FHCC
20251207 Worship

                • Romans 5:6–8ESV

                              • 1 Timothy 6:18NKJV

                              • O Come All Ye Faithful (Oh Come All Ye Faithful)
                              • The First Noel

                                      • Romans 3:20–24NKJV

                                      • Galatians 3:10–12NKJV

                                      • Romans 5:6–10NKJV

                                    • Introduction

                                      As we prepare our hearts to worship Christ in His first coming and engage in witness looking toward His second coming, Last week we saw that the Advent of Jesus gives us Hope that the deceiving Serpent will be crushed.
                                      This week we focus on God’s affection towards the offspring of Eve and Adam. We see in the Scriptures that they were disobedient, and we continue to display that same disobedience, yet God chooses to love.
                                      I have told you that a rule of Bible interpretation is “when the plain sense makes sense, seek no other sense.” I’ve also said that “Scripture is the best interpreter of Scripture”. So what do we do when the plain sense doesn’t fit nicely with other Scriptures?
                                      A plain reading of this text would be the child of this talking serpent/snake would be an enemy of the child of Eve. The first child of Eve was Cain. We read in Genesis 4 that Cain does not crush disobedience, He stubbornly kills his own brother when God is not pleased with his offering of fruit salad. Cain is then banished, exiled, and never participates in the crushing we talked about last week. There is no record of the other sons (Enoch & Seth) ever crushing the talking snake either.
                                      The (45x in Gen 3:1-14) - Is God speaking to all snakes or to THIS Serpent? If God is not addressing the descendants of all snakes, when or who is a descendent of the Devil (which we saw last week in Hebrews 2:14 is the fuller New Testament revelation of who deceived Eve)
                                      Genesis 1-2 tell us that God made a good world, Genesis 3 tells us that evil messed up that good world, and the rest of the Bible tells how the world remains messed up and God’s activities and attitudes to fix the messed up, cursed world.
                                      TRANSITION: this morning we will used the condition described in Genesis 3:14 to springboard into other Scriptures that further describe this brokenness, humanity’s attempts to deal with it, and God’s ultimate remedy. First, I won’t go to the Doctor unless I recognize that something needs correction so we start with...

                                      The Offspring’s cursed condition - Romans 3:20-24

                                      Romans 3:20–23 ESV:2016
                                      For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

                                      1. None of us chose to be born

                                      It is frequently argued that since none of us had a say in being born broken, that God is “unfair” to allow any of us to die outside of Christ.
                                      You also had no say in the family to which you were born.
                                      Unless you chose to immigrate to this country, you had no say about your citizenship.
                                      You had no say about your height, your eye color, or your genetics.
                                      Each of us was born into some challenges that we would prefer not to face, and each of us has been born into some blessings that we did not earn.
                                      None of us are born a “blank slate”

                                      2. All of us inherited characteristics from our parents

                                      I mentioned a moment ago that THE talking serpent did not procreate other talking snakes, but God said that He would have offspring/seed. Who might this offspring be?
                                      John 8:44 ESV:2016
                                      You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
                                      The you in this verse was a group of people who refused to believe that Jesus had come from the Father and always acted according to the Father’s will.
                                      If you are not in Christ, if you deny that Jesus is God wearing human skin, God is absolutely fair to include you in the you of John 8:44 and the offspring of the Serpent in Genesis 3:15.
                                      About 3 years ago I got the two immunizations for shingles. I’m not morally declaring that you should or should not do the same, that is a discussion for you and your medical provider.
                                      I know people who have had awful reactions to it. I know that I had Chicken Pox as a child, and upon the advice of my primary care physician, I took her word that even though I showed no symptoms at the time, I was susceptible and choose to avoid the symptoms that several of my friends have endured.
                                      Through no fault of my own, I had to deal with a viral condition that exists in our world.

                                      3. All of us choose the same selfish rebellion that our mother Eve and Father Adam chose.

                                      Romans 5:12 tells me that the sin virus has also spread to all men.
                                      But unlike the Shingles virus, which I received through no fault of my own and is asymptomatic, my own actions reveal the rebellion of my heart and my cursed human condition.
                                      Isaiah 53:6 tells me that every single person seeks his own way instead of God’s way. In other words, if a talking serpent offered me something that I thought was for my own benefit, I would take it too.
                                      The 5th point of our FHCC doctrinal position that we ask all members to ascribe and all teachers to affirm states “as a result of the entrance of sin into the world (Romans 5:12), and our own sin, we are fallen and powerless to save ourselves (Romans 3:23-24).”
                                      TRANSITION: The Serpent sold Eve a bill of goods. He made her a promise, she made a decision and then she had to deal with the consequences of that decision. How do we deal with the consequences of our cursed condition?

                                      The Offspring’s conceited attempts - Galatians 3:10-12

                                      1. After choosing rebellion, we now have to cope with the presence of sin in our lives.

                                      Eve made a decision based on the idea that “I know what is best for me”. You and I continue to make decisions that we think may be in our best interest.

                                      2. Some mediate their depravity through morality.

                                      How ludicrous is it to think that if I obey some rules, I’ll get a pass on others?
                                      Imagine a perpetrator being brought before a court for capital murder and the accused offers “I never ran a stop sign. I never crossed in the middle of the street. I never beat my wife.”
                                      How many juries would say “that changes everything. He must not be guilty of murder.”
                                      Yet Galatians 3:11 implies that some people think it might, and clearly dispels that myth.
                                      Galatians 3:11 ESV:2016
                                      Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”
                                      Attending Bible Study or giving money, eating communion or going under water DO NOT JUSTIFY! Life comes by FAITH—trusting that Jesus satisfied all the requirement to remove the curse.

                                      3. Some go 180 degrees in the other direction from morality and magnify their depravity through decadence.

                                      Some are so arrogant as to film and broadcast their depravity; looting, vandalizing & abusing others.
                                      Some are so ignorant as to march in parades and demonstrations that reveal their lack of understanding.
                                      Some are so blind as to think that their resistance to just authority is something noble.
                                      Depravity ALWAYS has consequences. - Have you heard any of the stories of thieves breaking into homes to steal and vandalize who are met by a resident with a gun? Some have the audacity to claim “yes he made a bad choice, but he didn’t deserve to die for it”

                                      4. The prevalence of the curse is more than we like to admit. The severity of the consequences is greater than we estimate.

                                      But God’s cure is neither immunization, nor inoculation. He doesn’t strengthen our immune system, He doesn’t introduce a manageable amount of the curse into us, He REDEEMS us by transfusing complete righteousness!
                                      TRANSITION: Just as in a transplant surgery, Romans 5 tells us that God’s love takes out what is bad, and puts in something absolutely good.

                                      The Offspring’s compassionate redemption - Romans 5:6-10

                                      Romans 5:6–10 ESV:2016
                                      For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

                                      The Choice

                                      He chose to love us while we were WEAK (Rom 5.6)
                                      He chose to love us while our goodness was INSUFFICIENT (Ro 5.7)
                                      He chose to love us while we were still REBELLIOUS (Ro 5.8)

                                      The Result

                                      Christ's loving and humble death JUSTIFIES and SAVES from wrath (Ro 5.9)
                                      Christ's loving and humble death RECONCILES us to the God we offended (Ro 5.10)

                                      Conclusion:

                                      This sermon contains 2 risks that I have tried to avoid this morning.
                                      The first is to angrily or self-righteously focus only on the first half. It would be wrong for me to get ANY type of pleasure in saying how bad you are compared to me! Believe me, I KNOW that I am not the standard! If you feel in any way that I have implied that I am any better than you, I apologize! That is NOT my intent! I was born just as cursed as any person in this room. I made conceited attempts to prove myself good enough, and I know that my own attempts are useless. I’m NOT saying you are any worse than me, I’m saying we ALL need a Reversal to the Curse we are under.
                                      The second risk is to so emphasize the glory of God’s choice and our redemption, that I may neglect the need for individual response. Each ONE of us faces a decision similar to the one Eve made. Will I believe the lie, or will I submit my will? Will I agree with God about how wretched my disobedience is? Will I stop striving, and receive His grace?
                                      Remember the 45 times we saw “the”? The is definite and specific. This was not a word to all snakes, it was a word to THE Serpent, likewise the word Seed/offspring is also singular. This sermon needs to come right down to the one person in your seat.
                                      Right now is not about your neighbors, it is not about your kids, it is not about your coworkers. Right now it is about you.

                                      Lamps for my Steps

                                      Are you going to keep trusting your own morality or multiplying your decadence, or are you going to admit you need a righteousness transplant?
                                      Will this Christmas be just another year of trees, presents and family, or will it be a celebration that Christ has justified, saved and reconciled you to God?
                                      Advent IS good news, and it is news that deserves to be shared.
                                      Jesus IS the reason for this season, because He is the pivot point where curse can be reversed,

                                        • Romans 3:20–23NKJV

                                        • John 8:44NKJV

                                        • Galatians 3:11NKJV

                                        • Romans 5:6–10NKJV

                                          • Who Is He In Yonder Stall

                                              • Romans 16:20ESV

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                                              flinthillschurch@gmail.com
                                              (620)273-6777
                                              http://flinthillschurch.net
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