October 14, 2018 NOTES NOT EDITED
Back to the School of Faith, Pt5: Man and Sin
Micah 7:3-4
SIS: Unless the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ reigns in a person’s heart they are totally depraved.
This week I have been meditating on the doctrine of "Total Depravity.” Of course, this is the anchoring petal on the Calvinistic Tulip describing this perspective on theology. Calvinism is a lightning rod in theological discussions, especially among Baptists. I won’t wade into that discussion too deeply but only say, I do not find much disagreement among Christians, or people in general, when I declare, “Mankind is highly depraved.” I don't need to travel much further than Washington, D.C., to find examples of every sin imaginable. Theologians and poets alike have tackled this issue since . . . well since there were theologians and poets. I gravitate toward the Romantic poets myself. I particularly like Robert Burns, the 18th century bard. He gave me one of my favorite verses. I've quoted it, Scottish dialect and all, many times in sermons. It's from his poem, "To a Mouse." The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft agley. Our best efforts toward success often end up a mess, would be a rough translation. In a less popular works, “Man Was Made to Mourn,” Burns gives us another perceptive bit of verse. He again laments, And man, whose heav'n-erected face The smiles of love adorn,–Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn!
The phrase, “man’s inhumanity to man,” is often applied to monsters in history like Adolf Hitler, infamously burned alive six million Jews and killed millions more. There is Pol Pot, communist leader in Cambodia, estimated to have killed 2,000,000,000, or one third of Cambodia. In order to save on bullets, executions were carried out using hammers, ax handles, or sharpened sticks. You can add to that list such monsters as Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, or a host of hundreds of evil men and women throughout history. We even find some kind of depraved enjoyment in human depravity. I think of movies like, Psycho, Nightmare on Elm Street, or the nearly endless remakes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Examples of depravity abound whether in fact or fiction.
But here’s where a preacher has trouble with the doctrine of total depravity. Most, if not all of us in the room and in church auditoriums around the world, are repulsed by such images. We protest at the very insinuation that we could be so depraved. “I could never do such a depraved thing,” we object. I know that is my initial response. As I contemplated this issue this week I was reminded of a conversation I had by private message with a friend from middle school and high school. Not a friend, exactly, but more of an acquaintance. We were rivals in little league baseball. He was a wicked left-handed pitcher that could throw real heat. I remember sweating each time I had to face him on the mound. About seven years ago, he was broken-hearted and conflicted. He confided in me about a terrible family tragedy. His older brother was dead. His younger brother was in prison for life for shooting the older brother with a shotgun during a family dispute. In one tragic moment my friend lost both brothers. Now, my point is, nobody would have ever believed that his younger brother could do something as terrible as shooting his older brother. But, given the right circumstances, a murderer, or killer, lurks in all of us. And yet, I still hear the silent moans of protest from you—“Not me. I could never do that.”
As much as we might protest against a charge of total depravity, we protest against the clear teaching of God’s Word. Let us take but a few of hundreds of examples to show exactly what is in the heart of a man. Let’s read God’s Word together. READ
The phrase, “man’s inhumanity to man,” is often applied to monsters in history like Adolf Hitler, infamously burned alive six million Jews and killed millions more. There is Pol Pot, communist leader in Cambodia, estimated to have killed 2,000,000,000, or one third of Cambodia. In order to save on bullets, executions were carried out using hammers, ax handles, or sharpened sticks. You can add to that list such monsters as Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, or a host of hundreds of evil men and women throughout history. We even find some kind of depraved enjoyment in human depravity. I think of movies like, Psycho, Nightmare on Elm Street, or the nearly endless remakes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Examples of depravity abound whether in fact or fiction.
But here’s where a preacher has trouble with the doctrine of total depravity. Most, if not all of us in the room and in church auditoriums around the world, are repulsed by such images. We protest at the very insinuation that we could be so depraved. “I could never do such a depraved thing,” we object. I know that is my initial response. As I contemplated this issue this week I was reminded of a conversation I had by private message with a friend from middle school and high school. Not a friend, exactly, but more of an acquaintance. We were rivals in little league baseball. He was a wicked left-handed pitcher that could throw real heat. I remember sweating each time I had to face him on the mound. About seven years ago, he was broken-hearted and conflicted. He confided in me about a terrible family tragedy. His older brother was dead. His younger brother was in prison for life for shooting the older brother with a shotgun during a family dispute. In one tragic moment my friend lost both brothers. Now, my point is, nobody would have ever believed that his younger brother could do something as terrible as shooting his older brother. But, given the right circumstances, a murderer, or killer, lurks in all of us. And yet, I still hear the silent moans of protest from you—“Not me. I could never do that.”
As much as we might protest against a charge of total depravity, we protest against the clear teaching of God’s Word. Let us take but a few of hundreds of examples to show exactly what is in the heart of a man. Let’s read God’s Word together. READ
I’m sure you have heard the phrase, “A Two-fisted Drinker.” This is someone with serious drinking issues that can knock down drinks both endlessly and ambidextrously. A “two-fisted drinker” takes drinking to a completely new level. Well, notice in our text, Micah refers to “man,” (and I use this to include woman as well), as a “two-fisted sinner.” Both hands are good at accomplishing evil (Mic. 7:3). To put it into a baseball motif, as sinners we are “switch-hitters.” We can hit sin out of the park from either side of the plate!
I realize that preaching about sin makes people uncomfortable—it makes me uncomfortable! Yet, understanding the doctrine of “Man and Sin” is essential at gaining victory over sin in this life, and freedom from sin in the next life. Recognizing our potential for sin is the first, and best, defense against it. Jose Cubero was one of Spain’s most brilliant matadors—or, bullfighters. Bullfighting is to Spain as football or baseball is to America. His career was short, but spectacular. In 1985, trainers ran to Cubero’s side as he lay dying in the arena. His last words were, “This bull has killed me.” The match had ended. Cubero had thrust the sword into the bull and it collapsed to the ground. Cubero was taking his final bows of victory. The bull, delirious and bleeding, was not dead however. In one final act of defiance, the bull lunged at Cubero driving its horn through his back and piercing his heart. When we become complacent and think we have conquered the old sinful nature, we are in great peril.
As we think about Man and Sin, I want us to consider stations along the path of a man’s or woman’s existence: Man Created, Man Corrupted, and Man Corrected. The Book of Genesis will be our guide.
1. First, Man Created (Gen. 1:27; 1:31)
I realize that preaching about sin makes people uncomfortable—it makes me uncomfortable! Yet, understanding the doctrine of “Man and Sin” is essential at gaining victory over sin in this life, and freedom from sin in the next life. Recognizing our potential for sin is the first, and best, defense against it. Jose Cubero was one of Spain’s most brilliant matadors—or, bullfighters. Bullfighting is to Spain as football or baseball is to America. His career was short, but spectacular. In 1985, trainers ran to Cubero’s side as he lay dying in the arena. His last words were, “This bull has killed me.” The match had ended. Cubero had thrust the sword into the bull and it collapsed to the ground. Cubero was taking his final bows of victory. The bull, delirious and bleeding, was not dead however. In one final act of defiance, the bull lunged at Cubero driving its horn through his back and piercing his heart. When we become complacent and think we have conquered the old sinful nature, we are in great peril.
As we think about Man and Sin, I want us to consider stations along the path of a man’s or woman’s existence: Man Created, Man Corrupted, and Man Corrected. The Book of Genesis will be our guide.
1. First, Man Created (Gen. 1:27; 1:31)
27 So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female . . . . . 31 God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.
Six times in Genesis 1 God declared what He had just created as, “good.” After creating man, God declared everything, “very good.” That was then. Now, thousands of years later the big debate in regard to man’s nature is, “is he basically good, or is man basically evil?” Is man mostly good, or totally depraved? This is a fundamental question. Certainly, man as God created him, was unquestionably, “good.” God declared him, “very good.” Not only was man created, “good,” man was created in the very, “image of God.” Whatever, that means (and I don’t know if we can ever grasp it fully), it means that man has something nothing else in creation has. Only of man, apart from all the rest of creation, does the Bible say Gen. 2:7,
7 The Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath [neshamah] of life [chayim] into his nostrils, and the man became a living [chayyah] being [nephesh].
What man has that nothing else in creation possesses is the very “breath,” or essence, of God. In this passage, when considered with other passages in the N.T. we see that man has three distinct parts. Some would say man is a dichotomy with only two parts. Paul expresses this in 2Cor. 4:16,
16 Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.
Six times in Genesis 1 God declared what He had just created as, “good.” After creating man, God declared everything, “very good.” That was then. Now, thousands of years later the big debate in regard to man’s nature is, “is he basically good, or is man basically evil?” Is man mostly good, or totally depraved? This is a fundamental question. Certainly, man as God created him, was unquestionably, “good.” God declared him, “very good.” Not only was man created, “good,” man was created in the very, “image of God.” Whatever, that means (and I don’t know if we can ever grasp it fully), it means that man has something nothing else in creation has. Only of man, apart from all the rest of creation, does the Bible say Gen. 2:7,
7 The Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath [neshamah] of life [chayim] into his nostrils, and the man became a living [chayyah] being [nephesh].
What man has that nothing else in creation possesses is the very “breath,” or essence, of God. In this passage, when considered with other passages in the N.T. we see that man has three distinct parts. Some would say man is a dichotomy with only two parts. Paul expresses this in 2Cor. 4:16,
16 Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.
But Paul also describes man as a trichotomy—three parts:
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. And may your spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1Thess. 5:23).
This is easily reconciled comparing Genesis, Corinthians, and Thessalonians. As Genesis says, we are one living being. As Corinthians teaches we have an “outer man and an inner man.” When you add Thessalonians you get this definition of man: “One living being consisting of an inner-man and an outer man, with the inner-man consisting of a soul and a spirit.” The outer man, or the body is pretty straight-forward, being formed out of the minerals (dust) of the earth. All living things have a body, whether it is plant or animal. Yet, plants do not have an “inner-man, or inner-being.” Plants do not have intellect. Plants do not have emotions. Plants do not have a will. Animals do have an “inner-being,” or what might be called, “soulness.” My dog Bernie has intellect. He figured out how to get his dog snack box open. My dog Bernie has emotions. Snacks make him happy! My dog Bernie also has a will. He willfully sneaked into his dog biscuits when I told him, “no more.” An animal is a chayyah nephesh, or “conscious, sentient being.” Man has a body like all created, living things. Man has soulness like all animals: mind, emotions, and will. In Greek this inner-being is referred to as the “psueche,” from which we get a word like, psychology. The inner-being of man, however, has something no other created being has. In the inner-man is the inner-most man, or the spirit—the neshamah in Hebrew, or as Paul called it in Thessalonians, the “pneuma.” That is where we bear the “image of God.” [refer to slide, “Man Created”].
Now all that seems highly academic, but it is very important when we consider the doctrine of Man and Sin. Recall that after the creation of man, God declares His creation to be, “very good.” Then, we travel down history only a few thousand years to Mic. 7:3, and man is described as a “two-fisted sinner!” Man created is very good, but we must also consider
2. Man Corrupted
This is easily reconciled comparing Genesis, Corinthians, and Thessalonians. As Genesis says, we are one living being. As Corinthians teaches we have an “outer man and an inner man.” When you add Thessalonians you get this definition of man: “One living being consisting of an inner-man and an outer man, with the inner-man consisting of a soul and a spirit.” The outer man, or the body is pretty straight-forward, being formed out of the minerals (dust) of the earth. All living things have a body, whether it is plant or animal. Yet, plants do not have an “inner-man, or inner-being.” Plants do not have intellect. Plants do not have emotions. Plants do not have a will. Animals do have an “inner-being,” or what might be called, “soulness.” My dog Bernie has intellect. He figured out how to get his dog snack box open. My dog Bernie has emotions. Snacks make him happy! My dog Bernie also has a will. He willfully sneaked into his dog biscuits when I told him, “no more.” An animal is a chayyah nephesh, or “conscious, sentient being.” Man has a body like all created, living things. Man has soulness like all animals: mind, emotions, and will. In Greek this inner-being is referred to as the “psueche,” from which we get a word like, psychology. The inner-being of man, however, has something no other created being has. In the inner-man is the inner-most man, or the spirit—the neshamah in Hebrew, or as Paul called it in Thessalonians, the “pneuma.” That is where we bear the “image of God.” [refer to slide, “Man Created”].
Now all that seems highly academic, but it is very important when we consider the doctrine of Man and Sin. Recall that after the creation of man, God declares His creation to be, “very good.” Then, we travel down history only a few thousand years to Mic. 7:3, and man is described as a “two-fisted sinner!” Man created is very good, but we must also consider
2. Man Corrupted
This is man as the 18thcentury poet Robert Burns describes in verse: “And man, whose heav'n-erected face // The smiles of love adorn, – Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn!”
Man created and cloaked with heavenly majesty now slithers through the murky swamp of sinful depravity. Man created has become man corrupted. Man, once invigorated by the breath of the Divine, now has been horribly disfigured by the claws of the Devil. So, when we say man is a sinner, or man is totally depraved, what exactly does that mean. Let us return to our circular picture of man [slide, “Man Corrupted]. In the Book of Genesis of the corruption of mankind. The creation account ends in chapter 2with these words:
“Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame” (v25).
“Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame” (v25).
Let me paraphrase that a little: “The man and his wife were totally open to each other and to God.” That is, the only influence upon the inner-beings of Adam and Eve came from God’s Spirit—and they were, “very good.” There bodies did not decay. There emotions were under control, their intellects thought good thoughts, and their wills were surrendered to God. They were very good.
Then, we read in the very next verse that a hideous, insidious evil influence slithered into the idyllic compound of Eden. Gen. 3:1:
Then, we read in the very next verse that a hideous, insidious evil influence slithered into the idyllic compound of Eden. Gen. 3:1:
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Until that moment--and we are not told how much time transpired between Genesis 2:25and Genesis 3:1, and it could have been days or eons—but until that moment, there had been no other input into the inner-beings of Adam and Eve but the voice of Almighty God. The moment that Adam and Eve entered a conversation with the Devil, they were corrupted. Quickly they spiraled downward into outward disobedience and ate of the fruit of the tree—the only tree—God had forbidden. Once they inner-beings were opened to demonic influences, they were doomed.
Man created became man corrupted. The Bible tells us that sin would bring decay to the body (2Cor. 4:16); it would bring corruption to their mind (Titus 1:15; Gen. 6:5); it would set flame to their emotionsand they would rage out of control (Gen. 3:6); and finally, sin corrupted the willwhich had always been obedient to God’s commands but would now become obstinate and stiff-necked toward God (Acts 7:51). Most serious of all the corruption brought by sin is that our “spirit” died. Eph. 2:1-3describes “spiritual death”:
Man created became man corrupted. The Bible tells us that sin would bring decay to the body (2Cor. 4:16); it would bring corruption to their mind (Titus 1:15; Gen. 6:5); it would set flame to their emotionsand they would rage out of control (Gen. 3:6); and finally, sin corrupted the willwhich had always been obedient to God’s commands but would now become obstinate and stiff-necked toward God (Acts 7:51). Most serious of all the corruption brought by sin is that our “spirit” died. Eph. 2:1-3describes “spiritual death”:
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins 2 in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler who exercises authority over the lower heavens, the spirit now working in the disobedient. 3 We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. Spiritual death is eternal separation from God, and the experience of His wrath.
Sin corrupted the totality of man’s being—we became “totally depraved.” As I said a few moments ago, our sinful rebellion is such that we even rebel against the idea we are “totally depraved.” One writer sheds a great deal of light on the issue of our “total depravity.” Thomas Boston writes in, “Human Nature In It’s Four-fold State”: Thomas Boston, in considering the weight of this biblical doctrine, writes to unbelievers exhorting them to believe this sad truth. “Alas! It is evident that it is very little believed in the world. Few are concerned... to get their corrupt nature changed. Until you know every one the plague of his own heart, there is no hope for your recovery. Why will you not believe it? You have plain Scripture testimony for it; but you are loath to entertain such an ill opinion of yourselves. Alas! This is the nature of your disease, “Thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”(Rev. 3.17).
Man created was marked with the stamp of heaven as, “very good.” Man corrupted by the world, the flesh, and the devil has now been stamped, “very bad.” Man created has become man corrupted.
But, this need not be the eternal declaration of man’s condition. Man corrupted can become
But, this need not be the eternal declaration of man’s condition. Man corrupted can become
3. Man Corrected (Gen. 3:7; Rom. 5:12-17)
Recall the story in Genesis. When man realized he had sinned against God he attempted to make things right with his own hand. Gen. 3:7 says, Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. Man’s depravity is so complete and total that we absolutely can do nothing to “cover our own sin and shame.” We try through religion and good works to cover our shame ourselves but Isaiah declared, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6, KJV).
What we could never correct, God can and does correct through Jesus Christ. Notice what God does in regard to Adam’s fig-leaf coverings. Gen. 3:21: The Lord God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them. To correct Adam’s sin, blood had to be shed. Animals had to die. But, this was only a picture of what God would do to correct man’s corrupted condition. Col. 2:13says,
And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him and forgave us all our trespasses.
God corrected the corruption and depravity that sin causes with a life exchange. God exchanged the inadequate fig leaves with animal skins as a picture of exchanging the death of Adam’s sin for the life through Jesus’s death. Paul describes this eternal correction,
Rom. 5:17 Since by the one man’s trespass, [that is Adam]death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Rom. 5:17 Since by the one man’s trespass, [that is Adam]death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Man corrupted becomes man corrected through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Sin stamped us CORRUPTED. Forgiveness stamps us CORRECTED. Our natural bodywill be exchanged for a spiritual body (1Cor. 15:35ff). Our mindis renewed (Rom. 12:1-2). Our emotionsare controlled (Eph. 4:26). Our willis surrendered. And, most of all, our spirit is made alive again:
10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness (Rom. 8:10, NIV).
10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness (Rom. 8:10, NIV).
Everything sin corrupts, the sacrifice of Jesus corrects. You become a “brand new creature”(2Cor. 5:17). Literally, it is like being “born all over again”(Jn. 3:3).
If anything seems beyond challenging it is the fact we live in a horribly, messed up world. Since Darwin in the mid-1800’s, all the talk has been about how man is evolving. Yet, if you read the news or listen to the news, or just experience life in general, it is hard to make a case that man is getting “better,” or evolving. It seems the opposite, that man is devolving. It was New Year’s Day. Lynette Spiller, forty-two years young, was crossing the street in Las Vegas, NV. She was, in fact, jaywalking. She was hit be a car. It did not stop. Lying seriously hurt, she was hit again by a car. That car drove off. A third car hit her, but stopped with her pinned lifelessly beneath the car. While she lay there pinned beneath that third car, bystanders combed through her purse, wallet, and backpack, taking whatever they wanted. This was reported by the Associated Press with the headline, “Passersby Rob the Dead.”
How depraved does a person have to be to run over someone and drive off? How depraved does a person have to be to “rob a dead person?” Yet, if every act of human depravity, Robert Burns’ “inhumanity to man” were recorded, there would not be enough ink nor paper.
Man Createdwas declared, “very good.” Man Corruptedby sin is “very bad.” The only hope is Man Correctedby trusting fully in the forgiveness offered through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Today, everyone in this room is either, Man Corrupted or Man Corrected. A man or woman that is corrupted and in the vicelike grip of sin will be dragged down into an eternal hell with no escape and no hope.
Let Jesus correct your life, today.
How depraved does a person have to be to run over someone and drive off? How depraved does a person have to be to “rob a dead person?” Yet, if every act of human depravity, Robert Burns’ “inhumanity to man” were recorded, there would not be enough ink nor paper.
Man Createdwas declared, “very good.” Man Corruptedby sin is “very bad.” The only hope is Man Correctedby trusting fully in the forgiveness offered through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Today, everyone in this room is either, Man Corrupted or Man Corrected. A man or woman that is corrupted and in the vicelike grip of sin will be dragged down into an eternal hell with no escape and no hope.
Let Jesus correct your life, today.
