"Doctrine Matters: The Human
Condition"
November 11, 2007
Pastor Phil Stevenson
Date: Nov. 11, 2007
Sermon Title: Doctrine Matters: The Human Condition
Text: Mark 5:1-20
WEFC
Introduction:
In the 1980’s there was a movie, I think it was British made called The Elephant Man. It was a depiction of the extraordinary true story with which every English person was familiar at the end of the [19th century]. It was in 1884 that Frederick Treves, a young surgeon and lecturer in anatomy at the London Hospital, found the Elephant Man in a rented shop opposite the hospital entrance. When Treves first saw his hunched-up form, he thought him ‘the embodiment of loneliness’, He later described him as ‘the most disgusting specimen of humanity’ he had ever seen. He had an ‘enormous misshapen head’, with a huge bony mass projecting from his brow, and another from his upper jaw which gave him an elephantine appearance. Spongy, evil-smelling skin, like fungus or brown cauliflower, hung in bags from his back, chest, the back of his dead and his right arm. His legs were deformed, his feet bulbous, and he had hip disease. Hs face was expressionless, and his speech spluttering, almost unintelligible. His left arm and hand, however, were as shapely and delicate as a young woman’s.
To add to his suffering, he was treated like an animal, hawked from fair to fair, and exhibited to the curious for two pence a look. Treves wrote: ‘was shunned like a leper, housed like a wild beast, and got his only view of the world from a peephole in a showman’s cart’. He received less kindness than a dog, and, terrified of staring eyes, he would creep into a dark corner to hide.” (Issues Facing Christians Today, John Stott, p.20)
If you were to encounter such a person, how would you respond? Would gawk and stare. Would you run and hide. How would you treat him? How do you treat people like this? Now you may never face someone as physically deformed as this but it doesn’t have to be a physical limitation that can keep us from treating people as made in the image of God. Here again is where doctrine matters so much.
How does the world treat people like this? Life based on a worldview that is void of biblical doctrine will look at people in an extremely different way. For example, from a worldview steeped in evolution and secular humanism with its social application of survival of the fittest, a person like this is simply an inconvenience and hindrance to social advancement. Therefore, taken to its logical conclusion a life like this is disposable. It can be aborted or euthanized. Life based on a worldview of pragmatic economics and materialistic consumerism will look at a person like this as valuable only if it can bring some kind of profit. What can it do for me and my portfolio? And when the novelty wears off and the profit is lost this life is now an inconvenience, a drain on my resources of finances, time, emotions, etc. The person is discarded or traded or divorced for someone or something better.
This is not the way the Bible views the human condition. And again I appreciate our denomination’s attempt to affirm a biblical doctrine of the human condition in a world that has discarded so much of biblical doctrine.
Once again I have provided for you the EFCA’s proposed revision of our Statement of Faith on The Human Condition on the back of your sermon notes bulletin insert. Here’s what it says: “We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled, and renewed.” (Use this statement and the references as a study guide to understand the biblical basis for this doctrine.)
Now a statement like that runs completely contrary to much of the world’s philosophy today. Here’s evidence of that from John Stott’s book, Issues Facing Christians Today. He presses this contrast between a Christian worldview of human nature and the secular humanist’s worldview well. “Secular humanists, who are sincere…from the humanists’ premise.” Which is exactly where much of our culture is headed today.
I am here to affirm our doctrinal statement as a denomination. Human beings are not a product of evolutionary chance. We are the product of Divine Creation. And every individual whether CEO or psychopath, whether genius or senile, whether hardened criminal or exemplary citizen, whether fat and happy in America or starving and desperate in Zambia, every individual bears the image of God and deserves to be treated with compassion and love, honor and respect. But it’s not as nearly important that I affirm this as it is that the Bible affirms this. The real question before us as we examine our statement of doctrine is this: Does our denomination’s statement about the human condition reflect Biblical doctrine and the ministry of Jesus? I believe the answer is yes and I’d like to look at one particular example where this is especially demonstrated from the book of Mark. It’s chapter 5:1-20 and it’s the account of Jesus’ encounter with the Garasene demoniac.
Here’s what is so critical for us to see this morning: Every individual, created in the image of God, alienated and under Godbecause ’s wrath of sin, and only through Jesus Christ can be rescued, reconciled and renewed is what the Bible teaches and the truth of is what Jesus models. Understanding this doctrine really matters and will really effect the way you treat others throughout your life. Follow along with me as we see this exemplified in Mark 5 by Jesus.
Read Mark 5:1-20.
The first thing I see in this passage that affirms our doctrinal statement regarding the human condition is
1. Jesus’ Treatment of the man demonstrates His Commitment to every individual as created in the image of God.
In Jesus’ day this Garasene demoniac was the Elephant Man. Not only would he be the embodiment of loneliness but he was for the Jew the epitome of un-cleanliness. You have to understand the significance of this account in the gospels. For the first readers who were mainly Jews, Jesus’ venture into the Decapolis was a venture into the world of the unclean. The Decapolis is an unclean Gentile territory, where the people were employed in an unclean occupation, raising unclean animals, pigs. Yet Jesus is committed to going to them. Not only this but the first person he meets is a deranged Gentile, possessed by an unclean spirit who dwells among unclean tombs. To the Jew this whole trip and the encounter that follows would have been shockingly deplorable. And it should shock us as well. Often our sanitized Christianity prevents us from becoming more like Jesus the way we ought.
Jesus is purposefully crossing the Sea of Galilee, entering the unclean world of the Gentiles to declare His commitment to every individual as created in the image of God. It matters not how untouchable a person is according to societal definitions, every person matters to God because every person has been created to display the image of God. This doctrine matters. Does it dictate the way we treat every person we meet? Or are we much more likely to sit next to, talk with, befriend only those who fit our categories of acceptable or associable.
I’m very pleased with the way those who attend Thrive are spending their afternoon today. They’re going to Careage this afternoon to sit with the elderly in that home and sing hymns with them. Any of you, I’m sure would be welcome to join them. But the whole intent of such a trip is not to satisfy guilty consciences but to pursue becoming more like Jesus and treat every individual as created in the image of God.
Out of all creation, there is only one creature that God has chosen to be made in His image. The human condition is that we represent God in this created order and among all that has been created we are the ones who most resemble Him. For that reason every person deserves love and compassion, respect and honor. There are only a few places in Scripture that man is described in this way. Both in Genesis 9:6 and in James 3:9 the appeal is made to treat others with respect because of this unique quality that every person is made in the image of God. In Gen. 9:6 Noah is commanded to establish the death penalty in response to murder. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for (here’s the reason for this punishment) God made man in his own image.” To attack another person is to attack the part of creation that most resembles God and is therefore an attack on God. The same logic is used in James 3. Speaking about the use of the tongue James writes, “With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.” To bless God and curse people is incongruent. It doesn’t make sense for in a very real way every person represents and resembles God in this world that He has created and deserves to be treated with blessings and not curses.
This is what Jesus models in His encounter with this unclean man. Even as a man possessed by an unclean spirit, Jesus does not run from him in avoidance and fear nor does he demean him and seek to oppress him. Jesus sees past the condition and sees the potential that this man represents. He sees that beneath the tattered clothes, the matted hair, the bloodied and scarred skin is a man who resembles Him. In his present condition the image of God is perverted but with loving confrontation Jesus is able to treat the root problem so that the image of God might be rightly restored in this man’s life. Aren’t you glad that Jesus was willing to leave the comfort of His heavenly position and come into our broken, oppressive, sin-saturated world to embrace even us. Without this intervention the human condition remains a tragedy.
Which leads me to my second point:
2. The Condition of the man demonstrates the Reality that every individual is alienated from God and under His wrath.
Had not Jesus intervened in this man’s life his life would have continued in this state of alienation and destruction. He would have been left to live in the tombs and probably to fulfill what Satan intended by sending his demons to possess him, death and destruction. Now we are not told how this man became possessed by this legion of demons. It’s probably good because if we had then we would probably pass judgment on him saying he deserved what he got. That seems to be too often our tendency. Rather than admitting that we are all alienated and all under the wrath of God and all in some form or fashion just as bad a person as this demon possessed man was, we tend to pass judgment and consider ourselves more highly than we ought.
The truth is that the Bible is pretty clear about this part of our human condition.
Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Our sin both because of union with Adam and because of our own choices has caused us to fall short of displaying the true image of God’s glory.
Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Paul makes it sound like each one of us to some degree or another are pretty much like the Gadarene demoniac. Now we might not all live in tombs bruising and cutting ourselves with rocks. But we all have followed the spirit of disobedience and have pursued the passions of our own flesh. And because of this Paul says we are alienated from God and objects of His wrath.
When we lose this reality of ourselves instead of compassion and empathy for others we become more like the townspeople in Mark 5. Rather than trying to help others we get to the point of simply trying to contain them or institutionalize them. But the truth is that these methods will not work in and of themselves. As verse 4 puts it bluntly, “No one had the strength to subdue him.”
What needs to happen for every person is what happens to the man when he encounters Jesus.
3. The Transformation of the man demonstrates the Power of Jesus to rescue, reconcile, and renew every sinner.
First Jesus rescues the man from the bondage and the destruction of the demonic forces at work within him. Look at how this happens. Read verse 6-8. Jesus is not frightened by the figure that appears out of the tombs. He does not retreat in fear or apprehension but instead confronts the man and his condition head on telling the spirit to come out of the man. There seems to be great confusion and there are mixed messages. The man is falling at Jesus’ feet. The verb used is always used to describe an act of worship and yet out of his voice is coming this defiance, rebellious plea for mercy, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” The demon knows he is the Son of God and as James says, he shudders. Hoping to avoid destruction the demon appeals to the Lord and asks to be sent to the pigs, obviously hoping that would satisfy the Lord. Read verse 13. Yet Jesus has no mercy on the demons. I believe the herd of pigs’ descent into the water was an act of judgment by Jesus and the demons were destroyed along with the pigs. Can you imagine the torment that must have been going on inside that man? A Legion was 5,600 Roman soldiers. There were at least 2000 demons residing in that one man’s mind and body.
2 verses later when the man is described he’s described as sitting before Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. He’s been reconciled. No longer is he alienated and an object of wrath, but now he is sitting before the Lord Jesus in the position of a disciple and learner, desiring to be with the Lord. That’s what he asks just before Jesus leaves. Read verse 18.
But Jesus, rather than having the man come with Him, sends the man back to his friends and family with the mission of telling them all that the Lord had done for him and how He had had mercy on him. Jesus rescued him, reconciled him, and then renewed him by giving his life a purpose and meaning, to declare the mercy of God in his life.
This is the power of Jesus for every sinner. It is through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ that we can be rescued from the bondage of our sin, reconciled with God so that we’re no longer alienated from Him and an object of His wrath, and renewed to be what God has intended from the beginning of creation, His image bearers, created to represent and resemble His glory among His creation.
Conclusion:
This one glimpse into the life and ministry of Jesus affirms this statement of our doctrine. Embracing this truth and following Jesus’ example will transform the way we view other people. The tragic element of this story is how the people responded to the work of Christ in their midst. They valued their pigs more than they valued the life of a human being. That’s what happens when we lose sight of God’s intention and the predicament of our human condition. And eventually it causes a society to be repelled by the work of Jesus in their midst. What did they ask of Jesus? Not that He would come and heal more of their sick, or address more of their problems, or teach them more of His values. No, if fear, they asked him to depart from their region.
Never lose sight of the human condition. We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. In union with Adam we are all sinners, by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled, and renewed.
When this doctrine becomes our conviction it will transform the way we look at every human being. Ultimately, being rescued, reconciled, and renewed ourselves through faith in Jesus Christ will lead us to becoming representatives and a resemblance of Jesus Himself in this world among others, who need to be rescued, reconciled, and renewed also. Suddenly, telling friends and families how much the Lord has done for us and how he has had mercy on us will break forth spontaneously and creatively in all kinds of ways. Feeding starving children in Africa becomes significantly important; singing hymns with and visiting the elderly becomes worth the priority; adopting and embracing orphans into the life of a church becomes possible.
Gadarene Demoniacs and Elephant Men become transformed. You’ve seen what happened to the demoniac, would you like to know what happened to the elephant man? “When he was abandoned by the circus showman, Treves had him accommodated and cared for in a room at the back of the London Hospital where three and a half years later he died in his sleep, a few days after he had received his Easter Day Communion.
Treves had imagined that he was an imbecile, probably from birth. But in hospital he discovered that he was a human being, Joseph Merrick by name, in his early twenties, highly intelligent, a voracious reader, with a passion for conversation, an acute sensibility and a romantic imagination. He was also a ‘gentle, affectionate and lovable creature’.
When the first woman visited Joseph Merrick, gave him a smile and a greeting, and actually shook him by the hand, he broke down into uncontrollable sobbing. But from that day his transformation began. He became a celebrity, and many notable people visited him. Gradually he changed ‘from a hunted thing into a man’, wrote Treves. But actually he had always been a man, Treves may never have articulated the Christian doctrine of human beings made in the image of God. Nevertheless, it was his remarkable respect for Joseph Merrick which enabled him to lift up his poor misshapen head, and again some measure of self-respect before he died..” (Issues Facing Christians Today, John Stott, p. 20-21)
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