It's Worse Than You Thought | Andy Stanley

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so for the rest of the message you're gonna sit there wondering how did they get that turtle to go back into the box and I'm not going to tell you hey we're beginning at we're beginning a brand new series today called free and before we jump into the content I want to point your directs and point your attention to this website real quick the entire series will be on this website you'll be able to watch them online if you're in a small group or community group we would love for you to discuss this in your small group and if you go to this website you'll be able to download questions for free at the free website in order to discuss the content if you miss a message during the series you can that all the messages will be there the entire times if you have friends who live in a different city or a different country actually and you're like hey I think you'd really get something out of this message it'll all be right there and we can be free org for absolutely free now to begin today I want to point out something that most of us have learned somewhere along the way and it's simply this it is impossible to solve a problem when you don't know what's wrong to begin with it's impossible we've all tried to do this it's impossible to solve a problem if you don't know what's wrong to begin with when I was a younger man and I would hear a funny knocking or noise in the hood of my car and the engine or if my car wouldn't stop I would do it what all young men would do I would pull the lights go out front and pop the hood put my hands on the edge of the front of the car and stare into the engine compartment and then I would close the hood and call somebody because I don't know anything about car engines I might as well have been looking in the glove compartment okay but there's there's just something about I got a look in there but I don't know how it works and so I would never be able to solve a problem in my engine because I don't know what's wrong to begin with because I don't understand that now here's the deal many of you have been trying to solve you for a long time many of you have spent money trying to solve you some of you your spouse sent you to talk to somebody about solving you because it's like either get fixed or I'm gone okay because you're a problem and the problem is it's hard to solve you if they're not sure what the problem is to begin with now you're very smart people are you wouldn't be a part of our congregation but our watch online and you have a theory - what's wrong with you it's not like you haven't tried but you can't quite figure out what's wrong with you so solving you is a big deal some of you've lost jobs because you haven't been able to solve something about you some of you've lost marriages because you haven't been able to solve something about you some of you've lost a lot of money a lot of sleep a lot of time a lot of you lost your self-esteem you've lost your reputation maybe you've lost a child or relationship with one of your parents because there's something about you and you know it needs to be solved but you can't solve it and maybe the reason you can't solve it is because you don't know what's wrong in other words the problem may be that you don't know what the problem may be now because you're smart and sophisticated educated you have a theory and if you've been to counselling perhaps somebody has told you here's what the problem is but you know this as well knowing what the problem is is not the same as having a solution is it but if you're trying to solve something that's not the problem then applying then applying a solution to what may be the wrong problem to begin with just doesn't get you anywhere so what we're gonna do in this series free is I'm gonna offer you an explanation as to what's wrong with you based on what the Apostle Paul taught in the New Testament and you may not like his diagnosis of you and that's okay and if you're not a Bible person or a Christian that you may just be like okay that's exactly what I would expect somebody from the church to say and that's okay you don't have to agree but you have an idea of what's wrong with you and why you can't seem to make progress in certain areas and you haven't made a lot of progress so it seems to me you should at least be open to a different diagnosis so today we're gonna look at what's wrong with us and then for the next three weeks we're gonna look at his solution - what's wrong with us so if you're a person who would admit and maybe nobody even knows what you're dealing with but if you're somebody who would at least acknowledge you know what I've had a hard time fixing me I mean I've had a hard time fixing me in spite of what I've read in spite of what I've been taught in spite of what I've done in spite of what I've tried in spite of what people have told me to do I did there's just something about me maybe maybe maybe the problem is you don't know what the problem is so we're gonna look at this passage of scripture beginning today we're gonna go through several chapters in the book of Romans if you've ever tried to read through Romans it's not the easiest book in the Bible to read we're gonna be in Romans chapter 5 if you turn their or thumb there or however you get there but to make sure we're all on the same page especially those of you who you're not you're not sure you're Christian you're spiritual and you're religious but you're not a Christian you don't think it's that narrow we get that I just want to get us all on the same page by going ahead to Romans chapter 7 don't turn there and I want to read a description of how Paul the Apostle Paul would describe his life before he discovered the solution that we're gonna talk about for the next three weeks that ties back to his understanding of the problem that we're going to talk about today and whereas you may not agree with his diagnosis of you and you may not like his solution I bet we can all at least get our arms around his description of his experience before he decided that maybe he needed an alternative explanation of the problem in the solution here's what he said it but you can relate to this I do not understand what I do for what I want to do I do not do but what I hate I do and if I do what I do not want to do I agree with the law that the law is good and this could be any law this could be the Bible law this could be whatever religion your friends law this could be the you know the law of society or it might just be your internal law you may not be religious or maybe religious but there's something in you that guides what you should and shouldn't do and here's the strange thing about you and we've never met so don't let me offend you here's what I know about you you don't even do consistently what you think you should do me forget the Bible in the church and God and what your wife and your mother-in-law says you you internally have a sense of this is what I ought to do and sometimes you don't do it and it's like there's two of you there's a here's what I ought to do I'd be better off I'd be healthier I'd be a better husband I'd be a better father I'd have you know I would be a better person here's what I ought to do and then there's like another part of you that just dues what you should not do and you're like and you know come on come on you have some sort of hopefully you're an adult you have some sort of explanation as to what that is the Apostle Paul is about to tell us what he thinks it is now let me tell you why we should take him seriously and I read you the rest of his dilemma the reason I think we should take him seriously is he was friends with Matthew Mark Luke and John he hung out with the people who sat under the teachings of Jesus and yet God chose the Apostle Paul to take the significance of the crucifixion and the significance of the Resurrection and to tease it out into the implications for our everyday lives and as he listened to them talk about what Jesus taught and he spent time with the followers of Jesus he arrived at some extraordinary conclusions about what your problem is and my problem is and what the solution is and he ties it back to this this struggle that we can all relate to he goes on he says this for I have the desire to do what is good but I cannot carry it out don't raise your hand for I do not do the good I want to do but the evil I do not want to do this I keep on doing and I see you know what's great about this you may think you know you may disregard the Bible and Smith and whatever but let's face it we all believe this part of the Bible or we can all at least relate to this in fact you can go home and say well I finally heard some verses in the Bible that I can relate to because here I read about a guy who says I do not do what I know I ought to do I don't even do what I'm convinced I ought to do I don't even do what's good for me so here's the question why don't we do why don't we just do what we're supposed to do I know what's wrong with you I mean imagine how great church could be okay you come to church sing a couple cool songs you know and then I get up and say stop it see you next week I mean what any great the sermons would be so short you would need a Bible you need a three by five card stop don't start always got it I got it I mean do you really come on do you really need me or anybody else to tell you what you ought to do I mean do you really in another diet book okay do you really need somebody to say you shouldn't look at that stuff and just pollute your mind or wrecks your relationship with your wife do you need somebody to tell you that do you really need somebody to say study harder you know you know pay now play later you know do you do we need any more advice I mean is it the problem not the problem isn't that we don't know what to do the problem is we just can't figure out how to do it have you do you know how many books there are self-help books and the reason people keep rate rewriting the same self-help books because they're kind of the same book rewritten and it's so funny as you get older some of you can to this as you get older suddenly there's this new idea and it's like no no no back in 1981 somebody already wrote this book but everybody died and forgot about it realized it didn't really work and it's like oh there's a new idea no none of its new it's all the same old stuff every generation authors make lots of money off of old ideas that don't work if they worked nobody would have to rewrite that book right okay so why don't you just do why is it I can train my dog to do things I can't train me I can house break my dog I can't house break me not literally but figuratively okay why why is what what is come on what's wrong with you now let me just pause I'm poking at you a little bit I bet you have some kind of understanding as to what's wrong with you and I bet you have tried to attach some solutions as to what's wrong with you today and for the next few weeks we're gonna look at what somebody described 2,000 years ago as an explanation of the problem and he offers a solution so even if you don't believe the Bible's inspired that's okay even if you don't read the Bible that's okay even if you're not a Christian that's okay at least here's an alternative explanation to something we've all experienced now if you are a Christian some of this is going to be new and the reason it's new is we're going through the book of Romans okay in Romans is a letter written to Christians in Rome primarily Jewish you know who became believers in Rome and it's complicated and one of the reasons it's complicated is probably Paul didn't write this he dictated it okay and they didn't have delete and erase and backspace and didn't even have whiteout they didn't even do this okay so he's he's dictating this very complicated theological treatise and so the guy writing it he just wrote it all down and Paul kind of takes rabbit trails then it comes over here and he sort of goes off in a different subject then he comes back and it's so difficult to understand but fortunately lots and lots of smart men and women through the years have studied this stuff so I'm gonna try to condense down the primary point of his argument because it is so extraordinarily extraordinarily important for some of you this will be review for some of this for some of you to be brand new I'm giving you permission to argue and to push back throughout the whole series I don't mind at all but this is extraordinarily important because here's what we all have in common there's some things you wish you could quit doing and you just it's like you just can't do it's like there's some sort of power he's gonna explain that for others of you there's things you need to start doing and you don't want people nagging you but in your heart of hearts you know there's certain things just you you just need to make some changes and it's like you just can't and you've tried everything else so the Apostle Paul says well maybe you don't know what the problem is to begin with so let me explain what the problem really isn't let me offer you a solution okay so here we go now we're going deep okay deep deep deep deep we'll try to go slow but you are the most sophisticated Church audiences in the world so I know you can handle this here we go Romans chapter 5 were kind of jumping in the middle a little bit but we'll go slow you see he writes you see it just just at just the right time when we were still powerless now he's referring to something he's going to talk about later this how sense of powerlessness of wow I want to but I can't at times it's like there's a power that comes over me and I just can't he says at the right time while we were still powerless Christ died for the ungodly and here's our first speed bump because in order to understand the problem that we're dealing with and to understand what the solution is you have to acknowledge the reality as Paul describes it and you have to acknowledge the reality of you and Paul says even though he hasn't met you that you're ungodly now let me explain what he means and you're not too offended you see nobody would say well I'm ungodly we would say well I'm not perfect so let me explain that you see God is perfect and you are imperfect let's change the preposition to on you are unperfect okay God is perfect you are unperfect so you are unlike God you are ungodly then you got it all right so you're ungodly and you're not ungodly because you're the worst person in the world you're just not God so you were ungodly and he says we are all ungodly because we're not perfect in every world religion every world religion considers God even if God is pure spirit perfect the perfection of all things and you're not so you are ungodly so real quick I want you to turn to someone preferably someone you don't know and I want you to say you're ungodly right now I just want you to tell them because everybody needs to hear this you're ungodly at home just look in the mirror you're ungodly okay alright you got it so we're all on the level playing field now for some of you who you're not just one person good yeah that's why I said not someone you know okay for some of you for some of you this is your first time back in church for your first time to watch online or tune in on television and you're thinking well I know I'm ungodly and the reason I don't go to church is because I thought all those ungodly people at church didn't know their ungodly no we want you to know our book tells us we're ungodly so we're all on the same page okay Christ died for the ungodly now Christ the perfect son of God dying for the ungodly that's kind of odd and Paul says yeah I know what's odd here's what he says very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person I mean you know it'd be hard for you to give up your life for a good person though maybe for a good person someone might possibly dare to give up their life it's unusual for someone to give their life for someone else although every once in a while it happens but God demonstrates his own love which puts his love in a different category than ours in this while we were still that this is so powerful while we were still sinners now you calling me a sinner yeah Paul says here's my explanation of the problems to go with me you know don't worry you can argue in your mind but at least hear me out you're an ungodly center while we were still sinners Christ died for us now let me tell you why this is so important see this is 2,000 years ago but when Paul was writing this there were people still running around who were alive when Christ died now here's the implication Paul saying can you imagine this Jesus is being nailed to a cross outside of Jerusalem me and my buddies we're 4050 miles away and we're sending our brains out and while we are sending our brains out Christ is at that very moment dying for us ungodly sinners who would do that every once in a while you'll find somebody who lays down their life for a good person but who would die for the sins of another person in the moment that person is sinning as if they're just totally disregarding the significance of the sacrifice and the cost so this is like real time for Paul Paul's like it occurred to me that while Jesus who I never met physically in this life was being nailed to a cross I was sinning while I was still a sinner while I was still sinning in that moment he died for those very since who would do that Wow God demonstrates his own love that's why it's a different kind of love now for us 2,000 years later it means that when Christ died he died for your past sins the one you're gonna commit this afternoon the ones you're committing right now I don't know you know keep looking straight ahead and the ones that you commit in the future that who would do that who would do that now that brings to our mind if we're following his argument but wait a minute wait a minute what makes this ungodly we know we're not perfect but ungodly sinners I mean is it because of what I did and then the Apostle Paul changes the direction and he takes us into some of the most complex some of the deepest and some of the most significant teaching in all the New Testament here we go just therefore just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin death was on the heels of sin and in this way death came to all people because all sin and then it's like he loses his train of thought and he goes somewhere else he comes back but he leaves this big giant important thought hanging there and this is so important here's what he says he says sin I want you to think of sin as a noun not a verb I want you to think of sin as a thing and once upon a time send this thing that's powerless let's call it a disease there once upon a time there was no sin in the world and then sin entered the world will okay how does sent into the world sin entered the world through one man and he'll explain it just a few minutes later he's talking about Adam that when Adam sinned sin entered the world like a disease now in the next few weeks this is going to be so important for us to understand that he doesn't describe sin as just an activity or a verb but it's like a thing that results in verbs it's a noun that results in verbs there is sin that results in sinning now one of the reasons you've not been able to change is you have addressed the wrong things you've done as simply verbs you've never dealt with a noun just hang on he says send this thing this virus this power this force whatever you want to call it in search the world through one man and death through sin that is on the heels of sin was death now you've experienced this because in your life if you have a really bad habit or you have an addiction you have seen the death that follows your sin you killed a relationship you killed your finances you killed a career you killed something with your parents maybe somebody actually physically was killed or injured because of your sin he said wherever sin goes death is right behind it the reason you know your ungodly the reason you know your ungodly is because you're dying that's how you know because when sin entered the world right on the heels of a sin was death now I know if you're not you don't follow us you're not a Christian I get that you have a no no no Andy death started understand I'm just saying this is one man's explanation of the relationship between sin death and why we can't seem to do what we want to do so Adam's sin sin entered the world and on the heels of sin came death and he goes on and in this way and this way oops go back please and in this way death came to ready all people because all sin to which we go ok so death came to me because when eventually in my life I sinned no that's not what he's saying here's what he's saying it this is so incredibly powerful you got to follow me alright here's what he's saying he's saying once upon a time there was just Adam it was just Adam and because Adam was the first man there was a sense in which we were all in Adam he explains this later so that what Adam did we did because we were all in Adam because he was the first person and through Adam's sin entered the world and because we were all in Adam we were all in sin everybody was in sin okay this is me I was born in sin okay this is Sandra okay you're gonna set her right here for a second okay alright okay these are my kids they would tell you it's sin okay okay here's Billy Graham hey Billy Graham were you born in Adam Billy Graham in sin mother Teresa Teresa C yeah I was born in sin what about Franklin Graham you know his sisters you know all the grandkids all my grandkids that haven't been born nobody morning he said that oh you you all the ladies ladies you're so sweet and one day you'll be a sweet old grandmama you know and somebody will be you'll be such a precious grandmama you might even get to be a precious grandmama sin he said the whole world the whole world nobody escaped that when Adam sent everybody that would ever ever live and ever be born was in Adam okay darling in sin okay so sorry I love you but okay so he says that we were in Adam and when Adam sinned it's as if we sin and sin and as sin contaminated Adam sin contaminated the entire human race which means your problem again this is just his explanation your problem is that you're sinning your problem is you were born a sinner and the reason you were born a sinner is not because of anything you did it's because of who you were related to to what you say that's not fair it's not fair but remember fairness ended in the Garden of Eden nothing's been fair since the Garden of Eden it's like a person and some of you maybe have dealt with some difficult situations where you may be held the baby that had a disease that the baby got from a mom or a dad who lived an irresponsible life it's so tragic and these babies cry and cry and crying so many of them die and you hold those dying babies and you say it's not fair and it's not fair but it's true it's not fair it's tragic but it's true it's so unfair because that baby did nothing to deserve it but it's true and Paul says whether you think it's fair or not it's true you were born in Adam you were born a sinner and the reason no one has to teach you to sin have you noticed that the reason no one had to teach you to sin it comes naturally do you know why it comes naturally because you were born in sin and Adam and his sin entered the world through his one activity his one behavior his one trespass so sin infected the entire human race and about two years old or one and a half years old it kicks in doesn't it nobody had to teach her baby descent it's like oh she was so precious he was so precious then and then you know what we asked I don't know what got into that boy Paul says I do I don't know what got into her oh it's been there the whole time it just showed up I don't know what got into him Paul says I do and it's big and it's bad and it's ugly and if it goes unchecked it can be nasty and wherever this goes death goes and eventually every single human being realizes it's as if there's something in me that I can't seem to control now this this model this paradigm is so important as we go forward we'll come back to that in just a minute he said so death came to all people because all sin when did we send not in our lifetime we all stand when Adam sinned we all sin now now he begins to draw a contrast and this is where sometimes we lose focus because it's so complicated here he goes but the gift is not like the trespass now he hasn't used the word gift yet so what are you talking about in just a minute he's gonna define for us what he means by gifts so I'll give you a heads up and just a minute he's gonna tell us the gift is the gift of a right standing with God the gift is the gift of righteousness the gift is the gift of justification as if god looked God looks at you and says I see you as someone who's completely forgiven and it's just as if you never sinned and it's a gift it's something God gives to us we'll get there in just a minute he says this but the gift is not like the trespass no what's this the trespass was the one act of Adam in the garden that condemned all men he says but this gift that you receive when you become a believer it's a little bit different than the trespass we'll explain that to his Paul okay he says for if the many died by the trespass of the one man here we go if the many that's all of us in Adam if all of us were born dead separated from God and sin if we were all if we all died because of the one trespass of the one man Adam how much more this is so powerful how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ overflow to the minute now he introduces his second character he says here's what you got to understand that just like we were all born and Adam that when you become a Christian you are taken out of Adam we'll start with my sweet wife and you are placed into Christ and here's what he's going in the next few verses and he's saying the contrast between these two things is so powerful and it is so practical and it is so real that you just don't want to miss it because what we most of us heard growing up and it's true growing up in church is that when you become a Christian you know maybe you heard the phrase being Adam being Christ maybe not you become a Christian and then when you die you get to go to heaven Paul never mentions heaven or hell or any of that stuff in this discussion because this discussion is aimed toward people who are wondering why can't I do what I ought to do and why is it that it seems like there's this thing in me this power in me that at times it's like it overrides my will and I know I'm gonna have regrets and I know I'm gonna hurt people and I know I'm gonna wish I hadn't done it but I do it anyway is there a way to escape that and Paul says hang with me because this is driven from having been born here but the gift the gift of a right standing with God not only is it not like this he's about to say it is more powerful than the power that came with being born and Adam the gift that came by the grace of the one man Christ Jesus overflow to the many nor he goes on nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one's man sin he says nor can this incredible thing that God has done for us in Christ nor can it be compared with the result this resulted in one thing this resulted and something else he describes the judgment the judgment followed the one sin Adam sinned and brought condemnation not you know this is where people push back from Christianity but here's Paul's explanation that we were born in Adam and we were born condemned but we weren't born condemned because of anything we did we were born condemned because we were born from the one man Adam who was condemned because of his one activity of rebelling against God but the gift followed many trespasses and brought here's our big word justification he's when because we were born in Adam we were born condemned but when we are taken out of Adam and placed into Christ we are given the gift of a right standing with God and we are given the gift of justification to which if you grew up in church you're going and that means we go to heaven when we die and Paul would say that's not what I'm talking about what are we talking about it's more practical than that go to heaven when you die that's this some days somewhere maybe hopefully not in the near future I'm talking about the implications of this right now see we know what this looks like right now it looks like I just can't do what I ought to do and I can't do it I think the law wants me to do I can't please God I can't even please myself I can't please my mama I just I just can't be consistent in some areas in my life and it's because this dwells in me and Paul says I have some great news the implications of moving from in Adam to into Christ it's not just about what happens when you die it's about a way of living and a lifestyle here and now to which we say you're not going to tell me to try harder he's going now because this isn't about what you've tried this is about what is true of you in what has now become true of you next green for if by the trespass of the one man Adam death reigned through that one man because remember wherever there's a trespass wherever there's sin on the heels of sin is death if he says if death has reigned in our life because of the one trespass of Adam how much more I love this part how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness this is where he defines what he meant by gift and the gift of righteousness reign let's just say these two words together in life one more time not in heaven not in eternal life not one day when I'm all perfect and half angel's wings and sing songs and I have a beautiful voice and I look like I did when I was 16 and all that stuff he said no he said I don't know about all that I'm just telling you if you understand the implications and the significance of this you can reign in life you can reign over all the power that seems to overpower or you because you were born a condemned sinner and Adam reign in life here we go through the one man Jesus Christ now here's why this is so important if you've tried to read the New Testament especially Paul's epistles you keep running into phrases like in Christ in Christ and Christ through Christ maybe you've heard the verse I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and you know again like I think it was clay talked about you usually see that on a big banner if the football team runs in has nothing to do with any of that okay so what does he mean through Christ we're gonna get to this in the next few weeks he means having been placed into Christ you have a brand new mode of operation in this life we know what life looks like through Adam who overpowers you with the power of sin is it possible is it possible to live through Christ in a way that overpowers and supersedes what happened to us we were living through Adam through the one man Jesus Christ consequently he wraps this up consequently just as one trespass Adam sin just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people so also one righteous act that is Jesus dying on the cross for sin overpowering sin breaking the power of sin paying the penalty for sin this one act of righteousness resulted in justification and life for all people here's what he's saying Adam did something wrong and it affected everyone Jesus did something right and it has undone what Adam did Adam did one thing and it resulted in condemnation for all that were born in Adam Jesus and one act of obedience that mirrors but overpowers the one act of disobedience has provided a way for us not simply to go to heaven when we die but to live a new kind of life you've heard those kinds of phrases before what does it mean Paul says I know it's complicated but bear with me because it's so important and it's so significant he wraps up he says this for just as through the disobedience there it is of the one man just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners he says you're a sinner you're an ungodly sinner why because of what you've done no because of how you were born and who you were born in your sin is just an outgrowth of what's true of you at the core he says just as through the disobedience of the one man that many were made sinners so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous now we're gonna stop the Bible part there and pick it up there next week but here's let me kind of wrap all this up for you here's what he's saying he's saying if your approach to the Christian life is thank you for forgiving me of my sins now I'm gonna do my very best to be like Jesus and to do what Jesus wants me to do good luck in fact Paul would say it was from that standpoint that I wrote those verses I agree with God's law but I can't seem to do what I ought to do what am I gonna do why do I do what I want I don't want to do I don't I'm not doing what I want to do I'm committed to doing the right thing I don't need another sermon I don't need somebody to give me ten more Commandments I don't tell need anybody to tell me what to do I know what to do I just can't seem to pull it off and Paul says I have some great news there are massive massive massive implications when we think about and accept what God has done through Christ and when we're taken out of Adam and placed through Christ by placing our faith in Christ something happens to us fundamentally unfortunately nobody told most of us and the reason nobody told most of us it's a little bit complicated and we have a very short attention span and the Apostle Paul dictated it instead of writing it perhaps and maybe that's why it got lost but I think one of the reasons we don't we don't get this is because our natural mode of operation is to say God thank you for what you've done for me let me tell you what I'm gonna do for you choice guy says well good luck well thank you for what you've done for me I'm I'm now going to live a better life to which God say to you but you your life we know what your life looks like it's just more of that with you know you go to church on Sunday and Paul is saying I'm telling you there's been a fundamental change there's been a change at the core of who you are and the verses in the chapters that follow I want to teach you who say I want to teach you how to live out of this just as you have gotten so accustomed and grown so accustomed to living out of that this isn't about eternity this is about reigning in life through Jesus Christ our Lord in other words you're a little bit like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz remember she gets to the end of the movie it's like you had it the whole time I did you're a little bit like Frodo you know all you know is a little bit about that ring and as the movie goes on as the series goes on it discovers more and more and more about the power of the Ring it's that you're a little bit like Elizabeth Swann Pirates of the Caribbean where you know it's just a gold medallion and she discovers there's so much more in some ways for many of us for many of us we've never for whatever reason we just didn't know in fact it's okay that you didn't know because in the next part of the book of Romans Paul begins this way to his Roman audience he says didn't you know they're like no didn't you know no don't you know they would say no we we don't know we just thought Jesus came and died for our sins and now we're forgiven and we just do the very best that we can and we just try to be better versions of people who were born and Adam and Paul's gonna say no no no no no remember that thing jesus said about newness and newness of life and eternal life and life remember all that stuff yeah we just thought that was about heaven oh it's about reigning in this life by learning to allow Christ to live through us just like Adams fallen condemned Nature has manifested itself through us all these years did you know to which they would say we didn't know to which many of us would say we didn't know and so that's where we're gonna go and the next few weeks so I want to pray for you let you go but here's your one application for today's message okay sometime at some point this week I want you to say to a complete stranger you're so ungodly okay and that'll just kind of sow the seed for them to maybe look at you and you can invite them to church next week okay you got that let me pray for you heaven father thank you so much for preserving these words and they're complicated god it's so hard for us but thank you that the Apostle Paul had this this fresh inside he gave his life not simply for what he believed but for what he saw what he heard and now you've delivered it to us and God I just confess on behalf of those of us who who want to do the right thing that we can't we're not good at it we're not good at being like Jesus we're not even good at keeping our own conscience is clean but there's something in all of us that longs for that there's something that longs to break the power of sin and our daily behavior to get to the end of a day and look back and say it wasn't even that much of a struggle to get to the end of a week or a month or a year and to say I've been clean and I've been free and I don't talk the way I used to talk I don't respond the way I used to respond I don't spend the way I used to spend and I don't react the way I used to react God it is in us to want that and father for many of us we've been walking around with ruby red slippers and we just didn't even know it so in the next few weeks would you please please please as Paul prayed open the eyes of our heart open the eyes of our heart to allow us to see what is true and to see what is real and to learn to live from that place not just of surrendering our will but learning to live to the empowerment that comes with being a follower of Jesus Christ thank you for taking us out of Adam and placing us in to the life of your beloved son we want to learn to allow that life to be manifested through us every single day of the week in Jesus name Amen hey thanks so much for being here we'll see you next week for part two a free

Channel: North Point Care

Views: 25,918

Rating: 4.7272725 out of 5

Keywords: care network, north point community church, woodstock church, buckhead church, Gwinnett church, decatur city church, brownsbridge church, help, struggling, challenges, pain, relationships, transition, change, ministry resources, resources, training, counseling

Id: 31NRyiXXk_0

Length: 37min 55sec (2275 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 21 2017