George Herbert Wells, known as H.G. Wells in all of history, was an English writer popular
at the end of the 19th century through 20th century.
He was prolific in many genres.
He wrote more than 50 novels and dozens of short stories.
He was someone who started life sympathetic towards God and religion, but ended life self-confessing
as an atheist.
He started life as someone who was hopeful, particularly hopeful that humanity would eventually
solve all of its problems, but ended life despondent and in fact, really near the end
of his life, declaring that he was close to suicide.
We see this transition for him in his short history of the world.
He wrote,
What an optimistic view of humanity in 1937.
Nine years later, after the awful carnage of World War II and just before he died, he
wrote this in his final work,
The cold-blooded massacres of the defenceless, the return of deliberate and organised torture,
mental torment and fear to a world from which such things had seemed well nigh banished,
has come near to breaking my spirit altogether.
It's hard to avoid the conclusion that there is something fundamentally wrong with our world.
If you have not yet come to that conclusion, there's nothing I can do for you, I'm afraid.
Every worldview and philosophy from Christianity through to secular atheism has to come to terms with that issue.
What is fundamentally wrong with our world?
H.G. Wells goes from a person of hope to hopelessness.
Christianity, on the other hand, goes from hopelessness to hope.
These days, what we tend to do in struggling with the difficulty of our world is we have a tendency to look outside of ourselves
and we tend to blame the world's issues on institutions, on governments, on other people, on particular races, on lack of education, religion itself.
According to the Christian faith, it's been mentioned multiple times, we've just sung about it multiple times,
the problem is sin.
It's not outside of ourselves, it's something that's inside of us.
It's a concept that is often viewed as ludicrous today and even offensive.
And although Christianity declares that sin is the big problem, it also reveals the solution,
which in turn gives us a new hope as we navigate this life with all its ups and downs.
So there's three things I want to get to this morning from those Bible passages that Aidan read out to us.
What is this problem?
What's the new solution to it?
And what is this new hope?
So first of all, the old problem.
The first three verses of Ephesians 1, which were just read out to us, are a comprehensive panoramic picture of the human condition outside of God.
We are dead in transgressions and sins.
That's pretty devastating for the human condition.
Death in Ephesians 1 is not a figure of speech.
These people that are referred to here are dead.
He's not describing here some decadent, depraved segment of society.
He's describing all of humanity from top to bottom.
What is sin?
This thing that is leading to death of all of humanity.
It's a whole lot more than just breaking some moral code, which is the common view nowadays.
It's just breaking a moral code.
The Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard saw it as a despairing refusal to find our deepest identity in our relationship and service to God.
The God who made us.
Another way of putting that is it is creating an identity for ourselves apart from our creator.
Another way of putting that, in the words of 5th century philosopher and theologian, St. Augustine,
sin is not just doing bad things, it's making good things into ultimate things.
Whatever those things are that we get our identity from, they are not God.
And that will mean, according to Augustine, will ultimately enslave us, because those things can never be God for us.
They can never, ever satisfy the deepest longing of the heart.
And so look back there in Ephesians chapter 1.
Notice the words followed.
It's used in verses 2 and verse 3.
That word followed there, which is used in verse 2 and 3,
comes from a word that means mastered by.
To be controlled by.
The reason the writer of the Ephesians here describes these people as dead in transgression and sin
is that they are helpless.
They are controlled.
They're as helpless as a dead body.
Completely controlled.
Totally mastered.
Unable to move or to act on their own.
And the key idea is, verse 3,
gratifying the cravings of our flesh
and following its desires and thoughts.
The term our flesh in verse 3
doesn't mean, you know, this stuff.
Human flesh and bones.
It's referring to self-centered human nature.
The things that drive us,
master us, control us.
According to the Bible,
according to the Christian faith,
the reason we are slaves to sin
is because the human heart is profoundly self-centered.
Profoundly self-centered.
The 16th century church reformer and theologian,
Martin Luther,
put the condition of the human heart quite succinctly.
He described it as curved in on itself.
Curved in on itself.
Absorbed in itself.
Looking into itself.
Self-centered.
That is what it means to be human apart from God.
Luther said that our nature is so deeply curved in on itself.
He described it as wickedly,
curvedly and viciously seeks to use all things,
even God himself,
for our own sake.
Our hearts and our minds
are constantly analyzing
every person,
every object,
every interaction,
every event,
every setting.
Constantly analyzing
what is in this for me.
And when we don't get what we want,
we get angry
and we blame it on someone else.
Everything is being analyzed
by how it benefits my happiness,
my glory,
my reputation,
my comfort,
my control of things.
How does it help me?
How does it fit with my interests?
How does this make me happy?
And everyone else
who does not provide the filling up
of my sense of self,
I have to tear them down.
It's obvious to most of us
that self-centeredness
can make you a pretty cruel person.
You know,
look at history
and all the tyrants of the world.
More often though,
self-centeredness
makes you a moral person.
More often than not,
self-centeredness
will make you into a good person.
If everything is about my need
to feel good about myself,
then there is no better way
for me to feel good about myself
than to be a good and moral person.
Self-centeredness drives most people
into being good,
trying hard to serve the needy,
being a good child to parents
and even being a good parent
to my children.
A good friend
who assists
whenever I am asked.
And what lies beneath
is a self-centeredness
where ultimately
I'm doing it for myself.
I'm helping for my sake.
I want my kids
to be compliant
for my sake.
We do good things
to be noticed by people
to receive the applause of others.
It's so we can feel like
we've got a meaningful life
and feel like a good person.
Now I suspect most of you
would remember
one of the greatest Hollywood classics
of the last century,
the movie Rocky,
starring Sylvester Stallone.
He's an underrated actor
who should have won
an Academy Award by now.
His love interest
in the movie
asked him,
Rocky,
why are you fighting
the world champion?
It was a spectacle fight
that he was not meant to win.
Why are you fighting
the world champion?
And his reply
was profound
for Sylvester Stallone.
I just want to go the distance
and then I'll know
I'm not a bum.
Deep down inside,
if we ever allow ourselves
to go there
and I would invite you
to go there
this Good Friday,
we all feel like bums.
we're all trying
to do something
to convince the world
and ourselves
that we are good
and that we are worthy.
Yeah, sure,
self-centeredness
can make you into a tyrant,
but self-centeredness
can make you a really good
and moral person.
But self-centeredness
and beware of this
of those who are gathering online
and here to now,
self-centeredness
can also make you
a very religious person.
We can devote ourselves
to obeying God
and turning up to church
and reading the Bible
and praying and giving,
doing the sorts of things
that we're doing now,
all good and right things to do.
But how do I know
when I'm doing it all for me?
One of the answers to that is
you just do the bare minimum
to make you feel good
about yourself.
And when things aren't going well
in your life,
you start pulling away
from those good things.
And it's because
we're doing these things
to use God.
We do good things
and expect God
to come through for us
in the ways that we want him to.
And so when things aren't going well,
he doesn't appear
to be coming through
in the way we want him to.
Well, then we start pulling back.
And that means it's all about us.
Just trying to paint a picture here
that self-centeredness clings to
every single thing in our lives.
Verse 3 uses the word craving
to describe it.
It's a word in the original language
means an inordinate desire.
It means that our egos
are so, so addictive.
It means that we are living
for our own glory.
It means that we will never be enough.
No amount of praise
will ever be enough.
Our hearts and our minds
are in overdrive,
running evaluations consistently
about no amount of glory,
no amount of acclaim,
no amount of recognition,
no amount of comfort,
no amount of good experiences,
no amount of material possessions
will ever, ever be enough.
No amount of cocaine
is ever enough for an addict.
It's addictive.
Our egos are so addictive,
but they're never satisfied.
And it makes us miserable.
I think it's profound
that wealthy countries
in the West
have a lower, lower,
lower satisfaction in life
than the poor people of Bangladesh.
That is profound.
C.S. Lewis, the Oxford professor,
wrote that there is nothing more
enslaving and miserable
than self-centeredness.
He wrote that it is a hell begun in us
that will eventually take us to hell.
That is what he's saying.
There is a desire to live for ourselves
will ultimately be handed over to us forever.
The framework that every human being begins with
without Jesus is that
you, God, give your life for me.
You, people, give your life for me
because it's ultimately about me.
The Bible's view of sin
is that every part of the human condition
is tainted.
The consequence at the end of verse 3
is so shocking to our modern context
that assumes that we can just do
whatever we like
without any consequences.
We are not only dead in our sin
but we're also condemned.
Like the rest,
we were by nature deserving of wrath.
The concept of wrath
is so offensive in our day and age
and yet the Bible's concept of God's anger
is not like your anger
where you are just ticked off.
It's not like my anger
where I just get ticked off with someone.
God's anger is not a bad temper.
It is not spite.
It is not malice.
It is not animosity.
It is not revenge.
It's not arbitrary.
It is not governed by mood.
It's not governed by whim.
It is God's personal,
righteous,
constant hostility to evil,
to injustice,
and sin.
It is his settled refusal
to compromise with it
and his resolution to condemn it.
And it's this wrath
that we need rescuing from.
And that is what makes this good day,
Good Friday,
a great day.
The amazing news
of Good Friday
and Christianity
is simple
but is profound
and that we have a substitute
who has stood in for us.
It's a substitute
who has rescued.
God has done something amazing
in Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 3, verse 18,
which Aidan read out to us,
puts it so succinctly,
for Christ also suffered
once for sins,
the righteous for the unrighteous
to bring you to God.
Ephesians 2 unpacks
the implications for us.
Because of his great love for us,
talking about Jesus on the cross,
God who is rich in mercy,
made us alive with Christ
even when we're dead
in transgressions.
It is by grace
you've been saved
and God raised us up
with Christ
and seated us with him
in the heavenly realms
in Christ Jesus.
Verse 6 says
that God has raised us up
with Christ
and seated us
in the heavenly realms.
Now this was first of all
written into the first century
Middle Eastern context.
It was the Roman world
and in the Roman world
the conquering warrior
who returned from
a great victory
was given the greatest place
of honour
upon their return
to the capital.
And the greatest place
of honour
on return to the capital
was they were seated
at the right hand
of the Caesar
for all people to see.
This man is to be greatly honoured.
Jesus died,
was raised again
and given the place
of greatest honour.
The seat
at the throat
right hand of God
in the heavenly realms
it is the most honourable seat
in the universe.
And verse 6 tells us
verse 6 is a past tense.
It's saying that the Christian
is already seated there
with Jesus.
Legally
seated there with Jesus.
When we trust
in Jesus Christ
all our sins
all our self-centeredness
is so hidden
so covered
so forgiven
that we are treated
as if we have done
everything that Jesus
has done.
That is astonishing.
Through Jesus
and his achievement
on the cross
God delights
and honours
and accepts
and rejoices
over us
in the way
that he outdoes
his own son.
how can that be
when we have
been so
self-centered
when we've
treated him
so badly
verse 7
is the key
he might show
the incomparable
riches
of his grace
expressed in his
kindness
to us
in Christ Jesus.
kindness
the word
kindness
is a lot
more than
the we would
generally say
he's a kind
person
it's not
it's a lot
it actually means
costly action
the first three
verses tells us
the essence of sin
is putting ourselves
where only God
should be
the centre
of our lives
on the throne
of our lives
in control
of our lives
sin
is us
putting ourselves
where only God
deserves to be
salvation
is God
putting himself
where only
we deserve
to be
dying
because of
our sin
and that is
what Good Friday
is all about
Jesus Christ
took the
just punishment
from God
that we deserve
by putting
ourselves
in the place
where only God
belongs
at the centre
of our lives
I'll say it again
one person
has put it
really succinctly
the essence
of sin
is us
substituting
ourselves
for God
while the
essence
of salvation
is God
substituting
himself
for us
that
is what
Good Friday
is all about
Jesus
saved us
by doing
the absolute
opposite
of us
he saved
us
through the
most
radically
unselfish
thing
anyone
has
ever
done
though
equal
with God
the Father
he emptied
himself
of his
glory
he came
down
and took
the place
of a
servant
he traded
his life
for ours
and the
contrast
in these
verses
in Ephesians
2
is startling
the very next
words after
telling us
in verse 3
that we are
deserving of
God's wrath
we read
but because
of his
great love
for us
God
who is
rich
in mercy
made us
alive
with Christ
even when
we were
dead
in transgressions
it is by
grace
you have
been saved
the God
who is
rich
in mercy
has intervened
our condition
was hopeless
but God
intervened
in grace
from hell
to heaven
bondage
to freedom
gloom
to light
despair
to hope
wrath
to glory
death
to life
that is
the greatness
of Good
Friday
the glory
of Good
Friday
his
selflessness
has overcome
our selfishness
and when we
see him
doing that
his mercy
his love
his grace
then it
finally helps
us to see
that our
sense of
self
our egos
are finally
filled up
by him
we have
all the
acclaim
in Jesus
all the
honour
all the
approval
all the
acceptance
we could
ever want
the Christian
faith declares
paradoxically
that we are
more sinful
and flawed
than we ever
realise
and more
loved and
accepted
than we
could possibly
imagine
or dream
at exactly
the same
time
and so
therefore
Good
Friday
is about
this new
hope
a whole
new life
and this
is what
this life
brings us
into
verse 8
for it
is by
grace
you've
been
saved
through
faith
and this
is not
from
yourselves
this is
a gift
from God
not by
work
so that
no one
can boast
for we
are God's
handiwork
created in
Christ Jesus
to do good
works which
God prepared
in advance
for us
to do
his salvation
is a gift
the new
life
is a gift
hope
is a gift
and once
we get
this gift
we start
seeing everything
in life
as a gift
the life
that God
wants us
to have
is a life
where we
see
everything
as a gift
a Christian
therefore
is a person
who's at rest
they're
characterised
by what
verse 9
says
no longer
boasting
the Christian
life brings
an end
to placing
confidence
in our
fickle
personal
hope
everything
every single
one is
looking around
for something
to boast
in
to have a
confidence
in
to have a
trust
in
to rest
in
to face
life
something
that will
help them
face
the complexities
of life
for H.G.
Wells
it was
the hope
of humanity
and science
and other
things
to eventually
educate humanity
in such a way
that we will
improve our lives
for future generations
what is it that you
put your hope in
some of us
look to careers
some to
our salary
some to
moral decency
some to
religious performance
a life
looking for
things
to boast
in
is a
life
of
scrambling
constantly
for identity
scrambling
for self
worth
and it
is
exhausting
the new
life that God
offers us
is a gift
and because
it is a gift
from God
we are set
free
liberated
from trying
to find
a boast
a confidence
from within
ourselves
to pin
our hopes
on
verse 10
is a wonderful
vision of this
new life
we are God's
handiwork
created in
Christ Jesus
to do good
works
which God
prepared in
advance for us
to do
God's
handiwork
his artwork
his
masterpiece
no longer
dead
but remade
and set free
to do good
works
without the
constant
calculation
of whether
I've done
enough
to get
the
applause
that I
so
desperately
desire
God's
greatest
masterpiece
is not
the Swiss
Alps
or the
vastness
of the
depths
of the
ocean
God's
greatest
masterpiece
is humanity
saved
from
condemnation
made
alive
set free
from
slavery
set free
to serve
and love
with free
abandon
and the
message of
good
Friday
is that
whatever
you've
done
whatever
you've
become
Jesus
is your
substitute
so that
you might
have new
life and a
new hope
in him
and so I
want to
encourage you
this day
to make
this good
Friday the
day that
you come
to Jesus
and experience
his grace
his mercy
his love
make this
the day you
go from
hell to
heaven
from bondage
to freedom
from gloom
to light
from despair
to hope
from wrath
to glory
from death
to life
the essence
of salvation
is God
substituting
himself
for us
this is the
glory of
good Friday
and it is the
hope of
humanity
in reality
you