Page Five: “The Sins of the Flesh” 3/3/13
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Given the question, what do you believe about sin?
We’re living in the twenty-first century and a surprisingly large number of Churches and Pastors do not preach against sin. Dr. John MacArthur's book, Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes like the World (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1993), wrote this about some of the Churches in the United States he was aware of. “One church advertised: "There is no fire and brimstone here. No Bible-thumping. Just practical, witty messages.” Another church said, "You won't hear people threatened with hell or referred to as sinners. The goal is to make people welcome, not drive them away." Another church boasted: "As with all "preachers," this preacher's answer is God - but he slips him in at the end, even then he doesn't get too heavy. No ranting, no raving. No fire, no brimstone. He doesn't even use the H-word" (p. 47).” Folks, Churches, Christians, those who identify with Jesus Christ, should understand sin. We should teach and preach about sin. How else can you believe in the Cross of Christ? What, then, did Jesus accomplish at Calvary regarding sin? First, He came to put away sin. Listen with me to Isaiah the prophet. Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” God had to deal with your sins in the most effective way. And that way was to lay on Christ the iniquity of us all. (53:10) “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.” Do you see what Jesus became at the Cross? “Thou shalt make his soul an offering for” what? “For sin.” That’s how serious sin is with God. He had to deal in the most sever fashion with your sin in order to remove it. |
And here’s Hebrews 9:26 “For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”
Talk about a wonderful event in history. Jesus arrived here as little baby and He left here as a sacrifice for sin. John 1:29 “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” What did God do with your sins? He laid them upon the back of His only begotten Son so that He could, in your place, become a perfect and satisfactory sacrifice. First, He came to put away sin. Second, He came to reconcile us to God. II Corinthians 5:18 “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, …” How long has it been since you had a situation where you had an argument with a friend or a spouse? And that argument resulted in a seriously strained relationship. Communication is greatly reduces and just speaking to one another is quite awkward. The fellowship has been broken and needs to be restored. We become strangers towards each other. Then, all of that is reversed when we choose reconciliation. Now, what happens on a small scale is exactly what happened to us on a large scale with God. He sent Jesus as the Reconciler. Do you see what was important to God the Father? Our reconciliation to Him. That’s why He gave His only begotten Son. That’s why Christ came into the world. Jesus became the means by which you can be reconciled to Him. Here’s Romans 5:10 “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Not only were we estranged from God, we, by choosing to sin, had become enemies. And we did nothing to correct that problem. Fortunately for us, God did what needed to be done. That’s what God did with our sins. He, by the death of His Son, reconciled us to Himself. First, Christ came to put away sin. Second, He came to reconcile us to God. Third, He came to redeem us. |