Key Verse:
For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? – Luke 9:25 NKJV

Man’s ultimate desire

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world?  It seems that man has wanted to be a world conquer for a very long time, maybe since the beginning of mankind’s time.  Why is this the case? Is this man’s ultimate desire?  Is it our nature to want to conquer other men and gain the whole world in the process?

You look at men like the Pharaohs who ruled in the land of Egypt, and even held Israel in bondage for a time – what were their desires?  Nebuchadnezzar, known as the “destroyer of nations” (Jeremiah 4:7); he led Babylon to becoming a very mighty kingdom.  Alexander the Great is considered one of the greatest military minds that have ever lived; he created the largest empire ever seen in ancient times.  What were these men out for, what was their desire?  Certainly these men wanted to rule the world.  One of them (Nebuchadnezzar) had even raised up an idol of himself and had people of the land worshiping the idol.  Pharaoh even saw himself as a god and the Lord had to show him that he was nothing but a man.

It appears that the same thing is happening in modern times; people want to rule the world and be worshipped for what “they have done”.  It seems that this must be our nature; we want to be worshiped.  For whatever reason, we want to not only establish our legacy, but we want those around us to admire us, praise us, and glorify us like we are the most high.

Our pursuit of glory

There was another that once had, and still has that very same desire to be like the most high.  Scripture declares in Isaiah 14:13-14 that the Lord once said to Lucifer:

You have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’

These were the very thoughts that were found in the heart (mind) of Lucifer.  We turn around today and everybody talks about how they are building their empire; everybody wants to rule the world – become something great.

I continue to wonder about the human nature, and where this came from.  This was also part of this week’s bible study that you might want to give a read.  My thought:  God created us in His image, and then breathed a piece of Himself into mankind.  We should, in my mind, be all of the things that God are in His nature – gracious, merciful, and faithful.  Yet, it seems that mankind has developed a nature that is not those things.

Mankind is prideful instead of gracious; unforgiving instead of merciful; selfish instead of faithful.  Where did we go wrong?  Mankind, in its pursuit of glory has led himself to become at odds with the Lord.  Where our God is godly, we have become the opposite – sinful.  In other words, we are lost souls.

Look at how we treat one another and what we choose to support.  I am amazed at what some that call themselves “Christians” can stand in support of.  I amazed at how we, mankind, seem to have a refusal at helping to lift one another; we rather hold people down than help.  Some will selfishly think in their minds, “not me; I am fine.  I do everything I can.”  Again, we are very selfish in our heart.

In need of saving

In ancient times, and even now in our time, we are in need of saving.  Do you believe we need saving today?  Who is going to save us?  Will it be you?

Some men foolishly think they are the saviors of the world.  I tell you that these men believe that only they can save the world – nobody else can.  Truly, their understanding is off if they think they can actually save the world.  Firstly, they believe that if they drop bombs that somehow it will bring peace and stability. I don’t believe there has been a bomb dropped that has done such a thing – sure they have stopped wars but they haven’t brought about true peace and stability.

Secondly, they believe that the world needs saving from evil and that evil is from unhinged men.  Again, this is a failure of understanding the true nature of what mankind is against.  The apostle Paul declared that this battle is not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12).  The battle that mankind faces is of the spirit and there is no bomb of this world that can save you in this kind of battle!

War is being waged, in the spirit, and this war is being waged against God!  This war began with its father – Lucifer (Satan).  This war continues with us, mankind, when we create our own iniquity (sin) against God.  God has absolutely no intention of losing this war against iniquity, against sin, and against Lucifer.  We, the sinners, are in need of a savior, but who is going to save us?

We are in need of being saved from God Himself.  Who is going to stand up and stop God?  Again, I tell you that it is not going to be me!  What can I do to stop God?  I also know that you are not going to stand up and stop God, after all, what can you do to stop God?  The Lord declared in Ezekiel 14:13

“Son of man, when a land sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from it.

Who will stand up and stop God from stretching out His mighty hand against those that have been persistently unfaithful (sinners)?  Scripture tells us that the only one that can stop God is Himself!  God declares, He speaks loudly in fact, through scripture saying – I am sending the world a Savior!  The Lord tells us that we shall call Him Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14) – meaning God with us.  The government will be upon His shoulder.  His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

Oh how we need the Savior in this world that is so full of lost souls; souls that have lost all understanding and have lost their way – we need a Savior in this world today!  I tell you that this Savior has been in the world, and even still is in this world today.

This is merely the first part of a trilogy of sermons I will preach over the next couple of weeks –  The Story of Christmas Part 1.