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REVIEW 8 weeks in 60 seconds A new identity: Ambassadors for Christ (all Christians) Because God is sovereign & we’re responsible: Talk with God about our friends before talking with friends about God 7 Principles of Evangelism / “Listening to Hear” / hospitality 5 Thresholds of Faith: Trust, Curiosity, Open to Change, Seeking, Entering Kingdom There’s 1 gospel, but many ways to explain it. An “Irreducibly Simple” Gospel could be described as…

Bad News Good News Invitation The Bad News is the story of how God’s children were seduced (by the evil one) The Good News (Gospel) is the story of the infinite degree to which God went to rescue his children The Invitation is the offer extended by God to those he is calling into his family (through his ambassadors)

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP THE BAD NEWS Why this is often missed or misunderstood: It’s never communicated Words are communicated, but meaning is not People hear what they expect to hear (e.g. Moralism) Undefined terms are filled with the listener’s understanding of the term (for better or worse) E.g. SINFUL = dark chocolate

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP The world as we know it Questions people already asking: Why do people hurt each other? Why can’t we all get a long? Why do we have the sense that this world is not the way things are supposed to be? We all have a longing for an ideal world, for congenial relationships, for profound inner satisfaction. Why? Because we were made for just those things…

The way things once were GOSPEL BOOT CAMP The way things once were Genesis 2 – our first parents Had a home, food, work, purpose, stability & community No suffering, pain, or death But also a choice in the form of a “decision tree” (2:17) A. Look to God as source & sustainer of life for our deepest needs and right living B. Look elsewhere for these things, trusting in ourselves and be our own judge of right & wrong

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP What happened The Temptation – Genesis 3:4-5 – The Serpent To be “like God” knowing good & evil To not have to rely on God, but become our own god To get what we need most in life from apart from God Believing Serpent meant disbelieving God, who said, “For when you eat of it you will surely die” (2:17) They chose to believe the Serpent by disbelieving God, which led to disobeying God’s one command – the 1st sin

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP SIN What is Sin? Legal terms: “Crimes against God” 1 John 3:4 “Sin is lawlessness” Psalm 51:4 “…against you and you only [God] have I sinned” Relational terms: “Spiritual adultery” Ezekiel 16:32 “You adulterous wife!” Thoughts/words/deeds contrary to God’s good design In general: choosing self over God

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP SIN 2 Sources of Sin Heredity When A & E lost their innocence, so did their progeny We inherit their sin nature like we inherit their genes Rom. 5:12 – sin came through one man (Adam), because in Adam “all sinned” Since then don’t have to be taught to sin

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP SIN 2 Sources of Sin Choice Romans 3:23 – we all choose to sin (thought/word/deed) Matthew 22:37-39 – Greatest commandment to love God with all heart, mind, soul & strength. We don’t do that for 5 seconds Second Greatest command: love neighbor as self Know how we want to be treated but don’t treat others that way

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP SIN Common objection: “Adam sinned, not me” Adam was a perfect person in perfect setting, best human ever created, undamaged by other’s sins, and only 1 command to obey He’s the best representative we could have in the best situation we could hope for – we would do no better Result: we all have a sin problem, which leads to another problem…

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP DEATH Genesis 2:17 - consequence of breaking 1st command, “you will surely die” What’s that really mean? Romans 6:23 – “The wages of sin is death” But why? The answers are rooted in the nature of sin and the nature of God

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP DEATH The Nature of Sin: crimes against God Usurping his authority by acting as our own authority An assault on the throne of God so we can occupy that place In political terms: a spiritual coup – “cosmic treason” In other words, sin is by nature a capital offense

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP DEATH The Nature of God: Righteous & Just Righteous Moral perfection Intrinsic to God’s being (repels un-righteousness like oil & water) God’s righteousness bars sinners from his presence Being cut off from the source of life (God) by nature leads to death

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP DEATH The Nature of God: Righteous & Just Just Justice evaluates actions using standards of law as a measurement God must evaluate by the standard of his own law and righteousness Cannot overlook a single infraction & still be just Nahum 1:3 – God “will by no means clear the guilty”

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP DEATH The Nature of God: Righteous & Just God’s righteousness + our un-righteousness = separation from the source of life  death God’s justice + our guilt = punishment  death Because we all have a sin problem, we all have a death problem But what all does that entail? 3 kinds of death…

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP DEATH Spiritual Death Turning away from the ultimate source of life to find our life elsewhere has consequences Sin cut the “spiritual umbilical cord” between us and God Eph. 2:1 “You were dead in your transgressions and sins” (in context, a spiritual reality) Spiritually dead people sin by nature (Romans 8:6-8; Ephesians 4:17-19) Sin  spiritual death (particular sins a symptom)  …

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP DEATH Physical Death Process of degeneration began with first sin in Garden, which ultimately leads to physical death Not part of original creation, but a consequence of sin (Romans 5:12) 10 out of 10 people sin … and die (Rom 3:23, 6:23) Sin  spiritual death  physical death  …

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP DEATH Eternal Death Eternal Life (John 17:3) = “Knowing God” (intimacy, relationship, closeness) Eternal Death (2 Thessalonians 1:9) = “everlasting destruction and [being] shut out from the presence of the Lord” Jesus will say, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41)

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP DEATH As God said in Genesis 2:17, our 1st parents died… Spiritually, because connection with God was severed, They started the degenerative process that leads to physical death And on the path ultimately leading to eternal death Because of heredity and choice, we’re in the same boat This is because God is both righteous (can’t be in the presence of sin) and just (must punish sin)

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP WORKS It’s the nature of man to justify himself and to rationalize his actions so he can convince himself he’s a good person Proverbs 16:2 “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit.” Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can understand it?” Why? Pride

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP WORKS Good works don’t work. Why? “A man is not justified by works of the law” (Galatians 2:16) Our “good” works aren’t that good: “all our righteous deeds are filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) God’s standard: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16) Urban Chestnut, marriage and the holiness of God

GOSPEL BOOT CAMP BAD NEWS Summary All have “SIN” (heredity) and have sinned (choice), and thus have a sin problem Because God is Righteous and Just, we also have a DEATH problem (Spiritual, Physical and Eternal) Thus are greatest enemies are SIN and DEATH. Despite what our pride tells us, our good WORKS don’t work Apart from this understanding of the Bad News, the Good News will have little value or be misunderstood