As a recap:

  • 401 laid out the essential elements of the Gospel.

  • 402 showed that the way we view the Gospel affects our internal sense of identity and emotional dispositions.

  • 403 began the "lens illustration" by showing that our negative experiences are rooted in a positive desire that is lacking and how it's futile to believe anything on this earth could satisfy those desires with any permanency.

  • 404 utilized the "circles illustration" to demonstrate this impermanent satisfaction through worldly solution, but that we have the capacity to find legitimate fulfillment in Christ.

The purpose in addressing this is that many people come here from dark, broken places. Several men have disclosed either publicly or privately that they struggle with things like pornography, rage, depression, guilt, shame, or the like - or that their wives may struggle through one of these things as well - and that this affects their sexual and relational satisfaction. For single men, it also affects their framework for living in general, often compelling them to seek a wife as the means of curing these internal ailments. If we cannot discern through Scripture a solution to these problems, we will be left to the chaos of the world, which is too harsh an environment for the male heart to survive in.

If you want a right sex life, ministry, marriage, etc., you must be a right man. If you want a right wife, you must sanctify and cleanse her the same way Christ did: through the Gospel (Ephesians 5:25-27). That is why the Gospel as a solution is distinctively important for all men on this sub, above and beyond the technical strategies we may employ. If we are not made whole by the Gospel, all our efforts at sexual strategy will be worthless, and in Christian marriages, they will most likely fail.


GOD MAY CRUSH YOUR DESIRES

In 403 I referenced the general self-reflection that people do in an effort to find answers to the problems that ail them. This is why psychology often fails to do much more than give a temporary mood boost. Its solution is for a person to look inside themselves for the answer. In reality we must look to Christ for the answer. I referenced three people: A, B, and C, who struggle with loneliness/depression, pornography addiction, and fear of rejection, respectively. We also discussed the ways they expected their desires to be met: A wants friends, B wants physical pleasure, and C wants people to love and accept him. But the harsh reality of the Bible is that God doesn't promise any of these things:

  • A: We constantly see Scriptural examples of people who were isolated from human contact. Jeremiah, Elijah, Isaiah, David ... even Jesus was abandoned by the 12 before the crucifixion. God never promised the Christian life wouldn't be lonely. If anything, the Bible narrative proves that this might be a real challenge for many.

  • B: Again, the Bible never promises physical pleasure. In fact, for centuries people believed the Bible specifically condemned physical pleasures. Although I disagree with that interpretation, that alone should emphasize the point. More specifically, Jesus did promise we would suffer and be persecuted. The Bible also doesn't promise that everyone will get sex. Many people will die under God's will without ever having had sex.

  • C: Jesus said point blank that the world would reject us. He never promised acceptance.

THE GOSPEL AS A MIRRIOR

If meeting our positive desires our way isn't guaranteed by God, what are we to do? I present that we should not self-reflect, but that we should reflect on the Gospel to find our answers. Galatians 3:3 is actually pretty explicit about this: "Are you so foolish? After beginning by the Spirit, are you now trying to become perfect through human effort?" That "beginning" is when they were first saved and "by the Spirit" references the Spirit drawing them to the Gospel and transforming them through the Gospel. Yet for some reason we all want to jump on the "self-reflection" band-wagon, rejecting what the Spirit can do through the Word of Truth, which is the Gospel, and who is Jesus Christ.

HERE IS THE LENS ILLUSTRATION. You will note the pattern we have followed thus far: (1) acknowledging our imperfection, (2) reframing it as a positive desire that we are lacking, (3) acknowledging that we are powerless to find permanent satisfaction - and that no amount of self-reflection can break the cycle, and God might not actually want us to get our desires met on our terms.

Now I add (4) that the Gospel gives us an answer. As I noted in 401, the prime function of the Gospel is to reconcile us to God. The crucifixion and resurrection are the means by which Jesus did this (as explored deeper in 402). Sometimes people get so hung up on Jesus bearing our sin on the cross that we forget the reason why he did it: to restore our relationship with God.

When we reflect on the Gospel we find that the pattern of viewing our ailment works almost the exact same way, but in the reverse ... kind of like a reflection (hence a mirror).

  • We had pinpointed our actual desire on our terms, the Gospel shows us that exact same desire, but on God's terms

  • What didn't satisfy us on earth now does satisfy us through Christ.

  • Once we have that desire and satisfaction, rather than the lens taking things from our lives and focusing them into a concentrated point, that one nugget of truth we receive from the Gospel refracts to change multiple areas of our lives.

  • Instead of being an image of imperfection, we reflect the image of God.

In Part 4 I will break down in more detail how the other side of the Gospel-mirror functions, including with reference to the examples given.