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You have had technology problems before right? What is the number one thing said by tech support? “Have you tried turning it off and back on again?”
A reboot of the system often corrects communication problems that arise between the System and the Hardware. The all important operating system must be working correctly or else we are going to have severe tech problems.
When it comes to being human, we too have an operating system. We have a moral code and consciousness. We have a system inside us that was created by God. We have a heart, a mind, a soul… and it is only a matter of time before we experience our own system error.
In the Garden of Eden mankind experienced a system error called sin. Like a broken piece of technology our world started to not work properly. Things like death, divorce, hatred, murder, greed, stealing, and lying started to pop up like an adware computer virus… These are things that were never in our original manufacturer settings, but now sin is within us all.
It is far more than a few system errors. Our system is down and seemingly beyond repair.
“Have you tried turning it off and back on again?” Are you ready to try something new? Do you want a reboot?
Reboot 1 – System Down from Redemption Church on Vimeo.
Reboot 1 – System Down
Sermon notes by Pastor Chris Fluitt
Redemption Church Plano Tx
Reboot Bumper
Welcome
R1 1Reboot
Raise your hand if you have had technology problems.
Everyone in the room raised their hands. I am sure you watching or listening online could raise your hand as well.
Technology has become a huge part of our life. Our refrigerators have a wifi internet connection now, with web cams built inside so you can look inside your fridge from the grocery store. Our phones have become super computers with every kind of app built into them. You can stream just about anything these days… The international space station has a streaming webcam! (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/iss-hdev-payload) How did they get the wires to reach?
As we grow more reliant on technology the more stress comes to us when our tech is not working.
One of the things I google the most is “tech support.” “How do you fix… What is the support number for…?”
When things go wrong with our tech systems what is the first thing we are told to do? This suggestion has become a running joke in help desk circles… “Have you tried turning it off and back on again?”
Mistakes happen in the area where the operating system and the hardware meet and often a reboot will correct the communication of your tech. It is only a matter of time before an error occurs and the restarting of the system often takes care of the errors.
When it comes to us, we too have operating systems. We have a moral code and consciousness. We have a system inside us that was created by God. We have a heart, a mind, a soul… and it is only a matter of time before we experience a system error.
We have errors when we do not live according to our operating system.
Way back in the garden of Eden there was a System Error
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned–(NIV)
When sin entered in to the heart, mind, and soul it brought death. Sin is like like the blue screen of death… or the red ring of death for xbox users.. Things were not working like they were supposed to work. In fact it looked like they would never work again.
System Error
Mankind was not supposed to die. This was NOT how the system was intended to operate. But now through sin all die.
Mankind was not supposed to hurt or kill each other. These are not in the original manufacturers settings.
No rape. No stealing. No greed. No evil. No hate. No racism or sexism. This was not a part of our operating system in the beginning.
When we look around at the world we know that something is not right. Just like you know when your computer is getting slow, your phone starts to hang at startup, or you notice strange new programs running on your computer that you did not install… We look at this world and say “This is not right.”
Families are not operating like they should.
Marriages are completely breaking down.
Greed is rampant. Hatred is accepted. Pride runs wild in us. Stealing and lying are the norm.
We look to drugs… both legal and illegal to manage the problems of life. We look to anything to distract us from the problem.
We need to admit the system is down.
System Down
When it comes to our government..
When it comes to our culture..
When it comes to our homes..
When it comes to our hearts.. our minds.. our souls..
The system is down. Nothing is working like it was intended.
Let’s get specific about some downed systems…
Our finances. Chances are good that you are one of the 258 million Americans in debt. Chances are good that you struggle with your financial budget, credit cards, and savings plans.
Our health. 2 out of 3 American adults are obese. 74% of men are considered overweight. We are running rampant with health problems. We take drugs for everything and are we sure the drugs aren’t causing more problems than they fix?
Our relationships. Divorce is above 50%. Friendships seem fake in the day and age of social media. A true friend seems hard to find in the year 2016. Many people are lonely and depressed.. Ever wondered why someone might have committed suicide? You can be assured loneliness and depression are root causes for their suicide.
Our spiritual lives. We have churches everywhere, we have online and television channels that broadcast Christian programs 24 hours a day, we have more bibles, more translations of the bible, more study materials, more books written on spirituality… But the spirituality of the average American is collapsing in upon itself. Are we growing in our spiritual life or is it falling apart like everything else in this broken world?
Our hopes, dreams, goals.. These important things that we feel we are supposed to do in the world… are we even coming close to doing them?
The system error that happened within Adam has caused a complete system downage…
We must admit that there is a system error. We must admit that the system is down.
“Have you tried turning it off and back on again?”
The worst thing you can do is continue down this path like everything is ok. We need to make a change.
Change
This is not pleasant to hear.. it is not pleasant to say… We need to make a change.
There are things we need to shut down in our life.
There are things we need to remove from our life.
There are things that we need to start over in our life.
If we continue without making a change it is not going to be good. It will not be the life we want.
This is often hard for us to see in ourselves. We often see it easier in others. So let’s look at it in someone else first.
Meth addict
I figure the need to change is easy to see in a Meth Addict. You probably have seen pictures demonstrating the sharp decline of meth users. You may have seen this very picture.
The picture starts off with a 28 year old woman. She is attractive, but the next year you at the age of 29 you see noticeable change. The years continue and so do the mugshots until she looks unrecognizable and finally 10 years later is dead.
Did this woman need to change? How terribly judgmental of you to say that she needs to change… NO NOT AT ALL. It is clear that the trajectory of her life was going nowhere good.
The people who knew this woman understood her outcome long before she reached the end. Can you see the trajectory and understand that we need to make a change?
I want you to think about…
Your future without corrective change
What will your life look like if you don’t change?
Your health. Your relationships. Your career. Your spiritual life. Your finances.
What will your life look without corrective change?
You have probably heard “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”
It is insane to think we can stay the same but have a different life.
This is kinda dark to think about, but please hear me out.
Your current trajectory and state of your life already reveals what you are going to be like when you die… unless you experience a corrective change.
Are you opposed to a corrective change today? Why not make the change today? Don’t wait til January 1st… start today.
I want to tell you about the best change you can make as I close..
System Restore
The best way to correct your tech system errors is to do a system restore. Here is what a system restore is…
A system restore allows users to restore their computers to a previous state without losing personal data. In other words there is a time before the problems appear… before the errors arrive, before the virus, before the critical errors… And this moment is saved so that you can jump your computer back to this state before the problems came.
Does this make sense? In some cases the restore point is called a system image because it takes a snapshot of your disk so that it can put itself in that condition once again.
So how do we take advantage of a restore point? Can we go back to the point before we got that credit card in college or said that thing we shouldn’t have said to our spouse? There is no such file that will allow you to time travel… and if you were able to time travel you might have changed your actions and you may not have said those things, but the motivation that caused you to do those things would still be there… When it comes to sin you and I have no system restore point before we were sinners.. The system error was already handed down to us… Remember that sin entered through Adam…
Psalms 51:5 says that we are shaped and formed in iniquity and sin. You and I cannot provide a restore point.
So where can we find a file that would take us back to the state where have no such sin errors?
Birth. This is not going to do it… We have to look for something earlier.
The Church. Oh this is good we could restore back to the moment the Church of Jesus Christ was born in Acts 2. If we are a part of the church then we ought to be good right? NO! Sin was present in the hearts of men. The Church can’t restore you.
The Law. What if we went back to the Law of God being written on the 10 commandments? I mean this is the law of God, if that doesn’t make us Holy then what will? NO! As Moses was receiving the 10 commandments the rest of Israel was at the base of the mountain breaking the law of God. The law of God is not a restore point, the Bible tells us that the Law convicts and condemns sinners… it does not restore!
The Flood. The world was surely restored when God washed all the sinners away with the flood. NO! The flood did not wash the hearts of Noah and his family. This is not a restore point, but a reminder that judgement is coming to us who live in sin.
Adam. Ok I got it! We will go back to the first man. God created Adam to be good, so we will reboot from Adam and then we will be perfect and righteous. NO! Remember what Romans 5:12 says…
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned–(NIV)
Adam is not a restore point. Adam is where sin and death enter.
To try to restore your life from a corrupted state will only continue to corrupt you.
Adam is the first man created… so if we can’t restore our life from Him then what can we do?
Wait what is this file…?
The Last Adam
1 Corinthians 15:45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.(NIV)
1 Corinthians 15:47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.(NIV)
Scripture declares Jesus to be the last Adam. Jesus Christ, the last Adam is the restore point that is before Adam and the fall of sin. Even though He is called the Last Adam… Jesus is before Adam.
Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.(NIV)
Jesus is not just the image of a perfect Adam before he sinned… Jesus is the image of invisible God. He is firstborn before Adam. Jesus is the restore point.
2 Corinthians 5:20 …We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.(NIV)
2 Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.(NIV)
Through Jesus we are no longer sinners… We become the righteousness of God.
You can try to change your life. I hope you do. BUT WHAT WE REALLY NEED is defeat sin and only one has ever done that.
We need Jesus. Whatever you are struggling with today – Jesus is who you need.
He is here right now ready to restore you.
You don’t have to understand everything and have it all figured out for Him to restore you… you just need faith.
What is your trajectory today? I believe Jesus can change it.
redemption-Church.com
Redemption Church is a nondenominational Church in Plano Texas. Our mission is to declare the good news and see others become followers of Jesus Christ. Our vision is to be a 1st Century Church connecting to a 21st Century world. To bring the community, the power, passion & dedication of that 1st century church to the fast paced, technologically advanced, and complex world of the 21st century.
We currently meet on Sunday afternoons at 3pm at the Corner of Parker Rd & Alma in Plano Tx. We would love to greet you in person.
Our lead pastor is Chris Fluitt.