual Israel and gave them a new or better covenant.
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
Words to Remember
Words to Remember
To understand better the nature of the human, we need to know that the Bible portrays humans as a whole—not as separate parts, as so many believe.
Genesis explains how God made Adam. God used earth's elements. The dust of the ground + the breath of life = a human being, a living soul. Death is the reverse of that equation.
"Breath of life" translates the Hebrew word ruach. Used 377 times in the Old Testament, it is also translated "spirit," "wind," "breath," but most frequently, "breath of life" or "spirit of God." In the New Testament the Greek word is pneuma, meaning "spirit, ' "to blow, to breathe." Never is it used to denote a conscious existence or spirit apart from the body. It is the power of life God put in Adam to make him alive, or a living soul.
Soul: Living soul, living being, living person—all mean the same. Nothing in the Bible indicates that the soul is a separate entity that was united with the human body. A human being is the soul. At death there is nothing like a surviving soul.
Covenant: God's basis of relating to human beings and saving them from sin. Grace: Unmerited favor and love of God toward sinners.The
The Difference Between
The Difference Between
Body, Soul, and Spirit:
Body, Soul, and Spirit:
The Bible uses these terms to signify the unity of the human being as a whole person: Mag "Your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
"Body" refers to the physical dimension of a person.
"Spirit" may be understood as intelligence and thought through which God communicates with a person.
"Soul" finds expression through emotions and desires. We cannot separate one from another. All were created bg God, and all must come under the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit.
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I Truly Believe
I Truly Believe
While I was a sinner, God loved me and sent His Son, so that by believing, I might be saved. This covenant of His grace will make me a new creature, born again to walk with Him. Think carefully about each statement below. If, in your heart, you agree with the statement place them there forever.
I choose to experience peace and forgiveness by allowing Jesus to transform me in the image of God.
I am a sinner. Mg only hope is to accept God's invitation to enter the covenant of grace.
Through faith, I choose to allow Jesus to come into mg heart, cleanse me from sin, and cover me with His perfect life.
I no longer want to be ruled by Satan and sin, but today I give my all to Jesus, knowing I am a child of God and an heir of His kingdom
Prayer