Sin, My Deepest Problem, the World's Deepest Problem

Intro: You cannot understand God's love for you until you understand your sin. This lecture was one of the most convicting messages I've ever received, and it's truly helped me get one step closer to loving God by understanding how much He loves me. A book to read: Not the Way It's Supposed to Be by Cornelius Plantiga. Here we are looking at The Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32 as discussed previously in The Love of the Father and Older Brother Syndrome.

Everyone knows this world isn't the way it's supposed to be. Believer or non-believer, there is something deeply rooted in all of us that realize there is something wrong with this world. And it is on this basis that we can connect best with non-believers as Christians. Understand sin rightly, do not use sin as a way to point fingers and place yourself above others.

What is sin?
Sin isn't breaking the rules, it's exalting something/someone above God.
Yes, there are rules (The Ten Commandments) that, if broken, would be considered sinful, but consider what it means to break those rules. For example: "You shall not commit adultery." By committing adultery you are exalting one, two, or three (or more) things above God: (1) that person who you wanted to show your love to, and/or (2) to prove that you have the skills/attractiveness to get someone in bed with you, and/or (3) that your desires are more important than God's desires. So, in essence, sin is just exalting something/someone above God. We all do this! To what extent do we do this in our everyday lives? For example, choosing to spend 30 minutes on Facebook picture surfing instead of 30 minutes in prayer.

Notes on The Parable of the Prodigal Son
Many view the younger brother as the "worse" brother. He was greedy, openly sought after his fathers wealth and completely squandered it. He was a disgusting sinner. Upon awakening to his sin, was he experiencing self-pity or being sorry, or both? We don't truly know, but contrast this to the older brother as discussed below.

Is the older brother (OB) any better than the younger brother (YB)? No. He was equally greedy, wanting what the father would give him and therefore got angry when the father accepted the younger son back into the family. If we were to sum up the father's estate to a value of $100, then rightfully each brother would have gotten $50. Upon the younger brother taking and leaving with $50, the older brother had no part in the story -- we can imagine he was content knowing that he'd be the sole heir to the $50 that was and will be rightfully his, assuming his little brother would not come back. But when the little brother comes back and the father welcomes him with a fattened calf and restores him as a son, why do you think the older brother was so angry? He wanted the entire $50 that would have been in his name, but now that the little brother is back, the left over $50 now must be split in two for equal inheritance for the two sons. The older brother knew all along what would have belonged to him and therefore stayed beside his father and was "good." And when his riches were reduced, see how angry he became?

Both brothers rejected the father's authority -- YB by being bad, OB by being good.
Which is more dangerous? Rejecting the father's authority by being good. This is because it's harder for good people to recognize their need for Jesus! And therefore, we must be aware of our own subtle rejection of God's righteousness when replacing it with our own righteousness. This is sin.

Older Brother Symptoms:

• We get angry when life doesn't go the way we think it should v.28a.
• Story (not Biblical): Jesus tells His disciples to each pick up a rock before they depart on their journey. Peter picks up a little pebble in order to make his journey easier. Upon reaching the foot of a mountain, Jesus turns each disciples' rock into bread. Peter, having picked up a pebble, had little to eat. Before leaving to climb the mountain, Jesus tells them to pick up a rock once again and Peter picks up the biggest rock he could find. When reaching the top of the mountain, Jesus had them discard the rocks and Peter was angry. Who was Peter carrying the rock for, himself or Jesus?
• Obedience feels like a duty and is fear-driven, it lacks love and joy v.19.
• Suffer from a sense of superiority in terms of morality v.30
• Feel insecure and relish when justice has been served

Key Takeaways

• Do not let our goodness keep us from God.
• Doing good things may cause us to think God owes us something -- but remember, He's already given us more than we deserve. We do good things for Him, not so we can earn something from Him.
• Pride in our goodness creates barriers between us and God.

Therefore, sin boldly -- if you're going to sin. Do not sin in subtleties, for this is where the devil gets the strongest foothold in our lives. And watch out for good, enjoyable things in our lives subtly become ultimate things in our lives -- this is also sin as God should be the only ultimate thing in our lives! Relevant topic: our significant others.

Additional Notes on Sin

• Sin is trying to find your identity apart from Him (i.e. when good things become ultimate things)
• Wanting to be a good ____, to do things well is a good desire -- that is, until it controls you and cause you to compromise.
• Watch for desiring: approval, acceptance, financial security, accomplishments, love
• Sin is blinding. Idolatry keeps you from truth
• Jesus is #1 in your life symptoms:
• You don't take yourself so seriously because your accomplishments aren't the focus -- it is what He does through you.
• Identity apart from God is unstable
• It's NEVER stable, even if it seems so. If you take away the cornerstone of your identity, what are you? Jesus' love never changes. He should be your cornerstone.

Notes on the Father

• The father was the seeker of his son! The focus is never what we do for God, but what He did for us.
• Follow God's visions, don't be afraid to fail because it was founded on Him anyways. He will be the reason for success, and His will will be the cause for failure.
• "I can do all things in Jesus Christ" means we can go through anything (sufferings, failures, etc), not really accomplish everything
• Our Father responds vertically by grace and truth, and horizontally by exposing our sins, refining us and showing us how foolish we are.
• The older brother, who thinks he's better than the younger brother (analogous to Pharisees to tax collectors), should have been the one to seek out his younger brother and bring him to Christ. But Jesus comes as the true older brother to save the younger brother!

So what happens to the older brother? We can only guess.