BUILDING WITH IMPERFECTIONS
We trust today’s message encouraged and guided you in your journey of following Jesus. These notes are meant to help you remember and reflect on the message, help you go deeper into study on the subject, or be used for a sermon group discussion.
Sermon Title: BUILDING WITH IMPERFECTIONS
Main Scripture: Genesis 2:15-17; Genesis 3:1-24; Romans 5:12-21
If you’re going through this discussion with a community group this week consider taking the time to read the provided scripture to catch everyone up!
Summary:
Pastor Ryan continues our series Family Blueprints with an important message before we can move forward. The first family went through an experience that has left an imprint on us all. They fell into sin and so we have inherited what is called the sinful nature. This means, that we not only face the devil as an adversary trying to fight our Godly family, but we also face our own struggle with sin. The good news is Jesus is greater than the devil and our sinful nature. Through Christ, we conquer both the devil and our sinful nature. Jesus helps us form and raise a Godly family in the midst of them both. So we’re building a Godly family, but we have to do it from a place that is imperfect and needs our perfect Savior. That’s actually a great place to be a place of utter dependence on God’s Word and the presence of Jesus!
Notes:
If you want to build a Godly home you need to know a couple of things moving forward that are sobering and needed. 1. We face two adversaries. The first is Satan. The second is our sinful nature. 2. Our sinful nature makes us imperfect and flawed. This means we are building a family as flawed people so there will be imperfections. We need to come to grips with that reality. We could equate the sinful nature to a tear or wrinkle in God’s original design of the family blueprints. But I have good news! Jesus is greater than both! And with Jesus, we can reclaim and repair God’s original design and purpose for family.
I need to warn you too that if you choose to build a Godly family, the enemy will strongly come against your efforts. He knows the value of a strong family in the Lord. So beware, the work ahead, is not easy. But overwhelming victory is ours through the help and power of Jesus Christ in our lives!
Genesis 2:15-17 NLT - God’s loving warning
This was their version of the Word of God, straight from His mouth. No arguing if it was an accurate version or debate over interpretation. This Word governed and guided the first man and woman.
Verse 16 includes the first use in the Old Testament of ṣāwâh, the major verb for “command.” God’s first command to man concerned life and death, good and evil. -Ross, A. P. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures
The Word of God is the glue that holds all creation together. Following and obeying the Word of God would preserve harmony, peace, and wholeness on earth.
Genesis 3:1-13 - A Tear in the Blueprints
The devil did three things: 1) He Sowed doubt…calling into question what God meant by His command. 2) He lied about the consequence…saying they wouldn’t die. 3) He used the appeal of having knowledge and wisdom like God. Satan is a liar from the beginning (John 8:44), and this is his lie: one can sin and get away with it. But death is the penalty for sin (Gen. 2:17). Ross, A. P. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures
A lesson in contentment. They could eat from all the trees except one. There was plenty, there was enough. The human heart has an insatiable appetite for more. The more was eternal life with God, not the knowledge of good and evil. Many temptations would work if we learned to be content with the blessings we already have.
A lesson in knowing isn’t the same as obeying. I find it interesting that Eve knows and repeats back to the devil what God says. She knew but still chose to disobey, then encouraged her husband to do the same. Adam also chose to disobey, making him responsible for the fall too.
A lesson in trusting the old and reliable Word of God. God spoke first and his Word brought life and order. The serpent spoke second and his word brought conflict and death. Follow the Word of God no matter what new teaching comes…
Genesis 3:14-24 NLT The consequences of the fall
The consequences were devastating. Through this event, we all inherited a sinful nature. How did that work? Human beings with the knowledge of good and evil, coupled with the capacity to choose good or evil, will eventually choose evil. To obey God is to choose life, but to disobey God is to choose sin which leads to death. This is illustrated in the next chapter…
The apple didn’t fall far from the tree. In Genesis 4, Cain wrestles with envy and jealousy because God didn’t accept his worship offering but accepted Abel’s.
God warns Cain in Genesis 4:6-7 “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”
Cain did not heed God’s warning nor did he master his sinful desires and so he killed Abel.
Had Adam continued in the love of God, Cain would have loved his brother. With Adam’s sin, his nature had become corrupted; that nature had been imparted to the Son in his likeness. The child’s sin was the fruit of the father’s. -Murray, Andrew.
The two greatest adversaries of the family are the devil and unfortunately, ourselves. The devil seeks to destroy the family because he knows that the family is the greatest brick-and-mortar for God’s Kingdom. We can negatively affect our own families if our sinful nature is mastering us. Thank God, He sent Jesus is conquer both!
Romans 5:12-21 NLT God repairs the tear
Even in the midst of these devastating consequences, God showed compassion by not ending the lives of Adam and Eve but taking the life of an animal sacrifice in their place (Gen. 3:21) This animal sacrifice was a cover for their sin and shame and a foreshadowing to thousands of years later when the lamb of God, Jesus Christ, was sacrificed to be a covering of forgiveness for the sins of the whole world. Through Christ, we are not only forgiven but are set free from the control and power of sin. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God dwelling in us, giving us the power to no longer be mastered by our sinful nature and the power to choose what is Godly. The result benefits our families.
Application
To build a Godly family in the midst of these challenges we’ll need to do a few things:
Know and follow God’s Word
It’s not enough to know the Bible we must live it out.
The Bible tells us what decisions point our families to the way of life.
Following and obeying the Word of God helps us make Holy decisions that bless the whole family for generations to come.
Love God, be faithful to His Word and your home will be Godly.
Acknowledge our own sinful nature and do not let it master us
We can’t live in denial or ignore the reality of our sinful nature. We also shouldn’t be obsessed with trying to catch our sinful nature in the act.
We simply need to be aware and remember we’ve inherited a sinful nature that makes us susceptible, or vulnerable to make ungodly choices.
When we are saved by Christ, the same power, the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us. We have been set free from the power of sin and death and we need to walk in that victory.
As we fellowship with God, follow Jesus’ life as His disciples, and walk in step with the Holy Spirit’s leading our sinful nature stands no chance of mastering us.
See Romans 7:21-25 and Galatians 5:16-25
Nurture our homes with the Grace and Truth of Jesus Christ
If we pause and think about it for a moment, salvation in Jesus has produced incredible results. We used to be controlled by our sinful nature but now we are nurturing our homes with the grace and truth of Jesus Christ. This is the goal and that only happens by the grace of God!
Because we live in a fallen world there are no perfect people, no perfect marriages, and no perfect kids.
Now that we know we contend with the sinful nature we need the grace and truth of Christ to reign in our homes. Jesus was full of grace and full of truth. We need both.
In a practical sense, this means being truthful, honest, and transparent about our sins. When we mess up, be humble, apologetic, and repentant. Be patient, compassionate, and merciful towards one another.
The love of the home is glued together with the Word of God and the life of Christ. We must seek to be governed and operate in them both. We must love God first and foremost so that our obedience to God can bless and love our family. We love our family when we are faithful to love God.
Check out this truthful but gracious perspective from Andrew Murray on raising children for Christ:
Sin came in and wrought a fearful ruin. The father passes a sinful nature to the child; the father feels too sinful to be a blessing to his child; and the home is too often the path not to heaven, but to hell. But, blessed be God! What sin destroyed, grace restores. But, as we follow God’s revelation in regard to the family in these meditations, we shall find that the purpose and provision of God’s grace point back to the restoration of what was intended at creation: the fatherhood and the motherhood of earth with its love and its home, its care and its training of the children, the reflection and the fellowship of the home and the love of the Father in heaven. Let every parent who feels conscious of his own shortcoming and longs for wisdom and grace to do what is right in the work entrusted to him look back in faith and hope to the heavenly origin of family life. The God who created it has redeemed it and creates it anew. He watches over it with tender interest and meets every parent who desires to be the minister of His holy purpose. If you truly want this, begin by making God’s thought your thought and the fatherhood and family on earth the image and likeness of a heavenly original. Look to God as the Author of your family life; count upon Him to give all that is needed to make it what it should be. Let His Father-heart and His Father-love be your study and your support; as you know and trust Him in adoring love, the assurance will grow that He will fit you for making your home the bright reflection of His own. Murray, Andrew. How to Raise Children for Christ (Updated and Annotated): A Guide for Excellent Christian Parenting (pp. 9-10). Aneko Press. Kindle Edition.
Discussion:
What did God use in this sermon to speak to your heart or situation?
What is implied or what does Pastor Ryan mean by the title, “Building With Imperfections?”
Why is important to accept and know how to handle our imperfect state in order to build a Godly family?
Why do we need to operate in the grace and truth of Jesus in our lives and homes?
What other notes did you write down that you would like to share?
The most important decision you will ever make!
Are you ready to experience salvation and be transformed? We encourage you to process this decision with a strong believer and when you’re ready say a simple prayer like this from your heart: Dear God, I acknowledge and admit I have sinned. I see my need for Jesus Christ. I believe in Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I believe I am forgiven and cleansed of my sin by His death. I also believe I have eternal life because of His resurrection from the dead. I repent, I turn away from my old ways and I choose to live my life to worship you and follow Jesus, amen!
We would love to know if you made the decision to accept this wonderful gift from God. Let us know here.
Pray Together
We hoped you found this AFTER THE SERMON discussion helpful for your walk with Jesus. We pray you can find ways to apply it this week!