Hebrews
2:1-5 “Therefore we must give
the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the
word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and
disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which
at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those
who heard Him, God also
bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts
of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? For He has not put the
world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels.
I’ve heard that the “only” thing on earth that
never changes is the fact that “everything” changes. Last Sunday, our Pastor JJ
announced that he has officially resigned to take a new pastoral call up in the
California high desert town of Hesperia and will be departing
at the end of the month. I hope that you will miss the enjoyable plethora of
great Sunday Worship sermons weekly on biblical topics that touch our daily
thoughts and lives as much as I did, listening to and writing about them. Best
wishes and Godspeed (a phrase meaning " God spede you" or " God prosper you,") in the next chapter of your family’s life
and your shepherding of God’s flock in this new futile pasture.
Pastor JJ starts a new Sunday Sermon series titled
“God of the Underdogs, based upon a book of the same title. We are the
“underdogs” that God uses to change this world. An “Underdog”, meaning a person or
group that is perceivably disadvantaged that is expected to lose a contest or
struggle. Here are my notes and thoughts from the first sermon message in this
series. Nobody’s perfect; we all know that. Perfection is God’s standard, but
the Bible is realistic and truly doesn’t expect fallen humanity to be perfect;
and doesn’t suggest that it is even possible, because it is not. Romans
3:23 states clearly: “for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God.” I read a great explanation on the
reason that fallen humanity chooses to sin against their just and holy Creator
God. Mankind was created with the natural ability to be morally perfect
inasmuch as we have the natural equipment to perform moral acts of obedience to
God. Man has a mind and a will; but in order to exercise that mind and will to
obedience, we have to have some kind of proper inner disposition or desire to
please god. We always make our choices according to the strongest inclination
we have at the moment of decision. For example, if we desire to obey God were
always greater than my desire to sin, we would never sin. When we sin, on the
other hand, it is because we want to sin more than we want to obey God. Nobody
forces us, thought many may entice and encourage us to sin. It is precisely because
we sin according to my desires that God holds us responsible for our actions. The
determining factor in moral decisions is the self. Mankind has a free will, but
in our falleness that will is under the power of and in the bondage of sin.
Then what is the purpose of God’s “perfect” law as our standard if we
cannot obey it perfectly in our sin nature? Galatians
3:22-24 explains, “But the
Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ
might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law,
kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore
the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ,
that we might be justified by faith.” Forgiveness and Salvation by faith, consecrated and sanctified, holy and blameless, to become
“all that we can be”, through Jesus Christ, as perfect Almighty God designed us.
We must know in our heart that “I am not perfect, but God is” and He has a
loving purpose for His children as we, underdogs, look at and mature into the
likeness of Jesus. We’ll look at: “Not perfect (and neither is anyone else), but
working on it by God’s calling” looks like, next post.
In Christ, Brian
4 comments:
Sounds as your pastor has given you much to mull over this week...the sign of a great sermon. :)
I've always thought, if perhaps I was perfect, I would have no need of a Savior. I'll embrace my imperfections & praise Him for them. They led me to Him.
Great post, Brian. Happy Sunday!
Thank you for the comment Larri and the exact point that Pastor JJ was making. Psalm 10:4(NKJV) says "The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts." We are not perfect; far from it and need to recognize that we are dependent upon our perfect Lord God. That is when "the trust that sets us free" open our eyes to our imperfections,God holy equipping and merciful provision and the Savior's grace in forgiveness, redemption, restoration, salvation and eternal blessings through Christ alone by faith alone. I love your words, "I'll embrace my imperfections & praise Him for them. They led me to Him." Amen!
I like the concept of “God of the Underdogs".. I've never thought of humans in that way. Pride and arrogance are twins. Bill
Great point Bill. Pride and arrogance distract our fallen minds off God and onto ourselves for sure. I understood that nobody was "good enough' to make it into heaven, making us all underdogs ... everyone knows that nobody is perfect, so technically disqualified and do not deserve heaven, but deserve hell. The hundreds or thousands of sin committed during life justify the Laws sentence. What I didn't see was why God holds us responsible for our actions, if we cannot help ourselves from sinning. I heard that "decisions have consequences", but never put together that it was our decisions that God holds us accountable for our actions; not really the actions. Eve decided to "not trust God" and decided to believe the devil and then eat the fruit she and Adam were told not to. We follow the same recipe for disaster ... our fatal decision. We stand condemned already, and if it weren't for the grace (favor that we did not earn, do not deserve and cannot pay for on our own), he doesn't send Jesus. How can anyone believe that they are getting into heaven on their own merit, I don't know? Pride and arrogance? I'm so happy for your enlightening comment.
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