An Illustration for our Sinful Nature

My wife just sent me this article about a man who committed a carjacking, only 20 minutes after being released from prison: https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-back-bars-carjacking-16-year-girl-20/story?id=75901321

It made me think of our sinful nature and its persistence (Psalm 51, Jeremiah 17, Romans 5, Ephesians 2), as well as Paul’s frustration in Romans 7 about frequently returning to the sin he hates. This story could also illustrate the ongoing battle of the flesh vs. Spirit in Galatians 5.

One thing I know that I would need to guard against in using this illustration is making it humorous. Although the story is definitely ironic, I wouldn’t want to encourage people to laugh at this man’s sin, to mock his situation, or to swell up with pride in our own hearts about how we think we aren’t like him. But for the grace of God, there go I.

Learner’s Permits and Shadows Pointing to Christ

I’m preaching tomorrow on Colossians 2:16-23, where Paul tells us to reject shadows and hold to Christ, the Substance of our faith. One example of “shadows” is the set of Old Testament regulations, which New Covenant believers are no longer bound by. The book of Hebrews takes pains to show that the Old Covenant was a copy or shadow of the real covenant instituted by Jesus and his completed work. Paul encourages believers in Colossians to hold to Christ as the only Way of access to God.

One illustration of this principle is the learner’s permit for new drivers. Teenagers get these and work under supervision to learn how to drive safely on their own. There are specific restrictions to a learner’s permit – limitations on what hours they can drive, as well as requirements for an adult driver of a certain age to be in the car at all times. Finally, after around a year of the limited learner’s permit, the young person can get the full driver’s license, with all the rights and privileges that go with it. Why, after getting that, would they go back to the learner’s permit? Why would they go back to that which was just a shadow of their full freedom? That’s how nonsensical it is for believers to try to go back to that which was only meant to point to Christ. Christ alone is the Substance of our faith, and he alone provides access to God, forgiveness, and eternal life. Don’t hold to anything instead of Jesus, or in addition to Jesus.

This could illustrate Colossians 2, but also Ephesians 2, Hebrews 4, Hebrews 8, and Hebrews 10.

Gang Members Baptized

I read this article a while back about gang members who gave their lives to Christ and were baptized: https://www.foxnews.com/faith-values/texas-church-gang-prison-baptized?fbclid=IwAR2FmsbjuobhhhGdqKmBSiWeZN2NLzp9OrI-VIyzDk2ON0O5lhsbj1OTxeM

In the United States, it’s not usually a risk to publicly profess Christ. It’s true that some people experience family alienation when they are baptized, but here it doesn’t usually lead to risk of actual bodily harm. Many of our brothers and sisters around the world are living in areas where this risk is very real. And this story is an example of that from behind prison walls in America.

This story could illustrate the fullness of commitment that we make when we repent and believe in Christ. It could illustrate the fact that Jesus does not just become our Savior, but our Lord (1 Corinthians 6). It would work with many of the passages on baptism, as well (Matthew 28, Romans 6, Colossians 2). This would also be an excellent illustration of reconciliation between Christians (Ephesians 2), as these gang members who were formerly mortal enemies are now brothers in Christ. It also illustrates faith (Hebrews 6), as these believers are trusting the Lord to take care of them in light of their courageous and dangerous decision.

Jekyll and Hyde

John Stott in The Cross of Christ:

“There is, therefore, a great need for discernment in our self-understanding.  Who am I?  What is my ‘self’?  The answer is that I am a Jekyll and Hyde, a mixed-up kid, having both dignity, because I was created and have been re-created in the image of God, and depravity, because I still have a fallen and rebellious nature.  I am both noble and ignoble, beautiful and ugly, good and bad, upright and twisted, image and child of God, and yet sometimes yielding obsequious homage to the devil from whose clutches Christ has rescued me.  My true self is what I am by creation, which Christ came to redeem, and by calling.  My false self is what I am by the Fall, which Christ came to destroy.  Only when we have discerned which is which within us, shall we know what attitude to adopt towards each.  We must be true to our true self and false to our false self.  We must be fearless in affirming all that we are by creation, redemption and calling, and ruthless in disowning all that we are by the Fall.  Moreover, the cross of Christ teaches us both attitudes.  On the one hand, the cross is the God-given measure of the value of our true self, since Christ loved us and died for us.  On the other hand, it is the God-given model for the denial of our false self, since we are to nail it to the cross and so put it to death.  Or, more simply, standing before the cross we see simultaneously our worth and our unworthiness, since we perceive both the greatness of His love in dying, and the greatness of our sin in causing Him to die” (285).

Several parts of this quote would be great for use in sermons on the battle between the Spirit and the flesh, as well as the image of God, or the new creation we are in Christ.  Or, you could take Stott’s use of the story of Jekyll and Hyde and run with that.

Tags: Genesis 1, Genesis 2, Jeremiah 31, Romans 6 (especially verse 4), Romans 7, Romans 13, Galatians 5, Ephesians 2, Ephesians 4, 2 Corinthians 5, Hebrews 8

Michael Green on the Lord’s Supper

Found this Michael Green quote in Stott’s The Cross of Christ (p. 272-273):

“We never outgrow the fact that we are sinners still, totally dependent each day on the grace of God to the undeserving.  We do not come to offer; in the first place we come to receive.  The very nature of a supper declares this.  We are the hungry, coming to be fed.  We are the undeserving, welcomed freely at the Lord’s table.”

[The quote is from a chapter Green wrote in a book called Guidelines, edited by J. I. Packer.]

Green simply uses the idea of a “supper” to illustrate truth about the “Lord’s Supper.”  We have nothing to offer; our sacrifice of worship is only in response to Christ’s atoning sacrifice.  We come to the Lord’s Supper to receive.

This quote could illustrate all of the Lord’s Supper passages – Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, and 1 Corinthians 11.  It could also illustrate passages that speak of Jesus’ sacrifice and our complete inability to save ourselves: Galatians 2, Ephesians 2, and many others.

Tags: Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, 1 Corinthians 11, Galatians 2, Ephesians 2, Lord’s Supper, Sacrifice, Worship, Grace

Paul and Tim Tebow – Two Abnormal Births

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is speaking of the absolutely essential nature of the resurrection with regard to our faith.  Along the way, he gives strong evidence for the resurrection and discusses his own “abnormal” or “untimely” spiritual birth.  Tim Tebow’s own unusual birth story is well-known, so I won’t explain it here: here’s Randy Alcorn’s summary if you want details.

Tebow’s physical birth is a huge story of God’s grace and power, just like the story of Paul’s spiritual birth.  This is how I worded the connection between them:

“Tim’s birth was abnormal.  He almost died twice – once at the hands of the strong medicine, and once through the doctors’ medical advice.  But this situation wasn’t too much for God; it wasn’t too late for Him to intervene and bring His magnificent, glorious grace to the situation.  In Tim’s physical birth, and in Paul’s spiritual birth, He has shown that He is a God of great grace.”

From there, I think it is relatively easy to use both of these stories as pictures of God’s great grace in saving ALL of us.  My heart was no less in need of redemption than Paul’s heart.  In fact, I wasn’t preaching on 1 Corinthians 15 as my main text when I used this.  I used that passage as a cross-reference to my primary text, and then I used the Tebow story.

So, this illustration could be used for a lot of passages that deal with the miracle of God’s grace: Romans 3, Romans 5, Romans 6, 1 Corinthians 15, 2 Corinthians 8:9, 2 Corinthians 9:8, Galatians 1 (also about Paul’s story), Ephesians 1, Ephesians 2, 1 Timothy 1:14, 2 Timothy 1:9, and many more.

Berlin Wall

Every time I read the second half of Ephesians 2, I think of the Berlin Wall.  The Berlin Wall is a great illustration of Christ tearing down the dividing wall of hostility, but not just because there is a wall that gets torn down in both instances.  There are so many more parallels between the two events that offer ripe illustrative material.  Here are three:

1) The Berlin Wall brought oppression, bondage, and imprisonment, just like sin did to us.  Christ liberates us from sin just like the tearing down of the wall liberated the East Germans.

2) The Berlin Wall brought disunity and division between people who had once been family members, friends, and neighbors – just like sin brings division, strife, war, and disunity between all people and even in the Church (if we aren’t living according to the truth of the gospel).  Christ defeats that disunity and creates “in Himself one new man…resulting in peace” (Eph. 2:15, HCSB).  Jesus brings this unity to ALL believers from ALL backgrounds – see Galatians 3:28.

3) After the Berlin Wall came down, the celebration was epic.  After the gospel brings us forgiveness, adoption, and reconciliation with God and one another, our lives should erupt in worshipful living and singing.

 

Could be used with: Isaiah 60, Matthew 28, Acts 1, Acts 15, Galatians 3, Ephesians 2 (and large parts of the whole book of Ephesians), Revelation 5 (especially verses 9-10)