You Must Be Born Again! | Sunday, September 12, 2021

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin... Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight... Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow... Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:1–4, 7, 10)

When the worst of us is exposed, will we cover up like a king bent on murder—or cry out like a man after God's own heart?

A Warning to Others

You've probably seen those motivational office posters—a supposedly inspiring picture with a single word like determination underneath. I've always found them more funny than inspiring. There's also a parody line called Despair, Inc., with their "demotivator" posters. One of my favorites shows a sinking ship with the caption: "Mistakes—it could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others."

Last week Pastor Mark shared an event from the life of King David, some three thousand years ago, that always reminds me of that poster. David's actions in 2 Samuel 11 and 12 are a chain reaction of sinful, bad decisions—and every one of them is an important warning to us if we will take heed.

How Is This Man Called "After God's Own Heart"?

David's sin with Bathsheba and his plan to cover it up cause a kind of cognitive dissonance. You read it and find yourself shaking your head: how on earth is this guy called "a man after God's own heart"? As Pastor Mark mentioned, in those chapters David broke every one of God's Ten Commandments. He coveted his neighbor's wife, committed adultery, took what was not his, made adultery a form of idolatry, lied about it, and then committed murder to cover it up.

Yet in 1 Samuel 13, before David is anointed king, God calls him a man after His own heart. You look at this scoundrel and wonder, really? He's not the kind of role model I'd want for my kids. Admittedly, 1 Samuel 13 is a long time before 2 Samuel 11—but you still think, "How the mighty have fallen."

Sadly, that is the testimony of far too many. Part of me grieves over recent news about an individual many of us, myself included, looked up to as a pattern to follow as a pastor and preacher—news of failures involving some of the very same things David is guilty of, not murder thankfully, but the same kind of sins. As another preacher in our nation has said, "the best of men are men at best." David had great heights—slaying Goliath, writing the Psalms, leading militarily, bringing the ark back—but he also had very low lows.

As an aside, one proof that the Scriptures are God-inspired is that they don't whitewash their heroes. You see Abraham and David for who they really were—imperfect men who fell short of God's glory. If the Bible were merely a history book, 2 Samuel 11–12 probably wouldn't even be in there. But it is, because it's meant to reveal important things: about God's nature and will, and about the reality of who we and our heroes really are. Seeing ourselves truthfully reveals the greatness of God all the more.

Exposed, and a Choice to Make

So why is a scoundrel like David called a man after God's own heart? Part of the answer is found in what he wrote after these events. In 2 Samuel 12 the prophet Nathan tells David a parable about a rich man who steals his poor neighbor's one little lamb. David is filled with anger: "As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die." Then Nathan looks at him and says, "You are the man."

This was about a year after the events. David had been scot-free, looking like the good guy who graciously took in Uriah's widow, lying the whole time. Now God exposes it—teaching us that hidden things come to light; your sin will find you out.

At that moment David had a choice. The conversation with Nathan was likely private, not before the whole court. And David had already shown he had no problem killing someone close to him to cover his tracks—Uriah was one of his own mighty men. But that is not what David did.

Psalm 51: Confession and Cleansing

Instead, we have his response recorded in Psalm 51, considered by many the most beautiful of all the psalms. Its heading sets the context: "A Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba." There David cries out:

Have mercy upon me, O God... blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity... For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me... Create in me a clean heart, O God... Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation... Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God.

That answers the question. When David was exposed he confessed and repented, and he found comfort and joy in the saving grace of a merciful God. He didn't continue the cover-up; he came clean—"I am the man"—and we see him praising God for deliverance and the joy of salvation.

The Metanarrative of Salvation

When we look at David's sin and then his repentance and lament, we see that the story of Scripture and of history is the story of a sinful humanity and a merciful, redeeming God. Theologians call this the metanarrative of the Bible—the big, overarching story—and it unfolds in four acts: creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. At its core, the Bible is a redemptive story.

And that really is the best kind of story. Redemptive stories are our favorites—the dad who rescues his daughter, the prince who saves the princess, the superhero who saves the world, the Avengers who save the universe. There is a reason we love these stories: something in us reverberates with them. We recognize that we are lost and in need of a rescuing redeemer who comes at just the right time. Every day we're confronted by our own failures and by the brokenness of the world, and we deeply desire redemption.

Though one of the core tenets of postmodernism, the ruling philosophy of our day, is the denial and rejection of all metanarratives, we still long for this redemptive story to be true. A lost and broken people in need of redemption and restoration—what is not to love about that story? The question is: is it true?

That is what I addressed in our previous five-week series, First Things First, establishing the basis for why we believe these things are true. I believe there is evidence supporting the claim that the salvation story of the Bible, with Jesus at the center, is true. You can find those messages at lifeinconnection.com.

A New Series: The Disciplines of a Disciple

The overarching story of Scripture is one of salvation—and that's something of a thesis as we begin a new series called The Disciplines of a Disciple. We believe Jesus is the Redeemer who died and rose again; but how does that affect our lives, and how do we move forward once we've trusted in Him?

Saying the overarching story is salvation raises questions: salvation of whom, salvation from what, and salvation unto what ends? We have to start here, because a disciple is an obedient follower of Christ who is growing toward maturity. After nearly eighteen months of COVID chaos, it seems the stress of these events has brought out the carnality and flesh of many of us who follow Jesus, revealing how much we still need to grow. My hope is that this series helps us make real progress toward maturity.

This is essential teaching—for the person interested in Christianity but not yet a Christian, for the new believer learning what it means to walk with Jesus, and even for the person who's been a Christian for decades. It is entirely possible to be a Christian—someone who has trusted in Christ—and yet not be a faithful, obedient disciple.

Make Disciples, Not Just Converts

Jesus's focus was making disciples, not just converts or believers. In the Great Commission, just before His ascension, He said:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19–20)

That is what followers of Jesus and churches—gatherings of disciples—have been doing for twenty centuries, and what we will keep doing until He returns.

But the call to discipleship, that first step of becoming a follower of Jesus, is a call to salvation. There's no better place to see this than the birth of the church in Acts 2. After Peter preaches Christ crucified, buried, and risen, he says:

Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. (Acts 2:36)

The people are "cut to the heart" and ask, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Peter answers, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." He exhorts them, "Be saved from this perverse generation." That day three thousand souls were added. The path of discipleship is the path of following Jesus and receiving His salvation.

Salvation of Whom, From What, Unto What

Jesus's mission in coming was a mission of salvation. Before He was born, an angel told Joseph:

Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. (Matthew 1:20–21)

I stopped just before those last words on purpose, because they answer our questions. Paul writes the same thing to Timothy: "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15). Jesus is presented as the Savior of the world (John 4; 1 John 4). He said of Himself, "I have come to save the world" (John 12:47), and "the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).

So salvation of whom? Sinners—the world. Salvation from what? From sin, iniquity, and transgression. Remember David in Psalm 51—"blot out my transgressions... wash me... deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation." And in Psalm 32 David says:

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. (Psalm 32:1–2)

The blessing of salvation is the blessing of God's forgiving grace and mercy through Christ. There is so much more I'd like to say—What exactly is sin? Am I really a sinner? People say, "I'm not as bad as David." What happens to us as a result of salvation? Why does the Bible speak of being saved, shall be saved, and am saved? What evidence is there that you've been saved? We'll take up those questions next time.

Remembering at the Table

Salvation is a gift of God's grace and a product of His love. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). This gift is something we need to be constantly reminded of and rejoice in, and one of the ways we do that is the sacrament of communion.

On the night He was betrayed, Jesus took bread, broke it, and gave it to His disciples: "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me." In the same manner He took the cup: "This is the cup of the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."

If you're at home this week, I encourage you to set aside time—open your Bible to 1 Corinthians 11 beginning around verse 23, take a little grape juice and a piece of bread, and let the Scriptures lead you through communion. Consider what Jesus did for you: His body broken, His blood shed, so that you could receive salvation and experience the blessedness of forgiven sins and the joy of being completely saved—spirit, soul, and body. If you don't have the elements, you're welcome to stop by the church office during the week.

Next week we'll return to this topic of salvation—what we're saved from, what we're saved unto, and why we begin here in a series on the disciplines of a disciple. Here's a preview: you only become a true disciple and follower of Jesus by first receiving His gift of grace and salvation, which comes only through the work He did on the cross. I hope you'll join us.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I thank You for the privilege and opportunity to gather together, even at a distance, even over technology, to go through the Scriptures. Your word is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, and You have given it to us so that we might know You—what You are like and what You desire—and that we might come into a relationship with You through the work You did on our behalf, Jesus. I pray that we would grow in our knowledge of You and grow closer to You as we pray, study Your word, and fellowship with one another. God, do a work in Your church, wherever we may be. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.