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Part 7 - Mark 14 Our Problem with Sin1
This fall we’re talking about this thing, JUSTIFICATION = how you, a sinner, can stand before God and God say to you, “You are righteous. You are perfect. And you deserve to live forever in heaven with me.
Today we’re talking about the problem of our sin and about what our faith is. Let’s read the story of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane at the end of the gospels.
In the Gospel of Mark it says Jesus here was, “sore amazed” In the Gospel of Luke it say she was in “agony = filled with horror.ˮ Imagine youʼre so sad and so stressed you can barely catch your breath. Thatʼs what Jesus is experiencing here in the garden.
Why is Jesus so sad and so stressed? Because heʼs about to go to the cross.
What does Jesus pray to his Father in heaven?
Jesus tells us three times in his prayer to God, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me….ˮ
Does this sound like a good cup or bad cup? Two cups in the Bible. There is the cup that you want. The cup of blessing that overflows with all of Godʼs eternal blessings of heaven.
Thereʼs another cup. Isa 51 - Wake yourself, wake yourself, standup, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath.ˮ Ezek 23 - “… a cup of horror and desolation.ˮ This is the cup Jesus is sad about and filling him with horror = the cup of Godʼs wrath against sin.
Why does Jesus have to drink it?
If Jesus doesn’t drink this cup of wrath for our sins then we have to drink this cup ourselves and suffer God’s wrath.
What is sin?
Sin is not being what God tells us to be. Sin is not doing what God tells us to do. Sin is doing what God tells us not to do. Sin is me wanting to be god instead of me wanting God to be God.
What does sin do to us? Ruins us.
Ruins our relationship with God.
Ruins our relationship with other people.
What does every sin deserve?
The wrath and curse of God. Even one sin deserves Godʼs judgment and condemnation.
And look at Jesusʼ friends. He asked them to stay awake at his greatest moment of need and theyʼre dozing off!! Do they deserve Jesusʼ love and sacrifice? Do any of us deserve it?
NO!!! This cup of poison and wrath is for our sins and Jesus drinks it for us so we can get the cup of Godʼs blessing and love AND WE TOTALLY DONʼT DESERVE IT. No one does.
Thatʼs how faithful Jesus is for you. Thatʼs how much Jesus loves you.
What does Jesus ultimately pray? Jesus ultimately prays that God would curse him so his enemies will be saved.
Does God accept you into heaven because youʼre so faithful? OR, does God accept you into heaven because Jesus was faithful completely FOR you?
God accepts you because Jesus was so faithful for you - all the way to the cross. You just have to believe that.
What is something we just learned that we can: 1) praise God for and 2) ask God for?
1 Marty Machowski, The Gospel Story Bible, Story 113, Jesus Is Arrested, 228.