Hello and welcome back to Cultivating Growth. We want to thank everyone for joining us this week. We're at the outset of a new month, which means a new topic. Jeremy and I are gonna be discussing the topic of salvation this month. We have three different topics within that that we're gonna discuss over the next few weeks, but today we're gonna focus in on the problem that we as mankind face and that problem.

Is sin, and we're gonna talk about the need that we have as a result of that problem. And then the rest of the month will be spent talking about how we address that problem. And so with that, let's get right to the discussion for today. I. Well, John, you made mention we're gonna kind of take off in a new direction.

Certainly in comparison to where we've been, it goes really well with where we were. Yeah, yeah. Certainly last month and talking about God and and who he is. But you made mention that we're gonna spend the time this week talking about salvation and we'll do so in the, you know, three weeks and then we'll have another guest, you know, at the end of the month.

But you know, I guess at the very outset that when you kind of. Bring up a, a topic like salvation. We gotta start with why it is we need it, right? If it's going to be something so important, we've gotta kind of begin with why it is that we need it. And it is certainly the answer to a problem. And ultimately today we're gonna have the conversation that will center around that.

It's the answer to not just a problem, but an answer to the biggest problem. I, I was thinking about it a little bit. You know, kind of, you know, trying to help us with, you know, some urgent analogies, you know, kind of, if you will. And, you know, sometimes you know, you, you may hurt yourself and, you know, instantly, you know, you twist your knee or you know, instantly, you know you have a problem, you're gonna, you're gonna do something about that as quickly as you can.

Probably the best analogy I could come up with is. You know, our cars a lot of times where, you know, maybe it, there's a sound that isn't right. Yeah. Or it isn't running, or it doesn't start, or the check engine light comes on, or the low tire pressure light comes on. You know, all of those are indicators that there is a problem, and for the most part.

We're going to do something about that urgently. Mm-hmm. We're not gonna, you know, certainly gonna continue to drive the car without knowing the problem. And, and so when we kind of tackle a, a topic like salvation, it is the answer again, not to a problem. Right? Like those other things, you know, that I may mention of it, it is the biggest problem.

And, and that's why it makes it such an important topic. Well, and maybe to continue on your analogy of the car, I, if you look underneath your car and you realize it's gushing oil, that's clearly the problem. You're not gonna put air in the tires in an effort to solve that problem. That's right. That's right.

You, you have to address the problem that has to be addressed. And that's really how when we look at old Testament and New Testament alike, the problem is man has separated ourselves from God. Because of, and through sin, we have become self-willed and we have given into the lusts and desires and all of the things that our eyes see and behold, and we have given ourselves into that and separated ourselves from God.

And once we have done that. We are left in this hopeless situation. How do we get back to this relationship with the creator, the one who loves us? And that has been man's problem since the very beginning. And I, I think what's really fascinating is, and we will get to it more over the, the next few weeks as we talk about Jesus and how he came into the world and all of these things.

But when, when Mary is being told. That Jesus is going to be born through her, that that problem is brought to the forefront even as the angel tells Mary about this in Matthew chapter one. Verse number 21, he says, and you shall bring forth a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

From the very outset, there's a recognition that there is a problem that needs to be addressed, and this is the only way it can be done. There's no other solution here. God knows it, and man now knows it. That, that we have a problem and a problem that we cannot solve on our own, and it is going to take intervention on God's part in order for that problem to have a solution.

Yeah. You know, I, you know, I think about, you know, the Bible and how it helps us to understand important issues. Sin certainly is one of those issues that's talked about literally from the very beginning of God's word all the way to the very end of. God's word, what it is the damage that it causes and certainly how to deal with it.

But you, you even have a passion like one John chapter five and verse four that really kind of gives us a kind of a simple definition about what sin is. When John there says in kind of simple terms that sin is lawlessness, it, it is missing the mark, it is going against God's word or going against God's law.

And, and we see that directly, literally at the very beginning of. Of the Bible in Genesis chapters, you know, two and three, especially where it is that God says, you know, you can eat of any tree of the garden, but of this tree you cannot eat. And so God has laid out his law right there to Adam and Eve. And they broke that law.

And, and it is sin, sin has occurred and because of that sin, there were consequences and it became a big problem, not just the physical consequences that, you know, kind of occurred there in Genesis chapter three, but being banished from the garden where they had that very close, intimate relationship with God, walking even with God in the garden.

Mm-hmm. Now, now that. Kind of intimate relationship now has been severed and, and they had other physical problems certainly that came because of that sin, but that spiritual problem of now they're separating being separated from God I is now the greatest problem. And that, and that's certainly what Isaiah makes mention of.

Mm-hmm. Very specifically in Isaiah chapter 59, that our iniquities or our sin, that's the same word, have separated, ourselves from God and he is, he is far from us and on now the very surface of what sin is all about. Yeah. Yeah. That's a big problem. Especially when Paul will make the point to the, to the brethren in Roman, the book of Romans that.

E everybody. Yeah. Has, has done that. Yeah. All have sinned and fall short of the god's glory. Well, and I think you're getting to the heart of, of really the importance of, of talking about this topic. Is it, it is incumbent upon each of us individually to come to terms with the fact that we have this problem individually.

Each of us have this problem, we all have the same problem. Right. You know, it's a, it's been manifest in our lives in different ways, perhaps, but we all have the same problem and, and we have to acknowledge that we have to be humble enough. To acknowledge the fact that I have separated myself from God because of my sin, and if left to my own devices and my own strengths and my own capabilities, that's a hopeless situation that we have to be humble enough to acknowledge that.

If we're not, then as we go throughout the rest of this month and we talk about God's solution to this problem, if we aren't humble enough to admit and acknowledge the fact that we have this problem, then we're scoffing at God's attempts to solve it. We have to be responsible enough with our own actions to admit to one another and to God that I, I need, I need you.

I, I have made a mess of this. And it is a mess that I can't repair on my own. I can't put the pieces of this broken puzzle back together myself. I need help. And that requires humility. And I think, you know, you referenced Isaiah 59 and we see it in other places too. Da David does this on multiple occasions as he writes the Psalms where, where there's just a vulnerability and an openness to the fact that I, I've sinned and I'm, I'm.

Pleading for God's help because I recognize this mess that I've made and I simply need God's intervention in order to put everything back together again. We've gotta have that type of humility. Yeah. Well, it's really interesting. I was thinking about this a little bit earlier. You know, and listen, the sin is a big problem across the board.

It's a big problem across the board and, and certainly at the heart of that. Is that sin separates us from God. But you know, God does a masterful job th throughout the Bible from the beginning to the end to continually showcase to us how damaging and how bad sin is. Mm-hmm. How big of a problem is. Yes, it separates us from God.

But how many times throughout scripture does God make the point that when sin occurs, devastating punishment follows? Yeah. It, it is time after time, after time after time. Jesus, in the New Testament, when he will talk specifically about sin, he, he will talk about that it needs to be dealt with urgently.

Mm-hmm. And, and dealt with drastically. He'll make the point that this, if your eye is causing you to sin. Pluck out your eye. Yeah. If your, your hands or your feet are causing you to sin, chop 'em off. I mean, those, that kind of language, it, it lends itself to understand that sin is this level of serious.

Yeah. It's this level of devastating. And, and God doesn't try to get that point across once or twice. It is hundreds of times. Yeah. If not thousands of times. Yeah. From the book of Genesis of the book of Revelation. Well, that's, that's gotta be where we. The terms we come to on this topic is there is not strong enough language to use to describe the seriousness of this situation.

Sin can never be laughed off, shrugged off, ignored, swept under the rug, none of that. We can't do any of that with it, and when we recognize that we have sinned. And, and we come to the point of, of repenting of that there should be an emotional response on our part to recognize the seriousness of what we have done and the opportunity that God has given us to come back.

It should be almost overwhelming to us. And again, I think we see that from some of the biblical authors, from the Psalms and Isaiah and other places as well. Paul, as you mentioned, when they begin to wrestle with that, that that seriousness comes to the surface and it's obvious. Just how serious this situation is and, and unfortunately, I think sometimes we can take too casual an approach to sin without really recognizing the depths of the, of the situation that we find ourselves in.

I mean, it is. Truly a lost cause in the absence of God with where we have placed ourselves as mankind and, and it should be overwhelming to us when we really sit down to think about it. Yeah, and it's interesting. We get it really from both sides, especially in the New Testament, whether it's from a, a list of specific sins that Paul will make mention of and, and he will make the point at the end of that list if, if you're involved in any of these, you're not gonna inherit the kingdom of God if you're involved in any of these.

Everlasting life will not be you. Or whether it's John in the book of Revelation, such as, as he does in Revelation 21, in verse eight, in a very similar Paul like way, he'll list out various sins and then he'll end that with kind of the other side of that coin and just state it. Yeah. You'll spend eternity in hell because of sin.

Mm-hmm. If it's not dealt with, and so it, it is the strongest of language that is, is. Possible to use it is the amount, the sheer amount and volume of times that God attempts to make the point. It is the simplicity of a passage like Isaiah 59 that just states sin. Equal separation from God, which makes sense to us.

Yeah. You know, John, listen, John says about God, we spent a whole month about the attributes of God, right? The whole month. And John, the writer, not John sitting across from me at the table, but John the writer, he'll say something about God. An attribute of his is that he is light. Yep. And in him, there is no darkness at all.

And, and so that helps us to see, you know, the, the. I mean, really the devastating nation nature of a passage like Isaiah 59, and I think sometimes the conversation around sin is understandably dark and can even be a bit depressing. And I think that's okay. It should be for sure. It is. Yeah. And, and we, we can't hide from that and we shouldn't try to immediately lighten the mood, you know, if we're being honest.

This conversation today is, is going to end. At a little bit of a helpless point because we're gonna save the solution for the following weeks. Right. But that's okay. Yeah. Because when we're talking about sin, that's where the conversation should reside. Now, thanks be to God that there are two more conversations to come after this, but the, the conversation around sin is somewhat of a depressing one, and Paul talks about that in Romans chapter seven, as he kind of processes through his own struggles.

And, and if, if you end that section of Romans chapter seven in verse number 23, right? It would end in a very dark place, but it's verse number 24 where Paul recognizes, thanks be to God, right? That there's a solution here. But when we're having this conversation, don't shy away from. The darkness of sin because understanding that and feeling that then makes the light at the end of the tunnel even that much brighter.

Well, let's go ahead and stop this conversation. I'm ready for that 'cause I'm ready to get to what we have in store next week. But before we do, let's we've alluded to it several times, but let's read together. Isaiah 59 specifically. In verse two, where the writer will make this point about our sin and then our relationship with God.

He says, your iniquities have separated you from your God and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. Thank you for listening this week if you haven't already done so, we'd appreciate it if you would take just a second to subscribe to the podcast on whatever platform you're listening.

And rate and review the show so we can continue to spread the good news of Jesus as widely and effectively as possible. Thanks again for joining us this week, and we'll talk to you again next week.

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