Redemption: Man's Greatest Need

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This is the second sermon in a series of messages on Redemption. It takes a look at the problem of sin as the reason redemption is needed.

Written Excerpts:

Romans 3:23-24 (KJV) For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. ²⁴ Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Introduction:

Last Sunday we introduced the series of messages on redemption by speaking about “Redemption: Heaven’s Greatest Song.”

I still get excited and choked up when I think about the creatures and elders in heaven singing a song about redemption… the wonderful plan God provided so human beings, created in His image, can be rescued, delivered and transformed into the glorious examples of God’s grace.

Today, we are going to continue our study by considering “Redemption: Man’s Greatest Need.”

When we speak about God providing a plan to rescue us and to transform us, it all implies and indicates that there must be something wrong with us. There apparently is a deep-seated need in us that must be addressed. That is the focus of our thoughts today.

I. The Need Simply Stated

We are slaves to sin and doomed to death. Humanity was hijacked, enslaved and condemned.

Romans 5:12 (KJV) ¹² Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

This is only one verse out of dozens or even hundreds that we could use. But this one tells us a few things about the condition of humanity.

·     All have sinned

·     All are condemned to death because of sin

·     It all started with one man

One question that has come to me: Why couldn’t / didn’t God limit the consequences of the fall to affect only Adam and Eve instead of the entire human race and the entire created order? I’m not entirely sure if there is a correct answer to this question, but it seems to me that part of the answer could be that mankind needed to understand the extreme seriousness of sin. Limited consequences would probably result in a very shallow and superficial view of sin.

II. The Need More Deeply Explained

A. Definition of sin

“hamartia” – the most common word for sin in the NT.

It literally means, “To miss the mark.” It suggests a target bullseye as the standard and anything outside that mark is a “sin.” Biblically, the “bull's-eye of the target” is the standard of God’s absolute holiness and purity. Anything that falls below that standard is sin.

There are several verses of scripture that help us to more accurately define sin.

1. It is a “transgression of the law.”

1 John 3:4 (KJV) ⁴ Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

This expresses the idea of target or standard that is missed. Sin is anything that doesn’t measure up to the standard of the law.

2. It is an attitude of lawlessness.

1 John 3:4 (NIV) ⁴ Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.

This understanding expresses the concept of a sinful nature or sinful disposition, rather than sinful actions. It expresses attitude of rebellion, self-will, or insubordination.

3. It is failure to do what we know we ought.

James 4:17 (NKJV) ¹⁷ Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

This expresses “sin of omission,” but also emphasizes the aspect that knowledge must be present for it to be properly understand as "accountable" sin.

4. It is anything that is “not of faith.”

Romans 14:23 (NKJV) ²³ But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

5. It is the germination of desire and will.

James 1:13-15 (NKJV) ¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Important to understand as stated here in James that temptation is not sin, but consent of the will is sin.

When I listen to a lot of people express their view/concept of sin, I discover that they are describing temptation, not sin.

Two problems often encountered:

·     Too lenient of a view of sin. (Nothing is really sin.)

·     Too strict of a view of sin. (“Everything” is sin.) When everything is sin, then nothing is.

C. Important distinctions

Some distinctions that seem to show up in the Scripture  include:

·     Some verses emphasize the legal understanding of sin. i.e. Only sees/cares that the law has been violated. 

·     Other verses emphasize a moral understanding which seems to focus more on the person and whether they are accountable or not.  

For example, in OT, a sacrifice had to be offered whether the sin was intentional or not. However, knowledge and intent were important in deciding what to do with the offender, or what kinds of sacrifices, restitution, etc. would be required. These distinctions are also important for the discussion over whether it is possible to be victorious over sin or not.

D. Extent of sin

When we talk about the “extent” of sin we are referring to three things:

1. It is extensive – it affects every aspect of our humanity; physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually…

Isaiah 1:4, 6 (NKJV) ⁴ Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters…. The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints. ⁶ From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it, But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores….

Jeremiah 17:9 (NKJV) ⁹ “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Romans 7:18 (NKJV) ¹⁸ For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.

2. It is NOT intensive – that is, men are capable of further degrees of wickedness, and not all people are equal in their expressions of evil.

Related to this point is the fact that men still retain the image of God after the fall, even though that image is marred in all ways.

Gen. 6:5 – the reason given for capital punishment is because murder is the taking of a human life made in the image of God.

If the fall had totally destroyed the image of God in humanity, then the grounds for capital punishment are absent.

3. It is universal – it affects every human being in the whole human race.

Romans 3:9-10 (NKJV) ⁹ What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. ¹⁰ As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;

Romans 3:23 (KJV) For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

E. Consequences of sin

Romans 6:23 (NKJV) ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1. Spiritual Death

Isaiah 59:2 (NKJV) ² But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.

Romans 7:11 (NKJV) ¹¹ For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. (Yet, he is still physically alive or he wouldn’t be writing this.)

John 5:24 (NKJV) ²⁴ “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. (Can’t be referring to physical death or the person wouldn’t be able to hear and believe.)

2. Physical Death

Genesis 2:17 (NKJV) ¹⁷ 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."

Physically speaking, Adam and Eve knew nothing of physical death, but the day they sinned, they began to die physically.

When explaining the consequences of the curse to Adam, the Lord said:

Genesis 3:19, 22 (NKJV) ¹⁹ In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return." ²² Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"—

God explains to Adam that returning to the dust of the ground is included in the curse as a result of sin. This does not mean that everyone who dies is being judged because of some sin they committed. It simply reinforces the fact that all of humanity is under the curse of death.

3. Eternal Death

Matthew 25:41 (NKJV) ⁴¹ Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:

Revelation 20:10-15 (KJV) ¹⁰ And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. ¹¹ And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. ¹³ And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. ¹⁴ And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. ¹⁵ And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8 (NKJV) ⁸ But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

Conclusion:

You can see from what we’ve covered today that humanity is in a terrible condition.

Our condition of sinfulness and our sinful conduct have created a hopeless mess.

Not only is our situation hopeless, but our eternal destiny is hopeless unless God intervenes and rescues us.

It’s no wonder the creatures and elders in heaven are singing the praises of God for redeeming mankind!

Sin has caused havoc in us.

Our only hope is redemption, and God has wonderfully and marvelously provided the remedy needed.

May I say, dear friends, as I will be mentioning again in the future, before we understand what the good news of the gospel really means, we have to understand what the bad news of our condition really is.

We need to recognize our sinful condition and our need to be redeemed.