Good, Beautiful and Kind…Part 3
Speaker: Pastor Pierre Du Plessis
Scripture References: John 3: 1-6, 15:1-8; Romans 5:6, 6:11-14, 7: 14-25, 10:9-10; Colossians 2:13-15; 2 Peter 1:3-4; 1 John 5:18-20
Sermon Recap
We learned last week that in the beginning, Adam and Eve were in the image and likeness of God and had His inherent nature. However, they also had the freedom to choose. They had no desire to break God’s rules until one day Satan invoked pride in them and suggested that if they ate of the tree that they were told not to, that they could be like God and thereby would have autonomy. In other words, they could be in charge of their own lives. As a result of yielding to this temptation, their nature was corrupted and became “incurvatus,” meaning man curved inward on himself. Consequently we have all come into the world with this corrupted nature where the tendency of man is curved more inward than outward. We cannot escape this inherent nature and will always revert to its baseline. We may often find ourselves stuck in the same kind of tension that the Apostle Paul spoke of in Romans 7:14-25. He expressed his frustration that, despite his love for God, he found himself doing the things that he did not want to do, and the things he wanted to do, he was not doing, but could not help himself. Like Paul, we are helpless to change our nature. We may go through life projecting goodness, but on the inside, there is a struggle going on. Internally, we are asking who can save us from this dilemma?
The good news is that Jesus has come to change our nature, and as our nature is changed, so are our desires, appetites and behaviors. Before Jesus came, we were dead because of our sins and our sinful nature. But when we put our faith in Christ as our savior, we are made alive through Him. He not only forgave us of our sins, but nailed them to the cross and cancelled the record. Therefore, we no longer need to live in condemnation. We no longer need to be stuck, because Jesus has stripped the powers that control our nature, so that sin no longer has dominion over us. This is a mystery that happens when we put our faith in Christ and allow God to do the internal work of restoring us to God’s original nature. But in addition to accepting Jesus as our savior, we also need to surrender to His Lordship in every area of our lives. That requires that we abide in Him and allow His ways to flow into our lives. For good, beautiful and kind are part of the nature of God and will only come to us as a result of us not only being attached to Him but also abiding in Him.
Discussion Questions:
1. What resonated with you as you listened to this sermon and reviewed it? In your own words, how would you explain the essence of this message?
2. Read John 3:1-6. Explain in your own words the conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus. What did Jesus mean about being born again?
3. According to Romans 10:9-10, How does one become born again? 4. What is the difference between accepting Jesus as our savior and surrendering to Him as our Lord?
5. Autonomy is defined as a state or condition of being self-governing, independent or having the freedom to make one’s own decisions without external control or influence. Why do you think man seeks autonomy?
6. It was said that Jesus came not only to pardon our sin, but to expunge it. What does this mean to you?
7. Read John 15:1-8. To abide is to reside, stay or linger in a particular condition or state. What are practical things we can do to abide in Christ?