When I was young, I lay awake every single night praying for forgiveness.
Now, I wasn’t a particularly wicked child. In fact, I was kind of a strait-laced rule follower. One of the worst sins I remember committing was taking something I found in my neighbor’s sandbox home without permission.
Nevertheless, I begged God for forgiveness every night of any sin I could think of from the day. I even asked him to forgive me for the sins I couldn’t remember just in case.
I did all this because I didn’t want to die in my sleep and find myself standing before the judgement seat of God unrepentant and full of corruption.
Now, as I got older, I developed a better understanding of how God’s grace works (and that I didn’t need to live in fear like that), but I still carried some baggage with me in the way I understood sin.
Put simply, I thought of myself - even as a young adult - as a miserable, worthless sinner. In other words, I saw my core identity as broken and evil. I felt shame for who I was.
As I began to wrestle with sins and addictions far darker than “grand theft sandbox,” I found myself starting to give in to them pretty easily, because “that’s just who I am…”
But what if I was looking at my sin entirely the wrong way? What if my negative self-identity was actually making my wickedness worse? And what if my guilt and shame was standing in the way of me becoming who I was born to be?
Well, that is what we’re going to talk about today.
SERIES RECAP
This is the final week of our series, “Refocus,” where we are attempting to take a fresh look at God’s moral vision for humanity. Specifically, the Christian practice of
Moral Integrity
Disciples of Jesus reject the corruption of sin and reflect Christ to the world as image bearers of God.
But if you’ve been here for this series, you know that we are approaching the topic of sin in a bit of a different way than you might expect.
Rather than focusing on heavy-handed legalism or lists of rules we’re supposed to follow, we are talking about identity.
Specifically, the fact that humanity was created in what the Bible calls The image of God. We were designed from the start to reflect God’s character and abundance to the world. We’re his representatives.
But as we’ve seen, humans have different plans. We consistently “do what is right in our own eyes.” Instead of spreading God’s life and justice and generosity, we curve inwards and spread self-focused injustice and violence and lust and greed.
In other words, we sin. And that sin disfigures the image of God in us. It pulls us away from who we were meant to be.
But according to the story of the Bible, the image of God in us is not lost, it’s simply disfigured. And because of the sacrifice of Jesus (who was the perfect image of God) - because he died on our behalf, God’s Spirit can begin to restore that image in us.
Fundamental postures of moral integrity:
1) Surrender to the will of God
2) Self-giving love
If we put our trust in Jesus - if we take the humble postures of surrender to the will of God and of self-giving love toward others, we can once more become the people we were created to be.
Our true identity: people who reflect God’s image into the world. Who live out what we call “biblical moral principles” that you find all throughout Scripture. Principles like:
Biblical Moral Principles
Compassion
Justice
Self-Control
Truth
Forgiveness
Reverence for Life
Covenant Faithfulness
Generosity
This is what it looks like to be the image of God. And thanks to Jesus, this is possible once again. As the Apostle Paul says,
Romans 12:2
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
The image of God can shine in us once more. Our sin no longer defines our destiny, and we can live with moral integrity…
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So, we’ve covered a lot of ground. And I hope it’s been helpful for you.
But in all of our discussions, so far there is one aspect of sin and redemption that we haven’t talked about: if Jesus set us free from the power of sin, then why do Christ followers still fall short of these moral ideals?
If God is transforming us into new people, then what do we do when sin continues to call the shots in our lives? What do we do when we fail?
SACRIFICE
To answer that question, it’s helpful to go back to the experience of our spiritual ancestors and consider how sin and forgiveness worked before Jesus came on the scene.
The ancient Israelites - God’s chosen people - had a mission: to bring healing and blessing to a broken world. This is what God told Abraham, the father of the people of Israel:
Genesis 12:3
All the families on earth will be blessed through you.
This was God’s plan. When the Israelites lived into their image-bearing nature - when they demonstrated to the world the things we just talked about: compassion, justice, generosity, a reverence for life, etc. they would show all the families on earth who were trapped in self-focused sin that there is another way to live.
The way of trust in God’s desires instead of our own.
To guide them in this mission, the Israelites had what is called “The Torah” - the first five books of our Bibles. By the way, Torah in Hebrew just means “teaching or instruction.”
The Torah included 613 specific commands from God, scattered throughout a whole bunch of different stories and narratives which often showed the consequences of breaking these commands.
For example, in Exodus the Israelites are told to never make an idol to worship. In other words, they are not supposed to put their trust in anything on the earth. As God’s image, they are meant to trust only in him.
But what do they do immediately after they receive this command? They make a golden calf and worship it, which causes all kinds of problems.
The point is, the Torah is not some comprehensive moral code. It’s not just a pile of legalistic rules. It’s story. It’s narrative. It’s wisdom.
Wisdom for how the people of Israel can live set apart from the rest of the world so they can be who they were created to be: the image of God.
But, here’s what’s important for today’s conversation: baked into the wisdom of the Torah is an acknowledgement that the people are going to fall short. They’re going to fail, and sin is going to disfigure the image of God in them.
When it does, God provides a way for them to be made right again: the sacrificial system.
We don’t have time to get into it in detail, but put simply, when an Israelite sinned, or when the entire nation messed up, the Torah taught them that they could sacrifice a spotless animal in their place.
This was an act of surrender to the will of God. “I recognize my sin, but I know that’s not who you call me to be. I see in the death of this innocent creature the consequences of my rebellion.”
The animal would die, its body would be burned, and the smoke would ascend up into heaven. The people could once more be in God’s presence, and they could get back to work as God’s images in the world.
Most ancient cultures had animal sacrifice as a part of their religion, but here’s what I don’t want you to miss. The sacrificial system in Israel was different.
They were not doing this to twist God’s arm or earn his favor like the Babylonians or Canaanites. They were doing this because God had already set them apart. He had already made them special by choosing them.
They made sacrifices for sin so they could return to who they already were: the image of God on the earth with a mission of healing it in his name. Of blessing the world. That was their true identity.
OVERWHELMING SIN
At least, that’s how it was supposed to work.
But as we see in the story, God’s chosen people consistently rejected this identity. They consistently rejected God’s moral vision and let sin warp and disfigure God’s image in their midst.
Sin took root in Israel and in many ways they became even more wicked than the nations around them.
They rebelled against God’s desires. They were called to be just and forgiving and self-controlled, but instead they did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. Violence, injustice, abuse, rape, greed, hatred…
The image of God became so disfigured in his chosen people that that it became unrecognizable.
And the sacrificial system? This opportunity for restoration given by the grace of God? It turned into a “get out of jail free card.”
Rather than an occasional act of surrender when an Israelite fell short, they began to use it as a license to sin. “As long as I sacrifice, I can kind of do what I want.”
They missed the point of the Torah. And God spoke through the prophets to tell them as much.
Hosea 6:6
I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.
The people of Israel were drowning in overwhelming sin, and it seemed like the mission of God to bless the world had failed.
CHRIST’S SACRIFICE
But have I mentioned that our God is a God of grace? He loves humanity. Even when his image in us is disfigured beyond recognition.
Which is why he sent his son, Jesus - the perfect image of God - to, first of all, remind us of what we’re supposed to look like. Compassion, forgiveness, self-giving love… A moral vision of a world made right.
But he also came to make us right with God again, permanently. To forever unlock the possibility for us to become the image of God we were created to be.
Jesus willingly went to the cross to become our ultimate sacrifice. He died and then rose again to break the power of sin over us once and for all.
Thanks to Jesus, we don’t have to slaughter animal after animal to make ourselves right with God. Because he is
John 1:29
The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
Things fundamentally changed when Jesus walked out of that grave. When the ultimate sacrifice was made.
At that moment, the shackles of sin fell off our wrists. The gates of death were ripped off their hinges. The chains of our selfish desire were shattered.
From that point until today, if we surrender our lives to Christ, we can be restored to the people God created us to be: the image of God. Our true identity.
CALLED TO MORE
So that brings us back to our main question for today: What do we do, then, when we fail? Shouldn’t we be perfect now that sin has lost its power?
Well, to answer those questions, I want us to hear some wisdom from the Apostle John, one of Jesus’ closest disciples.
1 John 1:8-2:2
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
There are a few key points here I don’t want us to miss. Yes,
1) We still sin.
Until we reach New Creation, we will always live in a world of sin. A world in which we have a choice to be who God calls us to be - his image - or to decide for ourselves what’s best.
And there are times when we let sin call the shots in our lives. Where it becomes more than just a single bad decision. Where it becomes an addiction. Where we put the chains back on.
Verse 8. We all mess up. We’re fooling ourselves if we don’t acknowledge that. BUT. Verse 9…
2) We can be forgiven.
It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. God is faithful to cleanse you. If you confess your sins to him, you can be made right. Just like that. It doesn’t take animal sacrifice anymore.
Because of Christ’s extreme act of self-giving love on the cross, you live in the grace of God, permanently. And that grace is assured because,
3) We have an advocate.
When God looks at you, he sees a new creation. He sees his image in all its glory. Why? Because Jesus himself is pleading your case before the Father.
“Look at him. Look at her. That’s the one I love.”
This is what I was missing during all those years begging God for forgiveness every night so I wouldn’t get blasted.
Yes, it was right for me to confess when I had actually sinned, but I did not need to live in fear and shame. Because when God looked at me, he didn’t see a sinful wretch. He saw a beloved child. One he created on purpose in his image.
The same thing is true for you. Jesus Christ, the ultimate sacrifice, the perfect image of God, is advocating for you right now.
Which brings us to the final takeaway.
4) We are called to more.
In verse 1, John says, now, “I am writing this to you so that you will not sin.” In other words, don’t take God’s grace for granted.
Remember, the Israelites used the sacrificial system as a “get out of jail free card” so they could sin willy-nilly. Let’s not do the same thing with the sacrifice of Jesus.
You have been set free by the grace of God. You’re not in the dungeon anymore. The chains are broken. The door is open.
It’s time to use that freedom to grow into the person you were created to be. To let the Spirit recover God’s image in you, so you can reflect God’s character to the world.
Thanks to Jesus, that is who you already are in God’s eyes. It’s time for you to start living up to the call.
BECOME WHO YOU ARE
And this, to me, is the key to this entire quest for moral integrity that we’ve been talking about all month.
When you live in shame, and your core identity is that of a sinful wretch, then what does your moral journey look like?
It looks like sin management. Trying not to sin too much and feeling really bad when you do.
And even when you manage to have stretches where you’re doing really good. What happens when you mess up? When you “backslide?”
Well, with that mindset, when you fail you’re right back to square one, aren’t you? You’re back in the dungeon.
Ironically enough, this approach often makes sinful addictions worse. Because what’s the point of even trying anymore? You’re just a broken sinner.
But what if there was another option? What if your focus was not on avoiding all the bad stuff of who you used to be before Christ, but instead was focused on becoming who you already are in God’s eyes now?
What if your core identity was that of the image of God? Someone who is compassionate. And self-controlled. And just. And generous. And all the other moral principles.
Remember, in Christ you are a new creation. All of that is possible now. What if you lived that way?
If becoming that person is your focus, and then you slip up - you sin again - you don’t slide back to square 1. Because that’s not who you are! The chains have already fallen off. The dungeon is in the past.
No. If you do sin, you confess, you repent, and you just continue the journey of transformation that Christ made possible and you allow God’s Spirit to do the slow and deliberate work of restoring God’s image in you.
1 John 1:9
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
If that is true, then why would you let your old, disfigured identity continue to define you? Thanks to Jesus you don’t live in shame anymore. You live in the grace of God. Your job now is simply to,
Become who you already are in Christ.
A new creation. A child of the Creator. The image of God.
RESPONSE PRAYER
Three options:
1) Surrender your life to Christ.
2) Confess and repent.
3) Accept your true identity.