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Isaiah
59 : 1-16
Surely
the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear
too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you
from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with
blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongue mutters wicked things.
No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity.
They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive
trouble and give birth to evil.
They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider's web. Whoever
eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder
is hatched. Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they
cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds
are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands.
Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent
blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction
mark their ways.
The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in
their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no
one who walks in them will know peace. So justice is far
from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for
light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk
in deep shadows. Like the blind we grope along the wall,
feeling our way like men without eyes. At midday we stumble
as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the
dead. We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but
it is far away. For our offenses are many in your sight,
and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with
us, and we acknowledge our iniquities:
rebellion and treachery against the LORD, turning our backs
on our God, fomenting oppression and revolt, uttering lies
our hearts have conceived.
So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a
distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot
enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil
becomes a prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that
there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was
appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own
arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness
sustained him.
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Romans
3 : 20-27
God
doesn't accept people simply because they obey the Law.
No, indeed! All the Law does is to point out our sin. Now
we see how God does make us acceptable to him. The Law and
the Prophets tell how we become acceptable, and it isn't
by obeying the Law of Moses. God treats everyone alike.
He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus
Christ. All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's
glory. But God treats us much better than we deserve, and
because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us
free from our sins. God sent Christ to be our sacrifice.
Christ offered his life's blood, so that by faith in him
we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the
past he was right to be patient and forgive sinners. This
also shows that God is right when he accepts people who
have faith in Jesus. What
is left for us to brag about? Not a thing! Is it because
we obeyed some law? No! It is because of faith
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Matthew
16 : 17-19
Jesus
replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for
this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in
heaven.And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock
I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not
overcome it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever
you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever
you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
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Our Situation
as humans
Since the
beginning of time, men and women have turned away from the perfect
will of God. Our rebellion against God is described in the Bible
in the scenes in the Garden of Eden when the first man and woman,
Adam and Eve, disobeyed God and ate of the fruit of good and evil.
As people have subsequently followed their own imperfect ways
and wishes the result has been that the world and people's nature
have becone imperfect and sinful..
So our
very nature is to be sinful and a just God can only feel anger
at what we are doing and grief for the loss of what could have
been if we had done what was right. Because of this we are separated
from the God, who loves us and created us, by our sinfulness.
Worst still, our very sinful nature means we find it impossible
to completely turn away from sin and selfishness to God. So how
can we find salvation if our very nature takes us away from God?
Our need
for help
In Isaiah
59 the sinful nature of man is graphically described and the
author tells us that God "was
appalled that there was no one to intervene". And there lies
our hope. If we cannot turn away from sin to God because of our
nature, we need someone to intervene. That someone is Jesus Christ.
Where
that help comes from
Jesus
was, and is, both fully human and fully devine and came to live
in the Holy Land 2000 years ago. Jesus's death on a cross of torture
provided the intervention that was needed to bring us back into
a relationship with God. The animation below gives an illustration
of this;
But how
does Jesus's death on the cross reconcile is with God?
Our
Redemption
Jesus
has paid the price for our sin (he has taken our punishment for
sin on himself), so that our sins will be forgiven when we turn
to Jesus Christ and we are reconciled to God. Eventhough Christians
do not deserve such forgiveness, they can now have a relationship
with God, who they were enemies in sin with before. If you read
the Old Testament book of Ruth it gives an example of this
idea of someone else paying the price to free someone else ('redemption').
In the story Boaz helps Ruth out of her inevitable poverty by
giving of himself. In a similar way Jesus redeemed us from sin
and hell through his death.
Justice
satisfied
Ultimately
a just God must judge us and find us guilty of sin and rebellion
against Him. However, God's justice was satisfied when Jesus acted
as a substitute for us and took our punishment on himself, and
this, as with the animal sacrifice in the old testament turns
away God's anger
Deliverance
from sin and ultimate death
Explain
- So Jesus has deliver us from the power from sin to be in relationship
with him (maybe parallel with Exodus)
The confirmation
of the resurrection
Explain
- Confirmation that all this was achieved and Jesus has power
over sin and death. Also we can be raised to a new life with him
Where
is our hope? It is in Jesus Christ, the son of God, who gave everything
so that those who believe and trust in him will go forward in
new and eternal life.
So how is
that shown in a Christians life? What is the hope that comes from
what has been done for us by Jesus? Look to the right hand column.
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Our
Situation as Christians
Christians
put their trust in Jesus Christ, claiming all that Jesus has done
for them through his death on the cross (as explained in the left
hand column) and look to the future with hope and thanksgiving.
This is because we are now in a new relationship with God. We
are reconciled with God, but how does that effect our lives now
and in the future? What is our hope?;
Found
innocent and righteous
This
relationship means that Christians can rely on a great truth;
that when we die and face the righteous judgment of God, their
sins have been forgiven and they are found to be innocent before
God (we are 'justified'). Not only that, but because Christians
associate themselves with Jesus, they are equally associated with
His perfect goodness and worthiness (Jesus's righteousness). So
Christians can know that they will not only be found 'not guilty'
, they are also found to be worthy and righteous and be able to
be adopted into god's family.
A
joyful and eternal future
Explain - This glorious truth finds it's culmination at the future
time when Jesus returns to the Earth and, as described in the
words of Revelation, all those who trust in Jesus, will be raised
to heaven with Christ and experience eternal joy and peace before
the throne of God in heaven. Christian's have the sure hope of
glorious, joyful and eternal life with God. (Maybe Revelation)
The
challenge of a Christian life
Explain
- In the meantime, Christians will react to this hope by seeking
to live more holy lives through reading God's word, praying and
seeking to live a Christian life.
Fellowship
with other Christians
Explain
- As part of a community of believers we should seek fellowship
for various reasons.
A
desire to tell others
Explain
- In thanksgiving we should want others to hear about the good
news.
To
face opposition
Explain
- Opposition will come as we state and live out our beliefs.
What
is our hope? It is that through our trust in Jesus Christ we have
the hope of a new life, not only on Earth, but also eternally
in heaven.
This
has only been the briefest of introductions to salvation, please
come along to one of our services or contact us via our contacts
page if you fill you would like to explore any point further.
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Men & women are basically sinful and far from God
To be able to turn from sin to God we need a mediator, Jesus.
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