God’s One Mistake

1 Peter 1:17 – 20

Pastor Bob Alderman

 

I understand that many of you are a bit taken aback by the title of this week’s message.  But the reality is that God has made one mistake,

 

But we will talk more about that in just a minute.

 

But first, let me ask you a question:

 

Today is Father’s Day and I know that many dads would like to be out fishing, golfing or still sleeping today.  I brought a golf club to make this question a bit more real.

 

Before RAM made this club they spent lots of time in engineering and design.  Then they built prototypes and tested them.  If a design did not work or demonstrated a weakness or flaw they chunked it and went “back to the drawing board” and started the process over again.

 

They repeated this process over and over until they were happy with the design and its performance; then they went into production and made the clubs.

 

Here is the question:

 

If you were a manufacturer and you were planning a new product and you found out that you’re new product would:

·        Never do what you wanted it to do

·        Bring an incredible liability to you

·        cause incredible debt

·        bring you and your family much pain and suffering

·        lead to the death in your family

 

Would you still build it?  Or would you scrap the plans and build something different?  A toaster maybe?

 

God made one really bad business decision when He created man.  We are an illogical choice for a created being.

 

He made a people who, on their own, would:

 

Yet, He did not “go back to the drawing board” and design a better version, a “human 2.0.”

 

He stayed with the flawed model, even though He knew before He made them that they would be nothing but trouble to Him and His family.

 

Why?  That was a bad mistake.  Huge mistake.

 

He could have created us in such a way that we:

·        never caused any problems

·        never sinned

·        always praised Him

·        always loved Him

·        always sought Him

 

I mean, really, He could have made us better, much better. 

 

But He did not! And that was a mistake.

 

That was a mistake that cost His Son His life and continues to bring Him much pain and hurt.

 

Let me ask you a second question:

 

Have you ever made a bad choice or done something you did not want to do because someone you loved asked you to?

Maybe you know that a certain car will use too much gas, or be too small or simply not fit the lifestyle of your family; BUT because your spouse really wants it you buy it.

 

Sound familiar?  I think we have all allowed our emotions to cloud our better judgment from time to time.

 

So did God on this one bad decision.

 

1 Peter 1:17-20 “And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites when he judges. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as foreigners here on earth.  For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver.  He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.  God chose him for this purpose long before the world began, but now in these final days, he was sent to the earth for all to see. And he did this for you.”

(NLT)

 

  1. God has no favorites.  We are all equal.
    1. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
    2. With out Jesus Christ we are all lost, empty and fallen away from the love of God
    3. With Jesus we all have the same responsibility to exhibit our love through our actions – our obedience.
  2. God paid the price of our sins
    1. A ransom – the price paid for the redeeming or release of a captive
    2. A price we could never pay
  3. God paid this price with the death of His only Son Jesus
    1. We owe God a blood debt
    2. Our sinful life could not pay the debt
    3. Only the sinless, spotless Lamb of God could
  4. God chose His Son for this purpose
    1. He did not choose you or me, or Paul or Moses

                                                               i.      They were not worthy or able to pay the required fee

    1. God killed His Son so that you could know freedom
    2. Who sent Jesus to the cruel cross of Calvary?

                                                               i.      The Jews?  No

                                                             ii.      The Romans? No

                                                            iii.      You and I?  No

                                                          iv.      God did!

1.      For the purpose of paying your ransom and bringing fulfillment to your life.

  1. God decided this before He ever made man or the planet we now occupy
    1. This was a bad choice
    2. This was a choice that was tainted by His emotions
    3. He made this choice because, even before you existed, GOD LOVED YOU!

 

I, for one, am glad that God allowed His love and His character drive this decision instead of logic!

 

I am glad that God loved me more than my dad ever could.

 

I am glad God loved me enough to create me even though He knew all the trouble I would cause.

 

I am glad that God loves me too much to leave me in the condition I am in.

 

I am overjoyed that God sent His Son to correct the “human error”

 

John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”   NLT

 

Though the repair and restoration of the Son I can be BETTER – MUCH BETTER!

 

I can be the creation God made me to be once Jesus has repaired the damage my human error has caused.

 

Has your eternal life been restored by God through your faith in His Son?

 

By faith God declares you of great value

By faith God declares that you have no human error

By faith God proclaims that you are not a mistake

By faith you are made complete