(# 367) Romans 11 - THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION Why Do Christians Obsess About Sins?

Welcome To

BARAH MINISTRIES

a Christian Church

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Morning!

 

Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.  Welcome to… 

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION

Why Do Christians Obsess About Sins?

 

Today, just as we do every month…we celebrate the Lord’s Supper…a meal of remembrance.  It’s a way to demonstrate our love for the Lord Jesus Christ.  We eat, by breaking bread…we drink, by tasting the fruit of the vine…and we look back to the Cross…one of the most significant demonstrations of LOVE in divine history.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verse 26 says…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:26

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the significance of the Lord’s death until He comes.

 

At the Lord’s Supper Celebration, as a gathering of believers in Christ, we remember the Lord’s death on the Cross which paid the price for Adam’s sin…the sin that is credited to the account of all mankind at physical birth…the sin resulting in spiritual death for all from the moment of birth.  First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22 (the first part)…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22 

For all those in union with Adam (at physical birth…and that’s everyone) is set to die the second death in the Lake of Fire…

 

At the Lord’s Supper Celebration, we remember the shedding of the Lord’s blood to cleanse us from the unrighteousness caused by Adam’s sin…the unrighteousness of a creature turning away from his Creator.  We remember with gladness that the Lord Jesus Christ made a way for His creatures to be reconciled to Him…to be in fellowship with Him…by dying on a Cross… and by being resurrected from the dead three days later.  His resurrection from the dead proved that He is Deity…death could not contain the Lord Jesus Christ…and His resurrection gave all mankind hope…a cure for our unrighteousness at birth.  First Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 24 says…

 

FIRST PETER 2:24

…and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself bore our sins in His own body on the Cross, so that we might die to the sovereignty of sin and so that we might live to righteousness…for by Christ’s wounds you were healed.

 

And now we believers in Christ KNOW, through the infallible Word of God, the Bible, that the Lord Jesus Christ is seated victorious at the right hand of His Father’s throne, waiting for the moment when God the Father will make the Lord’s enemies a footstool for His feet.  As believers in Christ, we are seated there with Him, in union with Him, on victorious ground, waiting for that glorious time when we come again with Him to witness His glory.  And we KNOW that “the Christ,” the Messiah, made it possible for “whosoever,” for all creatures, to be saved by what He did at the Cross.  Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31 says…

 

ACTS 16:31

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

I’m not sure if you remember Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, a woman who faced a tragic career setback in January 1994 when she was hit in the knee with a collapsible baton at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit, Michigan. Rival skater Tonya Harding’s ex-husband had hired Kerrigan’s attacker as part of a planned assault.  The haunting moment was captured on television for the world to see.  As Kerrigan dealt with the pain of the blow, tears came to her eyes, and she cried out, “Why?  Why?  Why?”

 

Her sentiment…“Why?  Why?  Why?”…is the exact same feeling I have as I listen to Christians obsess about their sins and their mistakes.  “Why?  Why?  Why?”  Why do Christians think they are sinners, simply because they sin?  The easy answer is that Satan, the enemy of God, and his the kingdom of death has an active propaganda campaign designed to get Christians to obsess about their sins.  But it’s more than that, because Satan can’t get us to do anything without our permission. 

 

 The “why” from my point of view is that Christians don’t really know or sufficiently comprehend what the Lord Jesus Christ actually did for them at the Cross we bring to our remembrance today.  If you ask the average Christian what Christ did at the Cross, he would likely say, “Jesus Christ died for our sins.”  If you asked the Christian to explain exactly what that means, he’d cough up a fur-ball.  There is a mind-boggling ignorance among Christians about the very relationship we stand for…our relationship with Christ.  What DID Christ actually do for us at the Cross?  Romans, Chapter 8, Verses 1 and 2 capture it well…

 

ROMANS 8:1

Therefore (because God the Father and the Lord Jesus are our deliverers), there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with Christ Jesus.

 

ROMANS 8:2

For the governing power of God the Holy Spirit, the mentor and teacher of the new life…the resurrection life in union with Christ Jesus…has set you free from the governing power of sin and of death.

 

Most Christians are in a dilemma about what kind of person they are, thinking, “I’m basically a good person.”  Most Christians are afraid to make mistakes, and in fact are shocked…even appalled…when they do.  Most Christians beat themselves up for their mistakes.  Most Christians, especially in intimate relationships and in family relationships, catalog into memory the sins of others in a mental database, and constantly replay the errors of their partners and their families incessantly.  Cue Nancy Kerrigan.  “Why?  Why?  Why?”  Especially in light of Hebrews, Chapter 8, Verse 12…

 

HEBREWS 8:12

“For I (the Lord) will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

 

Here, the Lord is talking about Unbelieving Israel and The Unbelieving Jewish race.  Why are we remembering our sins and the sins of others when the Lord is not?  Why do we obsess about sinning?  Especially in light of Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 1…

 

ROMANS 8:1

Therefore (because God the Father and the Lord Jesus are our deliverers), there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with Christ Jesus.

 

We have been delivered from sin and from sinning, yet we obsess about it.  Welcome to a place where you learn to make a different choice about your perspective on sin through the study of the Word of God. 

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

YOU OWN ME

June Murphy

 

Now, I encourage you to place all your concerns into the hands of the One who cares for you, the one to whom you are a possession, the Lord Jesus Christ, as we hear June Murphy sing…YOU OWN ME.

 

OPENING PRAYER

 

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful Heavenly Father for the privilege of studying the absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Father, help us to overcome our tendency to obsess about paid for sins, and instead to remember what Your Son did for us at the Cross.

 

We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit...in Christ’s name... Amen.

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION

Why Do Christians Obsess About Sins?

 

I used to coach basketball.  I can’t tell you how many times my teams had the most turnovers in a game, yet they won the game.   Most of the teams I coached won championships.  Cue Nancy Kerrigan.  “Why?  Why?  Why?”  It’s because I encouraged the players to make mistakes.  I would rather my players do something and fail than do nothing and succeed.  Because of the pressure they exerted on the other team’s will, even though they made mistakes, they were still able to win with ease.

 

Among the many things Christ did for us at the Cross, He gave us freedom…He took away the power of death…and He rescued us from slavery to sin.

 

What did Christ do for us at the Cross? 

 

He gave us freedom.  Galatians, Chapter 5, Verse 1 says…

 

GALATIANS 5:1

It was for freedom that the Lord Jesus Christ set us believers in Christ free… therefore keep standing firm in the freedom, and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

 

Among the freedoms, Christ gave us the freedom to make mistakes. 

 

What did Christ do for us at the Cross?

 

The Lord Jesus Christ’s work at the Cross took us out from under the rulership of Satan’s system of power…the power of death…Hebrews, Chapter 2, Verses 14 and 15…

 

HEBREWS 2:14

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself likewise also partook of flesh and blood, that through His own physical death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil (Satan)…

 

HEBREWS 2:15

…and so that He might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

 

Satan holds the fear of death over the heads of unbelievers…that “power” is not the cause of fear for believers in Christ…we are confident concerning what happens when we close our eyes in this life.  We know that we will be absent from the body and at home, face-to-face with the Lord. Our body goes into the ground or into the furnace, but our soul and our spirit…the real us…goes to the Lord.

 

What did Christ do for us at the Cross?

 

The Lord Jesus Christ rescued us from slavery to sin.  Be clear…it is not God’s will that we sin.  But He is there for us when we do.  First John, Chapter 2, Verses 1 and 2…

 

FIRST JOHN 2:1

My little children (believers in Christ), I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, and all of us do, we have an Advocate with God the Father…Jesus Christ…the ONLY righteous One (the only One who does not sin)…

 

FIRST JOHN 2:2

…and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the propitiation for our sins…and not for our sins only as believers in Christ…but also for those sins of the whole world.

 

As the ONLY perfectly satisfactory payment for sin, the work of Christ on the Cross and the shedding of His blood freed us from slavery to sin.

 

So why do Christians obsess about sins?

 

Well it all started with our parents.  Let’s blame them.  Of course, I’m just being funny, but only a little bit.  Think about the messages you got from your parents.  “Be careful.  Don’t stay out too late.  Don’t do drugs.  Don’t hang out with hoodlums.” Caution messages teach children to be wary of the world and to be wary of people.  These parental caution messages, taken the wrong way, influence us.  As a result we tend to be wary about everything, including making mistakes.  Then when we do make mistakes, we seem to think it’s mandatory to give ourselves the same “beat up sessions” that friends and family give us for not heeding the caution messages.  As I said, it’s your parent’s fault!  Otherwise, we’d have to blame ourselves.

 

But in my book, you can only blame your parents until you are twenty-one.  What’s your excuse once you are an adult?  You have the power to make different decisions on how you react to things.  You have the power to send yourself different messages.  Do you? 

 

For example, it’s possible to not react to your sins when you really understand what Christ did with sin and sinning at the Cross.

 

Let’s enjoy the elements and some music…and we’ll learn just a few of the thousands of things the Lord did at the Cross with His shed blood to take the sin problem out of the way…and how you should use it to renovate your thinking about sin and sinning.

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION:

Enjoying the Elements

 

Following God’s request, we keep on celebrating CHRIST and His Cross on a regular basis…we eat to remember who He is as a PERSON…we drink to remember His WORK, the voluntary sacrifice He made at the Cross on our behalf as our sin substitute…and we are grateful for what God has done for us.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 23 and 24 say…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:23

For I, Paul received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus Christ on the night in which He was betrayed took bread…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:24

and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is, and keeps

 on being My body, which is broken for you…keep on doing this celebration

 for the purpose of remembering Me.”

 

When we eat the bread during the Lord’s Supper Celebration, we remember the Lord Jesus Christ AS A PERSON. 

 

When we drink the cup, we remember THE WORK of the Lord Jesus Christ.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 25 and 26 say…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:25

In the same way the Lord Jesus Christ took the cup after supper, representing His death on the Cross, saying, “This cup is a new testament forged with My blood…keep on doing this celebration…and as often as you drink it…do so for the purpose of remembering Me.”

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:26

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup (as part of the Lord’s Supper Celebration), you proclaim (as a reality and you announce the significance of) the Lord Jesus Christ’s death (on the Cross and His resurrection from the dead) until He comes (again in the second coming).

 

As you enjoy the bread and the cup, enjoy the memory of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as well. Now and always, let us keep on giving thanks that we are loved unconditionally and accepted fully by THE LORD WHO IS ALWAYS THERE…the One we can depend on…let’s keep on being transformed by His life and His death and His Word…and let’s enjoy His unconditional love Day by Day…and that’s the name of our Lord’s Supper song.

 

LORD’S SUPPER SONG

DAY BY DAY

Godspell

 

MUSIC BREAK

HOW DEEP THE FATHER’S LOVE FOR US

Phillips, Craig & Dean

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION

Why Do Christians Obsess About Sins?

 

What did the Lord Jesus Christ do for us at the Cross?

 

Let’s use an analogy.  Imagine a manufacturing plant.  What is a manufacturing plant?  It’s place that houses machines that produce products.  For example, there is a beer called Corona.  It is one of the top selling beers worldwide and a company called Cervecería Modelo manufactures it.  Every day, manufacturing plants throughout Mexico and in other parts of the world crank out hundreds of bottles of beer.

 

From a spiritual standpoint, you have a manufacturing plant in your body.  It’s called “the flesh.”  Every day “the flesh cranks out hundreds of products called personal sins.  Here’s how Paul describes the manufacturing plant in your body…Romans, Chapter 7, Verses 18 to 21…

 

ROMANS 7:18

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh…for the willingness to do good is present in me, but the doing of the good is not present in me.

 

ROMANS 7:19

For the good that I want to do, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want to do.

 

ROMANS 7:20

But if I am doing the very thing I do not want to do, I am aware that I am no longer the one doing it (not my soul…not my spirit…not the real me), but sin that indwells me (“the flesh”) is the one doing the sinning.

 

ROMANS 7:21

I find then the principle that evil is present in me (“the flesh” as a sin manufacturing plant), the one who wants to do good.

 

What the Lord did for us at the Cross is He put the manufacturing plant out of business, and He neutralized the products that are coming out of the plant.  Continuing with the Corona analogy, He closed the bottling plant.  Someone still sneaks into the plant to make beer, but the beer has no alcohol…thus the beer can’t be sold.  The Lord’s work at the Cross has completely neutralized sin and sinning.  Colossians, Chapter 1, Verses 13 and 14…

 

COLOSSIANS 1:13

For God the Father rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son (the Lord Jesus Christ)...

 

COLOSSIANS 1:14

…(the Christ) in whom we have redemption (as an absolute certainty… before…now…and later), the forgiveness of sins (as an absolute certainty…before…now…and later).

 

So why do Christians obsess about sins as if they haven’t been handled by God?  As if His handling of sins is not a certainty.  Cue Nancy Kerrigan.  “Why?  Why?  Why?”  Hebrews, Chapter 1, Verse 3…

 

HEBREWS 1:3

And the Lord Jesus Christ is the radiance of God the Father’s glory and He is the exact representation of God the Father’s nature, and the Lord Jesus Christ upholds all things by the word of His power. When the Lord had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…

 

The significance of this purification of sins is that it happened in the past, and the result is that it is finished once and for all time.  There is no need to revisit the issue.  Yet Christians revisit already paid for, already purified sins all the time.  It’s just silly!

 

What did Christ do for us at the Cross?

 

The Lord made a single sacrifice that paid for everything.  First Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 18 is one of the shortest and clearest descriptions of the result of the Lord’s work…

 

FIRST PETER 3:18

For the Lord Jesus Christ also died for sins once and for all time (atonement), the just One dying instead of the unjust ones dying, so that He might bring us to God the Father (reconciliation), having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit…

 

What did Christ do for us at the Cross?

 

He made us dead to the Law.  Colossians, Chapter 2, Verses 13 and 14…

 

COLOSSIANS 2:13

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God the Father made you spiritually alive together (in union) with Christ, having forgiven us all our transgressions…

 

COLOSSIANS 2:14

…having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us…and the Lord  has taken the indebtedness out of the way, having nailed it to the Cross.

 

Why do Christians obsess about sins after seeing this? 

 

What did Christ do for us at the Cross?

 

He removed the enmity between God and His creatures.  This is one of the most convincing passages to change your thoughts about how to think about sin.  Ephesians, Chapter 2, Verses 11 to 15…

 

EPHESIANS 2:11

Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is a circumcision performed in the flesh by human hands—

 

EPHESIANS 2:12

…remember that you Gentiles were at that time separate from a relationship with Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

 

EPHESIANS 2:13

But now in union with Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

 

EPHESIANS 2:14

For the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is our peace, who made both groups (Jews and Gentiles) into one group, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall…

 

EPHESIANS 2:15

…by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself the Lord might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace…

 

What did Christ do for us at the Cross?

 

His work reconciled us to His Father.  Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 18…

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 5:18

Now all these things are from God the Father, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…

 

What did Christ do for us at the Cross?

 

He sacrificed for us.  Hebrews, Chapter 10, Verse 12…

 

HEBREWS 10:12

…but the Lord Jesus Christ, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time…

 

What did Christ do for us at the Cross?

 

He had mercy on us.  What is mercy?

 

MERCY

Knowing we are guilty, God never wants to give us what we deserve.  Instead, He always extends to us His grace.

 

So why do Christians obsess about sins?  Maybe we don’t.  Maybe we obsess about our disobedience.  Whatever the case, we need to stop it!

 

God loves us.  God has forgiven us once for all time.  God has made us free, which gives us the room to make mistakes.  Let’s enjoy the relationship.

 

CLOSING SONG

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BEG

June Murphy

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

          THANKS - INTERCESSION - PETITION

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

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