But God…

Today on Summit life compelling message from Pastor Jeannie Greer as Americans were the can-do people.

I read my Bible, I see on my taxes. I didn't cause this week. I'm okay in all that checklist does love you desire God at all were spiritually dead to do anything for ourselves.

We needed God to make alive like after Jeannie Greer. As always, I'm your host Molly made a batch when something goes wrong in the world, we tend to look for someone to blame.

Lately it seems to be the other side of the political line, but it can also be a corrupt business practice or flaw in the education system that makes things go haywire yesterday revealed that the actual problem with the world isn't found in one political party, or a flawed system inside all of us think teaching is part of our series called mystery and clarity. If you miss any of the previous messages you can catch up right now. Jeannie Greer.com. Now here's Pastor JD with a message from Ephesians chapter 2 titled God to start all morning by universe that is really on the surface very negative. But before I do I want to tell you that the backdrop of this verse is really positive. That's one of things that makes the negativity of this verse so shocking to us. Ephesians 21 Bible certainly hope you do, you will open it three visions. Chapter 2 Ephesians 2 verse one says that we as a race are dead in our sins. The backdrop of that verse is actually very very positive because it is that God created us good. That's one of the things that makes this verse so shocking. We were created in gods image because we were created in God's image. We are capable of extraordinary acts of goodness and courage and kindness and love. We all see that we see a man selflessly taking care of his wife in their old age. We know people who have sacrificed their lives for their friends, sometimes even for complete strangers.

I see all the time right here in our church just last week I see the way to so many of you responded to numbers five areas are put out in front of us, the five is what God is given us as a church to pray about a dream about what we can do in these areas. An agenda homeless in the orphanage. The foster kids, the prisoners be unwed mothers high school dropouts and how we could make a difference in those in those areas just the way that you responded at some of your comments and what I got an idea about this.

I want to know how I can be a part of that. A look at how you respond to such generosity and selflessness and we see the goodness of God created us with mess because you were created in the image of God is one of things that makes Paul's indictment so shocking. Here in verse one, you were dead in your trespasses and sins is offensive, and I want to focus on two words in this verse that dispel two very ingrained myths in our culture about evil, what makes this so offensive – these two words in the beginning you're gonna correct that the first word is the word you you were dead in trespasses and sins, not other people you you were dead.

Should we recognize that some people are bad.

We always think it's somebody out there is really bad so we put locks on her houses to keep the bad people out.

We put locks on top of those locks amend a security system on top of the two locks amend dog about the security system in bygone case the dog in the locks of the security system to work. The bad people out whatever culture you're in you to look at people outside of that culture is the bad ones. Other nations people of other religions. They're the ones with the problems so we need a strong national defense to keep all nations of people out to be an example right here in our own country. If you were raised as a religious conservative as I know that many of you were.

It's the it's the people outside of that tradition that are the ones the promised dirty lives right Hollywood MSNBC all the ladies on the view except Elizabeth hassle back right there. The depraved ones there once destroying family values. They're the ones undercutting the backbone of society course.

The ironic thing is that they're all set around this morning. Think about how bad we are people in the church are judgmental and crowded because strife and war waterways.

Honestly, Jesus agrees with Jesus taught that religion brings out the worst in people. Religion is a tendency to make people proud and that's the mother of all sins. It was religious people who lead in the crucifixion of Jesus for a lot of time.

We think what times we think it was people who live a long time ago were outside of our time.

They're the ones you had the problems open now. We progressed were educated globalizing sophisticated course, there are some ways that that's true when it comes to issues like the equality of women are or on racism. We certainly have progressed a little bit but there's a whole new set of vices.

Now that we celebrate religious people are more fundamentalist than ever before. More violent than ever people are greedy or a McCrae power, more than ever we got sexual depravity and family dysfunction worse than out plus for the proudest and most self-sufficient generation ever walked the face of the earth for all of our progress. The bloodiest century of mankind in recorded history was the 20th century. The Bible teaches that as a race were not getting better. If anything were getting worse. I don't believe in evolution, believing devolution of anything when we came from monkeys what it looks like were headed there. I'm getting worse.

The point is there no categories in the Bible is not religious people or irreligious, is not primitive or in advance are not educated or backwards, or just bad people in Jesus. That's it. So you just one other way whenever we have a problem in a relationship.

We usually think that it's the other person who has the problem, not us. I have yet I get all my years of counseling. I've yet to do a single marriage counseling session were a couple came in and sat down and both of them said to meet. Sincerely, it's not her, it's me.

I'm the one who's got all the problems know it's always the other person.

Elizabeth Taylor has been married eight times and after each one, of course, we listen to her was always her husband's fault. While you like you become as you, for many of you in every broken relationship with your past you always see yourself as the victim.

Your parents were idiots. Your boss was a jerk roommate was unreasonable. Some of you college girls on your fifth roommate in two years and each living arrangement ends in disaster. You like what you understand the scrolls Islamist other. When she was jealous all the time is what you talking much of this when she was way too impatient with me no idea.

The common denominator is is you conversation you have or you break up with somebody like you know it's it's not you it's me got a Savior know it's not me it's you you're the problem I noticed that I get most annoyed things and others that I really do myself. For example, instead of the light is happened this week like hers got a go was a problem and I look and I can see in his rearview mirror attached statement. All the righteous indignation. I just lay on that one. Like out there in the start you know that I am the last person on earth who has the right to be righteously indignant that somebody was texting while driving right 40 or so cops to go to your door church that that's totally thing about past okay as of right now I don't do that anymore. My daughters just met each other as up this week. Do yelling at each other upstairs so I go upstairs and I scream at night talking to each other like this all the problems all the dysfunction of the world is not out there is right in the mirror, you you are dead $0.20 the second keyword that challenges our culture looks at sin as that word dead.

She just refutes the idea that sin is primarily something that we do rather than who we are.

Most of us think of sin as a set of bad things that we do adultery, stealing, racism watching Grey's Anatomy whatever I want dead shows us that sin is not an action. Sin is a condition of her art. It's not that we do bad things and therefore that makes us bad that we do bad things because we are back.

It's not that we steal and cheat, and therefore that makes us greedy. We still achieve because we are by nature greedy. In other words, were not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners see this in my kids. Nobody has taught my kids to be jerks to each other born experts that nobody taught my youngest daughter. Nobody told her to lie. She did not get that from her environment like your picture dumps it on the floor that does it come from her environment don't do that she watches ago.

That's what you mean we don't do that. I'm a wife, but I don't run around our house screaming my to each other. She didn't get that impulse from her environment that's her nature, she was born December varsity level center as it amazes me how much I could tell my two-year-old no string, but no walk around the house saying her gas right just keep that up. Good job. Don't let your sister don't destroy that tower blocks their building why you get so much pleasure in that. Don't take their favorite out the fireplace now it's just her nature.

We are in our natures dead. I don't know if you ever embraced what that means but that means that there's nothing you can do your helpless Americans prefer to see sin is an action rather than a as a condition because if sin is an action that we feel like we can cure it with our own checklist of good actions as Americans were the can-do people. I read my Bible don't cheat on my taxes.

I didn't cause this week twice the rest of the roads were icy but you know that's excusable. Therefore, I'm okay and all that checklist does is cover up the fact that her heart love and desire God at all were spiritually dead, and we can't do anything for ourselves. We needed God who can make alive or over your refrigerator to see that little Tupperware thing at the back of your refrigerator know.

I wonder how long that's been in there for you can look at it from the side of you open it up and you smell it like four hours later you wake up you and your like what what what just hit me now. When that happens, your response back. That situation is like a promise that doesn't have enough spice little black pepper sauce for little catch up and it's going to be just five. Know your cover that up. Problem is, it was dead. When you put in the refrigerator with the hope was that when you put in the refrigerator was dead. When you put it there. The curse of death was already in it and now what's happening as it just takes a while but then that stance just takes over everything.

We are in our nature already dead and we are writing we might smell okay for a while, we might learn to cover up areas of stench in our lives with religion or manners, or culture self-discipline, but we are in our natures dead. Verse two he describes what that spiritual death looks like the three phrases in the next verse is all basically say the same thing first two their sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world the course of this world.

What does the world follow St. Augustine said, is 1500 years ago. Three things will follow the money, sex, power, money most important thing in all the world so the world says get all you can hold onto sex. Nobody should be your boss in the sexual area you know what you need. You know what you want nobody to tell you what to do power roses get all you can if you can be the richest do that.

You be the most beautiful use that whatever you can do to be better than others major on that because that will give you power leverage over others world. Let's these three things rule them rather than God. They value these things more than God sees these things more than God.

Second, friends, following the prince of the power of the air that's a reference. By the way to Satan, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience that I say to you somebody following Satan or somebody filled with the spirit of Satan. The image of a guy with a bunch of tattoos out of the woods somewhere sacrificing animals. This verse tells you is that money, sex and power. That's what Satan is working in.

He is the one making those things appear attractive.

One following Satan is not the one sacrificing to midnight. If the one who is living for money for sex and for power that tells you Satan is behind a lot of what we call entertainment themes of most of our shows we watch it's making it appear more attractive and it is work verse three. Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body in the minds this is just another way of saying that the same thing. The other two braces that our lives are controlled by the desires of our body and our minds rather than by the will of God. Our body says have sex, we obey our body says spend a bunch of money on me and we obey it, or body says live a life of luxury, no matter how stingy you have to be. You have to hurt and we obey.

We want anybody to make the rules or to control lots.

I teach my kids that sin is the big high problem. The middle letter of the word sin. I it's I want to control my life rather than God. I want to call the shots.

My desires are more important and more controlling to meet the will of God is we've expressed our self-will in terms of omission and commission commission are the things that we do that we should not do omission are the things that we failed to do that we ought to have done, almost always think of sin in terms of commission things we do that we should have done, but the much bigger sands are ones of ownership. It's not just that were selfish, we still we do things to hurt others.

We have failed to love God supremely in our hearts and to love others like Glover sells the sins of omission that are behind the sins of commission because I said we were what system you're not like this, but you need to learn the left because it's the truth we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. The children what are you sure that's what it says Greek maybe it should maybe assist children of sadness or confuse children of the lost kids or something like that.

Note says wrath children who deserved only God's I know that it's war with you were by nature a child wrath. Why, because what we have done what you have done this cosmic treason.

We kicked God off the throne and put ourselves there in his place and did in every possible way. We minimized him and we glorified ourselves. We served ourselves, not him. We exploited creation for our purposes, not years. We made our desires. The Lord of our lives, not his will. Even our sins that come from a lack of self-control or blasphemy.

So how does that work like this guy was a problem.

For example, looking at pornography is not sitting around thinking to do this, to blaspheme God, but he is blaspheming God make me pretty always tell guys struggle with pornography said they thought they can't control themselves because of the sonic and control may have a look like you could turn out that desire what a light switch like you're crazy.

There's no possible way that I guess you could say you're sitting there by your computer like midnight, you're looking at pornographic images you thought you can't stop and all of a sudden the door behind you opens and your mom will grandma what a light switch that desire. Why, what just happened. It's not that you quit lusting for women. It's not that you know you suddenly develop a self-control plant that the presence of your mother fight was greater than even your desire for these images. The embarrassment that you would feel in front of her. The fear of what she might say or what you might think that greater fear overcomes this desire in terms of God, the God's always watching you know that God is displeased but you don't care what he thinks you have so minimized him, but he's longer than your mother because if you didn't care what he thought you would know that he was watching and you wouldn't want to do that in front of him.

So you minimized him in every possible way and that unspeakable blasphemy that cosmic treason deserves God's wrath for culture says got to forgive and forget what God be mad at everybody else assume we see injustice and other places we think God should be mad at that. She greeted exploitation on Wall Street music should be punished. We see injustice taking place in parts of Africa, China that ought to be punished okay with God. Be mad at others. Gabi met Satan with the hope you're okay with Gabi met Satan was okay with God. Be mad at us got you to forgive us and I would like God does know his job but forgot just to turn his back on our sin and not make it right would be unjust and we love justice going. We always cry out for when somebody treats us unjustly. The bank makes an error and you lose 10 grand you go down to the bank and you demand justice for the rewards on our car will let people know what you just did that was transgression in your incident and I'm going to punish you voice we love justice. We deserve to be punished. There's nobody we can pass the blame to Blame the world for being a bad influence on us who created the world system. We did, we can't blame Satan because he never forces us to do anything that would bait the hook and what just bided for but haven't we all done good things big history Channel guy in a nerd one the most is what one was confusing and disturbing images that keep he repeated on the history Channel pricing is a little clip where Hitler plays with the kids sing that is disturbing is because it actually looks like he likes them.

Looks like a time.

It was like my granddad play with these kids. He enjoys them. He, like that's really kind but it's hard for you to see that and call back. Good in the light of the rest of his life is life is one that is so atrociously evil that even as good things don't really seem to be that good. What if our rebellion to God was the same way in God's what are cosmic treason means of the holdback of our life is so evil that is hard to even call our goodness actually good. We deserve the wrath of God against some of you like to hear but you need to hear your new embrace and into love it because it is the truth and only by knowing the truth can ever be set free weed to serve God's wrath are blasphemy against God deserves the eternal punishment of hell yes here's a tell is a terrible place. It is so offensive to educated people, but hell is not one degree hotter than we deserve it to be first for verse four begins with the largest conjunction universe, but just stop just like that seems the force of Betsy just you are helpless. Yes, you are not, but God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he has many theologians. Christians talk about salvation so coldly and doctrinally, as if it was some kind of ritual right of our salvation. They tend to run. You have been saved on your own doing. One of the greatest truths found in Scripture today on Senate life with certain author JD Greer. We want everyone to be able to dive deeper into the gospel at any time that this nation is only possible because a friend like you who give generously to support this ministry. When you donate to Senate life you're really getting to your fellow listeners and making it possible for JD teaching to be heard all across the country, even around the world as our way of saying thanks for your gift to the ministry will send you an exclusive new Senate like study series on the program called three in clear, we'd love to give you a copy of this new resource today for ministry and clearly a Bible study. Donate. Have a suggested level of $25 or more by calling eight 633-5220 forget and request your copy online. JD Greer.com Molly Witt events that happy with data And be sure to join us tomorrow when Pastor JD revealed how we can be made alive in Christ ministry. Join us Tuesday on Senate life clear 19