Bad Apple: Part 2: Sin’s Design

Bad Apple: Sin’s Design  Introduction Influenza. Marburg. Rabies. Ebola. Just hearing their names strikes fear into our hearts as we think about one of man’s oldest enemies: the virus. Scientist estimate there are 10^31 viruses in the world. That’s 10 with 31 zeros behind it—if you were able to take all of the viruses and line them end to end, they would extend 200 lightyears into space. Interesting facts about the virus: Not considered living, but not quite dead. Reproduce

Bad Apple: Sin’s Design 
Introduction

Influenza. Marburg. Rabies. Ebola.

Just hearing their names strikes fear into our hearts as we think about one of man’s oldest enemies: the virus.
Scientist estimate there are 10^31 viruses in the world.
That’s 10 with 31 zeros behind it—if you were able to take all of the viruses and line them end to end, they would extend 200 lightyears into space.

Interesting facts about the virus:

Not considered living, but not quite dead.
Reproduce only by infecting a host cell that it essentially reprograms to make a virus making factory.
Most terrifying fact: viruses learn and evolve.

The more I learned about viruses the more it reminded me of sin: an ancient infection, not living but not quite dead, it need a host to survive, it evolves over time.

Except, when we think about the eternal ramifications for sin, we realize that it is far more deadly than any virus—its an infection that goes to the very soul of man and influences every facet of his being.
But, just as with viruses, we can learn more about them and how to defeat them, only with a greater knowledge of its design/nature.

This morning continue our series Bad Apple; last weak we discovered definition, now we want to see its design.
Text 1 John 2:15-17 

Lesson 

“Love the world…or things in the world.”

What is “the world.”
Context:

Sins of the world (2:2)
Don’t know God or his people (3:1)
Hates God’s people (3:13).
Ruled by the Evil One (5:19)

Not speaking of the physical creation, but humanity.

Two aspects: the world itself, things in the world.

Things in the world—forces external to us that tempt us to sin.
The world—we are a part of this created order.

Reality: while we often like to view ourselves as victims, we are often vandals.
Mark. 7:20-23; James 1:14.
Sin is an inward desire that external forces manipulate (notice, desire).

Focus in on word desire.

Doesn’t mean that the desire itself is wrong; legitimate but twisted.
We see this in the beginning (Gen. 3:6).

Three legitimate desires: good for food (pleasure), delight to the eyes (beauty), and desired to make one wise (truth).
Legitimate desires which God created to be fulfilled and satisfied.

Cruel act to give a desire for which their is no solution.
But he did—food, water, sex, etc.
These desires are meant to be experienced within the context of relationship with Him.

Here is where these desires go off track: to separate them from their source.

When legitimate desires are given an illegitimate/unlawful outlet sin is produced (fornication, gluttony, greed).
What happens is that sin, apart from God, enslaves; desire becomes a demon when separated from Divine. 

It promised sovereignty, but brought them shame.
Promised prominence, but brought poverty.
Promised sovereignty, but brought shame.

This is sin’s nature: to promise what it can not give; to keep what never belonged to it; to go farther than we every agreed to.

Reorient our thinking about pleasure, desire, and satisfaction.

Often think pleasure and desire are things found outside of God; we have to outside of the boundaries to enjoy—God is trying to hold you back.
What we see is two things:

That the only legitimate pleasure is within context of relationship with God.
All desire ultimately points back to God:

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”—C.S. Lewis
Pleasure, beauty, and truth and our desire for them point us back to the ultimate source of their satisfaction: God.

What this means is that sin is always a rejection of the sufficiency of God: his pleasure, his power, and his person.

Ultimately sin is a choice of appetite: what pleasure do we chose?

Transient or eternal? 1 John 2:17
Sin is eating Twinkies before Thanksgiving dinner.
Choosing God is eating Christmas dinner, but having every bite taste as good as the first (Psa. 16:11).

Yet, there is another word used in the text that helps us understand the design of sin: love.

“Don’t love the world…love of the Father.”
From scriptures perspective of scripture, sin is essentially answering the question: who do you really love? Self or God?

When we put it that way seems absurd: love sin? Love myself?
This shows how deeply ingrained sin becomes in us in humans.

Patterns of habit; practice that we become defensive of.

Eph. 2:1-3

Yet, what is affirmed in scripture is that we must make a choice of affection: to love God and His purposes or love sin and its purpose (James 4:4)

Every time we sin we are answering what/who do we really love? Who is our master?

Application

What this means is that a certain amount of honesty is required in our battle with sin.

Must admit that sin is something we desire and love; an inward expression of the self.
At the same time, we almost must learn that, these are often legitimate desires, yet twisted in some way by sin.
Also seeing God as the ultimate end and answer of our greatest desires—for pleasure, beauty, and truth—and that, if we follow Him the fulfillment of those desires will be true, lasting, and unending.

Conclusion

One more scary fact about viruses: externally you can only treat the symptoms while you wait for your immune system to fight it off.
Good description of what we, as humans, try to do with sin: treat the symptoms without ever really addressing the problem.
The only way that the infection of sin can be addressed is through an inward renewal (Titus 3:5); conversion and transformation are essentially God changing your flavor palette—changing what you delight in.