MANKIND: CROWNED, CURSED, & YET CALLED
DR JIM DIXON
GENESIS 3:1-19
JULY 9, 1995
She awoke alone one morning in Newport Beach, California at the Marriott Luxury Hotel. Just two weeks prior she had left her husband. She had left her children. She had left what she had called her meaningless life and she had run off with a guy named Dave. She had met Dave at a health club. She thought that Dave was everything she was really looking for. She thought that Dave could meet all of her unfulfilled needs and she had great hopes of a long life with Dave. But as she woke up that morning in Newport Beach in that hotel room, her hopes were crushed because Dave was not there. She saw a note written on hotel stationery on one or the desks in the room. She read the note. It said, “It’s been fun…Dave”
Perhaps she just sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the note for a while. Perhaps she thought of her mom and dad whom she knew she had grieved. Perhaps she thought of her husband that she had left. Maybe, certainly, she thought of her children. God knows what she thought of but this we know: she reached in her handbag by the bed and she took out a gun and she took her own life. It was the maid at the Marriott who found her body. It was the detective who found her suicide note. The last words written in that suicide note were these: “Don’t weep for me. I am nothing. I am nothing.”
Four floors down that same morning in that same hotel, four floors below in the convention center a Hollywood celebrity was concluding a New Age seminar. She had all the participants stand and she had them go through one final exercise. She had them put out their hands and she had them chant these words: “I am God. I am God. I am God.” The same morning in the same hotel. Perhaps at the same moment when that woman on the fourth floor was writing the words “I am nothing. I am nothing,” these people down in the convention center were saying “I am God. I am God.”
Those are the two great lies of this age. I am nothing, and I am God. Satan wants you to believe one of those lies. It doesn’t matter which one. Either one he has you. But what does the Bible say about us? Who are we? This morning we will examine from holy scripture the nature of mankind. Who does God say that we are? First of all, the Bible tells us we are crowned. The Bible says you are crowned.
Now, on December 2, 1804, in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, France, Napoleon Bonaparte seized the crown from Pope Pius VII. Taking the crown in his hands, Napoleon crowned himself and declared himself Emperor.
Now, Beethoven had dedicated the Eroica Symphony to Napoleon because Napoleon had been the great hero of the French Revolution, but when Beethoven heard that Napoleon had crowned himself, he annulled the dedication. I suppose it’s kind of an ugly thing to crown yourself and yet there’s a sense in which all over this world that’s exactly what people are doing: exalting themselves. Of course, a coronation is properly administered by a legitimate authority. There is no authority more legitimate than God and who has God crowned? I mean, who has God crowned?
The Bible tells us that God has crowned you. I mean, the world seeks to crown itself but the Bible tells us God has crowned mankind. God has crowned every woman and man the world over. In Psalm, chapter 8, the Bible states “Oh Lord, Oh Lord, how majestic is Thy name in all of the earth. Thou whose glory is chanted above the heavens by the mouths of babes and infants. Thou has established a bulwark because of Thy foes to still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider the heavens, the work of Thy hands, the sun and the stars which You have created, what is Man that you are mindful of him? Mere man that you care about him? And yet You have created him little less than God, little less than Elohim. You have crowned him with glory and honor, putting all things in subjection under his feet. You have given him dominion over the work of your hands.”
You see, God has crowned mankind. Women and men the world over, God has crowned them with glory and honor. The word for crowned in this passage of scripture in Psalm 8, in the Septuagint is the word “stephanos” and it’s a very special word for crown. It was the crown that was given to the victorious athlete at the Greek games. It was the crown that was given to a war hero as he returned victorious from war. It was a crown of glory; it was a crown of honor. It was a crown that represented exaltation.
So the Bible tells us that in our created beginnings, as God made us, He viewed us as glorious. He viewed us as exalted. I tell you that even as you sit in that pew this morning, even as you sit in this sanctuary, you are incredible. I mean, you are amazing. A single cell from your mother’s body joined with a single cell from your father’s body and created one brand new cell, a brand new cell similar to but unlike any other cell that has ever existed in this world. That brand new cell was you, so small it could not be seen by the naked eye and yet it contained 23 pairs of chromosomes, 100,000 genes, and more than 3.5 million bits of information. It contained all the instructions necessary to form a complete human being, to form you.
Immediately after conception, that brand new cell began to replicate itself. It began to multiply rapidly and then after a few days, suddenly it happened, like a switch had been flipped on, suddenly those seemingly identical cells began to be transformed into particular cells with particular functions; blood cells, bone cells, muscle cells, nerve cells. As you sit there in that pew this morning with more than 60,000 blood vessels in your body, every cell in your body has a particular task, a special purpose, coordinated down to the thousandth of a second. Every cell in your body is interconnected with the hundred trillion other cells that comprise your body. You are so complex. You are so complex that medical science, modern science is not able to fathom the depth of your nature.
A recent article in NATURE MAGAZINE tells us of the complexity of human DNA. There is a computer in Paris, France, a supercomputer, that is seeking to map the human genetic landscape. We’re told that the printout from this computer on a single strand of human DNA produces a stack of paper that would reach to the top of the Eiffel Tower; on a single strand of human DNA. Do you realize your complexity?
In one of the most recent issues of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MAGAZINE, one of the most reputable publications in the world, we’re told that the human brain is so amazing. It contains 100 billion cells and each cell has at least 1,000 connections to other cells. There are more than 100 trillion connections in your brain, more connections than exist in all the computers now operating in the world. Do you realize that? There are more connections in your brain than exist in all the computers now operating in the world. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MAGAZINE states that the normal human brain, not at all the equal of your brain, the normal human brain…I mean, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MAGAZINE tells us that the normal human brain actually has the capacity to know everything that is known in the entire world. Your brain has the capacity to know everything that is known in the entire world. The only problem is time. There’s not enough time. I mean, if you lived a hundred years, it would not begin to be enough time to know everything that is known in the entire world and yet your brain has that capacity. You are incredible. And who created you? Who created the 5 billion men and women on this planet? Who made them so similar that each of them have an average mean temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit whether they live in the Arctic Circle or along the equator. And yet who made us so different, with such variety and diversity that no two single human beings have the same fingerprints?
It is God. It is God that has Made us. It is God that has made you and you are the crown of His creation. There’s nothing in this earth like you. You are exalted on the earth. You are the crown of His creation. Not simply physiologically; He made us body, soul and spirit, “soma, psychi, and pneuma.” He created us in His own image and in His likeness. The Bible says He created us little less than God, little less than Elohim.” We are crowned. You are crowned.
So what happened? Why is this world such a mess? Why are we so messed up? Why is there so much ego damage? Why is there so much violence? Why are there so many wars? Why is there so much depression and despondency? Why is there so much moral and ethical confusion? What happened?
This leads us to our second point regarding the nature of mankind. The Bible says that we are crowned but the Bible also tells us that we are cursed. Crowned but cursed. You see, the curse has cracked the crown.
Now I know many of you are probably at least somewhat familiar with the life and the career of Ronald Reagan. He was our 40th President. A variety of opinions regarding the presidency of Ronald Reagan and yet I think most everybody would agree that he was a man of considerable wit. When he was running for Governor of the State of California, he was driving along in his car one day in Los Angeles and a woman was in the car right next to him. She saw him. She rolled down her window and she said, “Mister, if you were St. Peter I wouldn’t vote for you.” Ronald Reagan smiled and he said, “Ma’am, if I were St. Peter you wouldn’t be in my district.”
I think for many Democrats, Ronald Reagan was little more than a Hollywood personality. I think for many Republicans, he was viewed as a great President. I think for some Native Americans, Ronald Reagan is simply viewed as the guy who broke the curse. You’ve probably heard of Tecumseh, the Shawnee Indian Chief. TNT just made a movie about the life of Tecumseh. In the early 19th century, it was Tecumseh who tried to unite the Indian nations, to bring them together. He was a great leader. The truth is that in the early 19th century, through many of those years, the Shawnee people and the Indian nations were really led by the brother of Tecumseh, a man whose name was Tenskwatawa. He was called the “Shawnee prophet.” It was believed that he had supernatural powers and abilities and that he could see the future. It was believed that he could call down blessing and cursing upon people.
The great enemy of the Shawnee in the early 19th century was William Harrison who led a lot of the armies that came to war against the Indians. In 1840, William Harrison became President of the United States and it is said that this is what led Tenskwatawa, the Shawnee prophet, to pronounce this curse of the presidents. It is said that he declared that any president elected in a year that ends in zero would die in office. It has been called the 20-year curse because a president is only elected to office in a year that ends in zero every twenty years. So William Harrison was elected to office in 1840. Abraham Lincoln elected President in 1860, James Garfield 1880, William McKinley 1900, Warren Harding 1920, Franklin Roosevelt 1940, John F. Kennedy 1960. If you look back on history, truly each of them died in office. Some of them through disease and some of them through acts of violence, but they all died.
But then in 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected President or the United States and he did not die. He was shot but he did not die. For some Native Americans, Reagan is viewed as the guy who broke the curse. Of course, in fairness, many historians and even some Native American historians doubt that Tenskwatawa, the Shawnee prophet, ever pronounced the curse upon the presidency. Maybe it’s all coincidence. I know this: nobody wants to be cursed. None of you want to be cursed. People just don’t want to be cursed.
Have you ever received one of those chain letters in the mail? I got one I think about two years ago. It was kind of a lengthy letter but it said “If you send this letter to ten friends,” you know, make copies of it and send it to ten of your friends, “then you will receive all of these blessings.” It cites blessings that people had received who had sent the letter to ten of their friends. But then, of course, then comes the bad news. If you break the chain, if you don’t photocopy this, “if you don’t send it to ten friends, you will be cursed” it says. Then you read about all the horrible things that happened to people who broke the chain. They died. They got horrible diseases, etc., etc.
Well I put the letter in the trash where it belongs. But why is it so many people photocopy those letters? Why do they do that to their friends? Why do so many people send copies of the letter out to ten friends? Why do they do that? Because they’re afraid of a curse. People are afraid of a curse.
In Israel, in biblical times, there were two mountains that were called the Mountain of Blessing and the Mountain of Cursing. Of course, the Mountain of Cursing was a mountain that people, the Hebrew men, would go up on the Mount of Cursing to pronounce a curse upon someone they hated, and they would do this in the name of God. People feared that.
I must say we really don’t need to fear the cursings of men. If you want to fear a curse, fear the cursings of God. Who has God cursed? The Bible is very clear. There is a sense in which God has cursed humanity. God has cursed mankind. He has cursed every single woman and man on this planet. He has crowned us all and He has cursed us all. Why is that? The Bible says it’s because of sin and in that sense we’ve really cursed ourselves because of sin. That’s our passage of scripture today in Genesis 3 where in Eden, in the garden of God at the dawn of time, sin came into the world; what theologians call ‘The Fall.’ We said we’ll do it our way and we rebelled against God. Because of sin we are cursed.
A curse was placed upon the serpent who is the devil. A curse was placed upon Adam and Eve, representing all mankind. Because of this curse the crown is cracked. Really, because of sin the crown is cracked and we are not what we were meant to be. The very cells of our bodies are not what they were meant to be. The DNA, the genetic structure, it’s not working right. I mean, as you’re sitting here in the sanctuary, every minute 3 million cells are dying in your body. Every minute, 3 million cells are being formed and it kind of works out except that over time it begins to go wrong. Some cells begin to mutate. We get cancer. Of course, cells degenerate and we become old. It’s all part of the curse. It was not meant to be. It’s part of the curse.
The Bible says in Genesis 3 the very ground is cursed. Nature itself is cursed. Nothing is as it was meant to be. It would all be very, very sad if this were all the Bible told us about mankind. Crowned but cursed. The crown is cracked. Hopelessness. Except there’s a third message the Bible tells us about mankind and that is this: we are called. Crowned, cursed, but called.
God is calling every person in this world because God loves us yet and this word for called is the Greek word “kletos.” The word church is built on the same word. Did you know this? I mean, the word church is built on the word called. The Greek word “kletos” is the basis of the word “ekklesia” which is the biblical word, the Greek word for church. Because, you see, the church consists of the “called out people,” people who have responded to the call. That’s what the church of Jesus Christ consists of the world over, women and men who have responded to the call. Maybe you haven’t responded to the call, not truly.
In Mark, chapter 2, our Lord Jesus makes this statement: He says “I have not come to call the righteous. I have come to call sinners.” In Luke, chapter 5, our Lord Jesus Christ makes exactly the same statement: “I have not come to call the righteous. I have come to call sinners.” You realize what that means? He has come to call you. He has come to call everyone in this world because the Bible says “There is none righteous, no not one. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
Of course, if we think we’re righteous, we’ll never hear the call. If we think the crown is not cracked, we’ll never hear the call. You know, there’s a beautiful passage in Mark’s gospel, the 10th chapter. It’s the story of Bartimaeus, a man who was blind, a tragic man really; a beggar. He hung out by the city gates of the city of Jericho, a kind of oasis city in the midst of a barren desert. He sat there by the gates of the city of Jericho begging and blind. His world was hopeless. He was a scouring of the earth. But he heard that Jesus Christ was corning, the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God descended from David. He heard He had great power and so he waited and the day came when Christ arrived at Jericho. The crowds formed around the gates. As Christ was approaching the gate Bartimaeus began to shout as loud as he could shout. He began to shout “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” He said it again and again and again and the crowd told him to be quiet, shut up. They tried to silence him but he kept saying “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me” and Jesus heard hm. Jesus heard him and He said to His disciples “Call him. Call him.”
It was a beautiful moment I think, one of the most beautiful precious moments in the scriptures where the followers of Christ went to Bartimaeus. They took his hand and they said “Take heart. The Master is calling for you.” Isn’t that beautiful? “Take heart. The Master is calling for you.” A beggar and blind but take heart, the Master is calling for you.
I tell you, what’s true of Bartimaeus is true of you. It’s true of me. It’s true of every person in this world. The world is blind. The Bible says the world is in darkness. I mean, we think ourselves enlightened. The Bible says the world is in darkness but Jesus Christ is the light of the world and He says “Take heart.” The Bible says “Take heart. The Master is calling for you.”
Well, this morning as we conclude the service, we want to give you a chance to respond to the call, knowing that we are crowned but cursed, a chance to respond to the call. But I want to make sure you understand what it means to respond to the call. It really means two things. It means you take Christ as Savior, you accept what He did on Calvary’s cross as payment for your sin, substitutionary atonement. You believe He died for you. You ask Him, therefore, to be your Savior, to forgive your sin as you come in repentance, recognizing that you have sinned and you ask Him to wash you whiter than snow and be the Savior of your life. But that’s not enough. You see, that’s just half of it if you’d really respond to the call.
The other half is that you receive Him as Lord, that you have faith enough, I mean you may have doubts but you must have faith enough to make that commitment to His Lordship. That you would ask Him today to come and sit on the throne of your life that you might live for Him from this day forth and forevermore. That you would take Him as Savior and Lord, seeking by His grace and mercy to live for Him from this day forth and forevermore, and trusting His atoning sacrifice on Calvary’s cross for your sin. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.