Our Need For Forgiveness (2006 March 14-20)
March 14, 2006
Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-9
Jim Shields, Sanctuary (Concord)
Read the passage and respond to these questions:
1. Compare God’s specific command with the woman’s later quotation and the serpent’s interpretation.
2. What was Eve’s fundamental problem with God’s instruction?
I’ll never understand God. He must love us with a love that is beyond our ability to comprehend. Which is absolutely true of course. Like the story found in Genesis, the book of Beginnings. What a start we got off too. He creates us, breathes His life into us and sets us in a garden ripe with amazing possibilities—all of this because He wants to be with us. Think about that. He wants to be with you. He created you so He could be with you.
And what do we do? Get tricked, that’s what. Thinking all the time we know more than the trickster. Read about it. The “more crafty” serpent says that we can be like God. And we fall for it. Being like God sounds so appealing that we willingly turn away from being with God. What a disastrous mistake. That is what sin does. It makes us hide from Him, move away and cover up.
Think about it, Adam chose to be his own “little god,” rather that being with God. And we still make the same mistake. There is no third option really. We cannot go into partnership, becoming “God and little god, Inc.” Nope, it is just you doing your own thing or you being romanced by Him. But it is always your choice, because He has already made His. And He chose you.
So this is where the need of His forgiveness comes in. Are you hiding? Have you moved away from Him? Showing up at church but still far away? Listen for a moment. He says, “Where are you?” All He needs is for you to answer Him. He will author the rest.
I will never understand God. I’m so thankful He understands me.
prayer
Gracious God, protect me from the trickery of the evil one and help me instead to trust your Word and walk in your way.
March 15, 2006
Romans 3:23; 5:12-19; 1 Corinthians 15:22
Art Barrett, New Life Christian Fellowship (Pleasant Hill)
Read the passage and respond to these questions:
1. Why isn’t being “good” good enough?
2. How would you explain to someone why we need forgiveness?
3. Why did Jesus die? What is the connection between the cross, my sin, and God’s glorious standard?
“All have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard” Rom 3:23 (nlt).
My daughter Katie’s favorite actor is Seth Green. You may know him as Scott Evil of “Austin Powers,” the computer whiz in “The Italian Job,” or as Oz in “Buffy.” Seth’s charm is that he is short. How short is short? Anyone shorter than my 5′8″ is short: Seth is 5′4″.
When we think about “How good is good,” we use a similar standard. “Good” is “as good as me!” “Bad” begins somewhere just below my level of goodness. We usually don’t put the mark of “good” far above our own reach. It’s somewhere below us that people tend not to qualify as “good.”
The NT word for “short” means “to come short; to not reach or qualify.” When I was a kid, I fell short. I didn’t reach the 48″ marker that allowed me to qualify as a rider on Santa Cruz’s giant roller coaster. Kids taller than 48″ got to ride. “It’s not fair,” I would cry! I was taller than my little brother! I was taller than kids 24, 36, or even 44 inches! But I was only 47 inches, and I could not reach the mark. I watched the “48 inchers” shoot off and roll away on the Giant Dipper.
God says, “Everyone as good as I am qualifies as good.” Jesus said, “There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Mat 19:17). Good is simple: keep the commandments . . . every one . . . perfectly. . . then you are good.
If you are perfect now, have always been, and will always be perfect, then you are “good.” If not, you may be “gooder” than I, but you’re still not “good” because the mark is out of reach. You sinned, and you fall short of God’s glorious standard.
“It’s not fair that no one is good enough!” That’s the thing about standards, especially “glorious” ones. But it’s not about being fair. It’s about who measures up and who doesn’t. Doxa, Greek meaning “glory,” refers to an opinion or estimate. All of God’s opinions are glorious.
Whoever makes the standard determines what is fair, not the “short” people. God’s opinion is that if you sin, you are a sinner; not “good.” It’s not derogatory, it’s just true. No one else measures up to God’s glorious standard, no matter who else you’re taller than or “gooder” than. We all fall short!
Prayer
Lord, help me to see my true height in your estimation, and help me to stand in Your love and glory because of what Jesus did for me.
March 16, 2006
1 John 1:5—2:11
Kurt Holm, The Creek Covenant Church (Walnut Creek)
Read the passage and respond to these questions:
1. What does this passage say about following Christ’s teaching?
2. After reading it a second time, what does it mean for the follower?
3. And lastly, here’s the clincher, how are you going to change because of this teaching? Don’t skip ahead without applying the truth!
What a contrast there is between bright light and complete darkness. It’s the same stark contrast as God’s goodness and everything absent of his goodness. God is light and sin represents darkness, void of God.
God’s light gives direction. When you walk in the light you have a relationship with the one who is the light. God is the only one who can lead you out of the darkness of sin. Just as darkness cannot exist in the presence of light, sin cannot exist in the presence of God. If you want a relationship with God you must put aside your sinful ways. Any sin of darkness is incompatible with the God of light.
God’s light exposes reality. Good and evil may be difficult to distinguish in the dark but is fully visible in the light. When driving on long road trips your windshield likely gets splattered with bugs. While looking through it during dark hours you hardly even notice a smudge. But when the lights from an oncoming car reflect through your windshield, you’ll be appalled by the mess! Light has a way of exposing every flaw and mistake and dead bug!
Something that gets in my windshield (and grill) are difficult people that push me toward disliking them and maybe an occasional hating them. There is no way to claim to walk in the light with that kind of dark attitude. Have you ever been with me here? What must we do with this sin or any other sin?
“If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all righteousness” (1 John 1:9). Confess and receive God’s forgiveness and light.
If you want power in your walk with God, if you want power over sin, if you want power to influence others, then you need to walk in the light. A plant takes the sunlight and through a process called photosynthesis uses the light to transform it into power for the plant. If you walk in God’s light, you can have the power to be what God has made you.
Prayer
Lord, shine your light into my light and help me see what is obscuring my vision of You and Your will for my life.
March 17, 2006
Psalm 51
Rob Kirk, Concord United Methodist Church
Read the passage and respond to these questions:
Which of the Ten Commandments did David break in his affair with Bathsheba? (see 2 Samuel 11:1—12:15 and Exodus 20:1-17)
David’s sin involved Bathsheba and Uriah, too. Why does he say, “Against you [God], you only, have I sinned” (v. 4)?
What are the two things David fears to lose through his sin? What is their significance? (v. 11)
“Surely You desire truth in the inner parts” (Psalm 51:6).
Sin thrives and grows in secret. After his adulterous affair, David tried to cover it up by encouraging Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba. When that failed, David secretly had Uriah murdered. Each secret sin led to an even greater secret sin.
Ted Bundy was a serial murderer who preyed on women. He got away with it for a long time because outwardly he looked and acted like an ordinary guy. When he was finally caught, friends and family were shocked and dismayed that he had been able to hide such evil from them for so long. In an interview with Dr. James Dobson just hours before execution, Bundy said that inside of him was a “black hole” where he was able to hide his evil deeds even from himself.
God desires truth in our “inward parts.” None of us should have a “black hole” inside. That is why confession is so important. Confession is the anti-sin. Confession shines the light of God’s truth into our “black hole” of sin. The darkness is driven away, and healing starts.
“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’ – and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” (Psalm 32:3-5)
prayer
Pray for the courage to “desire truth in the inner parts,” and confess your sins.
March 18, 2006
Romans 7:7-25
Chris McCabe, Freedom Church (Concord)
read the passage and respond to these questions
1. Dig into Romans 6.15-23 and Romans 8.1-11. What do they say about the meaning of Romans 7?
2. Are you really engaged in the fight that Paul mentions here, or are there areas in your life where you’ve given up fighting?
3. What does the Apostle really mean when he writes what he does in verse 25? How is that helpful in your struggle against sin?
In the novel Moby Dick, Captain Ahab is frightened by what he sees in himself. He asks the question that many of us have asked: “What is it, what nameless, inscrutable, unearthly thing is it; what cozening, hidden lord and master, and cruel, remorseless emperor commands me; that against all natural lovings and longings, I so keep pushing, and crowding, and jamming myself on all the time; recklessly making me ready to do what in my own proper, natural heart, I durst not so much as dare?” John Calvin answers the question by saying, “There remains in us a smoldering cinder of evil, from which desires continually leap forth to allure and spur to commit sin.”
I’m sure you can relate with Ahab and Paul that there seems to be some sort of propensity within each of us to do the opposite of what we know if the right thing to do. After sinning, do you ever wonder whether God is even at work in your life? You might ask yourself, have I even been transformed? Is Jesus really my savior if I can sin so blatantly? What is so beautiful about this passage is that Paul never asks these questions. His susceptibility to sin does not cause him to have some sort of crisis of belief. In fact, it seems to bolster his faith, causing him to live to Christ all the more passionately. He ends this teaching on the battle within him with these words: “Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
If you are struggling with sin today, don’t be afraid of it. Don’t question your faith. Part of living out our faith is engaging in the battle against our old, sinful nature. Fight the fight. Thank God for the victories, trust Him in the failures.
March 19, 2006
Psalm 103
Rob Kirk, Concord United Methodist Church
Read the passage and respond to these questions:
David lists six benefits from the Lord that are reasons to praise Him. What are they? (v. 2-5)
David lists one condition required from us in order to receive God’s compassion and love. What is it? (v. 11, 13, 17)
What are the two behaviors that prove we fear the Lord? (v. 18)
“As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him” (Psalm 103:11).
Go to Yosemite and stand at the top of Vernal Falls. Get close to the edge. Look down from the terrifying height. Feel the gusting wind and hear the roar of the water. Lean a little weight against the skinny guardrail separating safety from death. But don’t lean too hard! Vernal Falls is beautiful, terrifying, powerful, unforgiving, enormous, sublime. It was there before we were born. It will be there long after we’re dead. It has the power to thrill us. It has the power to kill us. When I stand at the top of Vernal Falls, I fear it.
That fear is a mixture of awe, respect, fear of dying, fascination, beauty. It is a faint shadow of what we should feel toward God. God is way bigger, more beautiful, awesome and dangerous than Vernal Falls. Yet how many of us truly fear Him? Psalm 103 reminds us that we are dust, no more significant than grass that dries up, blows away and is forgotten. Fear of the Lord begins by recognizing that fact. It means having the humility to recognize that “we are dust,” and therefore our pride is delusional. It means having the sense and honesty to admit that we don’t define sin, God does, and therefore our only hope is to obey His law. It is because God is incomprehensibly awesome that we must fear Him.
But when we do, then the benefits of His mercy will follow: forgiveness, healing, salvation from death, love, satisfaction, and restoration of youth.
“Now all has been heard. Here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)prayer
Today, and always, pray for an increase in your fear of the Lord.
March 20, 2006
Acts 2:37-39
Chuck McKinney, Valley Christian Church (Concord)
Read the passage and respond to these questions:
1. What was the message that “cut” these people to the heart?
2. What did Peter say would happen when they were baptized?
3. To whom are the blessings directed?
On the Day of Pentecost, Peter was speaking to a large crowd of Jews. His words caused them to realize their complicity in the crucifixion of Jesus, and they were “cut to the heart” How relieved they must have been to learn that they need only repent and be baptized in order to be forgiven. In fact, about 3,000 were baptized that very day!
We don’t often connect our wrongdoings and shortcomings with the death of Jesus. But His death was in order to atone for every sin that ever has been, or will be, committed.
I wasn’t present at His trial, shouting “Crucify! Crucify Him!”, but my sin was there, along with yours. And I must also repent and be baptized. And you must, too. I committed myself to Christ and was immersed over 50 years ago. I wish that my sin had ended when it was forgiven that day. But again and again, even now, I fail.
If we had to be baptized again each time we sin, we would be as wrinkled as a prune. That is not necessary. Praise God! Our baptism is a once-for-all-time affair, but we must continue to recognize and repent of each sin, one at a time, for our own sakes. There must be a “cutting” of the heart, a painful sorrow for the pain we have caused God.
Today is the first day of spring. Soon there will be fresh blooms, and new life all around us. Will you join me in repenting for every mistake, every failure, so you can enjoy the freshness of renewal in your heart?
prayer
Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of repentance.