Get the Flash Player to see this player.
Home Sermons 2011 Good news and bad news (Part 1 of 'The Way of Salvation')
 
Good news and bad news (Part 1 of 'The Way of Salvation') PDF Print E-mail
Written by David Charlton   

Scripture

Genesis 3:1-7

Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, `You shall not eat of any tree of the garden'?" 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but God said, `You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" 4 But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

Romans1:18-32

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse; 21 for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct. 29 They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them.

Summary and Purpose


Summary: There is good news, bad news and more good news. The first good news is that God created us to have a love relationship with Him. The bad news is that we sinned and broke that relationship with God. The 2nd good news is that God still loves us and has made a way for us to have a restored relationship with Him. This way is Jesus Christ. So, good theology can be summed up with: Good news, bad news, good news.

In order for us to realize the 2nd good news, we must first admit to the reality of the bad news. We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We all need God’s forgiveness. Part of the 2nd good news is that God’s forgiveness is free. Jesus already paid the price for it on the cross. When we receive God’s forgiveness, we admit we are sinners and acknowledge a desire to change. (This desire to change is called repentance.) The Holy Spirit then begins the process of changing us into the image of Christ as we enjoy a restored relationship with God. None of this can happen, however, unless we acknowledge the reality of sin and our need for salvation.

Purpose: To help the congregation understand the reality of sin in this world and our need for salvation

The Sermon

I. Introduction:  Good news/bad news Jokes

1. Doctor giving news to his patient

  • Doctor: I have some good news and bad news
  • Patient: What’s the good news?
  • Doctor: The tests you took show you have 24 hours to live.
  • Patient: If that’s the good news, then what’s the bad news?
  • Doctor: Well, the bad news is that I should have told you yesterday

2.  Gallery owner giving news to an artist

  • Gallery owner: I have some good news and bad news
  • Artist: What’s the good news?
  • Gallery owner: A man came in here today asking if the prices of your paintings would go up if you die. After I said yes, he bought all your paintings
  • Artist: Great! What’s the bad news?
  • Gallery owner: That man was your doctor

3.  Lawyer giving news to a client

  • Lawyer: I have some good news and some bad news
  • Client: Well, give me the bad news first
  • Lawyer: DNA test show that it was your blood all over the crime scene
  • Client: That’s horrible! I’m sunk! What’s the good news?
  • Lawyer: Your cholesterol level is down to 130!
4. Like these jokes, I have some good news and bad news. Actually I have some
good news, some bad news and then some more good news.
  • Unlike these jokes, however, what I have to say is extremely important and very serious. It’s a matter that involves how we will spend eternity.
  • Good understanding of theology consist of: Good news, bad news and good news
  • Not a bad ratio, 2 pieces of good news versus 1 piece of bad news. The bad news, however, is huge and we must acknowledge it in order to experience the good news that comes after it.
  • To understand and acknowledge the bad news we must first understand the good news that comes before it. So, we must look at them in the right order. We’ll look at the 1st good news, then the bad news and then the 2nd good news.

II. The 1st GOOD NEWS: God created us to have love relationship with us.

1. After creating the heavens, earth, sea, plants and animals, God created humanity.
He created humanity in His own image (Genesis 1:26-31)
  • Being created in God’s image means 1) We have the ability to have a relationship with God and 2) We are responsible for God’s creation
  • Prior to the fall, Adam and Eve walked and talked with God. They had an intimate relationship with God.
2. In order for God to have an intimate love relationship with us, we had to have the
ability to freely say ‘yes’ to God.
  • This means we had to be able to say ‘no’. A ‘yes’ is meaningless without the ability to say ‘no’.
  • Imagine a ruthless dictator forcing a peasant woman to marry him and perform the duties of a loyal wife. The peasant lady may put on the appearance of being a loving wife but, in actuality, she will not truly love her husband. It would not be a love relationship because the peasant woman never had the opportunity to say ‘no’.
  • God wants a true love relationship with us, so He gave us the opportunity to say ‘no’ to Him. That’s what the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’, God’s command not to eat from that tree and the serpent are all about.

3. God gives Adam and Eve a choice

  • God placed the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ in the middle of the garden and told Adam and Eve not to eat its fruit
  • God allowed the serpent to enter the garden to tempt Adam and Eve not to obey God.
  • This gave Adam and Eve and, by extension, all of humanity the ability to make the following choices: 1) right vs. wrong, 2) trusting God vs. not trusting God, 3) selfish ambition vs. humble loyalty. All these choices can be summed up with choosing between following God and not following God.
  • This leads us to the bad news
III. The BAD NEWS: We sinned (disobeyed God) and this separated us from God.
Since God is the source and sustainer of life, this separation leads to death.
1. Genesis 3:1-7: Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that
the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, `You shall not eat
of any tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of
the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, `You shall not eat of the fruit of
the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you
die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die. For God knows that
when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing
good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and
that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one
wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he
ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked;
and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.”

2. Adam and Eve chose to do the wrong thing. They chose to disobey God.

  • The serpent, Adam and Eve were all cursed
  • All creation was cursed
  • They were banished from Eden and the ‘Tree of life’. Death became a reality.

3. Sin = disobeying God. Sin causes separation from God

  • When a young child disobeys his parents, at that moment, the relationship between the child and parents is broken. The parents have to discipline the child to get him to obey. Once the child realizes his error and obeys his parents again, the relationship is restored.
  • Likewise, when we disobey God, our relationship with God is severed.
  • God is the source and sustainer of life. When we separate from God, death becomes a reality.
4. Ever since Adam and Eve committed the first sin, humanity has been burdened
with sin. Things went from bad to worse.
  • Cain murders Able (Genesis 4:1-16)
  • Sin became so bad, God had to send a flood to keep it from becoming to pervasive (Genesis 6-9)
  • When humanity became to conceited with the tower of Babel, God had to scatter the people and confuse their language (Genesis 11:1-9)
  • We all are born with an inclination to sin. If you don’t believe this, watch Fox news or CNN.
  • God clearly commands us to love God, neighbor and self. Is there anyone who can honestly say they never had an unloving thought, word or deed?

5. So, we are sinful people, separated from God and death is a reality. BAD NEWS!!!

IV. The 2nd GOOD NEWS: God still loves us even though we don’t deserve it. He has
provided a way for us to reestablish a love relationship with Him.
1. Grace: God’s undeserved love for us. We sinned and don’t deserve God’s love but
God still loves us. That’s grace.

2. God’s grace provided a way for us to be saved from sin. That way is Jesus.

  • As God in the flesh, Jesus went to the cross and paid the penalty for our sins
  • This makes it possible for us to receive God’s forgiveness. (Note: When you receive God’s forgiveness, you’re acknowledging you are a sinner and admitting you need to change) Along with receiving God’s forgiveness, we also acknowledge Jesus as our Savior and Lord.
  • As recipients of God’s forgiveness, we have a reestablished love relationship with God.
  • The Holy Spirit enters our hearts and begins to change us from the inside out. The Holy Spirit cleanses our hearts of sinful desires and replaces them with God’s holy love. As we walk with Christ, we become more Christ like.

3. None of this is possible if people don’t realize the reality of the bad news.

V. People must realize and understand the reality of sin in order to be saved

1. How can you expect people to receive God’s forgiveness if they don’t know they
need forgiveness?
  • Earlier I made the note that when you receive God’s forgiveness you are acknowledging that you are a sinner and admitting you need to change.
  • This acknowledgement of guilt and desire to change is repentance. Repentance is the sincere desire to change from living a life of sin to living a life of holiness and love.
  • Repentance is absolutely vital for salvation and will be the topic of next week’s sermon.
  • How can you expect people to repent and receive God’s forgiveness if they don’t know they are in need of forgiveness and change…if they don’t realize they are sinner?

2. We, as followers of Christ, must educate people about the reality of the bad news.

  • Many people go through life thinking they’re ok because, compared to other people they live a moral life.
  • People, however, are not the standard by which God judges us.
  • Jesus is the standard by which we are judged and commands us to love God, neighbor and self in all our thoughts, words and deed.
  • Ask people if every one of their thoughts, words and deeds, throughout their lives, have been loving.
  • When explaining the truth about the reality of the bad news, don’t worry about convincing them. That’s between them and the Holy Spirit. Just explain the truth to them in a loving manner so they can go on to the 2nd good news that God still loves them and wants to save them.

VI. Conclusion: What are you going to do with this ‘good news, bad news, good news’?

1. Will you ignore it and allow people to wallow in the bad news?

2. Perhaps you are still in the bad news. Will you go on to the 2nd good news by
repenting and receiving God’s forgiveness?
3. Perhaps you are already in the 2nd good news. Will you tell others about the bad
news so that they too can go forward into the 2nd good news? That would be the
loving thing to do.
 
Joomla Templates by Joomlashack