SERMON OUTLINE

The Glory of God

Man’s Fall from Glory and Man’s Need of Glory

Introduction

-We are created in God’s image and bring glory to God. Genesis 1.26-27; 1 Corinthians 11.7; Isaiah 43.7

-In our lives and in our rule over creation we are to bring glory to God.

-The great calamity of sin effected life and eternity for all.

Romans 3.23

1) The extent of this verse – ALL. There is no difference (3.22). Mankind in general, Gentile and Jew. All will be held accountable to God (3.19)

2) The problem – all Have Sinned. An aorist tense pointing back to the imputing of Adam’s sin on us. Romans 5.19. The result is condemnation. Romans 5.18. We also sin personally.

3) Our condition before God – Falling Short of the glory of God. Present tense pointing to ongoing condition.

Falling Short of the Glory of God

1) By not satisfying God’s standard of righteousness.

Fall short is to be in need of righteousness. Luke 15.14. The cross brings forgiveness, separation from Adam, and enables God to impute the righteousness of Christ to us. Romans 5.19; 2 Corinthians 5.21.

2) By not expressing the Glory of God to others by our spiritual condition and life. Justification brings glory to God as well as our good works. Without justification our good works are like filthy rags.

3) By not participating in the glory of God and not experiencing the glory he has planned for us. Romans 5.2; 8.18; 1 Peter 1.6-7.

Conclusion

In Jesus Christ we can fulfill the glory of God.

SERMON NOTES

The Glory of God Romans 3.23

Man’s Fall From Glory and Man’s Need of Glory

-On Communion Sundays we have been thinking about the Glory of God. We began this series by pointing out that the highest purpose of man and creation is the Glory of God. Then we learned that the Glory of God is God Himself – His character and power and the manifestation of His Being to His creation. Then we saw how Jesus expressed and exalts the Glory of God. Today I want us to see how man was created to glorify God but failed in that purpose because of sin, and how redemption in Christ restores that purpose.

-God created Adam and Eve in His own image. (Genesis 1.26-27) In 1 Corinthian 11.7 we are told that “man is the image and glory of God”. Man and woman were created in the image of God and by their very existence bring Glory to God. Adam and Eve were to produce children and mankind was to rule God’s creation and demonstrate in their own lives and in their rule over creation the greatness of God and so bring Glory to God. (Isaiah 43.7)

-Then tragedy struck. Adam and Eve sinned against God and brought the whole human race under the slavery of sin and under the judgment of God. I do not fully understand the consequences that this original sin had on mankind but from what I read in the Bible and in history, and what I see and hear about humanity today, man’s fall into sin is the greatest calamity ever to strike mankind. Adam’s sin effected daily life and eternity for everyone on the planet that came after him. Today we live in a sinful world. Even as Christians who have been forgiven from sin and who have the Holy Spirit living within us, we still have a body that is ready, willing, and able to serve sin at any time if it is allowed to.

-This morning I would like to study with you a well known verse, Romans 3.23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. We were created to glorify God. When Adam sinned and brought all of us under the rule of sin, the goal to glorify God was no longer fully achievable. By God’s Grace to us in Jesus Christ the goal of expressing and experiencing the glory of God is once again fulfilled.

1) First of all notice the extent of this verse. We are told that All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. At the end of verse 22 Paul writes, “there is no difference”. In chapter 1 Paul pointed out mankind’s refusal to acknowledge God and God’s truth and how God gave mankind over to their lusts and the practice of sin. Then in chapter 2 Paul describes God’s judgment on both the Gentiles and the Jews. In chapter 3 Paul sums up his argument and makes it clear that all of mankind is under sin and that “every mouth will be silenced and the whole world will be held accountable to God”. With regard to God’s judgment there is no difference between Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, priest or beggar, businessmen or drunk, churchgoer or atheist, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

2) Second we are told that the problem is that all have sinned. The verb here is in the aorist tense and we will see in a moment that it is followed by a verb in the present tense. The aorist points to a completed action in the past. All have sinned points back to the sin of Adam and teaches us that everyone after Adam has been included in Adam’s sin. This aorist tense anticipates Paul’s statement in Romans 5.19, “through the disobedience of the one man (Adam) the many were made sinners.”

-In the NT our designation as sinners has two sources. The basis of all our sin is our inclusion in the sin of Adam. Our designation as sinners in Adam also brings with it the condemnation of God. Romans 5.18 says, “As the result of one trespass (Adam’s sin) was condemnation for all men”. If it were possible for us to live our life and never commit one sin, we would still be under God’s condemnation because God includes all of us in the sin of Adam. That is why we must not only be forgiven of our sins but we must also be separated from our connection with Adam. Only through the cross can God terminate our connection to Adam and our condemnation in Adam. That is why we can only be saved from sin through Jesus Christ.

-Not only are we designated sinners because God imputes Adam’s sin to us but we are also designated sinners because of the sins we personally commit. We sin by actions that are contrary to the Law of God, by our unloving and selfish attitudes, by our neglect to do what is good, and by our wrong thoughts. Unless we are justified in Christ even our best good deeds are like filthy rags in the sight of God for we are sinners in His sight.

3) Third we are told of our condition before God as sinners. We are all falling short of the glory of God. As I have already mentioned this second verb in this sentence is a present tense. “Falling short” is an ongoing condition – “all are continuing to fall short of the glory of God”. Because of our participation in the sin of Adam and because of our individual sins we are continuing to fall short of the glory of God. Let me explain three ways that we continue to fall short of the glory of God.

1. We are falling short of the glory of God by not satisfying God’s standard of righteousness. We are not perfect and we are not holy because we are sinners. We continue to fall short of God’s standard.

-The great transaction of the cross provides a payment for sins committed which enables God to forgive our sins and wipe the record of our sins clean.  The cross separates us from our condemnation in Adam. But God goes even further than forgiving us of our sins and separating us from Adam. Because we are forgiven and separated from Adam, God also imputes the righteousness of Christ to us so that God accepts us as perfectly holy in His sight. In Christ we are enabled to meet God’s standard of righteousness and we no longer fall short of God’s standard. We are no longer in need but have our need fulfilled in Christ. Jesus Christ is our sufficient righteousness before a Holy God. This is the glorious doctrine of God’s justification of the sinner in Christ.

-It is easy for us to think of the message of the Gospel as a message of forgiveness of sins and escape from hell, and the promise of heaven because of the cross of Jesus Christ. All that is true. But the great truth of the Gospel is that we have a righteousness that comes from God that is freely given to us in Jesus Christ. The second half of Romans 5.19 teaches us that, “Just as through the disobedience of the one man (Adam) the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man (Jesus) the many will be made righteous.”

2. We also are falling short of the glory of God by not expressing the glory of God to others. As sinners we do not live in a way that expresses the glory of God to those watching us and to the spiritual beings all around us. As sinners we do not bring glory to God. We continually fall short of bringing glory to God when we live as sinners.

-When we are made righteous before God in Christ we express the glory of God to others. Our justification is an expression of the glory of God. The good works that result from our justification express the glory of God. Our holy lives are an expression of the glory of God. Our love for one another is an expression of the glory of God. All these things bring glory to God. Both God’s work of Grace in us through Jesus Christ and the expression of the life of Christ in us bring glory to God. In Christ we bring glory to God and express the glory of God to others.

3. We also are falling short of the glory of God by not participating in the glory of God, and not experiencing the glory that God has for us as His children. As sinners we had no hope of participating and experiencing the glory of God. Our only anticipation was the condemnation of God. When we are born again and brought into the family of God, God promises that we will share in His Glory. This is what I want to speak about at our next communion service but let me leave you with a few verses that point to the glory of God that is ours in Christ. “We rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5.2). “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8.18). “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1.6-7).

-We were created to glorify God and to participate in the Glory of God. Because of our sin in Adam and our personal sin we continually fall short of the glory of God. We fall short by not fulfilling God’s standard of holiness. We fall short by not glorifying God with our lives. And we fall short by not experiencing the glory of God in our own lives. In Jesus Christ, God has enabled us to no longer fall short of the glory of God. In Jesus Christ we are fully righteous before a Holy God. In Jesus Christ we can live in a way that glorifies God. In Jesus Christ we will experience the glory of God.

-Today we celebrate the Lord’s death which enabled God to transform us from sinners who continually fell short of the glory of God to saints who fulfill the glory of God. For that we give thanks to God.