Man is a Sinner
Man is a Sinner
Becoming God's Man Series
Preface
Becoming God's Man is not about achieving spiritual perfection or great success in God's work. The more we believe we are near perfection or success, the further we are to understanding the gap between our frailty and God's holiness.
Paul sets the milestones of his spiritual maturity by being more sensitive to his sins, rather than his amazing spiritual achievements. First in 1 Cor 15:9 he says, “I am the least of the apostles.” Later in Eph 3:8, he says, “I am the very least of all saints.” Finally in 1 Timothy 1:15 before he died, he says, “I am the chief of all sinners.” You can see he too was struggling with success and rank, comparing himself to apostles, then to saints and then to sinners.
Being God's man therefore starts with the humility of understanding our wretched nature, and ends with a higher appreciation of God's love and His refusal to give up on us after cycles of failures, before and after we were saved by Christ's blood. It is not a destination, but a journey about accepting our frail humanity as they are, God's abounding grace as it is, and to help our brothers and sisters in their struggles without judgment; for frankly, we are all in some ways "screwed up", but God says "it is OK!"
"But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Rom 5:20)
1. The Origin of the Crisis
· Everyone has a nature of sin inherited from Adam. Therefore, all Christians started out as “natural sinners”.
o “As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; There is no one who understands; no one who seeks God.” Rom 3:10-11.
o For all men according to the Law, to sin is to “miss the mark” – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23-24)
· When we gave our lives to Jesus, we are given the Holy Spirit who began to teach us God’s ways and the righteousness in Christ.
o “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Rom 8:29
o We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. … we have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor 2:12,16)
· For believers, sin is not measured against a list of “dos” and “don’ts” but measured by the consistency of our behaviour against our faith:
o “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because it is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23).
o “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).
o God often has to destroy or postpone His own divine plan for us when we contaminate it with our pride, greed, motives and ambitions. “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isa 64:6)
o As natural sinners and with past baggage, we still look outside for meaning. (Story of the art collector). “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:21-25)
· Therefore, being a “man of God” is a journey, not a destination. We will never get it “right” in our life time, but God will also never give up on us. Realising our inability to “get it” and God’s unwavering love for us bend our knees in humble worship of our Heavenly Father!
2. The Outcome of the Crisis
· When we keep “missing the faith”, we miss the identity as Sons. We need to keep reminding and motivating each other to “fight the good fight” and that God still love us as sons, even when we keep failing.
o But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. (1 Tim 6:11-12)
o I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (1 Tim 4:7)
· We miss the role of Servant Leaders – to have dominion over creation.
o Gen 1:27 Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over….”
· We miss the role of Spiritual Guardians.
o Gen 2:15-17 “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
· We miss the role of Love Giver
o Gen 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife. Gen 3:12 “The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree and I ate it.
· We miss the role of Brother’s Keeper.
o Gen 4:9 I do not know; Am I my brother’s keeper?”
3. The On-Going Crisis
· The “Demon at the door” (“chattah” – Gen 4:7) is still at the doors of Christians. He cannot come in, but he can still terrify us into relying on things other than faith:
o “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him! (1 Pet 5:8b-9a)
· Our Background:
o We don’t have enough role models – especially under Chinese families
o We are cultural Christians – we assimilate the cultures of where we grow up and where we work.
o We suffer in Macho Silence – we do not share our deep issues and thoughts
· The crisis Christians are in:
o Worldliness : Busy, Performance, Success, Compromises (Money, Sex, Power)
o Fatigue Lukewarmness : Spiritually disengaged, double lives, devoid of power
o Lostness : Meaning and Significance
Discussion:
a) Discuss your background (childhood, family, education) and how they have affected you in your adulthood even after becoming a Christian.
b) In your own experience, which of the “crisis” above are real to you? Give an example.
c) Discuss the truth of this statement: “Men often doesn’t know that he is in crisis. At some point in our lives, we departed from scriptural principles and go deeper into the world. He only wakes up when something serious happens – eg, wives rebel, children astray, unpayable debts, affairs, etc.”
4. Going Onward in the Crisis
· It is possible that even now we still don’t know all the crisis we may be in. We think we are OK, but we are not. How do we ensure we keep alert and is ready to respond to God’s prompting and corrections? (Refer to 1 Pet 5:5-9.)
o submit yourselves to your elders. (Authority)
o clothe yourselves with humility toward one another. (Accountability)
o Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. (Humility)
o Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (Trust)
o Be alert and of sober mind. (Clarity of Knowledge – the Word)
o Standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (Fellowship)
· Personal Reflections:
o What is your personal take-away from this session? Write a paragraph of the most important principle that you have realised or have been impressed by.
o What do you sense the Lord is leading you to act on or change in your life after this session?
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