9.3- The radical power of human beings

God gives human beings a radical power.  The power of choice.

“She took from its fruit and ate.

She gave also to her husband with her and he ate”

These two first humans had the freedom of choice.

From then on all humans have used this freedom of choice to rebel against God’s best for them.

We are all sinners by our choices. 

We then cover it up by denial.

How do we get over the denial.

God’s grace and mercy.

God sends people who are filled with grace and mercy and they get across to us that we are loved by God and by them in spite of our foolish choices.

God pursues His children.  In spite of their sinful rebellion against Him and their cover up and denial, God wanted a relationship of love with them.

Genesis

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from ^[bq]any tree of the garden’?” ² The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; ³ but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” ⁴ The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! ⁵ For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves ^[br]loin coverings.

Psalm 53.

53 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,”
They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;
There is no one who does good.
² God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there is anyone who ^[c]understands,
Who seeks after God.
³ Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.

⁴ Have the workers of wickedness no knowledge,
Who eat up My people as though they ate bread
And have not called upon God?
⁵ There they were in great ^[d]fear where no ^[e]fear had been;
For God scattered the bones of ^[f]him who encamped against you;
You put them to shame, because God had rejected them.
⁶ Oh, that the salvation of Israel ^[g]would come out of Zion!
When God ^[h]restores His captive people,
^[i]Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Romans 3.

3 Then what ^[a]advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? ² Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. ³ What then? If some ^[b]did not believe, their ^[c]unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? ⁴ May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written,

“That You may be justified in Your words,
And prevail when You ^[d]are judged.”

⁵ But if our unrighteousness ^[e]demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.) ⁶ May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world? ⁷ But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? ⁸ And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? ^[f]Their condemnation is just.

⁹ What then? ^[g]Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; ¹⁰ as it is written,

“There is none righteous, not even one;
¹¹ There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
¹² All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.”
¹³ “Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
¹⁴ “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
¹⁵ “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
¹⁶ Destruction and misery are in their paths,
¹⁷ And the path of peace they have not known.”
¹⁸ “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are ^[h]under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; ²⁰ because by the works ^[i]of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for ^[j]through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

Luke 18.

⁹ And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: ¹⁰ “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³ But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be ^[f]merciful to me, the sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
¹⁵ And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. ¹⁶ But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷ Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”