Is Christianity Out of Date?
A Sermon on Genesis 3:22-24
Scripture
22¶ And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23Therefore the LORD God sent him …
Sermon Description
Genesis 3:22-24 helps understand that this is an uncertain and restless age, and the anxiety of science pervades. In this sermon on Genesis 3:22–24 titled “Is Christianity Out of Date?” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones teaches that this was not the way God made the world. God made humanity perfect and put them in a perfect environment. God had fellowship and communion with people. How did the world become what it is today? People ceased to realize they had lost communion with God; they failed to see their own finiteness and dependence on God. Desire usurped everything else; people were no longer guided by truth and principle, but by appearance and lust. Fear and guilt came. Look at history and see war and conflict; original paradise was lost. No one escape the judgment of God. All have tried to get back to paradise, but it is always futile as they depend on philosophy, politics, nature, or reason. People were indeed meant for something better; even the nonbeliever understands that. But, all are self-centered and the devil is the god of this world. No one can have paradise on human terms or without God. Look to Christ and find spiritual paradise today.
Sermon Breakdown
- The world was never meant to be like this. There was a time when the world was perfect.
- God created a perfect world and put perfect man in a perfect environment (paradise).
- Paradise was a place of harmony, peace, joy, and man had fellowship with God.
- Man disobeyed God and paradise was lost. Man was driven out of paradise.
- The world has been in a fallen state ever since the fall of man in paradise.
- The story of civilization has been man's futile efforts to get back to paradise.
- Philosophy, politics, poetry, art, culture have failed to get us back to paradise.
- World religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam offer no hope and are hopeless.
- Leading thinkers see no hope for the world and foresee destruction.
- Man cannot get back to paradise on his own terms or without God.
- Man cannot get back to paradise as long as he is a sinner or under the devil's power.
- The cherubim (God's holiness) and the flaming sword (God's law/justice) guard paradise.
- Only Jesus Christ can satisfy the demands of the cherubim and flaming sword.
- Jesus Christ obeyed the law, took our punishment, and entered paradise.
- Faith in Christ allows us to enter spiritual paradise now and future paradise.
- God will create a new heaven and new earth; we will dwell with God in paradise.
Itinerant Preaching
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.