One Long Search for God
The sermon highlights the universal struggle of humanity to connect with God and live spiritually, and the solution to this problem is found in the cross of Christ.
Selwyn Hughes delves into the problem of evil, emphasizing that evil thoughts originate from within the hearts of individuals. He highlights the importance of being in correspondence with God, as being out of touch with Him leads to being out of touch with oneself and others. Hughes acknowledges the human longing for fellowship with God, but recognizes the barrier of impurity and guilt that separates us from Him. He underscores Christianity's belief that fellowship with God can only be achieved through the cross, contrasting it with other religions' perspectives.
Text
"For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts ..." (v. 21)
For reading & meditation:
Mark 7:8-23
We need to be reminded that there is in life a dark and terrible problem - the problem of evil. Herbert Spencer in Natural Law in the Spiritual World defines physical life as "inward correspondence with outward environment." When we take in food, air and water, we live. When we don't, we die. There must be a response to our environment. But there is also a spiritual environment to which we must respond, and when we are in correspondence with God we live spiritually. The facts of life fairly faced proclaim with heart-breaking obviousness that human beings are out of touch with their spiritual environment. To be out of touch with God means, inevitably, that we will be out of touch with ourselves and with others. But the history of humanity is, as one historian put it, "one long search for God." We stand beside our altars, we breathe our prayers, we make our vows, we repeat our ceremonies, we crave with inexpressible yearnings of the inmost heart, we long for fellowship with God. Yet something dark, dreadful, and sinister stands between us and God. We realize God is pure, and because we are conscious of our impurity we hardly dare ask for fellowship with Him. We are separated and guilty. The object of all religions is to bring those who long for fellowship with God into correspondence with Him. But how is that achieved? Christianity says it can be done only through the cross. Other religions point to other ways, and claim their way is as valid as the Christian way. But God says the cross is the only way.
O God my Father, what way could You have dealt with my sins except through the cross? My sins needed something more than disinfecting; they needed incinerating. In the flames of Calvary that is what happened. Now I am free. And how! Amen.
Sermon Outline
- The Problem of Evil
- The Obstacle to Fellowship with God
- The Solution to the Problem of Evil
- The cross as the only way
- The power of the cross to incinerate sin
- Freedom through the cross
Key Quotes
“My sins needed something more than disinfecting; they needed incinerating.” — Selwyn Hughes
“In the flames of Calvary that is what happened. Now I am free. And how! Amen.” — Selwyn Hughes
Application Points
- Recognize the problem of evil in your life and the need to seek fellowship with God.
- Understand that human impurity and consciousness of guilt separate us from God, but the cross of Christ can overcome these obstacles.
- Experience freedom from guilt and shame through the power of the cross.