Sunday English Service – 05 JUN 22

Transcript

We’ve been teaching a series on redemption, titled Redeemed. And in order to understand what we have been redeemed from, we really need to know what was given to us originally then only can we know what the fall has done to us. And only then, can we know what we have been redeemed from. So what was given to us originally is very important to understand that, and then you need to understand what happened at the fall. And you can understand it because you know what was given so that’s what you lost in the fall. And then once you understand that, you will understand redemption because you’ll understand exactly what was redeemed and given back to you. You remember last week, we went to Psalm 8, and I mentioned four things about what God has given to us originally, when God made Adam, what did he give us originally, he give us four things. I mentioned four things. One is from verse 5 and 6 in Psalm 8. The number one thing is that God made man, man didn’t make himself. Man didn’t come from anything. God made man. That is the first thing. You made him. The Bible says, you made him. Secondly, it’s about how he made him he made him just a little lower than God himself, just a little lower than God himself. Some English translations will give it exactly like that. I explained to you why it should be read not as little lower than angels, but little lower than God. And so some translations give it like that. Even a Tamil translation, a newer translation, gives it like that. Very interesting.

So God made man. God made Him in His image. Thirdly, God made man with great dignity. In verse 5, it says that you have crowned him with glory and honor. So man was made with great dignity. And fourthly, God gave man dominion. You made him to have rule or dominion over the works of your hands, and you put all things under his feet, verse 6, says, in Psalm 8. We went through that. Four things, God made Him, God made Him in His image just like him, and God made man with dignity, crowned him with glory and honor. And then God gave man dominion. These four things are basic things about what was given to Adam originally. Today, we’re going to talk about God’s image fallen in Adam. Adam was given the God’s image, as the representative man he received it and that image should belong to all mankind. But then, in and of itself, the fall happen. And God’s image fallen in Adam is the thing that we’re going to talk about today. We’re going to look at what happened in the fall, where you will see in what way a man lost what God had given to him. There was a man named Jay Adams only recently he died in his 90s. I don’t know if you heard of Jay Adams. Some of you may have heard of him because he’s written more than 100 books. He was a great preacher and teacher. And he was very specialized in the area of counseling. Biblical counseling is a specialty.

I remember when we studied back 40 years ago, that’s the main book they used for counseling course. Jay Adams competent to counsel became a very popular book that revolutionized the Christian counseling thing where they introduce biblical counseling, how biblical counseling needs to be done. Now that man was invited many years ago, he talks about how he was invited to speak at Sigmund Freud’s Institute in Vienna. They didn’t write them for a Christian conference, it was a Institute where people cited studied psychology and did research and all that,he was invited to speak there among psychologists. They invited him because they’ve never seen anything like a conservative evangelical Christian. There was something very much of a novelty to them, that a guy will believe in the Bible in these modern days and would think of Man has been made in the image and likeness of God and would interpret psychology in that way. So they invited him because they wanted to hear him out and hear what he’s got to say about counseling, biblical counseling.

And what Adams did was, he immediately went on the attack. As soon as he began his speech, he was a great speaker, went on attack. And he point blank told them that the community of psychologists didn’t know anything about how to evaluate what a healthy human being looked like. Suppose somebody asked the question, what does a healthy human being look like? The psychologist had various views. They didn’t agree with one another. There are various approaches to psychology. One said this, the other said that and so on. But nobody came up with one particular view. He said, you don’t know how to evaluate the healthy human beings, what makes a healthy human being, what does a healthy human being look like? What does a normal human being look like? He said, you have no standard by which to measure what healthy looks like and what human wholeness looks like. He challenged them. And you disagree with one another regarding that. What does healthy human look like mentally healthy, mature, balanced, perfect human look like? He went on and said that he wanted to present to them one person who can be held as a model for a healthy, balanced, perfect, mature human being. And he said that is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is he said, the healthy, whole mature, balanced, perfect human being. This is what a perfect human being must look like. He says in Christianity, we have a model, we can point to Jesus and say, this is what a human being whether male or female, must look like.

This is the model I can tell you. This is what we are aiming at. This is what we want people to be like. You psychologists don’t know that. He said, you don’t know what you’re going to try to make man look like. You don’t know what the healthy human being looks like. You’re not decided on that. You’re so varied in your opinions. But the Bible says here is Jesus. He is the man who exemplifies what a man made in the image of God should be like, he said. And that standard with Jesus set forth before us, is unchanging and it’s a universal standard. It applies to everybody, regardless of race, color, and nationality, and so on, no matter who that person is, no matter who that woman is, or man is, we can boldly say that this man is the model man. This is what a human being must be like. This is what a healthy, whole, well balanced, mature human being must look like, he said. And he said, that Jesus Christ is the picture of moral rectitude, you want to talk about morality and what a perfectly moral person is, that’s Jesus. He said, he is the picture of sacrificial love. You want to know what sacrificial love is? Look at Jesus. You want to know what morality is? Look at him. There you find morality in its perfection. You want to look at sacrificial love. Look at Jesus, he said. You want to look at what a humbled service looks like. Look at Jesus. He’s the model. You want to see what a man who depended upon God it looks like, here is Jesus. Here is a man who depended on God. You want to look at a man who is devoted to God, totally given to God, here is Jesus. He is the perfect example.

I’ll turn to Colossians chapter 2. Jay Adams is coming from the Bible. His view is from the Bible. Colossians chapter 2 and verse 3, says, in whom. That is in Jesus he is talking about. Are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Here is a person who is the embodiment of all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, all wisdom and knowledge is found in this man. Amazing man. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge is in this one person. Chapter 1 in Colossians Verse 15, says this about him Paul says this about him, he that is Jesus Christ, is the image of the invisible God. Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. So Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, you want to know God, look at Jesus. That’s what it means. He is the image of the invisible God. Now go to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, and verse 29, this is the basis on which Jay Adams said what he said about Jesus, Romans chapter 8 and let me read to you verse 29, for whom he for knew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of a son. That is, whoever God has marked for salvation. He also predestined that that person that is God had decided, the people that he would save, to make them a certain way, what was he going to take and make a person to be like, when he saved his people? What is he saved them for? What is the aim of salvation? What is the aim of redemption? He says, for whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.

 He wants everybody to be like the Son, Jesus, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Like in a family, there are so many boys. And sometimes you can say if you see the first one, you’ve seen everyone, they are pretty much alike, in their look, in their way they are the character, and so on. So he wants Jesus to be the firstborn, and everybody else that is all of us who are brethren. To us, he’s the firstborn, and we all should look like him. He’s saving all of us. He is marking all of us. He is predestined in all of us to become like the firstborn. The first one is the perfect model. He wants everyone to become like the firstborn. Now, go to Ephesians chapter 4. So Christ is the image of God. And God wants everybody to be conformed to the image of Christ, His Son. And by so doing, the image of God lost in the fall, is to be restored. So in Ephesians, chapter 4, look at what he says in verse 24, Ephesians 4:24. And that you put on the new man, which was created, according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. You put on the new man which was created, according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. It’s talking about the new creation, that we are. See, the first creation was in Adam. And that’s when the fall happened. And the image of God was in many ways lost. But now, a new creation has come about and Paul is talking about the new creation. And he says, you put on the new man, be like the new creation he says which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness, according to God means in the image of God like God, the new creation is created, according to God, in true righteousness, and holiness.

Now, in Christian teaching, you know about the Westminster shorter catechism, right? The thing that they all sat down and decided centuries ago, what the basic Protestant doctrines will be. And in that, it’s a very interesting set of questions they ask and answer and all the churches are expected to teach this to the people in some form or another very clearly, it is the basic Christian doctrine that everyone agreed upon in the Protestant movement. The question that was asked the 10th question there is, how did God create man? And the answer is given right there for all the people that teach people to know and to teach. What is the answer? How did God create mean? God created man, male and female after his own image and knowledge, righteousness and holiness, and dominion over the creatures. That language is drawn from Ephesians chapter 4, as well as Genesis chapter 1 verse 28. The dominant part is from there. So if you want to answer the question, what a healthy human being looks like what a mentally healthy well balanced, mature, perfect human being looks like. Then you need to understand what was given to man in the beginning. And only if you understand that, then you will understand what was lost in the fall, then only when you understand that you will understand what is the path through which that last image of God is restored. So let me take you through this teaching this week and next week, hopefully, and show you first of all, the ruin of humanity.

First, let’s talk about what happened in the fall, we talked about what God gave him, what God gave man, Adam, the first man when He created him. And when God gave man, whatever he gave, that was for the entire human race. He was the first man, all of us should be like him. That’s the way God intended. But then the fall happened. And it happened while Adam was there. Fall happened in Adam. And we’re going to talk about how God’s image was fallen in Adam. What Adam lost, and what humanity lost as a result of the fall. So first, let’s look at the ruins and understand the ruin. Now, when you look at the ruin, the destruction, the dismantling and the shattering of the image of God, you see two things in it. One is, you see, the greatness of man on the one hand, and the tragedy, the sadness on the other hand, both things are important because when we talk about the ruin of humanity, sometimes we think man has become completely worthless in the fall, man lost everything, every good thing, and completely became useless, we think, but it’s not so. Even in the Fallen men today, you see the greatness of God’s image. You see greatness in man today, when we say man has fallen, when we talk about the depravity of man, or even total depravity, as some people teach it. We don’t mean that man is totally worthless human being now. We don’t mean that the man has no value now. We don’t mean that man knows nothing and he’s completely worth nothing. No, we don’t mean that. If we meant that, we would be fools.

Because the fallen man. Look at fallen man, and what he achieves in this world, there are some very brilliant people, they put man on the moon, they are doing so much in bringing about revolution in various areas of life, anything from industries, to transportation, to communication, to information. Revolutionary things are happening in medicine, and so on. Revolutionary things are happening. They’re discovering things so quickly and so easily nowadays. So you cannot say that man is totally useless. The fallen man is a useless man, you cannot — we don’t say that. Just because we believe in the total depravity of man, it doesn’t mean that man is totally worthless and useless. There is no glory at all in him. No, we don’t believe that. We in fact believe, you can see in the fallen man, the greatness of the image of God in many ways. You can see that the scientists and the doctors and the engineers and in people and so many pouring musicians and the greatness can be seen. So when man fell, he did not completely lose everything. It is not more to the image of God, it was not more to the extent that you cannot look at man and see greatness at all, no didn’t happen like that. I’ll prove it to you from the Word of God. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 9. I’ll show you that man in some way, is seen as being in the image of God even now. Look at chapter 9 of Genesis, chapter 9, we come to the place where Noah’s flood has happened and now Noah and his family are starting their life anew on this earth after the flood waters have receded. And God comes and speaks to Noah. And God says, whoever sheds man’s blood verse 6, whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed. For in the image of God, He made man. Even after a man had fallen, even after it reached a point where the fall has affected humankind so badly that men became so wicked, that God had to destroy the whole world and destroy everybody literally. And leave just one family alone. When they’re starting back again God says, whoever sheds man’s blood by man his blood shall be shed.

Murder is not an ordinary offense. It’s an extraordinary offense and person killing another person should be killed, he says. Why? Why is it such a grave offense? For in the image of God, He made man. When you kill a man, you are really striking down the image of God. Because in God’s image God made man. Therefore, murder is not acceptable. Murder is a man striking the very image of God disrespecting the very fact that man has made it the image and likeness of God. That is why human life is so valuable. You cannot just kill them get away with it. It’s so valuable because man is made in the image of God. He is not just another animal, you can just kill, man is made in the image of God. Therefore, a person who kills another person must be killed himself must be punished in this way so that it doesn’t happen, because man is made in the image of God. Let me show you another example from the New Testament. James, chapter 3. It’s talking about the tongue. It’s a famous chapter, talking about the tongue. In chapter 3 and verse 9. Well, let me read from verse 8 and 9, it will make sense, but no man can tame the tongue it is unruly evil, full of deadly poison. So, sin has done something to the tongue. With it, we bless God, even though man has fallen in a fallen condition, man blesses God with it. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God or in the image of God. This translation that I’m reading from New King James says, similitude of God, there are other translations that say, image of God.

With the same tongue We bless God our Father, and with this tongue, we curse men also, who’ve been made in the image and likeness of God, you should not be cursing men because you’re cursing the every image of God. Respect is demanded for human beings. Why? Because they are looked upon as having been made in the image and likeness of God. So what are we saying then? What does the fallen man look like? Before we look at what a perfect man looks like? What does a fallen man look like? He’s got greatness on the one hand, and then there is a tragedy on the other hand. It’s like this many great Bible teachers explain it like this. They say it’s like the building that has gone to ruins, that has been destroyed. And you can see the destroyed building, demolish the building, a building that has lost its glory and so on. But still, you can tell the building was at one time glorious. You can look at all the stuff that is broken down laying there, you can say this is expensive stuff. You can look at the structure even though it’s broken down. And you can tell that this was a great building at one time, probably was a palace at one time, some rich person lived there, you can tell that, you can see the glory of it even in his broken down condition, demolished condition. One of the best examples I can give you is what I saw on television, some show was going on. And all of a sudden, they shot a scene of a town in Germany. I think it was some kind of movie that was going on, I guess, the shot a scene and it just captivated me like anything. They shot a scene where this German town is all demolished, the street is a long street, both sides, beautiful buildings, and all demolished during the Second World War. All lays in ruins, dust, flying everywhere.

The whole place looked like a sad place. And in one of those buildings, there was a man hiding there throughout the period of the war. Here, he has been a Jew and he has escaped from the Nazis. He has been hiding from one place to another. He’s had no food to eat. Not even a slice of bread was available, no water to drink. Somehow he survived many days. And he happened to be in that building that was demolished. And when the Russians came and the war ended and the Nazis were fleeing the place, he slowly got a sense of what was happening outside learned about some things happening and war was probably over. And he slowly hesitantly comes out and looks and there is a great grand piano there. And this guy happens to be a concert pianist, one of the world famous pianists. His programs came on radio back in the 40s in all over Europe, it seems. And he comes out and he sees this great piano, in the center of this beautiful building that was once beautiful now all demolished, and the piano covered with dirt, and he clears it and wipes it out, wipes the dirt out, and he sits down in place. He is thin and emaciated, and he hasn’t had any food to eat and he’s cold, it’s cold. And he sits down to play with his feeble fingers. Amazing pianist, he plays it and they show the scene with the demolished building in the background. But in the midst of it, the greatness of this human being’s talent, the beauty of his music, the amazing music that he put out, just sitting there and playing after so many days on the piano, what a scene.

I mean, if you see that, tears will come in your eyes. Such a moving scene of how great man is, at the same time how sad man’s life is, how tragic things are, in this world. The greatness and the tragedy together. In one shot, you can see. Demolished building, this man doesn’t even have food to eat. In fact, one Nazi officer walks in there. And he’s stunned by this kind of play. And he asked him what his name is. And he tells his name, and immediately he knows because he’s a world famous pianist, he’s been hiding there. And he takes off his long coat, the winter coat that he’s wearing and gives it to him and covers his body with his coat that he’s been given. Amazing scene, the greatness of man on the one side, and the sorrow and the sadness on the other side. That’s what a human being looks like today. That is the picture of the Bible about the fallen man. It is wrong to say there is no greatness in man. There is greatness and they’ve sent men to the moon, they’ve made rockets and made man walk on the moon and they’re exploring space like never before. So man has greatness. His knowledge is great. His wisdom is great. You can see the traces of God’s image and likeness and man, even today, some of them are so brilliant, some scientists and doctors and others, so brilliant, amazing things they do. But yet, you see the sadness on the other hand? Image of God, yes, but shattered and in ruin. greatness in humanity, yes. But yet the greatness of the evil of which we are capable is stunning. It’s amazing.

Yeah, he’s great. He can do a lot of good. He can do amazing things. He can make so many discoveries, but look at the evil that he can produce. Look at how he can kill, look at how he can destroy, look at how he can demolish. Look at how we can go to war. This is the fallen man. There is the artistic scientific technological achievements of the human race right before us. You cannot deny that. That’s the greatness of man. We should never as Christians talk of it as nothing. It’s great. The greatness of man because he’s made in the image and likeness of God. That is why even today murder is wrong because man has made in the image and likeness of God. There is that greatness in man, respective, but at the same time do not fail to see the tragedy that is part of the life of man today as a result of sin. All right. Let’s break down this loss of this image by looking at the way the ruin of humanity is categorized in Christian teaching. In Christian teaching, they talk about what this rune of humanity is all about, in what ways is he ruined? And in what areas of his life has he been ruined. There’s clear Christian teaching regarding this. Let me go through this. First of all, we are moral ruins, moral ruins. You may say well, we are very moral people, we’re good people. Well, why do people lock doors when they leave the house? Have you ever thought about that? Did you lock your house before you left? Yeah, I locked mine and shook the lock a couple of times to make sure it’s all locked. Checked if the backside is locked. The side door is locked. Everything is locked. Because there’s some bad people in town. If you left it open, somebody’s going to enter and loot everything that you have. So you lock it and come.

I have seen in some countries of the world, in towns where no houses locked in my lifetime. I’ve been in towns where nobody locks houses I’ve seen. In America, I’ve seen some towns where when people go out, their passport is laying on the desk. Their documents are there, all the valuables are there, they simply walk out of the house, and go come whenever they want. Everything is safe, no robbery, no theft, nothing happens. I’ve seen it. I used to be in wonder I said, My God, how nice, like heaven. Beautiful. nobody steals here, nobody robs anything here. You can just walk out and leave. Cars. People get out of the cars. Back in the 70s, I’m talking about, you’ve never heard of people locking the car. They’ll just get out and walk away with everything in the car. In the same country. If you went to New York City, and I was there also, I remember one guy had an old car and he happened to buy a new one. So for four or five days, he didn’t touch the old car, it was standing on the street, just a little ways down from his apartment. He kept it on the street, didn’t touch it. With the new car, he was using it. And the old car was standing there after four or five days, he went there and I went with him. And the car was standing on bricks, someone had taken all the wheels, someone had removed the eight track player and radio and everything out of the car. And if he had left it for another four days, even the engine would have been removed, everything would have been removed piece by piece. And to remove that car and junk it this guy had to sell spent two $300. So he didn’t want to spend that he went and just took the number plate off and came off. So nobody will know whose car it is. In one country, the same country where there are houses that are never locked. And when you got to make sure that it’s locked, you got to have perfect locks otherwise, you’ll be taken. Cars are stolen just like that there. Because we’re moral ruins where the police forces because morally, we are a mess. Why do we have courts and judges? Because morally, something has gone wrong. That’s why we need courts and judges. Why is there so much violence? Because something morally has gone wrong in society. Why do we have warfare with one nation of the other? Because moral we have no moral values. And that is why all these things happens.

Moral values are lost in many cases, at the same time you see people of high moral value, that’s one thing you need to remember. You cannot totally dismiss everything. That’s why I told two stories, one where they don’t lock the doors, the place where they steal you left and right. Everything that you have, in the same country. One places like that, the other places like that. You see the greatness and the tragedy again and again, the greatness of man, you see how good life can be, how wonderful life can be on the one side, and then you can see how bad life can be. All at the same time. Because we are morally corrupt and fatally flawed. Our world is the way that it is today. So moral ruins. Secondly, the intellectual ruin. Something has happened to man’s mind. This is the weakest in teaching teachers about the fallen man. What happened when Adam fell when he sinned? What is the fall? How did that affect man? Intellectually it affected him. How? The Bible says that man was created knowledge, righteousness and holiness. We read in Ephesians 4:24 created in righteousness, holiness and knowledge. That means that we are capable of intellectual achievements. We are capable of extraordinary intellect. Men can become great scientists, great doctors, great technologists and so on. We’re capable of intellectual achievements, extraordinary achievements. Look at Adam when he was made in the beginning, God made him and then told him to name all the animals all the animals were named by Adam. Now that is not like a naming ceremony like we have today. We simply give a name, and even for that we had to buy a book and search for names for one child.

People have so many problems, some of them come and ask me what gives us a good name. And I also, you know, I’m searching for names, sometimes such a difficult thing. But when we talk about names, we don’t think about names like, what the people in the biblical times thought about it. In the biblical times names reflected the character, the nature and the ways of a person. Last week, I think I told you, one man talked about a woman and said, she’s like a Hitler. She’s a Hitler. He said. Why? Hitler is a man’s name, but he’s applying it to a woman because of the fact that that name carries the character of the person. And this person, even though female she has the same character. So he calls her Hitler. So names come about as a result of the nature and character of a certain person. And when Adam named the animals, it was not simply naming them, Joe, Jim, and, Bob, and all that. It’s not like that. If it is Adam, naming them according to their nature, and their character, you got to discern the nature and the character and the ways of an animal, have deep knowledge and understanding about it and named them. That is how he named the things. I’m telling this to you, so you will know that Adam was not a person of ordinary intellect. He was an extraordinary intellect, he had tremendous mind the ability to think and their ability to analyze and discern things. Just imagine a mind like that, to know the nature and the character of an animal and name it accordingly. So fallen humanity is capable of great achievements, because we are all Adams children. We’re made in the image and likeness of God.

And yet, our reasoning faculties have been poisoned by sin. What has happened to our reasoning? Our reasoning is affected by the bias of self-interest. Now, we don’t simply reason we already have an inbuilt bias, we become selfish, because the primary thing of sin is selfishness. It only cares for oneself. So you may be extraordinarily intelligent, a person may be extraordinarily intelligent. But his bias that he has, the self-interest that works in him, is the poison that is mixed with his great intellect. So that is why we have today sometimes people say follow the science and that sounds good. You want to say you never want to demean science, you respect science. They say, follow the science, and you’re ready to follow the science. But the problem is, science is politicized. Science sometimes comes with an agenda, science sometimes twisted and turned according to what somebody’s policy or plan is like, they kind of sometimes twist even the data to reflect whatever the policy agenda is. So intelligent but self-interest, intelligent but their own agenda governs that intelligence, intelligent because they have some policies, they have some things going in their mind, they want to accomplish that. And they use their intelligence and twist and turn, even the data sometimes like that, so that everything becomes unreliable.

So reasoning capacity, has been poisoned and corrupted by sin. Look at Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1 is a tremendous statement about the fallen man. And look at what it says. Romans chapter 1, let me read to you from verse 18 to 21. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in righteousness. They suppress the truth, they suppress the data, they suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Because what may be known of God is manifested in them, for God has shown it to them. That means whatever can be known about God is manifested. It is shown to them. Nobody can say I can’t know God I’m there’s no possibility of knowing God, I can’t know God. No, whatever can be known of God is available to them. The data is available. Listen to this first Since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Can a man know God? Yes, he can know God, how can he know God? Just by looking at nature, looking at creation, man can know God by the invisible attributes of God are visible through the creation.

From the time the world was made, the knowledge of God is put forth out there, put out there. Nobody can live in this world and say, I don’t think there is a God, in other words. How can you eat our mangoes? And say, is there a God? Oh my goodness. I get them by the dozens. So nice. You don’t even have to have all your faculties working. You don’t you can be totally blind, deaf and dumb and everything. As long as your tongue is working, you can tell there is a God. You just put it in your tongue you know there is a God somewhere. And you know what kind of a God he is? What kind of a God would make something like mangoes. Oh, he must have tremendous taste. He knows what he’s doing. Nobody can do that. And anything that can be known of God can be known. It is out there from the time of creation. Look at this, from since the creation of the world verse 20 it’s invisible attributes are clearly seen. Look at how Paul says are clearly seen. God is invisible. Yes, nobody has seen God but his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead so that there is not other excuse because, although they know God, they did not glorify him.

It’s not that men cannot know God. It’s not that man looked everywhere, and then came to a conclusion there is no God. They know there is a God. They know just by looking at nature, looking at the world around them. Look at the flowers. Look at the colors. Look at the fruit. Look at how varied the tastes are. Can anybody produce so many varieties so beautiful. They knew God. They can know God. Everything that can be known of God is put out there. People can know God. But they did not glorify Him, even though they knew God they did not glorify Him. They didn’t think of him as anything, they did not glorify Him as God, they knew that there is a God but they didn’t treat him as a God. They were not thankful. Actually, the translation has come out as they were not thankful. But actually, it means they did not worship Him. They were able to know that there is a God. They didn’t treat him as God. And how do you treat God as God, you worship him, and they did not worship him, but became futile in their thoughts. And then foolish hearts were darkened. Look at the condition of man says foolish hearts. It’s actually minds, it’s talking about. Their minds but darkened. Their thoughts became futile. Worthless thoughts. And their minds became darkened.

So now because mind is dark, you can look at God’s creation. Look, you can taste the mangoes, you can look at the flowers, you can enjoy God’s air and breathe God’s air and live in God’s world in the midst of this beautiful creation and enjoy everything that God has made. And still talk ourselves into anything that is contrary to the reasonable and the rational. We can talk ourselves out of God. We can talk glibly and say there is no God. I don’t think there is a God, there is a God I don’t know that there is a God you know, I’ve not seen him. I think there is none there. You can talk all that we can justify anything we want to justify. Man’s mind has become like that now. You see that all the time now. People can justify murder people can justify any sin. People can justify anything because the reason is flawed mind is darkened to the darkened mind. You know, you ask them one thing they’ll say, what about that thing? The water boundary. You talk about one thing, ask them about one thing, they’ll go to another thing. They’re justifying all the wrongs because our ability to think has been corrupted by sin. Something definitely went wrong with man’s mind; the man’s mind is not the way it should be. The fall is affected man’s mind.

On the one hand, you see the greatness. On the other hand, you see, the tragedy, that man, intelligent man, knowledgeable man, word, use his mind in such a way to justify even the wrong that is tragedy. That is man’s mind affected by sin corrupted by sin. All right, thirdly, volitional ruins. Volition is our will, the ability to see that’s a wonderful gift of God, God has given us the ability, or the power, I would say, its power, really. You have a power house within you the power to choose something freely, and to make your own decisions for yourself. You know what kind of power that means. I can decide and make my own decisions. I have the ability to choose, I can’t blame anyone for anything. I have the ability to choose I can make my own decisions, that is one of the greatest powers that God has endowed man with. God made man with the will, that was free to decide. God told to be fruitful, multiply, replenish, subdue and dominate. He told them what to do and what not to do, he said, even eat of all the fruit of all the trees of the garden, but you may not eat of this particular tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

He told him what to do what not to do, he has to exercise his will and decide to do what God has told. God had made man, not as a dummy not as a person with no choice, not as a machine. Not as a unthinking person. No, God has made a person as a thinking person with the mind, with the ability to think with extraordinary intellect, to think and analyze and decide and to do things. That is like a powerhouse. But look at what man did when sin came into his heart, man chooses exactly the one thing God said not to do. And he uses his will to do it. He says, I don’t want God in my life. Who is he to tell me not to eat this? Why is he withholding this from me? Why I can eat everything, but not this, I will eat this also. His will has become corrupted by sin. He is free to do all that God has told him to do. But he’s also free to do what God is forbidden him to do. He’s got the choice. Nobody’s forcing him. And you can see the greatness and the tragedy again, you see these two things constantly. Last week, I talked about William Wilberforce, a couple of centuries ago in England, he was a member of the parliament. And he put an end to the slavery in Great Britain. For 30 years, they say he fought against slavery, and tried to bring in legislation while the whole world mocked him. Because slavery was everywhere, not just one country. Everybody believed in slavery.

And they said they thought nothing bad about it, that they could take a man made the image and likeness of God and sell him and they work him like the wanton and do anything that they want, they can treat him as a commodity. This man couldn’t stand it. He came to know God, he came to know God’s word. He saw that man was made in the image and likeness of God and this is utterly wrong to treat a human being like that. And he took it up as a solution that he will deal with. It took him all his life. 30 years determined, in spite of all the mocking and the ridicule that he suffered, he stood his ground. 30 years later, he abolished slavery in England, as well as in the whole of British Empire later. God has given you and me that kind of will. You and I can take up a cause because God wants to take it up, wants us to take it up, you can take up the cause of God. You can receive a call in your life to do something, and you have been given the will to do it no matter what. I’m today standing and preaching today, because I willed it, I made a decision no matter what. Whether I make it or don’t make it, whether it works out good or not, does not work out good, whether I win or lose work doesn’t matter what it is, I will do this thing that God has called me to do, no matter what challenges I have to face, I have to do it.

Will is given for that. You and I have this power house called the wind that you and I can use and determined to do something good. Look at Jesus, the perfect man, the well balanced, matured perfect, whole human being comes to the Garden of Gethsemane in his mind is thinking about burying the sin of the world and dying there as a sacrifice for their sins and carrying their punishment. How he must have dreaded that moment of carrying the sin of the whole world what wait it would have been. And at one point, he goes to God and says, Father, if it be your will remove this cup from me even there, he puts it like that, if it’s possible, remove this cup from me. That means if you will that either should not suffer like this, from me, then immediately turns back and says, nevertheless, it’s not my will let your will be done. God has called them. God has sent him into this world, to live and do those miracles and teach and all of those things. But not only that, but ultimately to die on the cross of Calvary. He didn’t back off when it comes to the cross of Calvary, God had given them a will. That is why he gets up from there Gethsemane after sweating blood literally.

Gets up from there and there the soldiers are coming looking for him. And they didn’t find him hiding behind a tree or something like that. He tells them here I am ready to go. You want to go? Let’s go. He’s ready to go to the cross, he is ready to die, because it’s the Father’s will. And he has aligned his will with a father, no matter what in life and death. It’s the Father’s will that must be done. God has given the will to you and I, the power of being able to decide things. Why? So that we can decide to do God’s will. That’s how you and I are called to live. Decide to do God’s will very powerful. What has God called you to do, decide to do God’s will. Don’t think about what the consequences are going to be. It doesn’t matter what the consequences are, if God has called you to do it, do it. Do it in the name of Jesus. Do it with all your strength, do it with all your heart. Can I do something else? No, I can’t do something else. Why? Because this is what I’m called to do. This is the will of God. Do you have a cause? Do you have a call? Do you know the will of God for your life. God has given to you the will to do good in this world, and to do His work in this world, to live for him with that will determine to do the will of God.

So with the will that God has given this power, called will that God has given, we are capable of very deep commitments like Wilberforce, he can commit himself to the cause, and stay on it for 30 years and achieve it at the end his whole life was spent in that. But today, our will is corrupted, self interest has come in instead of doing the will of God we actually use our will to stay away from God and steer away from God and do what we want to do. We are determined to do what we will what makes us what gives us pleasure, what pleases us. And we don’t use our will many times because we keep changing our minds about things. And we take pride in that also being able to change our minds. I’ve seen advertisement in newspapers in some countries, same day divorce, $90 only get better in the morning, get divorced by the evening, nothing big. And if you ask them say well, I can do what I want. I can do whatever I very well pleased. Their determined to do it. But they’re not determined to do what God has called them to do, they have no idea about why God has given them the will, how they should use their will, that will is such a powerhouse that with that will never serve God.

And the perfect example is Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane and going and dying on the cross, there right before us how to do the will of God, he learned from Jesus and do it just like that. And today will is used to refuse to submit to God, will is used to insist on our independence from God, to walk away from God and to do our own thing. Last week, I think I went to Psalm 2 and it’s a wonderful Psalm. I wish I could cover it. But that’d be just review the first three verses again. Why do the nations rage? It’s a perfect example of how people are determined to be against God, use the will in the wrong way, because its will has been corrupted by sin. Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves in the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed. They’re the kings and rulers are taking sitting in a council and together against the Lord seems, what are they saying? They’re saying, let us break their bonds in pieces, and cast away their chords, from us. What is this bonds and chords, are about the bonds and cards refer to God’s laws, God’s commandments, God’s principles, God’s Word, the Creator, He has created us he has given us everything he has right to tell us how to use it, how to live in it, and so on.

But they consider it as suffocating, irritating, they consider the laws of God and the commands of God as something that is stopping them from being what they want to be. They think the laws and the commands of God is robbing them of their freedom and their independence. So they say let’s castaway, these chords, break these bonds, castaway these chords from us. This is what they’re sitting and scheming and planning and taking counsel together. Kings and rulers, kings and rulers are supposed to sit down together and find ways to bring water into a place where there is no water. Bring jobs into a place where there’s no jobs, bring prosperity into a place where there is poverty, bring health facilities in a place where there is no, that is what kings and rulers supposed to do. That is what they’re supposed to use their will. If some people will get together and use their will and say, I determined to do it, I do it in this country, I will do it for my people and I will do this. And I will not let go of it. I will stay with it and get it done. If somebody feels like they need to be done.

But in Psalm 2, these kings and rulers are sitting, and what is the plan they have? Let’s cast away the chords, these are too restrictive, to suffocating God’s commandments, the 10 commandments throw away the 10 commandments. Let’s get out of this bondage. It’s robbing us of our freedom. That’s what they’re thinking. Hello. So will is ruined. They find God’s laws intolerable, unbearable. They see them as a form of bondage and a form of slavery. They resist the will of God and fight against the will of God. They were created as beings who can decide things, but they decide wrong things again and again again and again. They use their will to rebel determinately against God, to move against God in a determined manner. Fourthly, emotional ruins. We talked about emotions the other day. We are capable of deep feelings. God has made us to have deep feelings. That’s how we are created. In Genesis chapter 2, God looked at man, Adam, and said, it’s not good for a man to be alone. He didn’t turn around, look at his dogs and cats and think that he’s talking about that, of course, they were paraded before him and they named them but he knew exactly what God was saying he was talking about himself. God was actually saying to him, Look, if I would make animals to have feelings and if I’d make animals in that way, how much more man, man is so special, and made man to have deep feelings. Therefore, you cannot be alone, it’s not good for you to be alone because you have to have an object.

For your love, you need to have somebody to pour your love out. And for your feelings out you need to be able to feel something that binds you to another person and brings you close to another person. Feelings are good. Husband having feelings for his wife, wife having feelings for the husband, them having feelings for the children, children having feelings for the parents, God has given it to bring us together to keep us close together. We can shower love and and pour out love and affection upon our kids and our spouses and so on. That is how God has made us. Feelings are good, it is given for a good but just like the will so powerful feelings are good. It will make the family bond very strong. It’s good to be reused in the right way. But you know what? Now since the fall feelings have become utterly untrustworthy, you know why they are untrustworthy? Because our feelings, our passions, and our appetites are out of control now. We’re not just using the feeling for the right things, we’re using the feeling for the wrong things.

The guy goes in the wrong direction say what to do, I felt, and I fell. And now I can’t get out of it. Because feelings. Sometimes they explained to us the feelings but they can’t let go of feelings, feelings is tying us together. Even though this is wrong feelings, are tied together by feelings, wrong feelings. So that’s why I started the other day. Today’s trend and culture is such where people say do what you feel is right. So people have become people that are governed by feelings. They try to run your life by feelings. I tell you, everything will crash. Just imagine you run a marriage by feelings. Today, you will feel like getting married. And tomorrow you feel like why you got married, you know? What are you going to do? Cancel the marriage. There’ll be days when you feel like I’m a preacher. And I’ve been preaching for more than 40 years. You know how many times I felt my God. I wish I was not a preacher, because there’s so many problems. There are so many challenges there and say, Oh, difficult, so difficult. It’s such a challenging thing. Feelings. Sometimes they felt like Sunday mornings I don’t want to come.

But I still got myself and come because that’s not right. God has called me to preach. And God has given me the word to preach. So whether I feel good or not, I need to get up and go and preach and feeling will follow me. After I preach, I always feel good. You cannot obey feelings, feelings will ruin your life. Feelings are not trustworthy, because since fall as corrupted feelings of man. Now, the appetites and passions run out of control. And that is why you cannot rely upon your feelings for some people today in this culture. Their self and their feelings is sovereign. What is solid they say? Do what you feel like people take pride in them say I just do what I feel if I feel like this, I’ll speak it I’ll feel like I will do it. God has given us feelings where people have feelings. But nowadays you cannot trust your feelings completely. Therefore, more than feelings, it must be whether a certain thing is right or wrong. He will tell how I feel, well, is it right? They don’t care about whether it’s right or wrong, whether it’s just or unjust, whether it’s righteous or unrighteous. That issue never comes, let’s say do what you feel like.

Well, you may be feeling something, but it will be totally unrighteous. You say but I feel like it. Their feeling is paramount, their feeling is sovereign, it rules over them. So now they say if you want to know yourself, the famous saying is you want to know yourself look inside, so we’re looking inside to know ourselves. Look at what you feel. But the Bible says you want to know yourself, look at Jesus. Look at how the Bible says God made you, go to God, he will tell you what your made like. So, feelings cannot be dependent upon we cannot rely upon them. It will mislead us over and over and over again. Today you will feel like going to work tomorrow you will not feel like going to work, there will be more days you will feel like not going to work. Then days you will feel like you want to go to work. You will ruin your life if you live on feelings. Particularly when it comes to your relationship with God and everything. Finally, let me share one thing they will continue next week. The other thing is relational ruin. Relational ruins we are created not only to be moral, intellectual, volitional, emotional, and so on. We are created to be relational beings, we are meant to let other people, male and female God created us. Therefore we are capable of warm and loving relationships.

We are people who live in relations. So we have relationships with friends, we have relationships with spouses, we have relationships with children, with people in the church, with neighbors, between nations, we are in all kinds of relationship. But the mother of all relationships, the relationship that really governs all human relationships is the relationship that we have with God. When you don’t have this relationship with God then you will find that you don’t know how to run your relationship with others. Dr. Mark light Jones they say he is the greatest preacher of the 20th century, lived in England had a church right next to the palace, Queen’s palace, Buckingham Palace. For his Bible study, 2000 people admitted on Friday nights on his Bible study. He was a medical doctor turned preacher. So Friday night when his Bible study started, all the hospitals will be emptied, it seems all the doctors will run away for his Bible study, tremendous preacher. And after he preached, he never gave altar call or anything, he will just preach and go and sit in his room. And people will be lined up to see him for prayer, giving their life to the Lord and so on.

And some of them will come and say, well, my wife left me this happened that happened, you know, and so on. The first thing you will ask them, he says, Are you saved? Do you know the love of God? Have you experienced the love of God? Do you know that God has loved you, He has given himself for you. Because when you know that, if you know that somebody gave his life for you, and loved you so much, then you will love him back in that way. Bible says so he loved us, therefore we love him. Do you know that God has loved you and given himself for you? Have you given your life because of that to God? Do you love him back because he has loved you so much. And that follows usually some people they’re traditionally Christian people. They’ll just blink and say, Well, I’m a Christian. I’ve been born in a Christian family. I go to church, Christmas and New Year and Easter and so on. And say look, do you know the love of God? Do you love him like he has loved you? If you know how he has loved you, you will love him back the same way you will be ready to give us your life for him. Because he gave his life for you. Do you love him that way?

And if the person says Well, I don’t care about that. I just want you to some people think that we preachers are magicians, the wife leaves they think we prayed the wife will come back and for the wife leaving the cost they will say somebody cast us Hexer spell. Somebody did something, set an evil spirit against them so that the family is split. Now, all they’re saying trying to say is nothing is my fault. Somebody did some witchcraft So my wife left. Now you are another witchcraft doctor, with a Bible, you do some witchcraft, let my wife come back. Well, I always tell them, even if she comes back, you’re ready to chase her away again. How will she come back? So he will tell them always with the you know, God, do you love God? Do you know anything about these things? Do you want it? If they said, I don’t care about this, I just want my wife to come back. I just want to have family. Your only way you can have peace and have peace with others is when you have peace with God. Only way you can have a successful family is to have a relationship with God, then only you will understand, as the Bible says, Husbands love your wives, even as Christ loved the church. Do you know anything about Christ’s love?

You have to experience it, you got to know it, then only you can live it. If you can’t do it, please go see a psychologist. That’s what he will tell them, it seems. No use me praying for you. Please go and see the best that you can get in the world. Maybe they can help you a little bit. But my method is this. That’s exactly what Jay Adams talks about. He says, when the person comes for counseling, you never address the same problem. But the same problem is the problem. You address the same problem, all the other problems will fall in line, they will all be solved, they will all come into focus in the right way. You see it is because we have been alienated from God, we don’t know what it is to be loved with the love of God, such a love. And we don’t know what it is love as a person back like that. That is why we have so many problems. That’s our relationship. We have conflicts with friends, we have conflicts with spouses, we have conflicts with children, we got conflicts with between church members, conflicts between nations, neighbors, and so on. Conflict and conflict more conflicts in our lives because no peace with God, therefore no peace with men.

Once you get that right, once you know how to love in that way, then all of these things comes into the right place, and you’re able to succeed in life. Amen. We’ll continue that next week, I want to talk about how dominion was ruined. And then I want to go back over the six things that I mentioned today. I said five things, six things I’ll talk about. But then I want to go over the six things and show you how these six aspects of our life our moral, intellectual, emotional, volitional, and relational, and this dominion business. All of those areas are redeemed, and brought back to shape. Let’s all stand up together. Let’s pray.