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Showing posts with label New Covenant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Covenant. Show all posts

Monday, September 25, 2023

Did Jesus Really Mean We Should Pluck Out Our Eyes?

Introduction
In the 10 commandments, God said, “Do not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14).  Adultery is a serious crime against God and humanity.  It wrecks marriages, tears apart families, and fills people with hurt, anger, and resentment.  Adultery is a sin of betrayal that destroys the peace and harmony of communities.  It compromises our integrity, corrupts our character, and mars the sacred image of God within us.

That is why God takes adultery seriously.  In the civil law for Israel in the Old Testament, the punishment for adultery was death.  Deuteronomy 22:22 – “If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the woman must die. In this way, you will purge Israel of such evil.”

That may seem to be too harsh of a penalty to us who live in the modern era. But if you’ve ever been betrayed by an adulterous spouse, you may wish the OT penalty was still in effect.  Adultery is evil and destructive, not just to the spouse.  It harms families and society.

While infidelity may have become more common in civilian life, the military continues to enforce strict prohibitions against adultery.  It is still illegal for married military personnel to engage in adultery.  It is a military crime that can be prosecuted, because the military understands adultery is a distraction that leads to the loss of trust and morale, and a decline in fighting efficiency.  If convicted of adultery, a soldier can face up to a year of jailtime, dishonorable discharge, and forfeiture of all pay and allowances.

Hopefully, you have never cheated on your spouse.  However, statistics indicate that there are some here who probably have.  I’ve read research that says anywhere from 10-20% of married couples cheat.  If that’s true, there’s probably several people reading this today who have cheated on their spouse.  But for those of who haven’t, we need not be too proud of ourselves.  Jesus has a few words to say about adultery in the sermon on the mount.  His words challenge all of us.

Matthew 5:27-30
27 
“You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your hand—even your stronger hand—causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

Heart Lust
The holiness God demands of His people is tremendous.  Those tremendous demands are spelled out in the Old Testament Law by the extreme penalties for adultery.  Those who committed adultery were to be put to death.  But Jesus points out that the demands of God’s Holy Law go even deeper than what happens outwardly.  Jesus says it goes all the way down into a person’s heart.  So, if you even desire sensual intimacy with someone other than your spouse, you have committed adultery in your heart.

A study of the University of California[i] interviewed 676 men and women, whose average age was 25, on the intensity and frequency with which they experienced sexual desire.  Almost all those interviewed—97.3%—reported having experienced lustful feelings, with men only slightly more likely to feel sexual desire (98.8%) than women (95.9%).

These statistics may or may not be representative of the wider population.  But I know we live in an over-sexualized society.  People today in Dalton, GA are certainly more infatuated with sex than the socially conservative people to whom Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount 2,000 years ago.  Their culture required modest clothing whereas our culture prefers to accentuate and advertise the desirability of a human body.  The conversations of 1st century Jews carefully avoided sexually provocative language while in our time we crave sexually explicit lyrics in songs and readily portray nudity and sensuality on TV while exploiting sexuality to sell products in commercials.

There is no doubt we are more obsessed with sex than the people who first heard Jesus words:  “anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  The point:  We are all guilty.

Jesus said, “So, if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away.”  One might wonder why we aren’t all walking around like pirates with an eye patch.

It’s important here to point out Jesus was using hyperbole.  There’s a fancy word:  Hyperbole.
Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally.  We might say, “I’m so hungry, I could eat a horse!” even thought we really wouldn't ea a horse.  And we may say, “My feet are killing me!” even though our feet aren't literally killing us; they just hurt.

So, Jesus wasn’t actually instructing His followers to pluck out their eyes to keep from lusting.  Blind men lust too.  Nor did Jesus want His disciples to actually cut off their hands to keep them from stealing.  These were exaggerations Jesus used to make some serious points.

First of all, don’t be self-righteous just because you never cheated on your spouse.  Romans 3:23 spells it out clearly, “For all have sinned and fall short of God’s glorious standard.”  Don’t judge someone else because they sin differently than you.  James 2:10 tells us, “For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.”  That puts us all on equal footing, at least in terms of God's perfect and righteous judgment.

Second, Jesus points out God’s incredible standard of holiness.  It goes way beyond just our physical actions.  God even cares about the motives of our hearts.  And since our hearts are corrupt, we have a serious problem.  We need a new heart. 

Third, Jesus shows our utter helplessness in regard to sin and holiness.  Romans 6:23 puts it this way, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  So the consequences of our sin is death—not just our sinful actions, but even the inner motives of our sinful heart.  So we are all guilty and deserving of death.  That’s why Jesus came; to free us from the curse of sin.  He paid the penalty for our sin and He also offers us a remedy for our sinful hearts.  Through Jesus, we can have a new and perfect heart--one the Holy Spirit can shape and form to be godly, Christ centered, and full of love.

Jesus satisfied the demands of the Law.  He paid the penalty for our sins.  And Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecies about God’s New Covenant with His people, such as Ezekiel 36:26, which says“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”  And Hebrews 10:16 says, "This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”

So now, we can make a fresh start with God. When we repent of our sins, Jesus begins to change our hearts so that we actually want to live the way God wants us to live.  Not just because we are following the rules, but because we love God and we love our neighbor and want to do the right thing for the right reasons.

Fourth, Jesus calls His followers to live holy lives.  Jesus exaggerated statements about plucking out eyes and cutting off hands—though symbolic—also have practical meanings.  If your eye causes you to sin, then don’t look.  Act as though you had plucked out your eyes and were blind.  What I mean is, be extremely careful what you look at.  Guard your eyes so they don't lead your into temptation that causes you to sin.

And when Jesus says, “Cut off your hand”, take his advice and don’t put your hands near things that cause you to sin.  With a little thoughtful prayer, we can recognize the kinds of things that tempt us.  We can learn ways to steer clear of them.  The practical ways this plays out may be different for different people.  If you are an alcoholic, don’t hang out at a bar.  In fact, you would do well to avoid being around alcohol altogether.  That doesn’t mean alcohol is bad for all people (even Jesus drank wine with His disciples).  But use some common sense.  Avoid being around those things that lead you into temptation and cause you to sin.

Conclusion
What is the Holy Spirit saying to you today?  Which of these 4 points hits you right where you are?
Maybe today, you need to repent of your sin, turn to Jesus to save you, and start living the holy life He calls and enables His followers to live.  Maybe today, you need to consider practical ways you can avoid looking at or handling things that lead you to sin.  What is the Holy Spirit saying to you?



[i] https://www.forbes.com/2005/06/02/cx_0602health.html?sh=23141d7a2cc6

Monday, April 27, 2015

I Have a NEW Heart!

Copyright April 21, 2015 by Chris Mullis
Ezekiel 36:25-27

Introduction
            I love springtime!  It is my favorite time of year.  I love the weather.  I love the longer days.  But most of all, I love seeing earth spring forth into NEW life.  Trees are budding.  Flowers are blooming.  It is a glorious thing to behold. 
With spring, come caterpillars feeding to prepare themselves to transform into butterflies.  Abigail has a “pet” caterpillar in a jar.  She named him Larry.  Larry has already built a cocoon. Soon Larry will transform into a butterfly (or more likely a moth).  It’s such a pleasure to behold the excitement of a child studying this process—to see it through their eyes.  Abigail also has a “pet” worm, but it won’t build a cocoon. I was joking with Abigail and asked if her worm was going to turn into a butterfly too.

“No!  Worms don’t turn into butterflies!”  She said, “That’s the difference between worms and caterpillars!”
Wisdom from the mouth of an 8-year-old.  The difference between worms and caterpillars: God doesn’t turn worms into butterflies.  Do you have the faith to let God transform you into something NEW?  Are you a worm or a caterpillar?
            If you have faith in Jesus Christ—if you trust him with life and your eternity—God will transform you into a NEW creation.  He will give you NEW desires, a NEW way of thinking, and a NEW purpose in life.  Today I want to talk about God’s promise to give us a NEW heart.  Let’s look back into the Old Testament at the words of the prophet Ezekiel written over 500 years before Christ was born. 

Ezekiel 36:25-27
25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.”

Explain the Passage
            Ezekiel lived during the Old Testament period of our faith.  We usually forget what a blessing it is to live in our time as opposed to Ezekiel’s time.  You see the whole character of life transformed when Jesus rose from the grave.  He ushered in a NEW Covenant between God and humanity. 
            In the Old Covenant, people were given rules (Laws) to help them avoid God’s judgment.  God said: If you obey my laws, I will be bless you.  If you disobey my laws, I will punish you. (summary of Deuteronomy 26:1-46)  That was the agreement.  The problem was most people only followed the rules to avoid punishment and receive a blessing.  There was very little sense of actual right and wrong—it was mostly about reward and punishment.  People didn’t necessarily want to do the right thing.  They just wanted to be blessed and avoid the God’s wrath.  Following the law was just a mechanical thing people did.  It was not motivated by love.
            Prophets used to lament this lack of love in people.  Perhaps the prophet Isaiah said it best in Isaiah 29:13, “And so the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.”

            When Jesus rose from the grave, He ushered in a NEW agreement (a NEW Covenant).  In the New Covenant, love is the only rule.  St. Augustine described Christianity this way.  He said, “Love God and do whatever you want.”  You see if you love God, you can do whatever you want because you will only want to do the right things if you truly love God.  In the NEW Covenant, Jesus offers us a NEW heart that loves God and sincerely desires to do good and not evil.
And all this is what Ezekiel predicted.  Five hundred years before Christ came, Ezekiel prophesied:
·      Vs 25a – “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean.  Your filth will be washed away…”  Since Jesus paid the price for our sins when he died on the cross, we who trust in Christ have been cleansed.  Our sins are washed away!  And how is it that we commemorate this cleansing by Jesus when a person decides to become a Christian?  We sprinkle people with water when we baptize them.
·      Vs 25b "…and you will no longer worship idols.”  An idol is not necessarily a statue.  An idol is anything that takes the place of God in our heart.  Money can be an idol.  Power can be an idol.  Sex or your job or your family can become idols in your heart.  In the story of creation found in Genesis, the forbidden fruit was an idol for Adam and Eve because they desired it more than they wanted to obey God.  You see, there has always been this crazy tendency within the human heart to replace God with something else.  It is the primal sin.  And God promised through Ezekiel, that one day we would stop doing this.  And here’s how God accomplishes this in us.
·       Vs 26 – “I will give you a new heart… a tender, responsive heart.”  Ezekiel dreamed of the days we live in right now!  We live under the NEW Covenant—when we can receive a NEW heart from God—one that wants to do the right thing and no longer wants to do evil!  Because Jesus died and rose from the grave, you can have a NEW heart! 

A NEW Heart
            Christ gives us an amazing opportunity!  We can have a NEW heart!  And here’s what it looks like: 
·       Vs. 26 – “…I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”  [Some of you may have been hurt, betrayed, or disappointed so that your hearts have grown cold.  You can’t trust anymore.  You’re afraid to feel.  It’s like your heart has become cold and stony.  Your cold, stony heart isolates you from further pain and disappointment, but it also keeps you from experiencing life, love, and relationships in their fullness as God intended.  Ultimately, your cold, stony heart separate you from God—the source of life.  If you go on living with your cold, stony heart, you’re going to die spiritually.  But you don’t have to.  If you trust Jesus, he will give you a NEW heart that is tender and responsive.
·       Some of you have dirty, filthy hearts.  Even though you look nice on the outside, on the inside you harbor evil thoughts, selfish desires, and unkind attitudes.  You know this is not the way you should be, but you don’t know how to change.  Jesus can wash away your filthy heart and give you a NEW, clean heart.
·       Some of you are not so bad.  If fact, you’ve spent most of your life trying really hard to follow all the rules.  Your parents taught you right from wrong and you’ve tried to lived up to everyone’s expectations.  Sure you’ve made mistakes along the way (who hasn’t?), but overall you’d say you’re a pretty good person.  But I’ve got news for you:  More than anyone else, Jesus wants to give you a NEW heart.  You see, no matter how “good” you are, you can never be good enough.  If you’ve been trying to get along in life by simply following the rules, you have misunderstood God’s intention for you entirely.  God doesn’t want you to follow the rules.  God want you to do what’s right.  (And following the rules and doing what’s right are not necessarily always the same thing.)  You see, you (just like everybody else) need a NEW heart—one that is guided by God’s Holy Spirit, one that has His laws written upon it, one that always knows intuitively how to do the right thing at the right in the right way.  You need a NEW heart. 

Invitation
            Do you trust Jesus to give you a NEW heart?  You see, faith is the key that unlocks the power of Christ to transform you.  That’s the difference between a caterpillar and a worm.  A caterpillar and a worm both crawl around on the ground.  But only the caterpillar builds its own tomb, seals it, and waits to see what God will do.  And what looks like the end for the caterpillar, God’s sees as a butterfly. 
            Are you a worm or a caterpillar?  Do you trust God enough to let your old heart die so Jesus can give you a NEW heart?  Would you like to go on living with your old heart (which is not really living at all, just existing), or would you rather trust Jesus to give you a NEW heart and a NEW life—true life?
            God invites us all to trust in Jesus and receive a NEW heart.  That is your choice today.  How will you choose?  Are you a worm or a caterpillar?