SERMON OUTLINE

Introduction

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”

-The Great Gospel story of God’s Love and Justice that saves sinners and brings the hope of eternal life

The Crisis           Genesis 1-3

-The planet where the crisis unfolds

-The people through which the crisis came

-The test of obedience and Adam’s disobedience

-Severe consequences to the whole human race under sin

The Plan of God         Genesis 3.15, 21

-The promise of a male seed from the woman

-The picture of shed blood and covering righteousness

The Extent and Consequences of the Crisis of Sins

-Romans 5.12: Sin and death to all through Adam

-Romans 5.16, 18, 19: Condemnation and made sinners

-Romans 1.18; 3.10, 23: The wrath of God upon all

-John 8.34, Romans 6.16-18, 20: Slaves of sin

-Ephesians 2.1-3: What an awful crisis we are in!

The Radical Plan of God

-Ephesians 2.4: But God …

-Radical from Latin for root, core

-God’s plan of salvation in Jesus Christ eradicates sin in the core of our being and changes us into godly people

Conclusion

-The solution to your crisis of sins is to admit your crisis and receive the offer of God’s mercy in Jesus Christ

-Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners is the message of Christmas and of Easter

SERMON NOTES

The Plan of God                                      1 Timothy 1.15

The Crisis Requiring a Plan from God

This morning we begin our Advent series and 1 Timothy 1.15 will be our theme verse for this series called “The Plan of God”. Today is the first of five messages as we look at The Crisis Requiring a Plan from God. The remaining messages will be 2) and 3) The Plan of God Promised and Foreshadowed, 4) The Plan of God Accomplished, and 5) The Plan of God Applied.

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”. That is the old Gospel story, the greatest story ever told, the true story of God’s Love and Justice, the life changing story that has given most of us here the hope of eternal life. This story should never lose its attraction and wonder and amazement for the believer. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

The Gospel story begins at the beginning of the Bible in Genesis 1.1 where we read “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. God created planet earth upon which the crisis requiring a plan would unfold. On the sixth day of creation God created male and female in His own image, those through whom the crisis requiring a plan would occur. God placed Adam and Eve in a Garden where they worked and had daily fellowship with God. God also gave them a test of obedience – they were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If they did eat of this tree, in disobedience to God, they would surely die.

In Genesis chapter 3, the most tragic chapter in the whole Bible, we are introduced to the crisis that will require a plan from God. The Devil, disguised as a serpent, came to Eve and questioned her. The Devil made God’s command not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil sound like a harsh command, and implied that God was withholding from them the capacity to be like God. Eve was deceived and chose to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge and broke the command of God. Adam, seeing that Eve did not instantly die after eating the fruit also ate from the forbidden tree.

Adam’s disobedience had severe consequences both for Adam and Eve and for all of humanity that would come from them. Through the sin of Adam, Adam and Eve were filled with shame and guilt. Their focus was on self-preservation and blame. They hid from God in fear. But most of all they were separated from God, spiritually dead, and began to die physically as well. The crisis that Adam introduced into the world by his disobedience was sin and the consequences of sin.

Sin in the human race quickly manifested itself when Adam and Eve’s firstborn son Cain murdered his brother. Society continued to degenerate in sin so that by the time of Noah we read, “that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”. Every angry thought, every violent act, every rape, all child abuse, murder, slander, theft, drunkenness, blasphemy, curse, disrespect, perversion, laziness, suicide, depression, false religious system, and death in this world is the result of Adam’s sin. Adam’s disobedience to God brought upon the human race no small crisis. This catastrophic crisis required a plan from God if man, made in the image of God, was to be saved from complete annihilation.

In quick order God put that plan into action. In Genesis 3.15 we find a promise. Speaking to the Devil God said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he will crush your head, and you will crush his heel”. Enmity means hostility, hatred, antagonism. In unusual language for a patriarchal society the reference is to the seed of the woman not the seed of the man. Also the seed is referred to as “he”. A male descendant of Eve will crush the head of the serpent and in the process the heel of that descendant will be crushed. Here we find a promise of the cross of Jesus Christ as God’s plan for the crisis of sin in the world, a plan where the Devil is completely crushed and Christ is also crushed in the process.

We also see a picture of God’s plan in Genesis 3.21. “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” I hope that over the next couple of weeks we will discover afresh together that God’s provision for the human crisis of sin is the blood of Jesus Christ and the covering of the righteousness of Christ. In this early picture of the cross, God shed blood and covered the nakedness of Adam and Eve foreshadowing the shed blood of Jesus Christ for guilty sinners and the covering righteousness of Jesus Christ for justification before a holy God.

Now please turn with me to Romans 5.12. We read in this verse that, “sin came into the world through one man”. That man was Adam. Adam introduced this crisis of sin into the world and into every man, woman and child born into this world. The result of that sin is “death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”. Death is physical for sure but death is also spiritual death which is complete separation from the life of God and the absence of any relationship with God. Spiritual death leads to eternal death, eternal separation from God in hell, if we die in our sins. Sin has serious consequences.

When this verse says “because all sinned” Paul does not mean that we individually sinned but that we all sinned in Adam’s sin. The Bible teaches that we are born sinners and not just sinners by committing sin. The crisis of sin is not just the result of our actions but the result of being born as sons and daughters of Adam. If we look at 5.16 we find, “For the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation”. And 5.18, “Therefore as one trespass led to condemnation for all men”. And 5.19, “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners”. So you see the crisis is not only a problem with God but it is also a problem with us because we are condemned by God and made sinners by birth, and there is absolutely nothing we can do about our condemnation and sinful condition before a Holy God. Do you understand what I am saying to you? Do you see how desperate your situation is because of Adam’s sin?

Please turn back in Romans 1.18. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth”. The wrath of God is not something you want to experience even for a short time let alone for all of eternity in hell. The wrath of God is against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Paul goes on to show in chapters 1, 2 and 3 that all of mankind is ungodly and unrighteous and is under the wrath of God. Look at Romans 3.10, “None is righteous, no not one”. 3.23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.

So as children of Adam we are condemned by God and made sinners before God. By our own choices we have all sinned and are under the wrath of God. The entire world is in a crisis situation because of Adam’s sin and because of personal sin.

Let me read to you John 8.34. “Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, Truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin”. Then in Romans 6.16-18 “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves to sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness”. 6.20, “you were slaves of sin”. What a crisis! Condemnation by God, made sinners before God, under the wrath of God, slaves of sin, and bound for hell. I pray that this morning, God will let you feel the weight of your sin and your slavery to sin and the judgment of God upon your sin.

Ephesians 2.1-3, nicely sums up what I have said so far about the crisis of sin requiring a plan from God. “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desire of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

I am so glad this morning for the first two words of verse 4 in Ephesians 2. It says “But God…” The crisis of sin was real and for many and today the crisis of sin is real, but God did something about sins. The human crisis of sin is radical. Radical comes from the Latin word for “root” or “core”. The human crisis of sin is rooted in the very core of our being, and not just in our actions and thoughts. The radical crisis of sin in the human race requires a radical solution, a solution that will work at the core of man’s being and not just in his actions and thoughts.

God has fulfilled His plan for the crisis of sin. God came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ over 2,000 years ago and gave his life as a sacrifice for sins to satisfy the justice of God, so that God could forgive sins, make people righteous before God in Christ, and make dead spirits alive to God. By the death of Jesus Christ and his resurrection you can become a child of God and a godly person. Change is real and ongoing. Our hope is fixed on heaven and the gift of eternal life. For those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ, the crisis of sin is over.

If we look back at 1 Timothy 1.15 we read, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”. And then Paul adds “of whom I am the foremost”. Here my unbelieving friend, is the key to solving the crisis of sin in your life. To solve the crisis of sin in your life you have to admit before God that you have a crisis of sin, a crisis so desperate and so impossible to escape that only God can take you out of the crisis. God offers to solve the crisis of sin in your life if you will trust him with your sins and take from Him His mercy. Give yourself to God and let God save you from your sins and give you a new life in Jesus Christ.

As I close I would like to say something to those who may think that this is not the kind of warm and fuzzy Christmas message they wanted to hear today. Friends what I have spoken to you this morning is the message of Christmas, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost”.