Depravity and Divine Revelation
2/9/03
The things of God are so great!
His promises, the fact of the indwelling Holy Spirit, God being with us
every moment, the promise of eternity, the reality of heaven--and so much
more--these are so great, they are beyond human understanding or comprehension!
The human mind cannot take in these great
realities of God and Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!
Without divine revelation and divine
understanding we would never be able to comprehend the wonders of God!
Man is extremely blinded to the matters of God!
Read Lk. 1:26-55 -
The birth of Jesus foretold to Mary.
Mat. 1:18-25 - The birth of Jesus.
Lk. 2:6-40 - Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth.
Now, let’s move ahead 12 years.
Lk. 2:41 Every year his
parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.
42 When he was twelve years
old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom.
43 After the Feast was over,
while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in
Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.
44 Thinking he was in their
company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among
their relatives and friends.
45 When they did not find
him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.
46 After three days they
found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them
and asking them questions.
47 Everyone who heard him
was amazed at his understanding and his answers.
48 When his parents saw him,
they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us
like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
49 “Why were you searching
for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
50 But they did not
understand what he was saying to them.
51 Then he went down to
Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all
these things in her heart.
52 And Jesus grew in wisdom
and stature, and in favor with God and men.
Human
depravity is far worse than what we realize!
2 Cor. 4:3 And even if our
gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
4 The god of this age
has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light
of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Man’s rejection of God’s
truth is absurd, it‘s ludicrous! How
could man be so stupid?
Ps. 139:14 I praise you
because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
The idea of evolution is
preposterous!
When
we think of the human body, so complex, so remarkable, how could this ever
happen without a divine creator?
Rom. 1:18 The wrath of God
is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men
who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
19 since what may be known
about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
20 For since the creation of
the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have
been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are
without excuse.
Let’s
go back to Jesus’ family. If there ever
was a miracle child--Jesus indeed was!
What impact did the birth of Jesus have on His brothers and sisters? I’m speaking of the story of His birth being retold to his other brothers and sisters, since of course He was the first born.
Jo. 7:1 After this, Jesus
went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews
there were waiting to take his life.
2 But when the Jewish Feast
of Tabernacles was near,
3 Jesus’ brothers said to
him, “You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see
the miracles you do.
4 No one who wants to become
a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself
to the world.”
5 For even his own brothers
did not believe in him.
Compare these scriptures.
First read Mat. 12:46-50...
Mat.
12:46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood
outside, wanting to speak to him.
47
Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to
speak to you.”
48
He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?”
49
Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers.
50
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and
mother.”
Matthew leaves out something very important
in letting us know how His family was feeling about Him--even His mother.
Now read Mk. 3:31-35...
Mk. 3:31 Then Jesus’ mother
and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to
call him.
32 A crowd was sitting
around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking
for you.”
33 “Who are my mother and my
brothers?” he asked.
34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!
35 Whoever does God’s will
is my brother and sister and mother.”
But Mark gives us some information that
Matthew didn’t...
Mk. 3:20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.
21 When his family heard
about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of
his mind.”
Remember when John baptized Jesus.
John tried to stop Him and said, I need for you to baptized me. Why did he say that? Did John know that Jesus was the
Christ? No! But he did know what kind of life Jesus lived.
Jo. 1:29 The next day John
saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away
the sin of the world!
30 This is the one I meant
when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before
me.’
31 I myself did not
know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might
be revealed to Israel.”
32 Then John gave this
testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.
33 I would not have
known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told
me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who
will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
34 I have seen and I
testify that this is the Son of God.”
So John witnessed this tremendous event. Mat. 3:16 “At that moment heaven was
opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on
him. 17And a voice from heaven
said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” He baptized Jesus, he saw this
happen, he testified that He was indeed the Christ. No doubt, no question!
And yet...
Mat.
11:1 After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from
there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.
2
When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples
3
to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone
else?”
The best of minds are still
deprived!
Mat. 16:13 When Jesus came
to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say
the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he
asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You
are the Christ,£ the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed
are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but
by my Father in heaven.
Mat. 11:20 Then Jesus began
to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed,
because they did not repent.
21 “Woe to you, Korazin! Woe
to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been
performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and
ashes.
22 But I tell you, it will
be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
23 And you, Capernaum, will
you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the
miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have
remained to this day.
24 But I tell you that it
will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
25 At that time Jesus said,
“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these
things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little
children.
26 Yes, Father, for this was
your good pleasure.
27 “All things have been
committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no
one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal
him.
Remember
how Jesus numerous times spoke plainly to His disciples about His death and
resurrection? Yet, they did not
comprehend at all what Jesus was saying.
Lk. 18:31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
32 He will be handed over to
the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill
him.
33 On the third day he will
rise again.”
34 The disciples did not
understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know
what he was talking about.
By
human effort alone no one will ever see God, or understand Him, or accept His
truth!
1 Cor. 2:14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
You
can’t be passive about the things of God!
Cry out for His understanding.
Cry out for God to open your eyes and heart!
Pr.
2:1 My son, if you accept my words
and
store up my commands within you,
2
turning your ear to wisdom
and
applying your heart to understanding,
3
and if you call out for insight
and
cry aloud for understanding,
4
and if you look for it as for silver
and
search for it as for hidden treasure,
5
then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and
find the knowledge of God.
Jer. 33:2 “This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD
who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: 3‘Call
to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable
things you do not know.’
1 Cor. 2:12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
13 This is what we speak,
not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit,
expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
Rom. 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual£ act of worship.
2 Do not conform any longer
to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his
good, pleasing and perfect will.
Unless we continually walk in the Spirit and
continue to renew our minds by God’s Word, the depravity of our minds will
start taking over and doubt will rise up within us.